What the Art Teacher Wore #120 and A Weekend of Artfulness

More Fall Colors Monday: Every morning when trying to figure out what to wear (are any of you the "laying out my outfits the night before" types? I just can't seem to get my life that together!), I go between wearing fall-ish ensembles and my Halloween duds. What'd you wear this week? sweater: thrifted; t-shirt and tights: Target; skirt: gift from a friend, balls added by me (of course); belt: Anthro; shoes: Dolls by Nina, ancient

I would personally like to make a plea to the universe and the passage of time: Slow the Funk Down. Suriously. How is it that the final days of October are upon us, y'all? It feels like school just began! I do believe a big fat part of the prob is that stores started stocking Christmas decor promptly after removing Back-to-School stuffs. Regardless, I'm starting to get that edgy "so much to do/so little time" feeling and me no likey. 

Edginess aside, I did have some seriously big fun this weekend at our annual state art conference. I left school promptly after my last class of the day, drove the three hours to Memphis and headed to the University of Memphis for a wee reception...

I know, right? I can't quite wrap my head around it either. Mostly cuz I have some serious art teacherin' room for improvement. There are always like 20 things I need to do better. But it was very nice to be recognized. 

And be in such great company. I mean, these ladies rock! Just listening to their bios as they were recognized made me wanna hop off the stage, hide in a corner and throw my big puffy red crinoline over my head. But I saved that for later and offered this goofy sh##-eating grin to the camera instead. More on the rest of the conference in a minute. 

 Floral Embroidery Tuesday: On my lil fall break vacay, I scored this dress on Olvera Street. There were so many vendors selling these cute dresses but the key was finding the one with the best price, size and color. I fell in love with the bright embroidery on the black background of this dress immediately. dress: Olvera Street; belt: gift; fishnets and tights: dunno, Target?; shoes: thrifted Crocs

I took some amazing classes at the conference (I tried to squeeze in photos but decided they deserved an entire blog post so stay tuned, kiddies) and I also taught one! Mine was what they called a "Super Session" which is fancy talk for a One Hour Session So Work Super Fast. Because my time was limited, I decided to introduce needle felting with the option of the participants either creating a needle felted palette or a miniature work of art. After a short instructional chat (which included me on-purpose flipping everyone  off. There's photographic evidence of this...but I had second thoughts on sharing it here. I'm getting conservative in my old age), my "students" set to work. 

Since I couldn't have all y'all there, would you be interested in a lil blog post on this? Lemme know in the comments if you are. I have created a coupla videos on needle felting (along with approximately One Million blog posts) so you can visit here for more of that. 

Here's an example of someone creating their own masterpiece. Don't you love it? This was a simple class to teach as the supplies were limited to wool roving, a needle felting tool, a foam cushion and inexpensive felt sheets for creating our design upon. 

 I know, right? Awesomeness. 

Tilt-a-Whirl Skirt Wednesday: As y'all mightah guessed, I do love me some vintage fashion. And no 1950's circle skirt is complete without a crinoline (we call 'em "can-can's" down here in the South) underneath. I scored my latest can-can from Amazon in the Halloween department. I love it, it's perfectly can-canny. The prob? When I swish past tables in the art room, I often times knock the kids' artwork to the floor. They're all, "Mrs. Stephens!" Oops. Sorry! sweater and skirt: vintage, found at an antique mall

Not even gonna lie, my fave part of these conferences? Seeing my art teacherin' buds. My amazing art teacher friend Debbie Flynt and I have known each other since the very first time I attended Tennessee Arts Academy (which, by the way, is open to all art, music and drama teachers of kindergarten through 12th grade and Should. Not. Be. Missed.) some 10 plus years ago and have been buds since. Jim Dodson is not only an art teacher force to be reckoned with but also the brains behind the art sessions at Tennessee Arts Academy. We have entirely too many fun memories and inside jokes and I wouldn't have it any other way.

 Bustin' a Move Thursday: Wow, I knew this was gonna be a crazy day. I had to haul myself to Memphis after a full day of teaching and get there by 6pm for the reception. I made it by 6:12pm without breaking (too much) of a sweat. jacket: Oh, a DIY to come, I promise!; dress: Target; tights: gift; purse: Amazon

My craziness must have been evident to my first grade kids as they drew my silly face in this portrait. Personally, I believe it's one of my faves. Until we chat again, I hope y'all have a super awesome week ahead!