What I Wore #92 and Back to the Drawing Board, er, Sketch Book

When Everyone in the World Gets a Snow Day But You: You wear a sad-looking puppy sweater, smear read lipstick on your face and make the most of the day. Granted, we did get Monday off...but Tuesday we had to return. Meanwhile, the rest of ya's slept til noon (or later, how glorious!), ate bonbons and got caught up on Days of Our Lives. Jelly! sweater: Old Navy; dress: Francesca's a million years ago; crinoline: Amazon; boots: Lucky Brand; tights: dunno; leopard scarf and headband: gifts

Hey, kids! I hope there's some super happy sunshine in your neck of the woods as we are finally seeing some blue skies here. This weekend, I've spent time outside drawing and painting and the sun felt like heaven on my skin. Wouldn't it be so super rad if spring just decided to kick winter to the curb and make herself at home? I'd be down with that. 

Since the weather is so divine and...it's mah burfdey!...Ima gonna keep this post short with just a little of What I Wore and what I've managed to draw for the Artsy Book Club. However, I do wanna throw out a coupla questions to ya'll:

1. Are you going to the NAEA conference in San Diego at the end of the month?

2. I wanna have a meet up! Would anyone be interested in a little Crazy Art Teacher gathering? I know, the whole thing is One Big Crazy Art Teacher get-together, but I dunno. I'd just love to meet ya'll!

3. I'll be presenting! -Ish! I'll be presenting on a panel titled Elementary Division Carousel of Learning and Advocacy (side note: there will not be any actual "carousel" at the presentation. I already asked) on Sunday, March 29th from 9:30 - 10:20am in the Hilton Hotel/Indigo 2014B/Level 2 (you got that? Because I'm pretty sure I'm gonna need your help finding the place when the time comes). I plan to have a couple gifty-surprises for the first 20 folks that make it to my panel. Yay!

Alright, that's all I got. Off to roll around on the floor, eat copious amounts of cake and cookies and holler "it's my birthday, I'll do what I want!" to the cat and hubs. Have a great week!

So a couple of years ago, I took a pastel class from this seriously fun and kind dude named Paul DeMarris. Not only is Paul a fabulous teacher and artist, he is also the creator of his own line of oil sticks. They are like working with butter saturated in the most glorious of colors. He's recently branched out into the "crayon" market (I use that term loosely as they were more oil pastel-esque than waxy crayon). He sent me a sample of the primary colors and white to play with...and I cannot stop using them. They blend beautifully and when layered they almost have the appearance of oil paint. You should totally contact Paul (he's honestly the nicest and most friendly dude!) if you'd like him to lead a class or are interested in his sticks.

Blue Willow Pottery Wednesday: My art teacher BFF (Hi, Mallory!) did this amazing art lesson last year on Blue Willow Pottery. I borrowed pretty heavily from her lesson, especially telling the kids The Legend of Blue Willow Pottery. To set the mood, I went with this blue willow-wannabe dress. sweater: vintage, thrifted; dress: vintage; shoes: Anthro; tights and necklace: Target

Having worked for days on my sushi hat/dress ensemble, I had a hankerin' for the stuff. I picked up this lovely tray at the grocery and it was a battle of willpower to draw it before devouring it. I actually had to lock myself in my sewing room to draw this as the cat could smell it and kept pounding on the door. This drawing was also created with Paul's sticks.

Let's Go to the Art Museum Thursday: I had an inservice after school on Thursday that involved seeing an Asian art exhibit. I decided my sushi ensemble would be appropriate. Surprisingly, I was the only one wearing sushi that evening...what's wrong with people?! hat, dress, shoes: DIY by me, go here; bag and sweater: thrifted; tights: Target

The last two days have been this lovely. I seriously could have sat outside and soaked up the sun all day. This is a little watercolor meets Paul's crayons.

Thanks, Mom! Friday: So I may have dropped some not-so-subtle hints to the mom that I needed this skirt in my life for my birthday. And it managed to come in the mail just in time for me to wear on Friday which was perfect because I almost didn't have a stitch to wear (ha, I kid. I have enough clothing to blanket the state of Tennessee. Sometimes it gets cold). Thanks, ma!! pencil skirt with pencils skirt: Anthropologie; sweater, blouse: thrifted; necklace: The Paper Source; shoes: Dolls by Nina; tights: Target; palette pin: gift from a friend (thanks, Paul N.!)

So, I may or may not have a shoe addiction. Here are a couple that I love (despite what my feet say). These were such fun to draw that I might actually have to sketch some more from my growing shoe collection. This was drawn in crayon.