In the Art Room: Art Conferencin' in Illinois!

Y'all, I'm just back from another incredible art conference this time in the great state of Illinois, a place I called home for many years. I had so much fun presenting (I was one of the keynotes, eep!), teaching and learning that I just had to share. The art educators of Illinois really know how to make a girl feel welcome and put together a FABULOUS conference to boot!

I kicked off their conference with a chat in a lovely renovated theatre in downtown Normal. I was thrilled that so many folks made it out to hear me chat, I thought for sure they'd be sleeping off their Cubs win. I really enjoy speaking with other art teachers, they truly are the best crowd!

Almost immediately after that, I lead a two hour needle felting session. I love teaching hands-on classes at conferences as it feels like hosting a craft night at my house. Just a bunch of soon-to-be friends, sitting and relaxing all while learning something fun and new. I was so inspired by what folks were creating!

My friend Heidi made this super cute Starry Night inspired hair clip to go with a dress of hers. If you aren't familiar with Heidi's blog, you need to check it out! 

 I love that folks were all set to needle felt on their clothing. Check out this sweet scarf that got a lovely flowery update!

 Amazing art teacher Jen Baker was my BFF at the conference as she made sure I was where I was supposed to be, doing what I was supposed to do at all times (and, with a flake like me, that's a pretty tall order). In all seriousness, Jen was BEYOND amazing as I was witness to her working her tail off the entire conference making sure that EVERYONE was happy and having a great time. She needle felted this sweet little palette on her sweater!

Sue at Back to Back Fiber provided the supplies for our workshop. She sent us beautiful sheets of prefelt that we also used to create wee masterpieces with. 

 Of course we had to make Palette Hair Clips! It's how you know you are officially Needle Felt Certified! 

We even had folks needle felting over holes in their sweaters or dreaming up the cutest of motifs. 

I mean, look how stunning!

For realz tho, my fave part of art teacher conferencin' is making new friends, hearing about their art rooms and learning from them. 

 And even if we aren't talkin' art, we are ALWAYS having a good time!

It was such a wonderful group to sit and stab stuff with. Thanks, ladies, y'all are the best!

Because I just can't get enough of all things fibers, I attended a class by the Fibers Queen herself, Natasha of Ester's Place. Not sure if Natasha knows it or not but she's kinda like my fibers BFF. I love hanging out with her. We had the best time at the conference!

We made these amazing wet felted flowers. I'm not a lover of wet felting...but Natasha is changing my mind! Full details on these projects soon. 

After a wee break, I joined several dozen art teachers for a relaxed and informal Q & A session. That was so fun! We shared ideas, stories and laughed a lot. The best part was we had a very wonderful group of college kids in our group who were fun to share our thoughts on art teacherin' with. 

 

 This here is one of them! Pleasure to meet you, Samantha!

 Buddies from way back. Always fun to see Kris and make new friends.

 I was super excited to finally meet Deyana in person. We've been internet buds for years...so it really was like chatting with an old friend. She's the owner of Socks and Souls which you should really check out. They have some GREAT art themed socks. I scooped up several. 

 Making friends from my old stomping grounds was so cool. My buddy Nora teaches in Joliet where I grew up!

Jen and I managed to stay out of trouble late into the evening with a group of other art teacherin' types. 

 The next day, I was back hanging out with Natasha again. We made the world's biggest felted collaborative piece. Can you believe this beauty?! I will DEFINITELY be sharing a complete blog post on this with video included. It was so much fun!

Illinois, I had a blast! I was so excited to speak and share with y'all as well as LEARN from some of the best art educators I've met. I was so thrilled to speak in this theatre that I had Jen snap my photo under the marquee...it wasn't until the photo was taken that I realized the movie they were showing. Idiocracy. How fitting!

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In the Art Room: Wisconsin Fall Art Conference, 2016!

So, never having been a teacher of any other subject, what I'm about to say is completely based on my totally biased and awesome opinion: Art Teacherin' Conferences Are THE BEST Conferences. There. Take that Typing Teacher Conferences (1. Is there such a thing? 2. It took me five minutes to come up with some sort of teacherin' conference to reference without hurting feelings. Sorry, Typin' Teachers. Y'all just don't strike me as the party animal type).

Last Wednesday, I got up at the butt-ugly hour of 2:30 am (that is MORNING, people) because I was so eager to get to the Wisconsin fall art conference and join my soon-to-be best friends. Well, that and the fact that the only decent flight I could find was at that unholy hour. Flying over Wisconsin was a beautiful treat. Can you believe this landscape? 

The WI fall conference was in LaCrosse which is my new favorite town. There's a bar, an antique shop and coffee spot on every corner. That's a winning town in my book. As I was walking out of the airport, my two favorite Wisconsinites were walking in to pick me up: Jen Dahl and Tiffany Beltz. Both Jen and Tiffany worked their tails off to make the WI art conference amazing. Tiffany went above and beyond recruiting fantastic presenters, hand-stenciling over 400 packets for each attendee, baking cupcakes for all involved AND presenting her self! She's a beast, that Tiffany Beltz. I want whatever she's having. Seriously, Jen and Tiff, y'all made my trip a wonderful one, thank you so stinkin' much!

After having a wonderful breakfast with Jen and Tiff, I did my best to lend a hand and help set up. Really, there was nothing to it, they had everything so well organized. That evening, there was a lovely reception for the art teachers who had artwork on display. It was there that I got to meet my online friend Jeanne Bjork. What I loved so much about meeting my folks whom I've only known online is the ease that I can chat with them. It's almost like reuniting with old friends. 

That morning, after a lovely breakfast with Jeanne, I managed to pop into a sessions that looked like so much fun: Stuffed Monsters. Dustin Anderson, Wisconsin art teacher, lead the session and it was so much fun. Big shout out to Dustin for allowing me to crash his monstrous party!

My kids are gonna LOVE this lesson!

My favorite thing about attending conferences: making new friends and seeing what others create. Art teachers are so stinkin' creative, y'all. Go figure. 

Immediately after Dustin's session was mine. I taught two hour long needle felting classes back to back. I love teaching needle felting because it's a craft that EVERYONE can do. It's like having a big ole craft night with all of your new favorite friends. 

We stabbed and stabbed ourselves palettes or anything else we had in mind. My buddy Lindy needle felted poppies onto a pair of leg warmers!

 I do believe I created a bunch of needle felting monsters!

 The following hour long sesh created the same cuteness. Our supplies came from Back to Back Fiber (thank you, Sue!). 

I mean, look how cute! I wonder how many of these were worn when the teachers returned to school. 

I taught over 60 ladies to needle felt! I need to invest in a herd of sheep, y'all. 

After attending a wonderful presentation on mindfulness in the art room, I met up with a group of art teachers who wanted to take the later afternoon to soak up LaCrosse and it's vintage offerings. I had so much fun with my new buddies! We hit LaCrosse Prairie Vintage, a coffee shop and a three story antique mall all before settling down for Bloody Marys, deep fried cheese curd and something called Tat-Chos (um, tater tot nachos aka HEAVEN ON A PLATE). It was so funny, when we were paying the tab, my friend Bonnie remarked, "it seems like it must be so late!" We looked down at our watches only to find it was only 7pm. We'd worn ourselves out!

Bright and early the next morning, I was up and on stage. I was the keynote speaker for the conference (that sounds so strange to say!). I had so much fun sharing stories about my art teacherin', art makerin' and life living journey. Normally, I get a touch of the jitters when presenting but the folks of WI make me so comfortable that it was like chatting with old friends. Love all y'all!

Right after that, I was back to workshop teaching. This time, I taught two hour long sessions on weaving. We explored cord and straw weaving. 

Special thanks to Leah Keller, Frank Korb and Jeanne for helping me wrangle up supplies since I ran out! I managed to overpack my outfits and under pack supplies because #priorities. 

I really gotta say it again: my fave part of the conference: making new friends.

Hanging out with folks like Frank, making new friends and catching up with "old" ones is my most favorite thing ever. Thank you so much, Wisconsin, for having me. I love y'all and had an absolute blast!

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In the Art Room: AOE Winter 2017 Conference

Hey, kids! I thought I'd share with y'all something rather embarrassing: my very first video created, ever (well...except for those VHS recordings I created in middle school of my Ed Grimley impersonation. Fingers crossed those never surface). I first began working with AOE back in 2013 for their online conferences. I used a GoPro camera (which is not exactly known for it's high quality sound, as you'll see) and paid a former student $20 to teach me how to use iMovie (thank you, Griff!). I've learned a whole lot since then...but we all start somewhere. Despite the poor sound quality and the fishbowl effect, I do still believe in the ideas I shared in that presentation. So I've dusted it off and popped it up for y'all to view:

I'm sharing this today for a couple of reasons: I'll be presenting with AOE again this winter on, of all things, video recording! I know showing video instruction is hot in the art rooms right now (it's commonly referred to as "flipped instruction" but edu-buzz words make my skin crawl) and I use them all the time with my students. In fact, you can keep up to date with them by subscribing to my YouTube channel. But lately I've been thinking of ways of taking my recordings one step further: by interviewing artists, acting out proper clean up procedures with colleagues and more. In my presentation this winter, I'll be chatting with you about ways to go beyond videoed instruction even if you've never recorded a single lesson. I'm so excited!

If you apply for the Winter 2017 AOE Conference before December 1st, you'll qualify for the early bird price of $99. Also...if you use the code SAVE10WITHCASSIE, you'll get an extra 10% off! Yippie skippie, y'all! 

Here are somethings I love about the AOE online conferences: 

The After Pass. I don't usually have the entire day to spend watching the presentations. I like knowing that I can watch a little, take a break and then finish them off at a later date.

The Handouts. Who doesn't love a good handout, right?! From lessons plans to supply lists, the handouts have it all.

The Chance to Chat. One thing I do love is the opportunity to talk with teachers all over THE WORLD! That is seriously my favorite part. The conversations I engage in and ideas that are shared add a whole 'nuther later of awesome to the conference. 

So! I hope to "see" y'all there!

Oh! Speaking of coming a long way...here is a video I created last spring about creating videos. Wish I woulda known then what I know now. Oh well, such is life, y'all!

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What I Wore #94 and Adventures in San Diego!

Coronado Beach at the Del Coronado Hotel in Sunny California: Wish I could say I stayed at this lovely place but at close to $500 a night, that's just a wee bit outta my teacher budget. The most I could manage was a $6 single scoop of ice cream whilst soaking up the sun on the beach. dress: vintage; sunglasses: Target; sunflower sweater: thrifted DIY, details here; sunflower tights: amazon

 Ya'll, I'm not gonna lie. It was super hard coming back to home and school after several amazing days in sunny San Diego. In fact, I can hardly remember what life was like before San Diego. It's like all those sun rays, amazing sessions and fun experiences meeting old-new friends zapped my brain. But in this post, Ima gonna try! And I thought I'd share with you just a handful of my favorite moments at NAEA.

 The Beginning of a Crazy Week Monday: There was a lot that went down last week and I was really worried I'd not be able to manage it all. I kinda did...but just barely. I thought my outfit should reflect my crazy week ahead. sweater: old, Anthro; dress: vintage, Buffalo Exchange; tights: Target; necklace: The Paper Source; hair clip: made by me; shoes: Dolls by Nina

 Field Trippin' Tuesday: Do art field trips stress you out as much as they do me?! I usually have nightmares that the kids are going to morph into an unruly mob that storms the museum and eats the artwork. Thankfully, that didn't happen this time and we had an awesome time exploring The Frist Center for Visual Arts. dress: Anthro, found at Buffalo Exchange; blouse: gift; boots and belt: Anthro; necklace: DIY by me

Sharpen Your Pencils Wednesday: After buying this dress, I coulda kicked myself as I think I coulda totally felted it! I mean, I did something similar here...but sometimes it's nice just to splurge. And, being polyester, I don't have to worry about ironing the thang! sweater and shoes: thrifted; dress: pyramidcollection.com; tights: Target

 School Carnival Thursday: Because I'm a glutton for punishment AND whipped cream, I volunteered to pull a double shift in the pie-in-your-face booth at our school carnival. Now, you're SUPPOSED to sit behind some plastic curtain and poke your head through, but where's the fun in that?! So I donned my Disney rain poncho, my shower cap and googles and let the kids fire away. 

 And they got me pretty good! Now you'd think whipped cream would be tasty but it starts to smell like spoiled milk the minute it hits skin. Nastiness!

 Off to Sunny San Diego Friday!: I was so lucky to travel and room with two of the most fun art teachers I know (hey Rebecca and Allison!). We had such a great time together! dress: Modcloth; tights: gift; boots: Lucky Brand

 Man. I seriously could go conferencin for a livin if it looked like this. San Diego, I loves you!

Me and my super fun roomies who are both incredible art teachers in Nashville. They teach at the same school and have so much fun that I wish I taught with them!

Super Saturday: Of course, I was totally starstruck for a good portion of the trip. I mean, look who I'm surrounded by! My fave bloggers and pinners! Starting from the left, there's Phyl from There's a Dragon in my Art Room, Patty from Deep Space Sparkle, Rina of K6Art, and Donna Staten, the Pinterest Queen! Each of these ladies was so delightful, meeting them totally made my trip.

 I was so happy to sit and chat with Phyl. We share A LOT of the same views on teaching so it's like talking to myself. Which I do anyway but this was way better because no one stopped and stared.

Seriously Awesome Sunday: I started my day presenting on a carousel concerning art advocacy on the elementary art level. I was so happy to be carrousellin' with (left to right) Nancy Walkup, SchoolArts editor, art teacher/tech-guru extraordinary Tricia Fuglestad and STEM/STEAM advocate, Christine Besack.

 One of my favorite parts of the day was the Blogger Meet and Greet hosted by The Art of Education.  These are folks that I feel such a virtual connection with...so it was awesome to meet them in person. Not to mention meeting all the amazing art teachers who dropped by to say hello! I feel like I'm coming home with a buncha friends in my suitcase. In the back, from left to right is Ian Sands (Art of Apex High School), Jessica Balsley (founder of AOE), Donna Staten - pinterest queen!, Ted Edinger (Mr. E),  and Amy Zschaber (Artful Artsy Amy). In the front row from left to right is Nic Hahn of Mini Matisse, Rina, Phyl and Tracy (Don't Drink the Paint Water).

 Daw, look how super cute and retro Nic Hahn looks! I have a feeling I could sit and chat with this girl all day (I mean, look at those earrings!). Sadly we didn't have much of a chance -- next time!

 Isn't Amy Z so super cute?! She has so bright and happy, I am certain her students adore her and her energy.

Flowers from Old Town: Coming home was so hard...but I missed the hubs and the cat. Oh! And my students. I think it just might take me several days to really digest all that I learned...but when I do, I'll be certain to share it with you. Until then!

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