Showing posts with label fall. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fall. Show all posts

Sunday, September 10, 2017

In the Art Room: Collaged and Printed Landscapes

I'm launching a ton of landscape projects with my students this fall. I shared the Claire West inspired landscape project my fourth grade is working on here. This week, I'll be rolling out my third graders' landscape lesson. Today I thought I'd share with y'all the Elouise Renouf-inspired landscape collage that my first graders will be doing! Here's the video'ed lesson that you are more than welcome to use in your art teacherin' world:
I was recently asked how I share these videos with my students: do I show the video in it's entirety or just in bite sized bits. Definitely the latter: I share what we will be working on that day. I share the opening, of course, as an intro to the artist...and we dig deeper into the work of the artist in LIVE format (meaning sans vid). The first day I taught this lesson, I didn't have my video ready for one class so I did it LIVE. I managed to get some footage of me teaching and thought I'd share:
Once again, what's my take-away? I TALK TOO MUCH! Seriously, filming myself teaching has really helped me grow as a teacher. I know what it is I'm doing wrong (so many things!) and what I need to improve upon. I also see what I am doing right and what the kids are responding too. It's painful to watch but super enlightening.
If you've not explored the work of Elouise Renouf, you really should. I love everything she creates and found so much inspiration. 
I will definitely share the progress my first graders make on this landscape adventure. Until then, have a great week, y'all!
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Sunday, October 9, 2016

DIY: Zombie Head Planters

These here Zombie Head Planters are the ugliest things I've ever made and I really couldn't be happier. Weird? Yes. Okay with that? Totes. 
I mean, you gotta have respect for something that finds brains appetizing, y'all. 
 So I got the idea to create these Zombie Head Planters last week after I wrapped up my last Celluclay creation. I STILL had half a bag left of the stuff (a little goes a long way...and even with these guys and the pumpkins, I still have some left over) so I actually have another project I'd love to do...but more on that later. 
Let's talk about the brainz-eaters at hand, shall we?
Over the summer, I picked up these little plastic planters from Target with the grand idea that I'd plant herbs in them or something. That didn't happen and so six of these dudes were sitting around collecting dust. I had been using them to prop up my pumpkin heads as I worked on them...which gave me the idea to create these. 
Need a review on how simple it is to work with Celluclay? Here you go!
Originally, I was just going to make the heads but I really liked the idea of the zombies having a body as well. So I used the upturned pottery for that. 
Again, I didn't sand the plastic or prep it in any way. The clay did take longer to dry this time as the weather is now cooler. So I put them in front of a fan overnight and they were dry the next day. They've yet to crack or flake off which is great. They are rock solid once painted and Modpodged. 
Painting was easy. I just picked a dark green color to paint everything, put them in front of the fan and started to dry brush on lighter colors. With a smaller brush, I added details. But, really, the painting is the easiest part. The surface of the Celluclay is perfect for zombies...who knew?!
My original idea was to have herbs in the planters but let's get real: I have a black thumb. So I shopped the heavily marked down fall floral isle of my local craft store and picked up what I thought would look good as hair and brain matter. I'm sure that's what everyone looks for in the floral isle, right?
True fact: I am no floral designer nor do I pretend to be. I seriously just used those floral foam thingies, hot glued some moss on that and stuck in some flowers. 
Side note: hot glue and styrofoam don't play well together. The hot glue melted the foam and, um, that was fun. I was watching Project Runway so I channeled my inner Tim Gunn and I made it work (which for me always means: ADD MORE HOT GLUE!).
And I'm kinda sorta thrilled with how they turned out! With faces only a mother could love. 
It's funny, whenever I'm tasked with creating something at a PD or otherwise, I ALWAYS make this lady. Sassy retro mama with a gnarly expression and usually a cigarette dangling from her lips. I think she's my spirit animal. 
This is my tribute to Gene Wilder's character in Young Frankenstein...note the hair. Of course, I had to zombie-ize him. I love how the moss looks like brains. 
P.S. these will NOT be on display in our bedroom. Their eyes seriously do follow you everywhere. 
Don't tell the others but this one is my favorite. It reminds me of Beetlejuice...which is super duper in my book. 
Now off to find just the perfect place in my house for these lovelies. Love to hear from you if you've worked with Celluclay and what you've created. You can comment below or shoot me an email. In the meantime, steer clear of the brain-eaters, y'all!
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Sunday, October 2, 2016

DIY: Vintage-Inspired Halloween


Every year, when fall approaches and the light begins to change, I get this urge to create. Often times that results in a Halloween-inspired dress, needle felted sweater or painting (stay tuned for a big ole blog post with all my fave fall crafts!). This year, I was inspired to create these wannabe vintage Halloween trick or treat buckets!
 I got the idea from a shop I happened by one morning. They had these sweet little papier mache treat buckets on display in their window that were more than likely made in a land far, far away. I immediately wanted to duck into the shop and scoop them all up but the nearly $40 price tag kept me away. Then I got the idea: I'd just hit up the thrift store on the way home, pick up some plastic trick or treat containers and make my own.
Here's how, y'all!
I found three of these at my local thrift store in various sizes. I happened to have a couple bags of Celluclay that had been in my school storage closet for almost as long as I've been there. 
I had one of the big bags...and as you can see in the video I'v hardly put a dent in the thing. A little goes a long way. What I love about the clay as opposed to papier mache is that it goes on so much faster and doesn't have the texture of elephant snot. So there's that.
 Here's the making of the cat. I knew I wanted ears so for him, I simply hot glued some tag board ears to the top.
 I had a wee big of a battle with the handle but I made it work. 
Surprisingly, the tag board was able to withstand the weight of the clay. 
Covering the pumpkins was the first step. It seemed to take forever and was not my fave. I was ready to dive into the face-making part!
 So much fun. I drew a lot of inspiration from a "vintage Halloween" google search. That lead me to this incredible artist Johanna Parker who I'm currently a huge fan of!
 It was nearly 90 degrees the day I set these guys outside which worked out perfectly as they were dry in no time. This winter, when I experimented with the clay, it took up to a week to dry and did mold a bit on the bottom because I forgot to rotate the clay project. So, not only do I suffer from Cellu-Lung but also Cellu-Mold neither of which my insurance covers. Of course. 
The surface was rough but not difficult to paint. I do think kids would struggle as it is def not the easiest surface if you are trying to paint neatly. I rather dug the texture though as it meant I could play around with layers of paint and depth.
I think painting the white pumpkin was my favorite. I started by painting it completely orange then layering the white on top with a dry brush. 
After painting the details of the face, I went back and added the line on the pumpkin in orange and a dry brush of light orange and yellow. Once they were dry, I went over each with satin ModPodge to add just a hint of shine. 

I really can't decide if these pumpkins are ugly or cute. I'm going with ugly cute. Regardless, they will not be on display in our bedroom as I can't have that creeper staring at my when I'm trying to sleep. 
Ugh. I kinda wanna make more! My fall break is quickly approaching, I just might have to!
 If you follow me here, I know you've seen me sharing the process like crazy. I'd love to know if you give this a go! 
 Not gonna lie, this one's my fave. 
 But this one is a close second!
Next up on the fall crafterin' agenda: a Black Cat dress and a EYEBALL sweater, eek! I can't wait. Til then, y'all!
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Sunday, October 18, 2015

DIY: My Top 5 Fave Things About Fall

Good evening, foolish mortals! I don't know about all y'all but I'm beyond thrilled that it's fall. YES, I'm aware that rhymed. And YES, I'm aware that my poetry skillz are the stuff of envy. Not everyone can match this quarter pounder with cheese of awesome. Since I'm a big fat hairy fan of all things Halloween-ie and Fall-tastic (case in point: check out the blog post behind those Haunted Mansion pants here), I thought I'd slap together this here post of my Top 5 Fave Thingies about Fall, y'all! What are your fave fall-ish things? Or, more importantly, what are you dressing up as this Halloween? 
1. Costumes! Best part of fall? Dressing up for Halloween, of course! We're not "allowed" to dress up for the big day at my school but, really, I look like I'm dressed for the occasion nearly everyday. And if I can tie it in with what the kids are learning about, all the better, right? Here's one of my fave costumes to date: Mary Poppins
While we were studying all things Frenchie one year, I dressed as everyone's fave school girl, Madeline! That was an easy costume to slap together and so much fun to wear while reading the book to the kids. 
'Kay, so, truth be told, that Crazy Art Teacher costume on the left isn't, um, a costume. That'd be a daily outfit in Art Teacherin' Land. But that Magritte number did fall on the big day and was fun to wear. Well, except for talking behind a giant apple all day. 
I'll actually be donning this number on Tuesday as we are celebrating Super Hero Day! Nothing like an art teacher/Lichtenstein inspo to come and save the day, right? 

2. El Dia de los Muertos! I love the beautiful artwork that comes from el dia de los muertos, it's some of my fave! It's so colorful and celebratory that it always makes me smile. I've tried my hand at creating several Day of the Dead crafts that dress being one of 'em. 
 Painting these flower pots for the occasions was a ton of fun. 
Of course just one Day of the Dead dress isn't enough so last year, I created this number. I had to add those pompoms at the bottom because, well, who doesn't love colorful pompoms?! 
When we travel, which we do a lot during October going to haunts, I love to embroider. Last year, I stitched up this piece on one of our trips. It's reversible, y'all! 
3.  Creating! The beauty of fall is always surprising to me, it's like I forget just how stinkin' pretty it is every single year. The smells and the leaves are what gets me every time. One of my fave fall activities are creating these leaf prints
I love how beautiful these always look and they are a great lesson in teaching positive and negative space, among a bah-zillion other thangs. 
Leaf reliefs are another big hit in the art room. Bring a lil science into your art room and you'll be a hit with all those big wigs. Or just wear a big wig like the one above and BOOM! you're the big wig and you can do what you want. In which case, you'll still wanna do these. 
A coupla years ago I collected every beautiful leaf I could find and I squished em in my leaf press. Then I went bananaz and made millions (okay, like seven) flattened leaf-y works. Like that one below. 
 They look so pretty on the wall when I bring 'em out in the fall (again, poet, I know it). 
4. Clothes! Well, y'all know clothes are my fave. I mean, when you catch me starring off into space, I'm thinking about one of two things: Donuts and Clothes. Prolly in that order. And Halloween clothes are just about my favorite. You can see that Frankendress here
Of course this Walking Dead-inspired frock has been super fun to wear to all of the Halloween events el hubbo and I love to go to. What? Is there something behind me? 
 Let's just go ahead and say it: sometimes, the fabric makes the dress. Case in point, y'all, this vintage horror flick frock. The fabric is my ab fab. 
Wanna hear something cray? I officially have so many Halloween wears that I've not even gotten around to wearing this one this year! 
 5. Being Inspired! This year, more than any other fall, I've really been inspired to paint, create and decorate! I got the idea to do this mug shot of The Bride back in August and I finally decided to dive in and just do it (thank you, Shia Labeouf!). 
And that's kinda how these guys were made too. I have this habit of putting things off (hello, lesson plans!) and I'm super bad when it comes to creating, believe it or not. I'm all about the list making and then the talking myself outta it. My new thing is just to dive in before my nay-sayin' side of my brain has any, um, nay-saying to say. Nay. And that's how these lil dudes came to be. 
AND this crazy cat thing
Fall marks the time of year when I start needle felting EVERYTHING. Like, seriously. No thrift store sweater, dress, pants, you name it, are unable to escape my needle stabbing abilities. Take this sweater for zample. 
And there you have it! What have you been creating this fall? Any embroidered goodness? Stitched stuff? Paintings? I'd love to know! Time's a-wasting...next thing you know, I'll be comin' at ya with Christmas crafts, ahhhhh!! Can't wait!

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