In the Art Room: Radial Relief by Fourth Grade

I love a project that leads right into another. I also love a project where there is zero waste. 'Tis the reason I'm totes lovin' this Radial Relief by the Fantastic Fourth Grade!

If these look familiar to you, that's because these were our printing plates we created a couple of weeks ago! You can read all about that lesson and see video demos here. 

For that project, I ordered cardboard pizza rounds (we used 14" but in the future, I would def use something smaller) and self-adhesive foam stickers. Michael's seemed to have the best deal in town on those. I love that Michael's and JoAnn's offer teacher discounts and take competitor's coupons as well as their own...unlike some craft megastores (not naming names...but their initials are H.L., ahem). 

This really proved to be an effective lesson in teaching all about radial balance!

 And resulted in a ton of colorful prints.

For the second phase of this project, we used spray adhesive, extra wide rolls of foil from the Dollar Tree and Sharpie markers. Just before the kids came, I took their printing plates outside, sprayed them with adhesive and slapped a piece of foil on top. 

From there, they trimmed the excess foil off, folded it around the backside and started adding color to their designs. We reviewed our study of radial balance, the elements of art and chatted about the principals of design. 

I love that we were able to create something beautiful from their printing plates. And they really enjoyed this process.

Of course, we did have a coupla dudes enter Emoji-land. Who can blame them? Emojis are rad. 

 By the way, the patterned papers you see in the background are what all of my early finishers have been creating. They will be used in our upcoming What Lifts You mural that I'm super stoked about.

But I really love the backdrop they create for these pieces so I just might have to make them apart of the hallway display if we have any extra!

Have y'all used this technique with your student's printing plates? I'd love to know if you have and what spin you put on this project idea. 

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What the Art Teacher Wore #164

Memorial Monday: This has become my fave Memorial Day ensemble...especially with the addition of my few fave shoe obsessions: Converse. As I get older, my feet start doing more dictating as to what kind of footwear they'll tolerate. I have been loving colorful Cons of late. A predict a new shoe obsession coming on. dress: Anthro, couple years ago; belt: Pin Up Girl Clothing; crinoline: Amazon; shoes: DSW

Ahhh. There is nothing quite like the first full week of summer. I'd like to say I've spent it relaxing and soaking up the free time but to be honest, this is shaping up to be one of my busiest months yet! I might have shared with you before that I'm working with Quarry books on one of their Lab series of books. Mine will feature 52 clay projects crafted from non-kiln fired clays. My deadline is at the end of this month so y'all better believe I'm busting my backside to get everything complete. I've been using my Time Timer MOD that Time Timer sent me (more below) and it has been WONDERFUL at helping me be more accountable with my time (I'm the worst at time management, guys. THE.WORST.) I'll definitely keep you posted on when the book is complete and released (turns out, those kind of things take months). 

Something else me and some of my favorite art teacherin' buddies have been working on is Art Scouts! If you follow me here, then you've been seeing our daily #countdowntocamp. We are so exited to spend next weekend with our favorite type of folks: art teachers! If you are attending, we look forward to seeing y'all real soon. 

Hope your week has been a wonderful one. Chat with you real soon!

If you follow me or my fellow Troop Leaders Laura Lohmann, Ginger Pacer and Jennifer Alvarado, then you know we are super stoked about Art Scouts. Not only do we have so many fun lessons to share with our fellow art teacherin' types but we also have huge bags of swag from our awesome sponsors. We are so looking forward to helping our scouts earn their art teacherin' badges in Bowling Green, Ohio this weekend! If you are interested, you can find out more here. 

 Bicyclin' Tuesday: So I'm reading a book (well, restarting reading a book, ahem) called Better than Before. It's a great book about cultivating good habits. I used to be very active and since the holidays, I fell of that wagon hard. So, I'm running each day, doing a little biking and waking each night when the temp cools. I'm so in love with this Schwinn I recently got. It's so fun to cruise around on...yes, in a dress. AND yes, with biking shorts underneath (you're welcome for the visual). dress: vintage; belt and crinoline: Amazon; shoes: Zappos

Big THANK YOU to all of you that joined in on #wecanmakeitmay! It was so much fun to see everyone's post on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook! The last photo challenge was a Big Toothy Grin. There was plenty of that at the end of this month! 

Feelin' Peachy Wednesday: The thing I love about summer is that I can wear my fave vintage dresses. During the school year, I often dress according to my lessons...but in the summer, I wear what suits me. I love this peachy color paired with the color of those shoes. dress and head scarf: vintage, thrifted; belt: Amazon; necklace: gift from a friend; Alice in Wonderland pin: Disneyland!; shoes: DSW

After sharing my love of the Time Timer in my Art Teacherin' 101 episode, they were kind enough to send me a Time Timer MOD. I am SO IN LOVE with this little guy! With looming deadlines, it's really helped me stay accountable and keep track of each moment I spend. I have been setting it for an hour and working solid without stopping for anything: no snacks, drinks, social media or bathroom breaks. That might sound drastic but with a person who suffers from adult ADHD as much as I do, it has really helped! It helped me meet several very big goals this week and that has me so excited. Thank you, TimeTimer! 

 Just Me and Asha Thursday: I didn't leave the house a'tall Thursday and Friday. That was my way of forcing myself to workworkworkworkworkwork (sorry, I had to). This means I spend a good majority of my time talking to the plants and Asha, the cat. Who spends most of her time, when she's not sleeping, begging me for food. I always cave. That's the power of the fur. dress: vintage; cherry pin: estate sale

 The hubs and I have been vegetarian for, like, ever. The problem is that we often fall into the trap of eating the same old same old which is mostly my fault. When I come home from school, I'm usually tired and hungry. Which means I binge on nuts and chips. When it comes time to eat, I'm still tired but no longer all that hungry. All that to say, there's been many a cereal and salad nights. With summer here, I'm trying to cultivate the habit of new recipes. We juice each morning but I'm trying to expand our drink horizons. This week, I tried radish, ginger, cucumber, kale and grapes. It was delish! We also tested a recipe from my Native Foods cookbook called Russian Velvet which was lentils, carrots, beets and onions pureed. It was a winner as well! I'm looking forward to trying out more recipes. 

Freaky Weather Friday: Storms rolled in this week, dropping the temps and bringing the rain. Left me grabbing my sweater and rain shoes (uh, my Crocs. Don't judge). Thankfully it wasn't as bad as some of the rainstorms I've been hearing about. Poor Paris and Texas, y'all! dress and sweater: vintage

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