Deep Space Sparkle Workshop, 2016

This summer has been the summer of Doin' Stuff: finishing a book, creating two Art Scout Camps with my fellow Troop Leaders, working on a coupla top secret projects (I'm not trying to hide things from y'all, I promise. More details when I'm free to share 'em!) and, last but certainly not least: co-presenting with my buddy Laura Lohmann at Patty Palmer's Deep Space Sparkle Workshop!  

In BEAUTIFUL Santa Barbara, y'all. I've already picked out my Barbie Dream House on the beach. 

The theme of the Deep Space Sparkle Workshop was Latin Art and I loved that folks got dolled up for the part. I mean, how cute are these ladies in their handmade Frida crowns? 

The Workshop started at a comfortable California pace at midday on Friday. Everyone was greeted with a smile and a swag bag full of goodies. 

To jump start the Workshop, Patty opened by chatting about establishing a mindset of making in the art room. Many of the ladies in the audience traveled from all over the country (and one from South Korea!) and are all walks of teacherin' life: some where art teachers, classroom teachers, special needs educators and a yoga instructor who brings art into her studio! So many lovely ladies who have one thing main thing in common: the desire to teach creativity to children. Can you ask for a better bunch?

 I was up right after Patty (tough act to follow much?!) and, I'll admit, I was a wee bit nervous. I've presented on a much smaller scale before but nothing like this. I was mic'ed up, there was a film crew and close to 200 folks in the audience. However, being with such a wonderful group of ladies who quickly became friends really put my mind at ease. I shared with them something I do so love: fiber arts!

On our first day together, we prepped and painted our plates for circle loom and tree weaving. And look how pretty!

 Ohhhhh!

 Ahhhhh!

Oh my! I loved each and every one ever before the addition of the weaving!

Next up was the always-awesome Laura! I love her painted apron and Frida crown, don't you?

Laura shared with everyone her super spectacular technique of teaching painting to children...without the mess of water. I'm so ready to give this a go in my art room this year.

She also shared her love of Crayola's Model Magic clay. The ladies had a fabulous time exploring and creating with this medium. 

 Each creation was so much fun and completely unique.

Someone was loving the beach as much as I was!

The patterns was what struck me with this piece. 

To wrap up the first day, Patty hosted a lovely fiesta. Complete with delicious food, drinks and a chance for everyone to mingle and make new friends. It was such a pleasant way to end the first day.

The following day, we started bright and early with a fun Mexican tile printmaking project taught by Patty.

I've never tried printmaking with water-soluble oil pastels but now I am itching to give it a go!

Now that our plates were dry, we were ready to dive into tree and circle loom weaving. 

Weaving can be tricky to teach to a room 200 folks. To do so, I'm simply explained the process as I do to my students: slowly and simply. The weavings turned out so beautifully. 

What I love about teaching is that folks come up with their own unique ways to problem solve. We had fun sharing our different ideas and thoughts about approaching weaving with children.

From there, Patty did a wonderful portrait lesson featuring Frida Kahol.

And Laura shared two fun projects that were both colorful and bright: large marigold paintings and a still life collage. 

 The room literally blossomed!

 This is a project I so want to bring back to my art room. 

 So much happy!

Patty wrapped the Workshop with a final project (not shown) and a good ole Q & A session. Then, sadly, we had to say goodbye to our new friends. I managed to get a couple of photos...but many were pulled from Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Thank you for sharing those photos, new besties!

 Masters of the Art Teacherin' Universe (and weaving!).

 My Facebook buddies and I finally had the chance to meet in person. Loved meeting you, Cheri...

 and Charlene! 

And the super sweet and adorable Leann. Making new friends is always my favorite part of workshops!

It was such a fun weekend of connecting, creating and, well let's be honest, being in sunny So Cal. 

BIG THANK YOU to Patty for having me join her wonderful Workshop. Until next time, y'all!

Art Teacherin' 101: Episode 11

Hi, friends! I've got a couple of things I really want to share with y'all today...and I think they go very well together: Finding Your Passion (and bringing that to your teaching) and Promoting Peace, Love and Kindness. 

If you are scratching your head wondering just how these two things go together, hear me out:

You cannot be a happy art teacher if you aren't a happy person. And people are most happy when they are fulfilled. You might find fulfillment in hiking, painting, kayaking, or if you're me, sewing. Whatever fuels your tank, find it. And then make sure that tank stays full the very best you can. It will make you a happier person and a happier teacher. 

Happy people want others to find their happiness. If you don't believe me, think of the opposite, those folks that have tried to take you down a notch: they've insulted your creations, they've pooh-poohed your ideas, they said "you can't do that!" Those folks aren't happy and they don't want you to be either. It's salt in their wound. 

Once you've found your happiness outlet, and you've made the time to actively pursue it, you are going want to share the happiness. It's then that you want others to find their passion. You can do this by promoting peace, love and kindness. 

But more on that in a sec...lemme share with y'all how I struggled to find my happiness in teaching: 

It took a long time for me to stop listening to the self-doubt talk. I oftentimes think of all the time I WASTED telling myself that I couldn't learn to sew, that it was too late to learn, that I should be doing something more productive with my time. What I didn't know is that creating is being productive! It frees the mind, opens the heart, makes you feel passionate...about creating and teaching. 

I hate listening to the news. I hate seeing all of the anger all over the world. I hate to even imagine just how this is affecting my students. What kind of world are we building for them? But I can't just go to my sewing room and pretend it's not happening. That would make me partially responsible  don't you think? I've been chatting with other art teachers about flipping the coin and making kindness a priority. Next week, in Art Teacherin' 101, I'll be sharing some exciting ideas on how we can work together to help make the world a little bit of a kinder and happier place. To get the party started, I've created a Calendar of Kindness for the month of August that I'd love for all y'all to join me in!

You might remember, back in May, I hosted a lil social media photo-a-day challenge called #wecanmakeitmay. The same deal applies to this challenge: snap a photo for every day in August following the prompts and use the hashtag #peacefulheART. Share photos via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or all of the above. Let's share how we are promoting peace, love and kindness and flood social media with the goodness in the world! Let's learn from each other and gain lessons on how to promote kindness in our art rooms. 

Let's work together to create a kinder, gentler world for our students using our passion: creating and teaching art.

Okay...are you in? Love y'all

Ima head on back to my happy place and dream up some kind thoughts and practices...

DIY: A Starry Night Dress (Yes, Another One)

Lemme share with y'all a lil story about a crazy person who THINKS she can sew but is totes winging it 99.2% of the time. Look, kids, I come by this know-it-all-but-don't-know-nuthin' attitude naturally. How about I paint a picture for ya: I've been living in the Nashville area for something close to 20 years now. Every single time my dear sweet crazy mama comes to visit, she gets lost. Like, WAY lost. Like, calling me after driving 40 miles past my house, lost. Mind you, I've not moved anywhere different in the last 7 years. The roads have not mysteriously changed. I don't live in the Bermuda Triangle. This woman, who owns both a GPS and has Siri on speed dial (I know that's not really a "thing" but whateves), REFUSES to use either of these modern-day handy dandy devices because she THINKS she knows where she's going. 

 Kinda like her daughter. Who THINKS she knows how to sew. 

Riddle me this: Would a fur realz stitcher create a Franken-Dress with a mashup of 6 patterns?! Me thinks not. 

In other news, some bird was DYING for some air time, y'all. Get that fine feathered friend on The Voice, stat!

In other-other news, there is not a single solitary photo of me standing still like a normal person. I blame that enormous circle skirt and yellow crinoline. You try wearing that combo and not spinning yourself silly!

So let's start with the dress pattern that likes to shatter dreams, ruin lives and drive folks to drink (it's a short drive, y'all. It don't take much): Butterick B5606. Like, whut the heck. It looks all easy peasy, right? Well, lemme tell you, it's a lie. I hit a road block on the SECOND STEP. I watched tutorials. I read blog posts. I laughed. I cried. I shook my hands at the heavens and wondered just how Butterick had managed to dupe me into another dress pattern again (it's been a while...but my distaste for Butterick goes WAY back). I'll tell you how: it was That Bow. 

 That's all I really wanted outta that dress, that bow. I was determined to make it happen even if I wasn't about to learn how to sew a gusset or whatever that nonsense Butterick Step 2 was taking about. 

So I did the unthinkable. Serious Sewists, plug your ears: I cut the pattern apart. That's right, I cut off the long tail in the pattern that makes the bow and I used it to cut out the yellow strips for the bow. I had no idea just how I was gonna make that yellow bow happen but I was determined. 

And that's when I busted out my trusty tried and true Simpliciy 8087. This one never lets me down. It's my go-to because I'm a fan of that waistband. I used the pattern for the waist and the back bodice from here. Then, again, I did something crazy: I cut the back of this pattern to match that of Butterick. Yep, I cut a big ole honkin' curve outta the back of the bodice pattern (I've since taped it back together, stop sweating) to accommodate the open bowed back. Then I did some magical trickery (read: I'm too lazy to type it all out) and shazam! I had a bowed back and a big ole waistband!

Now if you follow me on Instagram, then you know this dress had short sleeves instead of capped for a while. It just made the dress seem too heavy and matronly. So I used yet another pattern for the cap sleeves and pockets (YAZ, Y'ALL. This thing has pockets!) 

So I only used this pattern for a hot minute for the front bodice. I don't know what I did wrong but my neckline comes up way higher than hers. Just sayin'. 

Like, see?

The Anna Maria Full Circle Skirt is my go-to for a circle skirt pattern. I love it because, unlike my vintage circle skirt patterns, it's a modern length. I did add three inches to the bottom of the pattern to get this length. And I did have to bust out the Scout Tee just to make a wee bias tape to hide a mistake on the bodice. Because I was at the end of my seam-rippin' rope, kids. 

Yellow chucks and crinoline come courtesy of Amazon. That crinoline was delivered to my doorstep on Sunday!

So, here she is! ANOTHER Starry Night Dress (my other one here)! One made without the help of Siri or a GPS...just like my mama done taught me. Until next time, if you see a crazy lady about 40 mile south of Nashville, send her my way, would you please? 

 

What the Art Teacher Wore #167

 Marvelous Monday: Ah...this week actually felt like SUMMER! I didn't have too obligations on my agenda except to visit buddies, hit estate sales and do whatever I wanna do. Isn't that what summer is supposed to be all about? dress: sweet little five dollar estate sale number from the 50's. I'm in love! belt: a market in L.A.; yellow Chucks: Amazon; bag: Goodwill Outlet

Hey there, party people! I hope this week has treated you well. It's been a fun and relaxing one here. I've stitched, worked on a couple new projects to share with y'all and in my art room, attended and presented at the Art Ed Now conference, estate sale'd and met up with buddies for coffee and lunch. The perfect summer agenda, says me! 

Next week, the fun really begins: the hubs and I are taking off for Southern California for a short vacation. Then my buddy Laura is flying in for us to join the amazing Patty Palmer at her Deep Space Sparkle Workshop! We are so excited to meet the attendees and share our passion for creating with children. I'll keep all y'all posted. Until then, have a fabulous week!

 If you follow me here, then you know I'm learning to play the uke. I've not played a musical instrument since my sad attempt to learn the violin in college (my apologies to EVERYONE who lived on the second floor in Edmonson at I.U.!). I'm a slow learner but this instrument seems like something I might be able to handle. The end goal is to learn to play We Will Rock You (odd choice, I know, but hear me out) so that I can play accompaniment when we sing Art Will Rock You in my art room! I've been working on more lyrics to share with y'all as well as how I plan to use it in my art room. Stay tuned, I'll be sure to keep you posted! 

 Terrific Tuesday: I've not had much luck shopping for vintage and other goodies at the thrift stores of late. This Anthropologie dress that I scored a while back is still one of my fave finds. I love the vintage cut of the dress! dress: Anthro, found at the thrift; belt: Pin Up Girl Clothing; shoes: Chucks found at DSW; bag: Enid Collins, antique

 This is the first time since May that I've had a chance to spend time in my sewing room. I have a small stockpile of vintage dresses that I've thrift picked over the last couple of months that are in need of minor repair before wear. I decided to knock out a couple before starting a new sewing project. The red dress (scored for a mere $8 at Buffalo Exchange) just needed to have the elastic in the shoulders tightened up!

 Wonderful Wednesday: And now look at the dress! I am in love with the print and the cut. I also dig how well it matches my Enid Collins bag. dress: vintage, Buffalo Exchange; belt: Pin Up Girl Clothing; shoes: DSW; bag: vintage Enid Collins, ebay

 If you attended the AOE Now online conference and happened to hang out with me while I chatted about fiber arts in the art room, then you got a sneak peak of my sewing room! This is also where many of my Art Teacherin' 101s have been filmed of late (y'all should subscribe. New videos about all things art teacherin' drop every Wednesday). I'm fortunate to have a space to sew. It'd be a lot  bigger of  a space if I didn't cram it full of fabric, felting supplies and patterns. But these things make me so happy. And, like a true hoarder, I like to surround myself with everything, all at once, all the time. 

 Thoroughly Thursday: I managed to pack so much into my Thursday it was bananas. Early morning estate sales, Art Ed Now conference and chat, Indian food, afternoon coffee with an art teacherin' friend and her wee baby and thrift store shopping. I love a packed day when it's filled to the brim with funness. dress: vintage. It once was a stained white before I dyed it fuchsia

 So, funny lil story: for the Art Ed Now conference, I needed to be available to chat and take questions during my session which was around noon. A storm was rolling in so I decided, five minutes before my air time, to run out and clear our deck of the furniture I didn't want damaged in the storm. And wouldn't ya know, the dern door locked right behind me. I was LOCKED OUTTA MY HOUSE. I could see my laptop on the kitchen table with Jessica about to introduce me and I literally screamed NOOO! 

Seriously. That was me. Dustin Hoffman. Thankfully, I'm married to a Boy Scout who is ALWAYS prepared and happened to have a spare key in a hidden spot. I made it inside just in time for my first question. Whew! Crisis averted. 

 Fabulous Friday: Lunch with a friend was the biggest item on my To Do list this day. Not to shabby after the mountains of To Do's I've been climbing of late. A girl could get used to this. top: vintage, Buffalo Exchange; circle skirt: vintage, estate sale; belt and yellow Chucks: Amazon; bag: made by me, details here

This weekend, I've decided to dive right into my first Back to Schoolin' dress with a mash up of five dress patterns (eep!) and some fab fabric found at Joann's. Stay tuned! I hope to have this complete by next week to share with y'all!

Art Teacherin' 101: Episode 10

Hello, art teacherin' types! I'm here with you today because those Back-to-School nightmares have already started. All y'all know what I'm talking about: crowded art room full of kids going absolutely bananas while the classroom teacher waits looking at her watch, shaking her head and tapping her foot. You scream, "Hey! Hey, guys!" about a half dozen times to get their attention only to see Susie cut a hunk off Janie's hair with a pair of razor sharp scissors while Billie and Beau crumple up artwork and break crayons over each other's heads. I wake up with cold sweats in a panic: I MUST GET TO SCHOOL AND PREPARE!

I'm here today to tell you this: DON'T DO IT! Enjoy what's left of your summer. You've earned every drop of freedom. However, I know it's hard to enjoy this time off when the dark shadow of back-to-school supplies at Target is looming over you. Well, lemme set your mind at ease. To prepare for the first coupla days of school, you don't need the prettiest art room, the most prepared lessons or plotted out script. All you need to do is remember one simple word:

This word is the perfect acronym for a fool proof back-to-school formula. Check it out:

W = Welcome 
Welcome those kids to your art room with a heartfelt greeting! It will kick your class off right.

E = Entrance
Make sure your students understand how to "make an entrance". Getting your artists into your room in a calm, quick and quiet manner means you have more time to create!

L = Let Them Know Expectations
I have one rule: Be Kind. However, that one rule holds a lotta weight. So this year, I'm creating a short video to share with my students to quickly walk them thru my expectations. This means, I won't leave anything out when I talk to my dozens of art classes!

C = Create!
Make sure there is time to create on that first day! They've sat and listened to rules and procedures all day long...make your room different. Allow them to get messy on that very first day. They will love you for it.

O = Observe
Be like a scientist on a safari. Observe these art makin' creatures to see who needs to be moved, who needs to have access to different supplies, who needs more peer tutoring. Take all of that information in so you can use it in the future.

M = Make Them Feel Special
Everyone responds to love. Show it in a way that both you and your students are comfortable with. For me that means a lot of side hugs. We also use sign language in my art room. Signing "I love you" is one way we show we care about each other.

E = Exit
Making an exit is just as important as an entrance. I have a habit of getting the kids juiced up, it's just my nature. So I'm working on some new procedures to have them leave calmly. Sign language has really been helping in that department!

So there you have it! Instead of worrying away your summer about those first days of school, just breathe and remember WELCOME. Shoot, even paint yourself a sign if you have to. That's what I did!

In other news, as you do plan for the new school year, check out my buddy Laura Lohmann's ART TEACHER PLANNER! What the what?! Where has this been all my life! Now I have no excuse not to get my life together. At least that's what my life coach tells me. Ya'll best check it out.