Adventures with Jes: Nuremberg

I have a feeling poor Jes is going to meet an untimely death at some point. Poor little fella almost dropped to his doom during this photo. He's like a stuffed tiger Mr. Bill. Oh...that just gave me a whole fresh batch of ideas.

 Greetings from Deutschland! Since arriving on Wednesday, I've managed to embarrass myself countless times with my wee stuffed tiger.  Thankfully, my real traveling companions have been great sports and have done an excellent job of pretending that a grown woman snapping photos of a flattened cat is the most normal thing in the world. It's probably a good thing I don't understand a lick of German.

I thought I'd share with you some of my favorite photos of Jes in the beautiful town of Nuremberg. This is the second largest town in Bavaria (that's a southeastern German bundesland or state). It dates back to 1050, if you can imagine. We began our trip at the Kaiserburg which consists of three castles that tower over Nuremburg.

Yeah, so they don't have elevators to the top of this view. Which is probably a good thing for the two-gelato/three-pretzel/five-German-chocolate-bar diet that I'm workin on.

 During the Renaissance, this town was the hot spot for artists, craftsmen and those intellectual types. Kinda like the Soho of the day, so to speak. And with views like these, who wouldn't be inspired?

Several buildings just like the one above are apart of Kaiserburg. One of the things I've loved about being in Germany in the summer is seeing all of the beautiful flowers in bloom. It seems nearly each home has a window box bursting with color.

Who needs an alarm system when you've got a lock like that? This door leads to the castle grounds.

If I don't drop Jes to his doom, he will most assuredly be stolen by tourists. Not only is he popular with the kids (who think he's a free toy they've discovered when I set him down to take his picture) but adults alike as they've also began taking his picture. I can only imagine what their facebook caption would say: "Freak show American with stuffed tiger -- only in Europe!"

At the base of the castle is the home of one of Germany's most famous artists, Albrecht Durer. During the Renaissance era, Durer was best known for his prints but was also an incredible painter and draftsman. I cannot wait to share photos of his home and studio with the kids this fall.

"Don't hate me because I'm beautiful," Albrecht Duer, 1471-1528

Dunno Durer? Recognize these hands? Well this is one of his many masterpieces. You can check out more here.

St. Lorenz-Kirche or church. This beautiful church was built pre-Renaissance. It sits very close to some of the most amazing shops known to man where I may or may not have stuffed Jes into my purse and spent way too many euros.

Jes spinning the ring at Schoner Brunnen in Hauptmarkt. It's said that if you spin the rings at this 14th century fountain in Nuremberg's main market, you'll have wishes granted and good fortune. Wishing for more beautiful days, adventures and hoping hubs doesn't find all of the shopping bags I've stuffed in my suitcase.

 Well, that's all of Nuremberg for today! Stay tuned for Jes' adventures in Rothenburg ob der Tauber and Bamberg...if he makes it that far. Thanks for reading.

DIY: A Traveling Companion

Jes getting ready to board the plane to Europe.

 Well, in case you didn't already think that I was the most geeked-out art teacher there ever was, I went and did this. I created a stuffed version of our school mascot to take on our trip to Germany and the Netherlands. Oh yes, I did. And I'm so excited about it.

Each year, I come up with a theme of study in the art room. Last year, we studied all things Egyptian-y. You can see the end result of that here, here and here. Because of this trip to Europe (I have the good fortune of tagging along with hubs who is going for work), I thought I would take the kids on a trip European adventure with our school mascot, Jes the tiger, as their guide.

 Never having created a stuffed animal before, I went at it kind of haphazardly. In case you are dying to create your own stuffed school mascot, you'll need the following:

• two pieces of felt for the body
• buttons for the eyes and nose
• stuffing
• a sewing machine
• embroidery floss and needle
• extra felt for parts of body 

1. I began by sketching out the tiger. After I was pleased with the shape of the body, I pinned my drawing to my two pieces of felt and cut it out.
2. The same process was used for creating the face and muzzle. I drew it out, pinned my drawing to the felt and cut. 
3. From there, I pinned the face to the body and lightly drew in pencil the parts of the face.

 4. All sewing machines have a zigzag stitch. If you set the zigzag so that the stitches are close together, you get this applique stitch. This is what I used to attach the face to the felt as well as stitch the line for the muzzle, the mouth and attach the white fur on the tummy.

5. For the eyes and the mouth, I sewed some buttons on by hand.

6. The eyelashes, the whiskers and my tiger's name, Jes, were all embroidered by hand.

 7. For the last step, I layered stuffing between the two pieces of felt and, using the same applique stitch, stuffed my stuffy tiger.

Yes, I also created a passport. I told you: Geeked-Out Art Teacher.

 So, why in the world did I do this? Well, the plan is to take photos of Jes (that is the name I christened the tiger as it's the initials of my school) in Germany and the Netherlands to share with the kids. By viewing photos of Jes' explorations, I'm hoping the kids will be more intrigued and draw a greater connection to what they learn. Are you familiar with the Flat Stanley Project? It's the same thing but with our school mascot instead of a flattened dude.

When I asked hubs if I could get Jes' passport stamped at customs, he just looked at me. I suppose it's bad enough that his wife is snapping photos with a stuffed animal.

I have a large wall space in my room that I plan to create a map of Europe so we can track Jes' travels. I've got several other ideas of having Jes send postcards and small gifts to the kids. We'll see. Any ideas or suggestions you have would be greatly appreciated.

Because I'm not TOTALLY crazy and don't want to appear as such by dragging a stuffed animal around Europe, I created this bag to stuff Jes in.

 I do have a wee dilemma. My students will be learning about the art and life of the people of England, Italy and France as well. Sadly, I won't be traveling to any of these places in the near future. If you live in one of these lovely countries or know someone who does...someone that wouldn't mind snapping a couple photos with a sweet and adorable stuffed Tiger,  would you please let me know? Postage would be covered via paypal by me...and a gift of appreciation would most definitely be included.

Jes rolled up and ready to be stuffed into my carry on.

Passport in hand and ready to board.

 Because I know you are dying to be kept abreast with Jes' adventures, I'll be sure to share them with you. 

Thank you for reading and tolerating my art teacher geektasticness. 

Have a lovely week!

In the Art Room: Weaving, Part 2

Woven pouch created by one of my fantastic fourth graders.

Hello, crafty kids and grown-ups alike! Today I am going to show you how to add a flap to your woven pouch. If you've no idea what I'm talking about, you can quickly get caught up to speed by reading Weaving, Part 1. I do hope you'll join in on this weaving adventure. Ready to start? Okay, let's weave a flap!

You know you are ready to weave the flap when your weaving is at your desired height. I tell the kids that their weaving must be between 4-7", no taller, no smaller. Once there, you might want to trim those pesky pieces of yarn you tied together so your weaving looks a little less, er, hairy. The above is my trimmed-up, desired-height pouch.

For flap weaving, you will only be weaving on one side of your loom, not all the way around as you have been. Your first step will be to pick a side to weave your flap on. It does not matter which.

For pouch weaving, you will need to eat a delicious popsicle, stat. Preferably something chocolate. Rinse well. Weave your popsicle stick into your weaving, making certain to weave the opposite of the previous string. See above.

Now rotate your stick so that it lifts up every other string. Simply slide your needle into this string tunnel. This is where the kids Freak Out:

"What?!"

"Why haven't we been doing this the whole time?!"

"That is sooooo cool!"

Pull your needle all the way through so there is no excess yarn just like above.

Flip the stick down and use it to pack the weaving down. This means no more fork to pack the weaving. The kids like to refer to it as the "weaving guillotine". Where do they get this stuff?

Slide your guillotine, er stick, to the top of the weaving. Do not remove the stick. If you already did (tried to jump ahead, didn't you? Humph!) just reweave the stick back into your weaving. And don't do that again.

Remember, we are only weaving on one side of the loom. This means our needle will be going back and forth across our loom instead of around the loom. So, for this next step, you will not be turning your loom over but making a u-turn and weaving back. Notice I am not using the stick (I'll explain why in a moment). Be certain to weave in a pattern that is the opposite of the previous string.

Pull yarn all the way through at an arch. This will prevent some terrible thing called Draw In. More on that shortly. Slide your weaving stick down and pack the yarn.

Okay, if you smarties haven't figured it out, here is why you cannot use your stick when you are weaving in the opposite direction: you will unravel your weaving. This is why you can only use the stick when you are weaving in one direction. Sometimes the kids will draw an arrow on the stick so they know when to use the stick.

Ewww, this is bad! This is that dreaded thing called Draw In. This happens when the weaver is pulling too tightly. The year before my fourth graders tackle this weaving, we create a tapestry weaving. That's fancy talk for weaving on one side of the loom. This gives them lots of practice at avoiding and fixing draw in. You can see those weavings here.

The best way to avoid draw in: don't draw in. Stop pulling so hard when you are weaving back and fourth. Pull the yarn at an arch, like I showed earlier. The best way to fix draw in: remove it. That's right, unweave the unwanted. This might leave the end warp strings on the left and right loose making it difficult to avoid draw in again. If you notice that, turn your weaving over, pull up the slack on those strings and tape them taunt. Flip your weaving back to the flap side and resume flap weaving. Fleaving. Wlapping. Call it what you like.

And viola! Finished flap! I tell the kids their flap should be around 2" in height.

A sunglasses holder by a fourth grader.

Feel pretty good? Easy enough, right? Feel free to ask questions if you've got 'em. Next week I will show you how to remove your weaving and add a button. From there, we'll weave a cord which is the kid-crowd favorite. Happy weaving!

What the Art Teacher Wore #21

Rainy Stormy Sticky Monday: Oh this silly weather. On this here day, I was productive, finishing my Nashville sign and spray painting a couple of those plant holder thingies (behind me). top: Ann Taylor, garage-saled; skirt: Anthro, purchased at The Paris Market; sandals: Sseko with DIY straps

 Well, kids, here's a lil round up of my weekly wears and some lovely works of art that I just happened to match. Each one of these paintings comes courtesy of pinterest (gah, what did I do before pinterest? Laundry? Sleep? How foolish of me!). If you'd like to follow my pins of all things vintage/art teacher/craft/sewing/painting/not-cooking-but-drooling-over-images-of-food, you can click on that wee button I finally figured out how to install to your right. Let's stay up past our bedtime with glazed-over eyeballs and pin together, whatyasay?

BTW, I managed to score a batch of lovely tops at a recent garage sale (J.Crew! Ann Taylor! Anthro!) several still with their $68 price tags for just a coupla bucks. So, of course, I promptly wore one each day. Hence the numerous outfits of separates. In case you were wondering. 

Enjoy and I'll be chatting with you again soon...I want to share with you some other treasures I recently scored.

Woman In Blue Irving R. Wiles

Exploring Nashville's finest food and thrift Tuesday: The art teachers I work with and I spent this day exploring Nashville. Have you ever been to a Goodwill Outlet? You must. And, if you are local, you also need to get yourself to Los Paletas ASAP as they are now dipping their popsicles in...wait for it...Olive and Sinclair dark chocolate! I almost died. top: J.Crew, garage-saled; skirt: made by me with vintage and Anna Maria Horner fabric; sandals: same Sseko as above

I am in love with all of these paintings by Lulie Wallace.

Adorable hair clip by the ever-awesome Peachy Tuesday.

Estate-saling and more Nashville-exploring Wednesday: A buddy and I hit the road with a list of addresses promising The Biggest Estate Sale Ever! We walked away with a trunk full of treasures. dress: vintage, thrifted, I've had this beauty since high school; rope sandals: by Nomadic State of Mind

Andy Warhol, Butterflies 1955

Catching up with a buddy Thursday: I have so enjoyed my days of catching up with friends this summer. It reminds me that I need to do more of that. Just sitting and chatting. dress: vintage, thrifted; sandals: Target, old; kitty: Asha, big, sweet and fluffy

I love Mary Blair.She's the reason I must ride It's a Small World every time we visit a Disney park as she designed the interior of the ride.

Errand-running and DIY'ing Friday: I started this day out strong and then wound up losing my steam around noon. Trying to get jacked up on B-12 didn't seem to do the trick. I suspect getting off pinterest and going to bed at a decent hour might solve this problem. top: J.Crew, garage-saling; skirt: Anthro, sale last summer; sandals: Target; belt: gift from a friend

One of my favorite artists of all time, Isabel Bishop.

In the Art Room: Weaving, Part 1

Woven pouches created by fourth grade artists. You can see more of their masterpieces at our school-wide art show here and here.

Since I shared with you photos from our art show, I've had several questions about the woven pouches that were featured. Because this project is so easy and fun, I thought I'd share it now that the kids are out of school and getting a little...well...restless. It's the perfect summer what-can-we-do-now-? craft.

In the art room, this project has become a rite of passage for my fourth grade students but can easily be created by kids as young as second grade.  Because this craft involves multiple steps, I've divided it up into four posts: Weaving Part 1: Getting Started; Part 2: Weaving the Flap; Part 3: Removing the Weaving and Finishing; Part 4: Weaving a Cord

Please, fellow art teachers and parents, leave comments below on how you teach this lesson differently. And, of course, questions if you got 'em. Have fun!

 Supplies: 

• Scissors
• Tape
• a loom. I purchase ours through Sax but you can create your own with thick cardboard.
• Thin cotton string. This was bought for a couple bucks at Walmart but in a pinch, you could use yarn.
• Big-eyed needles. Again, Walmart would carry these in their craft department.

 Preparing your loom:

These looms that I purchase through Sax have notches in them that are too far apart. When you weave with them like this, it creates a pouch that is a little too loosely woven, in my opinion. So I have the kids cut the part that sticks up (we call them "teeth") in half. It's a struggle because the cardboard is thick and there is some moaning and groaning but they can do it. 

If you are creating your own loom from cardboard, you will want to space your notches about 1/4" apart. I'm not really into exact measurements, so I say just eyeball it. However, make sure that you have the same number of notches on the top as the bottom.

 Warping your loom:

Warping your loom is the process in which you are putting the string on your loom that you will weave over and under. To do this, start at one corner of your loom and tape your warping string into place. I have the kids put the tape at the bottom of the notches. This will prevent the kids from accidentally weaving over or under this small string.

Now begin wrapping the warp string all the way around the loom. For example, from the taped end, go down to the bottom cut notch, wrap string around the back and up to the top notch and then go to the bottom again. You should have strings on both sides of your loom, making certain not to skip any of the pre-cut or notches-you-cut.

While you are warping, keep the string attached to the cone. I do not allow the kids to cut the string from the cone unless I have checked their loom. If they have skipped a notch, this allows them to go back and fix it without wasting any warping string.

 Once you've checked the loom and are certain no notches were skipped, cut the string and tape it down. Again, tape as close to the notches as possible. Use your creepy bending finger (shown above) to scoot those other warp stings over to tape the string underneath.

 Weaving:

The process of weaving is that of going over and under the warp strings in an A-B pattern. The string you weave with is called the weft. No long needle like this one? Tape your string to the end of a pencil or skewer stick.

 Pull yarn through until you have left behind a 1" tail. Turn the loom over and weave over and under on the back. Once finished with that side, turn loom over to the original side.

 Now, this time, weave the opposite of the previous string. For example, in the photo above, I wove over and under because the string underneath was under and over.

 You know you are weaving correctly when you see something like this. Looks a little like the netting of a tennis racket.

 But it's too loose. Do you see all of those white warp strings through your weaving? Well, you don't want to. Use a fork to pack down your weaving until those warp strings disappear and all you see are the weft strings.

 Adding a new weft: 

Okay, this one is debatable. Technically, you are not to tie two stings together but overlap the strings to add another. Or something. But at this point, if I throw one more piece of info at the kids, they are likely to have an aneurysm. So, we simply double knot tie a new string to the old, snip the "tails" and keep on weaving.

 Incorrect weaving: 

How do you know if you are weaving incorrectly? Well, you'll see a lot of vertical warp strings, like you see in the yellow portion of my weaving above. This happens when you are not weaving the opposite of the previous string, but weaving the same over and over again. If you see this, you have to take it out and redo.

 Weaving away...

I tell the kids that their weaving must be somewhere in between 4-7" tall. This allows room at the top of the loom for weaving the flap and tying off the weaving. This should keep those kiddos all tied up (heehee, tempting, right?) until next week. I plan to take mine on an upcoming trip to keep me occupied.

Remember, you are weaving on both sides of the loom, front and back. Ya hear?

 So stay tuned!

Next week, we'll learn how to weave that flap. Again, feel free to leave any questions or comments and happy weaving!