If you follow me here, then you've seen the progression of what I've been calling the Palette Dress. One of the things I've been a little bummed about of late is that I've not been devoting as much time as I'd like to sewing. The last dress I stitched up was the Eyeball Dress and, while it was fun to make and even more fun to wear, it was just follow-the-pattern dressmaking. I miss creating crazy and fun ensembles like these. I long to go back to when I made the time to create monthly masterpiece-inspired dresses...but other "things" and interests have been eating up my time. One of which I can finally close the "book" on, ahem (eep! I KNOW. I'll be sharing more details to come but in the meantime, go on and get yourself that preorder copy, ermkay?).
This past school year, I've also made a stronger effort to create quality video content both for my students...and for y'all. I have found that I really enjoy creating the videos and I am truly loving the benefit it has had on the art education of my students. I can throw so much more content, vocabulary and easy-to-see demonstrations at them. If you use the videos, I do hope you and your kiddos have found them helpful and fun.
All that to say...I miss creative sewing! So when I got the idea to create this Palette Dress, I was determined to dive right in. It all started with this pattern.
I've had this in my (enormous) stash of vintage patterns for a while. One of my favorite bizarre pastimes is to go thru my boxes of vintage patterns, admire the illustrations on the front and imagine a dialog happening between the fine females featured. Would you like to hear this one? Like you have a choice, y'all. "Look, I'm not one to spread rumors, but the word is Darlene cropdusts the whole office just so she can walk around and smell her own farts." I mean, c'mon, y'all. She's totally sniffin' somethin'!
While admiring that pattern (and dreaming up dialog), I thought what fun it might be to take that large collar and make it into a palette. So I created this sketch. And then drove to Joann's for some twill fabric and fabric paint.
Ah, our bonus room. The Jack of All Trades room. It has served as the book-writing room, the video making room, the Facebook LIVE chat room and, as you can see, the fabric-painting room. I placed a sheet of oil cloth down on the floor before watching back to back episodes of Twin Peaks (current obsession) and going to town.
The end result. I used Tulip brand fabric paint and even after a wash and dry, the colors remained as vibrant.
Stitching the dress up took no time at all. It was a super simple pattern. I'm used to dresses with breast darts, waists, gathered or circle skirts. The only "hard" part of this dress were the pleats down the front. After that, it was simply a zip, hem and sleeves (uuuuuugh, sleeves). All of which would have been less time consuming had I not been watching a cocktail of Twin Peaks, Schitt's Creek and Broad City on my craptop. Sigh.
Then it was time to make the collar. Funny story: I LOST the pattern for the collar. That's right. LOST IT. I must have spent a horrid HOUR cleaning and looking for that doggone thing (btw, the ONLY way our house gets cleaned is if I lose something. Don't tell the hubs, he'll start hiding stuff like crazy). I never did find it. Tho it prolly doesn't help that I currently have five dress projects all over my smallish sewing room with pattern pieces scattered hither and thither (am I using that expression correctly? What is a "thither" anyway?).
When I finally realized that I wasn't going to find the missing pattern piece until AFTER the dress was complete (cuz, let's be honest, that's how it goes), I thought, "I can do it. Pattern? I don't need no stinkin' pattern!" I did have the pattern for the interfacing. Non-stitchers, fun, boring fact: interfacing is that crapola inside your collars and whutnots that gives it structure and form. Yes, that is the accurate fashion design term. Google it, yo. Anyway, I did a wee bit of measuring and maths and BOOM! I created a detachable paint palette collar. With applique paint blobs and a thumb hole, thank you, vury much.
Oh, what's that?
You're wondering where my beautiful paint brush crown is from? It's from my art teacherin' friend Linda McConaughy. If y'all are going to NAEA in NYC (I'll be there, presenting 3 times, details this week!), she'll be selling her AMAZING crowns at the artisan market.
I'm super happy with this dress. It's def not my usual fit and flair dress...but I do like the idea of an open waist (the design is actually a maternity dress and, before you even ask, no y'all!) because that means I'll have more room in my belly in NYC. Hope to see you there. If not, catch you on the flip side, y'all!
Hey, art teacherin' buds! If you joined last week's Facebook LIVE which is archived in the link, then you know I did a feeble attempt at a Make and Take. Those who joined were gentle and kind enough to almost convince me that it wasn't a bust but I knew the truth. I LOVED the idea of a Make and Take and I really wanna make it work in the future...but that will take some work on my part. But let's focus on what we created: Art Teachers Badges!
In a previous LIVE chat, which we do right here nearly every Wednesday night at 8pm CST (to join the chat, simply "like" my page and I'll pop up in your feed 8-ish), the idea of creating "art teacher apprentice" badges came up. I loved the idea so much, I invited everyone to join in on the makin' and the takin'. What EXACTLY is an Art Teacher Badge?!
I can only tell you how I plan to use mine: I have four tables in my art room. Each table will have what I've dubbed Art Teacher in Training. These kids are responsible for listening extra carefully to directions and answering the questions of their fellow artists at their table only. If they cannot answer the question, they are to seek out another table's "trainee" and ask them. If all else fails, FINE, you can ask me. My goal is to create an environment where I am free to spend more quality time with my students and not repeat myself 5983 times. Ahem.
How will I pick these kids? I plan to let them know that the moment they walk in my door, they are being "interviewed" based on their actions, behaviors and ability to follow our long-established but sometimes forgotten routines. I also created this video to explain to the kids just EXACTLY what the roll of the "trainee" and the rest of the class is.
Feel free to share this video in your Land of Art Teacherin'. It's general enough that it could probably work in your setting as well. MANY of the fine folks that joined the chat sent me their badges and how they plan to use them. I love the creativity of seeing what everyone created and hearing how they plan to use them. I do plan to laminate mine and have them on a lanyard. By the way, be sure to follow these art teachers on Instagram. I've added their link if they have an account. We learn so much from one another!
Margaret McDonald created these fun badges for her kiddos! She says: I teach Art PreK-6 at Herndon Elementary in Herndon, Virginia. My classes come once a week. I have 6 tables. Each week a different table does art room jobs. I plan to allow each weeks table to be the "art room assistants." I plan to talk them up like VIP/backstage passes since I used gold shiny paper! You can find Margaret here: My instagram @missbrightbluehue and My Twitter @msmcdonaldart
Darla Kendrick created these cute and colorful badges. She says: here are my Art Teacher assistant badges. I get tired of repeating my directions non-stop, even when they're written on the board! My plan is to assign one student per group/row/area of the classroom as the Assistant. S/he will be responsible for helping students nearby until I can make my way to them. Hopefully this will eliminate the repetitive, "I wasn't listening" questions.
My art teacher insta is: @art_at_hart_on_a_cart I teach in Bakersfield, CA. Grades TK-6, SDC and VE
Carissa Parr shared: my class is 3rd-5th grade, so I'm planning on using the Protégé badge with only the 5th graders. They'll be the go-to kids for the younger ones. The Timekeeper will help keep ME on track! The Encourager will help keep things positive, as there are a few kids that compare their work to others and end up frustrated. I teach in a homeschool co-op and we meet once a week, so most of the lessons take two weeks to finish. The kids will keep their badges for 2 weeks and change/rotate badges at the start of a new lesson.
Amber Click says: I have created my badges, just need to laminate and get lanyards. :) I decided to go with art teacher's sidekick. Kinda like a superhero. :) I teach in Corpus Christi, Texas. Grades Pre-k through 8th grade. I plan to use these badges to cut down on the amount of times I repeat things, like "drying rack." lol I think especially for my younger kids they will love the assistant title and I hope it'll turn out to make them feel special.
Emily Burlingame says: I have 4 tables in my room and each has a rotating (weekly) job to do. One of the jobs was 'Direction Experts' (DE's). This one always seemed to get neglected... until NOW!
We went over all the jobs again and I introduced the new 'DE' badges and a reminder that this job was to be my helpers. They had to know what the directions for the day were, had to know where to get supplies and how to clean up, had to know how to be encouraging and helpful. They basically had to be mini versions of me.
They embraced it with open arms today and knocked it out of the park. Even my 3rd grade 'Bob' rocked it {this is code name for our friends who are sometimes off-task}. Told me he served 6 clients for the day! Ha! Great. And it totally freed me up to wander the room and help where needed.
So each week a different table group of students will have their own chance to help one another out!!! Yessss! Art Teacher win. Think I'll try it with my 1st-5th graders and just put the badges in the table basket that has the DE job for that day.
Emilie Jones says, I used lanyards, painted the paintbrushes with acrylic paint, and used scrapbook paper inside the badge-holder-thingy... they all have the words: TABLE LEADER in sticker letters (former scrapbooker in the house!).
I am NOT an art teacher, I'm just a parent who LOVES art, was upset that the school my son goes to does not offer art (even though the kids have LOTS of free time) so I volunteer and every Wednesday and Thursday. I go to my son's second grade class and we do art.
These second graders REALLY need to work on their listening skills and I ❤ed your ideas about going to the art assistant to ask for directions because i was being asked the same question like 15 times (which gets a bit annoying). I have 23 kiddos and 4 tables, so one leader per table. Today I hyped up the table leader's responsibilities and then hit up Hobby Lobby (I currently live in no-where Oklahoma and it was either that or Walmart) got the lanyards, badge holders, and brushes.
Alexandra McBride says: here are the art expert badges I've been using since before winter break. Kiddos are LOVIN being experts! I usually pick six different kids before I start any explaining and these kids are then who all the other kids go to if they have questions. They are feeling so proud wearing them! The best part?! When I get done with directions and that one kid is like "what do I do!?" Ahhh I just breathe and say "Go find an art expert"! You can find me on Instagram @kidsgetcreative. I work at the elementary level at cherry creek schools in Colorado!
Carol Sustaire says: I want have one badge for each of my 6 color coded tables. However I probably won't use all 6 every day. Maybe only 3 per class and they wear the badge that corresponds to their tables.
I teach k-6 in Fort Worth TX. I introduce a lot of new ideas to these kids so I am probably going to let the kids that "catch on" first at each table get picked to be the art teacher apprentice. I may also pick based on who I think needs a boost of pride that day.
Lindsay Lowery says: I've never done this before but it sounds like fun! I decided to keep them simple using my #artsnacks products I get in the mail each month. I plan to pick someone from each table as soon as I finish giving directions and hopefully it will be something they really enjoy. My instagram is @beakerlinz and I teach in Pflugerville, Texas K-5.
Do y'all use something like this in your art rooms? LOVE to hear how you put it into action!
Yesterday, I shared on Instagram (I'm @cassie_stephenz), I shared this fast and furious 2/thirty minute session art project that I did with my first grade students using recycled materials...and I received many questions. I'm MISERABLE at responding to questions on Insta (I dread typing on that tiny phone keyboard with my sausage fingers) so I promised to share this simple project in blog form. So here you go!
This lesson was created outta the fact that I had two classes that were ahead of the rest (gotta love that!). We've been focusing on the theme of love and last week finished off our 101 Dalmatians. Recently, while second grade was cutting out hearts for this project, I noticed how pretty the negative heart shapes looked when laying on the surface of a messy mat. Later, when I was tidying up, I found a stash of transparency film and had a eureka moment...what if the kids collaged tissue paper onto the film and created a faux stained glass window! I hope that thought process of mine made some sort of sense. Isn't it funny how ideas come to us?
Day 1 of a 30 minute class... Supplies: * Transparency film cut into 8" squares * Warm colors of tissue paper * Modpodge * Large brushes * Paper to write names and transport wet transparency film
We chatted about loads of stuff before starting: warm colors, transparent, translucent and opaque. We also talked about static electricity as the transparency film was so staticky! One kiddo said, "it's art science!" Art is a science, buddy. The kids then went "shopping" for their supplies. They were to coat their transparency in Modpodge, apply whatever colors of tissue they liked and then add another layer of the 'podge. This was placed on a sheet of paper with their name on it and placed on the drying rack. The next day, they looked like this coming off the drying rack. So pretty! We had fun holding them up to the light. This was also a super fun color experimenting activity as many of the students noticed that when certain colors overlapped, they created new ones.
Day 2 of a 30 minute class...
Supplies:
* Messy mats cut to 8" square (these are the tag board mats the kids use under their artwork when they are painting. I got the idea from my buddy Laura to use them for art projects and I LOVE it!)
* Black and white paint
* Paint brushes and Q-tips
The next day, the kids were to pick a messy mat which they liked the colors of. They traced a heart template, cut it out (starting at the bottom of the heart to make a clean cut) and bring it to me. While I hot glued their "stained glass" to their negative shape, they worked on painting their positive shape hearts.
In my room, we talk A LOT about using a paint brush correctly, pretending it is a ballerina who always dances on her tippy toes...and never EVER scoots around on her bottom. This really helps my kids understand how to create delicate lines. Once their hearts were dry, I framed them with more recycled messy mats!
I'm so excited how pretty these turned out. Our halls are looking so LOVEly right now. I can't wait to add these to our displays.
Hope y'all have a lovely weekend. Stay warm, rest up and take it easy. That's my plan, anyway.
Hey, y'all! I'm poppin' in to share with you an update on a clay project I posted here not too long ago. I did this lesson with my second grade students in 3 thirty minute art classes and it was a huge hit. I decided to not have my kids create the wings because I was fearful that they would break. I was inspired (as usual) by my good buddy Laura Lohmann to create the popsicle stick hangers. Here is the video'ed lesson:
List of supplies:
* One sheet of thin aluminum foil per student.
* One large bag of Celluclay per 60-80 students. I mixed up about an orange-sized piece of clay per kiddo.
* 10 large popsicle sticks per frame. I laid them out and hot glued two horizontal sticks across the back to act as braces.
* Paint in a variety of colors.
* Twisteez wire.
* Beads....LOTS of beads!
Day 1: We began by talking about sculpture and getting a sheet of aluminum foil. Together, we slowly sculpted our foil into a heart shape. I really used my peer tutoring to friends help others who needed it. We went to our seats and added the clay to our hearts. We worked fast and furious to get it all done in 30!
Day 2: I put the hearts in front of a fan overnight. The next day, the kids painted their hearts and their "fences" using two different colors.
Day 3: I took my drill to school and quickly drilled two holes in the top of the "fence" frame. The kids looked at Jim Dine's hearts and painted theirs with small brushes and Q-tips. I gave very little instruction, I wanted to see what they'd create.
So pretty, right?! That took no time at all. Then the kids added the wire to their frames. They did this by putting the wire in one hole, twisting it like a twist tie and then loading up with beads. I have a TON of beads and I was glad to have the kids use them up. They thought that was pretty much the best thing ever. Then they twisted the other end of the wire and BOOM! Masterpiece complete.
Not gonna lie: this project was labor-intensive on my part. I had to glue those frames, drill the holes and then hot glue the hearts to the frames when complete. I had a helper student slap ModPodge on the hearts so the paint wouldn't chip. I really love how they turned out and the kids had so much fun. The work was worth it. I am hanging them in the hallway tomorrow!
The kids are so excited to share these with their moms and dads! I heard many conversations on color choices based on mom's favorite color. So sweet.
In fact, this young artist redid his entire bead pattern once he found the "perfect purple for my mom"!
IN OTHER NEWS! You can find my interview with the lovely Heidi Easley of Texas Art and Soul here! It's free, fun and fabulous. So many awesome artsy folks interviewed. Y'all go and check it out and please tell me I don't sound like a crazy person ;)
Don't forget about tonight's MAKE AND TAKE! Supply list and details here. See you at 8pm CST right here! Hey, y'all! Recently I hosted a PD at my school that was taught by a couple of my favorite art teacherin buddies, Debbie Flynt and Kim Shamblin. They shared with us how to do many paper treatment techniques (more to come!) and create unique books. One of the books they showed us to make was this pop out one. As soon as I discovered that the book had six pages, I realized I could create a rainbow book. Perfect for reteaching my second graders the order of the colors in the rainbow!
I think they are gonna love this one! Here's the how-to video I'll be sharing with them next week. Feel free to use this lesson and video in your Land of Art Teacherin'.
Because I see my second graders for 30 minutes twice a week, I'll probably break the lesson down like this: Day 1: Book covers. Decorate cover if time allows. Day 2: Folding papers. Use peer tutoring to help those kiddos who initially struggle with the fold. Store in envelopes marked with the kid's names. Day 3: Gluing papers into the book in Roy G. Biv order. Day 4: Finish books!
The magic of a pop up book is aways exciting. We are going to look at pop up books and learn about book making as well. Early finishers will be introduced to other pop up techniques.
Dunno about your kids, but mine are OBSESSED with rainbow order. Their weavings were full of them!
