DIY: Felted Clutch

Well, after a whole lotta water, soap, roving, blood (only one stabbing, I promise!), sweat and tears (which proved helpful with the wet felting), the felted clutch is complete! Granted, I only started it last weekend, but this was definitely time-consuming and a step outta my comfort zone. The only other item I've ever successfully wet felted was the necklace I shared last week. So I'm on the proud side of DIY-town with this one. I've been sharing one minute tutorials nearly every day over here. I put those short clips all together to create this one which, hopefully, will help you understand how this felted clutch was created:

Y'all know I love needle-felting so that portion of the clutch was enjoyable. I just hit play on whatever show I'm watching on Netflix (fellow Art Scout Laura got me hooked on Breaking Bad) and go to work. The wet felting, being something new for me, def had a bit of a learning curve. I found myself asking, "am I done yet?" over and over. I ultimately threw the thing in the washer to speed up the felting process. 

Something I also discovered is that wet felting requires a LOT of roving where as needle felting only takes a small amount. I do have a lot of roving on hand thanks to my mom-in-law who is always hooking me up. A visit to an alpaca farm a couple moons ago also made it so I have a big stash.  

Since I was using this as kind of a demo for my free online felting class, which, if you've not seen what folks created that night, check here and also search Insta with the hashtag #creatingwithcassie, I decided to keep the motif simple. Well, that was the plan, anyway. But I'm kind of a more is more is more person, so this is the result. By the way, if you missed Wednesday night's session, here you go:

It was so fun...even if my LIVE creations were lackluster!

I wanted a bright color on the inside so I opted for yellow roving when wet felting.

 Nice and bright for me to find my stuffs. 

While at an estate sale the other day, I picked up a vintage clutch with a strap like this across the back. I decided to add something similar to mine. I'm so tempted to make another clutch with a vertical strap and wear it fanny pack style. Please give me permission to do this!

My grannie hands fit, hurray!

I had to teach myself how to do the blanket stitch to finish the edge...I'd never done a blanket stitch before. Isn't that nutz? 

 I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. I truly love the look of all things felted!

Until next Wednesday night at 8pm CST right here, have fun felting!

DIY: Intro to Needle Felting!

In case you missed it, last night I hosted my first free felting session over on my Facebook page and it was a ton of fun! We had almost 200 folks join me for about an hour of Intro to Needle Felting. If you'd like more details on this free craft night, pop over here. You can still purchase a kit if you'd like to join the fun! Those that participated and used the hashtag #creatingwithcassie on their Twitter and Instagram posts are being featured here today. If I missed your post, my apologies! I'll share it here next week. By the way, you might wanna give these folks a follow as they are creative artsy types just like you. I'll be certain to share their IG handles. This masterpiece was created by @jill_nettels!

Felted masterpiece by @dwade1721.

If you missed last night's session, no worries. It's been archived on my Facebook page. I've also uploaded it to my YouTube channel. So even if you miss me live, you don't miss a thing. 

It's a long one...here you go!

 Isn't this gorgeous? Created by @swshumaker!

Last night was my second attempt at creating LIVE. If y'all remember I tried it once before with creating my Art Teachers in Training badges...and it was a struggle. I couldn't see the screen to field questions, I couldn't get a good angle for y'all to see...it was not pretty. I was determined to give it another shot and I hope last night was better. But there are some things I learned! 

 A needle felted pouch! So perfect, by @echopaitsel. 

1. I'm not so good at creating and talking. I notice this in teaching too, do you? I'll lose my train of thought, forget what I was saying, end up just making a muck of things...I think it's that whole right brain/left brain thing. At least that's the excuse I'm using for those not-too-pretty examples I created live!

 Aren't these pins going to be so cute?! By @mary5409.

 LOVE this sweater by @mrs.newtonsart!

2. Keep projects open-ended. I really didn't want to tell y'all: this is what we are going to make and this is what yours will look like when you are done. Because...what fun is that? The beauty of needle felting is that there are no "rules", no "right and wrong" ways to do it. I think I succeeded in that...just look at the variety of awesomeness that y'all created! 

 Look at this sweet flower by @artteacher!

 One question that came up a lot was: what can you needle felt on. Y'all...ANYTHING! Check out this flower felted onto cotton by @ms_kibbe.

 I so loved seeing everyone's set up where they were going to be working. Look at this art room corner! @chapin_schnick, I love it so much, I might be able to forgive the Purdue sign (I.U. grad here, sister, ha!).

 I am loving this ladybug...I think I need to add some bugs to the clutch I am felting! @mrsmillsartfromtheheart, this is fabulous.

3. Y'all are fast learners! When it took me 30 minutes to create a circle and a leaf, y'all were busting out stuff like this. I was just floored when I saw my IG feed. 

 I mean, @emilystuver, for reazzz tho. Beautiful!

 Anything with a cat gets my seal of approval, y'all. @art.teach.at.the.beach this is so cute!

 4. Y'all are problem solvers...and great at helping each other. When someone asked how to felt on a pocket without felting the pocket closed, the idea of cutting the foam and placing it inside the pocket was shared. I love that the questions I couldn't answer, y'all solved!

 I have one word: wooooaaaahhhhh. @visualpraisestudio, this is amazing.

  I so love that the boyfriend decided to join in on creating with us! How awesome is that @daynabayna?!

 I loved the running cat theme. There's actually a book called Felting with Cat Hair that my mom gave me some time ago. I've yet to take Crazy Cat Lady to THAT level tho. Isn't this adorable by @nachtule?

 I think one thing everyone learned is that needle felting is a labor of love...heavy on the labor. But this sweater by @disneychica1313 is going to be so cute when she is done!

5. You guys are the best recruits! I loved how you involved fam members, boyfriends and pals to join the fun. It really was like a craft night with a ton of buddies. Thank you for making it so worthwhile. 

I love this photo from @jenjencarey...she cracked me up! I do love her C...even if her collar is hiding it. She just needs to flip her collar Rizzo-style! 

 Another beauty from @nachtule!

 Look how pretty this is by @cherishines!

 This one makes me so happy, I love this color combo by @chapin_schnick. 

 What I love most about needle felting is that you can start out small and simple...and grow so much from here. I can't wait to see what @artsygirl1978 creates with this! 

 Those of you who I missed, my apologies! I'll add you in next week's update of our craft nights. Remember if you'd like me to share your photo, simply use the hashtag #creatingwithcassie on your preferred social media outlet. And be sure to join the fun next week as we dive into the waters of wet felting. See you then!

Art Scouts 2017 UPDATE!

Big News: Registration for Art Scouts 2017 is now open! And we are filling up fast. Want to learn more about this summer's Scouts? Here you go...

Are you excited yet? I can tell you that Ginger, Laura, Jennifer and I are super stoked. We can't hardly wait to head to Montgomery Bell State Park, roll up our sleeves and introduce you to brand new projects that are all about making big messes with little people. We are offering two options for Art Scouts this summer:

Here is a look at what our schedule of events looks like:

We're going to introduce you to so many projects, you'll be able to kick off your school year with plenty of clay (for no kiln and kiln friends), fibers, collage and painting projects. Not to mention, you'll meet so many new art teacherin' types that will become fast friends. It really is a summer camp experience...but for art teachers!

Last summer we hosted our first ever Art Scouts in Ohio, home to Laura and Ginger. You can check out that experience right here. Just a matter of weeks after that, Jen and I had folks join us in Nashville, Tennessee. It truly was the highlight of our summer (maybe even our year!) to spend time with so many fun, dedicated and creative art teacherin' types. We are looking forward to an even bigger and better experience this summer!

So looking forward to meeting friends, new and old, and spending time sharing our passion: Art Teacherin'. Get yourself over here and register to join Art Scouts 2017! 

DIY: Felted Bead Necklace

 Hey, kids! If you follow me here, then you know I've been sharing all things felted (including video tutorials). I'm getting super excited about our Craft Night this Wednesday, April 5th at 8pm CST right over here. If you'd like to hear more about our craft nights and how you can join (it's free, my favorite price!) just pop over here and read more. 

Now, I've put in my time with two-dimensional needle felting and feel like I have that got that down pat (check out this blog post of all my needle felted wares). Wet felting...well, that's another story. But I'm determined to get better at this craft. One project I did recently was create this felted bead necklace!

 I own many an item with wee felted balls on them: a handbag, coasters, a necklace and even a pillow. But I'd never learned how to make them. After doing some homework, I discovered how...and then put my own spin on it by adding spots to my dots. Here's a 3 minute how-to just for you!

Easy, right? For real, the hardest part was the time...but I just worked on them over the course of a couple evenings and then I was done!

Full disclosure: these balls are hairy (ahem) and wooly (double ahem) and therefore, slightly itchy. If you have skin that is akin to a delicate flower, as I do, then you'll probably find yourself scratching like a dog with fleas after a few hours of wear. That's why you'll often see me wearing my felted necklaces over a top.

Yes, I'm completely aware that I have the aesthetic of a twelve year old girl who occasionally drops acid. I grew up with Lisa Frank, what can I say?

 These are all of my favorite colors! 

I happened to have a necklace clasp in my stash (hoarding does have it's benefits) and I used a waxy string for it's strength. But you could totally use regular thread. Just make sure it's strong. If it breaks when you try to pull it, then find yourself something stronger. 

Have fun, y'all! Love to see your felted items as you create them. Tag me here or shoot me an email at cassieart75@gmail.com. 

In the Art Room: Clay Chameleons!

If you follow me on Instagram, then you've seen me over-sharing all of the clay projects that my kiddos will be creating during Clay Week. I like to go with a theme when it comes to clay as that makes the art show seem cohesive. Last year, we went with the clay theme of a 1950's Diner where all the kids created clay food. It was a big hit and a whole lot of fun. 

This year, I decided to go with a Pet Shop theme! You can actually view all of the clay videos I've created for my students right here (and feel free to use them). I add new art teacherin' videos every week so if it's something that you are interested in, you might want to subscribe.

Today, my third grade students watched this video in bite-sized pieces and were able to create their chameleon from start to finish. We did use up more than our normal hour long art class...thankfully, I have a plan time after this class and the teachers were kind enough to let me use some of their instructional time for the kids to finish. I work with some super supportive folks, y'all! Otherwise, this project would have taken us about an hour and a half.

I get a lot of questions on how I show my students my videos because they are pretty long. I don't show the video in it's entirety as that would be too much information for the kids to process. Instead, I show bite-sized portions. Then I send the kids to their seats to work. When a handful of them have finished and trickled back to the floor, then I call all of them to join us, finished or not, and we watch the next portion. For these guys that meant they learned how to make a leaf and then created it; came back to learn about how to make the body and legs of the chameleon and created it; and finally, they learned how to create the head and attach to the leaf. This keeps us up, active, busy and working the entire time. 

Have I told y'all lately that I wrote a clay book? You can scoop it up for preorder right here. When I first became an art teacher some 18 odd years ago, I'd never even taken a ceramics class. And yet...my first year teaching, clay was in my curriculum. With no kiln and a small budget, I had to create clay for my kids to use. Without much info online at the time, I scoured the public library for recipes and ideas. I learned many recipes and included them in the book. In fact, all of the projects in the book are made with no-kiln clays...but have been tested out with kiln fire clay. So it's for everyone!

Working on a book filled with 52 projects meant that I had to dream up, snap photos of and write about, well, 52 projects. Y'all, that's a lot! I learned many a thing working on that book...and I believe it has made me a better clay teacher. 

If you find clay to be intimidating as I once did, I have a surprise for you! I'm going to be offering a Crash Course in Clay here during the month of May! Follow me on Facebook and I'll keep you posted on the details. Here's a peek at how I set my tables up for clay: doggie bowls for water (from the Dollar Tree and they NEVER spill!), toothbrushes for scoring, skewers for carving, cutting and creating design, clay mats (which I have had for well over 10 years) from my friend Danielle McDanielle, aka The Clay Lady, usually lots of texture tools and sponges for wiping hands when they start to feel too dry. What do you keep on hand during clay time?

Oh! And I busted out the marker caps to make these fun eyes for the chameleons.

I'm thinking we will glaze these after firing. I hope I have some room in my budget to splurge on the glaze with the flecks of glass in it. I think that would be perfect for these little guys. I'll be sure to do a follow-up post once complete. 

I've tried many a thing when it comes to finishing clay projects: gouache, oil pastel and dip in black tempera and glaze. Which is your preferred method? 

By the way, this clay project could just as easily be done with air dry clay! You'll have to keep me posted if you give it a go.