What I Wore #94 and Adventures in San Diego!

Coronado Beach at the Del Coronado Hotel in Sunny California: Wish I could say I stayed at this lovely place but at close to $500 a night, that's just a wee bit outta my teacher budget. The most I could manage was a $6 single scoop of ice cream whilst soaking up the sun on the beach. dress: vintage; sunglasses: Target; sunflower sweater: thrifted DIY, details here; sunflower tights: amazon

 Ya'll, I'm not gonna lie. It was super hard coming back to home and school after several amazing days in sunny San Diego. In fact, I can hardly remember what life was like before San Diego. It's like all those sun rays, amazing sessions and fun experiences meeting old-new friends zapped my brain. But in this post, Ima gonna try! And I thought I'd share with you just a handful of my favorite moments at NAEA.

 The Beginning of a Crazy Week Monday: There was a lot that went down last week and I was really worried I'd not be able to manage it all. I kinda did...but just barely. I thought my outfit should reflect my crazy week ahead. sweater: old, Anthro; dress: vintage, Buffalo Exchange; tights: Target; necklace: The Paper Source; hair clip: made by me; shoes: Dolls by Nina

 Field Trippin' Tuesday: Do art field trips stress you out as much as they do me?! I usually have nightmares that the kids are going to morph into an unruly mob that storms the museum and eats the artwork. Thankfully, that didn't happen this time and we had an awesome time exploring The Frist Center for Visual Arts. dress: Anthro, found at Buffalo Exchange; blouse: gift; boots and belt: Anthro; necklace: DIY by me

Sharpen Your Pencils Wednesday: After buying this dress, I coulda kicked myself as I think I coulda totally felted it! I mean, I did something similar here...but sometimes it's nice just to splurge. And, being polyester, I don't have to worry about ironing the thang! sweater and shoes: thrifted; dress: pyramidcollection.com; tights: Target

 School Carnival Thursday: Because I'm a glutton for punishment AND whipped cream, I volunteered to pull a double shift in the pie-in-your-face booth at our school carnival. Now, you're SUPPOSED to sit behind some plastic curtain and poke your head through, but where's the fun in that?! So I donned my Disney rain poncho, my shower cap and googles and let the kids fire away. 

 And they got me pretty good! Now you'd think whipped cream would be tasty but it starts to smell like spoiled milk the minute it hits skin. Nastiness!

 Off to Sunny San Diego Friday!: I was so lucky to travel and room with two of the most fun art teachers I know (hey Rebecca and Allison!). We had such a great time together! dress: Modcloth; tights: gift; boots: Lucky Brand

 Man. I seriously could go conferencin for a livin if it looked like this. San Diego, I loves you!

Me and my super fun roomies who are both incredible art teachers in Nashville. They teach at the same school and have so much fun that I wish I taught with them!

Super Saturday: Of course, I was totally starstruck for a good portion of the trip. I mean, look who I'm surrounded by! My fave bloggers and pinners! Starting from the left, there's Phyl from There's a Dragon in my Art Room, Patty from Deep Space Sparkle, Rina of K6Art, and Donna Staten, the Pinterest Queen! Each of these ladies was so delightful, meeting them totally made my trip.

 I was so happy to sit and chat with Phyl. We share A LOT of the same views on teaching so it's like talking to myself. Which I do anyway but this was way better because no one stopped and stared.

Seriously Awesome Sunday: I started my day presenting on a carousel concerning art advocacy on the elementary art level. I was so happy to be carrousellin' with (left to right) Nancy Walkup, SchoolArts editor, art teacher/tech-guru extraordinary Tricia Fuglestad and STEM/STEAM advocate, Christine Besack.

 One of my favorite parts of the day was the Blogger Meet and Greet hosted by The Art of Education.  These are folks that I feel such a virtual connection with...so it was awesome to meet them in person. Not to mention meeting all the amazing art teachers who dropped by to say hello! I feel like I'm coming home with a buncha friends in my suitcase. In the back, from left to right is Ian Sands (Art of Apex High School), Jessica Balsley (founder of AOE), Donna Staten - pinterest queen!, Ted Edinger (Mr. E),  and Amy Zschaber (Artful Artsy Amy). In the front row from left to right is Nic Hahn of Mini Matisse, Rina, Phyl and Tracy (Don't Drink the Paint Water).

 Daw, look how super cute and retro Nic Hahn looks! I have a feeling I could sit and chat with this girl all day (I mean, look at those earrings!). Sadly we didn't have much of a chance -- next time!

 Isn't Amy Z so super cute?! She has so bright and happy, I am certain her students adore her and her energy.

Flowers from Old Town: Coming home was so hard...but I missed the hubs and the cat. Oh! And my students. I think it just might take me several days to really digest all that I learned...but when I do, I'll be certain to share it with you. Until then!

In the Art Room: NAEA Convention 2014

That's right, ya'll! I'm peeling' off my layers, kicking' off my boots and heading out to the NAEA (that's National Art Education Association aka Art Teachers Gone Wild) Convention in Sunny San Diego! I've already started packing my bags (all those outfits, you know. A Crazy Art Teacher's gotta look good), writing my sub plans and getting super stoked to meet up with art teacher buddies! I'm so looking forward to this Art Teacher Adventure. 

So, who's going?!

If you are going, just a coupla announcements. First of all, I'd love to meet up you! Many of you lovely readers I've become blogger buddies with and it would totally make my trip if we could get together. One chance for that to happen would be when I present, along with some incredible art educators (I'm sure to have a fan-girl moment, ya'll!), on the Elementary Division Carousel of Learning on Advocacy on Sunday, March 29th, from 9:30 - 10:20am in the Hilton Hotel/Indigo 2014B/Level 2.

My presentation will be about finding your passion (mine's fashion...now, whether or not I'm fashion-able is still a question although that's not open for debate at this forum. Thank goodness)and how that to use it as your advocacy tool.

Another chance for us to get together would be at the Blogger Meet and Greet hosted by The Art of Ed! This will also be Sunday (so if you see me running frantically in what will most definitely be inappropriate running shoes, hand me a cuppa water and cheer me on) at the AOE Booth, number 310, from 11-12pm. There will be some of your fave art bloggers there (I'm taking my autograph book),  as well as Jessica, the woman behind AOE! You won't wanna miss this event.

 If you can't make it to that, or you'd just like to sit and chat in a more intimate setting, I'll be chillin' out with a cuppa tea and a scone at Starbucks in the Hilton Convention Center on Sunday from 12:30 - 1:30pm. I'd really love to meet and chat with you so be sure to pop in if only for a moment!

This weekend, my super sweet mother-in-law helped me prepare 20 Giveaway Bags for the first visitors to hang with me at Starbucks. You won't wanna miss these, ya'll. I can't tell you what's in the bag...but I can tell you, you'll love it. In case you miss out on that, no worries! For the following 10 visitors, I'll have 10 Copies of My Most Popular Lessons From My Blog. And for the rest of ya, I give free hugs and high fives. Lookin' forward to meeting' ya'll!

Ohhhh, goodie bag goodness. I do believe you'll love the DIY that's inside.

 However...

For all my buddies unable to attend, I've got a little surprise for you as well. I'm holding the very first (ahem, drum roll, puhlease)...

Best Dressed Art Teacher Contest!

(disclaimer: "best dressed" in my world has nothing to do with looking "professional". we'll leave that to the math teachers of the world. it means your outfit celebrates all things fun and artsy!)

{disclaimer to the disclaimer: if you are a math teacher and I've offended you, sorry. didn't mean to rumple your bow tie and starchy shirt.)

Rules of the Contest:

Nominate yourself or an art teacher buddy!

Simply send an email to me at cassieart75@gmail.com with a photo of your best artsy look.

 Please include a short bio about the art teacher and what inspired the look.

Photos and bio will be shared on this blog on April 20th.

Open voting on this blog will end on April 30th and the winner will be announced May 1st!

The winner will receive a magical prize along with an interview on this blog.

So! Even if I don't see you at the convention, I sure hope to see you in my "in box" wearing some amazingly glorious art teacher-y outfit! Have fun getting dolled up!

The rest of you, see you in San Diego!

What I Wore #92 and Back to the Drawing Board, er, Sketch Book

When Everyone in the World Gets a Snow Day But You: You wear a sad-looking puppy sweater, smear read lipstick on your face and make the most of the day. Granted, we did get Monday off...but Tuesday we had to return. Meanwhile, the rest of ya's slept til noon (or later, how glorious!), ate bonbons and got caught up on Days of Our Lives. Jelly! sweater: Old Navy; dress: Francesca's a million years ago; crinoline: Amazon; boots: Lucky Brand; tights: dunno; leopard scarf and headband: gifts

Hey, kids! I hope there's some super happy sunshine in your neck of the woods as we are finally seeing some blue skies here. This weekend, I've spent time outside drawing and painting and the sun felt like heaven on my skin. Wouldn't it be so super rad if spring just decided to kick winter to the curb and make herself at home? I'd be down with that. 

Since the weather is so divine and...it's mah burfdey!...Ima gonna keep this post short with just a little of What I Wore and what I've managed to draw for the Artsy Book Club. However, I do wanna throw out a coupla questions to ya'll:

1. Are you going to the NAEA conference in San Diego at the end of the month?

2. I wanna have a meet up! Would anyone be interested in a little Crazy Art Teacher gathering? I know, the whole thing is One Big Crazy Art Teacher get-together, but I dunno. I'd just love to meet ya'll!

3. I'll be presenting! -Ish! I'll be presenting on a panel titled Elementary Division Carousel of Learning and Advocacy (side note: there will not be any actual "carousel" at the presentation. I already asked) on Sunday, March 29th from 9:30 - 10:20am in the Hilton Hotel/Indigo 2014B/Level 2 (you got that? Because I'm pretty sure I'm gonna need your help finding the place when the time comes). I plan to have a couple gifty-surprises for the first 20 folks that make it to my panel. Yay!

Alright, that's all I got. Off to roll around on the floor, eat copious amounts of cake and cookies and holler "it's my birthday, I'll do what I want!" to the cat and hubs. Have a great week!

So a couple of years ago, I took a pastel class from this seriously fun and kind dude named Paul DeMarris. Not only is Paul a fabulous teacher and artist, he is also the creator of his own line of oil sticks. They are like working with butter saturated in the most glorious of colors. He's recently branched out into the "crayon" market (I use that term loosely as they were more oil pastel-esque than waxy crayon). He sent me a sample of the primary colors and white to play with...and I cannot stop using them. They blend beautifully and when layered they almost have the appearance of oil paint. You should totally contact Paul (he's honestly the nicest and most friendly dude!) if you'd like him to lead a class or are interested in his sticks.

Blue Willow Pottery Wednesday: My art teacher BFF (Hi, Mallory!) did this amazing art lesson last year on Blue Willow Pottery. I borrowed pretty heavily from her lesson, especially telling the kids The Legend of Blue Willow Pottery. To set the mood, I went with this blue willow-wannabe dress. sweater: vintage, thrifted; dress: vintage; shoes: Anthro; tights and necklace: Target

Having worked for days on my sushi hat/dress ensemble, I had a hankerin' for the stuff. I picked up this lovely tray at the grocery and it was a battle of willpower to draw it before devouring it. I actually had to lock myself in my sewing room to draw this as the cat could smell it and kept pounding on the door. This drawing was also created with Paul's sticks.

Let's Go to the Art Museum Thursday: I had an inservice after school on Thursday that involved seeing an Asian art exhibit. I decided my sushi ensemble would be appropriate. Surprisingly, I was the only one wearing sushi that evening...what's wrong with people?! hat, dress, shoes: DIY by me, go here; bag and sweater: thrifted; tights: Target

The last two days have been this lovely. I seriously could have sat outside and soaked up the sun all day. This is a little watercolor meets Paul's crayons.

Thanks, Mom! Friday: So I may have dropped some not-so-subtle hints to the mom that I needed this skirt in my life for my birthday. And it managed to come in the mail just in time for me to wear on Friday which was perfect because I almost didn't have a stitch to wear (ha, I kid. I have enough clothing to blanket the state of Tennessee. Sometimes it gets cold). Thanks, ma!! pencil skirt with pencils skirt: Anthropologie; sweater, blouse: thrifted; necklace: The Paper Source; shoes: Dolls by Nina; tights: Target; palette pin: gift from a friend (thanks, Paul N.!)

So, I may or may not have a shoe addiction. Here are a couple that I love (despite what my feet say). These were such fun to draw that I might actually have to sketch some more from my growing shoe collection. This was drawn in crayon.