Last Day to Sleep In

Today was our last day to sleep in this summer.  The life of a teacher is a charmed one.  But we must go back to work tomorrow and my feet are surely dragging.

 We have done a lot this summer, in fact, I think we have played harder this summer than ever before.  Perpetual barbeques bleed lunch into dinner, one day into the next.  Waterskiing until we are sore, frisbee for Jon and running with my girls for me.  Kitchen remodel and visits home.  Kayaking and paddle boarding in the lagoon.

And sleeping in.

This was the view in our summer bed today, trying to hold onto the last threads of both the season and the sleep. 

I am extracting the dread and infusing the joy as I go into Fall; may I enjoy this year as much as I have enjoyed this lovely, lovely summer.

Hey Girl, Guess Who Who?

Here comes the flower girl.

I think she's me. My bridesmaids dresses sort of looked like this, almost 7 years ago. And the bouquet was modeled after my own...but I don't think there were any Masked Owls at the ceremony.



My students started their animation section (see here, and here) and I think they are really loving it (who wouldn't?!). But this comes from another of my prep drawings. It might show up in the shop soon, but I have yet to find time to post it.

One Cute Chick

Continuing on the preparation of leading my students in an animation section, here's what I've come up with.
Can you see I've got Valentine's Day on the mind? And I've been inspired by my overwhelmingly talented and successful friend, Kate Rietz for a long time.
I thought he was so cute, I posted him in the Etsy shop (for super *cheep,* I might add) in order to share the love this Valentine's Day.

Too Good

Valentine's Day is right around the corner. What are you going to do?

We are going to start an animation section in class soon and I'm just brushing up...not really an illustrator/ cartoonist.

Oh, and I've taken some new pics of the kids' drawing for the student blog so be sure to check back soon. I promise, you won't believe high schoolers did this!

Copper Repousse Ornament Tutorial

When I was in High School we had an Arts and Crafts class. I was far too serious (and snobby) an artist to waste a credit on such a class, but one day, I visited my exceptionally talented cuz in class and this is what they were working on:

Copper Repousse.

So now that I am an art teacher and get make all my crafting dreams come true with the projects we work on, I have finally had the chance to play with my own copper.

I bought a roll of copper for about $15 and trimmed out 3x3 inch squares. I know that you can also get kits with all the tools and precut pieces as well, but this was more cost effective.
First we drew out a design on paper, mapping out what would be convexities and concavities. We then transferred the image by placing the drawing on top of the copper and with a ball point pen traced over the lines, pressing to create a light indentation.

On a stack of newspapers for some soft give (and later I used a folded handkercheif, which I liked better), using wood styluses (or toothpicks, crochet hooks, or ends of paintbrushes) we rubbed the convexities out from the back. Turning it to the front, we pushed in the concavities, all with a light coloring motion as to not puncture the copper. Several layers of pressure achieve several ends: a smoother texture, a deeper crevass, and not-so-numb fingers. Flipping it over and over again, with many layers, the image appeared.

The last step is to antique it with India Ink. With a paint brush, paint the ink on and using a paper towel, wipe it away from the raised surfaces, leaving it in the convexities. Repeat the process as much as you wish to achieve the antiqued look you like.
In order to make these an ornament I made sure to leave a border, and trimmed out a square from the corners. I cut out a piece of felt that measures the finished size (after I've folded back the edges) and glue a little piece of ribbon to the back of the felt, then hot gluing the felt to the back of the copper.
I then folded back the edges, allowing the ribbon to stick out from the corners.
And this little creative (and financially challenged) girl gave out copper repousse ornaments to three of my most loved girls for Christmas.

I found a great lesson plan here. And if you're curious, here is a repousse artist that I like. And I love this piece on Etsy.

If I continue to be ambitious, you may find some of these in the Etsy store soon!

Holding My Nose, Into the Mud Puddle I Go

Ahhh, friends, I have been swamped this week in writing curriculum for a new 6th grade art class, building all my own lesson plans from scratch for three sections of a HS Art 1 class, and reteaching myself how to teach art to elementary students. Add to that the responsibility of ordering all art supplies for the department for the first time which took two full days of work, one full week of meetings from 8:00 to 3:00 and somehow, just somehow, blogging has slipped through the cracks.

I am singing praises for a full-time teaching schedule this year (which includes benefits, woo hoo!), and the opportunity to teach with my husband again. But all these blessings means less time to craft, sew, crochet, paint, blog, and even sit down and watch TV.

I'm excited about new directions and know they will be reflected here on my blog and look forward to the new face of my little online outlet. Aside from all that, I did find a few spare moments to add this piece to my shop. With cold weather soon to be around the corner a cowl is a perfect addition to any wardrobe...they are going to be all the rage this fall.This time next week we will have had a Color Wheel Pot Luck, made another color wheel out of frosting and animal crackers, and I have a revisitation to one of my own HS art projects planned. I was recently at a friend's house in which she has framed an oil pastel pointillist landscape. While I too did this project in High School, I did NOT enjoy it and don't even think I finished it. However, the pride with which she kept, framed, and displayed it encouraged me to try this again with my own students.by Pamela Potter

What art projects did you love and hate in High School or Junior High? I'd love some ideas and feedback if you have a minute to spare your thoughts.