Musings Notebook for MATS Bootcamp

I am loving Lilla Rogers'

Make Art that Sells Bootcamp.

Our first assignment was to sketch Edwardian brooches

which was quite fun.

This assignment morphed into turning these sketches into a cover for a journal.

The final drawings are displayed on her site.

How fun is that?

I thought you might like to see my initial sketch.

I wanted to make a journal that I would buy,

and as this wasn't for an actual client,

I didn't make the jewelry the focal point.

So I decided to fill the pages with the way my art desk actually looks with art stacked everywhere.

A notebook should be for lots of ideas and brainstormings don't you think?

Not neat but messy which allows for more

musings, meandering and markings.

Then I decided I needed my own copy.

So I was happy with it for my first project.

Now on to the next one.

You can see my project and all the other beautiful submissions here.

More Snow Globes iPad Style!

 It's that time of year again when we make snow globes!

Only this year one of my iPad classes is studying fairy tales

so we made Hansel and Gretel candy cottages in that class...

Each is enveloped in snow of frosting and candy.

First the students drew their cottages.

 Then we cropped them into a circle.

They cut them out,

added ephemera, 

colored the globe with white snowflakes,

and glued 3/4s of the cover on,

which left an opening for me to add the glitter.

 I took them home,

warned the cat to hide,

got out the glitter,

 and started stitching and filling each globe.

 I will be seeing glitter for quite some time...

such is the small price for beauty.

Ahh pure joy!

These are all based on my original snow globe taught years ago.  

You can see the original lesson here.

a Cup of Winter Cheer

Doesn't this look good enough to drink?

a little sparkle and fizz to bring on winter cheer...

did a little sketching this morning

to bring some joy to my fingers and clear the grief cobwebs.

Advent calendars iPad style

We made the cutest advent calendars this week in class.

We started with the 17th and went to the 25th since this was the date they were taking them home.

And it would have been too much to cut out 25 openings

This is my quick sample.

First draw a simple line drawing on the iPad,

then save it to photos and import it in for a second picture.

On the first one draw the numbers on the flaps you want and color in the whole page.

This is your top page.

On the second page color in only where your doors will open.

Then decorate these openings with advent images.

Here is an example of images I photographed and imported.

 Then print out both pages on an 8 1/2 x 11" paper.

 Cut apart, cut open doors,

then glue both together,

and watch your kids smile.

This trimester in Wednesday's iPad art class

we are doing projects that involve printing and cutting 

so I am scurrying to come up with new ideas 

and it is trial and error to see what works.

This one worked beautifully.

And of course you do not need a iPad - colored pencils and markers will work too.

Need a project for your kids between now and Christmas,

just do it.

Christmas cards ready to deliver Holiday Cheer on Etsy!

 I have cards ready to deliver holiday cheer to your loved ones.

 Each is handmade with washi tape and a stud or stitched.

There's bear decked out for any festivity and 

a girl and fox/cat ready to spread the Word.

 These three gain some height and deck the lights.

 A nativity scene sheds some light on the world

 and this little bird sings in a winter wonderland.

 They can be mixed and matched and you can get them 

here.

Happy Gobble Gobble Day!

I wish you a joyous day with family and friends

remembering the small and large blessings.

And may it be filled with laughter and storytelling,

and turkey or bacon...

My iPadders drew turkeys this week 

and I made this collage but then realized that I really needed to share 

the turkey in a submarine made by a first grader (with a horse no less),

and the one above transferred into a winter scene.

Ahh imagination is a a blessing to be thankful for.

Floyd whispered his name was Pierre

This is the story of Floyd who became Pierre and his friend Marcel.

 Once upon a time an artist named Pam wanted to try painting on birch panels.

She decided a fox would be fun to create.

 So she drew the fox then wood burned his outline into the birch panel.

She added some paint and decided he would be "dotty".

 He started to look "foxlike"

 and was happy with his green buttoned scarf which matched his eyes.

 But he was lonely so she made him a friend named Floyd.  

But as things often happen with kids, 

he insisted (very quietly) that he was not Floyd...

 but his name was Pierre.

Oh yes he also was a tad jealous of Marcel's pretty green scarf and he asked for one too.

 Then he was happy -can't you tell?

 They each decided they needed their photos taken so Pam obliged and made prints.

Pierre's has a plaque that says "It's all because I have a pretty face"

because he does have a pretty face,

And Marcel's print describes the definition of dapper because,

well he is.

Dapper - neat and trim in dress, appearance or bearing.

Their prints can be viewed in her Etsy shop.

Just click here to see.

Then Pierre decided to get into the holiday spirit.

You can see his regalia here.

 So to finish up our tale of friendship,

Marcel and Floyd (oops I mean Pierre) are now living in a very nice gallery

amongst other beautiful pieces of art. 

They got to meet their uncle who likes to paint and fish 

and he has been living at another exhibit 

and was just released to come meet them.

So if you would like to visit them then check out 

artEAST in Issaquah WA.

The End