Paper Fashions

One of the new courses I am offering this year is a fashion design class using Adobe PhotoShop.  In addition to designs created on the computer, we also did a few hands on projects to break the course up a little bit.
I saw something that inspired me and thought, with some modification, it would be something the girls would enjoy with good results.
My first dilemma was whether or not to have the students create the mannequin.  I toyed with the idea of having the girls create it themselves by sewing it, but I knew given their lack of sewing ability, that wouldn't be possible.

Cut newspapers

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I then I thought we could use dish washing detergent bottles, but I finally decided on paper mache dress forms I saw in Michael's

Tissue Paper and Printed Tissue Paper Covered Playing Cards

 So I just put it on the student supply list.  My next thought was how I would raise up the mannequin torso. I wanted to keep costs down for the students, so I picked up various styles of candlesticks at the local thrift store. My choice of materials for the dress design would be papers of different types. For my sample design, I used tissue paper and Mod Podge

When I introduced the project to the girls, I told them they first had to design their dress on Photo Shop. We talked about different types of paper and how paper could be manipulated. I told them to bring in any types of paper they wanted.

Tissue Paper and Decorative Scrapbook Paper

Painted Newspaper and Magazines

Painted and Woven Construction Paper

Tissue Paper

Tissue Paper and Fringed Construction Paper

Napkins and Tissue Paper

Tissue Paper and Decorative Scrapbook Paper

Tissue Paper and Decorative Papers

Cardstock and Tissue Papaer

The results were much better than I had expected!  I was very happy with the girls' designs, the way they used the different types of paper, and their artistry. 

Spring has Sprung!

I haven't written in awhile, not for lack of creative projects, but sometimes life just gets in the way.
Now, on my last days of spring vacation from school, I decided to sit down and write before heading back to the busy months ahead.
I totally enjoyed my week off, not only because I didn't have to wake up at 5:10 AM, but because I had to opportunity to get back in touch with my creative self.  Not that being an art teacher doesn't keep me creative every day, but this was my time, time to do my projects, although I did do a little project development for my classes.
Naturally, I needed to do some of that hum-drum laundry, house cleaning and tossing out of expired canned goods from my pantry, but I did accomplish many creative tasks as well.
I painted 2 stools for a former colleague and friend of mine who has joined the ranks of the retired, and is happy as a clam.  She gave me a few suggestions as to what to paint on the stools which she is giving to the grandchildren of a friend of hers.  I took over from there and painted lots of little boy things around my signature teddy bears on each stool.

Handpainted Stools

My next venture was painting a child's rocking chair for the grandchild of a friend of mine whose daughter, Nicole, is a very close friend of my daughter's.  The rocking chair belonged to Nicole's uncle when he was a child. Nicole's mom asked me to paint it and do "something beachy" in honor of the family summer house at the Jersey shore which, although  taking a huge hit during "super storm" Sandy, is being rennovated.

Child's Rocking Chair in Progress

So after several sketches, I settled on an underwater theme and was inspired by the book, The Rainbow Fish. The photo is a work in progress.
I also got to work on some projects for one of my classes at school. The class deals with fibers and fabrics. The girls expressed an interest in creating a quilt, however, due to materials costs, space and time restrictions, I have decided to have them create a small wall hanging combining simple applique and patchwork. 
The birds who nest under my classroom airconditioner haved returned, and are chirping noisily, reminding me that spring has sprung.  Maybe they were asking to be my inspiration for this wall hanging project I am planning for my students.  So with birds as my inspiration, I created a simple patchwork border around a larger center square with an appliqued bird in the center.  One art student has an aunt who is a quilter and she donates scraps of fabric to us from time to time. I used some of those scraps for the border, and muslin for the center.  After appliqueing the bird, I decided there was too much space, so I added the text.


Appliqued Bird Wall Hanging

Then I tried another simpler patchwork, once again including a little bird, which I think might be easier for the students' skill level.
The students have dyed and printed their own fabric, made a sewn paper collage, and a fashion design out of yarn.  They are currently finishing up a placemat tote bag to which they were required to add their own elements.  Some of them are using freezer paper stencils, some are adding embroidery, some are making fabric flowers and some are block printing.  They certainly are a creative bunch, and although we get a little messy at times, the students are always immersed in their work (literally and figuratively!).
Hopefully, the creative inspiration of spring will continue, with a little nudge from my chirping friends outside my classroom window.

90 Years Young!

Happy 90th Birthday to my amazing mom!  It's not many people who can celebrate this milestone with both a healthy mind and body, but thankfully, my mom is one of the lucky ones. My siblings and I, and her grandchildren and great grandchildren, are especially lucky to be able to share this special birthday with her.
In honor of her birthday, we put together a surprise party at a local restaurant.  My family left the decorating up to me, so here's what I came up with....
I made some hand made flower topiaries in hand painted terra cotta pots. I used raised letters to spell out various phrases about turning 90.  I bought some small frames, painted them lilac and placed some family photos with Mom in each one for the tables. By the way, the colors I used were lilac, cream, sage green, and white.

Lilac chocolate covered pretzels with white sprinkels in cellophane bags were the favors.  The tables were scattered with violet foil wrapped dark chocolate kisses.
While everyone waited for dinner, the hungry crowd answered some trivia questions about Mom that I made up, one for the grandchildren to answer and an easier version for the great grandchildren to answer with a little help.

Along with the party,our gift to Mom was a photo book I compiled from photos sent to me by the family.  I also wrote a poem which I included on the last 2 pages of the book.

I made a half sheet cake, which I had also created for my daughter's bridal shower 3 years ago, and decorated it.
Mom was totally surprised and immediately started to cry when she walked in to the room and saw her entire family singing "Happy Birthday" when she entered. 
She was so grateful for her wonderful party and all the time and effort my siblings and I put into this memorable evening.  We were very happy to do it and even happier that she was able to reach this milestone!

Looking forward to her 100th!

Quilted Connection

About a month ago, a friend of mine called me with a request.  She saw the t-shirt quilt I had made for my daughter, and when her cousin mentioned at a family get-together that she was looking for someone who made t-shirt quilts, Paula immediately thought of me. 


T-Shirt quilt I made for my daughter

But the t-shirt quilt that Paula's cousin Millie was asking me to make, was no ordinary t-shirt quilt.  You see, her teenage daughter passed away a year ago and these t-shirts were so sacred to her mother that she only wanted them hand delivered to the person making the quilt.  After several emails and a phone call, I had a basic idea of what Millie wanted the quilt to look like, although she very sweetly agreed to whatever I thought would look best.  Her only request was that I use the front and back of one very special shirt to put in the center.
Paula dropped off a rather large bag of t-shirts about a month and a half ago with some notes attached.  I was amazed at the care and thoughtful rubber banding of what part of each shirt Millie wanted included in the quilt.  The sides of the shirts were carefully creased, as if she ironed each one before placing it in the bag. I envisioned what it must have been like this past year for Millie, and thought about how hard it must have been for her even to gather up all these shirts, placing them in a bag and knowing they would never be worn by her precious daughter again.  But at least she would have the remembrance forever stitched up in the quilt I was about to make.
I put the bag aside for a few days, bought the batting and other materials I would need, but I knew how hard this was going to be.  These shirts were sacred for this mom.  She was entrusting me, a person she never met, but only knew through her cousin, with these last memories.  There were no other shirts, there was no making a cutting error.  This had to be perfect.  That was a big responsibility for me.  But one day, I mustered up the courage, and  I brought down the bag, laid out the batting and started arranging the shirts trying to go with the basic way Millie had folded them, but knowing she was giving me carte blanche with the design, except for the special shirt.


Millie's quilt laid out before adding solid blocks around edges

As I separated the shirts, and found the most important one with a note safety pinned to the front saying"most special shirt, put in middle", I wondered why this shirt was so special.  Was it the saying on the back, or maybe it was one her daughter wore alot. Whatever the reason, I knew this first cut on this first shirt needed to be accurate and would ease my anxiety about making cuts into the other shirts.  Well, I got through the first shirt and the rest became a little easier, but since I had it in the only space large enough to work, my living room, as I passed it I would move the shirts around, play with color placement and sizes of blocks, until I finally had them arranged the way I wanted them.  Since I had extra space around the sides, I asked Millie if she preferred a border of solid blocks or  if she wanted me to cut off the extra batting and leave just the shirt images.  I sent her a picture of the quilt laid out on the floor for her input.  She emailed me back, saying how much seeing it this far moved her and she was extremely pleased.  I was happy that she was happy.  That is what I needed to hear.

Finished quilt with solid block border

This has been an interesting and emotional journey for me.  It was more than cutting and arranging fabic blocks.   It was like putting the pieces of a puzzle together.  I got a sense of who this girl was, where she was from, where she went to school, what kind of student she was, where she worked during the summer, what kind of music she liked, what activities she was involved in and where she went on vacation.  I thought of my own daughter.  I thought of Millie and how she  must have felt and still feels every day.  My heart goes out to her and I hope that through this quilt, I have stitched together a lifetime of memories for Millie.  I feel like I have walked a few hours of her journey with her.  I was truly touched by creating this quilt and feel like this connection I made with Millie will never be forgotten.



Finished quilt

Owl Mania

One of my favorite subject matters lately is owls.  A popular image in lots of arts and crafts these days, owls have been popping up in all sorts of places.  Two years ago I made the cutest owls with styrofoam balls and felt with my Sewing Club students.  This year, we made stuffed felt owls. 

                                    

           

I have been painting owls on embroidery hoops, stools, and now I'm into making cute little stuffed owls. 

I found a tutorial for these owls on Pinterest.   I absolutely love them and the best part is that they're so easy to make.  I think in one afternoon, I made 7 of them!

I started by making the original pattern larger, made my own eye patterns, matched up some fabric pieces, stitched everything together and suddenly there were lots of sweet  little owls perched in front of me!  I'm going to continue to try different sizes, eyes, and color combinations, maybe even adding a few handpainted details.  The possibilities are endless!

Budding Fashionistas

About a month ago I wrote a post about the lone student I taught in my summer class entitled "Fashion Runway".
This week I have 9 students ranging in age from 10-14 in the junior version of the same class.  Some of the girls know each other because they attend the same school and are in the same grade, but all have formed fast friendships in this class. 

We began the week in much the same way I began the week with my one student, however, with a larger group, more time was spent in learning the basics of hand and machine sewing.  Even though they are just starting  to sew, I was pleasantly surprised how quickly they caught on.  Sure, we have had lots of mistakes along the way which is to be expected with beginners, but they are very focussed and extremely engrossed in their designs.  I liked the fact that, when faced with the challenge of redesigning a t-shirt and another item of clothing, they were definitely up for the task and went right to work, logically putting their designs into action.

 After a few trials and errors, lots of cut up t-shirts, and yards and yards of lace (thanks to a generous donation made by the grandmother of a former student who was a seamstress), the designs were shaping up.
A little too late, one of my students said we should have done a before and after photo of each design.  I was disappointed that I didn't think of that before they took scissors to t-shirt, but after the 2nd class, I did take a few shots of their sketches and the clothing they started off with.

By the 3rd class, the girls were getting more relaxed with me, with each other and with logistics of the building, running back and forth to the bathroom across the hall to try on their outfits, grabbing bottles of water and candy I had set out for them the first class.  My greatest satisfaction as a teacher is when all the pieces of the puzzle fall into place.  They learn, they experiment, they interact and create in a fun and relaxed atmosphere.  That was all happening. 

With just 1 day left, the girls were busily finishing up their designs, and creating accesories if they had finished their outfits and then, on the final day of class, we planned a very small fashion show.  We invited the families and the school administrators. 
The morning of the fashion show, I planned to have the girls put the finishing touches on their designs, fill out a course evaluation, change into their outfits, and run down to the cafeteria to practice.
Of course, just like it's more famous counterpart, Project Runway, the last minute dilemmas sent a few girls into a little panic, but I stepped in a few times to take the reins to avoid undue stress.
The excitement and chatter followed the girls from the Art Room all the way down to the cafeteria where we went over the plan for the show.  The girls waved excitedly to their families already seated and waiting for the show, as they started lining up for their big moment. 
I had forgotten what it was like to be their age.  Something like this was such a big thing for them and they were extremely proud, a little nervous, and very excited! 
The show went well, and from what I heard from the summer program coodinators, both parents and students were very happy campers!

I thoroughly enjoyed teaching this course, and this great group of students.   I even hinted to them about having another course next summer entitled " Fashion Runway All Stars" and invite back this year's students.
 Time in this class passed very quickly, students were engaged and I shared with them a part of me, my loves and passions in the hope that a little bit will rub off and they would walk out of class a little more excited, a little more curious to learn more, and anxious to design and sew on their own.  Project Runway, get ready for your future designers!

Brides and Babies

A friend and colleague, and, in fact, my former art student, is moving on.  She is getting remarried and moving out of state, leaving the high school where she spent 4 years as a student and 4 times as many years as an English teacher.
I am very happy for her, to say the least, but sad that she is leaving.  Even though we taught in different buildings and didn't see each other that often, we team taught a summer program for several years, contacted each other via school email, and caught up during faculty meetings. 

Before she left, she asked me to make her wedding bouquet and a growth chart for her niece whom she planned on visiting this summer before moving out of state.

I created a bouquet similar to one I have in my artfire shop minus the butterfly.  She saw the growth chart also in my artfire gallery, and asked for one for her little niece.  I had previously started one with fairies and butterflies.  I asked her if I could just continue on that one for her niece and she was in agreement. 
After putting the finishing touches on the growth chart and the bouquet, both are complete and ready to send off to my friend.

About a week ago, on the 4th of July, I sought refuge from the unbearable heat and opted to stay inside to create a handpainted child's rocking chair for my nephew's wife.  Her baby shower is in the beginning of August.  I checked out the patterns of linens and other items she had on her baby registry and followed with a similar theme on the rocking chair.  I actually began this rocking chair idea with my daughter's first pregnant friend and it was such a hit that her other friends are waiting for their rocking chairs.  And as luck would have it, the second friend's baby shower is 2 weeks following my niece's shower, so the chairs are beginning to line up in my den.  I'm planning on putting one in my artfire shop as soon as the local baby boom quiets down!