Petals and Pillows

Wedding season is upon us.  Ah, to be a summer bride....beautiful sunny days, flowers in bloom, photos on the lawn.  The planning takes months, searching for the perfect bridal gown, bridesmaids' gowns, flowers, venue, centerpieces and favors. 
I recently attended the wedding of my nephew in Newburyport, Massachusetts.  A beautiful wedding, unfortunately in the middle of a heat wave, but that didn't deter anyone from enjoying the lovely weekend's festivities. 
It amazes me, that of all the weddings I have attended in my lifetime, not one of them was exactly the same. Even though many of  the wedding ceremonies and receptions had similar traditional elements, each wedding was a personal reflection of that couple.
My daughter got married almost three years ago, but whenever I hear their recessional song or the song they danced their first dance to, I am reminded with joyful tears of that beautiful time in both her life and mine.  I made the bouquets for her and the bridal party, the boutonnieres, the centerpieces, the cake topper and other decorations.  She made her own invitations, save the dates, and assorted signs and props for the photo booth.  For her, it was a piece of cake, since she is a graphic designer, and since I am an art teacher and crafter, I was overjoyed at the thought of helping her create her dream wedding.
I was inspired by that whole experience and with a little prompting from my daughter, I opened my artfire shop.  I wrote an earlier post about all the things I made for her wedding, but this time I want to highlight the accessories for the little ones who are possibly the only ones who could steal the show from the bride and groom on their wedding day.  That would be the flower girls and ring bearers.
Although my daughter didn't have any little ones in her wedding, I do have quite a few things in my shop for the flower girl and ring bearers. I'd like to share a few of them.

 

 

 

 

Midsummer Daydreams



It's July.  Is your glass half full, or half empty (of ice cold lemonade that is)?    To a teacher, that's an interesting question. You might be of the mindset that the summer is still in full swing, another month and a half or so of fun in the sun, and lazy summer days by the pool with a good book (not a text book, of course).  Or, you could look at that question from the opposite viewpoint, that the summer is half over and the new school year looms large in the not too distant future.

 

I, personally, sit on the fence.  I love the summer for its creative freedom, but I also love being a teacher with the promise of a new year coming up, new students, new projects, a whole new beginning.  So either way, I enjoy the place I'm in, whatever month it is.  Yes, and when I was a student, I actually enjoyed doing homework and did it as soon as I got home from school.  Some things never change I guess.

 

Since I am enjoying the glass half full of my creative freedom, I have done lots of projects so far, and finished a few that didn't have time for during the school year. 

 



I like to try a few new things over the summer and combine some old techniques or materials.  Like most crafters, I sometimes find myself wandering aimlessly through the craft store in search of materials that speak to me, often finding, after I have purchased them, either that idea didn't exactly work, or through trial and error, I came up with a better solution.  So, those materials get pushed to the back of the drawer until I rediscover them at a later time.




My puppy, yo yo quilt

 

 

In my latest baby quilt, I wanted to add something special that would give it a little spark, in addition to my hand painted puppy squares.  I always like to include some hand painted squares for a personal touch.  At first I was going to use lace as an accent for  the quilt, but couldn't get enough of the exact type I needed. I thought about using embroidery, but didn't exactly know how I would incorporate that, and then I thought about using yo yos, those lovely little puffs of gathered fabric that I wrote my first blog post about, that I made a vest and purse out of in my high school years, that I taught my sewing club girls how to make into flowers by adding buttons in the center.  How could I have almost overlooked that wonderful technique?  So that was it, my quilt accent.  I searched for ways to attach them to a quilt and found one using a blanket stitch with embroidery floss.   That looked very pretty, so I thought I'd give it a try.

 

Yo Yos made by my students

 

 

I made lots of yo yos in white and coordinating colors.  I love making yo yos!  They are very therapeutic and I highly recommend making them!  I played around with the placement of the yo yos once they were all done, and decided to stitch them to the corners of each square.

My next venture is to add crocheted edging to the baby quilt I am currently working on.

 

 

Paint Can Baby Shower Centerpiece

 

I also created a baby shower centerpiece for my artfire shop that I had sketched out a couple of years ago when I was creating some baby shower centerpieces for someone having twins.  I kept that idea in the back of my head until I stumbled upon a paper mache paint can last week and just knew I had produce my idea and here is the result!

But, I haven't forgotten about the half empty portion of the glass setting on my work table.  I have already started filling it with lesson plans and lots of project ideas for my students in September.  Being on the fence, sometimes, is a very a good thing! Refills, anyone?

 

 

For the Birds!

Now that I am home for the summer, I can safely pack away my lesson plan book for a few months in exchange for a sewing machine and some paintbrushes.  It's time to focus on my artfire shop and begin creating again.
I have been on summer vacation for a few weeks now and am slowly getting into a routine.  The easiest part is not having to set the alarm for 5:10 AM! I certainly have been enjoying a couple of extra hours of sleep.  Once I've showered, eaten breakfast, and tended to my furry "sons", I am ready to tackle a few not so creative, but necessary, tasks like cleaning out drawers, closets, doing laundry and pulling weeds.  I have made a deal with myself, that if I do at least one or two of those chores in the morning, I can create in the afternoon.
I began making a few variations of the topiary centerpieces which I already have in my shop. Some just needed photos taken.  I have several other ideas rattling around in my head.  The best ones sometimes pop into my brain around 3 AM when I always seem to wake up, or just before I get up in the morning.  My husband likes to wave his hand in front of my face as I stare blankly at the wall.  Little does he know what is really going on in my head!
 I have been on a bird kick this year.  Of course, owsl are still my favorite, but I have been using other types of birds for samples of things for school this year.  I bought some felt and looked at some ideas online and got to work making some birds.
Lo and behold, not too far into my feathered productions, someone I know emailed me with a request to create a personalized hand painted rocking chair.  So, I dropped everything and whipped one up.
It's great to have the time to be able to work straight through on a project and get it done in a couple of afternoons!
Now back to my birds.  Today I created this little number and put it up in my shop.  It really evolved slowly, first with the birds.  I looked at them a couple of days and added the feathers, then I stared at the birds with the feathers a few days, then I added a stand.  I painted the stand, added the embellishments and the handmade felt and fabric flowers and voila, a centerpiece for my artfire shop!

Pillows to DYE for!

Although I have been teaching art a long time, I never get tired of it.  In fact, this year, I developed 2 new courses which both reflect my long time interests...fashion drawing and sewing.  The first semester, the girls created fashion designs using Adobe Photoshop and the second semester, they worked exclusively with fibers and fabrics, sewing, dyeing and printing their own fabric.

I am totally in love with the things they have produced and just had to share their latest project.
The sides with the flowers are the fronts and I have shown some of the back sides of the pillows too.






This student used her hand dyed and block printed fabric for the pillow front.
She hand dyed the ruffled corner pieces.



 







 

The girls who took this course didn't know how to thread a need or sew a few short months ago, but now some of them told me that they were able to sew a hem, a button,

 and fix a hole in a sweater.  Our school does not offer home economics, so I, thought this course would not only allow them to be creative, but it would provide them with some practical skills as well .  One girl said she is going to continue to do some dyeing over the summer.  Maybe a few more of them will continue to sew.  Some of the students definitely stepped out of their comfort zone in this class, but they are more confident student designers and seamstresses.

Beautifully brilliant tie-dyed pillow front!

 

This student used her batik fabric for the back of the pillow and
made another piece of batiked fabric to match the front.  She added a hand dyed
yellow flower for the front of the pillow.

I love the look of the flower this student created from her tie-dyed fabric

Paper Fashions

One of the new courses I offered this  past school year was a fashion design class using Adobe Photo Shop.  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 a project the students 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

 

 Then I thought we could use dish washing detergent bottles, but I finally decided on paper mache dress forms I saw at 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 Paper

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!