Design. Create. Repeat.

So, it may seem confusing at times trying to understand what it is I actually do. My passion in general is creative development. My bread and butter is graphic design and my unstoppable urges usually fall into all things crafty. I spend a significant amount of time doing freelance graphic design. Once again I thought I'd show you a bit what I do beyond crafty-goodness. Here are a few of the posters I have designed. Needless to say there are many more where these came from.

SOLD! To the HIGHEST BIDDER!!

The Cedar River Montessori Auction has come and gone. With the flash of a numbered paddle and some quick talking by an auctioneer the masterpieces created by 5 different classes have found new homes. I was pleased to hear that the art raised a record amount for the school. The kids pride showed in the finished work and I was happy to be part of it's success.

Wonders of Water

Yep. It's another class art project. I can't get enough of them! One day I might get myself to just go get a ceramic bowl and put the kids hand prints on it. Until then I'll stick with my crazy ideas. (Or at least see what happens when they sell at auction in 2 weeks.) When I work with a class I first talk to the teacher to see if he/she might have a specific theme to their year or studies. This teacher happen to be focusing on water. All things about waves, ocean, sea life, etc. She also mentioned that she thought it would be cool to do a large painting of something water related. I was inspired and after a couple weeks of research and planning I came up with this composition. It was a great way to have the kids (ages 3-5) each apply their own piece (the mosaic fish) and also work collaboratively to make everything else come together. The response has been wonderful for this piece and I am excited to hear how it goes over at the auction. I'll be sure to keep you posted.

Won't you be my neighbor?

I want to live in this neighborhood! For this auction art project I loved the idea of each student creating their house and together the class created a whole neighborhood. The kids knew the shape of their house and knew what they wanted it to look like. It was execution that seemed a bit of a hurdle. After all, they are only 3-5 years old. I decided to simplify the process. The kids are great with scissors and they definitely know their shapes. This made sense to use cut paper. In order to give the piece an finer art quality I decided to use tissue paper. I bought a canvas and had them cut the shapes and details of their home out of tissue. As we mod podged the pieces of their homes to the canvas I was informed of all sorts of stories. I would ask what color their house was going to be and often I was told that it wasn't a "house". It is a "secret agents office" or "This is a "french food place". I also got a toy store. The stories became more and more interesting and the artwork started representing the stories the kids were telling me. It was AMAZING! Of course the Secret Agent Office is solid gold. Why wouldn't the toy store be bright pink? And, well..the French resturant. Do I need to point it out? I am so excited about this piece that I am sharing it a bit early. I have outlined all the shapes that the kids cut and glued down with a fine sharpie. I will also be labeling each building to personalize it to who created it. The labels will read things like "Sophia's French Cuisine, Marley's Toy Store, Office of Secret Agent Caleb and Oyer Mansion (enter if you dare) so that the parents will see what part of the neighborhood their child contributed. I will try my best to resist bidding on this piece. No promises though. UPDATE! The finished piece!

Millefiori Mirror

Millefiori is Italian for "Millions of flowers". This is a technique that comes to life as you layer and roll different colors of clay together creating a "cane". It's also done in glass. I had never tried either medium but I was pretty sure it would make a great auction project. I pulled the basic supplies together. A pasta maker for rolling the clay out, a long razor blade, a baking matt and FIMO. The kids and I discovered the process together. I learned quickly that the easiest way to somewhat maintain consistency is to control the color palette. The kids had 5 colors of clay to work with. It was their choice as to what colors and pattern they created within those 5 color choices. Some would even borrow others work and add to it. It was a great collaborative project. Once the canes were completed I sliced them and baked the pieces. The 3rd year kids in the class placed the pieces into a mirrored frame. I poured a 2 part epoxy over the pieces to complete the project. My favorite moment while doing this project was when the teacher approached me and said,"You've done this before. right?". HA!! My response was, "OF COURSE I haven't!"

Paper Messay

Yep. That headline is correct. "Paper Messay" This project has to go down in the books as my messiest project yet! I have a class full of fearless artists in my after school arts program. We had glue from head to toe! Also, I was feeling adventurous and let them use the bleeding art tissue to color their hot air balloon. The end result was really cool. I'm pretty sure their hands will be flesh tone again sometime before they start high school. (They are currently in 2nd and 3rd grade) Sorry parents! Over all this project was a blast and the kids really got into it.

We taped a balloon to a disposable drinking cup for our base form and covered it in the newspaper and diluted Mod Podge. After the base dried we covered it again with the bleeding tissue soaked in mod podge. The kids added rhinestones, silk flowers and streamers as a finishing touch. I HIGHLY recommend table covers and floor covers for this project. A well ventilated area would be a big perk too.

Pony Bead Ornaments

I can't get enough of this pony bead project. I've made this project more classroom friendly and it sure made some fantastic ornaments for the preschool group I did this with. Silicone pancake molds work wonders to shape your ornament. I found these tree shapes at Diaso. Add plastic beads. You can use the translucent beads to make it look more stained glass like and you can also mix in some of the opaque beads for contrast. Bake for 12 minutes at 425 degrees. When it's cooled, drill a hole at the top to hang and you have yourself a masterpiece. BE SURE TO BAKE THESE IN A TOASTER OVEN OUTSIDE. Seriously, It's pretty toxic smelling. One of the kids used all sorts of plastic beads, not just the pony beads and I LOVE the way it turned out.