Winter fashion can be cozy and stylish, and a midi skirt is a great way to achieve both. This blog
An elementary art teacher blog with art projects and lessons, DIY projects and outfit photos as well as clothing I have made myself.
57K runs, 163 stars, 230 downloads. Max Weight- 9, Mini Weight - 7.5Have fun all!
You Don't Even Wanna Know: The most frequently asked question by my colleagues on this particular day? "Just how are you wearing your stockings today, Stephens?!" Suriously, guise. You don't even wanna know (but being the blabber-mouth that I am, I've written a tell-all below). sweater: Betsy Johnson, thrifted; crayon dress: Modcloth on super-duper sale; belt: amazon; tights: Target; crayon shoes: DIY here Hey there, my favorite people! I come to you from the wonderful land of Thanksgiving Break (which, for me, is a whole week off. Don't hate. Remember, I did return to school in July. Even if it was July 31st, it was still July). The hubs and I are in sunny SoCal (again, is it just me or does saying "SoCal" make me sound like the jerk I am?) where we'll be hangin until we return home for some Thanksgivingness. In honor of Thanksgiving (which marks the end of fall and the beginning of Christmas-freaking-everywhere), I'm sharing with you a backlog of fall-ish projects that have been created in el art room-o over the last coupla weeks. I thought you might enjoy a wee bit of crafting with the fam after you've all recovered from the after effects of tryptophan (btw, you know that if you read about something on WebMD, A. You prolly have whatever disease you just read about and B. You will prolly be dead my morning. My advice? Don't read WebMD). I hope all y'all have a great week of giving thanks (even my buds not living in 'merica!) and devouring entirely too much food with those you love. Until next time, I'd love to hear what Thanksgiving traditions you have, aside from participating in some super rad fall crafts, of course! Even Asha the Cat was perplexed by my two dif colored legs (actually, she could care less, she's just here begging for food. Because, as you can see, we never feed her). So the deal is, I really would love for some genius hose company (not to be confused with "hoes company", ahem) out there to start making two-diff-colored-leg tights. But until they do, I'm stuck wearing one pair then only wearing the leg of another and wrapping and tucking the spare leg. This works if, and only if, the spare leg that's tucked doesn't fall out and then dangle between your legs like some sort of deflated manhood. Not that I know anything about that. AHHHH-hem. My afternoon clay class created these one-hour created-and-glazed turkeys using fall leaves and an orange-sized piece of clay a coupla weeks ago. We began by twisting the clay into two equal pieces. One piece was used for the pinch pot body. For the other piece, the kids laid a leaf down veiny side up, pounded their clay into it, traced around the shape of their leaf with a skewer stick and pealed off the leaf. The clay leaf was then attached to the pinch pot. The excess clay that was cut from the leaf tracing was then used to form a coil for the head and parts of the face. The kids really loved this easy project and even got carried away creating hats and bow-ties for their turkey. Field Trippin Tuesday: I took my second grade students to see the Kandinsky exhibit at The Frist Center on Tuesday. It was a ton of fun. I felt kinda silly cuz I kept forgetting I was wearing my Kandinsky dress until the docents, security guards and just about everyone else pointed it out to me. They were all, "Where did you get that dress?!" Don't ask me why but I get all goofy when I answer and always say, "Uh, I made it?" with a question mark at the end. Big Dork. jacket: Modcloth; Kandinsky Dress: DIY here; tights: Target; Frye Boots: Journeys, years ago Some of the kids in clay class opted to create a peacock instead of a turkey and those turned out super cute as well. And I love that one flipped her pinch pot so her turkey could work double duty (btw, NEVER say the words "double duty" to the under-10 set for they will lose their minds) as a bowl or cup or holder-of-many-a-small-things. Crayola Sweater Wednesday: Have y'all left a comment here to enter to win my lil Crayola Giveaway Contest? If you haven't, what in the world is wrong with you?! The winner will be announced next week so get on it, kids! dress: Anthro, last season; tights: Target; shoes: Dolls by Nina; necklace: The Paper Source A coupla weeks ago my first grade friends printed and stitched up these leaf print wall hangings. For the printing process, we used Gelli-Arts printing plates but if you don't have those, have no fear. You can create your own gelatin printing plates by visiting here and following my relatively decent directions. I have the kids tons of different fall-colored fabric options to pick from. After they created both their positive and negative leaf prints, they had the chance to use sewing machines to stitch them together (totally supervised of course. I'm not that crazy). Put a Belt on It: Y'all. When I spotted this belt on etsy, I was all, OMG, I gotta have this in my life! I think it has super secret art teacherin magical powers. Although, when my fourth grade class came to art on this particular day, one girl was all, "Is that it? Where's the rest of your crazy outfit?!" And I was all, "DID YOU NOT NOTICE MY BELT?!" Kids, these days. So hard to please. vintage dress: thrifted; belt: etsy; tights: Target; shoes: Anthro I was fortunate to have some local college kids in my room to help with the stitching portion of the project. While a handful of kids worked on stitching, the rest used Sculpey clay and skewers to create those beads that you see at the ends of the skewer sticks. For extra fall crafting fun, you could make necklaces with the Sculpey. Oh! And if you don't have access to a kiln, you could easily make miniature turkeys using the Sculpey and the directions for the clay turkey above. You see, your T-day crafting options are limitless. Early Morning Saturday: I forgot to snap a photo one day this week and the totes ridic thing is, I can't even remember what day it was or what I wore! So just before our long flight on Saturday, I snapped this photo. I love to be comfy on the plane while I'm spread out with my assortment of crafts (I took along knitting needles and some embroidery madness). So far, all my attempts at crafting have been in vain. Oh well, it's vacay, right? dress: Betsy Johnson, Buffalo Exchange; jacket: Lucky Brand; scarf: Urban Outfitters; necklace: made by me, DIY here Enjoy your final days of fall, y'all!
Winter fashion can be cozy and stylish, and a midi skirt is a great way to achieve both. This blog
An elementary art teacher blog with art projects and lessons, DIY projects and outfit photos as well as clothing I have made myself.
Oh dear Lawd. Please don't ask me what is happening here as I've no explanation. Well this here blog post is just a pinch delayed! I do believe we're heading into the second MONTH of the school year in my neck of the woodz. Howevers, since I did post a First Days of Art Class last year, I thought I'd share another this year. Some things have changed (with some influence from Teach like a Pirate by Dave Burgess, one of our Artsy Book Club choices) while some have remained the same. I thought I could best explain myself (complete with odd hand motions, apparently) in a coupla short vid clips. One thing I forgot to mention in the clip are the flashcards I used on that very first couple of days. You can see 'em here... I like to use flashcards at the door as the kids enter. To get them into this routine, I flashed 'em these as they entered. Once everyone was in and on that red line, I told them that this group of words they read had two things in common: they were words that described them and words that described art class. Just a lil close-up of our Word of the Week. I actually see my kids on a 6 day rotation so this is more of a Word of the Every Six Day Rotation. Which wouldn't fit on my sign so I took some liberties. Since we are in our 3rd rotation of the year, we've thus far chatted about the words "artist", "unique" and "creative". As far as artist inspirations go, we've looked at Kandinsky, Hundertwasser (boy, that was a fun name to teach the kids) and and Rizzi. We've yet to use the phone to Dial-an-Artist...I'll let you know when we do. That Spring Drum was pretty rad, amiright? I know you want one. They are made by Remo and if you google "spring drum" for a hot minute, you'll find tons of retailers with 'em for cheap. Mine is a larger size but I'm willing to guess a smaller one would work just as well. Lookie here. What?! Rules are SUPER FUN to go on and on and ON about, riiiiight? That Sound Machine can be found here. My rules with some Haring illustrations. I'll eventually post these permanently somewheres in the art room. By the way, those questions I ask the kids can be just about anything. I just wanna get them talking and feeling comfortable. I also wanna keep it kinda short for those long winded friends of mine. In all honesty, I've yet to use this routine. I can't seem to break myself of my normal habit of getting the kids attention which is either playing my Energy Chime (thanks, hubs!) or saying, "Point to the ceiling. Point to the floor. Point to your nose. Point to your toes." That usually does the trick. But I'm gonna keep trying. Um-hmm, y'all better behave. Less you wanna look at this. Oh, I did mention The Smartest Artist in that clip. More deets here. AND Dot Day! We're closing in on the big day! I'd love to hear what you are up to. I just hope my genius artists can finish in time, agh! Oh! And in case you missed my Virtual Room Tour posted a coupla weeks ago, here you go! Chat with y'all soon.
The daily practice of art history warm-ups will develop art criticism skills while investigating a broad range of artists throughout history.
Artnet News speaks to Rose Wylie about her new show in Aspen, life in lockdown, and how her career has evolved.
Apps for the Art Classroom. I’ve been teaching with iPads for a number of years now & I thought I’d share what Apps I’ve been using & found success with.
My name is Cassie Stephens and I'M IN LOVE WITH BINGO DAUBERS. There. I've said it. It's finally off my chest. And I'm here today to tell you that if you've not discovered the magical wonders of bingo daubers and all that they have to offer your art room, allow me to introduce you to "a whooole neeeeew wooorrllllllddddd..." If you are unfamiliar, than you might be thinking: What ARE bingo daubers? Simply put, they are the little dot-makin' things that folks use when playing bingo. You can purchase them with ink in them...or empty so you can fill with what you like. I prefer diluted India ink but other art teachers have also used liquid watercolor. TEMPERA PAINT, even when diluted, does not work...I know...I tried. Why are they magic? Because they provide a seamless line, much like that of a marker. In fact, in my art room, we call them "paint markers" and have three rules for using them properly: DO NOT SHAKE THEM, DO NOT PRESS HARD but, most of all, DO NOT SQUEEZE THEM as an endless stream of ink my flow out of the bottle if you do. Sometimes, the ink dries at the tip providing a scratchy line. If I know my kids are going to be using them, I test each one out during my plan time making sure they work and GENTLY squeezing them to get the ink to flow. Where can I get them? Here and here is where I get 'em! How do I fill and refill them? Like I said, I put slightly diluted India ink in mine (I don't have a brand recommendation because it seems all India ink is created equally). When it comes to refilling them, I know you can buy some sort of contraption to remove the top but I just use a pair of pliers to pry them off. Over time, the felt on top of the marker may become worn out. You can buy just the replacement tops! What can I do with them? I'm so glad you asked! Here are my Top 11 Fave Things to Do with Bingo Daubers (it's a workin' title...don't judge, naughty pants). 1. Make Giant Painting Sheets! For our upcoming art show, I wanted to inspire excitement and decorate the walls to announce the event. I sketched out my pirate-y design in charcoal and then laid out paint for the kids to go to town. When they were finished, I went back over the black lines on spots where they'd gotten a little excited with the paint (that's putting it mildly) and added white highlights. And ta-da! Giant banners to announce our art show! I've seen many art teachers create huge coloring sheets in the same manner for their art shows or art activities. 2. Make Welcome Back Banners! If you are like me, you have a CRAZY schedule at the end of the school year. Field day, field trips, assemblies, you name it...it's nuts! And so are the kiddos. Last year, when our field day was rained out and my station was cancelled, I decided to have the kids create Welcome Back banners so that we'd have some color on the walls come fall. They had a blast, we used up excess art supplies and made a rained-out field day super fun. Much like the art show banners, here is our paint set up! 3. Heather Galler-Inspired Florals! What I love about the daub is that it forces kids to draw BIG! We never use pencils first, we just dive right in. It's a little scary but it's a great chance to talk about turning a "boo-boo" into something "boo-tiful!" More on this lesson (with video!) here...perfect for Mother's Day! 4. Dean Russo-Inspired Animals! Our mascot is the tiger...and it was so fun creating these massive colorful tigers for our hall. We finished them off with our chalk pastel in Sta-Flo trick (see video here!) and oil pastels. 5. Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! Kindergarten uses my bingo daubers the most in my art room. Many teachers have told me that they've not had success with kids and daubers...that might be because you gotta remind them of the three rules...with rule numero uno being DON'T SQUEEZE THE PAINT MARKER! This Mo Willems project is always a hit! Lesson with video here. 6. Jasper Johns-Inspired Kindergarten Alphabet! This is a fave lesson of mine and many others. You can find the lesson details and the lesson video here. 7. Chicka-Chicka Boom-Boom Kindergarten! We follow our first alphabet work of art with this one, a huge hit with my students. We watch the video version of Chicka-Chicka on YouTube and the kids love to sing along with it. You can find the lesson and video here. 8. Romero Britto-Inspired Hearts! Easy and super great for learning about line, shape and pattern! All of these dauber works of art are HUGE too which I love. Details here. 9. Fauve-Inspired Self-Portraits! Self-portraits are not my students fave thing to do...or my fave thing to teach. I think it's because the older my students get, the less confidence they have in making their artwork look "real." With that said, the bingo dauber frees them up, makes them relax and not get hung up in the details. Check out this post to see how we added color to these lovelies! 10. First Grade Penguins! Oh yeah. These are pretty much the cutest...or, wait...are THESE cuter?! 11. Kindergarten Snowmen! I mean...look at them! Lesson and video here. My third graders created these abstract name designs earlier this year with bingo daubers and I loved how they turned out. I don't have a lesson for this one yet...but will work on soon to have available for you and your kiddos! I've been in the middle of Art Show Prepland and the bingo dauber is saving my behind! I was able to crank out this pirate ship (which will be a photo-op prop) with a little help from the dauber. And I've even made SEVEN massive backdrops like this for the art show too, all with the dauber. So...if I've not convinced you yet that you need to get some bingo daubers in your life then I've just failed at life. Have a super week, y'all!
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For many people, fashion and clothes are a way to express their personality, showcase their creativity, and add some fun and color to their lives. But what you might not realize is that what you wear can seriously affect your image - especially as you get older.
Hey, y'all! We are officially back in school and in full swing! Our first days of art were spent printing dots after reading The Dot! We used Gelli-Arts plates to print our dots because I found that I had about 20 brand new round plates in my storage closet (wow, the things you find when you clean). Here's the video I created for my students: If you cannot see this video then it's because you are looking at my blog from your phone. Super annoying, I know. It's a blogger thing, it's not you. So here's the direct link to my YouTube page. You should totally subscribe because I add new content all the time. Now I know many of you don't have those Gelli Arts plates (and they are a bit expensive) so...I came up with an alternative for you: pie pans from Dollar Tree! I am using the pizza pie pans here: Again, if you can't see it, here it is. First grade through fourth were printing which means I had drying racks brimming with art. So a way to keep up with everything was clipping clothes pins with the teacher's names on them between the classes on the drying rack. Once dry, the clips were used to hold the artwork together. I know...every now and then I have a decent idea. After two 30 minute art classes of printing, my students looked at all of their prints and picked their fave for display. They then had to give their piece a title and 'sign it' like Vashti so it could be displayed in the hallway. Here was a video I created to explain this process: Need more Dot Day fun? Well, here is a simple one-day activity I created as a sub plan a couple of years ago. Sheet included: And if you want to check out a big ole blog post filled with TONS of Dot Day ideas, then here you go!
Overview: The art course is designed for anyone from 11 years and above. The whole methodology is outlined below. The curriculum will be taught by a very experienced arts teacher, international acclaimed artist, an educator and an art book author. She has been teaching arts for quite a few years. Her name is Dr Madhume
An elementary art teacher blog with art projects and lessons, DIY projects and outfit photos as well as clothing I have made myself.
