Endorsed by Dowdle

Not only do I design puzzles, but I love to solve puzzles too.  A couple years ago I discovered Dowdle Puzzles and since putting together the first one I haven't bought a 500-1000 piece puzzle from anyone else.  I love the intricate artwork and the quality of the pieces and the packaging.  So I sent Eric Dowdle a message telling him so.  Recently I sent him a Flipzles sample to see what he thought as a fellow puzzle maker.  He sent me this letter and said he hoped I could use it as an endorsement.  

Thank You  Eric!  I truly appreciate your support and encouragement.

If you haven't seen Dowdle Puzzles before you can check them out here -
http://www.dowdlefolkart.com

Contrast Collage

I am going to use this blog for art projects as well as puzzle happenings.  

I have been really into black and white collage with a contrasting colorful picture in the front.  I originally had one of my students try it last summer and then this year decided to have the second graders that I art docent for do a version of it as well.

To get ready I went to Goodwill and bought some old music books and some books with Japanese and Chinese characters. It is fun to find books that are a bit older so there is a bit of variation in the paper.

For this class we talked about music, rhythm and movement and how they relate to art.  First the students used strips of the music paper to form tiles on their black sheet of paper. Then they mod-podged over the collage.  While it was drying they chose something that they could imagine moving to music to draw.  They were encouraged to draw big so that it would stand out on their collage.  After they finished the drawing, they outlined it in sharpie and then colored it with oil pastels.

It was fun to see the different animals, bugs and dancers that the kids created.

A firefly

A dragonfly

Here is an example that my student M did using paper with Asian characters on it.

To try something different she glazed over it with gel medium that had tiny glass beads in it to give it a bit of texture and sparkle.

She had more time to work on the second layer of art since we weren't constrained to a single class period -- so she painted her butterfly with watercolor and then outlined it with paint marker.

 I love how her piece turned out.

This is a very simple project that always ends up with beautiful results.  

Here is a shot of the very first piece using this technique that one of my students made last summer during art camp at my house.

I think it is a fun way to teach contrast and make a piece that parents don't mind hanging in their house for all to see.

Valentine's Fun

Besides being busy fulfilling Flipzles orders for Valentine's day -- we have also been getting Valentine's ready for 3 different classes.

This is my oldest daughter's last year of classroom Valentine's parties.  We thought it would be fun to go out with a bang -- or better yet a "Whoopie."  No lollipops or candy hearts for her class this year.

We found these funny whoopie cushions on Oriental Trading.  My 5th grader thought it would be fun to deliver them inflated instead of folded up in a package.  So she used a straw and filled them partially and then attached a small homemade card with curly ribbon.

She has never been more excited to pass out her Valentine's!  Luckily her teacher seems to have a pretty good sense of humor, so I don't think she will mind -- fingers crossed.