EVEE'S FELT JOURNAL

FELTED JOURNALS

Beginning 3-D Art

dyed wool roving, hot soapy water, thread and yarn scraps, hardware findings

I recently found these old pictures that I think are anywhere 

from the 2012-2013 school year up to possibly the  2015-2016  school year.

I haven't shared these yet, 

and it's been so long since I did a post from my teaching years, 

that I thought I'd give it a try again.

I have to admit that remembering this old format is somewhat challenging,

but so good for this older brain.

Amazing how it comes back!

 One of my favorite projects to demonstrate was Feltmaking 

because the kids loved seeing me surrounded and covered in hot soapy water which was dripping all over me and the floor.

Can't remember why I chose this colorway,

but knowing me I wanted to use up some leftover pieces of dyed wool roving 

from previous year's scraps.

These next 3 shots are after I had wet felted the piece.

I wanted to show the kids they could embed other materials into their felt

before the wet felting begins.

Didn't get a shot of that, only after I wet felted it.

Like this saved ribbon tag from my son's best friend's wedding (above),

along with a small piece of felt I had demonstrated beading (below).

I also sprinkled on a variety of yarns and threads from other projects I'd saved.

I was fairly pleased with how this concoction turned out.

The next step was felting it down even more in the washing machine 

with hot soapy water and some serious agitation,

and then it was on to turning it into a Journal below to demo for the students.

A picture of the finished Journal closed up in a 3 way fold

Not sure why these next 4 photos of the finished Journal are looking so bright,

but it will mellow out in the last couple of pix.

A few things to point out in the finished piece

 is first of all the name embroidered with handspun yarn on the front cover,

Evee.

Evee is the first born daughter of the couple who the wedding tag belonged to.

But note how much different the ribbon tag looks from the photo way above.

That's the washing machine doing it's shrinking magic.

Sadly though the date on the fabric disappeared.

Perle cottons were used with a running stitch to meander around negative spaces and to highlight certain areas.

And knowing the father of Evee well,

 since Kindergarten actually,

and how much he and his wife love to travel,

a fun ribbon with text was found,

cut up, fringed and tacked down.

Because my brain is in right mode most of the time while I work, 

I didn't realize that I had designed the Journal to open backwards.

Oops and oh well.

I really enjoyed using the wire clamp I found on a dog walk for the closure

along with a spring I scavenged from my husbands  hardware findings,

below.

Then it was on to the interior.

If I remember correctly I gave the students a choice between fabric or leather

 to line the insides of Journal with.

Turning the edges under and sewing fabric on worked for me.

And then another fun part is teaching the kids how to do a Long Stitch Binding,

and I believe there was also another choice, 

a Coptic Binding.

And then the choice of  papers to use.

I did a combo so show you could do more then one kind;

construction & drawing paper, and a map of the big Island of Hawaii

because I knew it was Evee's first plane ride to my son's wedding.

I also gave the students a choice to cut or deckle the edges of their papers.

I chose deckling for a softer look.

I know it's hard to see the center page of the Journal below

but it is the part of the island we had the wedding at 

on the Kona Coast plus other areas we explored.

Close-ups of some of the details and shrinkage.

I think dear Evee is now at least 4-5 years old with a little sister

 who is probably around 2.

When did I finally get around to finishing this book and photos?

Well,

I'm embarrassed to say last year or maybe the year before.

I know,

I'm terrible about keeping track of these sorts of things.

And will I make one for little sister,

probably not knowing me.

Have I given the Journal to Evee and her parentals yet,

gulp,

nope.

My excuse,

Covid of course!

Haven't seen them in over two years.

But now that I've posted this it will force me to get it to them.

Do they live far away?

Sort of.

But I'll figure it out.

Her parents live up in our cabin community of Crestline.

So yeah.

To see my students journals go here then scroll down PAST this one

 to all the others below it.  

"ABC BABY YOU AND ME"

This is a sampler I began before Xmas 

that I purchased from my new favorite crafts store in Ojai called Cattywampus.

They were featuring it as a class but I wanted to give it a try on my own.

I have a lovely array of perle cottons that I've collected over the years,

not the exact colors called for in the pattern picture,

but I tried to get mine to match as close as possible.

The pix above is how much I got done before Xmas 

and the pix below is the finished sampler that I finished in January.

Both my son and daughter saw me working on it and wanted to know who I was making it for,

each hinting that they liked it.

Then my son Zach told me who'd really enjoy it was his new sister-in-law Jamie

who is newly pregnant with her first baby.

She and her husband are the sweetest young couple

 who are redoing an old Craftsman in the suburbs of Dallas, Texas.

Zach told me she's crazy about plants and uses them to decorate every room in her home.

 And he also thought it would look great in the baby's room.

When Zach's mother-in-law Mary saw it recently done, 

she told me Jamie is decorating the baby's room in a jungle theme in the colors I put in the sampler.

So Dallas, Texas,

 here it comes!

Woo Hoo!!!

So now I just need to find a frame for it.

If there is anyone out there who has framed a sampler,

do you suggest I put it under glass?

Not sure how to deal with it.

Liz from Texas,

how did you frame out all your incredible samplers?

In case anyone would like this pattern I photoed the maker here.

TRYING SOMETHING NEW

LEATHER JOURNALS

BEGINNING 3-D ART

deconstructed leather jackets, pearle cottons, waxed linens & misc. papers

For the past several years I've had the kids learn bookbinding techniques

by making their journals with their tye-dye cottons.

We would quilt the pieces together for the front and back covers,

roll the edges over to bound pieces together,

and then bind their papers inside.

But after watching a youtube video of an artist using a leather cover,

I thought it might be fun to change up the assignment a bit. 

Was it as successful as I had hoped?

Let's take a look.

In this first piece by 8th grader Bhumika Kalaimalai,

I appreciated all the effort she put into embellishing her lovely front cover.

Because I had all different kinds of leather for the kids to choose from,

some pieces were more easily sewn thru than others.

Bhu picked a suede and I know she was able to deal with it pretty well.

Others struggled more with the thicker, tougher leathers.

Here we see senior Inna Sikar's pieced together journal.

I love that she thought to do this,

but it did take her a lot of extra time and effort,

but I felt was so worth it.

Next we see senior Hana Kim's suede journal completely opened up.

Love how she brought her delicate design to both front and back covers.

This was a really playful cover made by junior Kareema Mohamed.

I believe her piece was a bit more challenging to sew thru.

So way to hang in there K.

Junior Kiana Hernandez chose the suede and was able to put in a lot of inticate embroidery.

Senior Ricky Gallardo thought to applique cotton fabric overtop parts of his leather.

I also enjoyed the blanket stitching he brought along the edges.

8th grader Sophia Oporto brought in some of her own leather pieces 

and went all out with these dimensional flowers.

And sweet 8th grader Yusuf Karan created the most interesting closure on his cat journal.

I'm going to try it one more time this year, 

but I'll be giving the students the choice between using leather or their handmade felt pieces.

Or possible a combo of both.

Should be interesting.

LET YOUR FREAK FLAGS FLY!

ECO-DUED BANNERS

BEGINNING 3-D ART

scrap fabrics, lace & doilies in new & vintage in cotton, linen & silk,

copper pipes & twigs,

lots of string, big pots to steam in, perle cottons & embroidery needles

It all started here with the student's tied up bundles filled with eco-dying materials 

such as leaves, flowers, twigs, spices, fruits, and vegetables.

Probably a couple of bugs too.  :)

We had 6 different pots going to simmer their bundles in;

blueberries, turquoise & purple Rit, clear water, eucalyptus & mulberry leaves.

The results when the kids opened them up were stunning!!

Each child made 2 bundles for contrasting fabrics.

Here are the bundles drying out for a week before opening

(it's so hard to wait)

Before they began designing and constructing their banners,

they each chose two pieces of cloth from their bundles that they didn't like.

We placed these pieces in the center of the table

 then went around taking turns picking pieces we did like.

 The seniors got to pick first and the poor little 8th graders were last.

We went around the table twice

 so that everyone got two new pieces to incorporate into their banners.

We were looking for fabrics that had some contrast from their original bundles.

I so enjoyed watching the kids trying to be patient and wait for their turn 

and then the really hard part,

making a decision.

Seniors Lauren Gammage, Hana Kim  and Ricky Gallardo especially had a good time with this.

I loved the expressions on their faces,

the pleasure they were getting out of this process.

Adorable! 

So without further ado,

let's see these banners.

We start off with this breathtaking piece by junior Sahana Ramesh .  

Incredible design and such lovely colors she was able to extract

 by the goodies she brought in to dye with.

(I provide a lot of dried windfall that I collect for the kids

 and they bring in fresh dyestuffs from home as well)

Of course the butterfly she constructed was amazing.

Below are some close-ups.

Note her Polymer bead for the butterfly's body.

Love the crisscrossed and woven strips below with tiny French Knots.

Here is senior Hana's cat she designed.

I loved it so much I bought it at Open House to teach with.

I thought it was very clever,

and can move this project in possibly a whole new realm,

doing recognizable subject matter.

And check out all the embroidery stitches and cool details 

that junior Kiana Hernandez has incorporated,

and how she even used the twine she wrapped her bundles with as braids down the sides.

Brilliant!

This next one really appealed to my sense of order and balance.

Junior Angelica Luza used the design rules (Elements & Principles of Art) learned in the 2-D class 

and brought them into her design here.

The diagonals leading our eye to the focal point,

strong contrast between values but in a subtle way.

And even thought she didn't get a chance to finish all her embroidery stitches, 

it still demanded our attention.

One of these days you must finish this Angelica so I can get one more pix of it.

This one was another beauty that I purchased at Open House 

and hangs in my studio up at the cabin.

And everytime I look at it,

it makes me happy.

It was created by 8th grader Bhumika.

The vintage laces and embroideries are so lovely and add tons of visual interest.

And I always love buttons in a piece like this.

The symmetrical design feels so good to my eye, 

along with the feathers and the frayed edges.

Bravo Bhumika!

There is just so much here to enjoy and appreciate.

I feel so badly that I can't remember who made this exciting work.

I will ask the kids tomorrow at school to help me identify it.

It's such an interesting  composition, part symmetry, 

part asymmetry which is really hard to pull off.

And love the John Muir quote below it contains.

The paper was even eco-dyed.

And isn't this a pretty one?

Those lace doilies really look terrific in these pieces.

Here is another I'm not sure who made it,

but I'm guessing 8th grader Annie Nyugen.

Check out the great colors Annie has pulled together,

as well as the wonderful focal point.

Also note the many layers of fabrics she has stacked and sewn together.

Ok, 

I promise this is the last one I need help remembering who made it.

So help!!

But don't you just adore the pocket full of dried flowers?

And the bow with the shell under it?

So very lovely!

A close-up below.

This incredible work belongs to senior Ricky Gallardo.

I believe it was the longest banner in the class,

and Ricky put his heart and soul into it.

He designed it into 3 parts.

There are so many fabulous details from the tiny pinecones he couched on 

to the tic-tac-toe grid, 

and the loose flowing strips on each side bottom.

Of course the words and colors pull it all together.

And this one stopped me in my tracks by senior Sophie Yang.

It was my very favorite and I almost bought it at Open House,

but another teacher scooped it up before me.

The close-up says it all.

Tons of effort going into the embroidery, 

the embellishments,

the couching of the bounding string,

but it's the woven strips that really pull me in with  the X's and O's.

I also really like the greyish turquoises and reds together,

 the braiding,

and that sweet window above with the flowers in it.

This is an outstanding piece Sophie,

and I'm so very proud to show it off.

Thank you all for putting so much effort into these banners.

And a very special thank you to Australian artist India Flint

who introduced me to Eco-Dyeing,

to her many books on the subject,

and now to her on-line workshops where I continue to learn so much.

NEW ASSIGNMENT - PART 2

HOOP EMBROIDERY ON FELT

BEGINNING 3-D ART

embroidery hoops, felt, perle' cottons, crewel or embroidery needles

Well I hope you enjoyed the Hoop Embroideries from yesterday's post.

There were so many outstanding pieces

 that it was just too hard for me to pick only a few to showcase.

So let's take a look-see at the others I have picked for you.

We start Part 2 with junior Angelica Luza

and her fish & bones.

Everyone loved her quirky subject matter as well as her lovely stitching.

The chain stitch makes for a really swell filler stitch.

If you recognize Angelica's name 

it's because she has also been showcased this year 

for her pieces in the Intermediate 2-D art class.

A talented young woman.

This next one was crafted by junior Dustine Ansiboy.

It was so clever of her to make the braid separate from the felt,

this way you could make the young woman a completely different do.if you wanted to.

An interactive piece.

Hummm....next year?

And vivacious little 8th grader Annie Nguyen created this delightful piece

with the title "Art 2017".

So very sweet Annie!

And oh my, 

what do we have here?

Complex thinker and 8th grader Sophia Oporto embroidered almost an entire piano!

What a hard worker this young one is to pull off something so difficult!!

And check out the gorgeous design and craftsmanship in this next one by senior Sophie Yang.

Everything is so delicately and perfectly placed and executed.

8th grader Kira Curry always comes up with highly unique ideas.

When I look at this I see a young girl looking into a bowl and out floats some scary eyeball.

But when I double-checked with her today, 

she told me it's a  mermaid holding a dolphin with a jelly fish floating nearby.

Wow, completely different interpretations.

She spent a lot of extra time putting in all those French Knots and Satin stitches.

I wish I had a better pix of this next one.

We all loved how the balloon strings trailed off the edge of the hoop.

And the craftsmanship that 8th grader Shivani Kedila displayed was impeccable.

But like I always have a tendency to do, 

I try to save the very best for last.

And as much as I loved all the others,

it was this one that called to me the most by junior Rachel Tibayan.

I think it's because reminds me of a bygone era,

it transports me to a time 

when women used to sell their wooden baskets full of flowers on the streets, 

and probably still do in some European countries.

It just really spoke to me.

I hope you all have enjoyed seeing these beginners put their needles into work.

It's so satisfying for me to know that I've shared with them a life skill.