12 Months of FFAC

As we wind down 2014, I realize the struggle I have experienced with this blog thing.  It's new to me and I've never consistently recorded all I do, but it's a good challenge.  I want to share my work and experiences, so my new year's resolution is to record these happenings on a regular basis.  Sorry this year went awry.  Rather than struggle to write a new post so many moons late, I will count down the 12 months of FFAC on this fine Christmas Eve eve. ;-)

January 2014 was Duct Tape Designs.  We have done this program in years past.  We worked on a wallet pattern, but the kids always have other interests and goals.  Pictures are lost in space for this program, but I want your attention to go to Duck Brand Promotions.  We were given a case of Duck Brand Duct Tape from ShurTech Brands (makers of Duck Brand Duct Tape) and I really appreciate what the company will do for communities.  As a fashion enthusiast, I am enamored with the Stuck-at-Prom contest.  The ingenuity involved in these creations is mind boggling.  I challenge you to create for this contest.  I would certainly support your efforts!

February 2014 was Needle Felting.  This is yet another photo-less event.  Items made were intended as Valentine gifts.  The video here is a great beginner tutorial.  Needle felting can be a relaxing and meditative craft.  Beware that needle, though!  It's a brutal beast if contacted with skin--OUCH!!

March and April 2014 involved a special guest instructor, Laura Charles.  We worked with character and scene drawing in March.  Those scenes were then painted in water color in April.  I even received a painting from this session as a gift for the library!  Check out the lesson description here.

May was Beads for Mom.  Please check my archive link for the full description.

June was Baskets for Dad.  We celebrate our parents these months leading into summer, so I offer programs to create gifts of appreciation for those special folks.  We purchased these basket kits from Guild Craft.  The kits were a great value.  Special needs students integrated with the usual crew of crafters and this collage shows the results.

July was a month off from First Friday Art Club, because it was Independence Day. It was a momentous occasion for me.  My long-time beau proposed and now we are engaged! We also traveled to Galeton, Pa for the most spectacular fireworks display I could never imagine.  Take a peek at the finale.

August was a fun field trip to the Corning Museum of Glass.  The Summer Reading Club theme for Young Adults was "Spark a Reaction" so I collaborated with the CMoG Youth and Family Programs Educator, Mieke Fay, to create an engaging glass-involved field trip.  

Students watched a Hot Glass show with Gaffer G. Brian Juk.  They visited the Rakow Research Library to view artist's original drawings of pieces in the museum collection.  The group then went into the museum and hunted for the art pieces they first saw in 2-D form.  They sat in the galleries and drew their own glass designs.  This visit was successful and likely to happen again in 2015.  Corning Museum of Glass is an amazing community resource and I like to remind our local youth to experience all the museum has to offer.

September was for Self Portrait Silhouettes.  

Self Portraits are great for the artist in training.  There is no better model than yourself, willing to wait while you perfect your skill.  There was lots of room for expression here, too.

October was Mad Monster Masks.  Check out the event in the archive.

November was Colorful Crayon Creations.  Color a design on sandpaper using crayons; the finer the grit, the better your image will appear.  

Iron the crayon image side down onto a piece of fabric and your image transfers.  

Heat set the image for 30 minutes in a dryer on HIGH.

The results are spectacular and fairly permanent.

December was a First Friday Art Club and Teen Cooking Club combination program called Make & Bake.  The program is documented with images.  Hopefully these gifts will be given out before the year is over.

Thanks for sticking around this long.  Stop back in February when I return with notes from the first session of my Still Life Drawing class.  Students are not very enthusiastic about drawing and rendering.  I remember those days.  Spread the news and help fill these classes.

See you in 2015.  Happy New Year!

Make & Bake

That time of year has come and gone again.  Make & Bake is a program combining Teen Cooking Club and First Friday Art Club into a 2 hour creation fest.  I remember being too young to work and lacked enough craft supplies to make cool things for my friends and family.  Therefore, I scramble through the year for supplies necessary for my teens to make marvelous treasures for those they love.

This year we hosted a special collaboration with Amy Ruza from The Rockwell Museum for attendees to make ceramic ornaments for the holidays.  Although I had several tables set up for various crafts, the ceramic ornaments table stole the spotlight!

The flurry of activity gave way to these:

The tough part of making ceramics is waiting for them to be fired (not like what Donald Trump does to people on The Apprentice!).  We may not have these ready in time for Christmas, but I think gifts are extra fun when the holiday is passed, but there is still something special to give.

Along with these ceramic specialties, there were Snow Bottles to create.

Wine bottles look extra elegant when spray painted and dipped in Epsom salt.  The inspiration came from this blog.  I sourced plain bottles and was very happy not to peel off labels, etc.  We drew in hot glue as a resist for the spray paint.  Then sprayed white primer, followed by spray adhesive and Epsom salt.  The hot glue can be peeled off to reveal the clear glass once everything is dry.  I added LED lights to mine for a festive effect.

Hand sewing skills were required for these cute handwarmers.

Some kids got creative with the fabric designs.  I wish these were made for me!

Scented pine cones were another option, although the ceramics took away any interest in natural objects.

After 1 hour of baking out any bugs, spritz the cones with essential oil water.  We broke tradition and used oil of Wintergreen.  Mmm!

These yummy Salted Caramel Turtle Thumbprint Cookies were a special treat made by me, because we simply ran out of time.  While the kids created, I baked!  These are so fabulous, go ahead and bake them, but please, please, PLEASE share with me!!!

Now you have the sources to make your own hand made gifts for your loved ones.

Merry Christmas!

Love, Erica