"Our Library Rocks"--Felted!

WE all know that libraries rock, but in 2018--LIBRARIES ROCK! That's the summer reading theme and we are using it to exclaim from the rooftops just how important libraries are to community enrichment.  Since the Southeast Steuben County rocks in the most amazing ways, we asked Shannah Warwick of Blckbts to show us how to felt rocks.

Dyed Wool

We felt for rocks in the park and felt those rocks just needed to be concealed.  Painted rocks are all the rage, but we wanted to clothe our rocks.  Or at least give them a fresh look.

Setting the wool

Each rock got a unique look by taking strips of colored wool, layering it over the rock, then wetting the wool with hot, then cold water.  The heat makes the fibers expand and the cold shocked the fibers back.  This expand and shock treatment causes the fibers to interlock and create a new fiber--FELT.

Rock in Process

Once each rock was completely covered, they were doused in a cold water bath with vinegar.  The vinegar balanced the pH of the wool and soap.  A wet animal smelling rock remains, but after a few hours of drying, it looks like a soft sculpture.

Covered and Cozy

The method was simple.  Hot water, cold water, LOTS OF SUDS, agitation--the kind that releases personal tension, but makes the wool stick in place, and tons of fun conversation made this little colony come to life.

Rock Band

If you need a new way to rock your library, try some wool to felt your sediment.

That felt good

That's a wrap for First Friday Art Club with me.  Check on my Pop-up library excursions in the coming months with a new blog, yet to be named.  Send me your suggestions and I'll work my magic.  In the downtime, follow our newest project, "Family Folklore-A Paranormal Podcast."  Broadcast from the Crystal City of Corning, New York, it is a goosebumpy experience filled with chills and thrills from local residents of the Southern Tier of New York.  Stay tuned for all the fun things to happen.

email your stories to CorningFamilyFolklore@gmail.com

Thanks for visiting!

xo,

Erica

Stained Glass Fake-Out

To get students ready for the new school year, I planned a relaxing project for First Friday Art Club in September.  I've seen fake stained glass projects and had them on the "To Do" list for awhile, but a colleague highly suggested this technique, having recently succeeded in the same lesson with a mixed age group.

Blueprints, tracings and color

In order to create a stained glass project, an artisan will create a drawing.  The drawing will then get scaled to the size of the window or project they are creating.  The scaled drawing is called a blueprint and used quite like a blueprint for architecture.  My students were given some time to sketch out a plan for their blueprint using office copy paper.

Careful coloring

Once the blueprint was finalized, each student took wax paper to create their fake stained glass.  I tried to equate the simplified techniques to actual glass preparation.  Students were told to "cut" their glass by tracing their blueprint with pencil onto the less waxy side of the wax paper.  The less waxy side of the paper accepts the marker ink better than the shiny side.  Once their drawing was transferred, color could be added to the composition.

"This part is my favorite."

The coloring phase excited everyone like the coloring pages that have become very popular.  I had some concern that this project would be too simple and quick for this age group, so I planned to let any quick workers make another.  Luckily that was not an issue.  Each student took their time planning their projects and placing the color precisely inside the lines.

Bold lines and Big shapes

I suggested to keep lines and shapes big and less complex.  No glass maker wants to cut sliver sized pieces of glass.  Adding the lead came or copper foiling would make the process almost unbearable.  With that idea understood and coloring wrapping up, each project needed to be taped to a matte board frame with the fake lead came applied afterward. 

Puffy Paint to the Rescue

The lead came replacement for this project was puffy paint.  I showed the option to outline the shapes in each composition with black sharpie, but also showed the puffy paint example and everyone gravitated toward that look.  By framing the wax papers first, the projects were less flexible and easier to take home, even with wet paint. 

Simple instruments

This project is achievable for many age levels and has been proven successful with varied ages in the same class.  Sharpie markers are suggested for their ability to stay and not smudge on the wax paper.  Rulers, copy paper, puffy paint and pencils were other simple instruments used to created this relaxing project.  No glass means no fingers cut!

Hold it up to the Light

Holding these finished projects up to a window let them truly shine. 

Simple and Sweet

Larger shapes to give the viewer's eye more to view would 

make this composition even more lovely.

Simplified Landscape

This artist skipped the black puffy paint at first, but then added it later.  Good choice!

Color every Inch

This artist chose to color every inch of her composition. I feel this was the closest resemblance to stained glass and would love to see it in glass form....

any makers ready to take on that challenge?

This wraps up another month of First Friday Art Club.  Join us in October for harp & heART with Maryalice Little.  There's still time to register!

Thanks for visiting!

~erica

Block Printing

First Friday Art Club stamped things down and got a little messy in the process in September.  We entered the world of Printmaking and created our own blocks to print.

Block Printing supplies

For simplicity, I equated Block Printing with rubber stamping.  There is a block with an image that will get ink, then stamp on a surface to print.  The idea is straightforward, but there are nuances along the way.

Printing means the image is reversed.

This class immediately followed our week long Theatre Camp and my brain was having trouble shifting into Art Gear.  Printing from a block or stamp means the image gets flipped.  What you design on the left of your block will be on the right side of your print.  This is easy enough, but the students wanted to use wording.  OH BOY!  The image above is my sample and demonstration piece.  Once I showed the students how this reversed image works, their brains clicked and they finalized their designs.

Little Fishy

We used Styrofoam scratch plates to easily achieve the image, using pencils or paint brush handles to scribe the plate. Designing the images to print held everyone up for  a bit.  There is often that Blank Page Syndrome that all artists face.  I stressed that drawing skills were not necessary to achieve great results.  Abstract imagery complimented the designs and allowed for more freedom of expression.  That reassuring message got the designs done quickly and then we hit the ink.

Puffy Cloud

We had fashionistas who preferred to print on clothing.  This Puffy Cloud was adorable!  The vertical lines are an effect from the cardboard spacer that protected the bottom layer of the shirt.

Giraffes on Safari

Giraffes were printed twice.  Students learned the brightness of an ink color in the jar might not be effective on a t-shirt.  After a too-light-to-be-seen run of yellow, this artist chose pink for her Giraffes on Safari.

Words can be tough to achieve

This student discovered the woes of wording in printmaking.  She mastered the reversed image, but still struggled with one letter.  Lessons in life....

 

Warhol-esque

This artist went bold like Andy Warhol and printed multiple colors within the same page.  A lesson on Andy Warhol is pending.  No one had even HEARD of him!  There was vague recollection when I mentioned the Campbell's Soup Can prints that made him famous.

Special thanks goes to Lynn Dates and 171 Cedar Arts Center who graciously let me borrow the brayers (the rolling tool used to transfer the ink from the block to the paper), which saved the library over $70!  Community support as simple as that makes Corning, New York a very happy place to live and work.

Check back next month when we dive into the world of Coloring Books with Maegan Cook.

Thanks for visiting!

Recycled Creations with Kimberly Canale

Recycled Creations

We rummaged through the recycling cans to prepare for Recycled Creations with Kimberly Canale.  Taking used soda cans, spray paint, glass gems and a crimping tool, flowers and suns popped up by the end of class!

Kimberly Canale original Pop Can Flower

I encountered these adorable lawn decorations at a local craft fair and asked Kimberly if she would work with First Friday Art Club to make more. Collecting trash over several weeks, I had a stash of soda cans ready to be bloomed.  There were options to create a flower and a sun for this project.  The sun was a more difficult endeavor, but so pretty!! 

A sun in process

To make these, cut off the top of the can.  This tutorial from Make It Easy Crafts reveals the steps to make a spinner.  This tutorial will guide you through the same method we used to make the flowers and suns.

Make It Easy Crafts flower tutorial is absolutely adorable! 

Ask an adult to help get the can cut clean and even, so there are no metal bits to snag your skin.  The can without the top resembles a cup.  Cut strips down the sides of the can from top to bottom.  These strips will be petals for flowers or rays for suns.

Step 4 from Make It Easy Crafts

The images from the Make It Easy Crafts tutorial are for a flower.  If making a sun, create more "petals" to be sun rays.

The tricky part begins

The tricky part begins by folding the strips at 45 degree angles closest to the bottom of the can, which is now becoming the center of the sun.

Roll the rays

Roll each "ray" toward the center of the sun.  Roll these strips as tightly as possible.  Be sure to roll so that the color of the can is concealed, unless you choose to use the color to your advantage.

Using the original logo can reveal a cool design or pattern

Once the rays are rolled, all that is needed is a little paint to unify the look of the sun to your preference.  Adding  a glass gem once the sun is painted gives another bit of pizzazz.

final product

These suns can go in the ground by gluing a post to the back.  We hammered holes in one of the rays and added string to hang these in windows or from the ceiling.
There was time left to make flowers, but they were made too quickly for me to get pictures.

Another option to create something useful with recycled materials is a mini basket.

Soda cans and plastic bag strips

There was not enough time to create these mini baskets.  I will save this activity for December, when we Make and Bake Gifts for the holiday season.

Check back next month to see what we make in our Block Printing lesson.

Thanks for visiting!

See you again soon

~erica

Beading with Soulshine Studio

First Friday Art Club for November honored Native American Heritage Month.  I invited Ann Recotta, owner of Soulshine Studio on Market Street in Corning to lead our program with a beading project.  The sample above depicts a Thunderbird.  Ann simplified this pattern for the group and taught a new beading technique we have never tried, bead embroidery.

Foreign information--at first

Each student received a felt square with brown lines indicating the Thunderbird's wings and head.  They also got a graph with the pattern, but no one understood that at first.

Beginning the project

Giving needles and thread to these students proved to be a big deal for most, who have never sewn anything before.  There were so many facets of learning in this short program.

But having a great instructor, a clear pattern guide, and a sample gave everyone a lot more confidence.

Persistence is key

With some guidance from Ann and me, as well as persistence from the students to undo mistakes and correct their errors, projects progressed and the pattern became clear.  Some of the students worked too fast for us to go around in time with more supplies!

"These buggers keep running away from me."

Like any project, you must have interest in the process.  The difficulty is persistence and confidence to keep trying, despite mistakes and mishaps.  Threads kept fraying at the ends, but that's what happens with thread.  Beads kept running away, but that's what happens with little round objects.  Almost everyone looped their thread around the felt, creating a knotty mess, but that's what happens with beginners.

Slowly, success occurs....

By the second half of the program, everyone had several rows of beads sewn down and got very excited.  There was a buzz in the room and flurry to finish these projects before parents picked everyone up to go home.  This project ended an hour later than scheduled, but we are pleased with the results!

"This is better than my sample!!" said Ann, master beader

Once given the tools, time, and patience, each student achieved their goal and had a sweet Thunderbird embroidered tag to finalize at home with a clip to use as a zipper pull, back pack tag or decoration of some sort.  I say this was a successful endeavor.

Projects and the sample, can you tell the difference?

This concludes 2015 First Friday Art Club events.  Next month, First Friday Art Club and Teen Cooking Club combine for Make & Bake Gifts.  This program allows students to create delicious and fun gifts for their friends and family without having to spend any money.  Check in to Teen Tones for coverage of that event in mid-December.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Creating!

~erica

Tie Dye

Since this First Friday Art Club seemed to mark the end of summer vacation for my students, I planned a fun Tie-Dye program outdoors so we could design fun fashions for the new school year.

I selected several books to inspire students to a particular pattern.  These books included instructions on folding or wrapping fabric in ways to achieve specific results.  I highly recommend checking our catalog for books which inspire you>> of course, you need to live in our region to borrow books from our library system.

Dye!  Quickly!!!

Searching for patterns seemed too much effort for my students.  Luckily Tulip Products offer Tie-Dye kits with excellent, concise instructions and simple to follow steps on producing your own projects.

I instructed the students to wrap, fold and bind their fabrics with rubber bands before we went outside to made a glorious mess.  Once we covered the tables with plastic sheeting, I covered some basic rules and words of caution>>> THIS DYE IS PERMANENT.  IT WILL STAIN EVERYTHING IT TOUCHES, EVEN YOUR FINGERS THROUGH THESE GLOVES!

Once that bit of "housekeeping" was final, I let the kids loose with the dyes and aided when needed.  We were even lucky enough to have a photographer from our local newspaper, The Leader, stop over to grab some shots for the Saturday paper. >>> FYI, our club made the paper!>>> stop in our library to check the archive of The Leader from Saturday, September 5, 2015.  My First Friday Art Tie-Dying kids are famous!!!

I would share the article, but there are copyright laws to respect.  Just come down and visit us.  You will be glad you did!  

"Uh-oh!  I just dyed my jeans!"

This group worked quickly.  The dye is "active" for only 15 minutes to get the brightest colors possible.  While I helped set up a student to work on a different dye method, "ombre," our guest photographer did his job.

"Ombre" technique

This little lady got her image in our newspaper, but also got A LOT of that purple dye on her shirt...perhaps it will be another tie-dyed creation.

The only hard part of tie-dying is waiting for the dye to set, usually best to rinse the fabric 24 hours after processing.  Luckily I have wonderful students who love to share their results with me.

The Results!

Next month we will make trinket boxes out of soda cans.  Check back next month to see some precious items made from recycled products.

Happy Friday!