Basket Ball and Beagles

I absolutely love this painting of a Beagle playing basketball.

Created by a 5th grade student and based on a lesson plan about Marc Chagall. To view more elementary student art click here. To view a lesson plan about Marc Chagall click here. 

Have a wonderful weekend. Forcast is for sunshine in my neck of the woods and that makes me about as happy as a Beagle. 

Button Crafts

Here is an awesome book on Button Crafts.

Button Girl

by Mikyla Bruder "More than 20 cute-as-a-button projects."

If you're a weekend crafter, into buttons, or just looking for something fun to do with children, you should take a look at this book. The projects are relatively simple to create, with great results. It contains projects such as: Hip Ribbon and Button Belt; Snuggly Scarf with Button Trim; Slumber Party Slippers; Button Rings; Button Earrings; Button Napkin Rings; and Button Coasters.

Below are photos of a button necklace and hair clips I made.

This book contains lots of big photographs showing the finished projects.

Sidebars list all the items needed like a recipe. The spine of the book is a spiral wire which allows the book to lay flat while you work. Very convenient for reading directions while making the projects.

I found this book at JoAnn's Fabrics for $12.95.

Tulips from My Garden

I love the color combinaton of these pink and orange Tulips in my garden.

Below is the shot straight out of my crummy point and shoot camera. 

I ran the photo through photoshop and applied some Pioneer Woman's actions.

1) Fresh and Colorful

2) Sharpen

3) Burn Edges 

Then I cropped out that suburban parked in the street.

Here is a link to Pioneer Woman's Photoshop Actions.

They are free.

Student Art Part 5: Setting Up An Art Show

It's exhausting. It's exhilarating. But oh so rewarding.

Welcome to thecraftjunkieblog. I'm a volunteer for our elementary school art program and this is my story of how we install our student art show.

Every Spring, our school gymnasium is transformed into a temporary Student Art Gallery.

The days are long, but the thrill of viewing so much art is indescribable.

The Gallery serves to display over 700 works of art created by students from lessons written and taught exclusively by parent volunteers during the year.

Set up begins with students selecting two pieces of their best work. This usually includes one 2-D (flat) and one 3-D (multi dimensional) piece of work.

The 2-D artwork is grouped by grade and subject.

The pieces are cohesively arranged and attached with removable blue sticky tac to long black vinyl banners.

The vinyl banners hang from thick wood curtain dowels purchased Home Depot.

A ball finial and black spray paint give the dowels a completed professional finish.

The dowels hang from clips and chains attached to various gym fixtures such as the basketball hoops and window hardware.

No holes are ever drilled into the walls of the gym during installation.

Installing the art show is the collaborative effort of many people.

Dad's help make tough decisions, and climb ladders.

Children entertain themselves on the floor.

In the center of the gym, hinged hollow core doors on rolling wheels provide additional display surfaces for 2-D art.

The doors are rolled away during the day when the gym is used for P.E. classes.

Wooden pedestals of various heights display 3-D objects and vases of flowers.

These pedestals were built by a skilled dad who volunteered his time and materials.

The hallways are transformed by the display of clay pieces in cabinets,

and Masks hung by finishing nails along wood strips.

Next to each group of art, a description is posted.

Every piece of art is clearly labeled with a title, student name, and grade.

A hand painted a banner welcomes visitors and directs them to the gallery.

Greeting cards are made with photographs of student work and sold at the entrance to the Gallery. Proceeds help offset the cost of art materials used throughout the year.

Here is the school Gymnasium before the show...


Here is the school gymnasium after the Art Gallery is set up....

The center rock circle encloses a display of student Sand Art – influenced by traditional Tibetan sand paintings.

After a long day, installation is complete. It feels great.

The Gallery is ready and will be opened to the public for 3 days.

To learn more about the Parent directed Art Program at Duniway, click on these links:

History of Art Program at Duniway

Choosing Student Art for a Poster

Announcing the Show

Designing the Poster

Do-it-Yourself, by Christine Claringbold

A New Look!

Yes, you are in the right place. This is my new blog design. It's been in the works for some time now. It represents a collaborative effort between myself and the talented Shannon Dow over at EightCrazy Design. Enjoy Your Visit!

3 Cups of Tea.

By Greg Mortensen

Non Fiction is my favorite kind of book. Non Fiction inspires me. I love to read how others cope with adversity and challenge. I always hope that when things are down in my own life, I'll remember the stories I've read and feel better. Truth is, I usually don't remember them when I need to. But I still hope that one day I will.

This book is excellent and opened my eyes to life in Pakistan & Afghanastan.


From the Jacket

"The inspiring account of one man's campaign to build schools in the most dangerous, remote, and anti-American reaches of Asia

In 1993 Greg Mortenson was the exhausted survivor of a failed attempt to ascend K2, an American climbing bum wandering emaciated and lost through Pakistan's Karakoram Himalaya. After he was taken in and nursed back to health by the people of an impoverished Pakistani village, Mortenson promised to return one day and build them a school. From that rash, earnest promise grew one of the most incredible humanitarian campaigns of our time—Greg Mortenson's one-man mission to counteract extremism by building schools, especially for girls, throughout the breeding ground of the Taliban."

Watch that Doggie Door!

Could you imagine coming home from work to find this tiny creature napping with your dog on the couch?


This happened in Maryland recently. The owner came home to find the visitor had followed the beagle right through the doggy door and made himself at home. This hit the 6:00 news big time.

My mom sent this picture to us. My son's first response was, "did they get to keep the deer?"

Glass Pendants, Flowers, and a Winner!

The lucky winner of a glass pendant is

georgeinLG 

Her favorite flower is the Dahlia.




But which one?




Is it this one?






The choices can be overwhelming! They are ALL so wonderful.

georgeinLG, contact me with your mailing information and this handmade glass pendant will be yours!



Dahlias are easy to grow and make great summer cut flowers. You will be rewarded for your efforts for many years to come. In case you need some growing tips, here is a helpful link: How To Grow Dahlias

Coincidenally, I live within 20 miles of the world's largest grower of Dahlias: Swan Island Dahlias.  You can order their bulbs online, but good luck choosing which ones to buy. I've spent hours walking their fields trying to make a choice.

Thanks for the wonderful comments left on my blog.  I love all the flowers mentioned. I have grown several of them from time to time (even a venus flytrap). Wisteria is something I haven't tried yet, but I have a new trellis in my yard crying out to be covered in flowery vines. Maybe I'll plant a Wisteria this spring!

The Magic Seven

In the world of typefaces, there are literally thousands to choose from. In fact, the choices are so many it can be overwhelming.

When choosing type to use for successful computer screen display, the choices get somewhat easier. There are only 7 that universally work well. In other words, only 7 that are guaranteed to display correctly on everyone's computer.

Arial

courier

georgia

lucida grande

times

trebuchet

verdana

I'll be showing how you can use different font combinations successfully in the future so stay tuned.

Happy Mother's Day!

You deserve something special, so read on...

First let me tell you a secret...something really exciting is happening behind the scenes of my blog. I can't tell you what it is just yet, but this newly designed bug is a hint.

That's not why I'm writing though.

I'm teaching another glass pendant class so guess what? IT'S TIME FOR ANOTHER PENDANT GIVE AWAY!

This time, the pendant will be one of my choosing (guaranteed to be lovely) and will be revealed on Monday.

Enter your answer to this question in the comment box below:

What is your favorite Flower?

The winner will be randomly selected on Sunday, and announced Monday morning. So if you enter, be sure to check back to see if you're the lucky one. In the meantime have a wonderful Mother's day with someone who adores you!

Student Art Part 4: History of our program

The Art Program at Duniway Elementary School is unique since it is completely run by parent volunteers.


The program began nearly 20 years ago when due to budget cuts, funding for art programs and teachers were cut from Portland Public Schools. A group of concerned parents developed a program that would be taught, funded and run by parent volunteers. Currently, over 70 classes are being taught by more than 170 volunteers.

10 years ago, as a new parent to the Duniway Community, I could see all the beautiful art that was being created by the students but not seen by the community at large. I did some initial sketches of how a temporary Art Gallery could be installed in the School Gym.


The first official Art Gallery at Duniway opened it's doors to the public 1999. It has since become a highly anticipated tradition and showcases more than 700 pieces of 2-D and 3-D art pieces.

To read the complete history of the Duniway Art Program:
Duniway Elementary Website

The Flowers in the post were created by 4th grade students. They are based on a lesson about Georgia O'Keefe. To view the lesson Click here

Christine Claringbold, a past Duniway parent, wrote an excellent article on how to start your own art program at your school. To read more Click here