"We Three Kings" Banner

This is Grade 5's Christmas project.  A now retired teacher at my school, Mrs. D, would do this every year with her class. 

We have brought it back and will continue the tradition.  Incidentally  Mrs. D is where I got my trade name from.  When I first started working at the school she couldn't remember my name so I was always  "that artist woman"!


This one is for you Mrs. D.















MATERIALS REQUIRED:

- burlap
- coloured felt
- bamboo stakes
- glue gun or a sewing machine
- scissors
- tacky glue
- wax paper
- ribbon, rick rack
- googly eyes
- little gems, sequins, any other embellishments you have on hand
- glitter glue

PROCEDURE:

Cut out a nice rectangle from the burlap.  For the Grade 5's I have assorted colours. 

Fray the edges.  Burlap has an uneven weave, that is part of it's rustic charm. But that means it's difficult to get a nice fringe just by pulling threads.  One end will always be longer, you can fix this by just giving them a trim with your scissors so the fringe is even.

You now need to make a pocket at the top to hold the stick/dowel we will use for hanging.

If you have access to a sewing machine you can whip that off straight away.

If not just run a little tacky glue or hot glue from the glue gun to secure in place.

Taking 3 different colours of felt cut 3 long triangles of 3 different heights.





Take a round object, trace around it with a sharpie on 3 different flesh toned pieces of felt.

If you don't have 3 different colours it's no big deal it will still look fantastic.

Cut out clipping away that sharpie line.

Before we start gluing the banner you need 2 important things.

Tacky glue works so well on this project.  I find regular white glue just gets sucked up by the felt and then doesn't stick.

The second important thing is a piece of wax paper to go under your burlap banner.  The loose weave of the burlap causes the glue to seep thru.

Lay out your triangles and heads on the banner.  You could go tallest to smallest but I like to mix it up a bit so I put the smallest in the center.

Glue into place.

Cut a nice large star out of felt.  You can also cut out a crown or two.

Add some trim to the front of the triangles.  You can use ribbon or rick rack.

You can add some hair with yarn.




A snowflake cut in half makes a good crown.





You can add curly hair and a beard.

Glue on some eyes.  I just happened to have 3 sizes.



Add little pompoms for a nose, you could also use a small piece of felt , a button, or bead.

Add some felt strips for arms.

Using little trims or buttons add the gifts for each King.



Continue embellishing with sequins, gems, whatever you have on hand.



Add some glitter glue to the large felt star,  use it to make other small stars in the sky.

Finally add a bamboo stick or dowel for hanging with some string or ribbon attached.


I buy these natural bamboo garden stakes and then just cut them down to size.  They only cost about $2.00 a pkg.

That's it. 

Make it as elaborate as you want.

I can't wait to see how Grade 5 does with these next week.  I'll try to post a photo.






See you next week.

Giveaway Winners

 
Never fails at this time of year.....I was hoping to give you the tutorial on the Grade 5 Christmas project but I have lost my light and can't take that cover shot.....that 1st photo I put at the beginning of the post to entice you.

The sun goes down at about 4:30pm this time of year (that's Canada for you) and I need that natural light.

So it will have to wait till tomorrow but here is just a little peek at part of it in process.

But we can still do the draw. This week we have 2 copies of the new book "The Complete Photo Guide to Beading" by Robin Atkins to giveaway.

I had a total of 87 entries and by random draw the winners are:

Here are your random numbers:

68
20

Timestamp: 2012-12-08 00:19:31 UTC




Which works out to be Susanne Terrick who sent me an email and Christine Symmes who commented on my Facebook page.

Congratulations ladies!


Thanks everyone for entering and check in tomorrow for the new tutorial.  Thanks again to Creative Publishing International and Quarry Books for sponsoring this giveaway.

The Complete Photo Guide to Beading Giveaway

This week's giveaway is the new book from Robin Atkins "The Complete Photo Guide to Beading".  You can check out Robin's blog here.





This book shows you all the techniques with step by step pictures of not only jewelery making but weaving, stringing, and using beads in embroidery.

It is an 8 X 10 soft cover with 244 pages. Suggested retail is $24.99 US or $27.99 Can.

It showcases 28 projects as well as tips on choosing the best tools and materials for your future bead projects.


















I particularly like the embroidery ideas.  I would love to add beading to a painted canvas.


So I have 2 of these books to giveaway.  If you are interested in winning a copy please enter in one of the following ways:

- leave a comment on this post
- like or leave a comment on my Facebook page regarding this post
- send me an email at thatartistwoman@shaw.ca

US or Canadian residents only.  I will make the draw on Friday Dec 7th/12 so get your entries in by Thursday 11:59 pm.

Good luck everyone!



Thanks to my friends at Creative Publishing International for sponsoring this giveaway.

Folk Art Angels

Folk Art Angels are irresistibly cute.

I was watching 'Tootsie' on TV last week and there was a Folk Art Angel in Jessica Lange's character's apartment.  That's it, I thought, time to give them a try!

Now this version is made from cardboard.

This one is done on paper.  Both use the same template and are easy to put together.

You can make them as elaborate as you want.
















MATERIALS NEEDED:

- template  (Folk Art Angels)
- corrugated cardboard or heavy paper, book pages
- scissors
- paint, acrylic or tempera
- fine sharpies, gold and silver sharpie (optional)
- tacky glue
- wire
- glitter glue
- black crayon for paper stars
- sequins, beads, stars or gems
- feathers or garland for hair
- popsicle sticks for hand and feet


PROCEDURE:

Cardboard Version:

Print off my template, (Folk Art Angels).  Trace and cut out pieces from corrugated cardboard.

If you are using recycled cardboard with images on it you might want to prime your pieces first.  I also prime any pieces I'm going to be using metallic paints on as they tend to be quite translucent.

Paint your pieces in their final colours.

Using fine sharpies, (they have them in gold and silver too!), glitter, and paint add some fine details.

I used an end of a paintbrush in paint to make all the dots.

Add sequins, gems, beads or whatever you have on hand to embellish your angel.

For the face I painted it flesh toned.  I added two pink circles to the cheeks.  With a fine sharpie I added the face.

I used feathers for the hair which were glued on with tacky glue.

For the hand and the 2 feet I painted the ends of popsicle sticks. 

For the star halo I painted 2 cardboard stars yellow, added glitter and gems.

I took a piece of wire and glued it between the two like a sandwich.

I then slid the wire between the corrugations in the cardboard head. 

Glue all the pieces together.






The last thing you need to do is glue a skewer to the back.

You now have a great decoration to stick into a potted poinsettia or Christmas arrangement.












Paper Version:

For the paper version you need to paint a background.  Here I taped off a piece of wc paper onto an art board.  I then painted on purple, blue and a little black using disk tempera.



Set aside to dry.








Cut your template (Folk Art Angel) pieces out of heavy paper.  I used an old brown paper bag.


I used book pages for the stars.

I painted all my pieces and set them aside to dry.


Then I started decorating.  I used reinforcements, sharpies, and sequins in my design.

For the stars I used a technique I have described before.  I outline the edges with a little black crayon and then add some glitter.

When the background is dry glue your pieces into place.  For this version I cut the hand and feet out of the same brown paper.


For the hair I added a little silver garland.

Lastly I drew in a wand with silver sharpie and added a silver star.

That's it!





These angels are just too cute!  I plan on making up a mini version as a tree ornament for the kids to make at our Annual Christmas Craft Day.  It is fast approaching and I'm knee deep in the preparations.  (150 kids, 12 crafts, one terrific morning of craftiness!)


Be sure to check out this week's giveaway on Wednesday's post and I'll see you then.

Easy Wreath Ideas

Here are a couple of simple wreath ideas that can add just the right touch to your holiday decorating this year.

Your kids can whip them up in no time with supplies you already have on hand.

MATERIALS REQUIRED:

- cardboard
- 2 round containers for tracing, one small, one larger
- pencil, scissors
- fleecy "fake" snow from the dollar store, you want the fabric not the loose stuff.  You could also use white felt.
- tacky glue
- heavy posterboard or bristol
- template if needed
- watercolor pan paints, tempera, or even colored pencils
- a little glitter glue
- a few sequins, beads, gems or other embellishments
- ribbon or string for hanging


PROCEDURE:

Trace out a wreath shape using 2 round objects.

Cut out.

Take your fleece or 'snow' fabric and cut into strips.





Put some tacky glue on your cardboard wreath.

Put the end of one strip in the glue and start wrapping around the cardboard.

Continue wrapping and gluing as you go. 

I find the Dollar Store "snow" fabric sticks quite easily.  With felt you may need to clip on a few clothespins to keep the strips in place until the glue sets up.

While the wreath is drying sketch or trace out your shapes on heavy posterboard or bristol.




If you want to use my shapes check out my template HERE.

Paint on a little colour.  Use some fine sharpie for outlining and details.





Add some glitter.




Cut out.




A nice way to add definition to your shapes is to add some black on the edges.  I use a black crayon.  Place your shape on top of a piece of paper and then rub a little crayon right on the edge of your shape.


You can see by the 2 stars what a difference it makes.

For the butterfly I added some antennae, which are little wires you use when making flowers.  You can just use some fine wire.

I also added some gems to the stars.

Glue your shapes onto your wreath.  The fuzzy fabric makes gluing things on a snap!


Add a ribbon or string for hanging.

For my bluejay wreath I added some fir garland.

I also added some sequins and beads for a little extra.

That's it.



More holiday ideas to come.