inspiration
Excited to share with you a project recently dreamed up, designed, created, and of course, constructed in our very own downtown art studio! Take a BIG splash into our ~ DIY Forever Fishbowls! This project was created, carried out, and creatively constructed in several of our mixed age, six-week, after school, hands-on + mixed media, art workshops creating with young artists!
Beyond excited to also announce hands on + mixed media + NEW ART WORKSHOPS START NEXT WEEK for a wide array of ages! Hop on over to ENROLL AT HANDMAKERY.COM as spaces are quickly filling! While visiting, peek at new photos on our site and IG feed!
As you can clearly see, artists used a wide array of mixed media to bring their vision to life! Below, you’ll discover all you need to create your very own ~ DIY Forever Fishbowl. The big + beautiful bonus, you’ll never send a fish into fishy heaven, EVER EVER EVER again. YES, this fishy will truly live F-O-R-E-V-E-R and children LOVE this fact! Like, XOXOXO times a million or LOVE for a lifetime!
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Happy New Year!!! Looking back, one of our most favorite workshops for children included ~ wee Wondrous Weavings on Wooden Looms! Oh my, the possibilities of textile design! These mini-masterpieces were created by 6 – 10-year-old artists! Our NEW ~ 2018 Winter Art Workshop Brochure is hot-of-the-press! Workshops start early January, yes this week and they’re filling up fast, just hop on over to our simple SIGN UP! If you’re looking for hands-on + mixed media + creative expression + an artful highlight to each week + a chance to meet new families and friends JOIN US + ENROLL TODAY! You can also connect with us on Instagram @handmakery to keep an eye on what we’re creating in the studio from special art events to birthday parties, and of course everything in between at our NEW art studio located at 449 Main Street in Carbondale | CO in the heart of the Carbondale Creative District!
WORKSHOPS + CLASSES + CAMPS
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Incredibly excited to share with you our original ~ DIY Papier-mache Figures created in our Mini Makers Workshop with 5 – 10-year-old artists! Our next session of weekly art workshops begins the week of October 16th, YES, next week! We have a workshop for just about every age under the sun! Take a peek at our upcoming schedule filled with weekly workshops, craft nights, holiday camps + events, and celebrations! Excited to announce we’re now hosting birthday parties in our beautiful + NEW art studio on Main Street! Be on the lookout for our first ever ~ Ladies Craft Night coming soon!
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Happy Summertime! Hope you’re enjoying some much deserved outdoor time with family and friends venturing in the GREAT outdoors! We’re definitely soaking up and savoring summer and heading into the mountains for camping getaways! Excited to share with you these outdoor + camping + canvas + landscape paintings created in our recent children’s workshop, SPRING IS IN THE AiRTIST! This mixed-media painting was inspired by one of our favorite wanderlust painters, Katie Daisy and her beautiful piece, Let’s Sleep Under the Stars! Take a peek at Katie’s inspiring paintings and our painting process with children! Thank you @katiedaisy for your painterly inspiration, adore your style, whimsical spirit, and passion for the outdoors!
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On First Friday, we celebrated our fourth year making and creating at the annual Family Block Party in downtown Carbondale, Colorado! This year we were inspired to paint and embellish ice cream cones, as we’re heading into an ice cream theme for our upcoming workshop: BEEP BEEP! SWEET TREATS! This workshop will be focusing on retro ice cream truck sculptures, sweet treats, and more! There are just a few spaces if you’d like to join in! Here’s a peek at our upcoming summer + school year {hands on + mixed media} art workshops for Modish Mini Makers! My magical + mama + maker-friend, Bar over at Art Bar Blog, created an amazing DIY~ Cardboard Ice Cream Cones, which inspired our paper ice creams for this downtown event! Can you believe in just four hours, young artists created over 115 of these lovely ice cream cones as take-home treasures! The evening was like running our own ice cream parlor as it buzzed with sweetness! Join us over on our Instagram for more daily inspiration!
As the ice cream cones were drying, each unique piece created such a colorful + eye-catching + delicious backdrop!
You can take a peek below at our stations and setup within our outdoor art studio, but head on over to Art Bar Blog for the supplies and process on making your own Cardboard Ice Cream Cone, it’s truly a happy place! The possibilities are endless! Art Bar is a must-follow + favorite + colorful-creative on Instagram, stop by her collection and say H-E-L-L-O! You’ll find so much clever-colorful-crafty-creativeness!
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Excited to share with you our art studio, the place where we make and create! Most often we are featuring DIY projects that we’ve created within our School Year + Summer ~hands on + mixed media~ Art Workshops with children. A few weeks ago, my superstar-art-friend Meri Cherry (yes, that’s her really name…don’t you just love it), over at Meri Cherry Blog mentioned that she was thinking about creating an artful roundup, featuring art studios + creative spaces! Honored that she invited us to join in! As some of you know, HANDMAKERY was recently invited to join a group of 20 international bloggers focused on creating art with children, the Rockin’ Art Moms! It has been amazing and truly inspiring to connect with this fabulous group of women! We’re so excited that you’ll get a chance to not only peek into our studio, but you’ll also get to say h-e-l-l-o and peek into the studios + creative spaces of some of our favorite Rockin’ Art Moms! Enjoy the tour!
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FROM THE HEART ART KITS were created in HANDMAKERY FROM THE HEART: making + creating to give with 6 – 9 year olds as a project to learn about making to give. They were then gifted to local children in need, through our local Angel Tree Program over the holiday season! Each artist designed a box and shopped for a collection of art supplies with their families, to create their very own + personalized, FROM THE HEART ART KIT! You could create your kit to gift a loved-one this Valentine’s Day to show your love + appreciation. It’s a gift from the heart that inspires daily + yearlong C-R-E-A-T-I-V-I-T-Y and M-A-K-I-N-G!
Supplies to create a FROM THE HEART ART KIT {BOX}:
- Duct tape or Duck Brand Tape in various colors + patterns. Learn more here about duct vs duck tape!
- Chromebook or laptop boxes with built-in handles
- Sharp scissors
- Measuring system (simple handmade paper guide or ruler or yard stick)
- Partner or an extra set of hands
Our Process:
First decide on your color scheme and overall design plan. Move into cutting duct tape strips using a lot of muscle power to stretch the tape. Cut using the inner part of the scissors, as this surface is the sharpest. Remember to hold your tape tight before cutting and be sure it doesn’t twist. We used a simple handmade paper guide to measure our length for strips, as there were two lengths and this method was much easier for this age group than measuring with a ruler. Each artist teamed with a partner for the entire duct tape process, which made the cutting + lining up + taping manageable and much more fun!
There was lots of excitement over tape selection as we discovered lots of solid + patterned duct tapes in our duct tape quest! Creating their own color schemes + patterns was such an expressive piece to this process! A each artist became a product designer and loved every minute of it! I definitely got the feeling there would be much more experimentation with duct tape in the future with these individuals- they LOVED working with duct tape, especially because it’s so vibrant and beautiful!
General Materials + Supplies to Include {INSIDE}:
- a pair of child scissors (round tip)
- a glue stick + bottle of white glue
- a simple set of watercolors + brush
- a simple set of markers + crayons + colored pencils
- a simple sketchbook + pencil
- any additional art supply you and your child might want to add!
Additional Materials + Supplies You Might Consider Adding:
- glitter glue + glitter + sequins
- yarn + fabric
- pom poms
- stickers
- pipe cleaners + wooden sticks
- clay
- pencil sharpener
- pencil pouch
- washi + assorted tapes
- art books + more!
Each artist in our workshop had our general art supply list and went shopping with their families to fill their box to create a very personalized FROM THE HEART ART KIT!
Two+Two bags are always a lovely + local addition! two+two designs chic reusable bags and bowl covers that are food-safe + eco-friendly. Based outside of Aspen, Colorado this young company is run by two creative Moms with a passion for style, sewing, Mother Earth, and doing what’s best (and cutest) for their little ones. two+two products keep goods + food fresh and uncontaminated with a proprietary lining that is free of lead, BPA and phthalates. The various sizes of eco-friendly reusable bags accommodate any and all packing, organizing and traveling needs. We love having the two+two families “two children” part of HANDMAKERY!
A proud + beaming artist just after she had filled her FROM THE HEART ART KIT and it was ready to travel to a child wishing for new art supplies! Each box was taken to our local Angel Tree Program, where boxes were added into gift bags and gifted! Thank you to the seventeen HANDMAKERY Families that donated art supplies to gift and a BIG thank you to each artist that gave from the heart, something special that they had created on their own! Also a huge thank you to Cresta Stewart and the Carbondale Rotary Club for heading-up + organizing + dedicating tons of time and energy to this fabulous project, that benefited so many local children!
If you are looking for another fabulous idea and an all hands-on art making blog! My art friend, Meri Cherry, has a fabulous post on Art Gift Baskets and What to Put In Them for another take on gifting art supplies which I absolutely LOVE! Let us know if you decide to create one of your very own for a special Valentine! xo
Sometimes you have to put a sparkle + shine + style in your step at HANDMAKERY: A Children’s Art Studio located in beautiful Carbondale | Colorado! * inspire * express * create *
Ami Maes
Founder + Creative Director
HANDMAKERY: A Children’s Art Studio
www.handmakery.com | Facebook | Pinterest | info@handmakery.com | carbondale.co
HANDMAKERY created three hand-painted watercolors to share with those “close to our hearts.” One for the lovely Miss Kathryn Camp of Miss Kathryn’s, a licensed home childcare program, Waldorf inspired, located in downtown Carbondale, Colorado, as a little “thank you” for creating such special memories! The original painting was framed and wrapped for Miss Kathryn and colored prints were made for each child, as a keepsake! Another watercolor was for the lovely teachers and children of the Children’s Rocky Mountain School, a fabulous preschool, located just minutes outside of Carbondale, again as a little appreciation for such a special year together + a little memory for each child! The third as a little gift for our very own Nana + Popi! Handmade comes from the HEART!
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