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Forever Fishbowl

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!

Art Workshops + Weaving with Kids

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

DIY Papier-mâché Figures

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!

Opening Night Celebration!

www.handmakery.com

First Friday was our ~ Opening Night Celebration at our NEW art studio location at 449 Main Street in downtown Carbondale | CO!  With a wide array of ages and not knowing exactly how many guests we’d have joining in, we kept it celebratory + simple + full of dazzle, painting and embellishing ~ Celebration Crowns!  Main Street was blocked so everyone could enjoy an evening strolling the streets of historic downtown!  The night was festive and full of flavor, with everyone back-in-town from summer adventures.  The community was alive, vibrant, and actively adventuring around this artistic town!

Opening Night on Main Street!

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We hope you’re enjoying the last days of summer!  Have you heard the news!?!  HANDMAKERY just moved to Main Street!  We’ve been working all summer to get our new studio up, running, and ready for HANDMAKERY’S Opening Night Celebration ~ First Friday, September!  We’re so excited to be located in downtown Carbondale | CO!  We’ll now be located in the heart of historic downtown at 449 Main Street, in between flowers, yoga, coffee and across from piping hot pizza, sounds tempting, right!?!  Yes, we definately have the BEST neighbors!  We’re incredibly excited to be part of the community and the Carbondale Creative District!

Summer involved planning, designing, constructing, ordering, organizing, and decorating our new studio which we LOVED!  Highlights of our new space include: being nestled in the heart of the community, 14′ ceilings, timeless wood floors, historic charm, a crisp + clean + modern flair, natural lighting + big windows, all our favorite art supplies, and maybe our favorite element…  a teeny-tiny restroom!

PLEASE PENCIL IN + JOIN US:

September 1st | First Friday 4 – 8 PM

HANDMAKERY’S Opening Night Celebration + First Friday ~ FREE Art Making + Suprise Giveaways + Studio Tour!

STUDIO SNEAK PEEK EVENT:

We hosted a ~ Studio Sneak Peek + Free Kids Art Making last Thursday from 4-6 PM!  Several families + creatives came to tour the NEW studio and out-on-the-town to create ~ a wondrous wearable~ to shine + showcase + sport + spotlight around town on ~ First Friday, September 1st!  We had 100+ people attend this spectacular evening event!  A HUGE thank you to everyone that attended our first event!  The support for mini makers on Main (…and coming soon BIG maker events….including adults, ladies, couples, family + friends) was incredible!  See additional photos of the sneak peek in this week’s Sopris Sun newspaper on page 8!

Take a peek at our video-clip gone-wild over on Instagram, highlighting all the artful activity of our ~ Studio Sneak Peek!

At the ~ Studio Sneak Peek, artists created {hands on + mixed media} Owl Feathered Necklaces using cardboard, beads, jumbo pipe cleaners, markers, glue, stickers, string, sparkles and more!  Everyone had a great time in the studio!  Over the last several years over on Instagram, I’ve admired Wendee Wingfield, a local + Roaring Fork Valley photographer.  Wendee RSVPed to our event, I couldn’t even believe it!  We had never met before but when she walked in with her five children, I was beyond thrilled to finally meet Wendee and her children in person!  Wendee Wingfield generously sent me a gorgeous collection of photos she took of the ~ Owl Feathered Necklaces her children created in our NEW art studio on Main Street.  If you’re not on IG yet, it’s a fantastic place to meet new friends with similar interests!  Find us on IG @handmakery!

Take a glimpse at Wendee’s Wingfield’s photos below and discover her amazing talent + beautiful collection over on IG @wendeewingfield!  You’ll be amazed at what she sees through her lens and the life she creates!

Photo credit (below): Wendee Wingfield Photography

Myself the Elf Christmas Countdown

Excited to share with you our original, Myself the Elf Christmas Countdown!  A project dreamed up for our Modish Mini Makers art workshop ~ On Holiday: making + creating to give!  A handmade treasure that can be used year-after-year for a traditional holiday countdown and also for teeny-tiny treasures!  Love how they look so much like their mini makers! Take a peek!

This week I’m guest judging the KIDSCRAFTS101 WEEKLY CHALLENGE over on Instagram!  Simply tag all your kid crafts, #kidscrafts101.  Just follow @kidscrafts101, co-hosts @redtedart + @incredibusy, and guest judge @handmakery over on IG!  Tag all your #kidscrafts101 throughout the week and I’ll feature a collage collection and highlight the makers on Sunday!  Truly hope you’ll join us, such a fabulous way to celebrate creativity + craftiness + childhood + a colorful life + connection thru community!  It’s absolutely a fantastic + fun-filled + fabulous adventure!  If you haven’t yet joined Instagram, it’s incredibly easy!  I’ve met so many wonderful people locally and throughout the world on this platform.  Here’s a peek at a few inspiring IG feeds to follow to get you started!

SUPPLIES

  • 3D countdown calendar with 25 mini drawers
  • Patterned papers
  • Clear packaging tape
  • Light chipboard and single ply cardboard
  • Pencil + Scissors + Ruler + Utility knife for adult use
  • Handmade patterns to personalize
  • Duck tape
  • Paper + papier-mache + bowl
  • Paint- tempera
  • White glue + glue stick + hot glue gun + hot glue
  • Wooden paint stir stick
  • Embellishments- pom poms, glitter foam, colored felt sheets, buttons, and more!
  • Printable and tiny chocolates

Art Workshop for Children

 

Join us!  Today we’re celebrating my dear friend, Barbara Rucci of Art Bar Blog, and her #1 New Release, Art Workshop for Children: How to Foster Original Thinking with more than 25 Process Art Experiences!  Beyond excited to highlight two inspired projects from this book that we themed under an Art Bar Dessert Party: Cakes + Doughnuts with young artists in our own studio!  Here’s a creative clip to give you an idea, just how beautiful Bar’s new book is for creating a creative childhood.  To get the inside scoop, juicy details, chance to meet the maker and all her magic, dive in here!

Barbara invited me to join her book blog tour that will feature 26+ amazing kid + art bloggers.  Over the summer I had the honor to preview and endorse Bar’s new book, Art Workshop for Children.  I was on a three day camping trip, and basically couldn’t put this incredible book down.  After returning, completely inspired, I preordered it on Amazon and spent all fall anxiously awaiting its arrival!  When my book arrived on October 15, it felt amazing to finally have it in my hands.  It’s truly a gem that will shine in our studio for years to come.  Beyond amazed at all the 25+ creative workshops, simple in both setup and supplies!  Bar basically delivers a rich, open-ended, studio experience, keyed into unleashing a child’s creativity.  Bar unfolds an easy to follow, beautifully visual layout, that guides one towards expressive exploration and artistic discovery in a studio, classroom, or home.

Ice Cream Truck Sculpture

Warm weather brings childhood memories of an ice cream truck sounding and strolling neighborhood streets.  In our recent workshop ~ BEEP BEEP! SWEET TREATS, artists created ~ Ice Cream Truck Sculptures!  Love that we still have a few days to celebrate and soak up summer!  The workshop week was spectacular and our mini makers were beaming to exhibit their one-of-a-kind creations.  Along with an ice cream truck, each artist also created a mini picnic table and  handmade sweet treats for imaginative + interactive play!  Turn it up and take a peek at our short + sweet clip to an ice cream truck melody, highlighting the wondrous week!

You may have seen our Collaged Ice Cream Cones created with children in our outdoor art studio for a recent downtown event.  My friend Bar Rucci, over at Art Bar Blog was a huge inspiration in creating these paper sprinkled + cherry topped cones.  Take a look at her fantastic process creating Paper Mache Ice Cream Sundaes and Cardboard Ice Cream Cones!  Here’s a little secret, Barbara has a beyond inspiring book coming out this fall which I’ve had the opportunity to preview (cover to cover) and preorder ~ Art Workshop for Children: How to Foster Original Thinking with more than 25 Process Art Experiences.  All I can say is reserve your copy today, it’s truly one of the BEST BOOKS for creating with children that’s ever hit the printing press.  Personally promise it will be a studio go-to and gem that you’ll open again and again!

On a side note, Handmade Charlotte just shared the cutest + tiniest + tastiest treat, Gingerbread Ice Cream Trucks!  Maybe you’ve also seen Hello Wonderful’s DIY Pretend Play Ice Cream Cones using plaster?  Just a wee bit in love with both ideas!

Enrollment is currently underway and filling quickly for our 2016/17 School Year {mixed-media + hands-on} Art Workshops.  Follow our artful adventure on Instagram and Facebook, would absolutely love to connect, collaborate, and create community through children + creativity!

Camping Under the Night Sky

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!

Creating In Our Outdoor Art Studio

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!