Happy Back to School! We hope you’ve celebrated a savory + sweet + splendid summer! At the end of May, HANDMAKERY: A Children’s Art Studio received approval to proceed with in-person/in-studio/imaginative ~ Summer {hand on + mixed media + magical} Art Camps, navigating under NEW safety protocol. In early June, our studio hosted our first summer camp ~ TINY HOME ON TREND for children 6 & up, with many more constructive + creative + childhood-centered camps to follow! Every camp was on a waiting list and we can’t even begin to thank all our lovely locals for all their small business support! Looking back, it may have been one of the most magical + memorable summers with makers on Main Street! Creativity and childhood was completely celebrated in our colorful community of Carbondale, Colorado!
Focused on the forefront of safety in the studio & success for all artists this summer, HANDMAKERY stepped away from social media to take a fresh breath of mountain-air, but we’re incredibly excited to reconnect and soar into our ~ SCHOOL YEAR {hands on + mixed media + magical} ART WORKSHOP with a summer of safety and success in our painter’s pocket. We’re looking forward to re-kindling creativity & connection with YOU on Instagram.
Many of our specialty art workshops have recently launched for early bird enrollment. Definitely message us to get on our lovely ~ Local’s List. We’re thrilled to continue {in-person + in-studio + imaginative} art programming this fall, applying & adapting our experience from summer in the studio! You can simply learn more about our studio safety on our website. On a side note, be sure to also look for us in the upcoming MOUNTAIN PARENT!
Summer brought sunshine + smiles + simplicity + savory moments + soulful celebration + simple reconnection + satisfying success for all artists in the studio. We’re excited to give you a glimpse into our makers in the mountains, with momentum for magical moments!
YES, indeed! Even with mysterious masks, everyday was most mesmerizing! Would you believe, not one artist ever complained about wearing a mask all summer!?! Truth. We were amazed!. Artists were completely focused on the miracle of being a maker and it was magical! The studio buzzed with crafty-n-creative bees. Being back together again was absolutely the BEST!
In addition to instructing summer workshop in our very own sweet studio throughout the summer, HANDMAKERY also had the opportunity to create an online workshop for art educators around the world for our friends at Deep Space Sparkle in Santa Barbara, CA. This workshop was based on our in-studio/virtual springtime workshop for local kids ~ artful + abstract ASSEMBLAGE on canvas. A few precious pieces pictured by parents, above!
We also had the artful opportunity to teach another fun-filled summer workshop of printmaking (in-studio/in-person) to children at Anderson Ranch Art Center in Snowmass, CO. Would you believe our printmaking workshop, titled well over a year ago, was called ~ Dancing Behind the Mask!?! Literally, before anyone even knew we’d truly be dancing behind masks today! We can’t even wait to see what’s around the creative corner this upcoming year school year!
All precious projects, radiating laughter & L-O-V-E, and created in our {hands on + mixed media} summer art camps… we’ll share DIY STYLE on our blog throughout this upcoming year! Be sure to stay tuned for more creativity-to-come focused on a creative-n-crafty + imaginative + playful childhood!
Tag us on Instagram with your indoor + outdoor creative spaces and colorful + clever creations. We’d absolutely LOVE to see what you’re making and creating inside and outside! As always, thank you for following our artful adventure on Main Street in the heart of the Carbondale Creative District! Send us a note! We’d love to hear what you’re thinking, dreaming, envisioning, and of course, our favorite ~ CREATING!
Much love and happiness creating in this creative + colorful world, filled with collaboration + connection + community + arts & crafting! Happy School Year!
Summer for our family was filled with colorful Colorado ~ close-to-home camping, fun-filled photography, river floats & creek fishing, small-sized celebrations (my sweet daughter 11 and my beloved grandfather 91), creating in the studio with creative-n-clever children, road biking on the Rio Grande, a few favorite hikes, peach picking, paddle boarding, and more micro-adventures in the mountains! What have you been up to this summer!?! We’d love to know! …and YES, we just had to show you our artful overalls!
We recently hosted a magical + maker birthday celebration with 40 little artists in our children’s art studio! A Fairy & Gnome Enchanted Land Celebration for a sweet lil‘ one turning SIX! Definitely the largest celebration to walk though our Main Street door in the heart of the Carbondale Creative District. Take a peek inside this precious party with a plethora of lil‘ people! Indeed our studio felt cozy but also so crafty and creative as it completely captured childhood!
Knowing our hands would be festively full, we reached out to our good friend and photographer ~ Hilary Brock to capture this colorful celebration and oh my how she captured all the delightful details of this dreamy day on camera! Hilary, thank you for working your photography magic, you’re so talented!
For this creative childhood celebration, we took insightful inspiration from our awesome artist friend and LA studio owner, Meri Cherry and her ~ Fairy Gardens for Kids. Meri always makes miracles happen with mini makers. Meri gave us complete creative confidence for this celebration, connecting and chatting through Instagram. With a few artful additions, a mushroom masterpiece and wondrous whimsical treasures, this process made all makers feel creatively confident and gave them time to connect and cheerfully chat as they celebrated!
Giggling guests arriving and picking out their creative spaces.
A little one caught in the magic of mixing in the morning light.
The studio starting to fill as guests began artfully arriving.
The birthday girl getting the process started with a smile in Sunday’s sunshine.
All hands were on deck, both big and small.
Birthday wishes were sparkling and seen inside the soul to later be shared in a birthday song.
The mix of ages made this creative event completely captivating.
Selecting artful treasures was a happy highlight as each proud artist personalized their piece.
The morning light seemed to sparkle, shine, and create its own song & dance surrounding the marvelous mini makers.
Fairies and gnomes seemed to become artfully alive, appearing around the tables.
A maker and her sweet mama caught in a magical moment.
The whole family jumped into the artful action of this creative + crafting + community celebration in downtown Carbondale|CO!
A photo precisely about the pieces on point to protect the enchanted land.
Fairies lit up with sparkle-n-shine as they flew above the tables, taking in all the magic of the makers caught in the moment.
Creative, cozy, childhood, celebration, crafting, community, chaos, captures, collaboration, connection, Carbondale Creative District, children, and coming together in colorful Colorado with cheer!
It’s all about the process, the details, the experience, and the memories that will forever stay in the mind and heart of the makers.
A delightful-n-dreamy rainbow cake baked by the birthday family, both bright and brilliant.
Sweetness + smiles + stargazing + sunlight on a super Sunday in the studio.
A closeup capture of a mushroom masterpiece including both fairy & gnome, a beautiful butterfly taking flight, a pathway on point, and an enchanted land all handcrafted by a clever child.
Tag us @handmakery with your colorful creations and celebrations on Instagram!
Follow our blog for more inspiring process-based art projects! As always, thank you for following our artful adventure on Main Street in the heART of the Carbondale Creative District! Send us a note anytime! We’d love to hear what you’re thinking, dreaming, envisioning, crafting, creating, and celebrating! Much love and happiness in this creative + colorful world, filled with collaboration + connection + community + arts & crafting!
HAPPY NEW YEAR! We’re onto 2019, hip hip hurray! Excited to share with you our latest workshop ~ You + Me + a Teepee ~ Alpaca My Bags ~ DIY Artful Adventure a project dreamed up in the studio and created with children, ages 5 – 13, over an 8-week session! The best part of this project you ask? It’s multi-layered, dimensional, full of exploration + experience, completely artful + action-packed, personalized, and even A-G-L-O-W to light up a stargazing night! Take a peek!
Early online enrollment is highly encouraged as seating is limited! Start a new year making + creating + connecting in a colorful community focused on a creative + collaborative childhood!
A proud + confident artist feeling aglow and over the moon with a stargazing smile!
Mini-exhibits were truly aglow. It was our first show with gallery mood lighting, definitely the best ambiance of the year! Artists were anxious and animated to show off their colorful creations to family and friends.
On a little side note: Be sure to find us all around the Roaring Fork Valley in The Scout Guide Aspen, Volume 6! A beautiful + NEW publication just launched! THANK YOU for featuring HANDMAKERY in ~ Ones To Watch Aspen, via Amy Groom & Erin Jones | Owners/Editors of The Scout Guide Aspen! Pick up your very own copy of this beautiful guide in our art studio, around the Roaring Fork Valley, or even read online!
SUPPLIES FOR ~ You + Me + a Teepee Alpaca My Bags DIY Artful Adventure:
Pencil + eraser
Canvas- stretched/framed
Watercolor pallet
Liquid watercolors + brush + sponge + water container
Papier-mâché + white light-weight paper + plastic cloth
Tealight candle (battery/non-flame)
Heavy-weight watercolor paper
Fine-point permanent marker
Gel pens- shimmer, metallic, brights
Faux alpaca fur
Googly eye
Peel + stick glitter foam sheets
Hot glue (adult use)
Embellishments- pom-poms, pom-pom ribbon, felt, tissue circle confetti, and more!
PROCESS FOR ~ You + Me + a Teepee Alpaca My Bags DIY Artful Adventure:
ONE Begin with a galaxy sky on a stretched framed canvas. Focus on using cool colors to stain the bright white canvas. Work light to dark. Experiment with staining, dripping, splattering, movement, and layering techniques using a paintbrush, a watercolor pallet, liquid watercolors, and even build up to adding a tempera paint layer. Use salt for additional experimentation and effects. Dry. Relayer to go darker. Eventually, even incorporate some black. Dry. Splatter using metallic liquid watercolor and dip a tiny wooden stick with white tempera to stamp for distant stars in the galaxy sky.
TWO Fully dry canvas. Draw mountains using a pencil in the lower half. Paint in mountains using India ink. Dry. Embellish sky with glitter, metallic confetti flakes, metallic circles and stars, metallic sticker stars, and even tiny snowflakes. Attach using gluestick and/or white school glue. Use matt Modge Podge to lightly seal embellishments with a 1″ utility brush.
THREE Draw and cut a small + simple paper silhouette which will become the “you + me” of this piece. The silhouettes may include people, animals, trees, or even the combination. Attach silhouette and seal with Modge Podge.
FOUR Use wooden skewers to form a simple teepee frame with a flat back. Assemble using masking tape and partners.
A peek at teepee armatures ready for a doorway and then a single layer of papier-mâché.
FIVE Move onto adding a doorway that is front-facing with a horizontal crossbar and two lower sticks running verticle made out of tiny wooden dowels. The doorway is a great addition to personalize the teepee but be sure it’s large enough for a battery tealight candle to be placed inside. Doorways can be triangular, square, or even arched!
SIX Papier-mâché the teepee armature using light-weight paper similar to copy or butcher paper, so the finished teepee will glow when the tealight candle is inside.
Dry teepee overnight.
A completed teepee just before being embellished. Add a tealight candle for a lovely nighttime glow.
SEVEN Sketch out bags for travel on watercolor paper. Did you get the workshop title? Alpaca my bags… I’ll pack my bags! Gear for travel may include suitcases, stuffies, plants, firewood, gifts, coolers, and more! Once sketched, outline with a fine point permanent marker and color using sparkle gel pens. Carefully cut out.
EIGHT The much-loved alpaca is smaller than a llama. Simply sketch and cut an alpaca from faux alpaca fur. The alpaca is best drawn from a side-view and embellished with a bag using fabric felt, pom-poms, and any other exciting decor. The fabric alpaca can be attached to the canvas using white school glue or hot glue.
NINE Attach the teepee to the canvas using hot glue or Gorilla Glue (adult use). Dry. Artists can then embellish their attached teepees using glitter sticky foam pieces, pom-poms, pom-pom ribbon, large tissue paper confetti circles, felt, yarn tassels, and more! Repeat a design around the three sides of the teepee sculpture to create a little radial symmetry.
An alpaca artist at our mini-exhibit! Love at “furry” sight!
“Oh là là”… the nighttime glow just before the mini-exhibit + recognition ceremony. All lights were on deck.
Probably one of our favorite exhibits with an amber glow and all-round ambiance into the night.
Galaxy skies aglow…
… a night to celebrate and remember!
THANK YOU to everyone for joining us in the studio for an artful evening to celebrate!
Tag us @handmakery with your creations on Instagram! Follow our blog for more inspiring process-based art projects! As always, thank you for following this artful adventure! Send us a note anytime! We’d love to hear what you’re thinking and dreaming! Much love and happiness creating in this creative + colorful world full of collaboration + connection + community + arts & crafting! Happy New Year!
A peek into our studio on First Friday in the heART of the Carbondale Creative District celebrating Dia de los Muertos in downtown Carbondale | CO!
Click to see all the artful action as artists created “in the style of” our guest artist ~ Lindsay Jones!
A collection of 30 pieces on our gallery wall created by local artist ~ Lindsay Jones! This collection will display through December! Lindsay is a contemporary artist, surface pattern designer, and graphic designer. She works in a variety of media including drawing, painting, digital art, sculptural constructions, and installations. Her fine art work reflects on ideas of landscapes and environments that are built, altered, shaped, and manipulated, while using playful patterns and abstracted imagery. When Lindsay is not working, you can find her outside camping, exploring remote lands, mountain biking in the desert, or racing cyclocross, all of which inspire her creative work.
A sculptural piece created by Lindsay Jones in her Pattern Recognition collection. Artists of all ages created “in the style of Lindsay” as they made flags in her unique style and color pallet.
PHOTOS OF THE OPEN STUDIO ART MAKING:
Discover more about Lindsay Jones and pop into her shop to purchase her beautiful pieces featured in our gallery located at 449 Main Street in downtown Carbondale | CO in the heART of the Carbondale Creative District!
Tag us @handmakery with your creations on Instagram! Follow our blog for more inspiring process-based art projects! As always, thank you for following along on this artful adventure! Send us a note anytime! We’d love to hear what you’re thinking and dreaming! Much love and happiness creating in this creative + colorful world full of collaboration + community!
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!
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