If you follow @handmakery on Instagram you know we LOVE creative camping and outdoor adventures! Here’s a mixed-media product & process we’ve always dreamed of making & creating with children! Thankful to have summertime to leap into delightful-n-dreamy workshops inside our sweet studio. Would you believe this week we’re launching ~ Early Bird Enrollment for Summer Art Camps!?! Take a peek into our creative & custom workshop ~ TINY TRAVELS: Trending Trailer + a Tailed Creature! Enjoy meeting a maker, peeking into the process, making your very own ~ Tiny Travel Trailer, and dream about joining us in the studio this summer!
Meet a Maker & Her Magical + Mobile Masterpiece:
A painterly peek into the process, as we travel with one magical maker & her “mobile minimasterpiece for a marvelous milestone in the mountains” with oh so tasty treats to tempt.
Seeing this little artist peeking into her very own handmade creation, completely captures a creative at heart! Love the wonder and magic of a creative-n-crafty childhood.
Thought we’d let you take a peek at some precious photos before diving into all the dreamy details of a DIY! Beyond thankful to have my talented photographer friend, Hilary Brock, creatively capture and curate these clever close–ups with her camera! Thanks a million for being part of the magic, hip-hip-hooray to Hilary!
A peek into the production + painterly process inside our sweet studio following a magical maker:
ONE Construct your own ~ Tiny Travel Trailer using precut/heavy-weight cardboard pieces which include ~ Side 1 + Side 2 (handcrafted & handcut with mid-level windows which magically fold out with a lower ledge and above window overhang) + Trailer Front + Trailer Base. Construct and secure all four pieces into place with duct tape. We hope to make a cardboard custom kit with time! Open pre-cut windows outward, upward /downward and tape at an angle of choice using duct tape. Duct tape can easily be precut with scissors into small strips. Use cardboard pieces (precut to the width of the trailer) to create the contour of the roof. Keep the back of the trailer open for interior design exploration & hours of creative play.
TWO Once all cardboard pieces are secure with duct tape and the trailer has taken shape, simply mix up a batch of paper-mâché in a plastic bowl. Cut several short strips of newspaper pieces to have on hand. Lay down a plastic shower curtain for easy cleanup. Dip individual newspaper strips and remove the excess mixture with fingertips. Place strips of dipped newspaper onto cardboard. Smoothing out paper strips is key. Strips can be applied in multiple directions for added strength. With the strength of the heavy-weight cardboard beneath, as the armature, young artists will only need to tackle 1-2 layers of paper-mâché. Dry fully sculpture on plastic egg cartons. Repeat the paper-mâché process as desired and be sure sculpture is fully dry before painting.
THREE Paint the trailer, both inside and outside, with a heavy-bodied white acrylic and wide brush to get a solid-n-sleek finish. Completely dry. Cut a large white piece of heavy-weight paper for the interior floor & ceiling, to give the interior a crisp-clean finish. Hot glue paper into place. Move to the exterior, use a ruler or straight edge to divide the upper and lower by forming a traditional vintage trailer zig-zag with a pencil. Mix up a vintage tint (color + white) for the lower half of the trailer. Paint. Dry. Use silver acrylic to steadily detail the traditional zig-zag horizontally on both sides.
FOUR Add dazzling details around the windows to personalize and accent. This amazing artist used pom pom ribbon as her darling accent, but other artists used pom poms, felt, ribbons, and more! Paper straws can be cut to size to prop the window overhangs and to steady the window ledge. Simply measure the straws for the windows, cut with scissors, and glue.
FIVE Artists made tasty-n-tiny treats, total mouthwatering treasures, sculpting their clever creations using clay ~ muffins, lollipops, pretzels, cotton candy, snow cones, pizzas, caramel apples, churros, cookies, milkshakes, smoothies, and more! Once treats were dry, they were carefully painted using a tiny brush and acrylic paint and sealed with some shimmer.
SIX Artists also created artistic menus to “melt a mama’s heart” using hand-drawn illustration and their heart-warming handwriting. These menus were personalized with colored pencils, markers, and/or chalk markers on blackboards (heavy-weight paper painted with black acrylic) or just heavy-weight white paper. Peek into this playful picture to see how this mini maker illustrated each of her handmade tasty treats!
SEVEN Another fancy detail! Add two traditional “wings” using copper foil, “wheels” can be created using black sticky foam with copper foil for the center, “exterior lights” can be made using sticky foam, and handcrafted “license plates” can be personalized & playful. If you don’t want to buy an entire roll of copper foil, metallic duct tape, sticky foam, foil, or cutting a lightweight tin might be just perfect!
EIGHT Artists can also artfully add to their trailer’s interior! Simple ideas include artwork, rugs, curtains, built-ins, and moveable furniture items such as tables and chairs made from up-cycled items such as cardboard, cardboard tubes, and fabrics to compliment.
A peek inside our studio at 449 Main Street in the heart of the Carbondale Creative District in downtown Carbondale, Colorado!
This is the mouse that sells all the tasty treats out of a ~ Tiny Travel Trailer! Each mouse was artfully inspired by artist ~ Vanessa Cabban. We artfully adore Vanessa’s use of text and fabric for all her playful paper-mâché clever critter creations, especially her much-loved mouse ~ Evangeline!
On a side note, how adorable is this Anthropologie ~ Mini Camper Play House to compliment a road trip custom cardboard creation for indoor and outdoor play!?!
An artful adventure awaits at the outdoor art show for artists:
Artists skipped their handmade sculptures over to the local park for a little outdoor art show to celebrate their colorful summer camp creations!
Even though this beautiful day quickly turned into a radiant rainstorm, literally just as artists set up for the artshow in the grass, big smiles still radiated “undercover”! Thank you to this magic maker for letting us follow her artful adventure in HANDMAKERY’S ~ Summer {hands on + mixed media} Art Camp.
Thank you for joining us for a peek into a wondrous week with magical makers {inside & outside} our sweet & playful studio.
Tag us @handmakerywith your creations on Instagram! We’d love to see what delightful details you add to this summery + scrumptious + sculptural process with kids! 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! Please send us a note anytime! We’d love to hear what you’re thinking, dreaming, envisioning, and creating! Much love and happiness creating in this creative + colorful world filled with collaboration + connection + community + arts & crafting!
Meet and mingle with our ~ DIY Vespa Venture in Venice created by young makers! If you’re connected with us onInstagram, you’ve seen young artists creating these precious popped out pieces in an after school workshop just before Valentine’s Day, hence the love lock addition! The vision was to create a colorful creature, possibly a vivacious vole, venturing and vrooming through the streets of Venice on a vibrant Vespa, full of Valentine’s gifts galore…that’s a whole lot of V’s, right!?! Of course, you could design any type of pretty packages for transport or choose any cute creature to be captain. Take a peek at our {hands on + mixed-media} process creating with crafty kids in Carbondale, Colorado in our downtown art studio at 449 Main Street.
Have you ever wanted your very own Vespa scooter!?! They come in SO many beautiful colors under the sun! They’re simply so easy to spot on a summery street in all sorts of savory shades. How could you ever choose from seafoam green, luscious lime, savory sky blue, amazing aqua, sunshine yellow, outrageous orange, just to name a few of the “scoops of sorbet”! Someday I’ll own my very own but for now, these vrooming Vespas completely fill my heart. Children LOVE creating things that are cute, crafty, creative, connected, contoured, centered on cardboard, all with a clever catch! This project took a splash into artsy architecture, a love lock tradition on-trend, and added a speedy story to showcase. Then there was the venturing vole (you could create any creature or even a humanized character) making a vrooming Valentine’s Day special delivery by Vespa!
YES!!! Our SUMMER ART CAMPS just opened for early enrollment! We also have our last SCHOOL YEAR ART WORKSHOP coming up with just a few spaces ~ a TOUCAN’S TRIP TO TAHITI in TIE-DYE starting the week of April 13th! Take a feathery flight this spring and join us in the studio!
ONE Sketch a variety of Vespas using photos for reference. Select your favorite and get started on some exciting designing and color planning.
TWO Create the full body of your Vespa by sketching it out on light-weight cardboard. Cutout. Decide which components you’d like to pop out to create added dimension. Most of our artists popped their fenders, seats, racks, lights, and more! Smaller pieces take on more “pop” with traditional cardboard. We had an easy to cut, yet “thick cardboard” to create “spacers” between pieces to pop-out even more dimension. These pieces were simply glued between.
THREE Glue parts and pieces in place using white glue or a “cool temp” hot glue. Foil was a very moldable material for added detail but it needed to be hot glued. Some artists covered their foil with paper-mâché, while others used foil as a metal accent and left it artfully exposed.
Waa-laa! Here you have a finished Vespa ready for a Venice venture. Did you know Vespa is an Italian brand of scooter? The name means wasp in Italian. The Vespa has evolved from a single model motor scooter manufactured in 1946, to a full line of scooters. To think it all started in Italy.
FOUR Paper-mâché is optional. Our older artists had time to add a light layer of paper-mâché. Paper-mâché creates strength and unifies but it’s an optional step if you don’t have enough time, especially since the finished Vespa will be connected to another element for added strength.
Most artists love adding a little paper-mâché to their life! Extra small pieces of newsprint enabled the contours to still show the dimension and detail. If you do mâché your Vespa, fully dry before moving onto paint.
FIVE Paint your Vespa one solid color. Dry. Then move into smaller detail painting until your heart’s content.
SIX Embellish using specialty papers, sticky foams, foil, pom poms, and more. Secure in place with glue.
SEVEN Working on heavy-weight watercolor paper, sketch out a humanized creature with a whole lot of character to drive your Vespa (possibly a vole, pig, hedgehog, or maybe even a panda) and sketch out a stack of packages for your Vespa to transport! Define with permenent marker. Paint using watercolors or additional supplies at hand. Artists love adding watercolor pencils and watercolor crayons for artful accents. Dry pieces and cutout. Add thick cardboard pieces to the backs to pop out pieces before adding to the background element coming up next!
DRAWING + PAINTING A VENETIAN CITYSCAPE
Take a splash into creating a Venetian cityscape for your Vespa!
ONE Working on 18 x 24″ heavy-weight watercolor paper, we created a simple stencil for the center bridge placement to give young artists a starting point which had the curve line bottom, top line, and both side-lines, similar to the image above but less detailed. From this point, artists individualized their bridges by incorporating additional curves, lines, and details. The bridge, above the canal waterway, was then painted using a warm “golden pallet” of warm liquid watercolors.
TWO Create buildings using vertical lines with a ruler or yardstick. It seemed best to have 6 – 7 buildings. We discussed how building further away will appear smaller. We also discussed how the buildings were in the distance and how they could appear more “washed or sketch-like or loose” as this wasn’t the most important detail to this piece. Buildings were painted using a wash of warm watercolors.
THREE Move into painting the waterway, aka the canal, using cool watercolors for a colorful contast. We used a combination of traditional pallet watercolors and liquid watercolors. Travel up to painting your sky using cool colors which may entail clouds. Explore a variety of wet on wet techniques and washes. Dry.
FOUR Use a pencil to create the horizontal “3 – 4 levels or stories” on each building and add windows. Look at windows on old Venetian buildings and how they’re different than windows on skyscrapers of today. Compare architecture of today to historic architecture in Venice.
A bird’s eye view of painted pieces just before windows were added.
FIVE Use a black permanent marker to finalize windows and additional details. Most artists colored their windows in black to create a pop of color and contrast.
Love the additional waterlines-n-waves + bridge detail this artist added to her piece to personalize using a permanent marker!
SIX Assemble your entire piece and glue down all the clever + creative + crafty components which include a Vespa, creature aka driver, and packages all on top of your bridge above the lovely canal in Venice. Learn about the love lock tradition and add a mini metal lock to the bridge and toss keys into the canal to celebrate the completion of your colorful creation!
Take an upclose peek at all the clever additions on this piece.
Celebrate childhood + creativity + coming together as a community before taking a trip to Venice inspired by your very own clever creation!
Absolutely love this precious piece that was created by one of our youngest artists and immediately framed by her lovely mama in a sweet shadowbox for showcase, sweetness, and safekeeping!
This is my current scooter of travel, but you’ll be the first to know if I take the leap to get my very own Vespa for vrooming & venturing the downtown streets of our little mountain town of Carbondale, Colorado!
Tag us on Instagram with your creations. We’d absolutely LOVE to see them! 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, and of course, our favorite ~ CREATING!
Much love and happiness creating in this creative + colorful world filled with collaboration + connection + community + arts & crafting! Happy Springtime from our studio!
Happy Back to School! Hope you’ve had a wonderful time slowing down, celebrating, and soaking up summertime under the sun and stars!
Our studio artists recently showcased ~ A CARNIVAL CIRCUS IN COLORFUL CHAOS! This was our final + full-week workshop of the splendid summer! It was F-U-N and completely filled with construction, creativity, children, color, creatures, cheer, childhood and of course, a teeny-tiny bit of chaos! Take a peek at this delightful process combining circus + carnival + celebration + childhood + construction + collaboration + community + color! We were inspired by Up Warsaw’s beautiful + handmade furniture and wooden circus tents @upwarsaw on Instagram! Be sure to tag @handmakery on Instagram if you give this process-art project a GO! Take a peek below!
Early online enrollment is highly encouraged as seating is limited! Start a new school year making + creating + connecting in a colorful community focused on a creative + collaborative childhood!
Glues – white glue, cool temp glue gun + glue and hot glue gun + glue {adult use}
Paper straws
Pipe cleaners
String + yarn + wire
Wood parts and pieces {assortment}
Wooden peg dolls
Poster board
Sparkle foam
Fabric
Paper and markers for signs + flags + garland
Embellishments- sticker stars, pom poms, and more!
A SIMPLE PROCESS FOR ~ CARNIVAL CIRCUS IN COLORFUL CHAOS:
BUILD + CONSTRUCT
ONE Construct in pairs using 4 – 12″ dowels, masking tape, duct tape, and a 12 x 12″ heavy-weight box with a separate lid, to create an initial structure for the circus tent. All four tent poles should angle towards the center, to connect together at the center point of the tent.
TWO Use light-weight cardboard, ex. cereal boxes, to draw, cut, and create the curtain elements on the upper front and front sides of the tent. The top curtain can be sketched scalloped and cut. Tape all three cardboard pieces onto the box so they’re secure and frame the stage.
THREE Coat the above structure with newspaper and paper-mâché mixture. Dry overnight.
FOUR Use the box lid as the circus stage. Place the dry circus tent onto the stage. Line up the back of stage and box lid so they’re flush. Tape in place using duct tape strips. Add a round cardboard cutout on top and center on the stage. Mark where the circle overlaps the box sides with a pencil. Cut this overlap so the stage sides are squared off and the front only rounds.
FIVE Paper-mâché connection points so the tent and stage become strong and one unit. Paper-mâché all four sides of the upper tent so the dowels are enclosed. Dry overnight.
PAINT + EMBELLISH
SIX Paint the entire dry tent and stage unit white using acrylic paint to get a solid covering on top of the newspaper. Dry overnight. Use a ruler to draw pencil lines from the center tip of the tent down to each curtain scallop. This will create the red and white divisions for the tent stripes. Mark the red stripes with a light “x” so children know which sections to paint red and which sections to keep white. Use red acrylic paint with a small brush for tent stripes. Encourage young artists to take their time and travel slow to get crisp + clean lines.
SEVEN Move into dreaming up, sketching, and constructing both carnival and circus creatures using clay. We used an airdry clay to create 3D figures. Dry figures before painting using acrylic paint. Children painted their animals solid before moving into smaller details.
EIGHT Once your circus tent is fully painted and dry, move into stage construction. We precut silver sparkle foam for the stage base and hot glued this piece on top of the spark-tacular stage. Cut a piece of black poster board to bend and set into the stage background. Tape in place. Sticker stars can be added to the black poster board for sparkle + shine + a little stage magic! Children used cool temp glue guns to create their stage structures using patterned paper straws, painted wood pieces, yarn, string, fabric, and more! Precut strips of striped fabric were attached by artists using cool glue around the stage for added color, texture, and stage-like appeal!
NINE Painted people (aka wooden peg dolls) and creatures were added to the stage to complete the ~ CARNIVAL CIRCUS IN COLORFUL CHAOS! Artist amazed and awed as they created tightropes, trapezes, lyras, acrobats, magicians, imaginary animals, and more! These ringmasters also made the most detailed signs to sell tickets, announce the event schedules, direct guests to tasty cotton candy, popcorn, and candy stands! The imagination and creativity of these artists… truly over-the-top bright + beaming + brilliant!
TEN We added face paint, carnival hats, and popcorn to enhance the full-circus experience for our community art show celebration!
Celebrate childhood + creativity + color + community by creating and collaborating!
My artful friend, Bar Rucci, created an incredible DIY ~ Circus Tents Made By Kids (photo above) on her lovely ~ Art Bar Blog and over on Handmade Charlotte for another fantastic way to bring a circus experience into any creative environment! You’ll definitely want to take a peek at this project and ALL her gorgeous goodness by following her @artbarblog on Instagram or visiting her on Art Bar Blog!
Tag us @handmakery with your creations 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, and envisioning! Much love and happiness creating in this creative + colorful world, filled with collaboration + connection + community + arts & crafting! Happy School Year! Ami
Hello there! Excited to give you a little springtime inspiration in your day! Our artists recently showcased their ~ SCULPTURAL SPRINGTIME SLOTHS in a sling, sporting stylish sandals + sunhats + sunglasses + scarves, while sipping & sun-basking in the sunshine in our early spring + six-week + school-year art workshops for ages 5 & up! We have a feeling these creatures will “slowly” steal your heart! Sharing a list of sweet-n-simple, go-to-supplies, to get your very own sloth started using several upcycled material you might already have on hand! Be sure to tag @handmakery on Instagram if you give this project a GO! Take a peek below!
SUPPLIES FOR ~ SCULPTURAL SPRINGTIME SLOTHS:
Newspaper {upcycled}
Paper bags {upcycled}
Tape- masking + duct tape
Scissors
Paper-mâché mixture + bowl
Paint + pallet + brush
Driftwood
Fabric- fleece
Fishing line
Embellishments for sandals, hats & sunglasses
A SIMPLE PROCESS FOR ~ SCULPTURAL SPRINGTIME SLOTHS:
Did you know sloths are the most trending animal of the year? Would you believe the sloth has replaced the unicorn!?! Indeed, it’s true! Read about their debut as “the most trending creature” of this year. Would you also believe a baby sloth was just born, right here in Colorado!?! If you’re looking for some amazing + simple sloth facts for kids, to go along with this DIY, take a look. Artists loved learning all about these cozy and trending creatures! We even hosted a sloth birthday party right in our very own sweet studio!
A sweet + sisterly + sloth-selfie sent in by one of our amazing HANDMAKERY families! Thank you for tagging #handmakery on Instagram with your creations!
SUN BASK, SIP, SIT BACK & RELAX INTO SUMMER:
TAKE A SPLASH & JOIN US THIS SUMMER:
1. JUMP IN AS SUMMER ART CAMPS ARE QUICKLY FILLING!
Early online enrollment is highly encouraged as seating is limited! Jump into summer making + creating + connecting in a colorful community focused on a creative + collaborative childhood, in the heART of the Carbondale Creative District on magnificent Main Street!
2. FAMILY BLOCK PARTY ~ FIRST FRIDAY MAY!
You don’t want to miss this event! If you’re local to the Roaring Fork Valley, be sure to join us for our 7th year hosting a ~ FREE art-making booth for ALL AGES! We’ll be making & creating in our outdoor art studio which will be located in downtown Carbondale |Colorado, at the heART of the Carbondale Creative District! Join us for the much-anticipated + annual + artful ~ FAMILY BLOCK PARTY!
3. LET’S CONNECT ON INSTAGRAM!
Tag us @handmakery with your creations on Instagram! Follow our blog for more inspiring process-based art projects! As always, thank you for following our artful adventure! Send us a note anytime! We’d love to hear what you’re thinking, dreaming, and envisioning! Much love and happiness creating in this creative + colorful world filled with collaboration + connection + community + arts & crafting! Happy Spring! xo Ami
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!
Thrilled to introduce you to Gina Vide ofWillowday! Gina is an amazing (…and oh SO talented) artist living in Sweden, between the sea and the city! She’s flower-inspired, a maker of miracles + magic + moments, with an ornate eye for “delightful detail in the delicate” captured through design and illustration! Her style is whimsical + wondrous, and completely full of woo + wow + wonder! She loves creating + crafting with children and exploring a creative + colorful childhood. So honored to have Gina’s ABC Flower Safari and Fir Fox + 24 Flower Friends travel to our studio for a little collaboration! Literally, they came by airplane into Aspen, for First Friday ~ September, to celebrate our One Year Anniversary, in our NEW location on Main Street! TODAY, Gina launches her ABC Flower Safari Art Prints! Next month she’ll launch her NEW book ~ ABC Flower Safari! The timing is just perfect to celebrate a sneak peek of her creations through a hands-on artmaking experience inspired by the artist herself! Enjoy peeking into Gina’s amusing animal alphabet as a little tasty treat this Thursday! Enjoy the joyous journey!
Our First Friday artmaking event ran from 6 – 8 PM. Early birds anxiously waited outside the studio, with faces and hands pressed to the glass! Happy faces were peeking in and excited to get creating with Gina’s ABC Flower Safari! Yes, a true artful adventure for all ages!
Gina Vide creates magic with her whimsical creatures made from paper, paint, cardboard, and flowers. Here you can see “Fir Fox” and a few of his furry friends as they take off by airplane from Sweden to visit the Rocky Mountains, landing in Aspen | CO, just before we picked them up for the ABC Flower Safari Exhibit!
Every letter of ABC Flower Safari is inspired by an animal and a coordinating flower. Meet “Fir Fox” pictured above. Can you even believe Gina created a full alphabet connecting an animal to a flower? We have her ABC Flower Safari Art Print in the studio and we’re happy to announce these original prints are now available in her Art Print Shop! You can also read more about our collaboration on Willowday!
A favorite photo of a little artist completely inspired by Gina’s “Fir Fox”! Children used cardboard, paper, paint, and flowers to create their very own Willowday inspiredmasterpiece on First Friday! Gina’s imagination runs wild, can’t even think about how whimsical her NEW book ~ ABC Flower Safari will be! Love this must-see, “Fir Fox” Adventures | No 4 | ~ “Once upon a Friday, Fox read a fairytale in the fern fort.” #willowdayfoxtales
Gina’s “F is a Fir Fox” is part of a series she developed to spark imagination in kids and the world around them, using flowers, paper, cardboard, and animals. You can use #willowdayproject to share some of your very own creations part of #willowdayflowersafari on Instagram!
Gina started this series with kids in mind. It grew from her long interest in children, teaching, nature, play, and parenting with a fun crossover to illustration. She loves the simplicity of elements and imagination found in nature walks with children that evoke a story.
We met several years ago on Instagram (@willowdaygram + @handmakery) and became part of the Rockin’ Art Moms. Over the years we’ve kept in touch and have formed a friendship afar…someday we’ll meet! Gina started a summer series, Friday Flowers for Kids, on Instagram. She was able to complete her delicate + detailed series by September as the perfect highlight to welcome fall and First Friday! It all came together and the gallery wall went up with ~ ABC Flower Safari handcrafted by Gina Vide!
A favorite letter is Gina’s “Lilac Llama”! We weren’t able to get ahold of lilacs this late in the season but how this artist so lovely improvised! Discover Gina’s 3D Lilac Llama with template to make your very own.
The studio was alive and in full bloom as children of all ages shuffled through the studio (sneak peek) with their families. Picking flowers, painting cardboard, cutting and gluing paper, assembling parts and arranging pieces.
Look at this delightful dog inspired by Gina’s letter D “Daisy Dog” created by a nine-year-old, aka my daughter!
A most mastered “Hydrangea Hedgehog” inspired by Gina Vide’s letter H!
Love how this family formed a team of makers.
This sweet-sisterly duo spent the evening inspired, emulating Gina’s letter P “Peony Pig” for a priceless + pink + pair of pigs on parade!
This family “art affair” definitely brought community, closeness, collaboration, creativity, color, and craft to a complete circle!
A couple of happy zookeepers in the studio of safari!
Another F is for “Fir Fox” mastered by this maker!
Meet E is for “Eucalyptus Elephant” definitely a most favorite in the ABC Flower Safari collection!
This artist must have known she’d need to wear red to compliment, and really make her gorgeous green elephant pop in this priceless photo with a little P-O-W-!!! and polka dots!
Many artists were intrigued and inspired to create their own creations and unique combinations! Love this delightful D for dolphin!
With our logo being the owl, couldn’t conclude without adding Gina’s letter O is an “Oxypetalum Owl” handpainted in one of our most favorite tints of turquoise!
Love how this mini maker matches her eyes to her owl’s eyes in a wide-eyed expression! Hooo!
Next month Gina Vide will be launching her NEW book ~ ABC Flower Safari! We look forward to celebrating with her! Be sure you’re on Gina’s Willowday Mailing List! Excited to announce HANDMAKERY will be highlighting a very special “fox celebration” inspired by Gina’s “Fir Fox” which is perfect as we welcome fall, the changing seasons, and Gina’s NEW book!
In the studio, Gina also creates the most beautiful pieces using petals, leaves, and other items collected from nature during her walks in nature! Definitely pop into her Art Print Shop and say hello! Thank you Gina Vide for bringing your inspiration all the way from Sweden! So LOVE all you do!
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 in beautiful Carbondale | CO at 449 Main Street! Send us a note anytime! We’d love to hear what you’re thinking! Much love and happiness creating in this creative + colorful world full of collaboration + community!
My fabulous art students created a project personally dreamed-up and designed called ~ Pet Portraits with Personality. With moving our studio to Main Street last summer, life got a little beyond busy so thank you for your patience with just getting this project out! With fall in the air and back to school really here, thought it would be the perfect time of year to share this fun favorite with you!
Pet Portraits with Personality was a huge project created with children ages 10 – 14! The artwork, 120 finished pieces, were then used for a local circulator bus (yes, a REAL BUS!!!) and a collection of 35+ community “bear-proof” cans. Both the bus and can projects were designed to bring more art to the heART of our historic downtown! So proud of each artist and their unique creation, contributed to both of these colorful community projects! So happy to see our community come together to support both kid-friendly + child-focused art projects! The artwork has brought a great deal of humor, color, and a whole lot of creativity to our community of Carbondale | Colorado at the heART of the Carbondale Creative District! Don’t you just love how childhood and creativity completely collide, to completely capture community and collaboration!?! Take a peek!
Read a fantastic article highlighting all the details about these upcycled Bear-Proof Cans wrapped with student artwork located throughout downtown! Would you believe there are over 35+ cans throughout our community!?! A huge thank you to the Town of Carbondale for taking on this project. This particular can is located right across from our studio at 449 Main Street! The day the install happened was just beyond exciting to watch out our windows!
SUPPLIES:
Pencil + eraser
Scissors
Gluestick
Realistic animal face photos for inspiration
Sketch paper + final paper + tracing paper + watercolor paper cut to size
India Ink
Watercolors including both liquid and traditional pallets
Watercolor brushes + water container
Lightbox or window
Colored pencils, permanent markers, acrylic paint, colored paper for additional details!
PROCESS:
ONE Select a realistic animal and dream up your animal’s expressive personality. Create several mini sketches focusing on the face, head, and shoulders.
TWO Finalize your favorite sketch selection into a drawing, again with a focus on the face or upper body. Humanize your animal by adding human-like features, ex. eyes, mouths, shoulders, costuming and fun accessories, yet keeping a bit simplified, as individually drawn pieces will need to be drawn and cut out.
THREE Finalized your favorite animal drawing to a specific vertical paper size, fill the space by going big and focused in.
FOUR Trace each section of your drawing onto tracing paper at a window or lightbox. Separate out each layer. For example, the glasses would be a separate “drawn and cutout piece” from the face, to then overlay on top of the face. Start with the largest shapes first, such as the face, neck, and shoulders. It is very helpful to create bigger shapes to smaller shapes, working background to foreground.
FIVE Place the tracing paper shapes behind the final watercolor paper at the window or lightbox. Trace images onto heavy-weight watercolor paper in pencil. Again, all individual pieces that make up the complete animal, will be all drawn as separate pieces. The photos, above and below, should help with the visual understanding.
SIX Before cutting apart, use India Ink and a small brush to outline all the separate pieces. Remember to vary the line quality to keep your pieces more painterly so they capture both thick and thin for a more handcrafted flair. Dry.
SEVEN Plan out a color scheme- complementary, analogous, warm or cool, intermediate, triad, or monochromatic for the overall piece. The color scheme should include the background.
EIGHT Using watercolors, which could be liquid or traditional pallets style, paint each piece remembering to dry between colors. Dry all pieces. Cut apart all individual pieces following the outer edge ink so the varied edge lines are preserved. Use a heavier weight watercolor paper to create a vibrant wash for the background. Dry.
NINE Assemble all the separate cutout/painted pieces using a heavy duty glue stick.
TEN Onto delightful details! Add highlights in eyes using white acrylic paint. Add swirls using colored pencil or permanent marker by using a similar color. Add texture and additional delightful detail. Use cut paper shapes, ex. stripes or polka dots to create a contrasting background to pop the creature! Most importantly, create a pet with personality and humor that comes to life with color, contrast, and human-like features!
… for making these two community projects, completely focused on kid art, come together for our community!
Tag us @handmakery with your creations on Instagram! Would love to see your ~ Pet Portraits with Personality! Follow our BLOG for more inspiring process-based art projects! As always, thank you for following along on this artful adventure in beautiful Carbondale | CO at 449 Main Street! Send us a note or contact us anytime at hello@handmakery.com! Much love and happiness creating! xo Ami
Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. – Pablo Picasso
ANNOUNCING FALL ART WORKSHOPS!
Workshops + Classes + Events start September 4th, 2018!
PENCIL IN & JOIN US:
DATE: September 7th | First Friday 6 – 8 PM
EVENT: HANDMAKERY’S 1st Year in NEW Location Celebration + First Friday + FREE Art Making to Connect with Exhibit + Open Studio + Gallery Exhibit!
EXHIBIT: Swedish afar artist, Gina Vide of Willowday, and her creations for upcoming book ~ ABC Flower Safari! Gina’s work will incorporate playful + whimsical animals, flowers, paint, illustration, and typography all captured through photography! All ages will love this beautiful + delicate + detailed exhibit! Read more about Gina Vide!
LOCATION: HANDMAKERY located at 449 Main Street in beautiful + historic downtown Carbondale | CO at the heART of the Carbondale Creative District!
Keep checking HANDMAKERY.COM as additional programming will continue to be added throughout the year! Programming will include: children’s weekly art workshops for expanded ages, arts + craft evenings for children/adults/ladies/couples + family, holiday art making, art camps, open studio, one-of-a-kind birthday parties + special celebrations + customized events, specialty summer workshops, special guests + speakers, pop up events, and more! What would you like to see offered? We’ll let you in on a secret… our first Ladies Art Night is coming soon! Take a VIRTUAL VIDEO TOUR of our studio!
A PEEK INSIDE THE STUDIO:
Featuring ~ Children’s Art Workshops, Mini Maker Mornings, Birthday Parties, Adult Arts & Crafts Nights, and First Fridays & Pop Up Events! Take a peek, below!
CHILDREN’S ART WORKSHOPS…
MINI MAKER MORNINGS…
BIRTHDAY PARTIES FOR ALL AGES…
So far, thirty, one-of-a-kind parties have been hosted in our studio in our first year on Main Street! Get your special event on our events calendar! No date is too early to pencil in! Send us an email hello@handmakery.com and let us know what you’re dreaming!
ADULT ARTS & CRAFTS NIGHTS…
Our first ~ Ladies Art Night is coming soon! Create a personalized account or contact us to get on the wishlist!
FIRST FRIDAYS & POP UP EVENTS…
We hope to see you at September’s First Friday on Main Street and in the art studio soon! It’s truly such a wonderful way to discover your community and connect! 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 the artful adventure in beautiful downtown Carbondale | CO at 449 Main Street! Send us a note anytime at hello@handmakery.com to let us know what you’re thinking and dreaming! We’d love to hear your ideas! Much love and happiness creating! xo Ami
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