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Art Studio: A Place to Make + Create

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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Wall Hangings

Excited to share with you our whimsical + wondrous WALL HANGINGS that were handcrafted in our MODISH MINI MAKERS workshop, making and creating with 6-9 year old artists!  You may have seen a few photos of the process in our collection on Instagram!  This project was tons of fun!  Such an exciting process experimenting with a wide array of materials + supplies and watching it all come together!  Do take a peek!

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Autumn Art Outdoors

Happy Fall!!!  Isn’t the weather gorgeous?!?  What a beautiful time of year, maybe our favorite!  The last few years we’ve celebrated Oktoberfest in historic Downtown Carbondale | Colorado, creating Autumn Art in the Outdoors!  This year we will NOT be at Oktoberfest, but wanted to spread the word on this event as we’re excited to announce that the Town of Carbondale Recreation will be continuing the tradition of pumpkin carving and making art with children!  Please come out to support this local event and know we’ll be there in spirit!  Here is a peek at our booth, last year and in Fall of 2013, creating festive HARVEST CROWNS + WANDS!  Happy Oktoberfest!  Hope you are following us on Instagram + Facebook!

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Contemporary Cuckoo Clocks

You may have discovered on Instagram that we recently hosted a summer workshop for 6 – 9 year olds- CRAZie FOR CONTEMPORARY CUCKOO CLOCKS!  Beyond excited to jump into this workshop as it has been a project that has been stirring in my mind for quite sometime.  Thrilled to see it come to life!  As a little girl growing up, one of my great-grandmothers had a beautiful, hand-carved, traditional, wooden cuckoo clock in her tiny home.  I remember traveling to my great-grandmother’s Colorado home in the summer for weekend visits with my family.  My sister and I were always mesmerized by her cuckoo clock.  We were sure to be in the living room at the beginning of every hour to see the chirping bird make its grand entrance and to hear cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo!  Definitely a favorite childhood memory that I can still visualize and hear as it was yesterday.  Although our workshop’s cuckoo clocks were not mechanical, the children loved every moment of personalizing and piecing them together!  Once we were in the midst of our mini-art exhibit at the end of the week, I was reminded of how BIG impressions are made in little + simple childhood days!  I hope each of these children walk away with a special memory to hold.  I’m thankful for each and everyone of my childhood memories, as they take me back to the heart of who I am today!  Take a peek!

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Camper Vans On Canvas

Super excited to share with you our Camper Vans On Canvas created in our workshop with 6-9 year old artists!

Wanderlust inspired + beautiful mixed media artwork + image used with permission via Mae Chevrette.

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Outdoor + Downtown Art Studio

outdoor art studio | www.handmakery.com/blog

We’re excited to showcase + share a few favorite photos of May’s First Friday + Family Block Party!  Can’t believe this was our third First Friday + Family Block Party in our downtown + outdoor art studio!  It was absolutely a beautiful night to be out-on-the-town among all the festivities in the open air!  Here’s to springing forward as we leap into time spent creating in the warm outdoors and to long summery days handcrafting with children!

outdoor art studio | www.handmakery.com/blog

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Masks In the Making

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From The Heart Art Kits: box + tape + art supplies

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!

from the heart art kits | handmakery.com

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

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Winter Vintage Cottage

 

Our Winter Vintage Cottages were created in our workshop HANDMAKERY FROM THE HEART: making + creating to give with 6 – 9 year olds!  The Winter Vintage Cottage was our third project in a six-week session!  The children absolutely LOVED working on these!  Most children created their cottage as special gifts for a loved one!  We were excited that the cottage could light up with a flameless tea light and be used for a nightlight!  With all the windows it has fabulous ambiance!    Our biggest challenge was finding enough of these fabulous little houses, but with friends and family searching across two states, we had just enough for our seventeen HANDMAKERY artists!  Thank goodness for family and friends that searched high and low, making room in their travels for these delightful pieces to inspire!  Here is a little gift to welcome your NEW YEAR focused on making + creating + crafting + exploring creativity + being hands-on + celebrating mixed-media!  Enjoy our DIY to guide and inspire you in making your own Winter Vintage Cottage!

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Handmade little Entrepreneur: pop-up shop + mini-market

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Our 2014/2015 SCHOOL YEAR {HANDS-ON + MIXED-MEDIA) ART WORKSHOPS are up and running!  Session I led the way with our workshop: HANDMADE little ENTREPRENEUR designed for artists 6 – 9 years of age!  Shown above, are logos dreamed + designed + created by each artist in our workshop for their individual art + small business, in which they sold their handmade goods in a pop-up shop + mini-market!

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In this six-week workshop we focused on small business upstart and crafting handmade goods!  Our last day included friends + family joining in for a pop-up shop + mini-market, shown above!  Website home pages + logos + product packaging were displayed, business cards were given out, and one-of-a-kind handmade goods were sold!  It was truly an amazing experience for everyone involved!  Thinking back to my childhood, I will never forget being involved in our school mini-market and spending summer days creating little businesses with my sister and selling various handmade goods!  Growing up we were lucky to have an arts and craft store at biking distance.  Most of our money was spent at the arts and crafts shop, probably more than we earned.  My childhood is filled with memories of crafting lots of handmade goods, anywhere homemade worry dolls, to leather + concho belts, to elastic + fabric hair ties, to sewn bags and more!

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