Happy forever fall! October days in Colorado have been most beautiful, filled with sweet sunshine and warm weather! Our studio just wrapped up our first six weeks of a fresh + new school year and we’re excited to announce SESSION II STARTS THIS WEEK! We have just a few spaces in our art workshops offered on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, or Thursdays! Jump in and join us if you’re in the Roaring Fork Valley!
We’d love for you to peek at the most recent project dreamed up + designed + created by creative children in our workshop ~ Ruckus in the Radiant + Rare Rainforest! You might just be inspired to make your own! Tag your creations @handmakery on Instagram!
SUPPLIES FOR ~ RUCKS IN THE RADIANT + RARE RAINFOREST:
A SIMPLE PROCESS FOR ~ RUCKS IN THE RADIANT + RARE RAINFOREST:
ONE Read The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest as a fantastic introduction to rainforests. Get inspired using simple black & white imagery for discovery, inspiration, and reference. Imagery may include rainforest plants, flowers, leaves, and trees. Use a thin brush and black India ink to “draw” on a large scale, filling a large paper with a variety of observed + organic habitat. Illustrations should remain separate so they can eventually be cut apart. Dry.
TWO Using tempera cake paints in neons and fluorescents to bring color into the rainforest habitat. This semi-transparent paint will allow the black lines to still shine through. Dry. Cut plantlife apart, leaving the exterior black line.
Early online enrollment at HANDMAKERY is highly encouraged as seating is limited! Start making + creating + connecting in a colorful community focused on a creative + collaborative childhood!
THREE Use pencil to lightly sketch rainforest creatures. Start with simple shapes like circles and ovals, eventually moving to smaller shapes and detail. Use simple black & white imagery for animal inspiration. Move to a permanent black marker to outline, detail, texture, and to bold each creature. Cut out each animal with scissors keeping the exterior black line. We did most of the cutting so young artists would have more time drawing and painting.
Each artist selected their own creature combinations to incorporate into their rainforest. Creatures included poison dart frogs, snakes, exotic birds, sloths, leopards, monkeys, and more! It was exciting to see the different combinations of animals each artist selected to personalize their piece.
FOUR Explore lightweight cardboard and white glue construction for additional plantlife popouts and to add additional dimension. Paint cardboard pieces using solid body tempera paints in neons and accent with tempera paint pens.
Detail dry painted cardboard pieces with glitter sticky foam or smaller mixed-media components such as pom poms, circle stickers, buttons, oil pastels, washi tapes, patterned papers, and more.
FIVE Layout the cutout “creative collection” of rainforest plants, black & white creatures, and dimensional habitat on a horizontal, pre-painted, black cardboard, backed with a smaller piece of foam core for strength and stiffness. Arrange pieces considering foreground, middle-ground, and background. Pieces can flow off the black cardboard to allow more space and to add dimension.
A beautiful rainforest flower painted in paint pen to popout.
A birds-eye-view of rainforest animals accented with eye catching patterns. Creatures remained in a black + white color scheme for a brilliant + bold + contrasting statement.
SIX Use three to five, precut egg carton pieces to pop out selected pieces. Use white glue to attach a low profile egg carton piece to add height and a bit of pop.
SEVEN Arrange finished pieces on the pre-painted black cardboard, again, that has been backed with foam core for added durability, flatness, and strength. Use a light amount of white school glue to tack down pieces so they’re not fully glued down, so pieces still have a flex & flow. Use a neon poster board to create a vibrant frame to finish off and showcase. Drill holes in the top two corners and add a piece of twine to display.
A peek at a few pretty pieces in progress as artists were planning and popping with a unique perspective, point of view, and of course a powerful punch, all part of the process and on point. Now say this three times!!!
Having a project with “several separate pieces” allowed artists to move around pieces to the puzzle, to build, and to layer their one-of-a-kind ~ Ruckus in the Radiant + Rare Rainforest so it was unique to each artist. Keeping all animals black & white created a wonderful contrast to the colorful habitat.
Every artist walked away with a one-of-a-kind creation with a collection of creatures they were proud of creating!
A little hand-stamped + black & white saying we printed for each artist to frame using materials of their choice. Little wooden clothespins were used to clip onto the twine of their projects. We discussed how this piece was truly an artist statement to ~ RISE + RALLY + RESECT + RADIATE YOUR HEARTS for the RUCKUS in the RADIANT + RARE RAINFOREST to remind humans to protect and preserve this special land!
The week wrapped up with our traditional recognition ceremony + mini art show as makers took home ~ a most marvelous mini-masterpiece on Main Street in the majestic mountains!
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! Ami
FIRST FRIDAY we hosted our annual + traditional ~ Candy Cottage + Golden Ticket Event! It was a cozy evening as every seat in the studio SOLD OUT several weeks in advance. Artists spent two hours in the art studio dreaming up delightful + decorative details using candies and other exciting embellishments downtown in the heART of the Carbondale Creative District. Earlier in the evening many families visited Santa over at Carbondale Arts for a festive photo and join in The Annual Tree Lighting Celebration on Main! Take a peek!
Love how this candy cottage has an elegant “squishy stained glass” appeal.
This event was offered as a “drop off” so parents could stroll downtown and dine, while kids could come together in a creative community focused on colorful cottages and candy!
A detailed roof captured in color, pattern, repetition, and texture, yet oh so tasty!
Shimmery smiles of sugar plums.
Surprise and wonder with a hint of maker magic!
The workshop was buzzing with Santa’s elves hard at work. Even a few reindeer were making their way around to artfully assist!
Tiny hands making BIG art + accomplishments.
Love how the elements used in this candy cottage compliment one another for a eye-catching contrast.
Lots of thought went into how each artist was going to design and decorate their custom candy cottage!
The entryway of this sculpture was complete with a marshmallow arch and tiny rainbow balls to detail.
A sticky Friday night with “Visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads”…
There were many tasty temptations.
Another delightfully detailed rooftop, could you guess her father’s precise profession?
Many artists focused on spectacular landscapes to surround their clever + crafty creations.
A lovely rainbow pattern to define and detail!
The hunt for the perfect treat to tailor.
The magic of the makers felt a bit like mingling in Santa’s workshop!
A gorgeous straw rooftop made by this mini maker.
The creation of a landscape architect!
Making memories as makers that were m-m-m good!
The delightful details of kids as creators.
All was calm. All was bright! We truly had a wonderful night!
This artist received a special recognition for ~ TheMost Delightfully Detailed, but it was not an easy decision for the reindeer judges with all the impressive candy cottage creations!
A close up of the cottage selected as ~ The Most Delightfully Detailed.
It was pretty peaceful as parents came to pick up, just as the clock struck eight!
Another mighty fine cottage with a fantastic landscape to compliment!
handmakery A pretty peek at a priceless + perfect + on point pairing when it’s purely your painting party! Photo popped seconds before a parade of lil’ people were about to pour in for possibilities to ponder, and you’re the party person to please!
Happy Holidays! 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 + connection + community + crafting!
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!
A little vintage camper drawing {on stretched canvas} started by a little artist in our workshop creating with six to eight year olds in HANDMAKERY FROM THE HEART: making + creating to give. Day #1 of a six week workshop, gathering to create once a week! This project was inspired by HANDMAKERY’S -{LOVE}- for vintage + collected + time-worn objects, graced with patina + imperfections + textures + unique colors, that tell a one-of-a-kind story. We dreamed up this project and envisioned it beginning 2-D, then moving into 3-D, with the addition of mixed media. Can’t wait to show you how it evolves and gets personalized below!
A few of our personal vintage object from 2Market2: clothing + handpicked goods located in Carbondale | CO used for inspiration + learning about vintage.
A photograph of one of our favorite vintage campers {borrowed for educational/artistic purposes} from one of our favorite blogs featuring Elsie + Emma at A Beautiful Mess.
Discovering vintage colors and developing a color pallet for our vintage camper painting. Think avocado green, bubblegum pink, creamsicle + clementine orange + more. We LOVED when each little artist shared their specific color scheme, as they were SO excited to create their own combination and very interested in getting the exact wording! Visit + follow our collection of “vintage inspiration” on our HANDMAKERY Pinterest page!
Take a peek above at all the variations of our Vintage Camper Paintings!
A close up of a Vintage Camper Painting complete with special editions including:
a snowy + sparkly clothesline with wooden clips + handmade winter wear
skis + snowboards
garland created with washi tape + red and white twine
Local teens + HANDMAKERY came together to create over 17 soft sculptures using reclaimed wools to give back to their community! Each teen created a fox to live at the local library for children to read with, while visiting the library. The process of hand-stitching these little woodland creatures took several weeks of LOVE + PATIENCE + DEDICATION + HARD WORK + HANDWORK + GIVING OF THE HEART ♥. Each fox is very unique and includes a photo of the artist + the name and personality of the fox! Check these out at the local, NEW, library! {Photos of the process, foxes + delivery below.}
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