Mixed Media Cards class at Studio Place Arts

A couple of weeks ago, I taught my Recycled Accordion Book class at Studio Place Arts for the first time.

I have to admit, the first session was a bit rocky. It was just one of those days. Thankfully, the second session went much better.

When I teach, I’m a bit of a “more is more” person.

I had a wonderful group of women in the class. They fearlessly dove into everything, which is just how I like it.

They seemed to enjoy the rubber carving technique the best. I gave everyone Speedball Speedy-Cut carving blocks to create images using linoleum cutters.

They also did some image transfer using Chartpak blender pens. The markers have xylene in them, which makes them über-stinky. I gave everyone sheets of clip art that had been printed on my laser printer – the print outs work great with the blender pens.

Although the focus of the workshop was card-making, all the techniques taught in the class are applicable to book arts.

I’m working on planning workshops for 2012. If you’d like to get updates about upcoming classes and other events via Email, you can sign up for my newsletter. You can also check out the Events page on my website.

Upcoming classes at Studio Place Arts

I have two classes coming up in the next two months, both at Studio Place Arts (a.k.a. SPA) in Barre, Vermont. To register for a class, call the SPA office at (802) 479-7069.

Here’s the scoop:

Know When to Fold ‘Em (a three-day workshop)

Dates: May 19, 23, & 26
Time: 4:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Cost: SPA Members $80/Non-Members $90, $10 materials fee

Description: The accordion book is a deceptively simple book structure. While the basic folded form is easy and quick to produce, it can be adapted into more complex and creative books. In this workshop, participants will create several books based on the accordion structure – the basic accordion, panel book, the flexagon, and the flag book. In addition, the structures will incorporate artist trading cards that will be created during the workshop.

Participants are encouraged to bring materials/tools for both decorating the book covers and creating the artist trading cards. Additional materials will be available for use during the class.

In this two-day workshop, each participant will leave class with four completed books and a basic knowledge of bookbinding technique. You will receive a detailed handout and resource list for all materials we use. No previous experience required – this is a great class for a beginner.

____________________

Know When to Fold MORE of ‘Em

Date: June 13, 2011
Time: 9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Cost: SPA Members $65/Non-Members $75, $10 materials fee

Description: In this “sequel” to the Know When to Fold ‘Em workshop, participants will create several books based on the accordion structure – the nested accordion, the star book, and the tunnel book. Participants are encouraged to bring materials/tools for both decorating the book covers and pages. Additional materials will be available for use during the class.

In this intensive, one-day workshop, each participant will leave class with three completed books and a basic knowledge of bookbinding technique. You will receive a detailed handout and resource list for all materials we use. No previous experience required (and you don’t need to take the first class in the series) – this is a great class for a beginner.

Recycled Accordion Book class at Studio Place Arts

Last Wednesday I taught my Recycled Accordion Book class at Studio Place Arts.

I had a lovely group of three women in the class. The most time-intensive part of the process is weaving strips of envelope security patterns for the covers. It’s not hard to do, but choosing which patterns to use sure is!

If you’d like to see security patterns up close, check out Joseph King’s Flickr set – it’s amazing! I just know that you’re going to start going through your recycling now…

Pages get bound into the valley folds of the accordion book.

The structure has pockets built in to the body of the accordion, so students make mini books to put inside of them.

Here’s one of the completed books:

I’ve taught this class three times and every time I’ve suggested that someone use their woven security patterns on a diagonal – I finally got a taker! I think that the cover looks more quilted when you orient the paper that way.

I have one more class scheduled this spring at SPA: Design Invitations and Announcements. If you’re interested in the class, you can register by contacting SPA at (802) 479-7069 or by Email.

If you’d like to get updates about upcoming classes and other events via Email, you can sign up for my newsletter. You can also check out the Events page on my website.

Worktable Wednesday

Today was all about workshop prep – this evening I had taught my Recycled Accordion Book workshop at Studio Place Arts.

This has become my favorite workshop and I think it’s because of the crazy materials I get to dig up. The workshop is also the most time intensive to prepare for – there is a lot of cutting.

It starts with my tub o’ recycling – it’s got all the goods. I dig through everything until I get an idea of what materials we’ll be using (they vary each time). I have lots of cool papers that I got at the ReStore – green ledger paper, penmanship paper with dotted lines, green and white dot matrix printer paper, and old science activity cards.

Then the cutting starts.

I’ll admit it – I’m a bad Kutrimmer mommy. It’s on the floor of my studio. I feel like I can get better leverage that way. I have scrawny arms – what else can I do?

Once my floor has been sufficiently trashed, I start putting the workshop kits together. The repetitive cutting of .75″ wide strips of paper can get a bit tedious – it helps to mix it up with other tasks.

I really do love making kits – it’s like giving out loot bags at a birthday party.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m pretty methodical about my workshop prep. I’m always happy to let checklists be the boss of me. I also create a folder with any important papers, such as project directions, time schedule, and mailing list sign up sheets.

Because the workshop was neither on nor in the vicinity of my worktable, I am forced to save that post for another day. Stay tuned!

Handmade Photo Album class at Studio Place Arts

This past Wednesday I taught my Handmade Photo Album class at Studio Place Arts (SPA). I had four students and they were hard workers!

I like working with small groups because I’m more able to interact with people one-on-one. Less people also means that students get to spread out as much as they want. Space is good.

The cover papers were made by Richard Langdell of Armstrong Handmade Papers. He used to work under the business name of Langdell Paper, but he sold the business to two women who now operate the business under another name – Maple Street Paper Company.

Got that? Me neither.

You can purchase Richard’s papers on Etsy. I’ve been using them for years and they are really beautiful.

I have two more classes scheduled this spring at SPA: The Recycled Accordion Book and for something a little different, Design Invitations and Announcements. If you’re interested in either (or both) of these classes, you can register by contacting SPA at (802) 479-7069 or by Email.

If you’d like to get updates about upcoming classes and other events via Email, you can sign up for my newsletter. You can also check out the Events page on my website.

Worktable Wednesday

Today I spent most of my afternoon preparing for a photo album workshop at Studio Place Arts. I got a late start due to an unfortunate early morning car scenario. Grrr…

I’m good about documenting things when it comes to classes, so I have a detailed prep checklist. I try to update the file after every class. I love checklists – anything that requires me to think as little as necessary is awesome in my book.

I prepared most of my materials yesterday, so all I had left to do today was to cut the photo album pages.

I love making class kits – it’s like filling birthday party loot bags.

After the kits were done, I had to finish up my class sample. I glued the covers yesterday, so today it was time for binding.

Ta-da! The completed sample.

And then more packing. I tend to stage my packing in the hallway outside my studio so I didn’t take any pictures. I figured that technically, it wasn’t done on my worktable and was therefore disqualified from blog stardom.

Maybe I should start a Hallway Thursday…

 

Orchard Valley Waldorf School – Week 5

Since craft show season hit, I’ve unfortunately had to put some blog posts on the back burner.

I can now finally write about my last week at the Orchard Valley Waldorf School. Well, it wasn’t really the last week because they invited me back for two more classes (that will be another blog post).

In the fifth week, my students continued working on content for their five accordion-based structures.

On the last day, I planned for everyone to share their books at the end of class. That went out the window quickly.

I gave them a time by which they had to wrap up their work. They groaned. I gave them five more minutes. They groaned. Five more…you get the idea.

I couldn’t bring myself to stop them – they were enjoying themselves so much. The art therapist in me was having a hard time with bailing on the group process, but the artist in me said to let go. They’re just too darn cute.

I did get them to pose for a group picture at the last minute:

I was glad to hear from their teacher that they had really enjoyed the classes – I know I did. One of the students told me that she’ll be sending me images of her finished work, so I’ll post them when I get them.

Book arts workshop at Dartmouth

To put it mildly, Dartmouth College has a rocking Book Arts Program. I attended one of their workshops back in February and made a box in a workshop led by Collections Conservator Deborah Howe. The program has both a bindery and a letterpress studio.

As I’ve mentioned before, there’s no charge to use the studios or to attend their workshops. Members of the Dartmouth community are given priority, but if there are open spots, anyone can make use of their facilities.

This past Tuesday, I drove over to Vermont’s next-door neighbor to attend another workshop with Deborah – Exposed Spine Sewn Boards Binding. At the start of my drive, I decided to call my sister. My six year-old niece answered the phone.

Here’s how the conversation went:

Niece: Hello!

Me: Hi sweetie!

Niece: Where are you?

Me: In my van driving.

Niece: Are you coming here? (insert Elissa’s heart breaking)

Me: No sweetie, I’m going to a class.

Niece: A book class?

Me: Yes! I am going to a book class.

Niece: Because you want to get better, right?

My niece is brilliant. I love the fact that she knows I make books. We’ve made several books together and once she told me that she wanted to be an artist like me. I’m sure that she’s changed her mind since then, but that’s okay. She’s six.

The workshop was packed, as you can see in the photo below. What you can also see is the back of my head – the curly, brown, hoodie-wearing head. And would you believe that the back of my head made it on to the front page of the November 10th edition of the Dartmouth College newspaper?

The back of my head is having a good year. Remember when it was included in the Vermont Open Studio map?

The workshop focused on the single needle coptic stitch. I’ve been using the double needle coptic stitch on an exclusive basis for a few years now, so it was nice to go back in time.

I loved Deborah’s use of the white board to show the sewing process. I’m thinking of getting a small one to use in my workshops.

I was quickly reminded of my main problem with single needle coptic – tension. I pull my stitches too tight. If I were to use this stitch again, I’d definitely have to work on that.

My days have been crazy because I’ve been preparing for my first big craft show of the season (in three days!). When I get so close to a show, I become machine-like as I spend more hours in the studio. Efficiency is great, but sometimes I forget the fun.

Even though I was worried about losing several hours of production time, it was wonderful to have an out-of-studio experience at Dartmouth. It helped to short circuit my robot brain. I’m thankful to have such a great resource within driving distance.

---

 

Many thanks to The Dartmouth for granting permission to use their photo.

Orchard Valley Waldorf School – Weeks 3 & 4

Last week, my class at the Orchard Valley Waldorf School only met once due to Election Day interference. Darn civic responsibility…grumble, grumble.

I taught the pamphlet stitch, which they picked up pretty quickly. Everyone sewed pages into the folds of a pocket accordion book and then created four booklets to put into the pockets.

I taught at the school for one day this week as well. The students are all working on content for their five books. They dove into this part of the process with serious enthusiasm.

I brought a bunch of materials for them to play with – markers, rubber stamps, shaped punches, fibers, handmade papers, magazines, and other collage materials. I refuse to acknowledge the concept of moderation.

I also brought a number of technique books for inspiration. I honestly don’t think they even need them – they all seem to know exactly what they want to do.

I loved this image:

The magazines seemed to be especially popular. Some students brought in materials from home, including candy wrappers and paper pieces torn out of pop-up books.

This student covered one of her books with eyes. Every time someone else found eyes in a magazine they were looking at, the eyes were cut out and passed along – it was truly a group effort. All of the people in my magazines are now blind.

This is the best I could hope for in a class – a non-visible work surface (a.k.a. Hey, that’s how I work!):

I maintain my assessment that the students in my class are the cutest things ever. They kept asking me how much time we had left in the class and when I gave them time checks, they would groan. They were so into it and it really warmed my heart.

Their teacher asked me if I’d be interested in teaching more classes, which was an easy “Yes!” I would have said “Hell yeah!”, but there were impressionable youth in the room. I’ll keep you posted…

Orchard Valley Waldorf School – Week 2

This past week I had two more classes at the Orchard Valley School in East Montpelier, Vermont. I’m now halfway through my time there with four more classes to go. While last week was a glue-o-rama, this week was more of a fold-o-rama.

My students worked so hard this week – they really impress me. Almost all of them have completely finished the basic structures of five accordion-based book forms.

The next classes will focus on creative work. They’ve got five books to fill and there’s lots of content to be created. They seem pretty eager to get to the more playful stuff.

I encouraged them to bring in materials they’d like to include in their books – paper, fabric, fibers, rubber stamps, magazines, photos – anything that inspires them. I told them that I’d also bring in plenty of goodies for them to play with.

Here’s a look at my classroom before the kids come in. I like to have everything on their desks when they arrive so they’re ready to go:

And here’s how I have stuff set up on my table at the front of the room. The table is made from a door, so it’s pretty ginormous:

They really seem to like the reference books I’ve been bringing in (and I have lots of them). Next week I’ll bring in books that focus more on content and decorative techniques.