i'm blogging this and that is all.

Sometimes I post infrequently because I have nothing to say and no inspiration...but sometimes I don't have many posts because I just run out of time and can't fit blogging into my schedule (Gasp!).

I have so many blog posts brewing in my brain right now and tons of new photos to share.

Right now, I am jetting off to bus duty, then a meeting, then a dentist appointment for my Invisalign, then I'll rush home to change and hit the gym in time for abs at 5:00 and Zumba at 5:30....perhaps I will have time to write after I shower and eat dinner?

Check out this amazing little picture from last week. Something about it just makes me happy. I posted it on my Instagram with the tag: 'we we we so excited' #friday #rebeccablack

I'm thinking about incorporating some children's art into my own work...this one will be first...something using Miro's transfer technique.

Anyway, if you are an art teacher and you follow my blog, check out my lesson plan site, This Little Class of Mine and become a subscriber. I just started my 'Year in Kindergarten' blog posts with a script from the first two weeks of school. Click here to read it: This Little Class of Mine.

Two painting ideas combined

A few weeks ago I told you about a really cool painting on Alisa Burke's blog...I fell in love with it and made two, one for my home and one for my classroom.

In the meantime, I completely fell in love with this crayon wax melting on the whatever blog. I guess these are all over pintrest?
I decided to combine the two into a totally new, fun painting for my classroom!!

 

I'm really happy with how it turned out!! Such a fun, easy, creative thing to accomplish for such a busy time of year!!

Art Walk with Lensbaby part 2.

Yesterday I told you a bit about the Third Thursday art walk events.

Last month, I shared a bit about my art exhibit at Art Walk in Joplin.

The same night that I had my own show downtown in July, I also took a group of students around for the first time.....check out our post on the Art Juggler blog!.

Here are a few more of my favorite pictures with my Lensbaby from last week's Third Thursday art walk.

This is one of my favorites ever!

{Vintage Style} Dress...yes, I did wear this to school!

Love these photos of Justin and the pitcher of lemonade at Salon 529!

The Bee Keeper Society of Southwest Missouri had a booth set up at artwalk and one attraction was the glass case with a big honeycomb and live bees swarming inside it (sort of like a glass an farm). I was freaked out at first, because bee hive give me the creeps, I'm always afraid of getting stung. Then I noticed what a cool reflective surface the glass case had...so I had to take a self-portrait with it!

Isn't this a sweet daddy-daughter picture?!

I'm looking for more cool opportunities to take lensbaby photos...any ideas?

Art Walk with the Lensbaby part 1.

I absolutely love going downtown for art walk. Every Third Thursday in Joplin, artists set up downtown and it is free an open for the public to view the artwork.

Most of the art is not displayed in normal galleries, it is set up on folding tables, and in temporary display units in the shops downtown. It is a lot of work to set up a whole show for just one night...and this summer has been super hot, but if you build it, they will come!

I enjoy looking at what local artists do, but I really love taking pictures downtown. Last week I shot with my Lensbaby attachment on my Nikon D5000.

Downtown Joplin is so beautiful. I really love it when they block off the streets!

This was an amazing 'town-hall' event...citizens could give input on what they wanted to see created in the destructed areas of Joplin.

This guy didn't like my dress and jewelery....he whispered 'shame on you' as I walked past him to get photos of the girls doing Zumba in the street. Guess he doesn't like vintage.

I love Zumba! I try to do Zumba three times a week at the YMCA....here are my instructors and classmates doing zumba in the street--it was an awesome event!

I would've been out there with them but I made up excuses for why I couldn't (and wouldn't): I ate dinner downtown before they got started and I was too full to dance, it was too hot, it was the second day of school and my feet were too sore, I love to Zumba but I am not very good and I would've been too embarrassed to do it in front of the whole town, but most importantly I was dressed up {vintage style} and didn't have time to change before art walk.

Don't these balloons look awesome with the lensbaby?!

Thanks for reading, look for more pictures tomorrow and peak at my {vintage style} dress!

Photo Collage Friday {Number Sixteen}

This makes me happy!! What a great idea, tie-dye your 'I Heart Joplin' Shirt. I saw this at art walk in Joplin last night. I wore the cutest vintage dress. I will be spending tonight writing up blog posts to auto-post thru next week. I took these photos at art walk with my lens baby, and I took a bunch more...look for the posts with those next week!!

Photo Collage Friday {Number Fifteen}

It is my last day of summer!! I am super sad, but I have had a great vacation. Today, I am blogging, baking pies, making a birthday gift, and sewing an apron. Busy busy!

For this week's photo collage Friday, I took some photos in my classroom of summer projects I have been working on this week. 

#1. Paper mache paint brush: A couple of years ago, I saw this great jumbo paint brush and palette set from Pottery Barn Kids. I totally wanted it for my classroom, but $200 was a little too pricey. Two years ago, I made the paint palette with scraps of styrofoam. This summer, I finally got around to making the paint brush using paper mache. (Thanks for the help, Emma!)  I made a cool set up jumbo paper mache art supplies last summer for my other art room.This was a super easy project, both the paint palette and brush are attached to my concrete walls with foam tape and hot glue. 

It looks pretty cool above my paper case, huh?

Before I can tell you about the other two photos in the photo collage, I have to tell you about a place in St. Louis that is an art teacher's mecca. I'm not even kidding at all. 

It is called Leftovers. And it is amazing. 

This place is a superstore of sorted, cleaned, organized junk. And for $7 you can fill up a paper bag with anything in the store. As much as you want. If it doesn't fit in the bag, they will cut you a deal. I got the long cardboard tube for the armature of my paintbrush from the store and I was so delighted!

#2 Splatter paint classroom furniture. I've always wanted something splatter painted in my classroom, but I'm usually too lazy/busy/forgetful to make something. Last week, I set up an old wooden table and a stool on a drop cloth and started splattering. These two pieces of furniture are a great addition to my classroom!!

#3 Spray Painted Clothespins. Okay, about 7 years ago while I was doing my student teaching, a little old lady came in and taught for one semester. One thing she did while she was working in my classroom, was spray paint a bunch of clothes pins in order to separate the classroom art work by table for each class. Brilliant! I've just been marking a little scribbled line with a marker on the end of the clothes pins for years, but this summer, I finally got out my rainbow colors and started painting the pins.

Photo Collage Friday {Number Fourteen}

These are all sky photos taken on my iPhone. I created this collage on my iPhone as well. It has been so sunny and hot here in Joplin, I really wanted to combine all of the beautiful sky images I have captured lately...especially when they reflect a bit of rain (which everyone is praying for daily).

Only one more week until I am back to school. I wish summer could last a little bit longer!!

Lens Baby Photographs {Part Two}

Here are the second half of my lensbaby photos from St. Louis. To see the first half, check them out here. I am trying to watch Louie and blog...and for me, t.v. and blogging don't mix...I can't think...and write...when I am trying to concentrate on a t.v. show. So I'm just posting photos for now!

Lens Baby Photographs {Part One}

Last weekend I traveled up to St. Louis to visit a friend and help her get her art room ready for the upcoming school year.

We had many amazing adventures and I had a chance to play around with my lensbaby camera attachment.

You might remember the snowbound pictures I took during one of our blizzards last winter.

Anyway, I had a lot of fun playing around with it and I really love these photos.

By the way, if you like the dreamy effects in these photos, you can do the same thing with an app on your iPhone called TiltShiftFocus....it is great, you can take any photo and select where the focus is with your fingertips.

Anyway, I only posted half in this post...watch for a 2nd post later!!

Thanks for reading!