Printsagram

Last week I got the most amazing little package in the mail. I can't remember where I first saw Printsagram by Social Print Studio's instagram photos, but I think it was on a blog or possibly photojojo....maybe a beautiful mess, but I can't remember.

Anyway, I ordered the mini book set....OMG adorable! The three mini books magnetize together, I think it was $10 for a set of three books.

 You can't indicate what order you want the photos to be in...so if you are making it for a gift, there is no way to put only certain themes in one book, kind of a bummer because I would love to make a 'teacher' book and a 'family' book...right now, all of the photos are mixed together, but I still love them. 

I also ordered the sticker books. $10 for 252 stickers. I am a sticker freak. When I opened up the package and saw all of my little instagrams in a matchbook as glossy stickers, I freaked out.  I really don't want to use them for anything...but for $10 I can always order more. I have some amazing craft ideas for these little stickers!

Not shown: I also ordered 48 mini prints for $12....I spent a little over $30 for all of my printed photos. I think this was a great deal. Any of these would make a great gift if you wanted to customize them, you can select WHICH ones get printed, just not the order.

I would definitely order again. Next I want to order some square prints, they are a little more expensive...$12 for 24 photos....yikes. But I will pick out my favorites and design a photo grid for my home. ;-) The quality is lovely and I cannot recommend these products more highly!

3rd Thursday: JUNE 2012

3rd Thursday last week was so fun! My friend Martha's shop Fluffy Pop made its debut and was very well recieved, with lots of great feedback, I am so proud and happy!!

One of my favorite things about the art walk is seeing friends that I ONLY see at the art walk. It is so fun to wander around bumping into people and catching up on what they are up to for the summer.

The question that I always get asked (by friends, family and other teachers) is: 'What are you doing all summer?" Well, I am not teaching summer school....so I am pretty honest with my answer: "What ever I want."

I've already been to the movies twice this week....and I take naps. I work out whenever I feel like it. I might go to one zumba class, one spin class, and then hit the trails another day....I try to keep the house clean, but some spaces are just always cluttered, because at the moment I do not have enough hangers for all of my clothing so it just piles up outside my closet. My studio is a dizaster. I made up that word. It means dizzying-disaster and I do not want to approach the clean up and rebuilding process.

I hear coworkers bragging about how their house is so clean and dinner is done for the day but I don't really feel like those are worthy accomplishments, I've got a serious to-do list for this summer....and I've started some massive mosaic tile projects (more about that later).

Anyway, here are some shots from downtown last Thursday.

Me and Martha

I decided to try something fun for the summer.....Last Thursday, Heather and I died my hair Ombre.....its fun, but it will go back to normal before school starts!

Using technology in the art room: Percolator App

After seeing the 'Santa Up Close and Abstracted' post waaaaaaay back in December, I downloaded the Percolator App. Ms. Fuglestad is an incredibly talented art teacher, who actually received the Illinois art teacher of the year award in the same ceremony at the National Conference, so we haven't officially met, but I have seen her in real life...so I sort of know her. ;-) If you are looking for some inspiration in your classroom, check out her amazing blog and especially watch the video on this post where she showcase her incredible use of technology in the art classroom with very young students. Makes me feel WAAAAAY ancient and behind the times.

Anyway, the percolator app is pretty cool and she used it in her classroom in a very real way....I'm hoping to find a way to incorporate iPads in the classroom in the future. This would be a great way to do it. I love how you can take either a photo or a drawing and apply a filter in the Percolator app. It yields beautiful results.

All of the photos below were taken on my iPhone. If you are looking for something creative for your own kids to do at home this summer, or a way to incorporate technology in the classroom, you might consider giving this app a whirl. 

This was a painting by one of my students. I love how it morphed into this abstracted design.

A photo of shells

The next few photos are from a recent post,  Out and About in Galveston, Tx

a drawing from my sketchbook!

a mural from my classroom

A gorgeous student painting of a tiger from the end of the year

I tested out a variety of photos and I think I used basically the same filter for all of my images, because it was the one that I personally liked the most. It would be so fun to give my students total control so that they could experiment with all of the options available on the app. 

If you decide to try it out, please share a link below, I would love to see your (or your kids') work!!

Out and about in Galveston, TX

10 Things to Know about Galveston:

1. In Galveston Texas it is nearly impossible to get lost.
2. The best way to see the Sea Wall Rd. is by bike.
3. You can get amazingly fresh sea food (and I'm not talking about Joe's crab shack)
4. The strand is a touristy place to shop, but there are some antique stores on Post Office road worth checking out.
5. The pleasure pier is a beautiful place to photograph
6. There is a lot of sea weed on the beach.
7. It is a city on stilts. Nearly all of the homes have been raised up. And most of them are beautifully painted in pastel colors!
8. It was hit by Hurricane Ike in 2008 but it is slowly rebuilding. 
9. There are so many birds on the island....more than I remember seeing in Jamaica.
10. The free ferry is a great boat ride across the ship channel. Dolphins jump and birds flock around the boat.

All photos are from my iPhone. YAY!