Happy 4th of July

Here is a shot of my Holga....I painted a red+white+blue chevron design on it.....Hope you are having a happy day with your family!

Hometown Appreciation

Just before school got out, I went down to Granby to visit my family. My dad doesn't live more than 30 miles away, but if I don't make a point to drive down and see him, we just don't ever see each other.

While I was there, I started thinking about a lot of things that reminded me of my childhood....we went to JJ's for dinner and I started taking pictures of things around town that probably won't mean anything to anyone else, but they are things that may not be around forever (as I learned from the Joplin tornado) and they are special to me, for whatever reason.

If you are interested here are few photos around town with my Holga way back in 2009. 

After a big storm we would go out to the road and look to the top of this hill to see if we could see a rainbow....if there was a rainbow anywhere, it would be at the top, just where those clouds are in this picture. 

Eagle Bluff

Sunday night marked the end of Old Mining Town Days with a fireworks display. I haven't been to the carnival/concert/firework reunion in years....but this year as we walked around and I saw people that I haven't seen in 10+ years, so many memories came rushing back. Some of these photos I took just so I could send them to my brother, because he lives in Arizona and we share the same love for our hometown.

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!

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!