Zentangle shrink plastic charm

We created shrink plastic charms today!  I had each student created a Zentangle design on their shrink plastic using a fine tip Sharpie marker. Once they were finished, they punched a hole in the top and used the heat gun to shrink them!  They were all amazed at how much wiggling the shrink plastic does as it shrinks and how cool their designs looked reduced in size!  We attached the charm to the cording and added it to our layered handmade paper sheets by punching holes and tying a double knot on the back.  These were fairly time consuming but worth it because it is original art and a fun experience for the students!!

Therese

Stacked strips art

Yesterday, I had the students lay out the strips onto a quarter sheet of label then die cut them all last night so that today they could assemble their piece of art.  We added a long piece of fiber which was wrapped around the die cut and a silk flower accent using 3D foam tape.  Some of the students were quite creative with their layout of the strips which just exemplifies that we are all creative - we find so many possibilities even when we are all handed the very same supplies!!  It is the part of teaching that I like the most - seeing others branch out and try something else!!
I used this same sketch for Christmas cards last fall.  You can check them out here!!
Therese

Leaf artwork

Another quick and easy page for the calendar.  Here we used the handmade paper sheet that had been layered with tissue paper.  We simply added a leaf die cut (TH) that had a small piece of fiber tied to its stem. The students have been enjoying adding texture to their pieces using embossing folders in the Big Shot.  I will be putting this one on my calendar page for October!!

Therese

Flowers and newspaper art

Another piece for the calendar.  We used one of the small sheets of handmade paper we created the first day.  This one is layered with a small rectangle of newspaper.  We added an embossed flower die cut, two punchies for the center of the flower, three little round punchies as accent and layered the whole element to an embossed quarter sheet of cardstock.  These were nice and quick to do which is great because we have 12 pages to make in less than 8 classes.

Therese

Packing tape transfer for art page

Another piece of art for the calendar!!  We did some packing tape transfers for this piece which was really fun and new for this group of students.   I created the ART graphic, printed it with my laser printer, applied the image side to the sticky side of a piece of packing tape and burnished it really well.  Just before class I put them to soak so they would be ready as soon as class began.  We simply removed them from the water, laid them packing tape down and started gently rubbing the paper with our fingers and the paper just started peeling off!!  These are a really cool way to apply a printed image to a layout, journal page or any other surface.
 NOTE:  In response to a few emails about this technique I found a great tutorial online for this technique.  You can check it out at Little Junk Shop!!

The students applied theirs to labels (ornamental - TH) cut from decorative cardstock and then trimmed the transfer to the edges of the die cut.  We layered them onto shiny silver foil cardstock which we had embossed and added our little glittery hearts!!
This one is going to be the first page of my calendar!! Love art!!

Therese