2018 Fashion Club Continues

Fashion Club with Tat met twice in February to continue working on their Recycled Runway Fashion Show design.  Winter Break meant no school for students, but we enlisted them in fashion design lessons.

Boys Busted out the Work

Tat's sons roamed the library during our class, but we needed more hands to complete tasks.  They wrangled friends and transformed a huge box of cardboard tabs in just ten minutes.  A stopwatch timed their session.  We strictly got ten free minutes, then had to pay them....  Sheesh!

Chop-Chop

Amelia was busy chopping up 3-D printing scraps into tiny mosaic sized pieces.  I was her helper and believe we killed a few pairs of scissors.

A little Help from our Friends

We even secured a little help from our friends....ok, it's Amelia's brother.

Jina is a Glue Gun Master

Jina continued gluing cardboard tabs to our skirt base.

Nestrelda Put her Gluing skills to Use

Whatever would we do without hot glue?!

Colorful Mosaic

Those 3-D printing scraps are being formed into a colorful mosaic covering the bodice of our design.  Progress was swift this month, but time is slipping away quickly.

A True "Insider" View

There are only 3 classes left for Fashion Club with Tat.  We're having fun and forcing kids to work in unusual ways.  Now it's time to choose a title for this ensemble.

Is she Booked for the Ball or a Younique Universe?  Give us your vote!

Check back in March to find the results of our Title brainstorm.

Thanks for visiting!

~Erica

Mandala Rock Painting

Our Middle Mondaze events are providing space for mindfulness to anyone older than 13 years.  This program is aimed towards Middle School students, but adults are loving it, too!

Dots all Around

Dictionary.com tells us that a mandala is "a geometric figure representing the universe in Hindu and Buddhist symbolism." or "a symbol in a dream, representing the dreamer's search for completeness and self-unity."   Using that definition and this visual tutorial to host the program, each student began their first ever mandala.

Personal Property

According to the tutorial, each rock needed a dark color base, with a border.  Once that layer was down, we were instructed to place a dot in the center of that base.  From there, concentric dots were formed around the original dot.

Taste the Rainbow

Some students painted a base color on their rock before coming to class. This one looked sweet, like a burst of Skittles candies.

Soul Burst

As each rock revealed personality traits of the artist.  These dots are Flo's "Soul Burst."

Protection

We saw themes of protection.  This rock revealed an Evil Eye talisman to it's designer.

We discovered a landscape and sunset on this rock.

Freedom from constraint was revealed in this rock.

Dedication to the process shined through this rock.

And this little rock is headed to New Zealand.

Each artist left with a piece of themselves painted brightly on a chunk of sediment.

Simple processes like these help us all see the light from within and find our HAPPY place!

Stop over here in April to see how our our BuJo efforts have progressed since January.

See you soon,

Erica

Bite the Bullet Journal

Have you tried to BuJo?  BuJo is the shortened tern for Bullet Journaling, an analog system of organizing your life.  Ryder Carroll, the creator of this system has developed a website to further inform the novice Bullet Journaler.  Check out the Bullet Journal website for a lesson.

The Gear

I sourced several blogs and Pinterest pages dedicated to all things BuJo.  Many seemed overwhelming and complicated.  Drawings, tons of color, debates upon which pens MUST be used are all details that had this project on a back burner for over a year.

Once I discovered the simplicity of this system and this starting video created by Ryder Carroll, I knew I hit the jackpot.  Like this video states, start simply and simply start!  The sooner you hit the book, the closer you are to organized.  Get a notebook, anything will do.  Get a pen or pencil, anyone will do.  Avoid the complex blogs of women who agonize over the color pen they used for recording their water intake and just get started!

There are a few books in our library collection regarding journals and just one "Bullet Journal for Beginners," but this and the "Start Here" video gave enough inspiration and clarity to the program attendees that any preparation I did beyond that was unnecessary.  This project becomes very personal, so less is more in beginning your system of organizing.

Aside from the books and video instructions, I found Amanda Rach Lee, BuJo Guru.  You can follow her bullet journal journey on her website, Tiny Ray of Sunshine.  With Amanda, discover how to organize areas in your life other than the day-to-day stuff.  I made sure of getting good quality notebooks (the dotted kind) and Staedtler Triplus Fineliner pens to start our bullet journals as a group. After several hours of researching, putting these pens to use proved them to be my favorite!  Try a few pens to know what's best for you.

We put the 3-D printers to work by printing stencils for every participant in the group.  This made it easy for the less-than-artsy folks to create beautifully planned pages with a professional edge.  These files can be found on Thingiverse and are free to use.

These Middle Mondaze are a chance for Middle Schoolers, ages 13+, to set aside some time for Mindfulness.  Bullet Journals help get you organized.  Mandala Painting will surely relax your mind and get you closer the core of your heart.  Join us on Monday, February 19, from 2:30-3:30 for a colorful, calming experience.

If you missed the first round of bullet journaling, join us for Bite the Bullet Journal (take 2) on Monday, April 23.  Your busy life will thank you.

Fashion Club, January 2018

The catwalk is calling our Fashion Club for the fourth year in a row.  As you may recall, this Fashion Club designs an outfit made from recycled materials.  Students collaborate on the design and work together to construct the entire ensemble.  With the help of our master fashion designer, Tat Buchholz, our model always steals some hearts on the runway.

Suffrage Safety Gear, 2015

We started this group in 2015 in hopes of having a model walk in the Recycled Runway Fashion Show.  That fashion show is an annual fundraiser for The ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes.  By participating in this fashion show, students get a real-world view of entering an art competition.

Age of Reason, 2016

This art competition requires a design to be submitted for a juried decision for acceptance into the show.  Anyone who wants to pursue a fashion or art career must become familiar with this process and learn steps involved in a successful effort.

Glitter Ghost, 2017

The work that is produced on our fashion club is similar to what you might see on Project Runway, but with young artists.  Tat keeps everyone going with enthusiasm.  Students love learning new folding techniques and processes of construction they might not learn in school or until much later in life.

The "Palette"

Our "palette" of materials consists of punched paper packing materials, which were donated by an enthusiastic patron.  Scraps from the 3-D printing process will be used as colorful embellishments on the surface of the design.

Hot Glue

What would we do without hot glue?!?  It seems to be the most versitile adhesive for this group.  We love how quickly production goes when the hot glue does it's job correctly and is our hero.  It's upsetting when we burn our fingers and see hot glue as the enemy!

Will we Wing it?

The structures created in this first session have so much potential.  Will they be a corset?  Will they be wings?  Only time will tell, but I will keep you guessing over the next few posts.  The final design will be revealed after the Fashion Show on May 5, 2018.  Stay tuned!

Fashion Club with Tat

Our next class meets during Wintet Break.  Two afternoons in one week of design and embellishment.  Oh Joy!

See you next time,

Erica