The (Mini) REVolution Event

On Saturday I spent a fantastic day with Revlie Schuit, who had organised a day full of craft classes up in The Netherlands.

There was a great, cute mini album made from fabric and felt, and a Tattered Angels workshop by Birgit which was just amazing.

my workspace before things got messy

I am so glad I went - what an inspiring, creative day! I brought home so much from it - ideas, knowledge, a warm heart, a smile, new friends, some random Dutch vocab... not to mention two projects that are so far from being finished yet that I can't even show you!

Thanks, Revlie - I'll see you next time for sure!

Decorating Christmas

Right now I'm working on a Christmas shadow box that on Sunday I'll be teaching to a group of teenagers. It's not ready yet, though, so instead I've got a smaller, less shadowy frame to show you.

It's a simple, cheap, wooden Ikea number, painted in a matte green. I cut a lot of trees using the Cricut, and I messed around in Inkscape for ages making the beautiful jumping deer (also eventually cut using the Cricut). Then I stuck everything together.

Simple, but quite cute, I think.

Lessons Learnt

Our craft class on Saturday went down a storm - proof is a quote from one of the fathers:

Cheryl, the kids had a ball at the craft's lesson. I am amazed at what you and Chocodeline got out of them. I find just getting them all to sit down and watch a DVD is an almost impossible challenge.

There's feedback for you!

Here is a picture of what the kids made - I'm so impressed. They look so much better than I ever imagined they would:

Some things I've learned, that might perhaps serve as tips for those thinking about giving craft classes to kids:

• you're the teacher, the one in charge - they're expecting you to tell them to sit down and stop shouting. Don't be afraid just because they're other people's kids.
• never underestimate the creative potential of young kids.
• at the same time don't give them too much to do. Restlessness can come from both a too boring task and a too challenging one.
• don't give them too much choice - young kids will create within the boundaries you set them. Give them too much choice and you'll soon have a situation on your hands which you can't control.
• know inside out, upside down and back to front the process for your class. Kids will exploit any weaknesses in your plan and you'll lose them.

And I'll finish by saying that we all had a lot, lot of fun!

Craft Classes: Success!

So, yes, they were a success, and I got to teach words the students'll be able to surprise their teachers with - like 'bling', 'squidgy', and 'glimmer' :-).

Just to recap, the aim was to make a 30x30cm piece of paper into a folded mini-album, like this one:


After initial shyness on the first day, I began to see a lot of creative cogs moving in the girls' minds, and considering most of them said they hadn't done anything like this before, it was very rewarding. The work they produced was outstanding! Here they are, hard at work:


A number of the girls also came out of their shell and spoke a lot more English to me as the week progressed. The two who were the most shy in the beginning were quit chatty at the end, and produced some really good work:


And this is everyone with their finished mini-albums:


I had a great time, and learned A LOT about giving classes, both in terms of crafting and language teaching. It was really fun! I'm pretty sure they all felt the same! Thanks girls, and thank you, Susan, for giving me the opportunity to give these classes! Here's to more in the future... Once more, for posterity:

Craft Classes: Test Run

I've been busy planning my craft classes today! I've worked out all the timings for the 4 days I'll be giving classes, and what we'll get done on each day. I have 4 to 6 hours in total per class, which should be plenty of time, taking into account the fact that I'll be teaching vocabulary as we go along (it's a summer school for kids who are learning English).

I've also carried out the test run, using only the materials which I'll be providing to the girls, and this is the result:





I actually found it oddly liberating to have strict boundaries on what I could and couldn't use: for a project I do usually collect all the paper, ribbon, buttons, bling, stamps and so on I'm going to use and put it in a box before starting, but inevitably find myself running back to my main stash and grabbing other bits and pieces, or not using everything I've selected. The boundaries forced me to find more creative ways to use the things at my disposal.


I am going to showcase elements that seem to be quite in fashion at the moment - tags, flags and edge-inking - and will take them through the steps to making their own flower, amongst other things. Really looking forward to it now!



Just a few last preparations to do!

Craft Classes: Prep, Prep, Prep!

Hello all! As I mentioned a few posts ago I'm giving some craft classes next week as part of a summer school. I've found out now my class will consists of 8 girls (yay - makes things much easier!) from 12 to 14. I've been toiling away putting their kits together and reckon (fingers crossed) I'll just about have them all ready on time:


I've been cutting the paper (from Toga's du Papier à Gogo collection) into squares ready for our project:

I've also used the Cricut ALOT and cut out various shapes (tags and arrows are shown here) and a set of alphas for each girl (MUCH cheaper than buying them!).


I'm off to make the test run project now, then back to prep, prep, prep tomorrow!