Spooktacular!

Tomorrow night brave souls will be gathering at the bewitching hour to conjure up their own creepy amulets.  Our special Halloween Class is scheduled and here's a little peek into the crypt:  (click on any picture to enlarge)

 

Just like Dr. Frankenstein, we'll be cutting and pasting little creatures together--adding hats and pumpkins and foreboding words-- and making our own little ghoulies and witch-lets come to life.  BWAH-HA-HAHAHAHAH.  We'll have a cauldron full of sweet vintage images as well, for those who don't want to venture to the dark side.

We'll be making little charms to hang around our necks to keep the evil spirits away.  Our intrepid students will learn how to wrap copper tape and get everything ready for soldering.  Those who dare will try their hand at the magic soldering wand.

The evil Professor and her trusty assistant, Igor (sorry, Chris, I couldn't resist) are lurking in the shadows and are anxious to pounce on this next batch of innocent apprentices.

See you there.   If you dare.

Beautiful Collages

We just had our second class Tuesday evening and I am amazed by the beautiful collages everyone created!  Our project was crafting a 4" coaster, using a variety of botanical, butterfly, and bird images.  We combined them with vintage script or sheet music, and added vintage postage stamps.  (I scored a big collection of fabulous stamps at Goodwill last week---what a terrific find!)

Can you believe how beautiful these are?  The backs are just as pretty:

On the backs we used more sheet music, French text, or vintage wallpaper, then finished them off with little rubber pads in the corners.

Here are a few more (they are fantastic!):

Our parting shot is of the lovely Kathleen and Michele showing their handiwork (note the cute charms on their new necklaces!):

 It was the perfect ending to our first session of Collage College!  Chris and I had a blast and LOVED our first group of attendees.  Next week: our special Halloween Class!  EEEEEEEEEEEK!

WOOHOO...1st class was a blast!

Our Inaugural Class was fantastico!  Chris and I had so much fun and we're pretty sure our attendees did as well.

After slaving to get my studio clean, it was torn up again by the end of class...which is exactly what I was hoping for!  Our seven students made the most wonderful charms. Even those who didn't consider themselves particularly crafty were creative divas.

The first class focused on easy charms and simple collage construction;  the most challenging aspect was the TINY scale we were working in.  Now we know to provide a few more long-nose tweezers, and to remind people to bring their reading glasses!

The ladies learned how to wrap their copper tape and burnish it well to prepare for the soldering.  After a soldering demonstration at the end of class, we said goodbye until next week.  Chris and I are now soldering the charms for the students (we'll save hands-on soldering instruction for another time) and adding little crystals to some of them.  Here they are before silvering:

They turned out so great...I love them all. The house charms have street maps of Portland on the backs. The initials are backed with mirrors. Darling!

Next class will have the students working on larger collages and learning a few techniques for doing backgrounds and altering photos.  I wish this same group of women could just come over every Tuesday night and just hang out and have fun!