Making Hardcover Sketchbooks, Step by Step

So, I was showing someone the sketchbooks we made this year and I realized that I never posted the steps we used to make them! Here they are!

You need an inexpensive sketchbook and canvas board twice the size of the cover. Scissors to cut the fabric, a light weight fabric scrap the length of the book and a paper cutter to cut the canvas board.
Let the sketchbook maker paint the canvas board.


Next, add glue to the cover and stick one side of the fabric into it. Add some glue on top of the fabric and place one half of the canvas board on the cover and hold it. I like to put the cut side towards the spiral binding.

Flip the book over and repeat these steps.with the second half of the canvas board.

Cover the spiral binding with the fabric. 

The fabric will keep the spiral covered and keep other decorations from sticking to the binding. We used craft tape to cover the fabric. Some of the stiff glitter stuff could use a bit of tacky glue, but the fancy patterned Duct Tape works like a dream!

Tennessee Art Education Association Conference

My husband professionally refers to both the state and national Art Ed conferences as "Tina's Art Party". I regularly attend and I enjoy networking with my fellow art teachers more than you know. It is so good for the soul to be surrounded by folks that share your passion and understand the all-consuming art teacher lifestyle! At this year's conference, the Friday night reception was a costumed even, in honor of Halloween weekend, and all were invited to dress as their favorite artist, artwork or style. I chose Pop Art, but I thought you may like to see what art teachers wear to a costume party! I am sorry that I didn't get a picture of "The Art Teacher's Nightmare".

Klimt Ladies

Cave Painting

Frida and her sugar skull

Egyptians! Always shaking their Asps.

My name is Georgia.

Charlie Russel (also Bunny's granddaughter!)

Andy and Georgia

Roy's Girls

Conceptual art with Jimmy Buffet overtones.

Mona and Leo

Not Banksy

The walking No-No board

Sketchbooks Assembled!!

So...here they are! Our finished sketch books turned out great! I love this idea. You can take a less expensive book and make it look so amazing with the painted canvas board, a strip of fabric and some really cool tape. I love it! It took us two classes to paint and assemble the books, but it was worth it!

Sketchbook Club Kick-off...Day one of our Sketchbook design.

I tried something new and different for my second year of 3rd and 4th grade Sketchbook Club. We used some recycle cardboard circles to create designs for the front and back covers on canvas board. Then we painted the Sharpie designs with tempera. The boards will be cut on the paper cutter and used for the front and back covers of the wire bound sketchbooks. They look so cool I just had to share a few. We will finish painting them next week and then attach them to the sketchbooks with glue and some very fancy tape. The kids LOVED this simple overlapping method and it was so fun to create! I will post more on the contraction as we finish them! There are some specks below.

 Here are some specks for you...The canvas boards are 9x12 (pack of five is about $8 at Micheals). They will fit a 5 1/2 x 9 inch sketchbook. I cut them on the paper cutter. (I know I will look like one of those people from the skittles commercial with one giant arm, but it is worth it!) The paint is premium Blick Tempera Paint. I will probably toss a clear coat on them to seal them when they are finished. Day one! Pretty Awesome!

Oceans of fun with painted paper!

 Painted paper has OCEANS of applications!! This summer, right before we went back to school (the first week of August which is still summer!!) I taught this fun painted paper/collage lesson with our on-site extended day program (Tiger Club). I painted the ocean wall years ago, when I had all that free time before kids and marriage. It is kind of a landmark in our building, but it was designed to be an interactive wall several versions of the curriculum ago and we created sea creatures and added them every year when 1st grade studied the ocean. I decided to revive a new version for some summer art fun!

SO...after I wrapped up a week at the Tennessee Arts Academy, I was so fired up about painted paper I couldn't wait to try it out. Here is a picture of Laura Lohmann in action at TAA!!

My "Tiger Club" kiddos are always willing to be my lab rats so I headed over there to test the waters! Here is what we did...
First we painted two papers each, some did more until the paint was gone. No water just mats to clean the brushes on...it was awesome!!

 

Aren't they awesome!!

 

The next day, we created our amazing fish! Cutting and gluing and sharing all the beautiful papers. No one even freaked out about not having THEIR paper.  Once they finished I had made "water" with craft paper. The dow rods I had fit perfectly into the plastic ceiling hooks so I made a pocket of folded paper at the top of the craft paper with the rod through it. The kiddos brought their finished fish straight to the paper for display. Once they were all finished and layer out on the papers I taped them in place and snapped the rods into the ceiling hooks in about five minutes! They looked pretty awesome!

Mirror, Mirror in my hand...a Frida Kahlo inspired self portrait.

 I love using oil pastels over paint, it is one of my favorite ways to create self-portraits with my students, especially young ones. These are 2nd grade portraits inspired by Frida. Students learned about her live and art before creating their portraits using mirrors. Then we framed them on paper that is shaped like a hand held mirror. (Thanks Phil from There's a Dragon in my Art Room for that idea!) Using crayons they added some motifs that are common in Mexican folk art as well as some symbols that are personal to each artist to decorate their symmetrical mirror shaped picture frame. They look almost as serious as Frida herself!

 This is a quick paint before the artist intro. We whip up the skin color for the head, neck and shoulders, adding the hair last and whisking it away to the drying rack before breaking out the idea books to learn about Frida Kahlo and practicing some front-view facial proportions!

 This way the paint is dry before we add the oil pastel the next week. Day three includes cutting out the portrait, gluing the three papers together and adding the designs on the mirror. You can see more on our Percy Priest Elementary Artsonia.com art gallery!

Our school year is in bloom with radial flowers by 3rd grade!

 We are off to an amazing start this year so I wanted to show off some of these amazing flowers created by 3rd grade artists. This is one of the lessons that I learned from Laura Lohmann (Painted Paper) at the Tennessee Arts Academy (or as my husband calls it "Art Teacher Art Camp").  After learning about radial symmetry and learning how to paint without water, they created these amazing flowers. I love how very different each one turned out, just like the artists that created them!

Exploring Enduring Themes in Indianapolis!

Last week I spent two days with the Arts teachers in the Indianapolis Public School system for some summer PD before they headed back into the trenches for another year of growing people. They experienced a unit using the enduring theme of Identity and explored several student growth indicators, then discussed how to shift their teaching focus from studio to students. We grow people, that is what we do! They made a personal work of art and did a little planning. They talked, planned, problem solved, and collaborated. It was a personally inspiring experience to see the change in the room from 9:00AM Tuesday to 11:30AM Wednesday.

James Stephens (Music for All), Ila Nicholson, Linda Friend, Tina Atkinson, David Neman(IPS VAPA Instructional Coach)