Easy Elementary Sketchbooks

 

Hey, y'all!  Today I'm sharing with you my easy elementary sketchbooks.  I've done this lesson with first and second graders, but I think that it could be great for all grade levels.  This project really introduces kids to abstract art and painting procedures.  And let me tell you: my kids were so excited to be painting on the first week of school!  In this project, we covered painting procedures, abstract art, and some elements of art and design.  My art classes are 55 minutes in length and these took 2 classes to complete.

 

 

We make the sketchbook covers out of brown kraft paper.  You can buy a ginormous roll of it at Home Depot (in the paint section) for about $11.  This is a super great investment, because it seems to just keep going and going and going!  I have made 300+ sketchbook covers from one roll, and it seems like I've only used about half of it.  Now the thing is that you have to cover the kraft paper with gesso so the tempera paint will show up.  And myself being a super resourceful art teacher, I decided that I could roll out the paper across my garage and use a paint roller to cover the paper with gesso.  Once yards and yard of the paper was coated nicely and dry, I cut the paper into 8 1/2 x 11 in. pieces for my students.

 

Now comes the fun part!  Since we began creating these on the first week of school, we discussed basic classroom procedures, rules, etc, but I tell the kids at the beginning of class that we'll be painting later, so they're super great listeners.  I put tempera cake trays, water cups and brushes at the tables, and each kiddo gets a piece of the kraft paper.  The kids could decide what colors they like for their cover and begin painting.  We had chatted briefly about abstract art, and how it will be best to paint designs with lines and shapes.

 

The following art class, I let the kids use one of my favorite new supplies, Playcolor tempera sticks.  We talked about drawing patterns of lines and shapes over our painted designs.  I love this part of creating the covers, because the drawings can really make the paintings look even more beautiful, and each kiddos sketchbook cover starts looking really unique.

When students are finished drawing, then have them paint a layer of Mod Podge over their cover page.  I like the matte Mod Podge best, because it gives a slight gloss and slick feel to the sketchbook.  You can also choose to have the kids Mod Podge a label with their name onto the cover at this time (just don't have them put it right in the middle of the page!). 

 

While all of this fabulous artmaking is happening in your classroom, you (or parent volunteers) can be getting the blank pages ready for the inside of the sketchbook.  I stack up about 5 pages of 8 1/2 x 11 copy papers at a time, and fold them in half.  Then, you need to snip the pages about one inch on each side of the fold down the middle of all the pages. 

 

The idea is that you'll be using a rubber band to keep the sketchbooks together.  With the slits in the sides of the paper, then you can wrap the rubber band around the middle of the pages without them getting all crunched up.

Once the Mod Podge is all dry on the sketchbook covers, then you fold them in half, and to snip the pages about one inch on each side of the fold down the middle, just like you did with the blank pages. 

Now you can attach all of the pages together with the cover, blank pages and rubber band.  I put somewhere between 8-10 blank pages into my sketchbooks.  You may want to have a conversation with your kiddos about playing with the rubber bands, because they will be so tempted to do so!  My classes talk about how our sketchbooks are held together with the rubber band, and if our rubber band breaks, then our sketchbooks will just fall apart.  And how sad would that be, so resist the urge!!

I love these sketchbooks, because they're so special and personal for each kid.  They so look forward to taking them home at the end of the year!

Do you use sketchbooks in your classroom, and do you create your own or buy them?

 

 

Grace Like Rain

 

Grace Like Rain

 

I'm sure you've all heard Amazing Grace before, but have you heard Todd Agnew's version called "Grace Like Rain"?  It's one of my husband's favorite worship songs, and I can understand why.  In the song, Todd Agnew alternates between lyrics from "Amazing Grace" and his chorus:

And Hallelujah, grace like rain
Falls down on me
And Hallelujah, all my stains
Are washed away, they're washed away

I just can't explain how the blend of these new and old lyrics with Todd Agnew's gritty voice just form this incredible song, so you must listen to it if you have never heard it! 

So what is grace exactly?  Ephesians 2:8 says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith.  And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God."  Grace is a gift from God; it is His unmerited and unconditional love and favor towards us.  When we mess up, when we don't feel like we could be loved or worthy, God still rains His grace down on us.  

Paul goes on to state in Ephesians 2:9, "not a result of works, so that no one may boast."  So God's grace isn't any result of my own actions.  And I'm so glad about that, because if I'm going to be honest, sometimes my actions should not warrant God's grace.  But that's the beauty of His grace is that even when I shouldn't deserve it, I still receive it.  So when I mess up (which let's be honest is a dozen plus times in a day, and half the meaning behind my blog's name), God still showers me with his grace.

And Hallelujah, I'm so blessed that God's grace rains down over me like rain!

My Bible.. So far

I created a video with Flipagram of the pages in my Bible that I've journal so far.  I hope that you enjoy looking through it.  Below the video, I'm sharing a view thoughts that I'm having as I'm reflecting on my Bible journaling experience so far.

 

So as I looked through this video of all my Bible journaling pages, this is what I noticed:

• I don't really stick to one style of type of medium.  I like variety.  I think that's why I became an elementary art teacher.  I never really had a stand out favorite art media; I loved to do everything! 

• I gravitate to journaling in the New Testament pages the most.  I've done a few Old Testament pages, but not nearly as many.  I think that's because I'm not quite as confident in my knowledge/interpretations of the Old Testament, so that may be an area that I need to grow in over the next year. 

• I recognize the HUGE difference in the quality of my first pages compared to my most recent pages.  I felt as though I struggled much more to find an idea of how to illustrate my pages, and now my ideas generally come pretty naturally.  I think that part of that is attributed to just creating more art.  I remember when I took art classes in college, I just felt so much more creative, because I had to be in that mindset.  When I'm working with my students, I'm investing so much in myself that I don't always get to stop and create something that I want.  The other reason that I think it's getting easier to journal in my Bible is due to the amazing products that I've purchased from Illustrated Faith.  Each month, Illustrated Faith produces an amazing stamp set and devotional by an artist, which is available to purchase on their Etsy shop.  The devotionals give such encouraging words and testimonies, and the stamps allow you to create your pages a bit more quickly!  I also broke down and purchased the Illustrated Faith Genesis Kit from Bella Blvd.  The kit features some cool tools; alphabet stickers in various different colors and fonts; and stickers with words, labels and tabs.  I honestly debated buying this kit for a month, because it was a bit pricey, but once again, it has an amazing little devotional and it enables me to create a page much more quickly.  I'm thinking that I'll be using this kit much more throughout my super busy school year!

• Finally, my favorite thing as I reflect on my Bible journaling experience so far is that I have someone talk to me about my pages everyday.  And I'm not getting all excited just to be getting compliments about my art, but I'm getting excited because I'm able to worship my God and share it with others.  If you know me, then you know that I'm a quiet person.  I'm not one to vie for the spotlight and speak my mind, but my Bible journaling experience has given me a voice to talk about my faith in my own way.  I feel so honored to know that my experience is inspiring others to buy journaling Bibles, begin reading in the Word, and creating art.  God is so good, and I've felt so blessed through this journey so far. 

To close this post, I'd like to hear comments of any of my Bible pages that you'd like me to do a future post about.  I'd love to share with you my supplies, techniques and thoughts behind any of these pages!

Genesis

Genesis: the origin or coming into being of something

 

I want to take a moment today to talk about how I started my Illustrated Faith journey.  It goes back to over a year ago when my husband and I finally found a new church tome.  After not really going to church for over a year and losing my Grandfather, I was really wanting to find a church home to get reconnected with God and other believers.

 

After a bit of searching, we finally found a church in our hometown.  We attended semi-regularly for a few months and then when I started going through some tough times at work, I dug deeper into the church and we became regular Sunday attenders and then partners.  Our church is so awesome and between our pastors and members, they certainly push you to grow in your walk with Christ. 

 

Over the next few months, I grew to read the Bible daily, join a small group and start a discipleship program with an amazing lady.  I stumbled across Illustrated Faith in Instagram in early March.  I feel in love with the beautiful lettering, illustrations and art that these women were creating in their Bibles.  I let a lot of excuses keep me from getting started for a while (time, supplies, confidence, etc.).  After weeks of God working on me to help me realize that I could (HAD TO) do this, I finally bought my journaling Bible the day before Easter.  I created 2 pages that weekend and I was hooked! 

 

I really enjoyed looking for my next page to journal and gathering supplies, but I still felt like I was lacking time and confidence in my creative process.  Once summer break started, I had tons of time on my hands to play and create in my sketchbook.  I began with a lot of copying, practicing lettering, and just playing with my supplies.  For a while, I wondered if I could ever come up with my "own" designs and ideas.  Then finally one day it just happened.  I saw inspiration in the most unexpected places and found that I could just open my sketchbook and start creating without browsing through Instagram or Pinterest beforehand.

 

 

So my advice to someone thinking about taking this journey (or just getting started) is to begin!  Yes, you will make some "ugly" pages in the beginning and you will make mistakes with your supplies, but then you will hit your creative stride or find your style and it is so much fun to glorify God with your artistic talents.

 

With the next school year getting ready to start back up, I'm working on figuring out how to set aside my Bible journaling time.  I don't want to get too busy and not have time to create.  I'm hoping that with what I learned this summer and my awesome Illustrated Faith Genesis kit, I can still continue to create beautiful pages and worship God even during my busy, messy, crazy school year!