as requested...

Oh man.  Spring cleaning is in full swing around here.

I'm a crazy person and decided to empty out and reorganize EVERY closet in our house.  This place looks like it exploded.  We may be spending our life's savings on Sterilite totes and adhesive labels, but it will be worth it.  I should have taken before pictures.  (Just imagine the most jam-packed closets you can think of, full of the most random crap ever and you'll be right on target.)  I'll be sure to share the after shots, though.

I recently had a request for a "He Lives" Butterfly Printable with a white background, so as to be a little more economical ink-wise.  In between cleaning and sorting and purging unwanted items, I was happy to take a time-out to oblige...

Download the watermark free version HERE.

In other news, I did paper character puppets with some of my younger art students this week.  They did Easter bunnies, Tangled, and Mickey/Minnie Mouse.  This is what I came up with...

I occasionally like to walk through the house, waving them around while saying things like, "I'm Harry Potter...Expecto Patronum!!!" in my best British accent (of course).  My husband thinks I've lost my mind.

He may be right.

Now, what's the spell for reorganizing closets again?...

why the world needs art teachers: exhibit A...

my husband and i bought a wall mount medicine cabinet to hang in our guest bathroom. these are the diagrams included in the instructions:
notice how the cabinets look kind of...off? that's because the drafter hired to do these diagrams tried to draw using linear perspective, but apparently didn't know how.

linear perspective is a system of drawing used to create the illusion of 3-dimensions on a 2-dimensional surface, rendering objects as they appear to the human eye according to geometric rules. for example, we see parallel lines as converging in the distance, although they really don't. (think railroad tracks...the tracks look like they get closer together in the distance, but we know they are actually parallel.)

objects viewed head on should be rendered using one-point perspective and objects viewed at an angle should be drawn with two-point perspective. one-point perspective has one vanishing point at which parallel lines converge, and two-point has two vanishing points. (it's a pretty simple concept.) here's a diagram...

(click the image for more detailed instructions.)

our buddy drawing the medicine cabinets needed two vanishing points, but has none. his parallel lines don't converge, leaving his drawings looking...well...amateurish.

he should have paid more attention in art class.

self portrait...

a couple of weeks ago, one of my little art students BEGGED to do a painting of whatever she wanted. (we usually do a project i decide on and then they can make whatever they want with the time they have left...so i don't know why she was being so dramatic. haha.) but the next time we met, i gave her whatever paper she wanted and a palette with every color of paint i had and let her go to town. this is what she made...

...a little self portrait. i thought it was cute, so i took a picture. :)

summer stuff...

now that it's summer, my art lessons are all on tuesday rather than spread throughout the week.
(so stoked about that.)

i'm now up to 3 little art students. my latest is a mildly autistic 7-year-old...and i LOVE her. she is hilarious. we've been meeting for a month now and i can't get over how funny she is.

plus, she's really talented. today we did color wheels, but i should take a picture of some of her drawings...she just finished 1st grade, but has the skills i would probably expect from a 3rd or 4th grader.

and her enthusiasm is infectious.
"i wish art lessons were EVERYDAY!" :)

on a crafty note, i've been gathering fabric to make some headbands like these to sell. some are designer, some are craft store sales, some are bargain finds, and some were stolen from my mom when we went to visit this weekend. (thanks, mom!)
now that my stash has quadrupled in the last week...i'd better get to work!
any prints you like in particular?

my little art student...

isn't she adorable? and the pictures don't even do her justice. she has the cutest voice, says the cutest things, and thinks painting is the most exciting thing a person could ever do.
seriously, this girl cracks me up. i look forward to thursdays...and i think she does, too.
in her words:

"do you know what today is?"
"no, what?"
"ART LESSONS!"

SO EXCITING!

starting in december, i am going to be teaching private art lessons!!!

i have been wanting to do this for awhile...then out of the blue, my friend beckee called me up and asked if i would be interested in doing lessons for her daughter. and now the ball is rolling.

i am SO exited.

no mountains of grading, no pointless meetings, no parent teacher conference, no administration to please, no "numbers" to worry about, no rude people yelling at me, no early mornings or long days, no attendance school, no credit recovery, no kids shoved in my class because the counseling office couldn't figure out what to do with them...just ART and cute little neighborhood kids who actually like art.

best. gig. ever.

adventures of a substitute teacher...

and by adventures i actually mean non-adventures.

substitute teaching jr. high and high school is so ridiculously boring. sure, some kids are annoying. but most of the time, the teacher leaves some little assignment, the kids do it in approximately 10 minutes, and then we all sit there bored out of our minds. an 85 minute class period seems like ETERNITY. (at least jr. high classes are only half as long.)

the best class i subbed for was my friend's art class. when they finished their projects, i just made up a sketchbook assignment and told them their teacher said they had to do it. it was nice because i could actually help them and i knew what i was talking about. the second best class i had took a test. it was still boring for me, but the students were all occupied at least.

the most exciting things that have happened thus far?

• i nearly confiscated a giant bouncy ball...from an 18 year old boy.
  
• some dumb jr. high kid (who thought he was hilarious) acted like a complete idiot and laughed at his own jokes for a full 40-minutes.
• a kid made me an oragami swan out of kleenex.
• some girl told a story about how gross it was when her cat gave birth in her lap when she was 8.

amazing.

good thing i'm only subbing a few times a month. i don't even really have to...but i figure a little extra savings can't hurt.

and i'll take 4 boring school days a month over 5 stressful school days a week anytime!

change begets change...

so friday was my last day as a high school art teacher. and about 400 people asked me if i was pregnant. i have several feelings about this.

first of all, is it ever really appropriate to ask someone if she is pregnant? really?

secondly, if i was pregnant, shouldn't i be allowed to disclose that information on my own terms? it's kind of personal, don't you think?

thirdly, I'M NOT PREGNANT.

fourthly, aren't there a lot of reasons someone might quit her job? how about, "i don't want to work here anymore." isn't that good enough? why do i have to have some elaborate explanation?

fifthly, even if i have an elaborate explanation, why should i tell you (you being a random co-worker whom i'm not even friends with and never actually spoken to)? maybe it's personal.

sixthly, aren't there a lot of personal things in the world? just because i don't want to go into detail about all the reasons why i might be quitting my job doesn't mean i'm pregnant. it just means i don't want to tell you.

so let's not jump to conclusions, people. whenever i am pregnant, i will let you know, okay?

........................

pardon my rant. i just think it's awkward when random people congratulate you on being a stay-at-home mom when you don't actually have any kids.

yes, i'm staying at home. but i'm going to make art. sorry if that doesn't fit into some neat little category for you...but it works for me.

with that said, this change has inspired another. i needed a new blog title.

don't get me wrong, i'm still leggy & fabulous...and i still love grey's anatomy (the show from which i appropriated the phrase). but i started this blog when i was a single college kid-turned-teacher. and now i'm a married "retired" art teacher-turned-housewife/artist. so now i'm leggy & fabulous plus artsy & domestic. haha.

at any rate, instead of starting a new blog i've just re-christened this one as "Stay-at-Home Artist." hopefully, this change will clear up any confusion as to what i'm doing with my life. :)

and i kind of like it.

for the last time...

i just finished teaching my last class of the year...which also happens to be the last class of my teaching career.

so much has happened to me in the last 3 years...

• i made a new best friend.
• i loved/survived living in the yellow brick house.
  
• i completed my internship.
• i coached girls basketball.
  
• i graduated from BYU.
• i got hired on full-time.
• i met my amazing co-workers who are now dear friends.
  
• i spent the summers enjoying a life of leisure.
• i went on the best caribbean vacation ever.
• i had all kinds of church callings.
  
• i got engaged to a fabulous guy.
• i met the parents.
  
• i married that fabulous guy.
• i honeymooned.
  
• i got a new last name.
• i moved into my first married apartment.
• i served in my first married ward calling.
  
• i developed all kinds of domestic abilities.
  
• i bought a home.

and now on top of ALL that, i'm changing careers and moving out of provo and starting life in a new town, new house, new ward.

whoa.

i hope i did some good while i was here at PGHS. my students drove me crazy sometimes, but they also made me laugh. i hope they learned something...or at least felt good when they were in my classroom. i know i wasn't the most organized or perfectly prepared or most enthusiastic teacher ever, but i did my best. and that's all i can do.

and now on to the next chapter...
it won't be perfect, but i'll do my best.

teacheritis...

i am suffering from a disease. those of you who have gone through school might know this particular disease as "senioritis." those of you who have gone on missions might know it as "trunky." i, however, am a teacher...who is beyond ready for school to be out for summer. and since i am "retiring" from teaching, it's even worse. i am but a few workdays away from an everlasting summer vacation.

i have the worse case of teacheritis. EVER.

and while the last few weeks of school are nice because you can see the light at the end of the tunnel, they are also torture. summer is so close, yet so far away. the kids are antsy. a few have finished all of their work and have nothing to do. many don't care about finishing their work and do nothing. some kids are scrambling to overcome months of procrastination and their brains have nothing left. they are longing for summer. little do they know their teachers are pining for it.

oh sweet summer. how i long for thy warm caress and leisurely days!

drastic career move....

um.

i quit my job.

*gasp*

some of you are probably thinking, "so what are you going to do?!"

well, i'm going to do a lot of things. but my job title will be something like housewife/artist. with our new home, there's going to be a lot more to take care of around the house and yard. i've elected my self to fill that position. but, more importantly, teaching seems to absorb all of my energy. it's a 24-hour a day job. it never ends. since i started teaching 3 years ago, i haven't really made much art of my own. and that's depressing. i have dreams to fulfill, people.

so...with brandon's help, i'm going to create a website and probably open up a shop on etsy.com to sell my artwork. it'll be awhile before that comes to life because i need some time to get a few pieces done, but i'm going to do it. i just want to paint and draw and collage and revel in art supplies and CREATE!

some of you are now rolling your eyes and thinking, "you're giving up a steady full-time job to be an artist? that's ridiculous."

well, yeah. it is ridiculous. and crazy. but i think i can do it. why not? you only live once, and i have to give myself a shot. don't get me wrong--i'm completely terrified, but i have to try.

i'm also going to garden and sew and cook and exercise and do laundry and maybe even teach private art lessons to little kids (which would be a blast). and if i get desperate, i can always sub during the school year. so, i have a few backup plans in case i fall on my face.

but i think i can do it. especially with my incredibly supportive, encouraging, and wonderful husband cheering me on.

so, yeah. it's all a bit crazy and ridiculous. but isn't it about time i did something a little crazy?

thanks for making my day!

i've been really frustrated with my job for several months now. being a teacher is so hard...harder than you can know until you've done it. you don't just get to teach your favorite subject to a bunch of bright-eyed pupils. you have to deal with administration and how they think your classroom should be run. you have to deal with pushy parents who think they know how your classroom should be run. you have to deal with unmotivated students, students with special needs, gifted students, students with serious behavioral/emotional/mental health issues, students with bad attitudes, honor role students, rude students, and every other kind of student you can think of all at the same time. nothing can prepare you for that. and don't even get me started on the paperwork...

so, yeah. it's been rough.

you'd think after three years, it'd be a cake walk by now. but it's not. there's always something. all that frustration (coupled with my disappointment over our housing debacle) had me wishing i didn't have to even wake up today.

driving to work--running late as usual--i just said a little prayer in my heart. "please let today be good. let something be good."

and it was.

ALL of my art foundations students first and second period--as in every single one, even the ones who never do anything--worked on their assignments without me having to plead and prod and threaten. whoa.

then we had an assembly for spirit week--the spirit bowl, in which all classes compete in ridiculous spirit games. it's pretty much the only assembly that i actually enjoy. and for the first time ever in the history of the world, the competition wasn't rigged in favor of the seniors...and the FACULTY WON! crazy. and silly. and i liked it.

i thought my sculpture class would be all riled up after the assembly, but they got right to work and were all excited about it. many even declared my assignment fun. gasp! that NEVER happens. (never. i'm not exaggerating.)

and then after school one of the aforementioned sculpture students came in to talk to me about how much she loved my class and asked me all these questions about studying art in college and the pros and cons of being an art teacher. seriously? i've inspired your career choice?!

i gave it to her straight, explained what kind of classes she would need to take and told her all the hardships of being a teacher. (someone should warn her. haha.) and mentioned that there are a lot of art related careers out there, more than you'd think.

but i also told her all the good stuff, like getting to make art and talk about art and helping kids learn to make art and face challenges and maybe even find talents they didn't know they had or at least trying something they've never done. (little did she know that she was one of the good things right at that moment.)

all that in one day.

thank you. that was more than a good day.
it was a great one.

i feel like an old lady...

at pghs, they decided it's a good idea to have a faculty powderpuff football team. for those of you unfamiliar with powderpuff football, it's basically flag football for girls who are coached by members of the football team. each class has a team.

well, the faculty team won last year.

amazing, i know. but we are very organized. our coach...an fbi agent turned teacher...is pretty intense. he puts together plays, divides us into offense and defense, holds practices. it's for serious. so naturally we were feeling pretty confident this year.

and then we got rocked.

a rule change put us at a bit of a disadvantage. and we're old. another disadvantage.

the worst part, though, is the aftermath. i feel broken. and old. we played in 2 games on tuesday. we lost the first game against the sophomores because our pass protection kept falling apart. but we tried to regroup and were doing alot better in game 2 against the juniors. it was coming down to the end, so we were just going for it. i sprinted to the end zone and reached up for a pass...

...but i got tripped up and fell. then a girl from the other team ran by and stepped on my left hand. don't worry. she was wearing cleats.

at first, i thought i could just tough it out and keep playing, but my fingers started to swell up. a lot. brandon got me an ice bag and helped me to the car. he wanted to take me to the doctor, but i assured him it wasn't broken, just badly bruised, so we went home. my cute hubby took very good care of me. he made me dinner and got me some advil and tucked me in. he's the best.

when i woke up yesterday morning, not only were my fingers looking like breakfast sausages, but my entire body hurt.

i am old.

i go to bed before 10, i get excited about yogurt coupons, and i feel like i've been severely beaten after a game of flag football. sigh.

on a brighter note, i can kind of bend my fingers today. (although, i am only typing this with my right hand and the index finger of my left hand.) and our other two powderpuff games have been postponed because of snow.

hopefully, i'll heal up just in time to give it another go. apparently, i'm a glutton for punishment.

why the end of the term is the absolute worst...

i hate my life four times a year.

those four times happen to coincide with the end of the term at school. being bombarded with late work, whining, and an incessant chorus of "what can i do to raise my grade?" is enough to drive anyone to the brink of insanity. (it doesn't help that those kids asking how to raise their grade are the ones who haven't lifted a finger the entire term.)

i seriously have PILES of projects and sketchbooks to grade. heaven forbid anyone actually turn in their work on time. and then the kids have the audacity to ask me why the assignments (all due a month and a half ago) that they turned in an hour ago aren't graded yet.

my other favorites are the students who don't turn in their end of the term work and then wonder how their grade went from an A to a C right at the end. Usually their mom calls and screams at me and I have to try and calmly explain how sketchbook work is graded at mid-term and the end of the term and that their little angel didn't turn any of the 12 assignments in their sketchbook. somehow that's my fault.

our school also has an attendance policy. if students have too many absences or too many tardies they have to go to attendance school--an early morning seat-time make up session of sorts. i guess it's kind of like detention for people with attendance problems. if students don't go to the amount of attendance school required, they don't get graduation credit for that class. of course, everyone procrastinates, so the following conversation ensues about 53 times at the end of each term:

student: "um...is there any way i can make up my attendance without going to attendance school?"

me: "no."

student: "but i don't like getting up that early."

me: "then you should have come to class."

student: "but i need to go to attendance school 8 times for your class and 19 times for my other classes and there are only 2 attendance schools left before the end of the term."

me: "why didn't you start going to attendance school before now? you knew you needed to."

student: incoherent mumbling. "can i just come in and wipe off your tables or something?"

me: "first of all, no because 2 minutes of wiping off tables doesn't make up for skipping four class periods. and secondly, no because the policy is that you go to attendance school. we pay people extra to babysit you so i don't have to."

student: "but now it's too late."

me: "well, then, i guess you should have taken care of it sooner."

student: "that's frickin' retarded! now i'm going to have to make up the credit...blah blah blah!"

me: "it's your responsibility to take care of your grades and attendance--not mine. you knew you needed to go to attendance school and you chose not to. that was your decision."

student: uses my name as a swear word. stomps off.

if another kid who has turned in zero projects the entire term asks me about extra credit, i might lose it. keep an eye on the local news for reports of a psychotic outbreak at pleasant grove high school. you'll know it was me...

...or one of the other 100 teachers who work here.

standardized testing and baked goods...

this week we've had standardized testing at school. it's called the utah basic skills competency test--or UBSCT (pronounced u-biscuit).

it reminded me of my first year teaching when my least favorite student came into class fuming..."man, i am so pissed. i had to take the UBSCT and they didn't even give me a biscuit."

i couldn't stand that kid, but that was pretty funny.

and wouldn't standardized testing be a lot more pleasant if you did get a baked good while you took it?

i really AM changing the world...

i just had an epiphany. i was re-reading president dieter f. uchtdorf's talk from the general relief society meeting...

http://www.lds.org/library/display/0,4945,285-1-54-31,00.html

...a good chunk of the talk was about creating, whether it's a work of art, a smile, or a loaf of bread, we are all capable of creating something that didn't exist before. and by creating, we are emulating a characteristic of our Heavenly Father and becoming more like Him.

as an artist, i obviously loved this. i create things all the time. i have this internal desire to make things, whether it's a stone sculpture or a birthday card.

but then i got thinking about my job. as an art teacher, i'm always encouraging my students to figure out what they can learn in an art class that will be useful to them whether they like art or not. problem solving, developing hand-eye coordination or fine motor skills, and becoming a well-rounded, experienced person are always popular (and excellent) answers. but the best answer is this--they are learning to be more like God.

that is what i get to do everyday; teach kids to organize materials, to make something out of nothing just as their Heavenly Father does.

i'm pretty sure i have the best job ever.