It’s School Time

This time of year always excites me because it is the start of the school year. As a kid it was always a little sad because it was the end of summer vacation.  But still there were new clothes, or a new backpack (unless last years was still usable and still a favorite.  As a child it was a new pencil case that always excited me.).  There were always new crayons, notebooks, or pencils.  You did get to see your old school friends you never saw during the summer and were able to make new friends.  There was a new teacher, new classroom, just a lot of new.

 As a professor, I am still excited about the new year.  I get to see my campus friends who I didn’t see over the summer and meet new colleagues.  There is usually a new class room or class rooms; often times there is a new textbook (that is usually not a fun new if it comes right before the semester starts) and also lots of new students.

 I love walking down the store aisles where all the school supplies are.  I have this urge for new pens and pencils, notebooks, even crayons.  I don’t need them for what I teach but it is just fun to have crisp new items.  Usually I just keep walking down the aisle without buying anything. But a few years ago, I changed that.

 There is always someone who needs the supplies but can’t afford them.  A local charity collects school supplies to give to those families in need and this is where my fun comes in.  I find out what type of supplies is needed and I buy some to donate.  I usually set a limit on how much I spend or I could go crazy.  It satisfies my urge to want new school supplies and I usually smile thinking about the kids who will get to use them.  It is a nice way to give back.

 But there are also some school supplies that are great for crafts.  The notebooks are wonderful to write down ideas of projects you might want to do or using them as journals to keep track of your creative process.  The pencils cases or boxes are great to hold a rotary cutter or scissors.  I use one to hold all my punch needle supplies (the needle, extra needle tips and needle threaders).  Crayons, which are probably my favorite school supply, are wonderful for drawing a picture, planning a color scheme for a quilt or piece or embroidery, or just doodling when you are stuck for an idea.

 So, if you are like me and just get sentimental for new school supplies, buy them.  You might not use them or you might find a little kid who would love a box of those 64 crayons. Who knows, that kid might just be you.

©2021 Cheryl Fillion

 

 

Color Your Day

I was reading about a feeling notebook last night and I came up with an idea.  The idea for the notebook was not to write your feelings in it but to color them.  You buy a small notebook and at the end of the day (or even during the day) you pick a color to represent the day you are having and color the page in that color.  It gets you out of your head of words and into your heart of feelings.  Your heart is where a lot of art originates.

 

I liked that idea but I decided to do something a little different.  I want to play more with my colored pencils on fabric so instead of a little pocket notebook, I am going to use a strip of fabric and my pencils. 

 

I am going to start with a 2 inch wide strip of fabric and make my daily colorings about 1 ½ wide.  I think it is going to be interesting to see what color I choose for each day.  And also interesting to see how the color changes from day to day.

 

As I was reading this, I thought it would be a great idea to do with kids.  Have them pick out a color that shows how they feel and let them use that color all over the page.  It might help them release that feeling in the act of coloring, especially if you have them color fast.

 

It might even do the same for adults.  If you are having a frustrating day, pick your color and cover that page quickly to get the frustration out.  Then again, if you color that page (or fabric) slowly it might also calm that feeling down and help you relax.

 

You don’t want a big piece of paper (or fabric).  You might find a small pocket notebook or cut a piece of copy paper into fourths.  And you don’t want to use your best crayons or colored pencils for this.  In fact for children, you might want to start with a box of 6 or 8 crayons and maybe use the big ones to make bigger strokes with the crayon and cover the paper faster.  The other idea is the fewer the choices of crayons the easier the decision it is for little ones  (and maybe big kids too).

 

What I like about this idea is that it also gets adults and children using feelings to create art.  It would be great if after doing this for a while, the red you choose to display your anger starts to look like a flower and not just a page of red pigment. I don’t know of many people who stay very angry after looking at flowers.

 

I personally am hoping it will encourage me to work with colored pencils on fabric more.  If it becomes part of my daily routine, it might be a go-to form of embellishment of my art quilts.  I will let you know how it goes for me.

 

©2021  Cheryl Fillion