Meet this Artist

Hello Art Class seekers, teachers, and parents of homeschooled youth! I recently moved to the outskirts of Murfreesboro and brought years of experience teaching all kinds of curriculum enhancing art to students of all ages and capabilities with me. I'm excited to be part of this community and am interested in offerring classes that cater to any budget and space!
Some examples of classes I've taught are below. I love leading our students through relevant discussions and then te...aching them practical art skills and about the mediums they are using. I almost always provide all of the materials, along with a worksheet to take home and share, for anywhere between $5-$35 a student (depending on the materials, rent for the space, and length or number of sessions). Parents are always welcome to create their own project as well! All my students are encouraged to find their inner artist's voice, so no two projects are designed to be exactly alike.
If you've got questions, please post them to this thread or pm me... I'm also hosting a Meet & Greet/ class in my new home studio this coming Saturday, Feb. 16th! Stop by if you're able

Even if the weathers "fowl" we can still have loads of fun learning. No matter what subject you are wanting supplemental experiences to reinforce your lessons with, chances are pretty high that I have taught or can create a class for your students. Think about your adding a #CraftWithAnna class to your next science, engineering, math, reading/writing, public speaking, geography, home ec, park playdate etc. Oh, and I also teach cardmaking, scrapbooking, and photography

These kids met once a month for an Art Jam! Cost was $10/student, all materials were included for each 1-1.5 hour long class held at a local civic center. Mediums Explored included acrylic paint, oil pastels, charcoal, and Alcohol ink. I taught the pictured Cartoon Watercolor class, where we learned about how old cartoon movies were created, how to replicate an image, and then we created these vibrant renditions of our favorite characters to take home.

Have a favorite household theme? There is nothing better than a private class in your home where you can create a gallery style display to cherish. And yes, learn while doing! (Isn't it funny how kids enjoy substitute teachers?!)

I have a heart for fundraising! If your group or one you know of would like to #CraftWithAnna to raise money, let me know!

These 1st graders studied a variety of local leaves before learning how to draw their chosen species example in a cartoon style. Our images were made to look realistic with the addition of watercolor paints. We discussed plant structure, how leaves grow and support/feed their tree, decomposition and why leaves change color, as well as how to apply the paint to achieve different effects. At the end of the class we wrote an acrostic poem using the words Fall and Leaf together.

After a brainstorming observation session about native deciduous and coniferous trees, we built a landscape featuring a distinct background, middle ground, foreground and subject using a variety of watercolor mediums including paint, water soluble oil pastels, and colored pencils. At the end of our class, we collaboratively wrote an acrostic style poem using the words, Puget Sound (where I'm from). Students were sent home with pre-printed pocket sized poetry cards to write their own acrostics with their family <3

Red Velvet

Next in my series of How She Dunnits, I have the Red Velvet Cupcake Card.

Starting with a white cardstock base cut at 8.5x11" and folded in half, I adhered a 4x5.25" block of red and white polka dot patterned paper flush with the bottom edge. To this I added a pretty white doily I got for free in a large package of 144 doilys in four colors from a gal on the Key Peninsula Buy Nothing site. Boy, do I love free embellishments, and this card features four of them. 
I had a little bit of red velvet paper left from an art journalling class I taught at KPMS last October. A half inch strip of that, notched at either end, made a striking base for my next layer. I love the monochromatic red on red and white on white mixed together.
See that white cardstock circle stamped in red ink with "from the heart ♡"- both free, including the ink! Thank you, Queen & Co. for the circle, Phaedra for the Tim Holz distress ink,  and another Scrappy Sister of mine for the stamp! 
This was a simple card with a lot of impact thanks to that rich red velvet paper in the middle. Any sentiment or color scheme would have made this card design shine, but I think the Red and white were excellent for Valentine's! And no, there's no cupcake involved. .. this is the Organic Anna version lol
So what is your favorite color combo for monochromatic mixes? Better yet, what's your favorite Valentine treat,   spending time with your sweetie or a sweet to eat? Comments below welcome! 

Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE smartphone

Another Lovely Batch of Fun-draising Cards

How does one go about creating a handful of cards to be made by many in an attempt to raise money for a good cause... well, if you're me, you just imagine what you would like to make if you went to said event and go for it! Or, more likely, you assess what you have in on-hand supplies, create away, and then leave the nest for a "needed" trip to Michaels :-)  Or, combine the two for a challenge and a shopping excursion combo win!
This is the third year my daughter's preschool has asked me to put together an evening of cardmaking for our parents to attend. I love helping other's, and fundraising has been a passion of mine for a long time, so of course I said YES! I know that most people don't create their own greeting cards, but they are much more fun to give out than the box store versions and often times cost less.
I knew my dad, Ed, would be in town, which meant my brother would also likely be in attendance, so I figured a Seahawks themed card would be more than appropriate. I've had my Aunt Lisa and her daughter Brianne on mind a lot this year, and their trademark shared phrase inspired my hand-drawn "I love you to the Moon & Back" card. Easter and Mother's Day are coming eventually, so I came up with a stained glass and heart motif that would last for a few more holidays. You can only give out so many Valentine's once you're out of grade school!
For my last card pictured here, I took a cue from the card I created for the Key Center Library's Second Saturday CraftWithAnna project and overlayed  a piece of vellum tied with twine on top of some stamped heart on the card base. A simple but wow! trick is to trace over your sentiment with some colored markers- hello perfect handwriting!
We will be at Key Center's Blend Wine Shop tomorrow night making this batch of goodies for your Valentine- stop by and donate $20 for your chance to make along side us. There will be couple extras for you over-achieving makers, too :-)
Speaking of over-achieving, this Spring, I'll be teaching a 3-week class in Greeting Card Making at the Tacoma Community College Gig Harbor campus through their Continuing Education program. We'll be making Mother's and Father's Day, & Birthday cards, Congratulations, Wedding, and a Holiday card too. From choosing a color scheme, to creating our own embellishments, to using our scraps to make more cards, I'll cover all the ins and outs of how I make a living! Keep an eye on this blog for more details to come...
Hoping you have a happy day full of love and laughter <3

Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE smartphone

Relay Rally Cards

These cards were sure a lot of fun to make, and for a good cause- they will be used to raise money for our Columbia Bank Relay for Life team!

Thank you to Queen & Company, an awesome scrapbooking supplier that generously donated many of the supplies you see on these cards. I love the one with all that bling- something I have always wanted to try. I was tempted to keep these myself... but I can always make more I suppose :-)
Yes, I think I'll do that now as a matter of fact!
Thank you to all those who are helping us in our fundraising efforts!

April Card Kit Coming to a Close

Hey friends, this is just a quick post of excitement over the fabulous cards made from this month's card kit available at EmbellishKits.com. I'll be selling a lot of my handmade greeting cards at tomorrow night's Relay for Life meeting in Gig Harbor, and these will be fun additions to add towards our fundraising potential.

I also submitted my final contact for cruising classes, so watch for an announcement about a post-Easter get away next year!

Now I'm off to assemble the last of my creations using the incredible left overs from my April 2015 card kit received a couple weeks ago. I've had so much fun with this collection from My Mind's Eye, and I'm looking forward to sharing it all with you on Friday!

Have a happy, crafty night!

Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE smartphone