Super Card Sale

Ingredients:

Kids with colorful imagination :-)

Kid Pix

Color papers

Photo papers

Store bought regular envelopes

A color printer (any brand will do, I use Epson)

Directions:

1. Let the kids explore & draw with Kid Pix (so far I've never met a kid who despise Kid Pix)
2. Format drawings to JPEG (File>>Export>>Save as type: JPEG)
3. Print on glossy photo paper & cut.
4. Lightly coat white glue on the back and stick it on a folded color paper.
5. Jazz up envelopes with clipart or stickers, or ribbons, or cut outs magazine pictures or...anything goes, the sky is the limit. :)

Kid Pix drawings by Special Needs students

Giving heart

Bitterballen, speculaas, klompen, windmolen, oliebollen, Sinterklaas & Zwarte Piet... off we went to Christmas Around the World by IES Orphanage  to represent Netherlands. Who could've thought you can go around 9 countries (Japan, China, India, Slovakia, Netherlands, USA, South Africa, Italy & Phillipine)  in less than 3 hours? 200 kids from 3 orphanages did on a cloudy Sunday. Thank goodness for a windy day otherwise the windmill will not work. 

My self portrait by Little Angle ~(")~

It was a great day. Everybody had a great time even baby Zoe! I thought we were the blessing for the orphanage kids, but turned out that it was the kids who gave us joy &  happiness. Now I understand the true meaning of the phrase "It is in the giving that you will receive". Happy giving!

Yearbook 101 Part#1

>1
Pick a theme. Get inspired here .....this is the hardest part, there are literally thousands of themes to choose from. If all fails just close your eyes and randomly point :-)
>2
Build a concept around the theme.

brain stiker: www.redbubble.com

>3
Plan ahead & work out a schedule.
>4
Create a dummy & preliminary layouts.
>5
Breathe! :) Go to a day spa.

D evolution

Meet Dena, my wisecrack daughter who always crack me up: left handed, plaid shirt, LOL, citizen of digital world, enemy of creepy crawlies, impatient, short messy uneven hair, independent, not prone to peer pressure, love photography & graphic design, has her own organizing system. I love you to infinity & beyond!

Early Years: 2-10yrs

Grade 3 sketch vs Grade 7 sketch

2008-now

Flashback

Whoaaa...I found my old sketches & my art bin back when I was a student in Art Center.....long hour in studio class, greasy canteen food, Christina Chang (where in the world are you roomie?), flea market, extremely short hair, Gaylord Eckles, white cabriolet, Cali sun, mean Santa Ana wind..

.

Say hello to Mac & Ms. C

Mac likes turqoise & orange

"Less is more" he always says

Ms. C loves lily & daffodil

She lives by "The more the merrier"

They are different yet they are the same

But they don't see their differences as limitation

Every Tuesday they greet each other

"I love you Ms. C!" 

"Right back at you Mac!" :)

Sneak Peak: Photo Session

One of the highlights of creating a yearbook is the photo session. I would think that an outgoing person would not have problem posing in front of a camera, and a quiet person would not feel comfortable. But that was not always the case, one has nothing to do with the other. Can you guess a person's personality from a photo? Perhaps it's too far fetched. According to Paul Ekman, a renown psychologist who develop FACS (Face Action Code System), when you genuinely smile certain muscles on your face will involuntarily expand to certain directions, in other words you can't fake a genuine smile! Take this test to see if you can spot a fake smile.

One thing I notice from the photo session is that when you are small you couldn't care less on what other people think about you, as you grow up you would maintain certain image because you care about what other people think about you. Another thing I notice is sometime when you are small you can't wait to be grown up, then when you do grow up you would treasure the opportunity to act like a kid in a candy store :)

Photo Session Poster

Finally! A chance to show off my reemerging drawing skill. I seriously thought drawing is like riding a bicycle, once you get the skills you would never forgot. Who am I kidding? Practice makes perfect.

Practice, Practice, Practice

So I've committed myself to this drawing thingy for the yearbook project. The last time I pick up my pencil or pen to actually draw was....yikes! I can't remember. I saw this great tutorial in YouTube for bookbinding and thought I'd make myself a cool sketchbook that would motivate me to sketch every day, using leftover materials from previous yearbook project. I so love the look & the feel of the sketchbook, I'm afraid to start sketching. Double yikes! 

 Finally after staring, admiring & marveling at my creation for some time...I turned off narcissistic mode and finally had the nerve to have a go. I think I have to practice some more :) 

I asked my students to draw whatever they feel like on a Post-it notes and stick them on my wall. Have you ever found a child's drawing that you don't like? I like all of them. I'm always intrigued & mesmerized by a child's drawings because they draw from their heart.

Speaking of Post-it...I Googled Post-it and came across Draw It, a drawing game from Post-it. I never thought a drawing game could give me such adrenalin rush. Happy doodling!

Ready, Set, Think!

What to do, what to do...after 10 yearbook publications with computer I think I'm going to reduce the amount of time designing with computer and going back to basic: drawing & sketching. Don't worry Mac & Ms. C! (yes, my computers has nick name) The time I'm going to spend orchestrating this blog is going to make up our time together.