Birds for The Firebird Festival!

Gearing up for the Artisans Bazaar at the Phoenixville Firebird Festival. This final week beforehand, I'm in the process of cranking out bird wands!

If you would like to march in the parade with the flock of birds that we made at the workshop, and you don't have one, you can stop by my booth and get one! Then go join the flock across the street from The Children's Plaza by 7:25 on Saturday Dec. 10th. The birds will be ceremoniously welcomed into the parade as it passes by on the way to the bird site.

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Families Making Wands for the Firebird Festival

We had a nice steady flow of people coming to make bird wands yesterday for the eighth annual Phoenixville Firebird Festival. There is just nothing that makes me happier than a group of people getting together and being creative. We had some amazing birds, so colorful. And many smiling faces. It will be such fun to see them all at the Festival Parade.

Many thanks to Reverend Linda Gruber and St. John's United Church of Christ for letting us use Gruber Hall for the event this year. It was a nice big space and we were very happy and comfortable there.

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Making Birds for the 2011 Firebird Festival Parade

The planning of this year's Firebird Festival in Phoenixville is underway. It will take place on Saturday December 10th. The bird is just about finished. For those of you who are new to the festival, this giant wooden bird is burned at the end of the Festival, and everything that happens all night builds up to the moment of the lighting of the bird. By then thousands of people are watching it! This year the bird has been built up on the hill so it can be seen from afar.!

 I just finished designing this year's bird wand! We are going to be having a spectacular parade as part of the festivities this year, with many artistic and creative surprises, one of which is to have a flock of birds fly into the parade. So, I'm hoping for hundreds of people to show up to make a wand, bring it to the Festival and be in the parade! These 3- D wands will be on various size sticks, depending upon the age of the person who makes them........tallest are 36" sticks, some 24" and even some baby sticks for wee ones........!

 Hope to see you there!

I will also be selling my bird wands at the Arts Bazaar at the Festival, so you can always get one and then go fly into the parade with it! But get over to my booth at 4 when it opens.  This year I plan to make lots more, but last year they were gone in less than an hour.

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Lighthouse Lounge/Sunstone Studios on Handmade in PA

Visit Creative Blast today to learn all about a very cool and unique place in Phoenixville where you can go and make art, crafts and music, or play games........They also offer musical performances almost every night.


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Handmade Philly Book Exchange

 

Loving this poster for The Handmade Philly Book Exchange.

Handmade Philly Book Exchange is a collaborative project between sixteen members of Handmade Philly. Each person started out with a book of their choosing- bought, made, or found. There were two participant groups of eight each. At the beginning of each month, each book was sent to another participant, who added to the book in whatever way they chose. After eight months, each participant received their original book back- transformed by the creativity of the other participants!  There are sixteen books in this traveling exhibit and the book I made called "What's in Your Purse" is part of it.

 

It was great seeing how creative some of the people who got my book were. Each one of those white pieces of fabric were used to answer the question the book asked.........all those little burritos fit back into the purse!

I can't wait to see all the books! It was a fun experience.

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Going on A Sleigh Ride at Manheim Township Public Library

Going on a Sleigh Ride is such an adorable show, and it was fun taking it on the road up to Lancaster this week to Manheim Township Public Library...The kids dress up as winter animals and the sleigh won't move until everyone is in....There are foxes, racoons, snow fairies, penguin puppets, bears, cardinals and more. Here are some pictures from the library.

A sweet snow fairy.

   
Three Little Bears

 

Happy Cardinal

 

Here goes the sleigh

Everyone makes a cardinal puppet to take home

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Firebird Wand Making was Fantastic

Firebird Wand Making was great and I can't wait to see them at the Festival..

 I think these three kids were brother and sisters. Their firebirds look kind of related too.

Here's a mother daughter showing off their wands.

It was wonderful to see adults making them too.

I colored all day for two days and made many wands,

which will be available for purchase at the ArtyPantz booth in the Arts Bazaar.

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Handmade Paper Song Birds

I've been so busy making all kinds of bird items for the Arts Bazaar at the Phoenixville Firebird Festival, and some other local craft shows. Here is a picture of the paper birds I'm cranking out today...!

These paper song birds are so pretty, and the tail fans out! Can't find my camera as usual, but scanned this one in........made special envelopes for them too.

In addition to the Firebird Festival.....

ArtyPantz will have a booth at Camphill's Christmas Cafe on Nov. 27th

This ever-popular Christmas Cafe´ will be held November 27, the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Please join us for unique holiday shopping opportunities, refreshments, and a chance to meet old and new friends! 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Blue Room at Karl Koenig Schoolhouse at Beaver Run.

Also coming up is a Holiday Soiree at the Center on Central on December 9th. This will be an evening of buying crafts, making crafts and socializing.......

I love to make things and this is just a sneak preview of some of what will be available at these various venues....as soon as I find that camera more pictures will appear.

Before the Arts Bazaar, ArtyPantz will be at the Farmers Market the morning of the Firebird Festival December 11th with a booth and a free kids activity.....probably something to do with fire and birds.

Families! Make sure to reserve Friday or Saturday December3rd and 4th to come and  make Firebird Puppets/Wands at the Phoenixville Libray, either day, anytime between 9:30 and 4:30. Go to the Firebird website for more info about this and other events.

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Starting to Get Ready for the Firebird Festival

The Phoenixville Firebird Festival is coming up on December 11th 

and this year I'll be conducting a special family workshop for ages 3 through adult

at the Phoenixville Public Library for people to

come and make Firebird Puppet Wands.

Come to the Library on Friday December 3rd or Saturday December 4th

 anytime from 9:30 to 4:30. It takes about a half hour to make one bird.

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Kids Make Puppets at The Capture and Return of Bald Beatrice the Baby Mermaid

I've finished doing The Capture and Return of Bald Beatrice the Baby Mermaid at ten libraries in Ocean County New Jersey. These are pictures of swinging tail puppets made by some attendees/puppet makers after the show. The tails move back and forth!

The puppet making portion is really such a big part of the whole experience. I provide a simple template, markers, hole punches, tiny paper fasteners, straws and tape and encourage individual expression. Many of the puppets are really self portraits of the kids themselves. And then they all take their puppets home and create their own tales.


The next performance of the Capture and Return of Bald Beatrice will be at the Tredyffrin Library in Berwyn Pa on Monday August 9th at 7:30. For ages 4 and up. Everyone participates and there will be puppet making for all afterwards!

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Capture and Return of Bald Beatrice at Havertown Library

Here's a sweet picture from a recent performance of The Capture and Return of Bald Beatrice the Baby Mermaid at the Haverford Library, taken by Nicole from A Stitch in Design and a Friend of the Haverford Library.

The two kids in the boat are playing the human sisters in the story. In real life they are sisters too, so that was pretty cool.

Click here for a calender of events.....Many performances of this show are free to the public, compliments of various libraries in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.


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Extreme Makeover for Holy Mackarel the Fishing Boat

Holy Mackarel, the fishing boat for Mermaid Tales gets an extreme makeover.
And by the way, that steering wheel is actually a potholder, on a chopstick,
that slides into a plastic straw glued inside........!
The boat expands during the story to accomodate more passengers.

We realized today, as we set up for number 6 in our 65 bookings for this summer, that this is the seventh year for The Capture and Return of Bald Beatrice the Baby Mermaid, the interactive theatrical storytelling event that began as a cute little summer show for no more than 40 participants, and has now more than tripled into a huge production for 120. And there is a "sea"quel story "Admiral Giddy-up and the Seahorse Brigade to the Rescue" too.

More characters, costumes and props have been added over the years....now there are 35 mermaid tails, mermaid babies, 3 gigantic sharks, 12 medium sized sharks and 6 baby shark puppets, 2 octupusses (twins), 25 pirate hats and colorful hand painted wooden parrots, 25 Seahorses on sticks commanded by Admiral Giddy-up, 12 beautiful fish puppets, 12 drums, 6 gigantic handmade tamborines, and on and on.

It started out with just the humans talking, now there are scripts for everyone. It's so much fun, and afterwards everyone makes their own puppet to keep.

We are still using the original boat, Holy Mackarel, crafted from a refrigerator cardboard box. That boat has been dragged in and out of here and there hundreds of times. Yesterday my daughter gave it an extreme makeover and it looks better than new now. The next makeover will be Bald Beatrice herself, who has been stuffed in and pulled out of a Live Baby Mermaid jar so many times.........

Click here for a calendar of events for this summer....Many are in libraries, and therefore open to the public. Hope to see you and your family. It's for all ages, including adults.


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Creative People Doing Good Things

Four young Bahai’s from the Philadelphia Area – Noel Chacha, Sophia Clark, Justin de Leon, and Brittany Owens - are in the process of making a documentary on the human condition of compassion and its effects, with a focus on Africa, entitled Give to Live. The film will be having a fundraiser at the end of this month.

Fundraiser at Mugshots Coffeehouse & Cafe
21st and Fairmount, across from Eastern State Penitentiary
June 26th, Saturday 8pm-9:30pm
25% of the evening's purchases go to Give to Live.

The film team is focusing on obtaining resources for travel to Africa and is shy $6,000 of the total $85,000 production budget. A recent contribution and challenge from Wakengo Mahaniah and Leesa Maule from Philadelphia has provided a significant boost for this final stage. They have issued a challenge to the Philadelphia community by pledging to double every dollar donated up to $500.

An additional way of contributing would be the donation of Frequent Flier miles or Buddy Passes to assist the team in travel.

If you want more information about the documentary, please visit the
website www.GivetoLivetheMovie.com.


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Come to the Phoenixville Library this Saturday

First Saturday ArtyPantz Family Creativity for ages 5 and up.....

Come to the Phoenixille Library this Saturday and make a cool and sparkly dragonfly! It's got some special construction on the back so that you hang it from the ceiling and pull the ties to make it fly up into the air.......Come by anytime between 10 and 4.

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The Capture and Return of Bald Beatrice the Baby Mermaid in Ocean County NJ This Summer

So happy in general these days and happy today to have at least 10 bookings this summer in Ocean County New Jersey for The Capture and Return of Bald Beatrice the Baby Mermaid.


My husband and I just spent this beautiful morning meeting with a realtor on Long Beach Island to find a cozy, reasonably priced vacation abode as close to the beach as possible for two weeks.

Here's our place, Little Miss Sunshine, two houses from the beach. Yee Haw! We'll be down there for two weeks. LOVE the summer. LOVE the ocean......love mermaids, actually. )

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Special Events this Weekend!

Come to the Phoenixville Library on Second Street this Saturday March 6th for the First Saturdays Family Creativity Workshop. This month we'll be making colorful hanging paper birds for your own mobiles.........Come anytime between 10 and 4:00. For ages 4 and up. Suggested donation is $5 per participant.

Also this Sunday March 7th, The Center on Central in Paoli is hosting a performance of Going on A Sleigh Ride at 2:00 p.m. Click on the image here to go to their website with a larger view of the flyer! Hope to see you and your kids there......It is such an adorable show. Don't foget your camera because there will plenty of photo opportunities.

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Make Snowflakes at the Phoenixville Library

SNOWFLAKE WORKSHOP
Saturday January 2nd 2010
Come one come all families with kids ages 5 and up.
at the Phoenixville Library on 2nd Street in Phoenixville
Learn how to make giant 3D spectacular paper snowflakes!
Come anytime between 10 and 4.
suggested donation is five dollars per snowflake.
I hope to see you there!

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Come Learn How to Make a Snowflake!

Come learn how to make your own gigantic spectacular 3 dimensional paper snowflakes at the First Saturday Family ArtyPantz Day Saturday January 2nd 2010 Phoenixville Public Library 2nd Avenue in Phoenixville PA for ages 5 and up Come anytime betweeen 10 and 4 to make snowflakes. suggested donation $5. per flake

The Lantern Making event went so well that the library and I decided to collaborate and offer a creative family event there on the first Saturday of every month. So this is technically the first one. Hope you can make it!

If you can't make it come to The Center on Central in Paoli, PA on Saturday January 23rd from 3 to 6 p.m. for Family ArtyPantz Day there! 24 West Central Ave. Paoli PA 610-710-1487

More on the Center on Central later, but for now it's a new and fantastic community arts center in Paoli and I'm thrilled to be working with them on this and other programs.

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Last Post This Year on the Firebird Festival

The Firebird Festival was fantastic. The Fire Dept estimated about 5,000 people gathered to watch the bird burn. It was cold but not as cold as years past. It was a crisp and clear night and everyone was happy.

It was so good to see kids walking around carrying the lanterns they made the week beforehand. Unfortunately, The Children's Procession of Light didn't really materialize as envisioned, because it was nearly impossible to round the kids up for the parade. We were to meet in front of the theater at a certain time but not many managed to show up.

The parade itself was kind of strange in that there didn't really seem to BE a parade. Suddenly the bird puppets took off and some of us went with them.......I heard later that we went at the wrong time. Oh well, next year it will be better, now that we are experienced.

The Artisans Bazaar was fantastic and people bought up all birds from the ArtyPantz booth in a period of about one hour, so that was wonderful. In fact planning to make more birds and offer them for sale at www.artypantz.com. Stay tuned for that. Some people who own an art gallery bought one, and asked me to contact them so they could sell them in their gallery. Ho hum. I bought up a bunch of fabric yesterday to make birdies galore.

All in all, the Firebird Festival is a fabulous example of what community art is all about. I can't wait for next year!

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Pictures from the Lantern Making Workshop

I meant to take lots of pictures at the Lantern Making Workshop but once we got into it, we became so completely engrossed in the activity, and forgot all about the camera. But these are two pictures taken right in the beginning of it all! Imagine this times six tablefuls, all day long! What a messy fun day it was. :)

Just realizing that in addition to needing a secretary, personal assistant, and a personal fitness trainer, a photographer would be fantastic too.

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