The week that was.....

After taking a few months off, it was finally time to bring back Craft Night! We are going to be making Animal Collage art. Its pretty simple, we take a shape of an animal (in our case we have a bear, fox, doe and dog) and trace in on our ‘canvas’ (its really a piece of cardstock) then we take some strips of scrap paper or magazine pages and we make a collage to fill in the shape of our animal. I’m glad to be bringing it back, because its been too long. I’m also excited to hear how Callie is doing with Beans 2.0!

I also made this nifty chalk board! Every time I do a craft night, I write out the instructions, but its a bit time consuming. So I had some scrap wood around and I made it a chalkboard! (Fun fact, making chalkboards was a previous craft night activity, read all about it here)

I had a bunch of other scrap wood hanging around. I have a lot of left over 3 by 7 inch blocks, so I thought I'd do something with them. I started making a bunch of hanging signs! Of course I made some Doctor Who themed signs. I also made a one saying Bonjour! I think I'll make some more with greetings in different languages.

I am thinking about making a nautical theme sign for Iron Craft. The next challenge is all about Trends. Of the trends suggested, I really like the nautical trend. When you live on an Island, you see a lot of houses with nautical motifs. I like a more subtle approach, no sea shell lamps or signs saying "Life is a Beach" for me. I'm not sure what I'll do but I'll be sure to tell you about it.

I've been continuing on my reading marathon. I'm catching up on an award winner I missed. The librarians at work are always raving about Three Times Lucky and it won a Newberry Honor. I thought I would check it out. I got my next reads few reads lined up to keep my roll going!

Best thing ever (this week) - #ruinachildrensbook

If you haven't been watching @Midnight, you are missing out my friend! @Midnight is a game show in which comics poke fun at the days events. One of my favorite games played on the show is #HashTagWars and I like that people can play along. This week my favorite hashtag was #ruinachildrensbook. The idea is to take an established and popular children's book and put an ugly spin on it, thus ruining it.

As someone who reads children's books, it was really funny to make fun of it a bit. I even got in on the fun and my ruin a children's book title was Don't Let Lindsey Lohan Drive the Bus (instead of Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus). Here are some of my favorites:

The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe Malfunction #RuinAChildrensBook @midnight
— Judah Friedlander (@JudahWorldChamp) March 25, 2014

The Babysitter's Fight Club @midnight #RuinAChildrensBook
— Jacob Givens (@jacobgivens) March 25, 2014

#RuinAChildrensBook Charlotte's Web Browser History
— Not at Third Base (@morethanBrando) March 25, 2014

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret Thatcher. #RuinAChildrensBook @midnight
— Chris Hardwick (@nerdist) March 25, 2014

If you need a good laugh today, go check out the #ruinachildrensbook

Teen Tech Week Bingo (Library Life)

March has brought about another Teen Tech Week. This is an annual event that encourages teen library goers to use the libraries non-print resources for fun and for academics. After seeing so many QR code scavenger hunts I really thought it would be cool to do in town because we are located in such a neat little village. However March is still cold, and I’m not sure parents would appreciate sending their kids all over town. However I helped come up with something similar, an interactive game of BINGO!!

This ain’t your run of the mill bingo game. Each square features a different task that the teens had to complete. Each task is technology related and vary. Tasks were as simple as following the library’s Goodreads page, or involve them recording a video book talk on either vine or youtube. Every time a task is completed they saw a librarian that stamped their bingo card. Once they made a straight line or a diagonal, they won a prize.

We wanted to make sure the kids shared their content with us so we asked that most of the tasks be submitted to us by email or shared with us on social media. We also created a hashtag teens could tag the stuff they were doing for the contest.

Something that I didn't take into account, was that not all kids use social media. A lot of the younger teens are not allowed to go on certain sites, so weren't able to complete some of the tasks. Luckily I included a few tasks that were about technology, but did not require social media. I asked them a few tech related question that they had to answer. An example is I asked them to define an internet troll and one tasked asked them to translate binary. 

It was a fun contest and I hope we get to do it again next year.

Week at a glance...

Hey there blogging buddies... its been a while. Hows things ? Here is what I have been up to lately....

I've been on a bit of a reading roll lately. I felt like a bad librarian because after going over SLJ's list of 100 greatest children's novels, I realized that were a lot of classics that I haven't read! So I've been on a reading roll and I've been tackling that list! So far I've read the Westing Game, Holes and Because of Winn Dixie and so on.

 

It hasn't all been Children's classics, I finally got around to reading Maus. Its been on my to-read list for a while. One of my history professors in college always said it was the best narrative depiction of the holocaust. I guess I was on a historic/graphic novel kick, because I also read March by John Lewis. It is about Lewis' experience growing up during segregation and the part he played in the civil rights movement. Its interesting to see such serious moments from history be retold in graphic novel form. Its a format gets scoffed at, but the mix of imagery with text can evoke such emotion that sometimes the written word can't do.

I haven't been in the craft room that much lately. Work has been crazy (more on that later). However I have been doing a few things round the house. I made these snazzy pillows as part of the last Iron Craft Challenge.

I also decided to add some greenery into the house. The last few weeks we've gotten some Spring teases but its still to cold for gardening. So I decided to bring the outside in and I made some planters. I found the planters at the Dollar store and I jazzed them up a bit. Then I raided Home Depot for some house plants. It dawned on me that we don't have any houseplants at all! So We needed something! I put them in the dinning room, because it needs some sprucing.

I know Summer is still a few months off, but not for librarians. We started to organize and plan for the summer and it is a pretty daunting task. Some exciting things are happening and I love the theme this year: Fizz, Boom: Read! We are going to do some fun science-y things and I'll be sure to tell ya all about them! 

Friday night I got to channel my inner Katniss with an archery lesson. For Christmas Tim got me a voucher good for a lesson and an hour of shooting time at the Smith Point Archery Range. It something I've wanted to do for a while and it was a lot of fun. I did archery in High School and I guess some of it stuck with me, because I did pretty good with a few bulls-eyes! The instructor was a really awesome crotchety old man who was impressed. I think I might be investing in a bow. 

Best thing Ever (this week) - Draw Quest

I've been trying to get back into drawing lately. I searched the app store to see if there was anything that would be helpful. I one of the Apps that came up was, Draw Quest. I've been having a lot of fun with it and making some fun drawings. 

The concept of Draw Quest is simple, everyday there is a new drawing challenge. There is a scene with a piece of it missing. It is up to the artists to fill in the rest of the picture. For example you have a blank road sign and you have to decide what is on it. I opted for Caution: Prince ahead. I even added a crying dove. 

The drawing tools in the app are pretty basic, but for every drawing you do you earn coins. These coins can be used to purchase to buy upgrades, like more colors and different paint tools. What is the best part of the game though, is seeing all of the other drawings. There are some pretty epic drawings.

So go check it out and make some beautiful drawings. 

Iron Craft # 5 - A is for ....

So I've take a bit of a break from the last few Iron Crafts, but I am back! 

This time around the challenge was called, 'A is for...' Crafters were given to task to do something either inspired by the alphabet or something that begins with the letter A. One thing I love about these Iron Craft Challenges is that they are open to interpretation. So I went with A is for applique! 

I recently got the fabric blade for my silhouette machine. I was excited to be able to put it to good use! It was incredibly easy to use and the results are pretty amazing. 

This challenge was coincided with distaste for my couches throw pillows. I was sick of them so I decided to make a few new ones. I wanted to make one featuring my two favorite dopes, Gyspy and Bmo. I also made one featuring a stag head, I just think its an image that looks cool. 

I still have two more pillows to replace. I've got a few ideas of what I can do, I'll be sure to tell you all about it. 

I've been busy !

My goal for this year is to focus on my Etsy shop! So in order to do that I need a new batch of stuff, so I've took a trip to the fabric store and loaded up on supplies. I am proud to say I have a new batch of items in the shop.

Since librarian is in my blog/shops name I thought it needed to be reflected in some of my creations. So I made a new bag, a tote perfect for a library visit. They are made with duck cloth (so they are nice and durable) and the finished size is 12 X 12. I gave these bags some nice new leather straps, a magnetic snap and a removable sleeve for your library card. The designs featured all have to do with reading.

I've been keeping up with the zipper bags. They are one of my best sellers so far. I even have gotten some lovely reviews. This one is my favorite review. 

I have a lot of scrap fabric from patterned fabric. I didn't want it to go to waste so I got some snap hooks and made a few snazzy keychains. They have been pretty popular and I'm already out of snap hooks! More are coming, as soon as my new batch of snap hooks arrive.

Since I've been on a roll making stuff, I ran out of labels! So I ordered a new batch and went with something a little different. I get my labels from Inked Papers and they always do a great job. This time around I send them an image of the label and they made it perfectly!

Now I have to go back and make some more bags! Be sure to check the shop and see what new items are out!