Nancy's colorful cat. The collar will be getting bedazzled with jewels.
Connor's cat has a wistful expression.
Jeff's camoflage cat. Not exactly Laurel Burch, but he loves it, so I do too.
Chelsea's Glamour Puss got a necklace and earrings today and I think will be getting jewels on her collar too.
Anna and Grant have rainbow cats in progress.
And what's this below? Shredded paper - lots of it - three full garbage bags - I poured in a couple of buckets of warm water to break it down a bit, and tomorrow it will get a bunch of papier-mache goo mixed in, because my 4th graders will be building hunks of CAVE WALLS and I want them to be bigger than last year. Check out here to see what I'm planning with this glop.
As if I don't have enough stuff in my room, I have a tower of teddy bear chairs stacked practically to the ceiling on my counter, and 18" square paintings in the drying rack, and clay pinch pot clusters on a shelf, and... and... and... INSANITY.
You sure do have a LOT going on right now!!! As I've said before, I am so jealous of your storage capacity!!! Now, to the cats -- absolutely fabulous. I love the beads, the colors and even the camouflage! These are going to be such family keepsakes:))
ReplyDeleteGorgeous cats! What a treasure to have one of these beautiful felines. I need to put on my big girl pants and try this sometime. You are the best kind of insane Phyl! :)
ReplyDeleteThis is going to be the project your students treasure! When they look at them they will be reminded of how much fun they had making them and of their enthusiastic art teacher who showed them how! :)
ReplyDeleteI love those cats!
ReplyDeletehow on earth do you do it!!! you r totally amazing. meanwhile back at the ranch, one kid splashes another with water on accident during clean up and fights break loose. I can't begin to imagine doing paper mache! Living vicariously through you! Please keep posting ALL of your lovely insanity:)
ReplyDeleteThe cats are awesome and amazing. I will be doing this project next year.
ReplyDeletethese cats look TERRIFIC!! they are worth the wait : )
ReplyDeleteI love your cats! I would love to do this with a group of students I am working with. Would you be willing to share your recipe for "dog drool"? I think my students would love working with it!
ReplyDeleteThe 'dog drool' is actually a product called Art Paste. It comes in a little box that mixes w/4 quarts of water. I've used both School Specialty's brand, or Elmer's. This product used to go by the name Pritt Art Paste.
DeleteI have posted numerous times about papier-mache, and various projects, but I wrote a lot about my unique process here: http://plbrown.blogspot.com/2010/05/assortment-of-papier-mache-projects.html
It works really well for the cats. I should note: I've made 'fat cats' many many times - this is the first time I've done the Laurel Burch variation. If you are making cats for the first time it will be easiest to use a simple ball of newspaper for a head, and construct it all before papier-mache-ing. It's quicker than attaching the separate parts afterward like we did this year.. Cut large triangles for ears, and cut and tape them to curve and cut tabs on the bottom to attach.
The Art Paste is not the strongest stuff out there, but it's good enough for elementary kids, and it is wonderful because it never spoils so it can be stored indefinitely, it's non-toxic, non-staining, etc.
For a stronger hold, use watered down Elmer's Glue-All. It's very strong, but much nastier to work with.