Embossing Velvet Class

I had the pleasure to spend the day with 4 talented ladies, who wanted to learn Embossing On Velvet. They created beautiful stamps with which they decorated the velvet. I love the different types of designs: ornamental, natural and abstract.

Decoupage Glass Plate Class

I taught a lovely group of ladies how to decoupage on a glass plate. We had a lot of fun designing these collages behind glass. I'll be teaching more classes at The Castle the coming months.

New Fall Art Classes

Fall is here and so are my new art classes at Castle in the Air, on 4th Street in Berkeley.
If you want to sign up for a class call the shop at 510/ 2049801 or go online here to sign up
I look forward to seeing you and creating together!
all the best,
elisabeth

Silhouette Luminary
Have fun playing with silhouettes, either affixing them to a luminary
to cast flickering shadows or framing them. For the silhouette, bring
to class some profile photos of you or a friend. Make sure they have a
light background. (These portrait silhouettes are more traditional,
but you could actually do a silhouette of almost anything – a bird, a
cityscape, a flower, or the Eiffel Tower, for example.) You’ll learn
how to use a scanner and a simple transfer technique to outline the
resulting silhouette on special, self-adhesive black paper, which
Castle imports from Germany. You’ll then use paper punches, black
Dresden, and decorative papers to create your silhouette luminary or
picture.
Fee: $75; includes materials. Bring a pair of sharp scissors for fine
cutting. Nail scissors work well.
Instructor: Elisabeth Alexander. Limit: 10 students.
Tuesday, October 5th, 6pm-9pm


Whimsical Witches
Here’s a chance for you to be a freakishly fiendish witch for
Halloween! It will be your face staring out from this Whimsical Witch
Halloween collage. Or perhaps you want it to be a friend’s face.
Before class, email the photo you’d like to use to Elisabeth (email to
be supplied). She will transform your photo into a black and white
image properly sized to fit seamlessly on a paper bodice. You’ll have
the fun of creating the witch’s costume from a selection of fabulous
papers, rubber stamps, Dresden, and ribbon. Give your card as a
Halloween gift or keep it for yourself. If you prefer not to use a
photo, Elisabeth will have extra images available for you to use.
Fee: $75; includes materials, but feel free to bring holiday themed
papers and ephemera to use.
Instructor: Elisabeth Alexander. Limit: 12 students.
Wednesday, October 27th, 6pm-9pm

Gilded Holiday Emblem
Inspired to create a more meaningful Christmas celebration, Elisabeth
designed these small holiday ornaments. Each contains a word or brief
phrase to identify something from the past year for which she’s
grateful, or to signify a quality or blessing she would like to invite
into her home and life for the coming year. The simple but charming
ornaments are created with vintage images, paper punches, rubber
stamps, and German glass glitter.
Fee: $75; includes materials, but feel free to bring small images
meaningful to you.
Instructor: Elisabeth Alexander. Limit: 12 students.
Tuesday, December 7th, 6pm-9pm

Printing on Fabric Class

I spent my Sunday with three lovely and talented ladies in the Studio of the Imagination, which is the class room at Castle in the Air. I had the best time teaching "Printing on Fabric" to this unique group of smart, enthusiastic and very artistic students. I loved how they experimented with the medium, creating new and inspiring treatments with the fabric paints. I can't wait to find the time and stencil a batch of damask embellished linen tea towels myself.

Hand printed T-shirt

I am so excited by my "Printing on Fabric " class at the Castle. So I have been experimenting with stencil cutting and repeat patterns. The result is this beautiful t-shirt, which I hand stenciled.

Butterfly Reliquary (RIP)

Inspired by Ulla Milbrath's Reliquary Class I had a craft date with my friend John McRae and we set out to create our own personal reliquaries. But first of all, you may ask: "What exactly is a reliquary?" Well, according to Wikipedia : "A reliquary (also referred to as a shrine or by the French term châsse) is a container for relics. These may be the physical remains of saints, such as bones, pieces of clothing, or some object associated with saints or other religious figures."
My reliquary is a resting place for a dead butterfly I found on my porch. I initially had placed him on a book shelf to keep him safe, but knew that I had to find a safer and permanent home for him soon. I lined his oval box with crushed velvet and embellished it with vintage gold cord and Dresden paper trim. I also included a poem by Philip Larkin, which reads:
"And the case of butterflies so rich it looks
As if all summer settled there and died"
I wrote this poem with my finest nib in my tiniest hand writing. I closed the box with a window made from mica and soldered the edges close. The size of the oval box is 3 and 3/4 inches by 2 and 3/4 inches.

Fairy Habitat

I had the pleasure to create a Fairy Habitat from one of our Fairy House kits, we sell at the Castle. These kits are a perfect gift for any fairy enthusiast, no matter what age, who likes to be crafty and create. The kits are delivered in a lovely box (decorated with Italian paper - and can be used for storing other important items , once empty of its original contents). Inside youy find a plethora of natural materials, like twigs, reeds, moss, dried mushroom caps, fabric flower and German spun cotton mushrooms, as well as a wooden base and a lovely German Fairy doll. All you need to add is glue and you are on your way to create your own unique Fairy House.