Interplanet Janet, a Summer Project

Totally have this song stuck in my head from Schoolhouse Rock about Interplanet Janet who is a galaxy girl. Click here for a you tube video of the song, caution as it might get stuck in your head too.

The reason this song is stuck in my head is because I was asked to create a doll of Interplanet Janet for a production of the musical to be performed at my local community theater. The president, aka my dear friend Kathy, who is an awesome person, asked me if I would paint this picture on some white fabric for her to make a doll.

As I thought about this I decided painting it would make it stiff and hard to sew. Meanwhile I sketched it out on a large sheet of paper that had been used as package stuffing. (Yes, I save weird stuff.)

 

Also, decided it should be made on unbleached muslin and instead of painting it I could baste down Smart Fab for color. (Yes, I totally took over the project.) I traced my pattern onto the fabric, (fabric was a double layer to have and front and a back) then I drew another line around, about 1/2" away to create seam allowance for sewing it together.

   

Then I used different parts of the pattern to make the pieces for the hair and body parts out the Smart Fab. With the Smart Fab you don't need to worry about frayed edges, kind of like felt but thinner.

 

I used a Sharpie for the eyes, nose, smile and some lines on the bottom shape.

After I pinned it right sides together, I realized I had no idea where exactly I should be sewing it. Yes, I had added seam allowance, but I wanted to make sure I was sewing it in the right place. So I just traced the pattern again so I would know where to sew it.

To add the flames at the bottom I sewed them first to a strip of Smart Fab so they would all stay together and be easier to sew.

Next it was time to turn it right side out and stuff it!

 

I had planned to stuff it through the bottom but the neck area was just too tight. I had not basted the hair down on the back of the doll so that the performer could put her hand under the hair to hold it up. So I went under the hair and slit a hole to stuff the doll through the top. Now I had 2 areas in which to stuff it from.

 

Because I didn't want the head to flop over and the neck is so thin I cut a toilet paper roll and placed it inside the the neck area. The roll was tightened up first and able to expand inside the doll.

When it was finished I couldn't wait to drop it off at the theater. And as luck would have it, it was perfect timing, as the troupe would be doing that song next! I was invited to stay and watch! And what a fabulous performance! And the young lady holding the doll did the number on ROLLER SKATES!

And that is how the song got stuck in my head!

Can't wait to attend the performance next month with my husband & grandsons.

Thanks for Reading!

Proposal to Present

Since attending my first NAEA conference back in 2011 I decided it was important to me to be involved with both the NAEA and my state's association the FAEA. To me one way to be involved is to give a presentation. That involves writing a proposal. I have been very fortunate as all of my proposals have been accepted. I presented at NAEA in San Diego. I was part of a Carousel of Bloggers with Nancy Walkup in New Orleans and I've presented in Florida a few times.

At the FAEA Elementary Division meeting, during conference last year, members wanted to know how to put together a proposal. I thought it would make for an excellent session. One in which I would like to be able to do, however I really don't know what is expected...... Sooooo when Jennifer Dahl, the NAEA Elementary Division leader asked for session reviewers for the upcoming Seattle Conference I decided that would be a perfect opportunity for me to learn and later be able to share.

I participated in an online training session given by Kathy Duse, Executive Services and Convention Manager and Dennis Inhulsen, Chief Learning Officer.

Turns out there were 1756 session proposals submitted for Seattle which is actually up from the last time the conference was held there. There were 180 people who volunteered to blindly review and score the proposals. Each proposed session is reviewed and scored by 3 different people.

This year a new proposal form was implemented to streamline the process. I also learned that while a session may get high scores from all 3 reviewers, there may not always be room in the schedule for it. My take on that is if you submitted a proposal and it was not accepted, try not to take it personally. And by all means try again!

You can see from the photos that there are 4 different categories that are scored and I will tell you from having read through the batch I was given it was easiest to read the ones that actually started their paragraph with Statement and Outcome........., Organization of Content......., Relevance of Topic......., and Impact on Practice...........

As I mentioned earlier in the post there are things that have changed or are new to the process this year. If you are considering submitting a proposal you might want to check out the guidelines here.

I shutter to think of what this process was like before e-mail and online portals. Our Association works hard for us and for that I am very grateful!

And as a side note, I will be presenting in Florida at the FAEA conference. I have 2 presentations.

One is a workshop titled: Start with a Story, how to use literature in the art room. The other one will be a Art Forum titled: Grant-tastic, you will find out how I managed to get thousands of grant dollars for my art program over the past 11 years. 

I'm curious as to grants you have received over the years, I would like to include that info in my presentation!

Thanks for Reading!