Wednesday, January 3, 2018

Colour with Cardmaking Class

Hi everyone!

Happy New Year! I hope things are off to a great start for you! I'm stopping by today to share a set of cards I made as a sample set for a class I taught at our homeschoool co-op this past fall. I taught this class to a group of 11-12 5th and 6th graders over the course of six 45 minute classes. It was my first time teaching a group and so I wanted to keep things simple as I was learning the ropes. I also had to do what I could to keep costs down since I had a small budget to work with.

Basically I used cardmaking to teach the kids about different rules of colour. They each chose a background stamp they wanted to work with and we got everyone set up with a couple of cards to start with that first week. (I stamped the rest of them at home to save time in class.) Our co-op has lots of pencil crayons in the supply cupboard and many of the kids brought their own from home.

Week one we talked about primary, secondary, and complimentary colours and then the kids coloured their notecards to show what had been discussed:

Primary colours:


Secondary colours:


Complimentary colours:


Week two we focused on warm colours, cool colours, and neutral colours:




Week three we discussed saturation - bold colours and soft colours:



Week four was all about ombre/ gradient and mood:




Week five we focused on the use of a gallon, pint, and cup of colour to create interest:


Some weeks we only focused on one or two cards but the kids could use any extra time to catch up on colouring from previous weeks. Our final week we used to continue with any colouring that still needed to be done and to add our sentiment strips. I brought in my heat embossing supplies to show the kids how it was done and showed them how the white heat embossing really popped compared to just using white ink. I had pre-stamped/embossed the sentiment strips for the kids in order to once again save on time. During the final class I also quizzed the kids on what had been taught, handing out chocolates for correct answers.

In the end the kids had a set of 10 cards (I have a couple extra in my examples) with envelopes in a clear box that they could use themselves or gift to someone else. I also included an A2-sized cheat sheet of everything they had learned.


Supplies (including various background stamps used in class) with affiliate links at no extra cost to you

11 comments:

Angela said...

Sarah! This is a-ma-zing! I love how you used your own passion and talents to teach not only some cardmaking basics - but all those rules of colour. I think I will totally be borrowing this idea! I did a cardmaking class for our Jr.Youth girls - but focused more on teaching about encouragement and using everyday supplies to make cards. I love your approach for teaching a school group of both genders. Thanks so much for sharing!

Beth said...

Brilliant - and they leave with a lovely gift or cards to sent. I bet they loved it. Next class: analogous, split complementary, tertiary, break the rules... ; )

Beth said...

"Send," not sent! Can't see on this device, sorry.

Sarah J Moerman said...

Thanks Beth! Next class I'm going take a risk and do interactive cards!

Mary-Anne V said...

This is such a fabulous idea...love the end result with a set of cards!

byAnnette said...

What a great class!
Cards look fantastic!
& awesome gifts!!!

Susan R. Opel said...

I am OBSESSED with these cards, Sarah! And they were used to teach color theory? SO RAD!

Sarah J Moerman said...

Thank you! I used an old Paper Crafts issue for inspiration!

Karen @ Misplaced Mojo said...

Can I just say WOW?!? I love this! I'm curious how many of the kids showed interest in card making after the completion of the class. I would love to do something like this! I actually thought about teaching cardmaking to teachers at my son's school, and while the color theory wouldn't be new to them, the process would still be valuable as I think as adults we struggle with picking colors. I just think this is awesome!!! Please post when you teach these kids cardmaking skills again. Would love to hear more :-)

Annette Gordon said...

What an awesome and creative class for the kids. And I learned a thing or two about colours from just reading your blog! Wish I was that 5th or 6th grader.
Thanks so much.

KT Fit Kitty said...

I love this, Sarah! I wish I had had a course like this when I was young. I did not grow up in a crafty household and was not crafty at all in my younger years. I didn't start making cards until later in life so I had to learn everything in my 40s! The cards and colour choices are beautiful - what an awesome class! So jealous!