Brand New Class- Discover Decoupage!

Discover Decoupage




Always wanted to be an artist but thought you did not have the talent? Well, you do!

Decoupage is one of the most forgiving of the arts. In fact, you have probably been doing it since kindergarten or
before. After all, the basic materials are just paper, scissors, and glue.

We will start out discussing color, texture, pattern, design—and how to bring them all together. We will go over
where to find the “paper”—from junk mail to high-end coffee table books and everything in between. We will talk
about the five steps of the design process—picking the surface, theme, colors, background, and pictures. And then
we will start putting it all together.

The instructor has taken care of step 1 by providing basic, well-used, less-than-attractive, cardboard magazine
holders. She is also bringing along her collection of literally thousands of pictures, wallpaper samples, patterned
papers, and 3-D embellishments. She will have lots of decoupage medium (just white glue and water), brushes,
scissors—everything you will need to complete your art piece. You just need to promise to wear clothes that can get
dirty—it will get messy—and to help clean up at the end.

The session will start at 1:00 p.m. and you can stay until you are done (up to 4 hours). All ages are welcome—entire
families are encouraged.

Location:
Crown Hill United Methodist Church
8500 – 14th Avenue NW
Bus Routes #48 or #15
Enter through the north parking lot door or the east handicap door and follow the signs to the Fellowship Hall.

Facilitator:
Dorothy Skans is a grandmother, life-long crafter, sometimes frustrated artist, writer, editor, and document designer
as well as a Seattle native. Nearing retirement, she and her husband are planning to move to the Washington coast
and take up their hobbies full time. In the meantime, she has decided to join Seattle Free School in order to pass
along her love of paper art as well as to pass along her over abundance of paper.

Travel Info, FREE!

Did you know that Hostelling International hosts free classes here in Seattle about different parts of the world and travelling? While I'm not going to this one (my travel bug is too strong to resist going and I don't need this temptation!) this would definitely be a great class to attend if you wish to go off the beaten tourist track. See a different world or stoke your travel fires with this great free event!



Travelling the Trans Siberian Railroad

Web Design Class

Check out this great report from Jon, our Web Design class teacher!

For a short while, I wondered what I'd gotten myself into. I'm a web designer and developer. I'd done this for many years, and I was eager to teach it to other eager minds. But web design is not a small, nor easily defined, topic. The sheer volume of acronyms and buzzwords can induce uncomfortable head spinning.

On the other hand, coordinating with Seattle Free School was a breeze. Jessica was a perfect balance of professional and approachable. She gave me great insights on planning, and what to cover. What's more, she knew folks at Seattle Public Library were interested in very generously lending us some space in their computer labs. It was a perfect match.

So, I decided to put it out there. One class, an hour and a half long. We'll see who signs up, and what we can get done in that time. Both the Free School and the Public Library listed the event on their calendar, and the class seats filled up in a hurry!

I put together a loose outline of what I wanted to cover, authored a few Powerpoint slides, and decided on a good approach for teaching such a large topic. I designed a basic layout, that we could tackle in class and code ourselves.

Teaching day came. I showed up early to get the room setup. The facilities were perfect, replete with dry erase boards, nice computers, a projector screen, the whole nine yards. Library staff were super helpful, and went out of their way to help get the computers setup for the class. Folks started filing in early, taking seats and eager to learn.

The class was nearly a full house, and a lot of fun. We talked about HTML and how to structure good semantic markup. We had a good side talk about how Google works, and how to make your site easy to find. Then, we moved on to start building the design I'd laid out for them, and styling it with CSS. I'd walk through brief explanations of what different pieces of code do, then we'd all write them in our code editor (Notepad!). Along the way, I could see eyes light up across the room when small bits of code they'd written turned into something they were proud of, piece by piece. Not unlike giving someone a robot making kit, and watching their machines come alive.

We couldn't get through every piece of the design I was hoping we'd finish -- my time constraints proved to be a bit too optimistic. But, I promised that we would have more classes like these in the future, and allot more time to the subject at hand. Once time expired, they all filed out with warm smiles and a sincere thanks. It felt really awesome to teach folks a new skill, and I hope to do many more of these in the future.

I want to extend a huge thanks to Seattle Free School, all of the nice folks at Seattle Public Library, and everyone who came out to learn a little web design! I look forward to doing it again in the future. :)

First Official Partnership!

Check this out! We now have our first class where we are officially partnering with the Seattle Public Library. Very exciting and hopefully more great computer classes to come. Thanks a ton to our instructor Jon for helping us get this scheduled!

Free Homesteading Classes

Our friend Leslie at Fresh Picked Seattle has written this great post about free classes all over the city to get your homestead going. Lots of great resources so check it out here.

Two brand new classes!

Oddly both of these classes are for the same day so you'll just have to choose which one you want to go to. The great news is that at least one of these instructors has shown interest in teaching again so hopefully it won't be the last time for either class.

Here's the info:

Tue, Aug 24:

HTML CSS An Intro to Design for the Web
Time: 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM
Location: Central Library
HTML / CSS - An Introduction to Designing for the Web

You know, the web! That thing we use everyday to find answers, buy stuff, check email, and Facebook our buddies. There is a lot of interaction and publishing happening there, but how does it all really work? How does all that code translate to a pretty interface on your screen?

This hands-on class aims to teach you the basics of HTML and CSS -- the two languages of the web that make pretty things happen on your screen. Learn how to author well-structured HTML pages, and layer on a gorgeous coat of CSS paint. Come tackle these skills in a fun, approachable learning environment.

This class is at the Central Branch of the Seattle Public Library. Located at 1000 Fourth Ave., Seattle, WA 98104 the class itself will take place at the small computer lab on Level 4, Room 3 (on the “red floor”).

The class size is limited due to the size of the lab so please register early and let us know if you won\'t be able to make the class so that someone else may take your space.




Overweight and Overwhelmed?
Time: 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM
Location: Greenlake Library
Overweight and Overwhelmed?

So was I. Let me share with you my journey from the unknowing, confusion, fad diets, food deprivation, exercise obsession, self doubt, loss of control and surrender to acceptance, understanding, action and self actualization.

Are you interested in starting your own unique journey to wellness?

In our time together we will learn how to identify your unique journey, gather the tools needed for this journey, create an action plan and learn how to design a fitness program that works for you.

Facilitator: Joles Tahara, founder of Walkabout Journeys, has over 35 years of experience struggling to manage weight. Over the course of her valiant weight battles, she has gained and lost over 800 pounds. Joles combines her years of management leadership skills with her personal fitness training background to integrate a whole system approach to optimum wellness.


Register on the website here.

More free classes!

Check out this great blog post from our friend Leslie Seaton on free and low cost cooking school classes! Yup, she talks about Seattle Free School too.
Seattle Budget Events Examiner

What free classes on cooking would you like to see offered at Seattle Free School? Reply to this post to let us know and maybe we can get a class on the books!