Kaleidoscope

Kaleid scope

the benefits of art therapy Build the best model rocket

June 2010 kaleidoscopejet@blogspot.com

the creative crafters of lasa

Contents

summer issue

Kaleidoscope June 2010

Fun crafts & projects

3

6

4 12

3

SKETCH, PRINT, BUILD, MAKE

How to turn a Google SketchUp into a work of art

4

CORAL CORRUPTION

6

THE ART OF CRAFT

8

it takes two

9

INTRODUCING THE ILOCK, FROM APPLE

How the making of coral jewelry impacts the enviroment A LASA crafter that makes earrings for herself and others A quick how-to on making earrings

Pros and cons of hacking an iDevice

13

9

12

16

HOW TO MAKE A FRIENDSHIP BRACELET

The best anytime gift for your best friend

13

CRAFTY STORES IN AUSTIN

Kaleidoscope’s favorite craft and DIY stores

14

19 creative crafters

Kaleidoscope takes a look into the lives of two creative crafters at LASA. Students like these are people who will grow up to fuel the world with their creativity and inspiring patterns and designs. Want to know who these creative LASA crafters are? Turn to pages 6 and 16 to find out.

14

A THERAPEUTIC ALLIANCE

The beneficial effects of art therapy

16

SEW UNIQUE

18

how to make a duct tape wallet

A creative LASA seamstress tells all about her hobby

A simple way to make a stylish new wallet

19

BLAST OFF

The best and worst different types of model rockets

June 2010 | 1

kaleidoscopejet.blogspot.com

staff taylor t. "the beadnik" Taylor is a freshman at LASA high school and spends her time outside of school rehearsing for band, practicing lacrosse, making jewelry, and gossiping with her sisters. She loves trees, shopping, and coloring books. Taylor hopes to one day have a jewelry and accessory business with her creative spirit’s soulmate, Emily Tubbs.

Another of her dreams is to teach high-school English in Spain and live with her handsome Spanish husband in a modern house overlooking the hills of Andalusia.

Emily j.

visit our blog!

for crafty stories, interesting articles and more plus

Knitting or crocheting? Digital scrapbooks or physical scrapbooks? Patterns or free design? Let us know what you think about these debated topics in our online surveys.

Additional how-to’s including bracelet designs, origami figures, additional duct tape accessories, and a home-made Mother’s Day gift.

coming up Look forward to some Q & A between the writers and readers of Kaleidoscope magazine! Find answers to questions about tecniques, materials, and projects.

2 | Kaleidoscope

our calendar Looking for new ways to enjoy the summer break with your friends? Check out the calendar on our blog for some ideas.

It’s filled with local craft festivals, DIY events, and fun classes.

jacob F.

"the doer" Jacob is a freshman at LASA. He is the resident do-it-yourself expert. When he is not working on Kaleidoscope, he spends his time building and perfecting his RepStrap, a 3D printer, in hopes to build a better 3D printer.

He is an avid reader, with an interest in science fiction and fantasy, most notably about shapeshifting. He is interested in pursuing aeronautic engineering as a career. He often upsets his group members because of his failure to listen to them.

He enjoys Photoshopping pictures of grass and trying to take over the whole group.

Photos by Jami T. (top), Tony M. (middle), Jacob F. (bottom).

this or that?

"the bedazzling emu" Emily is a 9th grader at LASA high school and usually spends her time practicing for band and studying. Science is one of her favorite topics and she has high expectations to live up to within her family. She can get competitve, but she still doesn’t make the best grades. She really likes lotion that smells good, but too much can be overwhelming. Her favorite food is a creamy peanut butter sandwich without jelly, although rice comes as a close second. Her favorite animals are dogs and she aspires to be a doctor.

sketch, print, build, Make

By Jacob F. Use Google Sketchup to turn digital designs into physical objects.

Photos by Jacob F.

Google SketchUp allows you to create the object that you’ve always wanted to make for free. Unlike other CAD (computer-aided design) programs such as SolidWorks and AutoCad, it is a free, although the free version has limited features and a few quirks. Even with the quirks, the free version of SketchUp is an okay free alternative to SolidWorks, which costs $140 for a year for students, or AutoCad, which costs $219 for five years.

Google SketchUp has many tools available for creating all types of objects, from extruding polygons, to creating complex shapes such as spheres and toruses (doughnuts), by making the software follow your cursor around two different faces. It also, like other CAD Programs, can allow you to added and subtract shapes and objects from eachother. It also allows you to print, in order to turn your digital designs into physical objects.

Design & Dimension

Create your object in SketchUp, or download a file from places such as Thingiverse or Google’s 3D Warehouse.

Provided that the object is a simple object, such as the Kaleidoscope box shown here and on the cover, go to the Tools menu and select Dimensions. Select the dimensions that you want to build to in any important view, which are the views necessary in order to build the object.

Print

Go to the Camera menu and select “Zoom Extents.” Next, due to a quirk in SketchUp, restore the window and adjust the window size to fit the outside of the object in the view. Next, select file print, and deselect “Use Model Extents.” If you want to print to scale, deselect “Fit to Page” and enter the scale. If the scale you want is 2:1, enter 2 in the “In SketchUp” box, and put one in the “In the Printout” box. Print any important views.

Build

Build the object using the dimensions with hand and power tools. You can use the specified material, or any material of your choice. You can make separate parts of the object to use multiple materials, or to make construction easier. In the case of the Kaleidoscope box, seperate pieces of plywood were used to make the sides, When you’ve finished, you’ve turned a digital design into a physical object.

June 2010 | 3

By Taylor T. Tropical fish swim in the Ras Muhammad National Park in Egypt, off the coast of the Sinai Peninsula. Thousands of species of fish a are dependent on tropical coral reefs for survival.

4 | Kaleidoscope

Photo by Mikhail Rogov

As a jewelry maker, I love using beautiful, unique materials in my artwork. The rainbow of colors of coral that are available to beaders is very pleasing to a consumer’s eye, and the variety of shapes and sizes can express many styles. At the expense of pretty coral accessories, however, are a multitude of marine species that are invaluable to our environment. The collection of coral from its home in the oceans must be stopped to prevent further destruction of the reefs. When coral is harvested from reefs in seas all over the world, not only is the coral dying, but according to the Smithsonian National Zoological Park, more than 4,000 species of fish inhabiting those reefs suffer as well. Coral can be taken in large amounts manually in patches throughout a reef, or can be “blasted” with dynamite. Every year, these reefs are becoming more and more bare, with dead coral skeletons and no vibrant, tropical fish. The massive loss of these animals is destroying ecosystems worldwide—ecosystems far more important than a necklace with matching earrings.

Even if we were to pretend that harvesting coral was not environmentally atrocious, and were to continue removing it, there is only a certain amount of time before coral growth would stop.

After that, we’d just be waiting until we run out of coral for good.

Either way, tropical reefs and ecosystems go down the drain.

The vivid, flourishing life in and around (healthy) reefs brings with it another benefit. Beautiful reefs attract thousands of tourists each year and house fish off of which many fisheries make their profit. According to a United Nations estimate in 1997, this adds up to US $100,000 to $600,000 per square kilometer per year. Take away this income, and the economies of many

Photo by Emkaer on Wikimedia Commons Photo by Panavatar on Flickr

countries are left in shambles.

Were the thousands of tourists to disappear, many countries’ economies would be damaged.

Coral has been harvested for use in jewelry for centuries, and traditionalists could argue that it is a natural material and that it should not stop being used. There are many sorts of stone, minerals, and gems, however, that are equally natural, and make equally beautiful jewelry, but whose removal does not cause such environmental distress.

Recently, organizations including Coral Reef Alliance, World Wildlife Foundation, NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program, and the United Nations Environment Programme have participated in efforts to minimize the amount of coral lost worldwide. Coral colonies are being rebuilt by transplanting new, healthy coral where old ones were, and people are being educated about many of the threats to coral. Many organizations present new suggestions for regulations against the collection of coral or pollution, but jewelry industry prevents some of these standards from actually being put into place. For example, red and pink coral, a species that is being overexploited for jewelry use, was discussed at the Conference of Parties in 2007. The vote was initially in favor of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Appendix II listing, a proposal to protect red and pink coral, but much lobbying from industries prevented the proposal from being further considered.

According to CITES, The United States is the main importer of coral used for jewelry, so American citizens have the most potential in influencing coral trade.

Becoming aware is the first step— now we must use our knowledge to prevent the loss of more essential aquatic species.

*

These are fragments of stony coral that were found on a beach in Florida.

These seed beads were made from red coral taken from a reef.

June 2010 | 5

This large collection of beads are only the start of Myrna L.’s collection of materials. A variety of beads are shown here, as well as wire, pliers, earring finders, thread, and organizers.

the art of craft

By Emily J.

A large box sat in the middle of a room. The inside was stocked full with tons of containers: bags, smaller boxes, and chests, all filled with beads. Glass beads, plastic beads, seed beads, bugle beads, and beads of every size, shape and color shimmered and glimmered beneath the light.

Among the beads were also mis-

6 | Kaleidoscope

cellaneous tools, like needles and round-nose pliers, and stock items, like thread, wire, and earring findings. Myrna began pulling out materials to work on her latest project.

Myrna L., a 15-year-old LASA student, has been crafting for herself and others for almost two years.

Although she hasn’t inspired many

people to take up the art of crafting quite yet, she has created jewelry that friends and family can enjoy. Since Myrna crafts for a passion rather than a living, she makes enough crafts to share with anyone who wants some.

“I really love beading and art in general, but I feel that it’s especially rewarding making things for

Photo by Myrna L.

“The designs always turn out nice, if I do them right.” other people rather than myself,” Myrna said.

Myrna has made tons of jewelry; she has embroidered, beaded, sewed, weaved - “basically anything”. One of her main goals is to make jewelry that the receiving person will like, which they most always do, so it isn’t a problem. Her other goal is to make jewelry that will last long enough for them to wear and enjoy. Experience comes with time, and over the years, the endurance of the things that Myrna makes has generally improved, and now, they barely break or tear.

“I like to see the expression and response that other people have when I give them stuff,” Myrna said.

Whether it’s just plain excitement or pure glee, the look on other people’s faces is one of the main things that drive Myrna. The recipients of Myrna’s crafts are always awe-struck upon receiving a craft of their own, like Brandi Richey, a teacher at LASA. When she makes jewelry for people, she says that she likes to personalize them – make their name out of wire, make shapes that illustrate their hobbies, et cetera.

“When Myrna gave me my necklace for Christmas, I couldn’t believe the amount of detail she put into it. It’s beautiful, and I am so impressed that she spelled every letter in my name out with such care,” Richey said.

Myrna has made a multitude of personalized things, including a necklace for Richey and DNA earrings for Amanda Walker, another teacher at LASA. She also made a music note charm for her musician friend. She has made charms with people’s names on them, so they can attach them wherever they like.

“My inspiration would not necessarily be the expression on people’s faces [when they receive

jewelry], but what inspires all artists: making something beautiful,” Myrna said.

Even though the comments, feelings and motivation from other people can help Myrna believe that her artwork is indeed something beautiful, a feeling of self-satisfaction also comes into play here. When Myrna crafts something beautiful, she says that it’s satisfying and makes her feel good.

“I just thought it was cool because I thought there was an endless amount of designs I could make and I wanted to try them all out,” Myrna said.

Another thing that inspired Myrna was the art class she took in seventh grade. It taught her some of the basics, but for the rest, she said she mainly taught herself. She started beading and making necklaces at the end of 2008 and she started making earrings towards the end of eighth grade.

“My favorite thing to do with beads is probably to make earrings or necklaces, because it is quick but still turns out nice,” Myrna said.

Although Myrna likes embroidering just as much as she likes beading, she tends to bead more than she embroiders. Usually when she makes necklaces, they’re made with long, colorful beads called bugle beads. She said that there are also usually things that can hang down from the necklace, also made with bugle beads, to create a 3D element to it. When she makes earrings, there are tons of way she can go with them, and she has tried everything from a stud to something like music note earrings.

“The designs always turn out nice, if I do them right,” Myrna said.

When Myrna finally starts to put away all her materials, she makes sure to collect any stray beads or loose wire she can see. She checks not once, but twice to make sure she hasn’t left any beads on the floor. Once each container is sealed shut and properly stowed away, Myrna puts the lid on the box until the next time she feels an urge to craft.

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June 2010 | 7

it takes two

By Taylor T.

These earrings are great for learning the basics of making earrings and are a quick and fun project for more experienced beaders.

1

On a head pin, string a black cube, blue cat’s eye, and a clear cube.

4

Slide the earwire onto the head pin and cut off the excess.

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2

Place the tip of the needlenose pliers just above the clear cube and bend the head pin to a 90° angle.

What you need: - 2 head pins - 2 earring wires - 2 black glass cube beads - 2 blue cat’s eye beads - 2 clear glass cube beads - needlenose and roundnose pliers - wire cutters

3

Place roundnose pliers about ¼ inch from the bend in the head pin and rotate the pliers 180°.

Wrap the remaining length of the head pin around the pliers with your thumb, making a complete loop.

Photos by Taylor T.

introducing the iLock, from Apple

Illustration by Jacob F.

Photo by William Hook

The iPhone, iPad and the iPod Touch may have revolutionary new features, but to fully utilize the capabilities of it, it must be jailbroken.

Whenever you get a new software update for your Apple iPhone, iPad or iTouch, if you had previously modified your iDevice to be able to install third party software, known as jailbreaking, it will often be removed.

However, this third party software has added new functionality to your iPhone, and you’ll have to start all over to get back that lost functionality. The only way to keep all your jailbroken software is to not update your software.

The iPhone comes with AT&T as the cell phone provider, and only allows AT&T to be used as the provider. Users of the iPhone who already use another cell phone carrier must switch to AT&T, which could cost the user as much as $200 for canceling their con-

Locked

By Jacob F.

This iPhone has been jailbroken to use a custom wallpaper as it’s background, called Deep, a feature unavailable on a non-jailbroken iphone because of a lack of personalization options.

tract with their previous cell phone carrier. The only way to get out of paying these cancellation fees is to jailbreak the iPhone.

Let’s say your iDevice stops working.

You can’t send it to Apple for free to get it fixed, because jailbreaking your iDevice has voided your warranty.

The only solution to that, however, is to de-jailbreak your iDevice, i.e. installing an apple software update.

All this creates the iLock, the iDevice without the ability to be able to have any third-party software be installed in the system. The only way

to do this is to break that lock, by jailbreaking. Apple pressures its users to not do this, but the only way they can do to stop jailbreaking is to unlock the iLock.

If Apple wants to prevent users from jailbreaking Apple’s iDevices, Apple should open up the iTunes App Store to all users to be able to submit their apps, and not have to be reviewed by Apple, a process which forces many apps to only be available through a jailbroken iDevice. To enhance security, Apple could check for viruses in the various apps submitted by users.

June 2010 | 9

hack the back

By Jacob F.

Modifications and fixes on the back of the iDevice.

Tired of the plain back of the iDevice? Here are a few tips from various sources on how to modify and improve the back of your iDevice, as well as improving overall function.

To take close up pictures of objects, known by photographers as “macro” shots, salvage the lens from a broken digital camera, wrap it with tape, and attach it to the iPhone camera lens.

From iphonealley.com

Want to customize the back of your iPod Touch? Sand the back, write or stamp your own design, and plate copper onto the back of your iPod, or, full greater coverage, just plate it all. It doesn’t work on the iPhone, as it has a back made of plastic.

From Popular Science

If you want to take shots from far away, there’s a mod for that. You can mount an SLR lens onto an iPhone using materials from a hardware store and also with lenses salvaged from a CD Player.

From hackaday.com Tired of your scratched, old, dull iDevice backplate?

Use sandpaper and a 3M headlight polishing kit to restore it’s original shine. It also is useful if you want to debrand your iPhone, as this removes the apple logo and text from the back..

From hackaday.com

Apple and AT&T should open up the iPhone to be available for multiple cell phone carriers, as this could boost Apple’s sales of the iDevice, because Apple could gain the consumers who do not get the iDevice due to it’s incompatibility with the consumer’s current carrier. People who want to switch to AT&T for supposedly better service could do so as well.

“What’s so good about jailbreaking your iDevice?” you ask. According to Mike Keller of PC World, jailbreaking an iPhone allow you to install many apps that are not installable from Apple. Jailbreaking your iDevice adds more functionality for your iDevice 10 | Kaleidoscope

for free, a good choice for student’s who are low on cash, and dependent on their parents for money. Here are some ways those apps can achieve more functionality.

Jailbreaking and adding third party apps adds a lot of versatility to the iDevice, because it allows you to use features unavailable on the iDevices. An example of this is CyCorder, which made the makeuseof.com list of top ten jailbroken apps. Cycorder allows you to record video on an iPhone, a feature unavailable on the original iPhone, and only available on the iPhone 3G. The Snapture app allows one to edit pictures, a feature unavailable on the iPhone. Both of

these apps are unavailable on the iTunes App Store, and devices must be jailbroken to be able to install these apps.

Jailbreaking an iDevice allows you to make your iDevice more personal, and allows you to customize its look.

The original iPhone only allowed users to change the look of the lock screen on the iPhone. With jailbroken apps, you can change the layout of the iDevice’s main menu to look more like a Macintosh computer, and, according to Corvida on ReadWriteWeb, change the theme of the iDevice with the app Winterboard, which allows customization of everything up to the battery icons.

Sleek and Shiny

With nothing more than sandpaper and a 3M headlight buffing pad, give your scratched back the mirror treatment.

“If apple wants to prevent users from jailbreaking Apple’s iDevices, Apple should open up the iTunes App Store to all users to be able to submit their apps...”

Plating the ’Pod

Add some personality to your iPod by electroplating a custom design onto the back of your iPod. Don’t get shocked!

Up Close and Personal

Take pictures of things close and afar with a macro or zoom lens. Salvage lenses from a digital camera, or use a removable lens from an SLR camera.

Jailbroken apps don’t just allow you to utilize features not included in the iDevice, these third-party apps allow you to change the way you interface with your iDevice, different than was included on the original iDevice. For example, the app SBSettings allows you to access system settings from every app, and QuickScroll allows you to scroll faster than you would without the app on webpages.

In response to jailbreaking, Apple told the US Copyright Office that jailbreaking an iPhone could crash a cell phone transmission tower, and could be used to allow people to avoid paying for phone calls. However, this has not happened yet, and according

to David Kravets of Wired.com, “is more [fear, uncertainty, and doubt] than truth.

In addition, jailbreaking an iDevice could compromise the device’s security, because jailbreaking a iDevice can sometimes reset the root password, which permits access to the whole device, to the default password, which a hacker could exploit, and gain control over your iDevice.

However, this can be circumvented easily by just changing the root password.

Apple really needs to unlock the iLock, and allow the third party apps to be used without worry of deletion or unrepairability.

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June 2010 | 11

How to make a friendship bracelet

By Emily J

Take

1

Take three pieces of your favorite colors of string and fold them in half, making the length big enough to fit around your wrist (the size can be adjusted later). Tie the top of where the strings fold over in a knot, leaving space for a small loop at the top.

1 2 3

Separate

2

Separate the pieces of string out into sections of two.

Take section 3 and move it over and between sections 1 and 2. Then take section 1 and move it over and between sections 2 and 3. Then take section 3 and move it over and between sections 1 and 3.

Repeat

3

Repeat this process until you reach the end of the bracelet. Finally, tie a small knot when you have reached the end of all the string. Be sure to make sure the knot is secure or else the bracelet may come apart. Pull the end knot through the top loop and that’s it!

And

Visit out blog at http://www.kaleidoscopejet.blogspot.com to see more friendship bracelet designs!

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Photos by Emily J.

And that’s not all! There are tons of other ways to make a friendship bracelet. This method is one of the most simple ways to make one, but your bracelet can vary in shape, color and style.

Crafty shops in Austin

By Taylor T.

Looking for materials or tools? Try these stores around town.

Jo-Ann

The Home Depot

Sea of Beads

Ceramic Lodge

crafts

do-it-yourself

beads

ceramic studio

Jo-Ann Fabrics & Crafts is a store that carries everything you need for nearly any craft. Whether you sew, knit, make jewelry, scrapbook, paint, or just need something for a small project, Jo-Ann has you covered.

They always have a huge variety of fabric, beads, yarn, and so much more, which means that the sky is your limit. With the store’s great service, supplies, and many sales, I can understand why featured LASA student crafters Myrna L. and Emily T. both have one place that they shop for thier materials and supplies — Jo-Ann.

If you’re looking for tools, materials, or assistance for any DIY project, The Home Depot is a great place to go. They have a fantastic selection of tools and supplies for practically any household project.

Their large outdoor and gardeninig section is the perfect place to go to make a beautiful garden for summer and keep it looking great. The alwayshelpful staff at The Home Depot believe that you can do whatever project or fix that you need, and they are they to help.

Sea of Beads is a local bead shop that carries everthing you need to bead with style. Sea of Beads features Delica’s, seed beads, semi-precious beads, Czech glass, pearls, findings, tools & more.

Because Sea of Beads is locally owned, their stock is always changing. This means that with every trip you’ll find something new out of which to make a necklace, bracelet, or whatever you like. Sea of Beads also offers group classes several times a week, giving instruction on different techniques and styles of jewelry. Sea of Beads has everything for beaders, “from fun to funky for the bead junkie.”

Ceramic Lodge is a paintyour-own pottery studio that gives you everything you need to turn a blank ceramic into your own work of art. With helpful staff and budget-friendly prices, Ceramic Lodge is the perfect place to go with family or friends for a fun afternoon and is great for people of all ages and all experience levels. Ceramic Lodge offers workshops, summer camps, and parties and has recently added fused glass and silver clay jewelry crafting workshops. Stuck indoors on a rainy day? Grab a pal and come to Ceramic Lodge!

Locations in North and South Austin

Locations in North and South Austin

North-Central Austin

Round Rock, TX

www.joann.com

www.lowes.com

www.seaofbeads.net

www.ceramiclodge.com

June 2010 | 13

a

LASA students participate in an art therapy session. Their instructer gives them instructions on what to do next.

Therapeutic alliance

By Emily J.

Art therapy - a new solution to old problems.

Katie Proctor, a 14-year-old survivor of cancer, has been a victim of multiple diseases, one after another. First she developed brain cancer, then bacterial meningitis, then she faced the horrible aftermath of having 20 percent of a benign tumor still lodged in her head. Although she went through many hardships, both diseases were cured by surgery, antibiotics, and a simple solution that can help save millions of lives - art therapy. You can tell from its name that art therapy is, put simply, a type of therapy or treatment using art. The real question is: how reliable is it?

There is a ton of controversy debating the accuracy and reliability of art therapy. It is also debatable whether or not it is good enough to be a proficient and credible type of therapy. I believe that art therapy can be used to help anyone who needs it. When I sat in on an art therapy session held by Stacey Hopper, a counselor at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy, I learned how 14 | Kaleidoscope

“Art therapy is based on the belief that the creative process is intrinsically healing and life-enhancing. It is a process that uses art materials to naturally explore aspects of the self. Internal thoughts and feelings become externalized in paintings, drawings, collage, clay, and constructions using simple art materials. Artistic ability is not important because the emphasis is on expression rather than on skill, although some people wish to develop artistic skills to help them say what they need to more effectively.”

- Leslie Fletcher “ I believe that imagination is the integrating faculty of cognition and creativity. Genius and invention are dependent on it’s ability to transform phenomena and establish new relationships.”

- Shaun McNiff “Expressive art therapy integrates all of the arts in a safe, nonjudgmental setting to facilitate personal growth and healing.

To use the arts expressively means going into our inner realms to discover feelings and to express them through visual art, movement, sound, writing or drama. This process fosters release, selfunderstanding, insight and awakens creativity and transpersonal states of consciousness.”

- Natalie Rogers

“Painting has to get back to its original goal, examining the inner lives of human beings.”

- Pierre Bonnard “The arts, as media of the imagination, are disciplines which give form and substance to our capacity to be who we are. Each artistic medium embodies the imagination in a concrete and specific way.”

- Stephen K. Levine “Expressive therapy is a disclosure of soul’s contagion. It comes upon us diamonically through the agency of imagination, who’s medicines draw from the full spectrum of soul.”

- Paulo J. Knill “Employment opportunities for art therapists in healthcare, community agencies, education, and independent practice continue to increase for our members. It is exciting that leading job recruitment services are recognizing the field of art therapy as a cutting edge career.”

- Paula Howie “By descending down into the depths of the soul, and not primarily by a painful acquisition of many manual skills, the artist attains the power of awakening other souls.”

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

art therapy works and how it can be effective. “For me, it’s just a way of getting it [stress] out without having to beat myself up about it,” said a student about art therapy. I also think that even though art therapy is legitimate, it may not be the most effective treatment available for the person being treated and they should seek professional help when looking for a type of therapy to consider. There are also questions about where regular art stops and art therapy begins. I think that although art therapy is good for your health, if one wants to pursue art as a hobby, they shouldn’t let it turn into a therapeutic treatment.

Many people argue that art therapy is not effective, but the reason I don’t believe this statement is true is because of all the evidence

that proves art therapy to work.

Many cases show that art therapy not working is almost impossible. If someone who tried art therapy only once stated that it didn’t work or wasn’t effective, they should have been told by their therapist or counselor to at least try it more times before giving up on it completely.

To get the full effect of art therapy, one must continue with constant treatment, or participating in art therapy sessions either mandated by another person or by yourself at least a couple times a month, over a prescribed amount of time.

There have been many cases that have proven art therapy to be an authentic treatment, as was the case with Katie Proctor, the 14-year-old cancer survivor. Another time when art therapy was proven to be effec-

tive was when Billy, a 5-year-old boy who had just lost his mother, was taught how to freely express himself and cope with his mother’s death.

In these situations, art therapy has been proven to usually help with things like relaxation, stress, and generally increasing the well being of any individual that is treated by it.

My solution to the controversy over art therapy is that anyone who is stressed out or is in need of relaxation should try art therapy for at least a few weeks. Art therapy has been proven to work, but only if it is used constantly. It helps anyone to be able to express themselves while being able to stay calm in any tough situation or hardship that may come their way.

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Photos by Emily J.

Students cut out pictures from various magazines.They will glue the clippings into a college on the front of their journals.

sew unique

By Taylor T.

16 | Kaleidoscope

attended an arts and crafts camp So was the case with Emily’s shiny in which all of the little campred swimsuit. Summertime rolled ers made a giant quilt together. around and Emily was craving a After days of tedious cutting and red one-piece, but couldn’t find sewing, Emily was thrilled with one anywhere for under $150, so the finished product. she decided to make it. She found “When [the quilt] was finally a pattern at her favorite craft done, to be able to see it, it was and fabric store, Jo-Ann, and got so worth it,” Emily says with a to work. “Everyone looked at me proud smile on her face. Emily like I was absolutely insane and was inspired after this expericrazy for even trying to do it, but ence; she made a bag at home about twenty dollars later I had right after the camp and fell in a really awesome bathing suit love with sewing. that I absolutely love,” Emily reSince then, Emily has sewn counts triumphantly. “Everyone bags, skirts, dresses, and even a was very surprised that it actually bathing suit for herself. Her faworked.” vorite of all her pieces is a floral Emily gets up for a pizza break. dress that was made with—dare I look around the room, spot the she admit—a pattern. The vernal sewing machine again, and notice dress has a high V-neck, ruched its many features and complexity. tank top-like sleeves, and an I ask Emily about it when she gets above-the-knee length. Because back. “It’s my baby. I’m in love Emily had the instruction from the pattern the dress looks professional, and it’s apparent that it took the drive and patience that Emily possesses.

Although Emily has made many things for herself, she has used her talents to create things for her friends and family also. Last summer, Emily designed and sewed a cute, cherrypatterned strapless dress for Bonnie D., one of Emily’s good friends. Bonnie loved it. “Emily is so creative,” Bonnie said.

“She comes up with a concept, and no matter what, she’ll make Emily completed this dress in one night, as she does with many projects. As a consequence, its pink zipper it happen.” in the back is sewn in backwards.

Photo by Taylor T.

When I walk into the room, I know it must belong to a very creative and artistic person. Next to the door stands a set of drawers filled with crayons, buttons, ribbon, lace, Velcro, and zippers.

A whole wall is covered with a giant flower made out of ribbon—a glittery golden center, sparkly red petals, and shiny green leaves.

Hidden in a closet are boxes full of stickers, glue, scissors, string, felt, paint, and incomplete scrapbooks. Hanging from another wall are a handful of drawings and paintings. Straight ahead is a big desk piled with scraps of fabric, a bag of ribbons, a paper cutter, a hot glue gun, and a bucket full of thread and sewing pins. The only clear space on the desk surrounds an impressive sewing machine.

This is the workroom of Emily T., a 15-year-old freshman at LASA high school. Her passion is sewing, a hobby that isn’t very common of people her age. But for Emily, that just makes it all the more fun.

Emily’s grandmother started teaching Emily how to sew when she was 8 years old, but it was definitely not love at first stitch.

Since Emily was so young, her grandmother did most of the sewing, while Emily just watched and got bored. Later, when her grandmother introduced sewing patterns, Emily got so frustrated with them that she stopped sewing altogether. Patterns didn’t allow Emily any room for creativity while sewing, so there was nothing to enjoy. (To this day, Emily is still not very fond of them).

“It wasn’t until I went to a camp that I really started to like [sewing] again,” Emily remembers. A couple years after she quit sewing with her grandmother, Emily

sional with her talent. “I don’t think that that’s really going to work,” she frowns. Emily enjoys the actual sewing part of the process, not so much designing. To be able to make a living, however, she would have to be a designer, not a seamstress. So although Emily will most likely not go professional with her talent, she will definitely continue sewing and creating for the rest of her life.

“Sewing isn’t a common hobby,” Emily says. “Just one more reason why I love it so much.”

Photo by Bonnie D.

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Emily sewed this strapless dress for her friend Bonnie. This project was done over the summer, when Emily gets the most time to sew.

Photo by Taylor T.

While Emily absolutely loves sewing, she admits that it can get very frustrating. Since she rarely sews with patterns, she often has to experiment. Emily says that it can be annoying to constantly have to sew something, remove all the stitches and threads, and re-sew it. On top of that, Emily likes to finish a project the day she starts it, which can leave her sewing pretty late and with less attention than usual.

“When it gets to about three, four in the morning, you start to make a lot of mistakes,” Emily admits—mistakes such as a zipper sewn inside-out. Because of the time, Emily’s patience and motivation were also drained, so the zipper remained inside-out.

Emily’s creative mind has led her to some more uncommon ideas, for instance, making a pair of shoes. She was looking for a new project one day, thought about learning how to make shoes, and bought an instructional book soon afterward. When she told people about her new project, they had little faith in her. Emily is still working on the shoes, but she’s starting to prove people wrong.

“It is going very fabulously,” she gleams. “No one believed in me, but it is working out great.”

Emily loves her unique hobby, but isn’t sure about going profes-

Photo by Taylor T.

with it,” she smiled. The 600-dollar Singer Futura is equipped with 24 built-in stitch settings and an attachable embroidery unit, and was a bat mitzvah present from Emily’s grandmother. “It’s probably the best gift I’ve ever gotten.”

Emily’s beautiful sewing machine has allowed her to express her artistic skills in sewing and fashion, which is what she loves to do.

When she’s sewing she can make up the rules, problem solve when things go wrong, and use every bit of her imagination.

“That’s the problem with patterns,” Emily complains. “They tell you how to make it. And if you make it up yourself, you get a lot more creativity and it actually makes you think.” But her favorite part of the whole sewing process is when the garment is complete.

“You put it on and it fits perfectly, and you’re very proud of it.”

For Emily, another plus about being able to sew is that you can make things that you can’t find in stores, such as the bathing suit that she made. Emily makes dresses for the same reason, because they are harder to find off the rack in the perfect size. Details can be added to personalize the dress to the wearer, and ultimately, “you get what you want.”

This is Emily’s “baby”, a professional sewing machine with a number of different features and functions. She received it from her grandparents two years ago.

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12 Photos by Emily J.

How to make a duct tape wallet

By Emily J.

Materials: 1 roll of duct tape 1 ruler 1 pair of scissors

Step 1: Cut a strip of duct tape that is about seven inches long and lay it on your work surface sticky side up.

Step 2: Cut another seven-inch strip

of duct tape, laying it sticky side up as well, making it slightly overlap the bottom of the first strip of duct tape.

Step 3: Repeat Step 2 until you have

four strips of duct tape overlapping, making a large duct tape sheet laying sticky-side up.

18 | Kaleidoscope

Step 4: Cut four more strips of duct tape that are about seven inches long and lay them on top of the four piece, sticky side up duct tape sheet, creating a four strip wide, seven inch long, non sticky duct tape sheet.

tape sheet that was just trimmed, sealing one side together.

Step 5: Trim all excess tape to

Step 10: Line up the side of the folded duct tape sheet that isn’t sealed yet and trim all excess tape to make the edges of the other side of the folded sheet line up and be perpendicular with the other edges again.

make the edges of the sheet line up and be perpendicular with the other edges.

Step 6: Fold the duct tape sheet

in half along the crease inbetween two strips of duct tape (hot dog style).

Step 7: Trim all excess tape to

make the edges of one side of the folded sheet line up and be perpendicular with the other edges again.

Step 8: Cut a strip of duct tape that

is roughly four inches long and tape it to the side of the folded duct

Step 9: Trim all excess tape from the four inch strip after being folded and make sure all sides aren’t sticky or sticking out.

Step 11: Cut another strip of duct tape that is roughly four inches long and tape it to the other side of the folded duct tape sheet, sealing the other side together.

Step 12: Fold the folded duct tape

sheet in half (hamburger style) and you have yourself your very own duct tape wallet!

Photo by Kadath

Blast Off Photo by Kadath

By Jacob F.

It is almost time to launch. The rocket has been moved safely onto the launch pad, and the engine is ready for ignition. The tension is overwhelming. You hear someone shout, “Ignition in 5...4...3...2...1...” The engine is ignited. The rocket launches off the launch pad like a rocket should, starting slowly, then suddenly accelerating.

All of a sudden, one of the fins falls off. The rocket starts to tumble and then starts to loop three times before crashing into the ground. Once again, the necessity of good model rocket construction is reinforced.

Model rocketry is a sport that can

be enjoyed by people of all sorts, at all times, and can be enjoyed in groups or clubs.

“The best part [of model rocketry] is spending time with people who enjoy the same thing you do” says Jeff Short, the senior adviser of the Austin Area Rocketry Group.

Unless a kit is bought from companies like Estes and Quest, one must design their rocket before building it, in which one can put their creative ideas. The kits have creative designs as well.

“You can be very creative with your rockets and there are tons of rockets available in all different shapes

and sizes,” says Short.

In any model rocket, the first step to creating a model rocket is to build the motor mount, which holds the motor in a rocket.

“You almost have to purchase the motor mount tubing so that the motors fit correctly,” says Short.

The motor mount is what transfers the momentum of the motor to the rocket itself, so when it is installed, it must be securely attached. There are several types of the motors that propel the rockets. Each varies in force and acceleration, but all of them, at least for non-high-powered rockets, have the same material in

them, black powder, which is the old version of modern gunpowder.

There are a few things one has to know when choosing the right motor for their rocket. A motor is designated by an alphanumeric code that is X#-#, where X is a letter, and the # are two different numbers.

“Given the exact same rocket, you will tend to get a bit less that 2x the altitude with each increase in total thrust, the letter. This will also normally come with increased velocity as well,” says Short.

For each successive letter, the maximum and minimum total thrust, in Newton-seconds for each letter doubles.

“Take an A8 and compare it to say an A3. Both are in the A class, 1.26 to 2.5 Ns (Newton seconds) but the average thrust is different. What does this mean? It means that the total force is delivered faster with the A8 than it is with an A3,” says Short.

“A higher average thrust will give a rocket more speed at the beginning and then a long coast. A lower average thrust will mean the rocket starts slower and builds speed before the coast.”

The last number shows how soon af20 | Kaleidoscope

ter when the motor stops providing trust, and when the ejection charge deploys the recovery system, which allows the rocket to land safely.

“For very light weight rockets a streamer works quite well. As your rockets get heavier you need parachutes and the heavier the rocket the larger the chute required for a safe landing,” says Short.

In order for the recovery system to deploy without the ejection charge burning and melting the recovery system, special fireproof recovery wadding is needed. Estes sells the wadding for $6.29, online, but there are cheaper alternatives.

“The best alternative [to recovery wadding] is what we in the hobby affectionately call “dog barf”. It’s cellulose insulation that can be found at any hardware store. It’s meant to be blown into houses and as such is fire resistant. It’s a good cheap alternative and actually works better and is still biodegradable,” says Short. “You can make your own but it requires chemicals and in the end is more expensive than either of the above options.”

Loose fill cellulose insulation (dog barf) sells for $9.56 16 cubic feet of material.

Photo by Jacob F.

Not all rockets look like your traditional rocket. There are also ones that look like airplanes, and ones that come in shapes that don’t look like they were even supposed to fly. This is a SR-71 Blackbird model rocket, that was made from a kit sold by Estes.

Fins on a rocket are required for stable flight.

“You can have the fins be any shape you want. There are some quite crazy shapes out there. Size is more important than shape. Each rocket size (diameter, length, weight, etc.) has a minimum size in order to allow a straight and safe flight,” says Short.

Rocket fins are typically made of balsa wood, but can be made out of any material, as long as it is stiff.

“If [fins] are not stiff then they will come off easily and not provide much guidance, which is the whole point of the fins,” says Short.

In addition to fins, the body of the rocket and the nose cones are customizable, and can be made of any material.

“People make all kinds of crazy rockets based on things they see,” says Short. “For the most part plain paper tubes work fine as long as they are sturdy. The first thing people usually try to use is toilet paper roll tubes or paper towel tubes - these are just too thin and weak to hold up to the stresses of flying and landing.”

Nose cones can be made at home, provided one has a lathe. If not however, one can make a homemade lathe using a drill mounted on it’s side.

“The making of a nosecone is the hardest part of a rocket so you will find that most people just buy them,” says Short.

Nose cones come in a variety of shapes and sizes, so it may be difficult for one to choose a nose cone to make or buy.

“The nosecone shape doesn’t really matter that much unless you are going for ultimate performance,” says, Short. “The ‘best’ nosecone shape is defined by the flight profile you are going for. If you are going supersonic for example then the ‘best’ shape is different than if you aren’t. Most nosecones available today are the shapes they are because they are easy to manufacture and most rockets flown are not going for ultimate performance.”

The rocket is now built, now all that is left to do is launch it. One needs a model rocket launchpad

Photo by Jacob F.

and a launch controller in order to launch safely. Several launch systems, including a launchpad are sold for Estes for $30, however, all that is needed is a board of wood, and a metal rod stuck into the board vertically. Launch controllers from Estes cost $34 each, but they can be home built.

“There are rules that should be followed based on the safety code,” says Short. “It must have some mechanism so that it is always OFF unless specifically activated and

only while activated. It must have a second “button” for firing. The most common things used here are keys for the on/off and obviously a push button for fire. 6v [volts] is really the minimum that will work reliably with 9v or 12v being better.”

The wires from the launch controller connect to a model rocket igniter, which is two pieces of wire connected to some high resistance wire that heats up and ignites some pyrotechnic material, which in turn ignites the engine.

These are the basic parts needed in a successful rocket: C—Parachute/Recovery System A—Motor Mount Assembly D—Motors and Igniters B—Nose Cone

“The best part about the actual launching of rockets is the sound,” says Short, “The satisfaction of building something that looks good and flys well is great.”

The Austin Area Rocketry Group launches rockets the first Saturday of each month. See http://www. austinrockets.org for details.

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E—Fins F—Launch Lug–Guides path during launch

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E B C D