Paper Bird

Paper Clay Pumpkin Head Boxes

 Although I am a collector of many things, my most treasured collection is a collection of of Halloween goods and decorations I have acquired over the years.  Many of them sweet treasures gifted to me by my friends and family.  I am always on the hunt for something unique and wonderful to add to this ever growing collection.  A few years ago I purchased this paper clay pumpkin-head box from the Bethany Lowe collection.  It is a favorite of mine.  I thought it would be fun to show you a few I created for my Artful Thursday project. 

 

(The small pumpkin head box is from the Bethany Lowe collection- to the right- my paper clay pumpkin head creation)

 

 

 

I used a one step crackle finish to give the pumpkin head an aged look. 

 

I love the sweet black bird placed on his party hat.

 

 So easy to create.

Form paper clay over a Styrofoam ball shaping your head to your desired shape.  Dry completely.

Paint your pumpkin head giving it a sweet Jaco-lantern face!  Decoart makes a one step crackle that is easy to use to give your pumpkin head an aged crackled look.  Antique with a dark stain or paint.

Make a party hat using a stiff cardboard for your base.  Glue your  decorated hat to the pumpkin head.

Paint and decorate a craft box to glue your head to.

 

 Happy Artful Thursday 

It has been a blustery weekend here in my neck of the woods.  The mountains peaks are frosted white with the beginning's of a cool winter coat, old man winter leaving a frigid kiss to cool the air with freezing temperatures. 

And so it has begun... my winters mourning.

EEEK! I'm just not ready!

 

 

 

 

 

Art & Soul- Sculpey Clay Dolls

 Life has been a whirlwind since returning home from Art & Soul in Portland.  I had the intentions of coming home to paint and finish the doll I started in the class I took from artist, Judy Wise.  I always feel an urgency of energy to paint and create when I come back from these artful adventures and I needed just a few hours to complete my doll.  That had to be put on hold as my Hubby wanted to head for the scenic mountain lands of Wyoming.  It was incredible with beauty and wildlife.  We hiked the mountainside finding clear lakes and hidden waterfalls.  It was all so wonderful but I am so happy to be home. These October days in my little corner of the world have been so amazingly beautiful... taunting me to come out and enjoy the warm Autumn sunshine.  I think this is the prettiest fall I have experienced since living in this Utah land.  The mountains are still gorgeous with Autumn colors.  Usually this time of year the tips of the Wasatch are frosted white.  I am more than happy for this bit of nature to be postponed although it is freaking my husband out!  All he can think about is our local ski area opening on time which so far does not look promising.  There will be no living with him if the snow does not come!  Anyway these days of sunshine keep me from painting... doing the laundry... completing chores undone and the list goes on and on but finally I took some time to pause and finish my little Sculpey doll. 

 

Since I am a Halloween kind of girl I thought it would be fun to create a witch.

 

 

 

 

I loved creating with the Sculpey clay.  The hardest part was painting the tiny features on her face.  Even with my glasses on I found it frustrating- it's an age thing!  

This sweet horse and doll were created by our amazing instructor Judy.  She had a story for each of her little creations.  Judy's little people are incredible.  Such amazing detail!  This is Olga and her Russian circus horse.  He is mean and has a tendency to bite!

 

 Judy's Sculpey sheep

 

 This is the doll my talented friend Heidi created.  I can't wait to see her finished.

 

 This is the sweet creation of artist Katie Kendrick 

 

 Her piggy bum cheeks!

 

Pretty in pink created by Michelle (sorry I don't remember her last name) 

I was so amazed at all the dolls that were created in this class.  The women were amazing.

 

And speaking of amazing.

I won this beautiful necklace from the amazing Jane Jolee of  Art Takes A Village

I met Jane almost two years ago at the 1st Art Nest retreat I went to.  She is a kind and generous soul and oh so very talented.  Stop by her sweet blog and say hello.

Art & Soul

 

Have you seen the movie despicable me?

 There is a scene in the movie where the sweet character of Agnes,in a deep, gravelly voice whilst holding a stuffed unicorn and shaking it around with the hands back and forth say's “IT’S SO FLUFFY”.  

I love it!  

That's me, with all the excitement of a child at Art & Soul, only the words coming from my mouth are "THIS IS SO FUN!  And it was.  Life is pretty sweet when you can spend two full days painting and creating Sculpey clay dolls, surrounded by the kindness of others who share the same love of creating art, gleaning from the sweet teachers who share the gifts and talents they have.  I feel SO very BLESSED that I am able to experience these artful adventures.  I always come home renewed and fulfilled.  I know I am repetitive when I say "art washes away from the soul, the dust of everyday life", but there is so much truth in that sweet quote.

The first class I took was "Every Face Tells A story" with the most adorable and talented Katie Kendrick.  I loved painting with Katie.  She was so kind and fun, I felt very much at ease in her class.  I was very happy with the finished painting I brought home.  Katie had us working on three paintings at one time but that did not work out so well for me!  Someone forgot to tell her I am the SLOW girl in the class!  I love painting so loosely- not worrying about proportions or the correctness of facial features- it felt very comfortable to me.  I can't wait to finish the other two paintings that I started!     

Here are a just a few of the paintings from some of the other students

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The adorable Katie Kendrick

 

The Hubby is whisking me away to Jackson Hole Wyoming today for the weekend- He is never content to stay home:-(  I am taking my paints with me!

 

I will share the cute doll creations we made with sculpey clay on Monday

 

Enjoy the weekend and do something you LOVE!  It will make you happy.

Artful Thursday-The Magic Of Autumn

Isn't this an amazing time of year!  

I wander outside in the early mornings and marvel at the change taking place in this beautiful season.  I look up to the mountains beyond our home and admire God's touch in the colors of the tree's setting the mountainside on fire in a pretty palette of orange, yellow and red.  The crisp air lays on my skin as a cool sweater preparing me for winters grasp.  I watch the clouds turn from dark morning grey to daylight white as the sun reaches over the horizon ready to start his busy day.  The dew is heavier, almost as if taunting Jack Frost to come out and play... (but not too soon please!)  

I love this Autumn season!

It is all so beautiful.  

  It is such a fun time to gather fat orange pumpkins to display them on a decorated porch, dressing it for this magical time of year.  A sweet invitation for friends and neighbors to come a calling.  A welcoming haunt for little spooks on Halloween night... a place to gather and enjoy the blessings of this beautiful season and a perfect spot to hang a artful banner.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday I am traveling to the beautiful city of Portland Oregon to attend Art & Soul.

I can hardly wait

to play

create

meet new friends :-)

I'll be back next week to share all the details!
Wishing you sweet Autumn blessings.
Happy Artful Thursday

 

 

 

 

Petite Inspiration Box Swap- The Black & White Edition

 

I love participating in swaps.  There seem to be so many to choose from in this land of blog but one of my favorites swaps to participate in has been the Petite Inspiration Box Swap hosted by the amazing Heather from A Speckled Egg.  I love altering these tiny match boxes that you can purchase at your local grocery stores.  They are perfect for tucking in the tiniest of treasures and gifts.  This was my second time participating in Heather's swap.  The two creative and generous ladies that I swapped with did a wonderful job, taking great care to create their sweet little inspiration boxes and filling them to the brim with artful treasures.  Take a look at the wonderful little boxes they sent to me.     

 
Heidi's Box

 

The sweet details... A pretty ruffled rose with twine wrapped around the German ledger paper that included a vintage pen tip. 

 

I love the vintage paper that Heidi papered the inside of the box with. 

 

The tiny inspiration box was filled to the brim with vintage treasures and tiny art bits. 

 

 Tina's Box

 

 The sweet details- a vintage doily wrapped around the papered box.  I love the sweet fabric photograph that Tina attached to it.

 

 Tina created a box with two tiny drawers- so very clever!

 

Each tiny drawer was so generously filled with sweet treasures. 

 

 

This is the Petite Inspiration Box that I created for Heidi and Tina.

I tucked them in a black organza bag tied with ribbon and a tiny Jack-o-lantern ornament. 

 

 A Batty Witch with glittered wings.

 

Tucked inside my box were glittered stars, a rhinestone button, a tiny glass bird and a packet of halloween ephemera with ribbons and trims. 

 

So very fun to make.

I think these little boxes would be so fun in a Halloween theme- filled with candy to give to sweet little trick-or-treaters that come a haunting on Halloween evening :-)

 

 

 

 

Boo To You and Happy October!

I'm running behind (as usual :-) with my Artful Thursday project but I wanted to announce the winner for last weeks Artful Thursday Giveaway.

The winner  is Cerri from Little Pink Studio.  

Stop by and visit her sweet blog and her fun shop that she has stocked full of crafty goods.

 

Just a small peek at a fun swap I am participating in.  As soon as both girls get their packages I will post it in full.

Have a beautiful Autumn day and come back soon to see my fun Artful Thursday project.

 

 

Artful Thursday- Vintage Inspired Wool/Cotton Dolls

It's been awhile since I have met with my Art Group Friends.  We took two months off to enjoy the summer break.  I have really missed that creative outlet and the sweet ladies that come to these monthly meetings. 

Now that summer has retreated and we are back to our scheduled routines we are back to creating artful projects.  

For awhile now I have been wanting to learn the craft of making vintage inspired wool/cotton dolls.  When our cute Julie came up with the idea to create these vintage replica dolls I was like a little girl waiting for Christmas day.  

Can I just say it was soooooo fun!!!!

I loved making these sweet simple dolls.  

 

 Julie has written a wonderful book called "Pretty Little Felts".  It is filled with sweet and simple artful projects, including the instructions to make these tiny dolls.

 

 This is the sweet doll Julie created when she was compiling artful projects for her book.

 

This is the tiny doll I created.  I used some old spun cotton that I have been storing for 15 years!  I also used a photograph of LuLu when she was a baby...  a sweet gift for her to treasure.  I think they would make wonderful Christmas ornaments using photographs of your little ones. 

 

 I love using vintage photographs in my projects.  I also made this batty witch that sits on a paper bird-pull.

 For my Artful Thursday giveaway I am gifting someone with Julie's wonderful book and a artful Halloween kit.  Leave a comment and I will pick someone for my next Artful Thursday post.