Fabric, Puffy Paint, Owls and Trees. Me Likey.

This one of the tree is actually huge. Much larger than the Owl,they are both in my living room. It was fun to make these with fabric scraps.Just messin around :) I think I'm going to make an owl stuffed animal or softie similar to this guy very soon . I'm itchin to try out my sewing machine skills some more.YaY owl softie !

The Poop Pages?

 This is one of my very most personal favorite crafty materials. http://www.poopoopaper.com/ The paper is beautiful and I love the texture of it.  (poop stuff ) hee hee . But seriously, it is really nice paper.It's "green" and makes for great journals. The paper does have like grass and stuff kinda fused into it ,or whatever that particular animal fancied eating I guess :) It comes in different colors too.

   

This is one of my journals , made from elephant poo. I added some fabric to it and I like it even more now that It's kinda dangly.I stole that idea from Suzi Blu .She is a pretty awesome artist, super crafty and hilarious.I totally adore her and all the stuff she does, even though I think she maybe eats to many space cakes ?

   

  Wha ,more Neko Case lyrics ? Yes, another woman I adore.

The best thing about an art journal , or any kind of journal for that matter is, that it is all for YOU. You can put anything in it , ANYTHING and nobody has to see it . Unlike blogging, I think there is freedom in that, knowing that you don't have to show anyone . It's your secret place , just have fun with it.You don't have to "poo poo" everything you do (no pun intended) worrying what people will think of it when they see it .Is it good enough? am I nuts? Who cares. Be you.


                           

 


  Lyrics, Pictures, Paintings, Stickers, Stuff you find, Poems,Drawings,Magazine Cutouts,all good stuff! This page is actually a dried flower from my bouquet when I was my best friends Maid of Honor , or Matron . I thought it looked like a little tree.

           


This is a real Owl feather. I'm not happy about the way I found it though :( We actually hit one with   our car one night while on a road trip. He just swooped right down out of nowhere and when we stopped, the poor little guy was stuck in our grill.Thank goodness he was dead and not suffering. He was Beautiful and   just a little baby too. So sorry Mr.Owl ! :(

 

 

Sometimes scribbling like a little kid and seeing what happens is fun. Pastels are great for that.


                                                                     

       

Scribbling with Microns and paint , also fun :)

 

Bored? Make a paper collage with pretty paper you like , no biggie.

 

Take the scrap book route.I think there is a fine line between my scrapbooks and my journals.Put a picture of something that makes you happy in there.This is me and my mom when I was little, I was glad to have a great visit with her after it had been a long time.We haven't really been close throughout my life, so I wanted to keep that moment.I grew up eating some amazing German bread from that place.We went there together and bought some while I was back home.It was a good day :)

Animals wearing suits,never a fail.

Sometimes I like to be a smart ass about things that piss me off.

                                                     
                                                                            
                         

The Best Things In Life Are Free.

My Famaweeee!!This was probably the best day of my life :)

Dremel ... Hot Glue Gun ... You Complete Me .

 I'm excited to share a 3d Doll painting that I did. I really love her :)  I had some foam board scrap pieces left over from my lightbox and some larger size Styrofoam balls. So I figured I should use them for something. This was actually inspired by a really cool paper mache 3d painting of Van Gogh that I saw here http://www.papiermache.co.uk/tutorials/3d-van-gogh/ Pretty neat Idea.Great site for paper mache art as well http://www.papiermache.co.uk/  people do some pretty incredible stuff!  I used the Styrofoam ball ,cut in half and glued it to the foam board and then sculpted the face on to it with paper clay.You could also use packing peanuts glued down to sculpt over or paper mache over. Remember not to use a hot glue gun on any kind of styrofoam, I tried it once.It melts (dur) The hot glue gun was more or less for her hair and adding the butterflies when I was done :) and if you get foam board too wet while painting it , it curls :( This one did but I think I am going to glue and clamp her on to a piece of plywood of equal size with wood glue,outta straighten and sturdy her right up . I have come to realize that having a hot glue gun rules! I use it for pretty much everything ! (except for styrofoam) and a dremel is a great thing to have for making dolls and doll faces. But even still, a little sandpaper does a lot.Yay my awesome hubby for getting me a dremel for Christmas, I knew I was gonna need it eventually.

Leonor , A Paper Clay Doll

1. 

   This is my 2nd doll made with paper clay

   

   Lookin a little E.T. creepy

   

   Taking a different approach this time

I jointed her with floral wire so she is just slightly pose-able

First time using a sewing machine in 19 years , not perfect! but I'm happy with  it 

I am very pleased with how she came out , I like this way of making the body.She has kind of a Rag Doll feel to her but of course is still pretty fragile. I wouldn't recommend tossing her around :) I know this isn't really quite a  tutorial per se , I will do a more detailed one eventually.I am totally just getting the hang of this blog thing so bear with me . I am going to try a few more different ways of making dolls, until I figure out what works best for me and find my niche :) I found this really great tutorial a while back and definitely plan to give this a shot very soon. Especially since I have busted out the sewing machine and have some muslin fabric for the body laying around here somewhere! http://hamkaastostie.deviantart.com/art/How-to-sculpt-a-doll-tutorial-55889006?offset=10#comments    Thanks  Hamkaastostie ! Awesome tutorial , So very Helpful!

I used a light box to photograph her

 Also a good Link  http://www.studiolighting.net/homemade-light-box-for-product-photography/ if you need to take photos of items so long as they are not to big, although this is a pretty good size light box.I imagine you could even stick some smaller sized paintings in it and get good pics.I'm really glad I made one. It was on my do list before opening a new http://www.etsy.com/ store.Only cost me about 12 bucks.

An Apple A Day Keeps The Doctor Away !

My hair is actually the same color as hers now ; ) and I do try to follow her advice and eat an apple everyday... but sometimes I would just rather have a beer.

How Many Goodly Creatures Are There Here !

My Claim to Fame ! ha ha not really, but I was pretty stoked to be featured here in Faerie Mag ! This was a while ago when I was needle felting like a mad man , or woman :) That there is my Pixie sitting on a mushroom..Lately I have been needle felting smaller things like doll accessories . This is a pretty awesome magazine :) http://www.faeriemagazine.com/index2.asp

Oh Paper Clay , How I Love Thee !

 

I recently discovered paperclay ,she is my first doll I made using it  (great stuff that paperclay)  I was making dolls with paper mache at first , which I love, but I wanted to get a bit of a different texture so this is how she turned out . I don't know if  I will make another like her because she was my first and somewhat of a prototype. I am still experimenting with different ways of  constructing more detailed doll bodies . This lady was made from a gas station cup.

 LOVE this stuff ! http://www.paperclay.com/ it feels kinda like wet beach sand. You can sand it after it dries and No baking ! Alls you need is patience grasshoppa, it dries overnight. Sometimes you do need a different type of clay that is a little more dense for facial and other details.La doll premiere is good.I haven't ordered any paper clay from the site and don't know what it runs with shipping .I do know they have it at Hobby Lobby for less than 5 bucks.

My Blog

I'll start out by saying this is my first time blogging ever, I'm basically just a curious & creative person who enjoys figuring out how to create a variety of different "artsy fartsy" type things, I love crafting and I also like to do crafts with my kids.So this blog is going to pretty much consist of my crafty adventures ,art , mistakes, musings ,things that inspire me ,the occasional rant I'm sure and  just plain ol' crafty awesomeness ; ) I plan to be adding different tutorials for all kinds of  projects , anything from paper crafts , doll making , paper clay, sewing , fun crafts for kids , painting , paper mache, needle felting,seasonal goodies and all kinds of crazy fun things.I will also be sure to add some awesomely helpful links that I have stumbled across in my own search for great crafty information, learning as I go !
Just spreadin the love  ya'll.
                                                                             
   Lisa   : )