I remember many years ago when I used to get handmade Mothers Day cards from my kids. But as they get older and busier, the novelty of making a cards has gone.
So if you will be getting your Mother a gift this year, why not make her a handmade card?
It's easy! Here I used Basic Grey paper, German Dresden Scallop Trim, and the image is from Collage Sheet #40. And you can write a nice little personal note inside.
Here's a great way to carry your art. It has pockets the size of ATCs, that you can change to match your outfit or your mood! It also comes with two interchangeable background inserts. One is black, as pictured, and the other an off white. But you can also use the inserts as a pattern and cut your own backgrounds. You can also add ribbons or charms to handle. The possibilities are endless!
Here's a cute Little paper mache cottage that you can transform into a wonderful little gift box, and fill with pretty little bits.
I first painted the inside of the box, the outer rim, and roof, inside and out with Lumiere Paint True Gold.
I cut a pattern of wool felt for the house portion of the cottage. I felted this piece with a white/cream color roving with a little sparkly fibers. I added a paper door image from Collage Sheet #110 and added a few Toho Japanese Bead Mix in Lilac, around the frame. With two pieces of Hand-dyed silk Ribbon - Tender Lilacs, I knotted in the center and glued to both sides of the door. At the bottom of the ribbons, I glued a Velvet Leaf Sprig. I finished by gluing the felted piece to the house portion of the box.
For the roof of the house, I used Colorful Paper Hydragea Petals petals that I first sprayed with Moon Shadow Mist - Violaceous Violet. When dried, I added a little Vintage Glass Glitter - Thistle. I mix the glass glitter with glue, and painted it on the flowers so the glitter would not get all over the petals. When everything had dried, I glued the flower petals to the roof, and glued a purple bead in each center. On the chimney, I attached a German Dresden Crown.
I also added little bits for the gifts, such as a felted heart, bookmark, and little picture card. See what kind of pretties you can come up!
Here's a great little wooden flower bench that you can all kinds of pretties in. Here I made a few crepe paper flowers. I started with a small bunch of Vintage-styled Paper Gypso Flowers, and gatherd strips of Colored Crepe Paper. I also dabbed on a little Vintage Glass Glitter in the center, and framed the flowers with Velvet Leaf Sprigs.
The bench I painted with sage green acrylic paint and a light thinned coat of brown to give it a vintage look. Then glued in the corners a few rusty filigree corners. The image of the girl is from Collage Sheet #54, the bird from Collage Sheet #109, and the label from Collage Sheet #92.
Over at the Paperwhimsy Forum we have several fun projects going on, and more to be announced soon. The picture above is for the Paperwhimsy Moo Madness Monthly Swap. The Moos are a bit different size, so stop by and see them all.
We also have a ongoing Biweekly Quotes Challenge, and a new project to be announnced April 12.
If you haven't joined yet, just click on the link above, and then click on register in top left corner. Hope to see you there!!
A 6x6 inch collage that will given away on April 13th on the PaperWhimsy Forum. Just add your name to the topic posted to enter you name in the hat.
If you haven't visited lately, please stop by and say "Hi". If you'd like to join, just select register, in the upper left hand corner of the screen in link above. We would love to see you!
Lots of fun projects and great members to enjoy.
I had a chance to play and experiment with the Adirondack Color washes and Moon Shadow Mists. Since there was more play involved I can only tell you how I played, and not the exact scientific methods I used to make the background papers.
I usually cut my Watercolor Paper a little bigger than the final size, and trim the edges to size when dry. I found I really like mixing colors, and trying for a softer more muted look. I first covered my work area with plastic sheeting. To get a more muted blended look, I first ran the watercolor paper under the faucet and got the entire surface wet, shaking off any excess. I chose two or three colors to work with, and a coordinating Moon Shadow Mist. Holding the paper upright, I sprayed the top third of the sheet, letting it run down the paper. For a paler shade, spray lightly. I turned the paper upside down and sprayed the second color letting it run down the page into the first color. At this point you can spray a third color randomly. Depending on how much contrast or blending, I may turn the paper several time to let the colors mix. I laid the paper flat, and let dry just a few minutes, to insure the colors did not mix any more. At this time I sprayed a light coat of the Shadow Mists. I was mostly wanting to highlight and add a little iridescent color to the backgrounds. In the above collage, I used eggplant and denim colorwashes with Long John's Silver shadow mists. Here is a little closer sample. It is very hard to photograph the ireidescent quality of the shadow mists.
Click for larger sample
After my first sample, I became a bit braver, and cut several pieces of watercolor paper, and continued with my experiments. Here are some more samples of the end results. Click for a larger view of sample.
Some of the backgrounds I had when I finished "playing".
While I had all the papers spread out on the table I thought it would be fun to see what Paperwhimsy images, and embellishments I could find for future collages. Here's a few combinations I came up.
Some of the Paperwhimsy items I found to add to the backgrounds include:
I'd love to hear about how you use the color washes and shadow mists. I hope these samples will give you a few ideas, and most of all, I hope you have fun playing!
Click on image for closer view
After doing the brooch in my previous post, I though it might be fun to add some rusty bits and see what happens.
Paperwhimsy items used:
Wool Roving, Needle Felting Tool and Mat
Collage Images
Start by cutting your shape out of a base fabric. I use wool felt, but whatever is your favorite. The circle brooch is approximately 2.75 inches in diameter. Lay your felt piece on the felting pad and lay the roving across the base. Make two layers, one left to right, and one top to bottom. Use the felting tool and punch until you have a nice layer, adding till you have a good thickness. It will need to be thick enough to sew and hold the embellishments. Trim the excess roving along the edges. With a 3-strand piece of coordinating embroidery floss, sew a blanket stitch around the edges.
For preparing the rusty bottle cap, I punched two holes in the well, using a hammer and small nail. Place a small piece of torn lace behind the bottle cap and attach the bottle cap to the felted piece using a heavy thread through the two holes, knotting in the back. Cut a collage image to fit in the well of the bottle cap, and spread a thin layer of diamond glaze to glue the image. Also spread a layer of the diamond glaze over the top of the image. For a large rhinestone, a thin layer of diamond glaze to hold the stone is all you need. No need for another layer over the top. Let dry before the last steps.
Add your rusty ivy or filigree corners with a rusty colored thread. Sew coordinating seed beads at each of the blanket stitches along the edge. I aged the little gold heart charms with a brown acrylic paint, and sewed it below the bottle cap. Lastly, I tacked a little ribbon knotted in the middle with thread above the heart charm.
You can finish the back with another piece of wool felt or fabric, stitched or glued, to cover the felting and stitches. Also sew a pinback, and it's ready to pin on your favorite jacket.
Here's any easy project for making a felted brooch. I started with two sizes of circles, one 3.5 inches, and one 2.5 inches diameters. I used a wool felt as a base, but you can use your favorite fabric or interfacing for your base. I hand felted the circles separately, and along the edges, I wrapped the extra roving to the back and lightly felted to hold in place. I was concentrating so much on the felting, I didn't even notice my circles had become lopsided. Well, since I was just practicing, I decided to continue on, making a mental note to watch the shape. I then added a contrasting color to the center of each flower circle. Now it was time to stack the two flowers, and see how it looked. I attached the two layers by concentrating the felting in the center making it tighter. This also leaves a nice area to attach something for the center of the flower. I added a rhinestone button, but there are many things you could use. With the sparkle in the center, I decided to add a little more by sewing some seed beads along the edge of each flower.
Well, as so many times, one thing leads to another. The flower was complete, but now I noticed an area that was really lopsided. :-) It was too late to add more felting, so I looked on my table, and there found some paper leaves and attached those on the back to fill in the uneven space. I finished it off by adding a smaller piece of wool felt to the back, using a slip stitch and fabric glue, then a pinback.
Next dilema came when it was time to take a photo. How can I display this and make it look like a piece of art. After trying several decorative papers, I remember another project I had started, and maybe the colors would work together.
I usually have several projects going at any one time. I had some fabric that I was trying the Adirondack sprays to dye. I first washed a piece of muslin, to remove any sizing. I twisted it to wring out the excess water, and spread it on a piece of plastic. While the fabric was still wet, I sprayed the fabric randomly with Terra Cotta, Butterscotch, and Lettuce color washes. When it was dry, I decided I like the wrinkles look, so didn't I didn't iron it, and just wrapped it around a canvas panel and glued on the back. So now I had a background to photograph my felted flower.
To complete the arrangement, I added a page of text, piece of ribbon, and lace scrap which was also dyed with the same Adirondack color washes. I think it's ready for the photo!
Paperwhimsy products used:
Wool Roving and Hand Felting Tools
Here's a little felted and fabric collage. I started by laying several colors of roving across a piece of wool felt. Lightly hand felted and added a few coordinating fibers. Using a fancy zigzag stictch I stitched the fabric collage to the felted piece. Across the top I added a few different sized turquoise buttons. I also cut several small circles from a peachy colored fabric, and randomly sewed them to the felted piece with small beads. Finally I added a real twig across the top of the fabric image, and secured it with embroidery thread. I loosely fastened the entire piece to the rusty gate frame. The fabric piece measures approximately 6x8 inches.
