"Santa Baby" paper doll swap

Sorry it's been a while since I've blogged. I got a new job (YAY!!!) and have been pulling crazy hours. Despite the madness of work and the holidays, I have completed a fun swap on swap-bot. This was a swap for a naughty paperdoll for Santa. I'm sure that everyone made a gal in a Santa outfit, but I opted for an elf. The whole thing took me about a week. Each night (after a long day at work) I completed a different step: design, color, ink, laminating, packaging.

First I found a cute cheesecake pinup figure that I liked and used her as a template. Then I played around with different ideas: a naughty sleigh-girl, skimpy ice-skater, slutty snow-bunny etc. I ended up designing a cute elf outfit with stockings, boots and a short dress and liked it best! Here is the clean pencil design after a few rough drafts:


I debated about coloring her with marker or colored pencil, but decided to stick with my medium of choice: watercolor. After I painted her, I went over her with black ink to really make her stand out. I supported the back of the doll with some really cute red & green patchwork christmas cardstock paper from DCWV to give her some structure. Then I "laminated" her with some packing tape so that the watercolor wouldn't smudge or fade with moisture. I have to say that I LOVE the way this doll turned out. She is one of my better dolls as of late. I think using the watercolor and then inking in the outline gives it a crisp, air-brushed look. Here is the doll with her cute outfit (PLEASE click the picture to get a bigger view):


Last, but not least, I packaged her up. I REALLY didn't want to make a trip to the post office so I figured out a cute way to fit her into an envelope. I was going to use some dark green cardstock to stiffen the envelope so it wouldn't bend and made it a tri-fold. I slipped the doll inside and it looked so darn cute that I sewed her (with her outfit on top) into place. I found a silver gel pen and wrote a quick note to my swap partner inside. I folded the whole thing up and put a holiday sticker on the front to seal it closed then put it into an envelope! Here's a pic of the inside:



Before I end this post, I have to show you what was sent to me in return. I'm not really bagging on the sender, but this is an example of why I'm not doing many public swaps on swap bot anymore. It looked like someone printed out a template, glued it to some cardstock, did a bad job cutting it out, glued some embellishments on top, inked over some of the features and mailed it out to me. I understand not having a good quality printer, not having tracing paper or a light box, but there are SEVERAL ways to create art using practically nothing. I can't fault the doll, it's not her fault she was poorly made and she really does have a personality, but the artist should have taken more than 5 minutes to put her together. The saddest thing is that on the artist's flikr page, she has made some really cute stuff. I was really disappointed, but am not going to linger on it. The main reason I joined this swap was to create something pretty for someone else to enjoy. Oh, here is a picture of the doll I was given (click the image for a closer look):

I can't wait for my partner (also the swap host) to get her paper doll! I hope she enjoys it and doesn't think the partial nudity is offensive. I doubt she will, but you never know....

Anyways....I hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas. I will try to find time to keep my blog updated more often. I've been taking pictures off all my recent crafting so I'll be sure to post everything soon!!!!

My mother's Studio

I was at my folks house this last weekend and I thought I would share with you my Mother's studio. I love my mom's studio. It's filled with wacky stuff, odds & ends, antiques and other things to keep inspired. Every time I visit I love to peek in to see what she's been working on. It's kind of cool to see a lot of myself in her studio. Guess the apple doesn't fall far. I have to tell you that my mom was concerned that her studio wasn't "clean" enough for me to take pictures to post, but I told her that a "clean" studio stifles creativity. Plus, how is this not clean??? If this is messy, I don't think I want to see what "clean" is. Would you? I didn't think so! Please click on the picture for a larger view, it's worth the close up!

This is a photo from the door way looking left. That's Buster, my parent's "Rag Doll" breed cat. Under the quilt piece on the hutch (to the right) are binders full of magazine articles that my mother has pulled for templates, ideas and inspiration. Sharing Buster's napping place is mom's state of the art (circa 1999ish) sewing machine, a computer with internet access and lots of tools. Under the desk are racks of beads, bins of fabric and many more fun supplies. Outside the window is my mother's garden where she grows fruit, vegetables, herbs and flowers (a whole other blog for another day, seriously, it puts better homes and gardens to shame). On the back fence (outside in the garden) my mom set up a trellis and hung various suns and moons she has collected. Everything from stained glass and terra-cotta, to ceramics and wooden pieces. I'm seriously bummed I didn't take a picture to show you.


this is the corner to the right of the window (see other picture above). The Egyptian quilt is one of my mother's original designs. Her whale quilt is my very favorite, but it's currently on display elsewhere. Notice the spice rack (there are a few throughout her studio). She buys old spice racks from yard sales, dumps the spices (spices are only good for 6 months before they NEED to be tossed. Seriously people dump your old spices) and she fills them with craft supplies, in this case: beads.


Who says hutches are only for the dining room to display wedding china? This is one of my mom's dumpster diving treasures. Isn't it awesome? Further more, who says canning jars are only for preserves? My mom fills them with buttons, beads, stones, funky tidbits, dried herbs and more!

These are only a FEW of my mom's helpers: Golden Retriever brothers: Jack and Bear, Molly the cow dog and Buster the cat. Not pictured are: Patience the desert tortoise (ok, she's so freakin cute she's pictured below taking a "swim" to cool off) , Shadow the other "rag doll" kitty, the fresh water fish aquarium (against the wall in my mom's studio), a lizard thing in my brother's room and the coy pond in the front yard!


I hope you enjoyed taking a peek. There is SO MUCH MORE that I didn't picture, but I thought I would give you a small taste. My "studio" (aka: area of my room takin over by projects) isn't nearly as impressive, but I like to think that I see alot of her in my room.

Alice

Speaking of fairy tales…. It’s about time Tim Burton took on Alice in Wonderland! It’s absolutely perfect for his medium in every single way. Dark and twisted? Check! All star cast? Check! 3-D? Check!!! What more could you ask for? I mean seriously people, I’m stoked!!!!

I know it’s a different twist on the story. It’s a few years after Alice’s visit and she ends up following the rabbit down the hole again, except she doesn’t remember. I think Burton is also combining both Alice books (Alice’s adventures in wonderland and what she found there and Alice through the looking glass) so that various characters will show up. Traditionally the first book has a “playing card” theme, whereas the second dealt with chess. Since characters like Tweedle dee & Tweedle dum, the mad hatter, the white queen, the queen of hearts, the talking flowers etc are all showing up, it should make for a great Burton twist!

Here’s the official website with more concept art, pictures and other fun stuff!


Here's the trailer to get you all excited!!!!

Playing around with a new look

My blog might change appearences in the next few weeks. I'm looking for a happier lighter look; something natural and pretty. Please bare with me!

Fairy Tale

OMG!!!!! I’m so excited Disney is finally going back to traditional fairy tales. No offense to generation X, but I want pretty, romantic and sweet stories. The kind I grew up with. I’m also sick of CGI (computer generated images) and long for the beautiful, lush back drops and portrayal of hand drawn. Who says today's kids don't like classic fairy tales? I remember when Swan Lake came out and even though it wasn't a Disney flick I still loved the story and the pretty princess.

I was stoked when they finally announced The Princess and the Frog, but am saddened it has a New Orleans’s twist to it. I wanted something even more traditional like Sleeping Beauty or Snow White. Don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled to finally see hand drawn art again (the first feature length since Home on the Range), but am so pissed at all the drama surrounding this movie. It has been so delayed in coming by the black community who wanted everything to be so damn politically correct. I really don’t want to get into it here, but the main thing was that Disney had to bend over backwards to quell the disputes over the movie. Originally the character’s name was Maddy (short for the French Madeline), but I guess it sounded too much like “mammy”. She was supposed to be a handmaid in the house (like Snow White or Cinderella), but that was considered racist. There was tons of other out cries like the prince not being black (I guess he’s Latin) and why isn’t a black princess good enough to have a black prince…..blah, blah, blah.

Needless to say, it really turned me off to the movie. I just wanted to see something new and beautiful with hand drawn art and a loving fairytale that pulls on your hear with out the fear of ogres ruining the moment with belches. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still going to see it, but I’m a little let down by the PC patrol.

All in all, I'm excited for movie; new songs, a new pretty princess and old fashioned art work. I'm sort of hopping we'll finally get to see a princess roaming around New Orleans's square in Disneyland. Fat chance I'm sure, as they shove all the princesses behind a partition in the back of Fantasy Land where you have to wait an hour to see them. Gone are the days when characters roamed the park where you would randomly encounter them. I wonder if they'll revamp "Splash mountain". Right now the theme is about Brier Rabbit from the Movie Songs of the South. Doesn't sound familiar? That's because Disney avoided VHS release in the USA because (once again) the black community thought it too racist. ANYWAYS..... I know Splash Mountain is a classic, but no one knows the story (unless you've seen the movie or read the book) and I just wonder if they'll change out some of the characters for the upcoming movie. Yeah, I'm doubtful too....but you just know they'll have something there to promote the new movie in New Orleans's square.....and they should! The only recent changes have been the seasonal "Nightmare before Christmas" at the Haunted Mansion during the holidays.

Also coming out (scheduled for the holidays in 2010) is Rapunzel!!!!!! Although it’s not hand drawn like the Princess and the frog, the art director is working hard to bring the warmth and romance into the art work. They are also taking a traditional approach (see the castle & forest pics) to the tale keeping with the original story line. I heard they wanted to modernize it, but am excited they’re focusing on tradition. I’m stoked and cannot wait!!!!

I'm a little surprised that she looks just like Enchanted's Giselle (which started out as a traditional fairy tale, but turned modern). I know Rapunzel has blonde hair and perhaps a more deversified wardrobe (I'm hoping for soft blues and sage greens like The Princess and the Frog), but If you look at the concept art of Rapunzel on the left vs. Giselle on the right both with chipmunks, you can see where I'm coming from, but hey I'll take what I can get. Hooray for Princesses!!!!!!

If you want some more concept art, cruise to Walt Disney’s Animated Studios website. They don’t have a whole lot, but they do give you a taste of their latest works in progress when you click through the tabs. You can also google image search the movie titles too. Just make sure you include "Disney" somewhere in there or you might get a "Barbie" rendition.

One more title that is lurking around is Pixar's movie: "The bear and the bow" to be realeased some time in 2011. This will be Pixar's first attempt at a "fairy tale" with a female lead (as opposed to the female being a love interest or moral compass for a male lead). There really isn't a whole lot to be found on it other then a crappy concept piece. Even my secret place to find more concept art by artists in the know at DeviantArt didn't have anything good listed. Luckily I do know that Reese Witherspoon will be the main character's voice. I guess it's set in Scotland where a princess (?) disguises herself in order to become a great archer. This is speculation on my part, but it sounds awesome!!!!

A proper Irish tea....and sweets!

So what if it's 85 degrees out! I brewed me up some lovely Irish Tea; Tetley tea to be exact! Through a swap on swap-bot, I made a new friend named Claire who lives in Northern Ireland! The swap was to visit other people's blogs to get inspiration and to gain exposure. Claire's blog was one of the blogs on my list and I felt totally inspired! First of all, I "borrowed" her human calendar idea and struggled to make it work (thanks to Debbie I was able to make it work!!!!), then I scrolled down and found some other stuff that got the gears turning.

One of the things that really stuck out was Claire's completed "wreck this journal". I've heard of it before, but never really got the concept. After contacting her about a private swap, we struck up a little friendship. We decided to make our own altered journals using the "wreck this journal" as inspiration. Since the journals would take a while to create, craft, magically happen etc. we decided to swap sweets & munchies in the mean time!!! Claire apparently LOVES unique filled Oreo cookies, so I found a bunch to ship to her. Since Oreos have so many varieties ( I found at least 5, not including the oreo straws and handi-snacks) I picked out the 3 best ones to send to her. I would have sent more, but international shipping is OUTRAGEOUS (even using a flat rate box). She also mentioned that she would like some Lucky Charms as they are a wee bit pricey over in Northern Ireland. So I crammed the large flat rate box FULL to the brim with fun local treats!

In return I received this fantastic box full of yummy goodness!!!! It had: Jameson Irish Whisky fudge, Jameson Milk chocolate truffles, Bushmills whiskey dark chocolate truffle bar (OMG), Guiness dark chocolate Caramel bar, Guinness Fudge bar, O'Neills all butter shortbread cookies (is your mouth watering yet?), a bag of "proper" tea (Tetley), Irish flag colored candy stick, and 2 BEAUTIFUL postcards! I had no idea that booze companies made candies too?! What's a girl to do? Brew some tea!!

I know you all think I dove for the chocolate first, but the words "all butter shortbread" almost gave me a heart attack. I tore open the box immediately. Luckily the cookies were wrapped in 2's so it helped me to ration what I have (sorry mom, I'm not sharing). Since the cookies were so rich, I needed something to wash them down with and my eyes flew to the bag of tea. I opened the bag and was greeted with the most wonderful aroma. It just wafted out and made my mouth water even more. I don't know what kind of crap we have here in America, but it ain't tea! Granted I grew up on mint sweet tea (a southern thing), but this tea was different......it was just richer.

Per Claire's instructions, I made some tea with one sugar and milk. I wasn't sure what "one sugar" meant as I don't have cubes or packets, so I just used one spoon full. People, I cannot tell you how amazing this tea was. It was smooth, strong and yet subtle at the same time....a perfect compliment to my cookie (the last of which was just gobbled up as I type this).

All I have to say is: Thank you, thank you Claire! I love everything. I'm excited that I have tons of chocolate that will (hopefully) last a while, but I can assure you the tea and the rest of the cookies will be gone by the end of the week!

As for the journal, it's coming along great! I'm finding inspiration everywhere. I haven't devoted 100% to it as I have my Mermaid's Trousseau project being wrapped up, but when it's finished I'll post a bunch of pictures of it! It's going to be fabulous people!!!!

Mermiad inspiration

As you know I'm currently working on my latest & greatest swap: The Mermaid's Trousseau. Since a few others have posted a sneak peek of their mermaid creations, I thought I would post something as well. This is what I have out in my room to give me inspiration for my swap and I keep finding little treasures to add to it. Within the past few weeks this has turned into my Mermaid's Trousseau. I'm not posting any pictures of the final swap until it is mailed and my partner has received it! I don't want her seeing too much. I have a few large projects, in the works and so far everything is coming together so beautifully. I almost don't want to give it away (LOL). It may not look like much now, but just remember that this is my inspiration and only a hint at what there is to come!