In a Wonderland Of My own

Im in a Paper Craft Wonderland.....
I have been surfing the net this morning and have across this wonderful paper art site. The artists there are absolutely amazing. I just had to join up. They do art trades as well, so as soon as I saw that, I was hooked line and sinker!LOL
The site is called Roses on my Table and you can look it up here if you wish to have a peek.
http://rosesonmytable.ning.com/
They have all types of different groups, from ATC's, Paper dolls, Journals,  altered dominoes, accordian books, altered jars, tins and the list goes on.
Of course I had to join the paper doll group first, as it is my latest addiction.
Speaking of paper dolls... yes I have been bust again last night. I signed up for a "Make me happy" list over at AFA.com and the lady requested a Aries zodiac sign paper doll. Ive never made an animal before so I thought why not, Ill be adventurous. Well here is how he turned out. I hope she likes him..

He was also my first fully drawn paper doll. I printed off a picture to inspire me, but I have to admit it was a bit of a challenge to draw all the components seperately. He has 8 joints in all. I used Twinkling H20's for his colouring, which looks great in person. The camera cant quite pick the sparkle up.

I also was happy to recieve an atc I traded for a few weeks ago. I picked out an interesting paper doll, which happens to fold up to a normal ATC, and then fold her legs down and she is a paper doll. She is so cute I just love her.

More creations!

Morning!
I have had a busy last few days now that I am feeling better. I have been stuck in a whirl wind of paper dolls.
They are so much fun. I think the beauty of it to me is finding a head, and then a matching body and different limbs, its so much fun!

I have also been playing around with some new waterpaints I have recieved called Twinkling H2o's. They really are pretty and give a great twinkling glitterey fiinsh. In this journal entry, I used it on my ladies hair, wings and necklace. I have tried to capture the sparkle on camera. Its just so pretty, I really love these paints.

Isn't it so pretty!

Whimsical Paper dolls

For the past wekk I have been so sick with the flu. My daughter came home with it and yep, two days later I was feeling very ill. You name it I had it. Night sweats and chills, vomitiing, coughing, sore throat, head ache and just plain old I feel like sleeping 24 hours a day.
It's hard to be a caring Mum when you feel like that LOL. Thankfully I have a wonderful husband who worked all day then made us dinner, fed the dogs, did the dishes and tucked us in. I am blissfully happy with my man.
Well, Im all better now and during my sickness, managed to google a few minutes a day when I had the energy and found the wonderful world of Modern Paper Dolls.
I immediately fell in love with these beautiful pieces of art and as soon as I was better, I was off to my art desk to create my first two dolls.
The first is a mermaid, made with scrapbooking cardstock, stamping on her arms, floral embellishments and some digital images I printed off. I just loved making her.

The second paper doll is made from mainly digital prints. I used a glitter sticker crown for her head and a floral 3d sticker on her dress. Both are jointed using brads.

Im thinking of making a few more and hanging them from my art desk where I can enjoy them everyday. I also thought they would make great tags on gifts, or I could make christmas themed dolls for the tree.

I have also created a swap over at swap-bot where we will be making 1 whimiscal paper doll for one partner.

Here is the link if you would like to join, or I would appreciate it, if you spread the word on your blog:

http://www.swap-bot.com/swap/show/123137

sign up is by July 3rd and you must send by July 17th.

Swap-bot is free to sign up with and is a great place to swap. I haven't been there too long yet but in the swaps I have participated in, I have not be disappointed and its been only a great experience. Most people have blown me away with their generousity and go way beyond whats expected. It really is a great place and I highly recommend it.

Getting back on track now...

I am just having so much fun with these and they are relatively quick to make once you have all your pieces cut. I back mine with pattererned cardstock, so they are more sturdy and the paper won't wilt over with time.

Have you made some paper dolls lately? If you have I would love to see.....

If your new to the craft, like me, I found this site:

http://www.theenchantedgallery.com/paperdolls.html

There you can find a paper doll template to cut your pieces out as well as some instructions. It's a great place to get you started.

Don't forget I would love to see your paper dolls, so message me okay!

A Busy Night

Top of the morning to ya!
Last night I got busy, with my exciting first swap as a host on Swap-bot. I created 3 vintage circus ATC's and plan to make 3 more, then I will decide which 2 I shall send off to my partner.

Here are the 3 I made last night. They were so fun to make. The one in the middle is my favourite so far. I knew I was going to have to make a few to choose from...Its always hard to part with ATC's.

On another note. I have to admit Ive been a little slack on my journal pages lately. So I also managed to work in that as well, and came up with a 5 minute page which I really love. It has a nice vintage feel to it and has some collage and I used my new twinkling H2o's paints. I f you would like to check it out please visit my Journal Pages Tab up the  top of my blog.

Vintage circus

Well as you all know, I have been busy making ATC's and have been very active over at Swap-bot and AFA.
I am excited to let you know I am hosting my first swap at Swap-bot.
My atc theme is Vintage Circus.

Image by Rustycage11 (flickr)

I just love vintage themed ATC's and especially of circus images.
My grandfather died when I was quite young and it wasn't until I was an adult that I realised he was actually in the circus when he was a young man. Apparantely, he was a tight rope walker! How cool is that, further more he was in charge of the monkeys and I do have photos of my father with his pet monkeys as a kid.
I wish he had lived longer so I could have asked him a thousand questions.
So this is where my love for vintage circus comes from. A very warm part in my heart!

If you would like to enter this swap head over to Swap-bot for all the details at:
http://www.swap-bot.com/swap/show/122138

My first Award!

Wow, my first award! Yah for me...Im delighted. I have just been nominated for the Blogger appreciation award by Narda from  http://pink-calico.blogspot.ca/. Thankyou so much!

How it works, is that I now have to answer some questions and then pass the award on.

So here it goes:

How long have you been blogging?

I'm actually very new at it. I think Ive been here for about 3 months. Ive had other blogs in the past, but this is the first one where I feel, it's not only for me, but hopefully other people find inspiration from it as well.

Why did you start blogging?

At the very first instant, I thought of it as an online journal, but as I thought more thoroughly about it and read other peoples blogs, I realised I wanted to inspire people with my art and also give the odd tutorial. I love helping people and I want the whole world to enjoy art and craft. Its just a great feeling to see my art up on the screen as well! LOL

What sort of blogs do you like to follow/read?

I am a self confessed art-aholic! So I must admit, most of the blogs I read are other art and craft blogs. I especially love ones with tutorials as well. I also like recycling blogs, as I sew on the odd occasion and love to find new exciting ways to recycle something.

What is the one thing you would like to improve as a blogger:

I personally think I can be quite funny, but I find it hard to write funny things. So I will have to try and improve that skill somehow in the future. I would like to make people laugh when they read my blog.

Now, My nomination for the blogger appreciation award is passed onto:  

http://jennibelliestudio.blogspot.com/

I just love jennibelliestudio. She has great tutorials and inspired me to make my own handmade journals. I love seeing her journal pages and she is just a delight to listen to. Thank so much for your blog jenni!