Art Doll ~ Melvin

Melvin is a happily quiet boy who can sit for hours by himself and just a couple of toys and still have a great time. His imagination takes him to places far and wide as he creates his own little worlds of pirates and jungles with scissors, paper and crayons.

Melvin helped his dad make this boat for him using a T.V. screen cardboard box and some old sheets for sails. The mast is made of a shipping tube with a Styrofoam ball on top. Attached ropes and eye hooks let Melvin maneuver the sails into any kind of rough waves and winds that may come his way.

Melvin wears navy blue overalls, a white t-shirt, brown shoes and a sailors hat. Melvin and his clothes, hat and boat are made of paper. He measures about 6 1/2" tall and the boat is about 8"high. He can be posed sitting or standing with the assistance of an included doll stand.

Available for sale on Etsy in Summer, 2012.

The Melaluka Gang

When I was in elementary school, I was part of a small group of best friends. We called ourselves the Melaluka Gang. This name was supposed to be a combination of all of our names put together; although I think only MY name was really part of it - the other girls (club/gang members) were Porsha, Kimberley, Reena and Jasmine. So to this day, I don't know why we settled on the name "Melaluka" but everyone agreed it was the best fit.

Little stories and experiences like this are only part of what may inspire one of my art projects. For example, (here is a babbling peak into what goes on in my head).... before I even began the dolls I thought it would be cool to make dolls based on my children...or any children....with the cardboard structures like I made my kids....someone gave my boss a Charlie Brown Christmas tree... I've always liked the Charlie Brown illustrations....so maybe the dolls could look something like Charlie Brown....The Little Rascals came on TV the other day which reminded me of my gang of friends in elementary school....so maybe I could make a little gang of dolls....and they would wear some kind of "timeless" but classic outfits like in The Little Rascals....one would have pigtails like I always had as a kid...I looove overalls....those Shirley Temple dresses are so cute....etc....etc... And that is how the dolls came to fruition.

Here are Melvin, Lance, Lucy, and Katrina - The Melaluka Gang.

I will post more pictures for each doll separately later this month. Each doll comes with their own cardboard play structure and hat; all of which can be made by yourself for your own children at home. I will tell you how I made them and how you can too.

I've had a lot of fun making this little group of friends and I already have in mind the theme of my next set. I can't wait to get started!

A Realistic Paper City

Doesn't the picture above look like a real city from long ago? Well it is a city...but it's made of paper!

The city is a scale model of Prague, capital of the Czech Republic, and the model is preserved in the Prague Municipal Museum. The builder was Antonin Langweil, who worked on his model for 11 years, from 1826 to 1837, the year he died. Langweil spent several years meticulously recording details of Prague. He walked every street, making sketches and noting the exact location of buildings, park benches, sheds, statues, and trees. He even included barrels he saw on the ground, broken windows, a ladder leaning against a wall, and piles of wood! Then he started to build his model of paper and a little bit of wood, working to a scale of 1:480. He added street lanterns, gutters, and cobblestones. And he faithfully reproduced churches with their stained-glass windows—including missing or broken panes. In places where the plaster had chipped off houses, his model shows the underlying bricks. He also added the Vltava River, which winds its way through Prague.

Today, Langweil’s paper model is not only an interesting museum artifact but also a magnet for art lovers and for historians who want to see how Prague has changed over time. Measuring 18.9 feet by 10.6 feet, it is sealed in a glass display case and illuminated with numerous tiny lights suspended inside the case. Thanks to modern technology, Langweil’s model has now been digitized, allowing visitors to see the Prague of 1837 in the form of an interactive computer model.

The above information and pictures are from Awake!, February 2012 and http://www.langweil.cz/index_en.php. Please visit these sites for detailed information.

Amazing! Paper Arts

Every now and again, I visit Folding Trees for a paper-arts-inspiration fix. Needless to say, I leave the website feeling un-worthy of calling myself a paper artist; the nerve of me!

It is amazing what can be done with paper! Here are just a few highlights from the website.

Octopus book by Kaspen, Castle by Peter Callesen and Paper Shoe by David Browning.

Toy Story 3 (inspired) Jack in the box

A custom order based on the Jack in the Box from Toy Story 3 that says "NEW TOYS!"

Art Doll ~ Elizabeth (Custom Doll)

Elizabeth is a custom doll created for her namesake. She is dressed in a flirty and fun cotton summer dress with a small flower print. Her dress is complimented with a pair of leather strapped sandals and black sunglasses. Her accessories include an artists easel and stretched canvas. Elizabeth stands about 13" tall.

As always, everything is made of paper. For this doll, I copied the design from an actual dress (worn by the real Elizabeth) and printed it onto paper. To make the paper sturdy I coated it with several layers of sealer. The sunglasses have a clear paper lens and can tuck into her hair to be worn on her head.

The Learning Treehouse

If I remain a stay at home mom, my entire house will surely be replaced by cardboard. Where there was once a vintage side chair and marble side table, here is another corner of my dining room that is now occupied by a cardboard structure. I created "The Learning Treehouse" so my kids could have a special place to play with their Melissa & Doug educational puzzles, their Alphie Robot and a world map.

Underneath the window, on the inside of the treehouse I placed two cardboard boxes (stuffed with Styrofoam packing peanuts for strength) for the kids to stand on and feel like they're "really high up".

As with "The Reading Castle" I involved my children in the creative process by letting them help me paint the trees and leaves and gluing them on.

On the corner wall inside the treehouse, I taped a world map that I use to teach Delilah and Justin where their favorite cartoon characters live and come from. I also included a picture of the kids so they know where they live in relation to everyone else. You can write the answers on the backs of the pictures.

To make the pictures stay on the wall, I placed tape on the backs so the kids could place them right onto the map where they belong. (Tip: to prevent the tape from ripping the paper of the map I placed the tape onto a piece of clothing first. This makes the tape "less sticky" and not so permanent.) When I get a chance, I'll transfer the whole thing to magnetic sheeting.

Here are some of the cartoon characters I used if you'd like to re-create the same project for your kids or as a gift to one. (BTW: Not sure of all the origins so I guessed at some of them like Dora, who I put in Mexico). I also printed out some polar bears for the North Pole but I'm still missing someone who comes from Canada. Do you know of any?

Ariel - Off the coast of Europe

Belle - France

Bubble Guppies - Atlantic Ocean

Diego - South America

Dora - Mexico

Max and Ruby - Mid West, USA

Mulan - Eastern China

Nemo - The Great Barrier Reef

Olivia - Western, USA

Peppa Pig - England

Feifel - Moscow

Happy Feet - South Pole

Kai Lan - Western China

Lilo and Stitch - Hawaii

Madagascar - this is a hard one

Prince of Egypt - guess?

Simba - Australia