Mad Tea Party 2012 ~ 2 Giveaways!

Thanks for visiting my blog in participation of the Mad Tea Party 2012 hosted by A Fanciful Twist!  In celebration of the event, my Melaluka Gang had some mad tea party fun of their own.  They're also part of a very special giveaway!


Here are Lucy and Katrina enjoying some make pretend tea and cookies outside of Lucy's treehouse.  

But what are those silly boys up to?...

With monster masks on and ready to scream, it looks like Lance and Melvin are up to no good again...

They scared the girls alright!  But now their tea party is ruined!

So after the boys finish congratulating each other with high fives....

... it's the girls turn to frighten the boys.

As a thank you for visiting my blog, M Ann M Creations is offering an amazing giveaway!

If you leave a comment and/or like M Ann M Creations on Facebook, you will be entered to win 
an Art Doll of your choice!*

If you'd like to win a doll, here's how to enter:

1) Pick the doll you'd like to win from my Etsy page at http://www.etsy.com/shop/mannmcreations
(choose from:  Lance, Melvin, Lucy, Katrina, Naomi, Mad Hatter, Amelia and Susan)
Make sure I have a way to contact you just in case you are the winner.

2)  Leave a comment on this post with the name of the doll that you'd like to win.

3) For a second chance to win, simply LIKE my page on Facebook 

You will have one week to leave a comment for a chance to win.  The winner will be chosen and announced (on my blog and on Facebook) on Tuesday, July 31st  Saturday, August 4th.

Thanks again for visiting and don't forget to check out all the other party people attending this Mad Tea Party.  And leave a comment at a Fanciful Twist for a chance to win an Alice paper doll by M Ann M too!

* Only those Art Dolls listed on Etsy for under $200 are available for the giveaway prize.

Snow in July blog party

Although I can appreciate the peaceful cleanliness of an all white decorated room or the purity of an all white outfit - I need color.  So, I knew my contribution to Marcia's Snow in July, White Themed Blog Party would be a little bit harder for me to work on.  So my "white themed" paper doll, which originally started in my head to be ALL white, ended up having bits of gold and cream and taupe in it - and of course, red lips.

But I'm okay with it not being perfectly ALL white because, after all, is white really white?... I'll always remember the scene in the film "Girl with a Pearl Earring" when Johannes Vermeer asks the maid what color are the clouds...

Look, Griet. 
Look at the clouds.
What color are they?

White?
No...
not white.
Yellow.
Blue...
and grey.
There are colors in the clouds.


         Thanks for visiting my blog for this party and make sure you visit the other participants for more Snow in July!  And don't forget to come back on July 28th for a special giveaway!

-Ann, On Sutton Place
-Chrislyn from Spirit Dog Studios
-Cindy from Cindy Adkins Whimsical Musings
-Diane from Lavender Dreams
-Dianne from YONKS
-Heidi from hi-d's Place
-Irina from Gypsy in Me
-Net Movie Blogger at It's a Wonderful Movie
-Jan from All Ways Designing
-Janet from Enchanting Wonderland
-Jenny from Jenny's Heart
-Karen from Shabby Brocante
-Laura from Fun with This and That
-Linda from Random Creativity
-Mary from MerryDotDandy
-Mary from Thirty Two Yellow Walls
-Michele at Something Special
-Patty from Patty's Pretty Things
-Sheri, Nel, and Jess from Red Rose Alley

Where Bloggers Create 2012

I am so glad to finally participate in this years "Where Bloggers Create" blog party.  I'm always so busy that I don't find out about them until they're already over.  The sucky part is that I missed it twice by only a day or two both times!

I counted 5 different workspace moves I've made in 12 years.  That might not sound like much but it doesn't include the amount of times I've moved "within" those spaces - countless. I have the privilege of living in the house I grew up in as a child and I love that I can raise my own children here.  I have many fond childhood memories of my home, especially those of playing in the basement.  So it only made sense to me that I should move my workspace down there...actually, I had no choice.  My kids took over upstairs.

My basement workspace is suuuuper tiny but it works just fine for me.  I recently moved there so it's not set up the way I want it yet.  Here are two photos.

On the other side of those curtains is storage and gym equipment.  When I'm feeling un-inspired and get in a creative rut, I get on the elliptical machine and watch Pride and Prejudice until I come up with an idea.

That giant paper mache head was a lucky find.  Based on the newspapers lining it inside, it's from the 1950's.  It was probably used as a parade costume.

After the birth of my daughter, I gave up the second bedroom to give to her and I went into the guest room.  After the birth of my son, I gave up half the guest room to make it a playroom/workspace.  I think it goes without saying that this was not a good set up.  Besides the fact that most of my things had to be put in the attic, I also had the kids constantly around me offering to "help" me with my work.  Since my guestroom/workspace area was my favorite, I'd also like to share pictures of that with you below.  

Even though the basement workspace is short on wall space I had to make room for my favorite painting by Deirdre Friebely.  I bought it as a present for myself while I was pregnant with my daughter.  Here it is again displayed in my old workspace.

I had plenty of bookshelf space to store collections of trinkets and magazines.

This is one of my favorite purchases from Wendy Addison.  It is a dancing ballerina shadow play box.

My desk was decoupaged with vintage sheet music and images from their covers.  The picnic baskets hold art supplies and picture frames. And the purses hanging on the door were rarely used other than to hold art supplies as well. 

Ahhhhh... I miss those extra spaces here and there where I could display a doll and other such nice things.


Thanks for visiting my blog and workspaces!  

Slimey the Worm - Tutorial

Since my original post 4 years ago (gasp!) I have received so many inquiries regarding my Slimey the Worm replicas.  Well I've finally gotten around to creating a tutorial on how to make one of your own.  He is very easy to make and requires very few supplies.

Materials:
Upholstery foam or Memory Foam
Sharp Scissors
Light Orange, Dark Orange and Red Acrylic Paints
Paintbrush for acrylic paints (or any small brush with stiff bristles)
Wire
Small scrap of pink paper
Glue
Black Puffy Paint (or two black beads)

Instructions:
 Step 1:  Cut a piece of upholstery foam or memory foam no smaller than 1 1/2"wide x 6" long.  (I was short on foam one day so I actually cut a piece off of my husbands memory foam pillow...tee hee.  You can't even notice it's gone!)

Step 2:   Trim the foam down into an oblong cylinder shape with the scissors.  Make the cylinder as smooth around as possible with no ridges.  The worms I make are about 3/4" wide and 5 1/2" long. 

Step 3:  Paint the worm with a watered down light orange.  Squeeze out the excess paint and let it dry completely.


Step 4:  Paint the dark orange stripes onto the worm.  The stripes for either end of the worm could be about 1/2" wide and the stripes down the middle could be about 1/4" wide.  I try to make my worms with no less than 9 small stripes.  Let the paint dry completely.

Step 5:  Cut a slit on one end of the worm for the mouth.  The slit should be about 6/16" from the outside so that his lower jaw is much smaller than the top of his head.  The slit can go back as far as the dark orange paint (so about a 1/2" deep).  


Step 6:  Paint the inside of the worm's mouth red.

Step 7:  Insert the wire into the worm's back side, right through the middle of the cylinder.  Draw it up into the lower jaw.  Cut off the excess wire making sure that none of it will stick out when the worm is bent and posed.

Step 8:  For the tongue, cut out a small, but fat, heart shape from the pink paper.  Round off the sharp tip of the heart.   With a small dab of glue, place the tongue in his mouth with the bottom of the "heart" facing out.

Step 9: Place two drops of the puffy paint for the eyes on the top of the worms head.  They can be placed about 1/4" away from the end of the dark orange paint with 1/4" of space between them.  Let dry completely.

Prop him up onto a dirty pair of yard boots (or any old piece of trash) and your Slimey the Worm will make a great conversation piece!  Then surprise a Sesame Street fan by setting him up by the garbage can!  Awww...


Here is a picture and photo booth design by K.D. Kinkade.  One of my Slimey Worms completes her set perfectly.

Toy Story Bo Peep replica

Here is another replica I made of a Toy Story character.   I am always excited to make different things and come up with new ideas when using paper.  The lace trimming on the corset and the tulle bustle had me stumped for a day or two, and I was this close to giving up and using fabric - which is a big no-no for me and would have left me feeling totally disappointed and inept in myself.  But after sleepless nights and rummaging through my supplies, I came up with (what now seems so obvious to me) a simple way to make both.  For the lace trimming on her corset, I cut a narrow strip of cardstock using a scallop scissor and simply punched mini holes in it with a push pin for a lace effect.  For her bustle, I folded the paper over itself several times and punched holes everywhere with a mini eyelet setter.  Not everything is exact to the original but I think everyone who has seen Toy Story will be able to identify her as Bo Peep with her three sheep.

The pair are made using paperclay, paper and acrylic paints with a wire armature. Bo Peep measures about 11" tall (with her hat) and her sheep are about 4"tall.  Her shoulders and neck are jointed and her hands/arms are posed to hold her removable shepherds crook. Her bonnet is also removable.  I usually don't make more than one themed custom item but I have an extra set of sheep and the lamp to go with them.  The extra set of sheep ended up being too small when I made them to go with this Bo Peep and as regards the lamp, I had purchased one to alter before I found out the customer already had one.  So if anyone should ever be interested in a Bo Peep replica set, I will make another one.