New from M Ann M - Art Dolls

~ 2011 marks my 10th year in business.  Through those years I have experimented with so many art mediums and I have probably purchased items from every isle in the craft store.  For the past several years I have fallen in love with and stuck to paper arts.  I started with greeting cards, then paper mache jack in the boxes, then paper mache hot air balloons and now I am introducing my one of a kind art dolls.  Since time is still hard to come by, I can only make one or two dolls a month; but for this week I will offer four dolls.  Below is the first doll whom I named "Paris".  ~

Paris stands about 12" high with striped shirt, pleated skirt and red neck scarf.  She sports thigh high fish nets and tall black boots with silver buckle accents.  Hair long brown hair can be worn with or without her accompanying baret.  She also comes with a camera that she carries on her shoulder or around her neck.

Tomorrow night (Wednesday, February 16) I will post another doll and then another on Thursday and Friday.  On Friday night they will all be available for purchase on Etsy for up to $175

Here are some details about the dolls...
The dolls are made using paper mache with a paper clay overlay.  They have a wire armature running throughout their bodies including their hands and feet.  The arms, legs and head are movable as they are connected to the body with nut/screw joints.  They are painted with professional quality acrylic paints and sealed with a matte sealer.  Their clothes, hair, accessories and accompanying "gifts" are made entirely of paper (ie; paper mache, paper clay, cardboard, mulberry paper, paper tape, etc.) (unless otherwise noted) or they are painted on.  The clothing is not removable.  Dolls are signed and dated on their bottoms which may be hidden by their clothes.  Each doll is about 12" tall and comes with her own coordinating cardboard stand.   

Care and use of dolls...

Since these are art dolls, they are not made for children.  Especially due to the fragile nature of paper, they are to be handled very carefully.  Imperfections in construction and execution may be visible and should be expected since they are handmade.  They should not be placed in direct sunlight or in humid environments.  They should not be held by the arms or legs but by the waist or the behind.  The dolls can sit and be posed with careful and delicate attention to their clothing and hair.  They should not be forced to sit or move if there is resistance as this could cause a crack in the paper clay or a tear in the paper.  Keep clean with a dry cloth, paint brush, duster or dust it off with a cool hair dryer every now and then.   Please note that the more they are played with, the less resilient they become.   (Excuse me if I sound overly cautious; the dolls are sturdily made so with proper care they should last over a lifetime.)

2011 One World One Heart Event

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The 2011 One World One Heart Event hosted by A Whimsical Bohemian is finally here!

OWOH was created by Lisa Swifka as a 'giveaway event to bring bloggers together from around the world who may never ordinarily meet. It closes the gap of the blog community and enables us to interact, discover new and wonderful people, and in the process possibly win a prize or many prizes along the way'. Click here for more information on the event and for a list of other participants.


Thank you all for the first 100 kind comments!  I love reading them and I'm having so much fun visiting your blogs in return.  To celebrate the first 100 comments, I am adding a second giveaway option.  If I reach 200 comments, I will add another!

Giveaway #1 ~


The first giveaway prize I am offering for this event is an Expressive Paper Doll Kit using a color of your choice. 

The kit includes an instruction sheet, template and basic supplies that will help you make a charming paper doll using different collage techniques and items you may already have at home. You will end up with your own unique version based on my pattern for a poseable 8 1/2" paper doll.

Giveaway #2 ~

The second giveaway prize I am offering are two vintage publications.  'The Country of Aunis and Saintonge' was printed in 1926 in French and is full of black and white prints on uncut paper.  'Coronet' printed in 1938 is one of only 18 issues and is full of black and white photography and color prints.  This will be great to use in your mixed media art or to actually read for a bit of historical reference.

To win one of these giveaways, all you need to do is leave a comment (on this post only) by February 17th. Sadly, this is Lisa's last year hosting the event. I, like many other veteran participants will surely miss this annual event. Any comment left on this blog will qualify as an entry but, with this in mind, please feel free to share your knowledge of similar blog events, challenges or "parties" that I and other readers may be interested in.

The winners will be chosen (using an online random number generator ) and announced on my blog on February 18th. 

Little Lamb Jack in the Box * Plus* UP HAB and Website Header

Little Lamb Jack in the Box

Baby had a little lamb

It's fleece was white as snow

It hid within a little box

and jumped out to and fro

The one of a kind Little Lamb JITB is made using paper mache, paper clay, acrylic paints, ribbons, buttons, a coating of natural beeswax and a print of my "Little Lamb" painting on the front of the box. This JITB also plays the tune "Schuberts Lullaby". Box measures about 5 1/2" x 4 1/4" closed. The original one of a kind painting measures 8x10". This is not a toy for children. Now available on Etsy.

UP Hot Air Balloon

This Hot Air Balloon was inspired by the movie "Up" by Pixar. It is one of my favorite cartoons with a wonderful story about an elderly man who goes on an adventure in his helium balloon floating house. I had originally created this balloon last year with small plastic balloons. I decided to stick to my forte and replace the plastic balloons with hundreds of little paper ones. I should have done this in the first place as I like it much better the way it is now. The little house is made of cardboard, paper mache and paper clay with colorful acrylic paints and a gel medium coat. It is attached to the balloon through the chimney with cotton strings. Also included is a removable banner that reads "Go On An Adventure". The balloon is a paper mache base covered with almost 600 1 inch paper balloons. The entire piece measures about 8"w x 17"h. This is a one of a kind piece of art. Due to its handmade nature it is to be handled with care and it is not intended as a toy for children. Now available on Etsy.

Website Header

I have been dreaming of an animated header for my website for the longest but I've had no time whatsoever to create it myself and my neck hurts like crazy after sitting at a computer for long (thanks to a previous injury). So I commissioned kooldesignmaker.com to create the header for me. I worked with Mike who went above and beyond what I expected. The price was reasonable, communication was great and turnaround was quick. Go to my webpage to see it in action at www.mannm.net. My daughter loves waving back to the paper doll.

Top Hat Derby Hop

I had alot of fun making this hat for Lemoncholys Top Hat Derby Hop. I'm such a sucker for creative blog hop parties.

The hat and its decorations are made almost entirely of paper including cardboard and mulberry papers. Pretty artist papers were layered and trimmed into fancy feathers. Vintage bouillon trim lays on top of the light blue paper ribbon while vintage white gelatin souffle puffs were made into flowers and tucked into empty spaces. German glass glitter stars and a sparkly felted bird were added for fun. And, finally, silver glitter swirls were painted to the side and rim of the hat for yet another special touch.

Slimey the Worm

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Two years ago I blogged about a Slimey Worm that I made (read the original post here) and I've gotten so many emails from fans about it since.

As promised, I'm finally making a few of them available for sale. I had alot of fun making them and will put them on Etsy as time allows.

Here is a work in progress photo. One evening, after working on "slimeys" all day, I had a nightmare that there were a bunch of worms crawling on my ceiling over my bed while I was sleeping. The worms were all "Slimey" in his pre-paint stage so they looked like nasty white maggots. It was a terrifying dream but I was laughing when I woke up.

Here is a video of a Slimey I made attached to rods to maneuver as a puppet.

Wedding Cutout Card

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I think the best gifts to give (and receive) are personalized ones; especially the ones that are handmade. For my wedding I received a knit throw and a photo album. Neither were my style or taste but I thought that it was so nice for someone to put thought into presenting a one-of-a-kind gift just for me. Ten years later both gifts are still special to me whereas towels, sheets and other registered items, although gratefully received, eventually went into the "been there seen that" corner of my mind.

For my sister-in-laws wedding gift, I wanted her to receive something special too. Even if it should eventually end up in a drawer or shoe box I know it will be something to treasure for years to come. Here are photos of the personalized card I made for her along with a nice picture frame to present it in. I also made a mini replica of her bouquet with paper flowers.

I hope you like my work! If you would like to give such a card to a loved one yourself, I am again accepting custom orders via Etsy.

Mad Hatter Marionette

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So, why is a raven like a writing desk?

Originally the riddle had no answer, but Carroll made one up later. Many readers have invented their own answers ever since, including the most famous "because Poe wrote on both", and my personal favorite "because there's a B in both and an N in neither".

In a new preface that Carroll wrote for the 1896 edition of Alice, he gave what he considered to be the best answer to the Mad Hatter's riddle. This is what he wrote: "Enquiries have been so often addressed to me, as to whether any answer to the Hatter’s Riddle can be imagined, that I may as well put on record here what seems to me to be a fairly appropriate answer, viz: "Because it can produce a few notes, tho they are very flat; and it is nevar put with the wrong end in front!" This, however, is merely an afterthought; the Riddle as originally invented, had no answer at all. "Note the spelling of "never" as "nevar" (discovered by Denis Crutch). Carroll intended to spell "raven" backwards. The word was corrected to "never" in all later printings, perhaps by an editor who thought he had found a printer's error. Because Carroll died soon after this "correction" had destroyed the ingenuity of his answer, the original spelling was never restored. Whether Carroll was aware of the damage done to his clever answer is not known.

The Mad Hatter has a card on his hat which says '10/6'. What does it mean?

The card is a price tag in 'old' English money: pounds, shillings and pennies, which was then written as l/s/d. Lewis Carroll has explained the meaning of the tag in his Nursery Alice: The Hatter used to carry about hats to sell: and even the one that he's got on his head is meant to be sold. You see it's got its price marked on it - a "10" and a "6" - that means "ten shillings and sixpence." Ten shillings and six pennies (expressed in conversation as "Ten-and-Six") was quite a large sum in the mid-1800's. Chris Somerville emailed me and amplificated: The actual amount was significant also. Professional people (doctors, lawyers, architects etc) all charged fees, not in pounds but in guinneas. One guinnea was one pound plus one shilling. And while pounds were the currency of trade, guinneas were the currency of the professions. We used to have a gold coin called, and valued at a guinnea, and a smaller gold coin, a half guinnea, valued at ten and six (10/6). The pound, however was merely a paper note, as was the half-pound or ten shillings. So the hat worn by the Mad Hatter was priced at half-a-guinnea, signifying its superior style.

These and other fun facts can be found at Lenny's Alice in Wonderland site from which they were quoted.

The Mad Hatter Marionette has been made available for sale on Etsy.

The Marionette was inspired by those made at Castle in the Air by Ullabenulla.