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

Cupcake Toppers and Slimey Worms

Last weekends Craft Fair at the New York School for the Deaf came and went without much "hoopla". I sold more than half of my old stock of greeting cards!, so that was good, but I didn't sell much of anything else. It seemed to be the same story for all the other one-of-a-kind artists so I didn't take it personal. I just don't think the crowd was the right audience for our kind of merchandise. But I must admit, the organizers were amazing and it was one of the best vending experiences I've ever had. With that said, if you sell items like greeting cards, felted wallets, knit scarves, ornaments or anything else priced $10-$40, I'd suggest you look into it next year. It's a very small venue but worth the entry fee. Plus they have great raffles every hour with proceeds that go to the school.

Whatever I didn't sell at the show has just been added/replaced on my ETSY shops. This includes some new cupcake toppers at my Watermelon Party Shop, and the last of my Slimey Worms at my M Ann M Creations shop.

Cardboard Castle

When I was about 5 years old my sister and I had a cardboard Holly Hobbie house. We used to spend hours and hours in it. Eventually, one of the sides broke open. This was okay though, if not better, because when placed up against a wall or chair it doubled the space! I remember once my mom let my friend and I sleep in it all night with some sleeping bags; we felt so adventurous!

With my neck injury, it's kind of hard to go outside with both children by myself, especially in the winter. So needless to say, we're stuck inside the house most of the days. I always feel so bad for my kids and I imagine that they must be bored out of their minds. When I first had the kids I said I would never let their toys take over the house. But in all practicality, I ended up giving in. I try to make their time couped up with me less unbearable by making their surroundings more fun. I turn mattresses & cardboard into slides, tables & chairs into caves and swivel office chairs into merry go rounds.

I was reminded of my Holly Hobbie house when watching an episode of Max and Ruby (on Nick Jr.) who had a homemade cardboard castle. Last winter, I created a similar castle for my children and placed it in a corner of the dining room. To make it extra special, I made it "The Reading Castle". I placed all their books in it (using a diaper box as a shelf) and told them that books were only to be read in the castle. I taught them that books are special and should not be removed from their special place and thrown all over the house. This surprisingly worked! even though they're just 2 and 1 year old. The reading castle is their little hideaway for fun and has motivated them to go off by themselves to read more than before. I do however, have to occasionally squeeze my rear into the door to read with them. They love it! And so do I.

Opposite the castle is a treehouse. (I'll tell you about that one in another post).