Monsters Inc Paper Dolls

We watched Monsters Inc for the first time. I've never seen that animated movie before and didn't know what to expect (, so we've made some popcorn, got ourselves comfortable on a sofa and turned on the TV. I wasn't sure if that was the right choice for my 3 year-old and I was on guard all the time, but let me tell you, we've had so much fun! Time went by fast and after standing ovation to this brilliant movie, Monsters entered our lives....

Since TV access is a treat, we watch it no more than 30 minutes a day with rare exceptions (like this movie), we had to create a play set at home to enjoy favorite characters.

First, we found some free coloring pages on line (here is a link) and printed them out.

Then my daughter colored the Monsters and we glued them to a sturdy cardboard (old gift box)

Cut the shapes out

and we were ready to go, well.... almost. We needed THE DOOR.

It is self-explanatory, but if you'd like a template, I'd be happy to email it to you (I need to learn how to do a PDF for my Blog)

All our Monsters are paper dolls except the only "real" character, a little doll with brown hair

called Boo.

Our Monsters Inc up and running on a daily basis bringing laughter to our household.

I think it is a wonderful prep for our not-so-scary Halloween.

Have a great day.

Afiori Giveaway

Sometimes by pure accident we discover the most interesting Blogs. My discovery of Afiori Blog happened with regular email from Etsy, featuring their daily finds. I like emails like that - it shows what creative minds are all about and what is happening in a craft world. I was scrolling through the lines of items and then I stopped. I saw the most interesting image called "The Abandoned Amusement Park" - colors, effects, theme - everything was mesmerizing. I started to read about the author, went on her Blog, and ... became her religious follower. Now Afiori by Maria-Theresa Andersen is having a giveaway in celebration of their Second Blogoversary. Stop by to learn more about this talented Swedish girl and you may end up as a lucky winner. I sincerely wishing myself as well as all of you the best of luck.

Have a great day.

Studying Seasons with Juice Boxes

In my post on September 1st, Celebrating the First Day of Autumn I have mentioned that we are doing study on full Seasons. Here is the full report.

I am drawn to Eco-Crafts and Recycling lately for two reason, first of all they are Earth Friendly and the second reason - materials don't cost you anything (No Money Spend rule), and this project on Seasons fits right in this category.

Juices in a box - one of the most convenient creation ever, you can take them with you, they are perfect on a road and they are...... beautiful.....

I have used these juice boxes in my previous project called "Emerald City" but they were covered with green craft paper, these time I am using them raw.

I cut out random shapes of leaves and sort them by color, by the way, I have never realized that inside of the juice box lined with the most beautiful silver color. Please, see "Winter" image.

I started by cutting identical tree trunk for all four seasons. I glued them on a black background (which is a backing from a fabric sample from my old wallpaper book) and then let my daughter take over.

Then we discussed the main parts of the tree (the anatomy), how leaves grow, colors of the seasons and what each season brings us.

Spring

Summer

Autumn

Winter

(Our winter Season is whimsical - the silver color was so hard to resist, that's why our winter tree has leaves, but they are covered with snow - crumbled Styrofoam )

I really liked my daughter's effort: the leaves were pretty small and after few applications of glue, fingers got pretty sticky, but she was able to master it pretty well.

Looking at the final set of pictures you can see which one was the first (the messiest), and how much better she's got at the end (the neatest). We've had a lot fun doing this project and we hope it will trigger your imagination as well.

Sincerely,

and the WINNER is....

Hello, everyone. Yesterday at 7 PM we had drums playing, hearts pounding and hands shaking - all of this to pick out who will be the Lucky winner of my first GIVEAWAY. I have decided to give a chance to all my Blog Followers and the lucky name that appeared out of my husband's cylinder hat pulled by my tree year old daughter was..... Cameron from Paint Myself Pretty. I am so excited to have my first champion. Now I need to pack the winning items and run to the Post Office.

Have a great day,

Hosting my First Swap

I am hosting my first Swap, it's called "Let's step back in time".

It will be an electronic swap (via email) and we will exchange images of shoes and fashion accessories from the time period between 1810-1910.

This is my way to celebrate my passion for shoes and fashion of all times.

This is the first one in a series of swaps that I am planning to do, assuming that this one will go well. I think it is going to be fun! Would you like to join me?

Sincerely,

My First ATC

Well, I did it! My first ATC (Artist Trading Card) is ready. I had so much fun, if that counts that's great, but I'll keep my fingers crossed until I will receive a rating from my Swap Partner.

This swap called "Bird ATC". Since I've never done any ATC in the past, I went on line to look what ATC with Bird could look like and after hours of research I've seen this image and it clicked.

Ancient China Bronze Bird and Beast Carving Wine Server 3000 years old

I was amazed by the craftsmanship of this piece, but the image of the bird attracted me the most. It reminded me of some ancient images of birds in Aztec art, and then I had an idea in how my ATC should look like.

Applying paper to a cardboard

Distressing edges

Outlining the birds with Iridescent Gold Deep Acrylic by Golden

After playing enough with different techniques that's how it looks like

I also included two word written in Chinese Symbols.

The word "Bird"

and the word "Happy"

It is a little bit sad to send away your first ATC but it is also very exciting. Wish me luck.

Sincerely,

Celebrating the First Day of Autumn

I've decided to create something special to Celebrate the First of September. What could it be? Let me think - how about a nice cup of candle!

This cup is very special.

I've got it as a gift on my baby shower. My best girlfriend organized my baby shower in a Tea Party Style and this tea cup, (Vintage, by the way) is my precious memory about that fun day. I kept it on the shelf the entire time, but few days ago while cleaning, I've had an idea.....

I had a few bad candles in my pantry, I call "bad" any candle that drips badly while burning, these candles were in two colors - red and white. They were slightly used, right before I've discovered they were bad:)

I've decided to melt those two candles down to create a brand "new" candle.

To see the detailed process, please see my previous post

As you can see, I am reusing the wick from my long red candle and I am using a soda can tab for the candle tab.

During... (It took 2 long red candles and tree short white candles to melt down and fill up this cup)

Both of my candles had very lovely smells: white ones were vanilla and red ones were cranberry, while melting they've created their own nice blend - perfect for Autumn

I am awaiting to receive my bookmark and a tea bag from The Swap, to complete the picture and celebrate the season:)

Have a great day!