I made DORTHY from OZ---Mary

I made Dorthy this week!!!!! She is about 12 inches high. She is carrying Toto in her square basket. Her pockets are full of her three friends----The ScareCrow, The Tin Man, and The Lion. At the bottom of her skirt are the words, "There's no place like home." Look closely at her Ruby slippers. They are sparkling with red glitter. Her feet move so that she can click her shoes together so that she can go home at any time. Oh yeah, she is home with me. Her arms are jointed too. I have made several Children's books characters and other fashion dolls. But I am not sure when they will be available on collage sheets. But watch for them on the website at:
www.thingsaltered.com

Art Journal page from an old book---Mary

I love to use old books for art journaling. I usually prepare the old book BEFORE I begin to use it for art jounaling though. I cut out at least one half ( more like two thirds) of the pages of the book. Then I glue pages together, rip edges at varying lengths, then gesso the pages. In the picture to the right is a picture of a little giri writing in the sand. I really liked her. She is one of the pictures that I kept from the actual art originally in the book. I just added to her because she reminded me of me. I added the words - "my name is M--". On the left....I used a picture from a magazine. The interesting thing was it matched the dress in my first grade picture. These two pages came together in a most interesting way. I will be showing you many more pages as the time goes on. Hope you enjoy. Please check the website at:

http://www.thingsaltered.com/ for vintage collage sheets of little children that you can use in your art.

Fairy Artist---Mary

Another Fairy doll. It has a painter's palet with paint and brush. It says "Fairies are artists too". She is very colorful and her wings are interesting. We had a class last week. We hope to get that video on here soon. This Fairy is actually a combination of two of the collage sheets. There is really no limit to how many different fairies you can create with them. All of the collage sheets come with an option of either a skirt, or mermaid tail or just using the legs straight to the torso, then adding silk flowers for a skirt.
Take a look at:
www.thingsaltered.com

Fairy and stand - Lila

Look her over. Here she is hanging on her stand. How cute is that?

Fairy doll stand - Lila

The woman who embellished the fairy below, created this stand so her fairy can be placed in her craft area and bring her joy each time she looks at it! Isn't that an amazing work piece. Her husband is very handy with wood and she said she put beads at the top tip ends. She is planning to make more of the fairies and the stands. Choose your next collage fairy on our web site; thingsaltered .com.

Embellished paper doll - Lila

If you have followed us along through the blog pictures, you may recognize the collage above. Mary had embellished fairy angel #9 from the collage page, with a sunflower skirt. Scroll back through the pictures. See how one person, starting with the same pattern can make a 'OOAK' (one of a kind) look. Look at the fun detail. This angel was made by one of the creative ladies who told me today she has caught the 'Mary fairy fever' ! How fun is that.

Collage creatures come to life - Lila - part 2

I thought the baby was so cute I had to share it. So is the little doll.

The collage fairies Mary created are even more sophisticated.

The blue braided hair fairy above, is the one I embellished. She is collage fairy #6 on our web site thingsaltered.com. Check it out! We love what we do. We want you to have some fun too. The fun thing about these faires is that they have jointed elbows, shoulders, knees, and hips, held together with brads of your choosing. It makes them so fun!

Embellished paper doll mermaid - Lila

One of the women that came last Thursday night was so creative. She bought the paper doll mermaid found on the web site: thingsaltered.com and embellished them making them even cuter! Look closely at Lenore, she has earrings and a bracelet as well as diamond bling on her crown. How cute! Personalize them any way you want.

Bunny Rabbit - Lila

This is the cute little rabbit. I didn't show you the little pink baby doll collage because she is still faceless. When our baby is here, we can take a picture of her. Then her precious face will then go in the pink bonnet and it can be completed! I will have to show you that in a month or so.

Collage creatures come to life - Lila

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Last week at Mary's house 9 or 10 of us got together to put together some of the recent collage fairy pages. It was fun and each person made their fairy so unique. Because we had so much fun I decided to make some more collage critters. In the picture here, I took card patterns #15 and #16 of the dancing collage patterns, glued the pattern to light weight cardboard, (about like the weight of cereal boxes), cut out the pieces, punched little holes for the brads to go through, and put them together! The nickel in the picture is so you can get an idea of how tiny the patterns are. They will look soooo cute on the scrapbook pages we are putting together on saturday for my daughters baby shower.

My craft room---Mary

When people see my craft room, their eyes always get big. I love this room. You can not have a fun Creative room unless your Left-Brain organizational skills kick in a little bit. I do not like to look for that perfect thing for hours. Organization is the only way to solve that problem. I like vertical. I like lots of colorful boxes and plastic containers. This room is my Haven. I come into this room and the wheels in my brain start kicking in imediately. Many call me the "tool" girl or the "wierd objects" girl or the "paper-nut" girl. Been called worse so I do not mind. Uncreative people see this room and run away screaming!! Creative People run into it squealing for joy. There you have it in a nut shell.

Another Fairy--from the website--Mary

Here is anther fairy that you can make and embellish using the collage fairy sheets from the website at: www.thingsaltered.com This one is called sunflower but you can make her any kind of flower fairy you want. I love to use old or new silk flower, pictures from cards, magazines, glitter, buttons, and many other small things you may have collected over the years or maybe even some natural things you may find in the garden, forrest or sea shore. Most of the collage sheets have options to make mermaids or mermaid fairies. The variety is endless. I will be having a fairy-making meet up here in Utah this week and I will make a video showing all the fun variations using the collage sheets. Watch for that in a week or two on the webite or this web blogspot.

The web site is thingsaltered.com . Tell your friends to take a look

cloth pockets and dolls - Lila

The bottom picture is the variety of cloth pockets we have to store the paper dolls, and fairy's if you choose, in. Check it out on the web site thingsaltered@yahoo.com . The paper dolls are amazing for quiet play in church or on a long car ride.
Here are some more of the cute cloth dolls. Email us with any suggestions or requests.

cloth dolls

This cloth doll is the only one I have in the flannel PJ's. I really like this look and need to find more fabric to make more clothes like this. I think is would be great for the little one who has a father or mother away from home defending us.

cloth dolls- Lila

My latest sewing creation has been the faceless cloth doll. About 12 to 13 inches tall, they are soft and have long arms for your child to easily hold on to. We have given them to the homeless shelter for the children there. We have given them to the children's hospital as a gift to the child just before surgery. They asked us to have them faceless so the child can use their imagination to create whatever image they need. I will show some pictures of the clothes we have dressed them in.

check the new video-making a Fairy

Just got put on youtube...look to the right under archives

All kinds of fairies---art journaling--Mary

Almost everyone of my art journals has SOME KIND of FAIRY. This one is pen and ink with water color. .... and I made up a quick little story to go with it. She has such long beautiful legs. I love curly toes, pointed ears and strange colors of hair. I like them to have a sweet face. But funny faces can be interesting too. Each fairy can be different and made in different ways. Each has to have a name. Her name is "Meepetts". Yes, a very strange name for a human but not for a fairy. I also like vintage children costumed as fairies. Go ahead and try a few. I will be showing many in the weeks to come. Please follow along and see. But check out the new fairies at the website at:
www.thingsaltered.com

A first attempt at altering a book--Mary

Now this was ...you know...experimenting with ways to alter an old book. THis one mostly consisted of ways to fold and extend vintage valentines and pictures. Sort of looks interesting on a shelf. Right now all my finished altered books are in the cabinet that I talked about last month, But I am thinking it may be nice to have a place to display these. I think I would like a special shelf sometime.
www.thingsaltered.com

A page from an older Art Journal--Mary

Thought you would like to see some pages from an older art journal. I really like this journal but the cover is boring. I think I should still do something with that. Maybe I will make a small video when I do. THere are two pictures. THe first one, you can see the vintage sewing packet I have used to house a couple of the pattern fairies. When you open it, there they are. I like making this page. But then again, I enjoy making MOST of my art journal pages. I thought it might be fun to do a little more self-portrait-"ing". Haven't done that much because it seems sort of self centered but oh well, people like to see self portraits. This self-portrait I did looking into a mirror. Please be sure to check the website:
www.thingsaltered.com

Feeling Better--New Fairy and Necklace--Mary

Not so under the weather today. Finished another Fairy. Check: www.thingsaltered.com
and in a few days you will get to see the videos. THere will also be some new fairy inchy necklaces that are either 2" X 2" or 1 2/2" X 1 1/2". Here is the mermaid fairy but I want to get better pictures of the other fairies before I show them to you. These will be on the website soon. I am loving the new fairy wings that I am creating. Wings are really fun to make. You can just get crazy you know.

Being sick does not stop Creativity--Mary

Have been sick for a few days but still, it doesn't keep me from creating. Please check the website in a week or so and you will see the new fairy collage pattern sheets. The video will be out soon as well. Maybe by the time you see the video, then this post will be somewhat of the past and all the new collage sheets will be available. Please check at: www/thingsaltered.com and today, my youngest teenage daughter will be helping me with facebook. Grandma's learn a little slower than these young kids that pick it up second nature but I still learn. THis week I want to show some new art journaling pages and some altered book pages. I can hardly wait to dig into facebook. I like changes. Sometimes it takes a little getting used to but I still enjoy changes.

Make a fairy-------Mary

These have been SSSSOOOO much fun to make. If you like fairies, I think they may be fun for you too. They will be on the website soon at: www.thingsalteted.com . I worked for three weeks to make almost twenty different fairies. So look for them in about a week or so. They were a huge amount of work but most of the work is thinking through color combinations that are not only pleasing but not too intricate. I wanted to leave some free space for embellishing. The fun is putting them together. I like making sure the legs and arms are just right, choosing the right color of brads and then EMBELLISHING them!!! THAT is the best part. I wanted to make these so that anyone with a love for fairies could take my collage sheets and embellish them the way they wanted. It makes them more personal and you can even put your own face on them or the face of someone you love or maybe just an old vintage or antique picture. I so love to take old pictures and use them this way. Then I can name them and it is like they have a home. I am always saddened by old pictures without names on them. So as not to feel guilty, I just pretend to be their mother and give them a name that I would choose for them. If they are looking down from Heaven and seeing me do this.....well then, just think of it as an additional name to the one your parents gave you. I have a friend that always asks me "why do you think you have to be the mother of the world?" I guess I love children and even ones I have never met. On this fairy, I used a small cardboard matchbox that I cut in two and glued together and put a little flower and bird in it.

A little something from our collage pages--Mary

Okay just one little idea from our website. We have lots of Collage pages. This is one example of the many Dancing Cards. You can put a picture of yourself or maybe your Grandmother. Check them out at: www.thingsaltered.com

Creative Play----Mary

What I think is the most important thing to remember about art journaling........is to HAVE FUN! Do not get too intense if it does not look perfect. I use art journaling as a way to loosen myself up. Then I can go onto other things that I have to be more precise about. I learn something from every page. Sometimes the accidents are the most interesting. If the page is entirely awful to you, then gesso over it and start again. Here is a page I did just to use the words "Creative Play"

Art journal Cover-----Mary

Wanted to show you a couple of pictures of one of my favorite art journals.
Old books are my favorite thing to use. But I love to make many different kinds of journals. Old books have such a "VERY-USED=VERY-LOVED" kind of a feeling to it. THe old books I love most are the ones with rounded corners and the pages that are sort of thick. I like to glue the pages together and taking out at least 2 to 4 pages in between the glueing. Then gesso them. Then they are ready to use.

Left-Brain and Right-Brain----Mary

Lila, Barb and I met together today for a couple of hours. We got some stuff done and we are feeling upbeat about what we have to do and what has been done so far. Then tonight I thought about my hefty Right-Brain again and thought of a page in one of my journals. I thought you would like to see. My brain, today, looks like the picture to the right. But 30 years ago, it looked like the picture on the left. The picture on the right is much more interesting, don't you think?.

Check out the website in a few days for fairy patterns!!

http://www.thingsaltered.com/

We are going to have a fairy making party in the middle of February. We will be using some of the patterns that will be on the website shortly. I will have someone video-tape that so you can see how it goes. .