New Paper Dolls for Swap-Bot

I hosted a paper doll swap a month or so back with Swap-Bot. Was lots of fun. We had a good batch of girls involved and I think everyone enjoyed it. Don’t see very many paper doll swaps, sadly. They’re so fun to make, I wonder why..

Here is the doll, ‘Sharon’ I made for my swap partner. She turned out great! I made her skirt out of Silk shantung with a lace and real wool tartan for her vest and tam. They’re very time-consuming to make, the way I decided to do her, but I think that’s what makes them special.

Schooling

I’ve decided to go back to school. Not because I didn’t already have enough post-secondary education, but more out of a recent need to return to the work force.

I’ve celebrated my 29th birthday more than once already, and had, at one point, a growing and well-reputed bridal salon/services business when I was married.  As the story goes quite often, I lost everything when I left my ex-husband. Now, too tired and exhausted, and much too broke to start a new venture again, the reality of life kicks me in the pants and tells me I need to re-train.

After all, not many managers want to hire an entrepreneur. We’re not viewed as highly hire-able types.  So, I quickly scanned the local community colleges and polytechnical universities for some interesting career path that covered two important factors: short stint in school, and good pay when done.

What I found, amazingly enough, was that here in BC one can obtain training as a Dental Hygienist in three years through a college, as opposed to 5-6 in an Alberta University! (University of Alberta in Edmonton, to be exact).

What a dream! These gals make very good money, up around the range (fairly close to) what I was making on my own previously. So it was perfect!

I’ve since discovered that I need to do some upgrading.. no worries.. just get it done! Right? Wrong! Apparently the curriculum for Math has changed twice over the years since my time in high school, which means that my math marks from way back then, don’t count! So now I find myself taking MATH 11 over again to get into MATH 12 next! Thank god its a freebie offered by the gracious school boards here in this province. I would really cringe having to spend my money on a lousy math course.. my least favorite subject of all!

Aside from that little set-back, I’m also enrolled in two University courses, online through Kwantlen Polytechnic University.. good ole English and Psychology, first year university courses!

I love stretching my mind and getting back into the critical thinking game. I’ve always enjoyed writing, so its enjoyable to be back into essays and paragraphs once again.

I have a dissertation due next week on the relationship(s) between genetics and phenomena of a given mental disorder. I’ve chosen Schizophrenia. Deep subject, and highly technical!

Little Christmas Joys…

I love Christmas. Together with Hallowe’en, it is one of my favorite times of the year. Although I love Christmas more for the feelings it evokes in us all, and the beautiful ornaments and baubles that fill the stores at this special time of the year. Hallowe’en is about fun and decorating and being creative with the kids.

Typically each Christmas I buy myself at least one or two new ornaments for the tree. My mother started me on this after the birth of my first child. She began gifting me some exquisite and eclectic keepsake ornaments and I became hooked instantly!

My tree doesn’t have a theme, per se. It’s a real mix of colors and styles.. everything from Celtic, baroque, Victorian, folk-artsy and everything in between. I’m not into designer trees where everything matches and the colors all work together. I believe a tree should be interesting, and should reveal small wonders about it the more a person stands and examines it.. I can get lost in the admiration of an interesting tree (I’ve only seen ONE in my life that had that effect on me, and was my inspiration for my tree.) And thus begins the building of my Christmas tree keepsakes.

wooden nutcracker

Glass snowman

Skeleton key

whimsy santa

whimsy pig

ballet snowgirl

elves and gingerbreads

whimsy sheep

gold ball

Paper Purses!

I’ve joined an online crafty group called Swap-Bot that is a wonderful place to swap various crafty items with other like-minded crafters. I hosted a swap of late whereby we were all to make a Paper Purse to swap with one another.

The template I found on a paper crafting site was intriguing, and I was inspired by the fact that you can virtually make anything from paper and make it look good!

Here is what I constructed.. card-stock cut into the associated template shape and covered with silk fabric. The raw edges were painstakingly tucked in and secured into place with two way tape. The inside layer of card stock covers the edges and creates a clean line for the inside aesthetics.  The result was great!

The front of the paper purse.. embellished with beading and delicate butterfly and greenery images.

Showing the inside folds of the paper purse.. a variation of an accordian fold.

Close up of the front details.

More Winter Finds!

The weather is still holding true for the beach-combing treks. I take my three year old son with me, along with a Tonka truck in tow, to my favorite spot. He is very content to dig in the sand, toss rocks into the ocean, and collect reams of broken oyster shells as ‘treasure’ or ‘clues’ (aka Blue’s Clues… tv program for wee ones..)as he likes to reference them.

It’s funny how I’ve noticed that one small section of the beach strip I frequent will yield the rarest colors for me. Cobalt blue is very rare where I go, but in one spot I continually find a small nugget about the same size as the last find.. only about the size of a pea. I’ve also found some lovely shades of green (palest colors) and lavender.

Earlier this winter at a craft fair I was a vendor in, I chatted amicably with the gal next to me who was a sea-glass artisan (jewelery). We joked about how the sea-glass from around here lacks the romantic history that could be found elsewhere in the world. Instead of being able to say it washed up from the Titanic, for example, we are limited to telling the truth;that it is merely the remnants of some drunken barn-dance that took place along the beach with a group of unruly teens!

Nevertheless, the sand and tides grind and churn its broken bits into wonderful gems of the sea. It’s impossible for me to walk on a beach now with my head up.. I’ve tried, and I can’t, its virtually impossible. I think its a condition.. likely known as sea-glass syndrome or something of the sort…

A good day’s haul!

some of the variations of the greens, from seafoam to olive

lavenders with the two cobalt nuggets now in my possession

shards of pottery and some agates and shells complete the mix of finds

beautiful whites that range in tint from the palest of blues to lavender

greens.. the brightest ones and the easiest to spot!

some great browns that look like amber gold when the sun shines through them

Beachcombing in December

This winter has proven to be a very mild one, in that we simply haven’t received the snowfall that we had the last two years. Which, in my opinion, is all the better for beach-combing! The winter months in BC mean typically stronger tidal surges, and rough water that brings up the treasures from the sea to dump on strategically located beaches along the West Coast.

December 29, 2009 findings

I have my spot that I go to that, like all die-hards, I’m inclined to keep its whereabouts to myself. I’ve been very pleased of late as to the quality of sea-glass that I’ve been able to find. I even found a small lone nugget of cobalt blue glass, which is very rare indeed.

Paper Dolls

I’ve been dabbling with paper dolls of late, which, to me, have a real vintage feel to them. I prefer to make them with ribbons and other means of attachments other than tabs, as I remember as a child how frustrating it was to have a paper doll who’s clothing wouldn’t stay on because of poorly designed tabs!

These two were made as Christmas gifts this year for older women who have everything in life already.. you know the type.. the ones who are very tough to shop for this time of the year!

They’re sisters.. one being the extrovert, fun and eclectic sister, and the other more reserved and intellectual type. They were fun to make and I hope I was able to capture the essence of these women along with a twinging of their sense of humor.

...and when the bright lights no longer received her, she became just another face on the streets of Broadway.

..and between baking her apple cobbler and punching down dough, she danced on dainty slippered feet as light as air, dreaming of a far-away place where she tossed flower petals to the wind.

Bleached ATC

This was a project I took part in for a swap on SwapBot.com.. a great free-exchange website for crafty types.

This ATC was challenging. We were to use rubber stamps with bleach to create an image that was to be used in an ATC for your swap partner. It took a while not only to perfect the quantity of bleach that worked the best, and how to apply it to the sponge, but to also find the right type of paper that would best showcase the results.

After much trial and error, I was very pleased with the final result. I used a butterfly stamp I have that I really enjoy… my swap partner was also into ephemera and vintage images, so I found this nice image of a lady with a large hat. I added some ostrich feathers and beads to her hat and did a 3-D effect with the roses around her face. She was thrilled about it as well so it is definately a process I will be trying again with other ATC creations.

The Socialite-ATC