Barbie's Dreamhouse

I wanted to do a collage pop-up for my last day of the Paper Arts Series. So I surprised myself by making this card. My older sisters had Barbies, but I had Skipper, her plain Jane little sister. With no boyfriend, I might add. My friend Lisa had the Barbie Townhouse, and the Barbie Jet Plane. My Skipper doll hung out with the groovy, granola Sunshine Family. Life in the slow lane, for sure. My friend Ann had, treasure of all treasures, the Barbie Styling head. A giant Barbie head that came with hairbrushes and make-up so that you could make her all pretty. I never got one.

So when I found this giant Barbie in a big print sample book, I decided to decorate her my own way. I'm fond of the hummingbird earring and the wise old owl suggesting....what? There are brains behind the blonde? Note as well the bird of paradise perched just behind the woodpecker tapping on her head.

Blue Plate Special

For some reason, I got it in my head that the Easter bunny should deliver a hearty breakfast instead of chocolate, peeps and jelly beans, so I decided to create some crocheted delights small enough to stuff into plastic eggs.



For the egg, I simply crocheted a round and increased my stitches until it was egg size. I did the yolk the same way, but added a little stuffing before sewing onto the white. I made the bacon crinkly by slipping a stitch instead of single crochet every 5 stitches or so, every other row. To make the coffee cup, I started with a round of 6 stitches and then steadily increased until it was the width that I wanted. I did one row in the front loop only to make the cup go up. I kept going until I got the height. The coffee itself is made the same way as the egg. I use stuffing to make it look like a full cup. The toast is a square with brown stitched around the outside. The butter pat is a square also. Maybe I'll make some orange marmalade next time.

Bon apetit!

Vintage Pop-Up Valentines

Valentine Greetings:
Down love's highway let us stray,
We two forever, side by side,
The honey-moon will light our way,
And Cupid will be our only guide.




















A friend of mine found these old pop-up cards in a box of family memorabilia. They appear to be from the 1930's. I love how ornate and lacy they are. The detailed cutting around the bower makes for nice shadows.

Pop-up Valentine Workshop

How to mend a broken heart? Cut it up and glue it to some cardstock! Join me on Saturday, February 6th from 2 to 4 for my Pop-up Valentine workshop at the Modern Spool studio. Nothing says "Don't you think I'm cool?" like a pop-up work of art. I hope you can join me!

New Pair of Glasses

Here's a little paper cut I did just before the new year. I was inspired by a contrasty photograph of a butterfly I found in my uncle's artist morgue. I scanned it into Illustrator, increased the contrast, and printed it out for cutting. I mounted it on some translucent paper from discarded paper samples. I love reusing and recycling when I can. Sometimes beautiful paper comes through our mailboxes and heads straight out to the recycling bin.

I like my butterfly, but I can see some rough places in my cutting. I think of this first try as an experiment. In the process of trying to do this detailed work, I discovered that I need new glasses. I'm looking forward to clear vision and more challenges in 2010!