Saturday, February 21, 2009

CUPCAKES AND ANGEL FACES

As I rub my dry, chapped hands together I realize that this is part of the price you pay when you love to be creative. Broken off fingernails, tons of little hang nails and small cuts are just remnants of creative bliss! But man, it sure would be nice to have pretty nails and soft, smooth hands. Oh well, at least I get to take pleasure in looking at what I have made and the knowledge I have gained spending two days at Blissful Living Studio. Not to mention the eye strain from looking so hard at all the wonderful items in the studio. Take a look for yourself.......it's truly like eye candy!!



this is just a little taste of the studio.....there are so many wonderful things tucked all over the store, the walls, on the floor and hanging from the ceiling. It just makes you smile to be able to create in this colorful atmosphere. And the best part is that it is constantly changing with the seasons and artists that teach there.
Anyways, on Thursday I took my niece, Jenny, with me to learn how to make cupcakes out of sweaters. This is Katie who taught us how to make them. Isn't she a doll. And a sweet teacher.

The two in the background are Katie's samples and the one in the front is mine.
I was happy with the outcome. These are so cute and not hard to make. Now all I need is to find wool sweaters that I can cut up! So if any of you are intending on getting rid of any please let me know and I will pay for the postage to send them to me! Might even thank you with a cupcake of your own!!
On Friday evening I went back for another class with the amazing, Julie Haymaker Thompson.
She is a darling mixed media artist with a bubbly personality and lots of positive patience. If you haven't heard of her you really must check out her incredible creations on her website:
www.juliehaymaker.com. Taking the class with me was another talented artist, Mai Lepore. So that was an extra special treat for me.
Here is a smaller sample of the little angel music box that she taught us how to make.
We began with a heart shaped cardboard box, added a music box, glued the lid shut and covered the box with mod podged torn pages from an old book.
The really fun part for me was learning how to work with paper clay. We formed our faces and wings out of it and put them on heaters to dry. Meanwhile, we painted the ball legs and glued them to the bottom of the box. Then we did some aging with stabela pencil and paint. Acrylic paint was used to paint the face and wings. The pearls were strung into a small circle and crimped off and glued around the face. We embellished the box with ribbons and.........
..........TA-DA!!! The finished product! My angel has butterfly wings with crackle paint and glitter.

I think I could have spent the whole day playing with paper clay. There are endless ideas for all the things you can create with it. Oh dear, another group of supplies are on my shopping list for Michaels. I might have to sneak this bag of goodies past my hubby. We are suppose to be tightening our belts with the economy crunch, but I am finding it so hard to pull back on my art supplies. This was such a fun way to end my week. I hope to make several more cupcakes and angel music boxes soon.
We said good bye to my niece and her husband and son today. It was so nice to have them here for the week. Little Zachary is darling and we will miss them.
Now I must head to bed to get some sleep as I will be playing in a little 9-hole couples golf tournament tomorrow after church. This will be the first time I have golfed in years! YIKES!! Something tells me it won't be pretty! But at least I will be out in the 80 degree sun all afternoon. Nightie, nite everyone!!!

2 comments:

Vicki Chrisman said...

OH my this looks like a little peice of heaven to me! I would be "LOOOKING" and looking ..just taking it all in!!! Your blog is just beautiful!!

Domestic Bliss & FOUND said...

Nancy,
I love seeing your finished projects! Thanks for all of the sweet comments too- so happy you had a nice weekend at the studio- I think everyone loves you as much as you love the studio too!
Blissfully!
K