So I found this in a stack of stuff under the couch. A while back, I was watching a group of kids in childcare, and we got into making paper collages, and this is the one I made.
Archive for Crafty Stuff
Paloma Faith Paper Doll
Yaaaay! I’ve finished my Paloma Faith Paper doll! Click here to print out your very own copy!
I heard her music playing at a store a while back, and I liked it so much I got a copy of Fall to Grace. Pretty, cute-funky sound; I have a theory that she will always be compared to someone else, because she has such a faceted and colorful voice, doncha think? Each time I listen to her I think of some other singer that she’s invoking. I wonder if it annoys her. I also wonder a little how she feels about people making paper dolls of her, but those costumes, and that hair! How could I not? Well, Paloma, if you’re out there, I hope you like the paper doll I made.
Unrelated: I don’t like upgrades that “simplify” things by making buttons look bigger and more cartoony and move all the features I’m accustomed to using to somewhere I have to hunt for half an hour to find them.
Black and Blue by Paloma Faith and the Beginnings of Another Paper Doll
Got this album a couple weeks back and I can’t stop listening.
Such a cool voice- and her style is adorable. She’s got this retro soul flair. Which is kind of the big thing now. I got inspired to make a paper doll, and I had intended to publish it along with this post, but it will need a bit more work before it will be ready. Here’s the beginning though:
the beginning of a new paper doll
House Shoes for the Giveaway
I made some little houseshoes a while back from the Angry Chicken email order number 9. Amy Karol does awesome work and easy tutorials, and I always love checking out her ideas and patterns. This one was so good, I thought I would make a set for you, whoever you are you lucky person, as part of our giveaway to promote our new book. (I’m really resisting the urge here to make a self-conscious remark about how I’m not really a seamstress and so please don’t judge me too hard since the foldover elastic pulled out in a couple places and… and… I’m making self-conscious remarks now. Never mind.) These are just really comfortable and pretty durable and washable and all that good stuff, and I thought they would make a nice addition to our giveaway basket to thank you for checking out our little book.
Click here to visit our Rafflecopter Giveaway.
They are approximately a size 7-8ish, although they break in pretty easily. The pair I made for myself are super cozy, or you could use them as a gift for someone, since it’s gettin’ to be that time of year again.
Please click here to go to our Rafflecopter thingamajig or click the widget (that will hopefully be displayed in the sidebar, if I can just get my act together before too much longer).
I have them on my hands for the picture here
Some disclaimer stuff:
We can’t make this available to folks outside the contiguous USA, sniff sniff. Also, this raffle is just a free gift to promote our book. No purchase is necessary to enter. We’re gonna do our very bestest to make everything go as smooth as can be, but this will be shipped via the USPS, and once it gets in the mail, it’s out of our hands. We can’t be responsible for items being lost or damaged in the transit.
This is the pair I made for myself- I thought I’d include a snapshot so you could sorta see what they look like on a person’s feet.
Introducing the Paper Copy of our Book and a little giveaway to go along with it!
Words cannot describe. I’m so excited to say that our book is finally available for purchase, and you can get a copy of it right here. We’re both ready to burst, after all the work that went into getting it written, polished, and published, and now we are getting ready to promote it and get it into people’s hands!
The story is really adorable; for kids aged 3-7, it is the tale of a forlorn little bug who learns what it means to be special, and her adventurous discovery that her uniqueness already is special. Children will love the journey of the little red and black bug, the cheery images, and the countable bugs that match each page number. If you’d like to pick up a copy of the book for yourself, we’d be more than honored and would greatly appreciate your support of our project. You can click here to get a copy on Amazon.
If you’re into ebooks, you can download a copy for a buck right here, (and you don’t need a special ereader or anything- you can read it right on your ipad/smartphone/laptop/whatever the heck you crazy kids are into these days). That’s been available for some time now, but if you prefer a paper copy, that is new- BRAND NEW!
As a promotional effort, Caren and I are sponsering a Rafflecopter giveaway
of a little gift basket. There’s a small collection of printable coloring sheets, bookmarks and a playset (which are actually going to be available for you right here, if you’d like), but along with that, we’re offering a bunch of other goodies like refrigerator magnets, stickers printed with our images, a pair of handmade house slippers with a cute little ladybug stitched on them, some other miscellaneous ladybug paraphernalia and of course a copy of the book. I’m gonna post pictures of the stuff over the next few days on this blog.
Since self-publishing is such a crowded market, we thought this would be a good way to thank you for passing the word along to your friends that we’re doing this. If you’d like to enter the drawing for this (and earn our eternal gratitude), here’s what you can do to enter:
- like one (or both) of our pages on Facebook (right here)
- tweet about this
- comment on this post
FOLLOW THE RAFFLECOPTER LINK
It’ll tell you just what to do. The winner will be drawn randomly in two weeks on November 26.
***This giveaway is only available to people living in the contiguous United States, so sorry for any inconvenience to anyone 
Good luck, and THanK yOu, ThaNk yOU, THaNK yOu!!!
Mudpuppy Paper School Playset
I found this cute little set of paper dolls on a clearance shelf somewhere and bought it for my kids. I made some extra pieces to give it a little ethnic diversity, and I added a few others- a mom bringing in some cupcakes and a giraffe (don’t ask why, I just thought he was cute).
You can download the little people I made, if you’d like, by clicking here. I didn’t make a downloadable school, but I’m thinking about it.
As a little aside, I’ll tell you that I reeeally want to make a little garden set for our Ladybug book, because we are building up promotional stuff to push the paper copies for Christmas. Yaaaay! I don’t want to labor this too much here and now, but the process is pretty much done, and we’re both excited to be able to present this, after all the work we put into it.
She’s asking nicely.
Ten Reasons to be Happy Right Now
1. This Density Column
Initially read about it on the Berry’s morning coffee post, but you can see how to make one of your own by clicking here. It is cool and it made me happy.
2. This Squeaking Baby Alligator
Squeaking baby alligator. Need I say anymore?
3. This Paper Travel Coffee Cup
My friend found them in the Target dollar aisle, which could be a happy point all by itself.
4. These Shoe and Handbag Cupcakes
I saw them on this post at a blog called Gillyflower Jewelry. This lady makes adorable stuff.
5. This Totallylookslike.com Dalai Lama/Happy Llama picture
I don’t care how many times I see this. It always makes me laugh a little.
6. This Snoopy Wallpaper
From here.
7. This Guy Doing a Magic Trick Dressed Up in a Dragon Suit
8. These Ducklings in This Coffee Cup
9. This Song by Regina Spektor
or pretty much any song by Regina Spektor, cuz she so awesome.
10. This Snorg Tees Shirt
yAY fOr snORgTeEs, because after all, it’s all about funny t-shirts in the end.
Paper Turtle!
This started as an attempt at simplifying a craft project for my preschoolers, but morphed into me making a paper turtle to share. He can be friends with the giraffe and the moose. Hooray! I will have to go back to the drawing board for the preschoolers.
Click here to download your very own PDF. Basically, all you have to do is cut and fold, but if you use regular printer paper it has trouble staying together so a little tape will help. If you use cardstock, it will stay together on its own better. As far as construction is concerned, the toughest part is folding the shell. I put the pictures below to clarify.
Ta-DA! You have a new paper turtle! The socks don’t stay on very well without tape, by the way.
Here my turtle is wearing socks- it’s kind of cold in my house right now, so I made some as an accessory.
Alice in Wonderland Cupcakes
I made a batch of cupcakes on Friday, and half of them were gobbled up immediately with a box of strawberries (my previous post) and the other half were reserved for artistic purposes.
I’m going through a bit of an Alice in Wonderland phase right now, I’ve been itching to produce Alice-themed art, and here it is:
I used the frosting I described in Saturday’s post with colored sugar to create the glittery tops, and formed the leaves and vines and stuff using candy clay. (A 12 oz bag of white chocolate chips melted in the microwave- stir frequently, it burns easily- then a 1/3 Cup of light corn syrup blended in. Cover tightly with plastic wrap when these are thoroughly incorporated and store at room temperature for up to four days. I dye mine with food coloring and sculpt it just like modeling clay. Which means those cute little decorations are fully edible to anyone brave enough to eat something that has been handled that much. )
What do you think?
Shoe-i-gami
Look what I got! It’s a boxed set of paper shoes for me to fold and put together and adore. That’s what the box says- make and adore. I just got this thing and I’ve made a reproduction of the Armadillo shoe by Alexander McQueen. I think once they’re all put together I will get a little tiny Christmas tree for my desk and have a shoe tree.
It took me less than a half hour of actual construction time, although I picked it up and put it down so many times that start to finish I don’t really know how long it was. These are super simple. Instant gratification. I think next I’m going to the Christian Louboutin Daffodil.
