My Masterpiece, the newsapaper dress....

Yep, I did it, I made a real wearable dress out of newspaper and I am pretty darn pleased! I had the concept, but I wasn't sure I could back it up but I accomplished it....It is sized to fit my sister Julie. She thinks it is just the cutest and coolest thing and has promised to model it when she has her hair and make up done and "a spray tan so my whiteness doesn't show." In other words, it may be a while and I couldn't wait to show it off! It is pretty cute on too...In fact she wants me to make her one out of an Air Force parachute and do some kind of graffiti on it...Might be cool....Here is the front. (my brother in law is in the Air force....)


I made a stencil for the pattern around the bottom of a random type flower and did it in a vanilla paint...I think it pulls out the color of the ribbon I used around the neckline and for the halter tie....






This shows a close up of the paper flower..I did the same flower on the back with little green stems poking out artistically...At least they feel that way to me and it is my vision! The flowers are coffee filters dyed with vanilla and coffee and then painted with the same paint from the border...
Here is the back....








The skirt is a full circle skirt and to really show it off, I would probably put a petticoat or two under it...a starched one with ruffles for sure....It is hanging kind of with a pleat, but with a petticoat, it would just bell right out...
The back closes with a paper ribbon threaded thru grommets...it looks kind of corsetty'...I pinned it to fit the mannequin, but it all lays really nice on a real person.....
The only parts that were really hard, was figuring out how to do the back and turning it inside out after sewing it...The paper is tough but will still tear and I am not the most patient. I had a few tears so I mended and re dyed after it was turned...
Lisa (daughter) came over and wanted to see it. I think Julie told her she needs to be more supportive of the stuff I make. She said it is really cute..then she looked at me and said, "but I really have to ask what the point of making something like this is?" Olivia (grand daughter who is eight, the one I raised for two years...) said, " we are artists and we make art, it is what we do!" then she gave her mom a classic 'well, duh. look....I love this kid, I really do...She gets it, we get it...and that is all that matters!

March projects....

Today I only had to babysit until 12:30 so I took a nice long nap and then I went upstairs to play catch up. I got a lot done and had fun too. I sure like feeling a sense of accomplishment. The first project was finishing everything for March's Enchanted Ornament swap....the theme was mushrooms. I already made the tags so I also finished up these little things....(Robin, do not look at this picture if you want a surprise.....)




A little sewn felt mushroom to hang on a tree....a wooden cube with mushrooms and red gingham, a bouquet of clay toadstools, (they are on floral wire so you can wrap the wire around tree branches and a pincushion with some fancy little pins...I also sent her some cute Easter fabric and Jelly Belly jelly beans....Just a little mushroom love for my friend Robin!









Then I did my March paper doll dress....I love making these and I hope to finish my real life size paper dress tomorrow...This one is simply called Spring'.....it is made out of a heavy fabric with satin stripes and I made the skirt poof with netting under the panels....I like this dress.....I would've loved to play princess dress up in this as a kid...Margaret host this once a month..you can find her at http://aliceandcamilla.blogspot.com
Play along if you like, I know she would love to have you....Any artistic mothers out there? It is fun to visit every one's blogs and see these inspirational dresses..A little girl could play along with mom too....
Last of all I finished my row for the Round Robin Row quilt hosted by Barbara at http://bejeweledquiltsbybarb.blogspot.com
Jeanette's them is birdhouses and her rows are vertical. She wanted summer colors but didn't feel hers were, so I tried to brighten it up a little...I am hoping that the green I used ties them in together..She said do anything, so I did...Hope she likes it! Here is a picture...









Her row is on the left, mine is on the right...She didn't say if the width had to be the same size so I am going to ask her...If she does want it the same I will just border in more of the green....This is my first row quilt and I sure like working on it so far.....
That's all folks for now....Babysitting again tomorrow and then off Sunday...have a great joy filled weekend!

J is for Jumping Jehoshaphat!

Good Afternoon Mrs. Matlock...I am ready for class and this weeks lesson....Today I brought you a jackfruit to enjoy during recess....Just plug your nose to get past the vomit smell, and I think you will really enjoy it. I thought about jujubes, jam or jello but I know you are an adventurous soul, so jackfruit it is. Here is my essay on the letter J'....







J' is for Jumping Jehoshaphat...Who is Jehoshaphat and why did he jump and why should we jump or talk about him jumping? It usually is an expression to exclaim over something...Like "Holy Cow"...
Jehoshaphat actually was a king in biblical times...he was faced with a monstrous army marching on him and he went to God and asked him for guidance and help. He defeated the army with Gods help and they all Jumped for Joy....at least I imagine they did...







According to internet sources the meaning of Jumping Jehoshaphat, is to leap into Gods arms....I think it is the coolest phrase. So JUMPING JEHOSHAPHAT! The moral of this story is jump like you mean it!

Nature Journal page and nature tags....

This week is flying by and I have been playing catch up trying to get all my little projects for this month done...I have had Jace this week and he takes a lot of time and attention. We have been outside off and on enjoying the first of Springtime. We are starting to work on our little trailer and we also transplanted some rosebushes from the back of the house to the sunny front side...I would've waited longer but they are coming back to life and I didnt want to shock them too bad.
Using one of my Artistic Mother's backgrounds I made a journal page for the round robin that I am...I love all the orange and hot colors...The flowers are marigolds which I have been thinking about. They help keep the bugs away from roses.....I have always been fascinated by gardens...We had a neighbor named Mrs. Ebert and she had the most beautiful flower garden. I would follow her around and ask her a zillion questions...She told me all the names of the flowers and all about how to grow them...It was a wondrous thing and this is what inspired the page...A garden thru the eyes of a child...Here it is front and back.....












I also made some Enchanted tags for the Enchanted Ornament swap...This months theme is mushrooms so I just ran with it and glued and cut and sewed away....





I also am making clay mushrooms and they will be done today....I still have quilt row to make in a birdhouse theme, March's paper dress and a sewn art quilt for another Yahoo group to make....I know I will get them all done, but it has been an adjustment with the full time childcare thing....

Friday night sew in results......

I got my project finished and it turned out pretty cute...Just in case you didn't see the previous post, I made a Downy kids comfort quilt from their kit...It will go to a children's hospital somewhere in the U.S...I think it is a great cause and I was so happy to do it. I am going to use some of my own fabric to make another one to send along with this one...I have some really cute boy fabric left over from Andrew's quilt...Here is the finished product...




The kit includes a label with a space for your first name and the name of the quilt....Thinking of the sick little girl who might use it I named this quilt "happy wishes, flower kisses"....
Here is the back......



Not only did I enjoy the Friday Night Sew In, but I also got to go to Farrs Ice Cream parlor and enjoy cake batter ice cream with Don....I put fresh raspberries on it and it was yummy....I did have to get out of my jammies to go...Farrs is a local creamery and it is pretty good stuff.....Then at 10:30 my sister called and wanted me to go to the Walmart New Moon party with Olivia and her...So I went down there and we got in the huge line and waited for the midnight release...Olivia was all excited to eat cake and play games and of course get a copy of the movie...She also got a poster and won a metal water bottle with a picture of Edward on it...gasp, swoon....
You would not believe all the adults there!!!! no kids, grown women....it was quite the party, I got a kick out of it! All in all, a great night and I got a quilt totally done too! YAY!

Friday Night Sew In !

Tonight is the March Friday night Sew in...I have'nt got to participate before, and I am excited to be a part of it...Click on the button on the sidebar to find out more and see a list of all the participants....
You decide on a project, get all comfy in your jammies and sew away and then post your project on Saturday...The project that I will be working on is a Downy Touch of Comfort quilt...This is the neatest program....Downy, the fabric softener is sponsoring and helping to get ten thousand homemade quilts to childrens hospitals around the U.S. ...You go to their website and sign up and they send you everything but the batting and thread to make a childs quilt...I have seen three quilts and the fabric is always bright and colorful and fun to work with...it even includes a label to sew on the back....here is the link to the site.

http://www.downy.com/en-US/helping-kids.jspx

Here is the quilt kit that I received...The pieces are all cut out and ready to sew when you get the kit....



Happy Friday Night Sew In!!!

I is for Insomnia.....

Good Morning Mrs. Matlock...I am here on time this morning..It Is really Incredible, Isnt it? Once again I have no apples to bring you so Instead here is an Illawara plum.....
So here goes, I is for Insomia and I have it bad.....A few people have left comments on my blog and ask how I get so much done...Especially since having the kids full time...Well, here is the answer...I don't sleep!!!! maybe four hours in a 24 hour time span if I am lucky...I have had bouts off and on for years and it runs in my family...This latest streak has been going on for about three months...it gets old fast too...I finally quit even trying and just stay up all night. I usually sleep between 5 a.m and 7:30 a.m when the kids come...it has led to some severe undereye circles....











I don't drink this,











I take this....






I even count iguanas....(sheep doesnt start with an I')....
I think if I could shut this darn thing off.....








Then I could find a comfy bed and sleep just like this.....








and that would be really Incredible......

making a newspaper dress.....

It sounds strange I know, but I have always wanted to do it and I am kinda strange anyway...The main thing is, I want it to be a wearable paper dress, the real deal....I could do an artful paper dress easy...give some hot glue and interesting bits and I could go to town...Sewing one is harder for for me to accomplish. So that is what I am working on...A Spring dress out of newspaper....The first step is to make your newspaper fabric...I meld newspaper into muslin with a whole lot of water, (lots and lots) a little modpodge and then I use dynaflow fabric dyes randomly to color it.....








I let this dry overnight and then start cutting and sewing....I am making a halter dress with a full skirt...Kind of like Marilyn Monroe's dress..you know the one over the steam vent.....I am kind of winging the pattern..I can't follow directions anyway, so I figured why try? I looked at some pictures to get inspiration..Tonight I had enough fabric to do the bodice....I like it so far, I really do....





It will have a back piece connected to the skirt and then a zipper....A zipper scares the you know out of me...I have done one zipper in my life and I don't remember how....But I am going to suck it up and be a brave little seamstress and try...Not that I consider myself a seamstress by any means...
I have big plans for the embellishing...on the bodice where the top crosses I am going to make a big paper rose and then along the bottom of the dress, I am going to paint or stamp big vanilla roses...I might do some kind of tulle underskirt too, but we will see....I have more newspaper drying upstairs so I should have the skirt cut out in the next few days...more to come on this endeavor...
Tomorrow on Fiber Art Traders there is another blind challenge...this time it is three days...The last one was five days and my piece was on Quilting Arts Online....(I didnt send it in fast enough to make the magazine...)It also sold to a collector which was pretty exciting...I have the babies and kidlets tomorrow but I am going to join in anyway...
Tell me what you think of the dress thing, I would love to hear from you!

artistic moms, a basket and a book....

I recently joined the Artistic Mothers group hosted by Trudy Callan....(click on the button on my sidebar to find out more....) The first project we are working on is making our background papers....Tonight I got down to it and made a huge creative mess and had a whole lot of fun...I already learned something awesome, when making background papers...I used regular copier white paper which is thin...normally to just paint it, it would still be flimsy. What I learned is to cover it with gesso first, then add your paints, inks or whatever you are using....I used a lot of gesso, a little water and had no trouble with the paper curling up at all...I made six papers..( from the mess you would've guessed at least 100!) I did three of the elements....fire, water and air.....Earth to me is brown tones, and I didn't have the right colors...next time....Each set had a mono print off the beginning page....Fun stuff and not a lot of thinking required.....






I also made another little Easter Basket for the basket swap hosted by Miss Rhea...These are so fun to play with....here is the end result.





Guess what color the recipient likes?
The other day I got some really cute Easter egg fabric and I am making pin cushions and pot holders......I made up this "big and bold" pincushion tonight.....it is big! The pattern is from a Better Homes and Garden Magazine...pillows, pincushions and bags....I whipped this baby up for practice in about twenty minutes total...I need to get button forms before I make the "Real ones"...The picture makes it look crooked, but it is not....The pins have flat heads and I just hot glued little jewels on them....cutie patooties...





Last of all, I wanted to share something really cool with all my blogging friends...Did you know you can turn your blog into a book complete with your pictures? You can with Blurb.com and it is super easy...




I put a lot of heart into my blog and who knows how long blogs will be around....I especially wanted a record for the kids, because a lot of my blog chronicles our lives together and a book is forever...This is my 2007 blog book....I have two more complete years to turn into books. I am super pleased with the way it turned out and it was only 29.99...My 2007 book has 145 pages and a ton of pictures...






I think it is a great buy and a great keepsake.....

Heaven Help us , H for Hair.....

Happy Alphabe Thursday Miss Matlock....I am Happy to be Here, but was Horrified to find H is a Hard letter to work with....I Had to really think about this one....I couldn't think of a fruit or vegetable to bring you that started with H so Here is a Hosta for your garden....
H is for Hair as in Hairstyles of the past. Have you ever noticed that you can recognize a decade by the hairstyle?





this picture is a great example....A bouffant just screams the 60's.....I still want to get one some day, maybe for a Halloween event and wear a little pillbox Hat on the top ala" Jackie......
Ok here is a test...What decade is this one from?


I know, I know, it like something out of a Horror film....the dreaded Mullet and it is so eighties.....he even has a nice pair of 80's jeans on......
Then there are the Hairstyles that are named after people.....








The Farrah.......How many of us didn't Have Hair like this or try to?








Bo Derek braids....you can go to the Bahamas and get you some of these....(Hey lady I braid your Hair for 2 dollars....it was Hard but I resisted...)






The Rachel....I tried to Have Hair like this and it just didn't work....mine looked more like a Brillo pad on top of my Head....this was before the good straightening irons came out......

And now, we are nearing the present......How about this one?







The Kate.....Now in Utah we have a bigger version of this Hairstyle...It is called "why do I Have a multicolored cockatoo sitting on the back of my Head" Texas Has nothing on us with their big Hair.....
And last of all fellow student body and Miss Matlock, I would like to introduce a new Hairstyle..........







The Melinda....Happy Alphabe Thursday!

Easter pretties......

I have made a few things for Miss Rhea's Easter swap and thought I would share...The little basket is a yogurt container...isn't that a great idea? I love the whole "use what you have" idea anyway....if you click on the Easter swap button on the side, it will take you to her blog. She has three tutorials on how to make them...They are fast and easy and super cute....The egg and the little chocolate bunny were on sale at Joann's for 40% off...Pretty hard to beat....
I also saw some little tiny canvas's and easels and so I picked them up....I decorated them up with a couple of little cuties and bunny ears....I am not done with the little easel yet, but thought I would show them anyway...Here is one.






and here is the other....














Hop on over and check out the tutorial...it is a very easy craft that anyone who can handle a glue gun could do........

Quilt finished and paper wreath done!

I got the big quilt that had sat for three years done, and oh, it feels good! I let it sit, because I just wasn't a fan of the colors and now that it is done, I like it a lot....I still have one block left and I am going to make a big pillow with it and the leftover fabric...This is a big queen size quilt...


The end result was much prettier than I thought it would be....sometimes, I just get sick of looking at something..I only have one more unfinished quilt, and it has been sitting for two years. I like it, it is just gigantic, and I know it is going to be a beast to quilt...I am not even sure if it will fit on my quilting frame...yes, it is that big....There is no way that I am trying to shove it under my regular sewing machine...I am thinking I will tackle it in April.
I also finished the paperback paper wreath...I got the idea from Jenny Matlock...She had this cute little tutorial on her blog so I had to try it....jennymatlock.blogspot.com It was a lot of cutting and a lot of hot gluing and lots of burns on my fingers...I painted the papers before I cut out leaf shapes....I like how it turned out. It also is a good GREEN project, because other than a wreath form, you just use what you have....Here it is:




Trace's first birthday party was fun...The five kids from across the street came over to celebrate too.....Here is the Birthday Boy....













and this is my daughter Lisa with her little guy....
















The two babies and I...Jace is so blond and fair and Trace has dark hair and skin like mine...

















Andrew and I modeling birthday hats...I love his little hands!















it was a Happy Birthday party!