I’m here!

    Hello there, I have been meaning to post more often here on the old blog. I have been taking a break from all things social media and feel have found myself again! Social media is a blessing and a curse, when you misuse it or have the wrong mindset, it can be harmful to your mental health. Basically I was seeing what others were doing and I felt like I should be doing that too and  if I would try and then feel unsatisfied because it wasn't really what I wanted. I felt like I was late all the time and too pressured and in a hurry. But now that I've had a break I feel incredibly whole and I'm excited to share what I've been doing. 

    Lately I have been into papier-mâché sculpture again :) those of you who have followed along in the beginning of this blog remember that papier-mache has been a staple in my life. I am happy to be at it again. 

I made these witches a few years ago but this blog didn't get the update so I thought I needed to share her here. :)

Another fun project I'm working on with my husband is Frost Hollow Farm ! We are both so passionate about beautiful old architecture and immersive whimsical art, so were beginning a new project on our 7 acre abandoned dairy farm, where were building an old world Dickensian downtown and creating a theme park with shops and hand made life size sculpted whimsical shop owners and all the details of their fantastical world. 

I am in the process of creating a shop to feature my cartoony style specifically, it'll feature printable downloads, coloring books, stickers, journals and merch in that same style. Much of it will be featuring the cat named Sebastian and his many friend who seem frequents that art style of mine. I call it Sebastian and Friends. :) when I have it all put together ill announce the launch.

Thanks so much four joining me on this fun update post!

 

Morgan, a new papier mache witch sculpture

(Note: I use amazon affiliate links in my articles. )

Witches aren't just for fall :) Sometimes  Halloween is for all year. What are your thoughts are you a Halloween fan? I cant say enough how much fun  it has been getting back into sculpting again. Paper mache is so much a part of my artistic outlet.

I never thought that having no artistic outlet would hurt me, but I have had time where I was emotionally suffering because I didn't have a voice or a vehicle to express myself. I am so glad to be at it again.  :) Also it is totally OK to let yourself take a break when you need one, sometimes you need different outlets and different times. but never rob yourself of an outlet you are craving. There is time, there are so many ways to create, just go out and do it! :)

Have you ever taken a break from your art or outlet, and ended up right back again because it was an innate part of you? let me know in the comments.
If you want to see whats available you can visit my Etsy shop by clicking HERE. :)

Sculpting again

I'm back into my sculptures and I had to share it here! Www.Etsy.com/shop/littlelolas

Haunted house

On Sunday night we realized that our house is haunted!! ;) We even have photographic proof take a look.

 I was trying to snap photos of the kids with their jack-o-lanterns and the settings on the camera were wrong (the exposure was super long). The first photo I took looked was blurry and when Everett walked into the shot he looked like a white ghostly blur. I shot more and realized I could make the kids look more like ghosts if I got out the tripod. I had the kids walk around slowly and then stay in one spot at the end of a long exposure. We were having so much fun that even Trent joined in with the candelabra to see what that did. The bottom photo with light shooting out of Lizzy's chest is the result. Spooky and awesome right? Hope you all have a slightly spooky but super safe Halloween tonight! :) Happy haunting!

knight costume

I finished the knight costume and I have to say it turned out awesome!! Alex loves it! I cut the tunic out of fleece and did a freezer paper stencil of a similar dragon to the one they have in the Narnia movies. I used masking tape as a stencil for the gold border. As you already know I crocheted the "chain-mail" hood & you can find the pattern I made right here. Later I crocheted tubes so he could have chain-mail on his arms also. After seeing this tutorial, I made craft foam armor for his arms, legs, and shoulders. I used silver spray paint but probably would use regular craft paint next time because the spray paint rubs off easily. He absolutely loves it, can you tell? :)

fairy costume

Here is the finished fairy costume I made for Lizzy. I am so happy with how it came together and so is she!! Her request was that it was a "wow" costume. Last year she said everyone said wow to her brothers fully lit robot costume and never noticed the owl standing next to him, and I am sad to say she was right. Even a hand made adorable owl doesn't get the "wow" when there's an awesome robot with blinking lights.  So, as you can see, I went all out for her costume trying to make sure it was a "wow" costume.  I think the entire outfit as a whole comes together and creates the wow but if I had to choose the piece that adds the finishing touch it has to be the felt flower crown / head piece.  It has glitter all over each flower and adds a goddess feel to the entire costume. the dresses is just a simple chiffon rectangle with a hole in the top and sides for her head and arms. The head hole was cut extra big and has elastic in it to gather is together and give it a Grecian feel. It would still look like a bag if it weren't for the long ribbons that tie on the wings, they criss cross over her chest gathering the dress in and making it look more finished and pretty. She wears a leotard and tights under the dress for modestly since chiffon is sheer, but the costume is made to be able to wear a long sleeve top and leggings underneath to keep her warm. I made gloves so that on Halloween night she wouldn't freeze her little fairy fingers off. They're just dollar bin gloves from Joe-Annes. I cut out leaf shapes from felt and glittered them, then simply hot glued them onto the wrist to make a bracelet effect. the wings I made after seeing this how to video on you tube. I loved the idea of burning holes into the nylons to make the wings seem more fragile and petite. After I shaped the wigs and put on the base coat of pink and green paint, I had my Trent help me with the hole burning and painting the brown vein accents. Thanks honey! :) I then finished the look by glittering and gluing jewels all over the place.

When it was done she wore it to a fall festival trick or treat at the gardeners market and got tons of audible "wows", I think my job here is done!

halloween decorations

This year it was really hard to get our decorations to look like a pretty display instead of an ugly junk collection. I re-arranged all our figurines and things a million times and couldn't figure it out. Finally I remembered how one of my favorite local boutiques arranged their Halloween displays. By color! When I tried it on our stuff our home transformed! It no-longer looked like a junk shop, It looked cute and intentional. I have to say that the black paper spikes I added to the mantle added that final touch. I got that idea from All Sorts. I remembered seeing and loving her Halloween mantle years ago. My Halloween letters were inspired by her as well I think.

making costumes

 I have been having more fun making costumes this year than any other year for sure! My oldest son is being a knight and my daughter is being a flower fairy.  When my son said he wanted to be a knight I knew right a way that I wanted crochet some chain-mail armor. The pattern I made is simple and if I don't procrastinate I'll post the pattern here on my blog before Halloween. When my daughter said she wanted to be a fairy I was super excited! I LOVE fairies! She showed me this fairy from our fairy book illustrated by Cicely Mary Barker and I was smitten! I changed the leaf hat to a flower wreath / crown because I knew it would be fun to make it out of glittered felt flowers. I used my flower tutorial as well as some other tutorials like this one, and this one, and i made up some new little ones for more variety.
There is so much more to the two costumes than the head pieces but I'll share it all after I'm finished with everything.

Last years costumes

I just realized that I never posted pictures of the costumes I made for the kids last year. It was probably because I finally finished them on Halloween day. There was a robot with real lights, a pretty little owl and baby robin hood. I cant wait to get working on this years costumes. If only they would make up their minds. :)

What costumes are you making this year?

Into the halloween spirit!

I have to tell you all the secret I have been keeping... I'm pregnant!! I am about three months along now and we're so happy! This is one of the reasons I have not been blogging much. I just feel so blah! (The other reason being that I am now homeschooling two kids instead of one and it takes most of my time up.) I have to say that Halloween has me crafting again though!! Trent and I just finished painting the two vintage inspired pumpkin treat buckets last night!  We really love how they turned out!! September is totally a Halloween month for us! Wanna see our Halloweens past? Take a look here, here, and here!