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Hello from still sunny Indiana, the most whimsical place on earth!
We are having a spate of very warm and sunny weather - how sneaky of Mother Nature. I know it's coming as sure as I'm sitting here, I can feel it even if it is 90 degrees outside. Autumn is right around the corner. And I love Autumn, don't get me wrong, but today I want to bask in the glow of the remains of juicy summer because it just feels so darned good and I'm in such a really goooooooood mood.
Juicy summery Michigan pineapple tomato fresh from the farm
I've been a'workin' up a storm in Photoshop, oh yes I have. Bubbling with excitement and this trill of expectancy about wonderful things to come. And this has nothing whatsoever to do with sunshine and good weather and everything to do with a sweet little dress by my dear friend Sarah Drayton who lives all the way over in England, another whimsical place I know.
Sarah is a member of our PaperWhimsy Art Forum and she is participating in the first annual PaperWhimsy Bippidi Bobbidi Ball. Thirty artists signed up for our special gala of the most elegant kind (more on that in a bit), and created the most amazing dresses. And Sarah's was one of them.
You know when you have one of those moments - those absolutely pure and perfect moments when you see some thing and a light bulb clicks on with a great big loud pop? That kind of flabbergasting experience where you just can't sit still for the sheer excitement of this epiphany you've just had?
That's what happened to me when my eyes lit upon Sarah's Bibbidi Bobbidi Ball gown. It was one of those "Aha!" moments that has been with me for almost two solid weeks, now, because what I was seeing when I looked at Sarah's dress was the final piece to a puzzle I've been playing with, laboring over, for almost a year.
Oh you've got to be curious just a wee little bit, yes?
It's almost time but first I have some other little nuggets I'd like to share - one of which is a little visit with Sarah Drayton who is my Featured Artist this newsletter. Sarah is an amazingly talented artist who brings a joy and enthusiasm to her art that is invigorating and infectious! And oh how we need a little joy and enthusiasm in our lives. It makes us feel alive, it makes us happy, it makes us feel creative.
So, let's sit a spell with our slippers on sipping our favorite morning/afternoon.evening beverage and fill ourselves with the joy of creating and inspiring and being inspired on this beautiful what's-left-of-summer day.
Nothing sweeter than an upside down kid smile
Happy Sunday!
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PaperWhimsy Name Game Part Tres!
Another batch of wonderful whimsical names arrived almost daily to my inbox. It was most hard to decide so in some cases I mixed it up a bit; you might see two names in the winner's circle for one sheet.
Without further ado, may I introduce you to sheets 41-60:
041 - Aurora Skye named by Kathleen Madden
043 - Briar & Zoey Witherspoon named by Louise Wheeler
044 - Fiona Liliweather named by Linda Kunsman
045 - Theodosia Phoebe named by JoAnn Reichert
046 - Mia Sparrow named by Linda Kunsman
052 - Mstr Edward & Miss Eugenia Buttonwillow named by Jan DeBellis and Jann Cook
053 - Nellie Kittenpuff named by Lee Blithe Weber
054 - Isabeau Bunnypot named by Lee Blithe Weber
055 - Adelicia Saffron named by Lily Pajda
056 - Suzanna Sparrow named by Jan DeBellis
057 - Lauralee Lilac Flowers named by Patricia Schweitzer
060 - Marie Pauline Peridot named by Linda Kunsman
Congratulations and thank you for playing along. I hope you all will toss your favorite name into the faerie pot for sheets 65-93 (seems like a lot but it isn't). Simply pop an email off to me with PaperWhimsy Name Game Sheet #____ in the subject line and you're entered. As easy as that! I'll be accepting names for sheets 65-93, from Sept 1st through Sept 21st.
To this month's winners - please send me an email with Winner Sheet/s #____ in the subject line and include your name and address in the body of the email so I can send you your sheet/s and you can start creating.
Previous winners - if I have not mailed your sheets to you, yet, would you, please, drop me a line and remind me?
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Salagadoola Mechicka Moola
... Bibbidi Bobbidi Ball!
And what a grand ball it was! Hosted by Theresa Martin in the PaperWhimsy Art Forum, dozens of RSVPs came in and most of our guests were in attendance. And lucky for you, we had a secret camera set up so you could catch a glimpse of this gala event.
If you use the special ticket below, you just might catch a glimpse of your Prince Charming. And if not him, certainly some of the most beautiful ball gowns in the history of balldom. We hope you'll come and take a peek.
 (If you feel like meandering to the Ball, go to paperwhimsy.com, click on Juice, scroll down to The Ball and enter) |
Meet Sarah Drayton - Featured Artist
 I am delighted to announce that Sarah Drayton is my Featured Artist this month. Sarah is relatively new to the mixed media world and is living proof that each of us has an artist inside waiting the burst forth with brilliant wings and fly! Sarah has only been creating mixed media art since November 2007! She is a wonderful supportive member of our Art Forum as well as an active member. If there's a project in the works, you can bet that Sarah is involved. And she also hosts several projects herself through her blog. Good grief, where does she get that energy?! I'd like to bottle that up along with just a smidge of her talent... It'd be worth a small fortune. Chatting with Sarah the other day via email she took the time to answer some questions in her delightful way (don't you just love her accent?) so let's get down to it and meet Sarah Drayton!
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN DOING ART? I started creating with Mixed Media last November(2007).
HAVE YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO BE AN ARTIST? I was never any good at Art in school; it wasn't my thing at all... but Mixed Media has opened up a whole new world to me.WHAT TYPES OF ART DO YOU DO? I love Soldering, Acrylics and playing with Paper and Glue.WHAT DREW YOU TO MIXED MEDIA ART? I was at a craft show in Birmingham, UK last November when I was browsing though some magazines and came across Somerset Studio, picked up a copy and was in awe with what I saw... every page I turned I found the most amazing artwork and I thought "I wonder if I could do that..."WHERE DO YOU DO YOUR ART? I have a desk in my bedroom filled with lovely artwork I have received, it's great to be able to see the gorgeous work and have all your Arty stuff at hand. I love looking up and seeing everything... I am quite organised and everything has a place, but that's just me.WHAT COLOR WILL WE ALWAYS SEE IN YOUR ART? Oh I love light blue... with that little bit of shabbiness about it!!!WHAT THREE THINGS ARE MUST HAVES ON YOUR ART TABLE? Distress Inks, Acrylic Paints, Collage Sheets... WHAT IS YOUR MUSE? I love to listen to my Ipod when I am creating; it really takes me away......and sparks something in my soul.WHO ARE YOUR FAVORITE ARTISTS (PAST OR PRESENT/DEAD OR ALIVE)? There are so many wonderful Artists out there... Kathy Wasilewski, Rande Hanson, Sally Jean Alexander and Marg Buhagiar to name a few.WHEN YOU'RE IN AN ARTISTIC SLUMP, WHAT PULLS YOU OUT OF IT? I usually look at past work and inspiration and ideas usually follow. I love spending time looking through my books/magazines, as well as looking in blogland; there are so many amazing and awe inspiring blogs to see.WHAT PLANS DO YOU HAVE FOR YOUR FUTURE AS AN ARTIST? I am enjoying my journey into Mixed Media... wherever it takes me.WHAT PROJECTS ARE CURRENTLY PERCOLATING ON YOUR ART TABLE? I currently have Moo cards WIP, and a Canvas WIP.WHAT IS YOUR ASTROLOGICAL SIGN? I am an Aries...IF YOU COULD HAVE ANY NAME WHAT WOULD IT BE? Oh, that's a hard one... I love my name. I am a typical Sarah !!!!!!WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FLOWER? Lilies WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE COLOR? BlueWHAT IS THE MOST RECENT BOOK YOU'VE READ? "Embraced by the Light" Betty J EadieWHAT WOULD WE BE SURPRISED TO FIND IN YOUR LIBRARY? Break On Through: The Life and Death of Jim Morrison -by James Riordan and Jerry Prochnicky ( am a huge Jim Morrison Fan). WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE? I love Movies another of my fav past times ... I would have to say The Shawshank Redemption... amazing film.WHAT FAVORITE DESSERT RECIPE ARE YOU GOING TO SHARE WITH US? When I moved out from home... I realised I was going to miss my mum's cooking (as well as mum), she makes this yummy treacle sponge pudding. This is the Recipe: 3ozs Caster Sugar3ozs Soft Margarine2 Eggs3ozs Self-raising Flour Cream Margarine and sugar together until light and fluffy add 2 eggs mix in and add flour. Mix together. Large pyrex bowl, add treacle To TASTE add sponge ingredients pop into microwave for 3 - 4minutes or until springy to touch, serve with creamy custard... a great comfort pudding. Thanks MumThank you, Sarah! Please be sure to click through any image in this article to visit Sarah's beautiful blog. Perhaps, you'll find yourself inspired to participate in one of the several challenges in which she's involved. And now a tutorial on "THE DRESS". |
The Ball Gown ...
Creating for the Bibbidi Bobbidi Ball by Sarah Drayton "A letter from the prince...he's having a ball...and all eligible maiden's are to attend...why, that would mean me too.."~ Cinderella As Sarah tells it, she started out with all kinds of pink and fluffy things with which to create. Where it all went awry was sitting down in front of "Lord of the Rings" while she created. Suddenly, she found herself reaching for a hunk of twine... "Creating my Ball Gown was an adventure from the start. Deciding on how to create would become harder than I could ever Imagine. From pieces of fabric and lace to an array of beautiful papers all around me."I started with drawing my shape of the ball gown and then continued to create the bodice adding some wings made from Tim Holtz's Grungeboard. The dress is designed with papers from Basic Grey Collection. "Once the shape had been cut out I distressed the edges using TH Distress Inks. I then decided the dress needed something at the bottom. After playing around with lace and dresden I decided to create a fan-like ruffle at the bottom (do you remember as young girls folding paper to make fans?). I created these pleats using old text paper and folding and gluing with PVA glue until I achieved the desired width. I then used distress Inks over the edges of my paper ruffle. "To add to the effect I used filigree corners at the waist and entwined into this a few paper flowers and the twine along the bottom of the dress and glued with PVA glue . At the dress shoulder I used another filagree corner and bent this over the strap intertwining, again, the green leaves and paper flowers. Torso and wings are created with old text paper with edges in distress Inks."The overall head/dress is about 10" tall. And when my eyes came upon this wonderful, magical, funky little dress I was smitten. And with Sarah's permission to use her idea as my inspiration I have the beginnings of a new line of PaperWhimsy collage sheets! The final piece to a puzzle I've been stumped with for several months. Let me introduce you to... Petites Fées Gothiques - Petite Gothique Faeries... only at PaperWhimsy. |
Petites Fées Gothiques
Oooo... la... la... Petite Gothique Faeries from PaperWhimsy inspired by an original dress designed by Sarah Drayton. This inaugural collection is comprised of six new sheets (with more WIP). All the necessary pretty bits to create an amazing and endless wardrobe of magical, funky gothic faeries. So many pieces from which to choose, so many fashions to create and all the bits on all the sheets fit all the faeries. Scores of pretty bits to mix and match across the line, you'll never be without the perfect outfit for a special occasion no matter what it may be. Add Dresden, baubles, beads, lace... add paper flowers, ribbons, fibers, felting... add touches of paint and glitter... Each little faerie will be uniquely yours when you're done. Well, I don't know that you'll ever be done - so many pretties to play with makes for a very happy time and nobody wants a happy time to end. Have your sheets printed on fabric, stitch the parts to a doll body and decorate with charms and sequins and beads. And look for exciting additions to some of our favorite PaperWhimsy collage sheets. You're going to find faerie heads popping up all over the place, perfectly sized for the little Gothique wardrobe. Oh joy, oh joy! I have been just bursting with excitement and inspired moments because of these little fee creatures and I hope you catch this fever and find something here to inspire you, as well.  Rande's Petites Fées Gothiques Theatre
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How about a little fun?
 There's always a bit of fun percolating in PaperWhimsy-land and this little Bits 'n Bobs brings another little batch of that jolly goodness your way, today. As an introduction to my new line of Petites Fées Gothiques collage sheets (since one can never have too many pretty things) for a limited time you will receive a free gift with purchase. If you purchase a set of six (6) sheets within the Petites Fées Gothiques line you can select, as my gift to you, an additional Petites Fées Gothiques sheet of your choice. So, seven sheets for the price of six. And that goes for each and every six Petites Fées Gothiques sheets you purchase. Buy Six (6) Get a 7th Free. And... (not like a "but" which is always a bummer - ha!) if you purchase the full line of six sheets (and get that extra sheet free) - you will also receive a gift certificate for 20% off any additional Petites Fées Gothiques sheets currently in the line or newly added to the line. This special gift certificate will be mailed with your order and will be valid from September 15 - October 31, 2008. Your free sheet must be in like media (you can use it for a fabric sheet if you purchase all fabric sheets, etc). If you mix the media within your selection, you will receive a paper sheet as your free sheet. Clear as mud? :o) Clap clap clap!! And chant with me: "I believe in faeries... I believe in faeries"... and join me in the blissful creation of some Gothique Faerie magic!
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