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Oh, the glory that is spring. We have no flowers, yet, but I know they're bursting out of their pods and seeds beneath the loamy soil ready to push their way out to the sun. It is a good day when it isn't winter. A good day, indeed. On the home front, I received a cheery email from Sheila the other day. There are more happenings! "The sign that tells you there is a dangerous bend in the road outside
the church has been demolished from behind by something bigger than a car... looking at the tyre marks on the road." Apparently the words "dangerous bend" escaped the lorry driving maniac who ran the sign down. Also, according to Sheila, the Canada geese (vacationing in Matfield)
have had a happy event while on the road. "Well, six happy events", Sheila writes. "...at the moment following
their mum and dad around the pond one behind the other, just like
cartoon ducks." We've also been chatting, Sheila and I, about how we'll keep ourselves amused for two weeks when Draw and I come out in June. We've come up with an idea that revolves around a magical and whimsical travel book for children (and the young at heart). At the very least, it'll be fun talking about it and planning it even if it doesn't get completely written. Suffice it to say the idea revolves around imaginative musings and enchanted beings playing hide and go seek in flowering gardens. That puts a great big grin on my face. Springtime in Matfield
Happy Sunday!
Gale
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Spring Cleaning...
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With the shoppe growing and products multiplying, what once worked well does not work so well, anymore. Namely, the navigation amongst the products. It had gotten to be quite a mishmash with so many different products squashed together in very generic categories. So, I've been busy. My house is a mess but the shoppe is looking pretty darned good.
You'll find fewer main categories and more sub-categories that will, hopefully, help you find things more easily. Such as... collage sheets are now categorized! Yes, this is a good thing. If you're looking for a boy, you go to "Collage Sheets" and click on "Handsome Lads". If you're looking for a little girl you go to "Collage Sheets" and click on "Darling Lasses". And if you want to see everything... all on one page because you have a really robust muscle-bound internet connection, you go to "Collage Sheets" and click on "View All". Voila!
You'll be able to tell whether there are subcategories within a category by the little blue arrows to the right of the category name. Time for a picture:
How pretty. (Did you notice that I've finally gotten around to adding the product that allows you to reorder your Create-Your-Own sheets? It's a miracle.)
There are still some little tweaks to be done but I do hope, with your next visit to the shoppe, you end up saying something like, "Hey! I didn't know Gale had these!" Well, I do. I've had them for a long time - we've just never been able to find them.
Happy exploring!
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Just the FAQs
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Another change to the shoppe is the FAQs page. I had several static pages in the shoppe pertaining to shipping information, Angel Policy, Terms of Use and Privacy Policy but each page was separate unto itself and you had to scroll down down down to find them.
The FAQs section will answer most, if not all, questions that may crop up while visiting PaperWhimsy. At the moment you still have to scroll down to get to FAQs but it'll be moved near the top of the side bar as soon as Draw can recollect how to do such a thing.
You'll find stuff like:
What's your Angel Policy
Do you ship internationally
Do you backorder
What's your privacy policy
Take a look for yourself. Maybe you'll find yourself saying, "Hey, that's good to know!"
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New Goodies
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 Finally! The new goodies.
There are several new and
wonderful things added to the shoppe and Rande, as always, has been
whipping up some amazing art to spark your imagination.
From 7gypsies are the Ephemera Packs
(to the left is the Gypsy Pack. There is also a Vintage Pack). What I
love about these packs is that the bits are not skimpy and they're
printed on a nice card stock. You will certainly want to grab one...
or both... for your art table.
You'll find these in... let's see... oh, yeah. You'll find these in Doodads & Diecuts in the Pretty Papers section of the shoppe. Okay, that's a mouthful but it really will be much easier to find things.
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 From 7gypsies, again, are these charming Book Covers. Printed on a very sturdy chipboard they can be used as... well, book covers or as a substrate. They would make wonderful backgrounds. Two styles: Victoria (shown to the right) and Gypsy.
You can find these in Doodads & Diecuts in the Pretty Papers section, as well. (See, it's getting easier, isn't it?)
 Now I'm tossing you over to Sculpt & Mold in Necessities. One lone product in that section but it's worth the trip: Sculpey Ultra Light.
I like the idea of playing with polymer clay but, honestly, trying to work Sculpey to get it soft and pliable is a pain in the fingers for me. Ta da! Sculpey Ultra Light to the rescue.
This stuff is so light and so easy to work and mold. The clay is pure white but accepts acrylic paints, stains, stamping and gilding so you can gleefully decorate your pieces to your heart's content.
I'm in the process of using rubber stamps to impress designs into the Ultra Light then cutting the clay into tiles. I am thoroughly delighted with this product. If you have wimpy fingers like mine you may well find yourself delighted, too.
 And wandering over to the brand spanking new Curios & Frames section found in Necessities you'll find a sweet collection of Curious Cabinets.
Wunderkammers or Cabinets of Curiosities came into vogue during Renaissance Europe and generally housed natural history objects as well as antiquities and historic or religious relics.
The little shadow boxes now peppering the shelves of PaperWhimsy would make the perfect start to your own "curious display" whether smaller dimensional artworks or a unique pastiche of weird and wonderful concoctions. (Picture bejeweled and beglittered fish/birds/butterflies...)
There are three sizes currently available along with a gold-tone easel that is perfect for displaying the two smaller boxes. Be sure to check out Rande's blog for her "captured faerie" curiosity.
As always, to see all the new bits recently added to the PaperWhimsy shoppe you can click on that pretty little New Bits button, below, or pop on over to the shoppe and click on New Goodies.
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Inspirations 2 Art - Rande Hanson
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Some of you know I recently retired. I now have a lot more time for arting and playing with new ideas. I have seen so many great ideas in the last few months, I hardly know where to start. But I will start with a little Wunderkammer box, with a digisheet and lots of glitter. Then I change things up with a little Steampunk, Paperwhimsy style.
My current passion is using recycled items to create three dimensional collages. It's amazing how something I once might have thrown in the trash, can now become a valuable art supply. So when you have finished reading the newsletter, and shopping all the new goodies in the shoppe, please stop by and check out these projects.
www.paperwhimsy.com/inspiration
Warmest,
Rande
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It's So Easy Being Green (even if it's pink)
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Feast your eyes on what can be made with a bit of junk mail, some scraps and a little artistic persistence. What you see, above, was *this* close to being composted were it not for Rande's miraculous save and her deft hand. An amazing work of art, not to mention a fun conversation piece. (Be sure to check out Rande's other green pieces by clicking on the photo, above.)
When Rande created her first "green" collage she remarked that it was so much easier than creating a collage with her "good" art supplies. She didn't have any fear of messing up. I hear you, sister.
Creating with junk mail is going to set us free.
Normally, when launching a project in the PaperWhimsy Art Forum, we keep it hush hush with a few days of teasers before the big reveal to heighten the excitement. Well, I'm breaking form here to announce that in a couple of weeks Rande is going to be hosting a "green" project. For members of our forum, start saving your junk mail, paper scraps and other interesting bits that might have ended up in your trash. We're going green! If you're not already a member of the PaperWhimsy Art Forum, join us. We'd love to have you. Until next time, have a lovely Sunday and a stunning week! Warmest wishes, Gale
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Gale Blair
PaperWhimsy
www.paperwhimsy.com
hello@paperwhimsy.com
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