birthday parties

there been a few birthday parties of my sons schoolmates and of course they all hoped for a pinata from us as their price is quite peppered in the town and not as quality ones as mine(filled only with confetti and sometimes only painted). the party is already a big waist of money being kept in big rented places where a few persons are playing with them games and serving.so our candy and surprises filled pinata is always a hit and the hot point of the evening.i only feel sorry i don't have images of all the pinatas i've made lately as they were ready in two days just before my son went out our door.

some other pictures if i can find them somewhere..............ildi

dragon wings-aripi de dragon

la serbarea de sfarsit de an scolar fiul meu a primit rolul zmeului asa ca mi-am vazut de treaba si i-am facut o masca de zmeu si aripioare care au fost cusute pe un tricou negru(costumul trebuia sa fie neagru).aici m-am folosit de tehnica "cloth mache" adica panza si hartie,o tehnica inventata de un mare artist din SUA care are un blog remarcabil cu multe tutoriale,videouri si chiar si carti.numele lui este Dan Reeder si adresa blogului:
 papermacheblog.com .nu am poze din timpul lucrului si poate nici nu i-ar placea artistului sa fac pe invatatoarea cind tehnica ii apartine si eu doar m-am folosit de ea.cine este interesat poate sa-l viziteze si sa ramana cu gura cascata hehe...acum cateva poze cu aripile care initial au vrut sa fie urechile mastii-cap de dragon ;) vezi postarea Dan Reeder inspired dragon mask,dar arata cam ciudat si imi aducea aminte de reni asa ca am scapat de lucratul aripilor initiale care aveau dimensiuni mult mai mari si mi-ar fi dat batai de cap atasarea lor de costum.

some pictures with the dragon wings of my sons dragon costume where i tried out Dan Reeder's cloth mache technique which made my task easier and faster.they were sewed to the black costume ( a simple torn black T shirt-lol-i had enough trouble with the mask and wings,so the costume was very simple but effective with the paper mache accessories).

have a great day.......ildi

cum sa faci o masca din hartie

pentru ca spre marea mea surpiza am tot mai multi vizitatori din Romania,m-am hotarat sa va bucur si eu cu un mic tutorial in curs de finisare despre cum sa faceti o masca din hartie.desigur exista mii de variante pe net care mai de care mai ingenioase si superbe...si finisate,nu ca acesta pe care vreau sa va arat.
statea ascuns pe un raft de biblioteca de cel putin un an.a ramas asa(w.i.p cum spun englezii work in progress-) din cauza lipsei de inspiratie.am simtit ca mai are nevoie de ceva,de accea este tot in starea pe care vi-l prezint acum.penru inceput am cumparat o masca de plastic care a servit ca baza

doar ca intr-o paranteza va spun ca prima mea masca(asta fiind a treia)am realizat cu ajutorul staniolului pe care l-am indoit in mai multe straturi si l-am presat pe fata mea.peste forma luata am aplicat pasta de hartie si a iesit o masca purtabila...de data asta in schimb neavand pasta gata preparata,am ales metoda fasiilor de hartie numita "strip mache".

am inceput prin modelarea mastii de baza cu plastelina copiilor,pana a iesit o fata cu diferita de cea cumparata.am vrut sa fac o fata de barbat














asa arata dupa primele doua-trei fasii de hartie aplicata.l-am lasat la uscat.este f important ca straturile de hartie sa se usuce bine.

a urmat alte doua straturi de fasii de ziar.aceasta alternata dintre fasiile de hartie tip xerox si ziar il fac deosebit de rezistenta dupa uscare.

 dupa ce s-a uscat am mai ajustat pe alocuri unde la pipait l-am simtit mai moale.l-am lasat din nou la uscat.veti observa niste urme de arsura(am probat o unealta electrica cu care se pot face gravuri in diferite materiale in cazul meu am vrut sa "slefuiesc"hartia prin ardere-dar tot asa se poate slefui cu mare succes cu obisnuitul smirghel).
dupa uscarea completa am netezit locurile mai colturoase cu smirghel.

 urmeaza faza pregatirii pentru pictat.aplicati un strat de gesso s-au un strat(doua) subtire de vopsea de perete,dupa uscare completa,slefuiti din nou astfel s-ar putea sa crape si chiar sa cada bucati dupa pictare.o alta idee ca sa evitati acest strat de pregatire ar fii ca ultimul strat de hartie aplicata peste masca sa fie hartie xerox alba.

seamana cu Data din Ultima frontiera,nu?

din momentul uscarii gesso-ului puteti incepe finisarea mastii cu pictatul ei si aplicare de textil ori par artificial,blana etc .lasati-va condus de imaginatie..mai bine ca mine,heheh...vreau sa mai aplic ceva peste cap,mi se pare un pic banala asa,dar asta cine stie cand.in orice caz am sa va arat cum am procedat.dupa ce ati pictat masca il puteti da cu lac-atentie va capata un aspect lucios,dar poate ca tocmai asta urmariti) s-au sa-l conservati aplicand un spray mat pentru acrilice.
spor la treaba,sa aveti rabdare-timpul de uscare intre straturi poate dura chiar si 2 zile! iarna e mai usor deoarece caloriferul e de mare ajutor,vara ne poate ajuta soarele sau un ventilator.important e sa circule aerul.


ildi

Dan Reeder inspired dragon mask

further with my sons school ending festivity- along the mace i was working on a dragon head and wings.
i'm so grateful for Dan Reeder's aka Monsterman's videos and tutorials from his blog!
i'm sure everybody interested in paper mache knows him or at least heard about him.he is a very talented cloth mache sculptor(and math teacher) who never stops amazing us with his professional videos,books and tutorials.i learnt a lot from his uploaded materials in this days and  tried to achieve as much as i could knowing that time is never on my side( my little one had a week of chicken pox) so the mask is not perfect but i'm very sure it will be a hit on my eldest's carnival.Romanian folks are not familiarized with paper mache to much .....thank you again Dan for everything you do for us!!!i always appreciated silently your work but now even more because i needed to know ...i'm not good at speach and believe me Dan i was thanking you a lot while the mask were coming alive :) i hope i didn't caused you hiccups ;)
here a few spots with the head and my pajama hero lol

thank you Dan again! you're AMAZING!!!

so i still have to make his black clothing and add the little monster wings.......i will post it when it will be finished............have a good day!

a-mace-ing grace

hello,
my son is going to be a ....dragon.....on 20th at 17.oo and he needed a mace.no grace.
so i did it.her teacher said that she has one so i don't have to bather myself by doing a lousy paper one but stubborn head as i am i did it.well,it is so strong that it is quite dangerous .. i'm going to put it well or high after the festivity....

it all started with a simple paper mache ball.....over a balloon of course...not the one in the image but very similar,this became a rose ball :)

then a lack of "making pictures"of the process as i was veeery nervous to see everything finished in time,you know about the drying process ...the paper ball came out weak and i was afraid of loosing precious time so i dived into "cloth mache" and covered the ball and spines with on old torn bead sheet then another thin layer of "storebought mache "(for 5!!years but i never touched it until now).

 i still got two and half days to finish his costume.but the mace is ready hehehe

be good and i will not use the mace lol :)

PS-a very useful video of faux wood finish i loved -i will share the link tomorrow-

miniature cottage

because i sold the little houses nr 1,2 and 3 on my Etsy and i envy them flying all the way to Australia i thought it may be a good idea to make some more.now a bunch of 8 little paper mache houses are ready and some in progress.I had great time painting them but must admit that my eyes were slightly affected working on delicate details on the rough paper mache.so the first three of this new edition miniatures were inspired by Romanian most exactly Transylvanian region old village cottage.the yellow house representing a school while the other two ar most often encountered in the mountainous region.

the second set of three eco friendly miniatures is populated by hobbits.i can hear them making noise and giggle in the night ;)

 guess what nr have the house on the pumpkin?.......... yes you've guessed!nr13. and it wasn't on purpose.i might change the color of the red door.

                   

stay cool on your little or fancy houses!.................ildi

mixed pickles

         mostly of paper pulp :)
but this orange mandala necklace made to order-i confess i had enough of spinning the paper so these may be the last ones till the desire blooms again hehe-

so all of these above made to order but given away at the end at my will in a little crepe paper sack and dandelion flower shown below...

... from the stack of bits finally some items ready :sawdust-the first pin- and paper mache the second one

.....earrings finished at my mom's request

and last... wip on my table -paper pulp houses,windmill etc made of egg casings...

...of which two are almost ready :)

thanks for watching...............:) idli

crepe paper rose ball

i know i must still practice :) ...yet i thought it was easier i heard all over the blogs i followed lately...anyway rose ball is ready and already given away as a birthday gift.now i'm waiting for the feedback my soon left a few hours ago with this little handmade paper mache and crepe paper roses ball.

                                                     have fun ................ildi

DIY paper flowers

 what do you think of flowers?

 this is also my entry for Artist in Blogland "Show and Tell on Saturday" #25

this crazines stumbled upon me thanks to my latest follower  Ildiko from afrikkockas.blogspot.com who's latest post is about fabric flowers.ah,inspiration ! you never know when it hits you !so if you want to learn how to make chic fabric flowers here is the link: http://createanddelegate.blogspot.com/2010/04/tutorial-shabby-fabric-roses.html .i must say that if you don't have fabric glue it may take longer until a resonable finish....my first try wasn't a success,then another one failed so i lost patience and thought i could try same using paper.i google some images of DIY paper flowers and selected a few i loved- sorry i don't have all the links as in these past days i might have seen 50 tutorials lol-but i'm sure you'll find what you're looking for!there are many tut's of creppe paper flowers,roses,coffee filter roses-search youtube-i will recommend this three:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ae-GJno4ZXU&list=FLdzWK_F5tWpu_KH3C_XI3sQ&index=4&feature=plpp_video

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEE1WfrcEQk&feature=BFa&list=FLdzWK_F5tWpu_KH3C_XI3sQ

crepe paper rose tutorial -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22r3wKtPmdE&list=LLdzWK_F5tWpu_KH3C_XI3sQ&feature=mh_lolz

just to get an idea where i started from.this latest tutorial also made a bit headache but i was so determined to succeed that i didn't let it go after a few failures.when my hand accomplished the task i was able to make those two little fabric flowers with no glue no rolling just sewing using the same technique as presented in the crepe paper rose tutorial.i am still a bit clumsy with the crepe flowers but i must! make a paper flower topiary-ball ;).so each day i make a few flowers until my paper mache ball will be completed with roses.

in the first pictures there is my third or fourth tissue flower that is very simple to do and it look awesome on everything!i only could find pink tissue.just google how to make tissue paper flowers

                                            fabric,tissue and crepe paper flowers together:

                                                      ~   crepe paper flowers ~

now as i love to recycle there is my very first three recycled invoices paper roses.i finger painted the paper cut out each petal with no stencil simply by eye -each petal is different-and glued it with mod podge.then i played a bit with the pictures and spiced them up in Picassa.

this last images shows how the paper looked before upcycled into roses -have fun!.....ildi