I Play With Dolls

Hi everyone!

I hope y'all had a great weekend! :) I've got a little project I'm working on to show you today. It's a little out of my norm but I'm excited at how it's coming along! :D I've talked about Pullip dolls on this blog before but may have not mentioned that one of their allures for adult collectors is the ease with which you can customize them.

Although you can leave them the way they are of course, most people enjoy changing their wig, eye chips, outfits and some even institute extreme changes such as face carving.

So anyhoo, I had bought this Pullip:

She's cute, eh? But I had a hard time really giving her any attention...or maybe I was just bored. lol In any case, I got out my trusty paints and bling (naturally) and now she looks like this:

I started by sanding off her original makeup and repainted her eyes and lips using model paint.

I added new eyelashes and changed her eyechips (which of course I enhanced with Stickles, lol).

I just HAD to bling up her face as well, that part probably doesn't surprise you at all, right? lol And don't freak out about her Daddy Warbucks look, I've got a new wig on the way! hee hee Once she's entirely finished, I'll be sure to post more pics!

So for my first try at customizing a Pullip, I feel rather proud of myself! These dolls can provide a blank canvas for creative types that really open up so many possibilities.

My next project: Visiting a billion blogs to make up for my absence...pray for me. LOL ;) Whaat are you working on?

Hot Blog Hoppin'

Hi everyone!

Today is super happy fun day as Gauche Alchemy and Bombshell Stamps joined forces to have a blog hop!

The theme for this blog hop is "Hot Hot Hot" inspired by the movie "Some Like It Hot". Since we're rounding out Summer it seemed like the perfect time to get out those hot colors and play a little bit. :) To celebrate I made this wall hanging:

I started with a piece of Ouchless Cardboard and a pin-up from one of my books (bought to put to pieces of course, lol). I also added some Punchinella and the rest is from the ACME Kit (now only available through subscription!)

And there you have it, my ode to Hot. :D Now head on over and see Katie, the next gal on your list! And check below to see everyone's project for the hop. :) Also, make sure to leave a comment over at Gauche Alchemy because we're giving away a prize for a lucky blog hop commentor!


Kas
Gauche Alchemy
Kelli
AnitaMarie
Maggi <---You are here! :)
Katie
Cheryl
Angel
Erika
Kathi
Pam
Meredith
Merdrey Chew
Yvonne
Steph
Carmen
Alaine
Alison


Have a hoppin' day everyone! :D

Gauche Alchemy and the Clearance Collage

Hey y'all!

I hope everyone had a great weekend! "Scott Pilgrim vs The World" is an awesome movie, go see it, go see it now. :D Anyhoo, this month's challenge over at Gauche Alchemy is to create something using the packing tape transfer technique. I started with this Valentine's Day wall hanging I bought on clearance for like, a dollar or something like that:

Always on the look out for things I can paint or glue on, I decided to use this wall hanging as a base to create my own. And here's my finished result:

I covered it first in Gesso, then patterned paper and a cut out of this lovely lady which I accented with pearls. For my packing tape transfer, I used sheet music for Gauche Alchemy's Wholey Sheet Mixed Media Kit and added it to the background.

I also added some beaded fringe and pieces from the Wedding Night and Pink Parts Mixed Media Color Kits.

For more projects from our design team and to see how you can add your creations using this technique, check out the Gauche Alchemy blog!

Have a great day everyone! :D

Scott Pilgrim vs the Toot

Well, tonight (or tomorrow morning more accurately) is date night/morning as the husband and I are off to the midnight showing of this movie:



Which is based on this series of books:

(Picture from Amazon.com)

Which...are...AWESOME. We love this series so much and are hopeful that the movie will be entertaining. Even Toot is excited for the movie's release as she gets down to the music from the trailer (please note, I have no idea why she needed to wear a washcloth and a blanket to dance but she freaked when I took them off so there you go):





Go Scott Pilgrim!

Friday Night Fab Five on a Wonderful Wednesday

Hey y'all!

Okay, so yes it's only Wednesday but I'm having a great week so far so let's have a mid-week Friday Night Fab Five, shall we? Oh come on, this will be fun!

1. Gauche Alchemy

(Picture from Gauche Alchemy)

Okay, y'all know I design for GA but wowzers have we got some awesome things happening right now! We're sponsoring the newest challenge over at These are a Few of My Favorite Things, we just started our brand spanking new ACME kit subscription service which rocks AND I was lucky enough to interview one of my artistical-type idols, Frieda Oxenham which you can read on the GA blog! *insert happy dance here*

2. Pomp-a-Doodle Yarn

(Picture from Redheart.com)

I've been dying to get my greedy little hands on some of this yarn for ages but really wanted to see it in person first. Lo and behold, one of my local craft stores finally got smart and started carrying it. So today I got a couple of colors, can't wait to crochet something with it!

3. Sh*t My Dad Says

(Picture from Amazon.com)

Holy crap, this is the FUNNIEST book I've read in a loooooooong time! I had tears running down my face at the bookstore, yes it is that funny! If you need a little pick me up, read this book all about the crap this guy's dad says. Love love love!


4. Hot Poppin' Popcorn

(Picture from Amazon.com)

I just love this...hey, wait a minute! This isn't my pick, this is Toot's! Yes, we got this DVD just yesterday and have already watched it 1,000,000,000,000,000.5 times. Toot dances, she sings, she loves it. I couldn't sleep last night for hearing "Juggling, juggling, juggling balls!" over and over in my head. *shudder*

5. ALL OF YOU!!!

I know I've been pretty absent around here lately, both on my blogs and at yours as well and feel the need to apologize for it. There's been some behind the scenes crazy things going on and add to that a complete lack of creative inspiration and you've got Maggi-No-Mojo. Boo-urns! lol But for those of you that have commented and e-mailed, thank you so very much! I L-O-V-E this blogging world that I'm proud to be a part of and think of you when I can't be around. :)

And there it is, your weekly Friday Night Fab Five on Wednesday! :D How is your week going so far? Anything you're loving right now you'd like to share with the whole class???

Wool + Mixed Media = Best Friends Forever!

Hey y'all!

Well, I FINALLY completed one of the projects that's been driving me nuts for weeks now. Ever have one of those projects where you see it in your head and it's awesome but then you try to make it and it's like you speak English but your fingers only speak French and all you know how to say in French is, "Where is the bathroom?" and your project gets lost in Sucktown for jerks so you step back for a week and then one day it just clicks and you're finally able to finish what you started and it looks halfway decent?

...

Nah, me neither. :P

All that sort of rubbish to say that I was lucky enough to be a participant in Brenda's Wednesday Wool Challenge and I'm proud to say I have something to show for it! lol

If you don't know this amazingly talented lady, Brenda creates all sorts of things and put a call out on her blog...a challenge if you will. She sent the participants some of her wool and our mission was to create something with it. You need to check out her blog to see what people have made so far, it's really awesome!

And here's what yours truly did:

I got this little cage from a thrift store for $1.00 and it's been sitting in my "To Glue On" box ever since. lol Once I got the wool, I knew that it was perfect for this cage so then began the journey to find something to trap in it. lol I used some old jewelry, buttons and pleated ribbons for the outside.

And here's what our wily little cage captured:

I used a head figure and covered it in old book pages, beads, feathers and gold braiding for the dress and then more of Brenda's wool for the bouffant hair that I love. lol A little birdie for her hair and then it was onto the table which is a couple of spools glued together and painted with Broken China Distress Crackle paint. I added the clock, apple and then a wooden bottle, painted with Vintage Photo Distress Crackle paint.

And there you have it...A cage fit for a Queen! lol I want to thank Brenda for so generously sharing her wool for us to play with! I've actually got a little more that I want to use on something else so stay tuned. lol

Do you have a project that you know would be awesome if only you could get it out of you head and into your glue gun? What do you do to break the dreaded Creative Block???