PAPER CRAFTING....COOLER THAN YOU THINK

I have a current love affair with paper craft...

I love the idea of creating something beautiful from something so common...

like these paper pulp or paper mache ornaments - filled with wonder

I ran right out and bought some of the blank paper mache ornament forms...

now I'm looking for the trees, the beads, the tiny deer, the little snowmen...

and paint and whispy snow and GLITTER...

but these folded paper ornaments look much simpler..

and not completely complicated

these look more complicated - however, they would be worth the trouble!

Old paperback book?  A pattern and an exacto knife?  I really want to try this, because, LOOK

so cute.  I love the scarf and the twig arms and top hat...

need tiny black buttons!

the NOSE!

the snowmen are my favorites...

but there are trees too - 

Fun to embellish these.

I have always been fascinated by quilling.  I have greeting cards that I bought because they had quilled designs.  I framed them!  Honestly, though, I'm not sure I would have the patience to do this - but I'd like to try.

A cute scrapbook paper or heavy wrapping paper can dress up a stack of books

for the holidays

Copies of vintage images embellished and on wooden blanks

make really cool ornaments - add a little velvet ribbon, tiny pinecones, greens and glitter..

These ornaments look more complicated than they are.  You just need to have the right thickness of paper and glue in the right places..

Musical paper heart on a big glitter snowflake - 

Or the same with a rosette and a pearl

Maybe not technically a paper ornament.  Its a metal tart tin, but the paper postcard art makes it

See what I mean about paper?

Gorgeous stuff.  Cool.

I like the holiday stuff...but these next ones have my heart...

paper butterfly wreath...

faux butterfly specimen dome...

butterfly silhouettes ... or faux specimens in frames

Another paper butterfly - 

cute paper birds from music paper - these look simple

Sewn paper heart garland...

Paper punched dimensional butterflies - great framed in a shadow box

a darling bouquet in a salt shaker - paper and buttons....

paper echinacea - with real dried thistle centers...

I may have a slight problem...houses....little houses are my jam...

I have wooden houses, metal houses, pottery houses, vintage putz houses, cardboard glitter houses, and I have also been known to make paper houses with paint and glitter and tiny trees...

It's a lot of houses.

I think I need these too.

These are adorable.

Lets make some!

Mod Podge and I are old friends.

Decoupage - on a paper mache form - this could be modern or vintage depending on the paper!

Really need this little paper punch.  This is really a sweet picture - it looks like that Ikea frame that has room for dimensional things...

and the same goes for the heart punch - I love this.

I'm going to need a die cutting machine.

one version of a paper chain.  

the sweet paper boat - the tiny soldier in the tiny boat

in the tiny altoids tin

adorable.

just change the colors a little

so many opportunities for cute paper crafts in July...

paper rockets

Patriotic Paper hats!

Paper pinwheels

and Rosettes

toilet paper rolls - firecrackers and rockets

THE DRIFTWOOD HOUSES - I'M HOOKED

DRIFTWOOD HOUSES

WOODEN it be wonderful to have this kind of creativity!

these are unique, and start the creative juices flowing with ideas - 

I don't know who made the ones above, but Kirsty Elson makes these amazing driftwood houses in the UK.

She has amazing vision.  Wee bits of driftwood, rusty nails, bits of wire, paint, bits of fabric...

and a lighthouse emerges

washers, old nails, and seagulls made from wire...

boats made from nut shells, lifesavers from metal washers, fishing floats from tiny beads  - and somehow it all feels like part of a quaint English fishing village.

Chimneys from rusty screws or hand forged nails, a row of houses with beach access - and the rustic driftwood base..makes me feel nostalgic for the place I lived as a child...

I love her painted windows, muted colors, rustic doors, light poles and little benches

a bicycle from found nails and washers and bits of slate for roofs

I need to find a source for driftwood...

I do think, however, that once you start making these little houses, you won't be able to stop!

Endless ideas...

Even clotheslines...

and flags...

Where does she find these amazing piees of wood?

these street lamps are awesome.

and ships!

this one is good to show scale with the hand holding the house

love the steps to the beach...

and I love these little boats..

cliff side dwelling - love the dimensional surf below

I'm hooked!

and she's not the only person making little driftwood houses...

check these out too.

this from somewhere in Russia - I like the tree!

Christmas Themes and lights!

lots of Christmas charm..

The End.

I need to find driftwood, beat up wood, bits of slate, old nails and rusty wire and screws, and almond shells... and bits of fabric...and - someone who can cut wood!