Haunted Hats

These sweet-creepy hats have been a joy to create. Made of Strathmore Art Again black paper, they are tediously decorated with spiderweb sequins, vintage thrift shop tulle, pipe cleaner, tiny poms, jewels, ribbons and cord. The feathers, flowers, spiders and bats are all paper, detailed with iridescent paints, (Jo Sonja). Enjoying my work means slowing down, having fun and accepting a challenge. Cone-shaped hat, I tamed thee.

The cone is tricky, especially with the stiff paper these hats require. I use a paintbrush handle and a bone folder to break the grain of the black card stock. It takes a few repetitions to curl into a cone shape. The cone has to be held in place while the glue sets. Though the paper is conditioned, it takes patience to keep everything in line. After five hats, I use a tiny clothespin to secure the base of the cone. This helps a lot.

I am proud of that big spider on this finished hat. Mag is a 1/3 scale doll and it fits her as a dramatic over-sized hat. She wears it well. Look closely and you can see her eyes are a little unsettling. This hat was designed to be a "fascinator" for a real person. It has two loops on the inside to attach barrettes or hairpins. A fascinator is a miniature hat or embellishment that does not cover the entire head.

Aaaaahhhhh! Infestation! I love these spiders, but they scare the heck out of me when they venture off on their own. And they do. Those little legs stick on my clothes and end up in the strangest of places. I said I would keep track this time - but the spiders think otherwise.

Flower Clips

Flower blanks, fresh from cutting with my KNK Digital cutting system, these floral pieces are designed on my computer screen, then sent to the cutter for precision cutting. Notice the different sizes of the same design. This creates a larger variety of the pieces. I can mix up motifs. I cut many, many pieces before I begin the coloring process. There is something satisfying about a whole stack of blanks.

Color brings the petals and leaves to life. This shot shows some experimentation with metallics, particularly the large fern. The colorant is alcohol ink, applied with a dropper, then finished with a brush to make sure the edges are covered. In the far right is a floral element with a little more detail. These dashed lines are cut into the surface in a "pounce" line. Ink settles in, adding detail. Unlike my cherry blossoms, these florals are fantastical. Once my stack is finished, they assemble by what is in front of me in a kind of ordered chaos. I love the little buds you see poking out here and there. Each flower is finished with a clip. Originally designed for hair ornaments, they are being clipped onto clothing, headbands and hats.

Blue Fairy and Friends

A fairy blowing a kiss is my newest fanciful being. She is painted with alcohol inks applied with a dropper and finished with a brush. The sheen is Jo Sonya's iridescent blue, following the lines of the ink patterns.

You can see the difference in this photo. When the ink is overpainted with the iridescence it creates multiple light effects. In bright light, it is light colored. In less light, the brilliance of the blue comes through. These ladies would be great where they would catch the light, but as any art piece, direct sunlight is never a good idea if you want to preserve the original color.

A green fairy is painted with ink only. I will be going over the surface with iridescence, not necessarily the same color.

This fairy allows for beads or flowers to be hung from her hand and from the tiny hole in her wing fronds, evident in the middle photo. The fairies will be made singular and as mobile elements.

Cherry Blossoms

Ah, to dream days of cherry blossoms. As a heat wave sears the country, set your thoughts on light breezes and delicate flowers.

Above, you can see the shimmer of pearl ink, tinted with pink. Red Iridescent Jo Sonya's velvet matte paint adds detail and additional sheen.

The cherry blossom is a double flower, assembled without glue. It takes a bit of patience to push the centers through all the holes and requires tweezers or a needle tool. The end result is worth it.

These are the pieces that make the blossom. This flower has holes for use in a mobile. The blanks here look mod in white against all the color of the background. The spidery center goes on top of the flower. The double center gets curled up and threaded through all the holes - up to four. Two centers hold everything in place.

This view shows a blank assembled prototype. It is made of synthetic paper called Yupo. I am offering the finished design in blanks and digital files in my Etsy store. You can color them with alcohol inks, watercolor, markers and Sharpies. Blanks come with or without holes in sets of three.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/nbananto

Paper Houses

It looks like someone is having a garage sale or a fight. The disarray makes me giggle. This photo shows the collection of miniature furniture that has built up over the weekend. Each item is cut many times until it is easy to fold and glue.

See the wagon? It has striped wheels. This is my adaption of Mr. Cloud's free toy.

The little table on the right needs more work. In this scale, the tabs have disappeared. Make them too large and they overlap the space in the legs. Most of these tabs are kept in place with the tip of an x-acto knife while the glue sets.

Note: The Aileen's Tacky Glue Pen, which I reviewed earlier this year, proves to be invaluable for this kind of work. As I have used the pen, the glue has thickened slightly and does dry quickly. The fine tip lays down the tiniest glue line or dot. The cap is easy to keep track of. The precision is complimented by the pen-style application.

Ah yes, simpler times, before the neighborhood got over run-(Friday). Here are two houses in different scales. The bed is still not small enough to go in the green house. It may end up as a playhouse or something. All of these houses began with the cottage lantern from my book, Silhouette Style. I changed the peak, the windows and added a floor and moldings for the windows. I discovered a setting on my Klic-n-Kut cutter that makes these adorable pounce (fold) lines in an appropriate size. The folds are crisp.

The bed is one piece with a bedspread and pillow. The pillow is a miniature version of the one in my book. The pillow puffs up just like the big ones. I glued the pillow in place. The hardest part of working in this scale is holding on to the pieces. I lost a spade one night and didn't find it until I felt something odd on the sleeve of my shirt. If they hit the floor, they're finished.

The divan! This gives you perspective on size. The houses include a set of furniture. The doors open and close. There is a butterfly from another project sticking out from under a layer of scrap paper. It builds up to a certain point beneath my work lamp, gets excavated and goes into the vault of the shoebox.

Little Bird

This little retro style bird is a new design, shown here made of Yupo. It has a little hole for hanging with a length of fishing line. I made a mobile and drew wild designs on several. The simplicity of white works too.

A flock of big-eyed birds land on my pen tab. They are prototypes trying to get the hanging hole placed correctly. I cut new designs in miniature to conserve material. I often cut 10 or more to get them right.

This view shows my cutting software screen. The eye detail is connected by a thin line to the bird body. The biggest challenge for me is getting the tail to fit snugly onto the body. The red areas you see are cut lines. They are a different color than the outline because they will be cut before the outer areas in black. Along with this issue, when the size of the bird changes the scale must change, but the width of the wing slit must stay the same. This is because the width of the paper doesn't change. Likewise, the tail slot must be adjusted.

Yupo Octopus Cameo

First of all - What is Yupo? Yupo is a synthetic paper. It is water resistant, sturdy, easy to cut and a good medium for acrylic, watercolor, alcohol ink and more. Here I am using it blank.

What is Yupo Octopus? It is a new product just released. It is a sticky-backed version of Yupo. The adhesive quality is wonderful for layering, making stencils, great for paper dolls, window art and more. I have barely begun to experiment.

Above, you can see a bad cut not worth weeding. It shows one layer of the cameo. There are five layers in all. Each layer is stacked to create a special effect. The negative space shows the cameo has been removed from the sheet. I often got mixed up in designing as it requires some backwards thinking.

The great thing about the Octopus is that it can be instantly adhered to the previous layer easily. Why is it called "Octopus"? Because the stick-to-it quality is not adhesive at all, but microscopic suction cups. I have been sticking pieces of it all over to see what it will stick to!

This is the cameo, unlit. As you can see, it appears opaque.

Light behind the cameo creates a soft, three-dimensional effect. I think I will use her on a night light. I am so pleased with my first successful cameo. Oooh! Wouldn't she be pretty on a window? I am going to design some roses for her.

Introducing: YUPO

YUPO is a polypropylene sheet that looks and acts like paper, but uses no trees and is 100% recyclable. I think it is awesome. It is used in the printing and packaging industry. Artists discovered it as an excellent surface for watercolor techniques.

I have worked with YUPO for about 6 hours total. I have only just begun to experiment. This thin, sturdy, waterproof material is ideal for miniature cutting, because it enables me to cut accurately. It is so smooth. It's like buttah....

The tiny keys above are cut with my Klic-n-Kut electronic cutter and painted with alcohol inks. The alcohol inks by Adirondack are permanent, unless you put them in contact with alcohol or a similar solvent. What is amazing is a build-up of bronze-colored ink on each side of the key makes it look like a real key to scale. I add just a touch of blue or slate so it doesn't look too new. I accidentally sat on a couple, and they snapped back into shape. I am in love. I should note that items I bent that were untreated creased and stayed that way.

Yupo and alcohol inks are used here in a wash. I did use alcohol, sparingly, to remove pigment as well as thin it. See how the lips are built up and lifted of color. The hue is brighter each time it is applied. However, as in all watercolor brush techniques, there is the possibility of saturating and pooling the color beneath. It is a sweet dance of which I allowed the underlying surface to lead. The result is a loose style of color layering.

I am getting requests for miniature items for cards and encouragement to try dollhouse and doll scale items. Scale can be a fun exploration. Notice how the tiniest model distorted. I don't know why. Buckles are fun to use on dolls, cards, packages, and ribbons. The key is a blank. What a difference from the first photo!

Had I corrected this photo, you would see the brilliance of color on the butterfly wings. The color is magenta and violet. The satin-y look is from a pearl version of the ink. The dots are pearl and the veins are done by dragging a brush from one end of the wing to the other. That's it. The ink and the surface do the rest. Again, I am using a loose style and unconcerned about symmetry. Sometimes the ink built up gets sticky. I matted it down with glitter. Of course I did.

Paper: Haunted Witch Card

Haunted, my newest set of paper silhouettes combine for a spooky scene, shot to be a card front. Two main challenges befell this arrangement: standing up of the props and getting the right focus with the camera. The grasses and picket fencing are excellent for interlocking, allowing for some features, like the pumpkins, to stay put. The grasses and fencing are curved so they will be free-standing. The trees, however, require some stand of their own. These are held in place by luck. And, it may be time to borrow a better camera.

What I love about this scene is the layering and dimension. The central character is a large rocking witch. Her hat has a nice bend and the bat is charming. The background paper makes for different effects with different lighting. It has a pearl layer that reflects the light.

Another version of the witch card. This one is less defined, but much more moody and dramatic. The lighting is achieved by placing color-changing led tea lights around the scene.

I like this one best. It has good contrast of color, light and dark. The colored light shows up, but is subtle. This witch is holding a crystal ball. She is much smaller than the witch above. The corkscrew willow in gray is a nice effect among all the black. I like how the background pattern shows up and then fades out in the upper corner.

Paper Witch Rocker

Gazing into a crystal ball, this witch rocks. Really, she rocks! She's the newest addition to my Haunted collection, which is new too. The rocking witch is a layered paper figure. Her hair, hat, cape, arm and skirt are all separate pieces. She rocks with the tap of a finger.

The crystal ball is a miniature acrylic cabochon. She can also hold a Jack-o-Lantern. This witchy girl would make a great place setting or cut larger, a centerpiece. I love her "Bewitched" collar and sleeves.

This view shows "behind the scenes" construction. The rocker is made of a rounded hem of her skirt in the front, (the jagged edged skirt is layered on top), and an oval glued onto the back. It is hard to see in this photo, but if you look closely you will see a notch taken out of the oval. This is no mistake. It is put there to keep the figure from rocking completely to the side. It is a catch, or a brake.

The quarter is taped inside the front bottom of the skirt to give it a center weight, allowing it to rock. I did three models. It cost me 75 cents. I figured out that washers cost the same or more than quarters. Why not just use quarters? Double stick tape holds them in place.

Miniature Shoes: Felt Prototype

This is a view from my laptop. It shows different parts of the shoe. I can send these drawings to my KNK Maxx electronic cutter and they will be cut exactly as seen on screen. I can change the size of my cut to make smaller or larger shoes.

This view shows the KNK, (Klic-n-Kut), MAXX. The Maxx is a professional, heavy-duty electronic cutting machine. It looks good, but performs even better.

On a carrier sheet, you can see a piece of stiffened felt which has had it's shoe pieces, (and a bunny!) taken from the felt.

The felt shoe pieces on my worktable. I am getting ready to sew the pieces together with thread and a needle. I prefer to use sharps. They are small and sharp! Here I am using sewing thread.

The finished shoe fits Mag, my Asian Ball-Joint Doll. She is 1/3 scale. You can see that the shoes are stitched together on the outside of the shoe in a blanket stitch, meant to be seen. Note that the shoes are elongated and pointed into an elfish style.

Although I am pleased with the outcome, the sides of the shoes could be higher on the foot for a better and more stable fit. I will go in and adjust the design file accordingly.