What a great class in Marshfield, MO!

 

Last Friday and Saturday I had the great pleasure of teaching a gourd art class to twenty people total at the Hampton’s Greenhouse and Nursery. It was also the opening of the Hampton’s Pumpkin Patch and Corn Maze! If you live in the vicinity of Marshfield, MO, you really need to get on over there and have yourself a great time!  The majority of the class was made up of Master Gardeners from Marshfield and I also had two very special young people (aged 8 and 5), we also had one lady from Portland, OR. Here are a few pictures of the wonderful students and the marvelous Gourd Art they created.

           

Great wood burning and isn’t this farmer just too cute? He even ended up with wire rimmed glasses and a straw hat.

          

Here we have a wonderfully wood burned and waxed deer and a jolly happy Santa who was also waxed. Next pic is a birdhouse being created and an apple gourd.

            

These two guys made a cut out gourd with fall leaves and a wood burned box.

       

Does this first gourd remind you of Rapunzel and Tangled? Giving a little spray on the beginning of a snowman and the young man in the last picture is applying dye to a warty gourd to make a bowl.

         

How do you like this beautiful peacock? Wonderful job! New wax technique.

      

Cleaning out the inside of a gourd which will becoming a Halloween mask.  Some wood burning on what is to become a goose!

      

Working on some very cute penguins and helping Michael clean out a gourd with a ball and a drill!

See what I mean? You can be so creative in so many different ways with gourds! I had a very happy feeling after we headed home, because I felt that everyone was happy with what they had ultimately created. It was so easy doing this class because we got to use one of the Hampton’s greenhouses to spread out and create in. Saturday it rained and poured but there were still  people who came out to the pumpkin patch and corn maze. Wow. I hope you enjoyed looking at these pictures. Wish you had been a the class cause you missed a fun  and creative time!

 

Barbara

Fork and Talk in Little Rock, AR

Hello everyone!! Have I got something to tell you!! I have just been dying to talk about this for awhile now
. I attended the most amazing event ever!! Who would have thought it? Anyway, last month "Craft Gossip" put out a call for Little Rock, AR bloggers or those who could drive to Little Rock for a Fork and Talk event which was going to be sponsored by EK Success Brands. Well let me tell you, IT WAS AWESOME! I submitted an application and received an invitation from the Design Team from Little Rock.
We all met up at Trio's Restaurant in Little Rock:

It was a perfect day with lots of sunshine!

 

Once all of the introductions were finished, the Fun began! We started with lunch:

We had a wonderful selection of dishes to try on our menu. I was very impressed with my selection which was Quiche Lorraine and salad. Ummm, yummy.
There were 20 crafty bloggers who met at the “Fork and Talk”. I met a lot of women, who I'm hoping will become great friends. The creativity in the room was electrifying! All of the people at the luncheon had some sort of craft/art that they participated in everyday.

Can you guess how many buttons and bobs are in this jar? We played a few games of which this was one and I guessed the closest. Woo Hoo! I got to keep the jar with the stuff inside.
Working as a group, each group decorated a Dollar Store hat with stuff that was provided to us. The group I was in picked a Mardi Gras theme and our hat won! Another gift!

This is a picture of our winning hat and also our model, Scarlett. She is also the quilting guru for Craft Gossip, She is a very talented and friendly lady and I'm very glad that I was able to make her acquaintance. The four Craft Gossip Editors who planned, executed and attended this wonderful event were, Anne Weaver (Sewing Editor), Denise Felton (Needlework Editor), Stacie Hooder (Jewelry Making Editor), and Scarlett Burroughs (Quilting Editor). There were bloggers from all over and since I had traveled one of the longest distances I received……. you guessed it, another gift!
Here are some photos from  this magnificent event:

When everything wound down and the wonderful day was about over, we received all of these FANTASTIC THINGS TO TAKE HOME WITH US! THANK YOU EK SUCCESS BRANDS!!

There were really too many things here for me to even list! Now do you know what I mean by an awesome get together? EK Success was soooo generous toward us all. Oh and would you believe there was one thing I didn’t get? LOL Yep EK Success carries a Gourd Edger Punch, which when I saw it I had to have. Can’t wait until it comes in the mail! We did receive three of their border punches and one is a Spider Punch, EEEEEK! It will come in handy for Halloween though.

Here's a list of the wonderful bloggers who were at the Fork and Talk this past Saturday. Please take a little time to check out their blogs and see what they do:

1. Bella Kates | Jennifer

2. Hello Ladies | Mandy

3. Bottle Tree | Angela- Little Rock, AR

4. Candice Windham Designs | Candice Windham

5. Hog Wild About Stamping | Holly

6. Idyll Hands | Erin

7. Junque Rethunque | Laurie

8. Karma per diem | Lisa

9. Leslie's Art and Sew | Leslie

10. Mel's Designs | Melony

11. Mo(o)re Gourd Whimsies | Barbara

12. Moxie Mae | Angela- Fort Smith, AR

13. Moxie Mae | Geri

14. Nook and Crannies Crafts | Andi

15. Personalized by Paige | Paige

16. Roses and Robins | Debbie

17. Roses and Robins | Kimberly

18. Ramona's handwork | Ramona

19. UnRuffled | Suzanne

20. Pork Chop Tuesday | Peggy

I really had a wonderful time and I'm in hopes that I get invited back to the next Fork and Talk!

Barbara

Do you remember when......

Do you remember the beautiful hand held mirrors that maybe your mother or grandmother had on her vanity? They were usually accompanied by a brush and comb which matched it. I thought they were just beautiful and glamorous. Well a couple of weeks ago a very dear friend of mine, who knows all about my work with Creative Paperclay, suggested that I use Creative Paperclay to turn a plain Dollar Store mirror into something pretty like we remembered them to be. Well, here's my take on it. Not what I remember them to be exactly but, beautiful anyway. To begin you start with .......

A Dollar Store Mirror and Creative Paperclay

I then took the paperclay and added some paint and glitter paint to it.





I mixed up the paperclay and paint, rolled it out with a fondant roller. I spread white glue onto the mirror and covered the mirror with the paperclay and then stamped some flowers into the clay. ( the paint and glitter paint were really unnecessary in the clay itself).

Didn't the stamps make some pretty flowers in the clay? Once I had the stamps in the clay I painted the mirror both front and back and then I applied glitter paint over the paint to both the front and back. I then painted in the flowers.

It's really looking better at this point isn't it? I then painted in the branches with the flowers. Once all the paint had dried I Mod Podged some lace on the back of the mirror. I had a picture of a victorian woman which I cut out and sealed with an acrylic sealer and then Mod Podged on top of the lace. My printer uses inkjet ink which has to be sealed with an acrylic sealer or the Mod Podge will smear the ink. Once all that was dry I glued four little roses to the picture and voila', a very special mirror!

I wish the final picture had turned out a little clearer but I think you get the idea. The mirror turned out just beautiful and now I think I'll use it as a gift for a special occasion. What do you think?

Barbara















A Unique Piece

I just had to take the time to do a post about this unique piece of Gourd Art that I've done. I'm not wanting to brag in any way but I am very proud of it. I entered this piece and four other pieces of Gourd Art in the County Fair. I received five Premium Blue Ribbons on the pieces (Premium Blue Ribbons come with monetary prizes) and also placed Best in Show with another ribbon on this particular piece. All I've taken pictures of so far is this Best in Show piece but I'll take pictures of the other four and post about them at another time.

I really enjoyed entering this piece and the four others in the Fair. All five pieces will be going to the District Fair on the 18th of September. Please wish me luck! If things go well for me there, I'll be taking my pieces to the State Fair for judging. Woot! I'm so excited about all this and I wonder all the time as to whether or not my work is good enough for competition. Let me know what you think.

Barbara

Artsy Blogger Link-Ups for Saturday

It's hard to believe that another week has gone by in a jiffy now hasn't it? Well I've got a few bloggers that need their information posted so that you can  do a good look around. These are the links I have this week for the Artsy Bloggers Group:

Beading Arts Want to add a bezel to a curved surface? Cyndi shows you one easy way to do it! http://www.beading-arts.com/2011/08/making-easy-bezel-for-watch-face.html
Blue and Teal Garden Glass Sculpture Another glass sculpture! This one uses blue and teal glass. http://cherieblogs.com/2011/08/24/blue-and-teal-garden-glass-sculptures/
Creative Dreamer June's red bird turned out so well, she's made a blue bird... a blue bird of happiness, of course! And she's giving it away... get entered by September 4th! http://acreativedreamer.blogspot.com/2011/08/little-bluebird-told-me.html
Creative Paperclay Necklace Something new with paperclay! http://barbara-moorewhimsies.blogspot.com/2011/08/creative-paperclay-necklace.html
Eileen - The Artful Crafter Eileen tries her hand at 3D paper tole. It's not as difficult as it looks, but does require a bit of patience. http://the-artful-crafter.blogspot.com/2011/05/how-to-create-your-own-3d-cards-using.html

You really need to check out these wonderful blogs! You might win something or learn something new! Keep your eyes peeled for some exciting news that I want to share. I won something on my gourd art and will share as soon as I get pictures. Woot! Have a great weekend.

 

Barbara

Creative Paperclay Necklace

I must say that I totally enjoy going to other people's blogs and reading about their creative endeavors in whatever the mediums and techniques are that they use and I hope that you enjoy mine. Today I'll be showing you how easy it is to make a necklace. You can just use your imagination to design your own.

To begin with I rolled out some paperclay and cut it into this shape:

(Don't pay attention to the marbling in the clay, it had a little paint mixed in it by mistake)

Also don't pay attention to the splotches under the clay as that is on the plastic covering the table. The clay has a piece of stencil material under it and you can see through it. Anyways after cutting out the piece for my necklace, I used a rubber stamp and stamped this on it:

I then took some of the paperclay and rolled out a thin rope that I placed around the other clay piece like so:

After I reached that stage of the necklace I let the piece dry for a couple of days. I didn't have to, I just went on to other things for awhile. It probably would have been dry in just a few hours as it wasn't very thick.

Once I was ready to work on the piece again, I painted it, sealed it, and hung it on a chain. Here's what it looked like when I finished it:

                             

 

I'm telling you again folks, you're only limited by your imagination. Remember that you can purchase Creative Paperclay at Hobby Lobby, Michaels and of course: Creative Paperclay!  I hope that you give this clay a try and let me know how you like it!

Barbara

Artsy Bloggers Link-Up Saturday

I do hope that everyone is having a wonderful weekend! Since you are now checking out different blogs, I want you to try the following:

Beading Arts:

Cyndi shares step by step how she engineered one of her recent bead embroidery pieces.
http://www.beading-arts.com/2011/07/blossoms-of-moonlit-waves.html

Eileen - The Artful Crafter

Consider the profit potential of jewelry repair and redesign.
http://the-artful-crafter.blogspot.com/2011/05/how-to-find-someone-to-repair-treasured.html


Make a Friendship Journal

Since Sunday is Friendship Day, Cherie describes how to create a friendship journal.
http://friendship.about.com/od/Gift-Giving/ht/How-To-Create-A-Memory-Journal-For-Friends.htm

Mo(o)re Gourd Whimsies

Whimsical Memory/Gift Boxes made with Creative Paperclay

http://barbara-moorewhimsies.blogspot.com/2011/08/whimsical-memorygift-boxes-made-with.html


These are some terrific blogs and I do hope that you check them out.

I want you all to know that I appreciate each and every comment that I receive and that I notice every time that a new person signs up to follow my blog. You are all appreciated!

Whimsical Memory/Gift Boxes made with Creative Paperclay!

A little bit of information before starting on this post...... The beginning pictures of my project all got lost. :-( I was in a real tizzy after finding out that the card in the camera that I was using was not working. I thought maybe that the pictures were still on the camera and not on the card since I had reviewed them on the camera, anyway when I got ready to take more pictures, the first ones on there weren't there. Uh Oh! I had already gone beyond those pictures and wasn't able to start over with that project. Hmmm what to do? Well start over I suppose! I used a smaller box (jewelry) this time.Here's a list of the items that I used on the project:

Creative Paperclay                              Paint (acrylic)
A candy box or jewelry box                  Stamps
Brushes                                               Molds
Embellishments                                    Glue


Here's the start of the project:

After I rolled out some paperclay, ( I use a fondant roller ) I attached it to the box lid. I used glue between the clay and box as I didn't want the box to get to wet and disintegrate. lol I pressed the stamp into the clay to make an impression and thought it turned out quite nicely:         

After I stamped into the creative paperclay I used a copper metallic paint and got it into all the creases and crevices. I then used champagne metallic paint to go over the rest of the clay and sponged a couple of colors into the the clay lightly. Once the paints were dry I glued embellishments onto the clay, making my box just adorable I think. What about you?

 I gave you two different pictures to look at  'cause I couldn't get the lighting just right. The little round thing by the key is a button. Now this lid goes on a small jewelry box, but I think it would also be great as a little memory box also.

     Since I did get started on the candy box to be used as a memory box, I felt that I should finish that box also. I used stamps on the big box also and used a lacy looking stamp in one corner of the top of the box and also on the sides. I used different metallic paints on this box also but I also used glitter, and a few different embellishments such as buttons, a head which was created from paperclay and a mold, butterflies cut out of paper, a tiny key and ruffles around the whole thing. See....

 

Here's a couple of pictures of both boxes together:

 



What do you think of the hummingbird that I stamped into the lid of the bigger box? I had a lot of fun making these Creative Paperclay memory boxes and I think I will put things in them as kind of a time capsule of my life. Working with Creative Paperclay is a great time and you can purchase it at Michaels or Hobby Lobby or from guess where else? Yep, Creative Paperclay!!

Barbara

         

Bath Salts Jar for a friend from Creative Paperclay!!

Folks I'm just so excited about my project for today I can hardly contain myself!!!!!!! It really turned out so amazing.  I started out with a plain old jar and lid:

I then covered both the jar and lid with paperclay. It really looked plain but that's when I started workin' it :

This was just too plain for me so I took the lid and made a rose out of the paperclay and put in the center. I then fashioned rosebuds and placed around the large rose and added a few leaves for good measure.

Now things got to be a lot of fun.  I started out by painting my rose and buds a light pink and then painted the jar the same pink. I painted my leaves green and highlighted the rose and buds with glitter. I also glittered around the edge of the lid. Lid now finished! I cut out a victorian picture and Modge Podged it to the jar. I then sealed the jar and glued off white rick-rack around the picture and added a little butterfly to the side of the picture. 

I think it all turned out just beautifully don't you? Now to just fill the jar with some lovely bath salts and give to a good friend!

Barbara

The Artsy Bloggers!!

Well here we are, time to hook-up with some Artsy Bloggers my friends!! Please take some time to check out each of the following blogs cause they're all very talented people who have some amazing things on their blogs:


Eileen Bergen-The Artful Crafter


Take a few moments to peek into the world of another artist: Scrap Girl and SG Product Designer, Brandy Murry. You may find some inspiration to help you grow in your art.

http://the-artful-crafter.blogspot.com/2011/03/artist-profile-brandy-murry.html



Beading Arts

Cyndi has a fabulous copy of 30-Minute Rings to give away, Come and enter to win!

http://www.beading-arts.com/2011/06/book-review-and-giveaway-30-minute.html


Estate Sale Chairs: Finished!

Cherie has finished the final step in her estate sale makeover.

http://cherieblogs.com/2011/07/05/estate-sale-chairs-finished/


 Laura - Taz's Corner



My Altered Book - "In The Zone"

http://tazscorner1.blogspot.com/


Mo(o)re Gourd Whimsies


Fourth of July Picture Frame with paperclay

http://barbara-moorewhimsies.blogspot.com/2011/07/fourth-of-july-picture-frame-with.html
 
Just link on up folks to see what's happenin' around the blogging community! Also I'm now within 15 posts of hitting 100, so.................. I'm gonna be thinkin' up some stuff to giveaway. Let me know whether you would prefer some gourd art, some bits and bobs of things, etc.
 
Barbara

Fourth of July Picture Frame with paperclay

Hello everyone! I hope that you all had a wonderful Fourth of July! I know this is the day after but I wanted to share this. Today we're going to embellish a picture frame with Creative Paperclay. I started out with an inexpensive wooden frame:

I covered the frame with glue and then added Creative Paperclay:

I then made some little firecrackers and put some blingy fuses in them, and cut some primitive stars out with an Xacto knife:

After allowing the Creative Paperclay to dry overnight, I painted the frame red, the firecrackers blue and the stars were painted white and then silver glitter was added to the stars. I then glued the stars and firecrackers to the frame  and voila' a very Fourth of July frame!

I don't plan on putting a picture in mine but rather to fashion something to place on the inside of the frame without the glass. I'll turn it into a patriotic picture and frame instead. Here's wishing you days filled with sparklies!! If you don't find your Creative Paperclay at your local hobby store you can purchase it directly from Creative Paperclay, http://www.creativepaperclay.com/  and if you like working with Creative Paperclay then you need to become a follower of the Creative Paperclay blog: http://creativepaperclay.blogspot.com/  cause you can get some really nifty ideas on their blog from me and all the other design team members!!