Frickets

Its been Mermaid Madness around the studio getting ready for my BIG weekend in California.

 

I'll be in Manhattan Beach for a sea side art escape hostessed by Kim.  Who, I've heard, is the world's best hostess.  From spending time with her in the past and hearing her stories about preparing for her events, I believe it.  She is dedicated and does it all with devotion.  I know we are in for a good time.

 


And from looking at the class descriptions, I can tell that the projects will be just wonderful. I'm sure they come with lots of goodies, but I like to pack extras to give the finished products my own touch.  

These two mermaids might end up on the journal or the crown… not sure which, but what project wouldn't be appropriate to add a sparkling little merperson to? 

I've made these sprites with vintage cake topper ballerinas.   I doubt if this would work with the reproduction ballerinas, the plastic they are made of is too hard and would crack if you tried to cut into it. The older ones are of a softer material and were easy, well not easy, but semi-easy, to cut with jewelry clippers.

I cut off their skirts and legs (remember the movie "Boxing Helena"?) then made a tail from paper clay, let it dry, glued it on and glittered it.

The silver one has a bit of a chunky butt going on, because I didn't trim enough skirt off.  But I can't hold it against her, I do too.  So, I added an accessory to draw the eye away from her extra wide hips. All those years of watching "What Not to Wear" have taught me a little something.

Besides supplies, and gifts for my swap hostess, (tomorrow's post)  I wanted some extra little gifties to pass out here and there. So, I made a mermaid from a girl cut from a Victorian scrap book, and added a wallpaper tail.

Then, I glued her to this pink underwater wallpaper (how cool was that to find in my sample books!?) and made copies on card stock.

After cutting them all out, I embellished each with metallic inks, ribbons, ruffles, and trims.

Each one got a Mother of Pearl button and a little shell.

To the top of each, I tied a small vial filled with teeny shells, crystals, and pearls.

 


 

If you'd like to make your own mermaid, here is the original scrap art that I used.  If I have done this right, you should be able to click on it to make it bigger. Then, print the larger one to cut out and use in your art. If you print it directly from the post as is, it won't have enough pixels to make it usable.

 

And here is the girl with her tail on the back ground if you'd like to print it this way to use. I hope I've done it right. If not, let me know and I'll try to redo it when I get back from my trip next week.

 

Another perk for the upcoming weekend, is the parties.  Beyond the event itself, there are bonus parties thrown by some of the attendees.  One is a cupcake gathering, that can't be bad. 

 

So, I used a couple of my hand painted cup cake pictures and made up gift tags as thanks for the ladies who are treating us to the frosty goodies.

 

Another couple of ladies are hosting a welcoming cocktail party.  I wanted a little thank you for them too, so made up these vintage test tubes filled with shells and baubles to use during the weekend.  I topped them off with these plastic mermaids that hang on the side of a drink.

 

I think they are fitting for a cocktail party.  By the way, I saw new ones like these at World Market, if you need some.

And last but not least, a room mate gift for Beth.

Did you just gasp with awe at its beauty?  Or shriek with terror? Yes, its a gag gift, and about as tacky as anything could be.

Its an ucky story behind it. Sugarwings got herself a head full of lice.  She says they hop like "Frickets". I think she means crickets. But to me, lice will always be frickets. And she said it in a very upbeat, cheerful way. Frickets!!!!!!

My head itches just thinking about it. No matter how many cleanings the house gets and the heads get, it still freaks me out and I itch.  Of course, I already have chigger bites, but not on my head. 

Gee, don't you love coming to visit me and hearing about chiggers in my drawers, lice, snakes, and rats?  Maybe I should change my blog title to "Karla's Creepy Crawly Cottage".

Its brave of Beth to room with Creepy Crawly Karla, so I wanted to give her a little thank you gift  too, a glittered and foofed lice comb of her very own.

Since I'm in CA as this posts, I won't be able to answer emails, comments, or ship packages till I return.  But please do leave a comment, I'm giving away some pretty pearl earrings for this month's gift.