OPERATION PAPER MACHE, failed?

It would appear that spray paint was a bad choice.  After painstakingly putting layer upon layer of glue soaked newspaper on my recycled cardboard frame.... I tried to take the easy way out and spray paint it white instead of just painting it like a normal person.  SPRAY PAINT IS NOT YOUR FRIEND.  It dried out the paper and made it curl and buckle in a few places.  Just a few places?  No big deal?  Well if you have children, then you get what I'm trying to say here.

Imagine a perfect wall... its got some neato wall paper that you wouldn't have thought would be cool, but it somehow works out and you cant imagine anything better than this random, awesome, wall paper.  Oh and its the last of the wall paper, there's no more.  Just to put things in perspective.  Put a 3 year old in that amazing room and she'll find a little corner that is kinda lifting up.  Just a little.  You couldn't have noticed it maybe, but she can.  And she'll peel it.  She'll peel off the whole damn wall..  And then she'll ask what happened.

So there are a few places on the cradle that are imperfect.  They need to be sealed with I don't know what.  I feel so bad, I wanted it done by the time we went camping.  Then I wanted it done by the time we had her second party, with her grandparents who live up here.  I am feeling a bit defeated, and haven't tried anything besides peeling a bit off to see what kind of damage it will be up against.  It's not looking good.  I just so baldy want to finish this thing.  If I had some extra cash, I would buy some modge podge and seal it and paint it in one night.

Maddy got a ton of Hello Kitty stuff for her birthday, but very few toys.  I almost want to buy her something, not that she needs anything.  Mostly what she got were clothes.  Nail polish, a back pack... its not really age appropriate for a 3 year old.  It was all Hello Kitty, she screamed with joy.  But she's ONLY 3.  I would like to see her face light up when she sees her new tea set, not her new Hello Kitty lipstick.  A cradle for her dolls is something she both needs and would be able to play with.  Thats kind of my explanation for feeling so awful that I haven't finished it for her.  I feel like an asshole for not getting my kid a toy.  What she really wants is a kitten (she wants to name it 'hello kitty') but Honey's allergies and my commitment to change only Charlie's diapers or a litter box, not both, prevents that.

Its my duty as a parent to post embarrassing pictures of her.  Happy Birthday Hello Kitty (Madeline) 

Top it all off, I've misplaced my battery charger for my camera so I cant upload any of the pictures I took for Maddy's party, ebay, etsy and this blog.  DAMN!  and I can forget trying to sell our old kitchen table on craigslist.  No pictures, no deal.... and I am using it as a garden table and don't want to give it up.  More on that next time.

I'll be back in a week with a freshly charged camera (thanks ebay) and a ton of pictures and stories to go with them.  well maybe not a ton.  but at least 2 decent adventures of me trying to be a parent and an artistic human at the same time.

Oh and be sure to check out this guys blog: http://sinclaretattoos.blogspot.com/  You can see the custom Hello Kitty painting Madeline got for her birthday as well as some sweet original art.  He also tattoos, so if you are in the Chico area, stop by Sacred Art Tattoo and say hi!

OPERATION PAPER MACHE, part 2

Its been about a week, and I have to admit I have been slacking on OPERATION PAPER MACHE.  I had hoped to have it finished by now, and I have not even started painting yet.  I have less than a week!  EEK!  Wanna hear my excuses?  Well stop reading now if you don’t.  Last chance!  Ok.  Kids got sick.  I mentioned it was hot, apparently little kids melt in this kind of heat.  Both kids got sick.  Was it heat stroke?  Probably.  Makes me feel like a crappy mom, so I just use the term ‘sick’.  But we have a portable air conditioner hooked up in the living room and the children have stopped throwing up.  Hooray!  (Almost) all art ceases when both kids get that sick.  This is what I’ve managed so far:

The cradle is completely covered.  I built up a hello kitty face on a piece of cardboard for a head board decoration.  Its super fun to cover hello kitty with all the erotic advertisements from the last few pages of LA Weekly!  Hello kitty herself is made up of a dirty paper towel for shape, lots of newspaper and lots of dryer lint.  Dryer lint? You ask, well, I am working on a budget.  I stuck dry lint on to the wet paper, and then was able to mold it when I added another layer of paper.  Hello kitty looks like some creepy zombie.  Zombie Kitty.  Or maybe just Moldy Kitty.  Zombie mold aside, she looks pretty decent for starting out as a card board cut out.

Madeline is OBSESSED with hello kitty.

I wanted to make this thing kind of little fancy for my little girl, so I added a raised trim to the outside.  I used drinking straws.  Sorry Charlie, you gotta figure out that whole drinking from a cup thing about 12 straws sooner.  I had MUCH bigger plans, but I have run out of time and also I somehow lost the pipe cleaners and fridge magnets I needed.  “Hello Maddy” in alphabet fridge magnets from the dollar store.  It will look awesome, if I can find them.

I commandeered a mixing bowl and basting brush for art use

Desperate for art, I dug out my art bin with all my wire and tools in it and set it up on top of the air conditioning box that has mysteriously made a home in my kitchen.  Its tall enough that the kids cant reach and just the perfect height for me to stand and work.  AND its right by the window, so I dont need a light.  I refuse to put it away.  Charlie, who follows me everywhere and screams if I leave the room, “helped” me punch some words into the squished pennies I’ve rejected.  Does anyone really want a squished penny from universal studios?  Or one that says “KIA”, as in, “I needed to rent a car but all they had left was a KIA, so I took the bus instead.”  I don’t know what I’m going to do with them.  I just REALLY like the way they look.  Ah, and I found my stash of pennies I set out on the train tracks near the beach in Ventura.  I punched some letters into those too.  These pennies are totally good luck…. as you can see plainly in the picture.

you'll be seeing some of these on etsy soon

Sometimes working with limited supplies is easier than working with everything you could ever want.  I get overwhelmed.  As I was trying to unpack, clean up vomit and do laundry, I found my penny stash… instant inspiration!  I dropped the baby and ran to find a hammer.  The hello kitty buttons I ordered from freakin china finally came, I sewed Momo (Madeline’s best sock monkey friend) a hello kitty costume, an hour later.  Those buttons were burning a hole in my pocket.  I guess I just find it easier to start with one really good thing, something I really feel.  The cradle was born out of necessity, I'm just too poor to buy one for her.  And why buy one when I can make a perfectly good one with all the stuff laying around?  I guess I am just exploring the fact that art cant be forced, it has to flow easily out of your fingertips and into what ever it is your making.  You have to have confidence in it, even if its dumb, petty or already been done.  If I'm not proud of it, no matter how pretty or neat or unique, its not worth making.  I don't think I'd even consider it art.

Hello Momo!

OPERATION PAPER MACHE

Oh did I mention that there will be two insane kids, both under the age of 3, running around while I try and do this?  And no, naps do not happen at the same time, sometimes not at all.  I am attempting to create something out of all the cardboard boxes laying around my new home like lazy cats on a hot summer day.  And this summer is HOT.  

Since its Maddy's birthday soon, I thought I'd try and make something for her.  She's proving herself to be quite a little girly-girl, so I thought I'd make her a cradle for all her little dudes.  Not dollies, she calls them 'her dooooooods'.  And so, OPERATION PAPER MACHE begins!  

I started out by finding the sturdiest box we had, and reinforcing the bottom and sides with more cardboard.  I made a paste (5 parts water to 1 part flour, boiled and cooled) and glued and then wired the extra cardboard on.  Maddy and Charlie 'helped' me with this part.  Charlie took away all the pieces that fell as I cut and Madeline threw dudes in the cradle as I tried to glue.  

Next we played the 'paper game'.  The kids are familiar with this game from past projects.  I put out a stack of newspaper, we rip it up.  I set up shop outside with my bowl of nasty glue (it looked like oatmeal, and I have a whole bunch left in the fridge with a note on it that states that it is NOT oatmeal) and the cardboard cradle-to-be.  I filled up the kiddie pool and plopped the kids in.  Operation Paper Mache continued!

I got pretty far, I got the whole outside covered with a layer or two.  Special thanks to free paper people, there were lots of zombie pictures and articles on bands.  And lots of cursing.  It was very entertaining to read the little scraps of paper I glued on over and and over.  Tomorrow, we start again!

there's a new kid in town...

After a month of living in limbo, we finally have a place to call home.  A place to unpack all our junk.  I am now officially living in 'norcal'.  Thoughts?  Its HOT!  We have a swamp cooler, which as I have pointed out, only makes it slightly cooler than outside.  100 degree weather?  I am thankful that its a much cooler 90 degrees inside.  No, really, I am.  Actually, the heat doesn't bother me nearly as much as listening to other members of my household complain about the heat.  Wipe the sweat out of your eyes and help me unpack!