Craft-a-pallooza...!

They came, we shopped, we ate, and we created. All in all, a terrific long weekend with my mom, my sister and my niece. It was their first visit to beautiful sunny Pasadena, and a welcome change from the encroaching Canadian winter.

Our first project was deli paper painting. We created dozens on 12" square sheets in random colour combinations using the technique i wrote about HERE. Each sheet has three colours of cheap acrylic paint applied/blended with an old credit card. Then they are glazed with a bit of metallic shimmer. And optionally some were rubber stamped.
Here are three sheets on a pink/orange/mauve colour palette.
Here are some pink and teal with stars and dragon fly stamps.
Here is a cigar box i covered with some of the deli paper. Deli paper glues beautifully just with a glue stick. My niece did one too - but i neglected get a picture.
Here is the inside of the cigar box. I left the gold/green/red label exposed because it coordinated beautifully (quite by accident) with the deli paper. Even the taped borders on the original box looked cool - so i left them uncovered as well.
Our next project was these glitter bird cards from a Martha Stewart craft kit i picked up at Big Lots for two bucks! Not sure why it was there in a bargain pile - they were one of the best designed and fool proof kits i have ever used. Each kit comes with 8 blank cards and 8 bird stickers, and 5 vials of glitter. Erica and i each made three birds - so easy, you just peel off a section of the bird - sprinkle on the glitter, and rub off the excess with your finger. Put the un-stuck glitter back in the vial. Peel another section, apply a new colour of glitter, etc etc.

Then you peel of the backing of the bird and stick it on the card. There is even a narrow border of sticker on the card to apply glitter for a border.
Our next project was to use all those beautiful deli papers as background for a Papaya-style collage. I did a workshop a few months ago with my altered book group using this same technique - you can read about it and see some great pics HERE and HERE. The funny thing was - i could not find my samples to show my sister and niece. So they created these amazing collages completely randomly. Well, with my guidance of course - but they just went for it.

This one is mine - i used a deli paper background, an image cut out of Vogue magazine, and applied stickers using the recipe i developed: radiating stripes from the head, flowers and butterflies, and hoopy earrings drawn on with a sharpie.
Here is Donna's. She was really nervous about placement - qranted her "head" was more challenging because of the hair. But she created a lovely collage with a floral headband, and floral necklace punctuated with butterflies. She added the word BEAUTY using a stencil i created. Her deli paper is so pretty - looks like water, almost like her image is a mermaid floating out of a serene lagoon. Definitely a Tahitian vibe.
And finally here is Erica's - WOW. Did i mention she is 13? She had the most stunning collage of the three of us. First her deli paper and a nice contrast of green to blue. Then she chose a striking face and off set it on the page. Then her choice of large pink flowers and bright blue butterflies created a fantastic headdress for this gal. And she did some nice hoop-y earrings and swirls. I hope they display their Papaya style collage proudly back home in Calgary, and think fondly of their crafting vacation in sunny California all cold winter long.