Just for Fun

The packaging on some of my Christmas presents this year was so pretty I hated to put it in the recycle bin.  So I did some recycling of my own and made paper dolls.  Here are some of the materials I used from those lovely packages.

The inside of the packaging is white so I glued colored card stock to the backs of my pieces.

I colored the white edges of each piece with a sharpie.....

The face is drawn with prisma pencils.

I used brads to connect all the body parts.  Here is my brad drawer....

I start the hole for the brad with an awl

then enlarge the hole with a paper punch 

so the brad can be inserted.

I like the way the packaging is printed so the brown part looks like a belt.  And the brad forms the belt buckle.

the back side

The brad allows movement in the paper doll.

The arms are attached the same way.  Little trims are added last.

These are pretty flower brads at the shoulders, with a white bead glued on top.

My first creative project of the new year.  Something simple, but fun!



Merry Christmas!

I'd like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

Art for the Trees pt. 2

The Art for the Trees benefit was a success! Our local Channel 39 TV station came to cover the event, and two of my pieces are pictured on the news clip!

http://newsfixnow.com/2012/12/13/houstonian-uses-artwork-to-reforest-memorial-park

So far, $8,000 has been raised for the Memorial Park Conservancy. Our goal is $10,000 and we are almost there! All of the artwork at the event is now in an online gallery. Click on the individual artists' names to see their artwork.

www.theartfullumbrella.com/art_gallery

My personal page is here.

http://www.theartfullumbrella.com/janet_bodin

Please check it out, and if you are so moved, you can make an art purchase and help reforest Memorial Park. Or you can just make a donation to the cause here

www.bit.ly/art4trees

Thank you to everyone who came to the event, purchased art, or made a donation!

Happy Holidays!

Art for the Trees

Last year we had a terrible drought in Houston which killed half of our Memorial Park’s tree canopy. I was delighted to be asked to be part of “Art For the Trees If You Please” a benefit to raise money for the reforestation of Memorial Park. This event will take place on Tuesday, December 11th from 6:30-9:30 p.m. at Mixed Emotions Fine Art Gallery located at 95 Tuam Street in Houston. I’m honored to be one of the participating artists and will have work for sale at the benefit. Lots more information about the event can be found here:

www.theartfullumbrella.com/art_benefit

December Art Events

I'm participating in two special events in December. The first is Lucia’s Garden Holiday Open House, this Sunday, December 2, from 1-5 p.m. Lucia will have her famous Christmas and Winter Potpourris, mulling spices, scented candles and oils, ornaments from around the world, and other treasures. Debbie Tubbs will be there with her luxurious handcrafted goat’s milk soaps and lotions. I will be there with angels, snowmen, holly leaf elves and other winter whimsies. If you are in the area I hope you'll stop by and enjoy refreshments and a cup of Holiday Tea.

 

Lucia’s Garden

2360 W. Alabama

Houston, TX  77098

713-523-6494

"Holly Harmony"  Janet Bodin ©2012

The next event will be an Art Benefit to raise money for the reforestation of Memorial Park in Houston. The 2011 drought killed half of Memorial Park’s beautiful tree canopy. “Art For the Trees If You Please” will take place on Tuesday, December 11th from 6:30-9:30 p.m. at

Mixed Emotions Fine Art Gallery

95 Tuam Street

Houston, TX  77006

713-861-9666  

I am one of the participating artists and will have work for sale at the benefit. You can find different ticket purchasing options and more information about the event here:

www.theartfullumbrella.com/art_benefit



Cemetery Tour

I took a little trip this week to South Central Texas to visit some of my ancestors’ graves (genealogy being my second passion, after doll making!). My first stop was Amphion Cemetery, 4 miles outside of Poteet.

Amphion, thought to have been named after a figure from Greek mythology, was located within the 17,000 acre ranch of Jose Antonio Navarro, a prominent local rancher and signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. Amphion was at one time a thriving community with several general stores, a hotel, a post office, blacksmith shop, cotton gin, churches and school. When railroad lines were built that bypassed Amphion, business activity declined and the community eventually dissolved. Virtually all that remains of the former town is this cemetery.

My great grandmother, and her parents (and other family members) are buried here.

 

My next stop was Oak Island Cemetery.

The Oak Island Methodist Church was established here by circuit rider John Wesley DeVilbiss, during the time of the Republic of Texas.

 

My great great grandparents, great great great grandparents and 4X great grandmother are buried here with other family members. My 4X great grandmother has a plaque on her headstone that reads “Citizen of the Republic of Texas”. How cool is that?



A Night at the Opera

This past weekend Mr. B and I went to the opera: La Bohème.

This was fun and different for us, as we had not been to the opera in more years than we can count. Not being opera aficionados, we opted for the less expensive tickets in the balcony. But the muses were smiling on us: the day before the performance we received a complimentary upgrade and found ourselves sitting in orchestra seats that cost five time what we paid for our tickets! The music was gorgeous and familiar to us mainly from one of our all-time favorite movies: Moonstruck.

This is the opera that Loretta and Ronny go to see and the music from the opera is played in the background of key scenes in the movie. There are parallel themes in the opera and the movie which I never realized before and now I want to see the movie again (for the 50th or 60th time!).