Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Step by Step



Well, some of us are busy having fun, and others are slaving away removing carpet from the stairs. Tomorrow, when I get back to work on the stairs (actually, I cleaned off two stairs today), I will think of Joansie enjoying her new spinning wheel.

I had a very busy day today, aside from attacking the carpet on the stairs. Meital and I washed my car (actually a pretty darn big minivan). After I worked on the stairs, she and I went for a swim, then worked in a brand-new spelling workbook. Later, we swam again, and I signed up at Ancestry.com and spent a few hours looking through records. I found a lot of interesting material, but when I tried to do narrower searches I started having trouble. I have a lot to learn about how to get the most out of that website.

And finally, for your viewing pleasure, may I present the Altered Barbie?


It was a worthwhile experience, but one I will probably not be repeating. I did stumble across the website of an artist who uses dolls in her altered books. It was interesting, but not something I want to try right now. As for this Barbie, I painted her with liquid acrylic paint (think Delta brand), then sponged on some silver paint through a piece of mesh that originally was wrapped around a few heads of garlic. I sprayed adhesive all over her, then sprinkled on sand from our local beach and some glitter. I tried dyeing her hair with ink, but as I mentioned in an earlier post, that didn't work very well. I dyed a length of organdy ribbon with ink, then wrapped it around her hips and glued tiny seashells onto it. She's sort of like one of those slaves on Davy Jones' ship, The Flying Dutchman, from Pirates 2. Though I dismissed the idea of cutting into her face and sticking some shells part way in. Yuck.

For now, Altered Barbie is lounging in front of my Haunted House (remember the infamous milk carton project?). More than likely, at some point both will end up in the trash. I give it until the end of the summer; by then I'll probably be tired of looking at both of them!

6 comments:

Joansie said...

Amy, I hope you have AC while working on the carpet removal. That's a difficult job. Yes, I did enjoy my wheel today for a short period of time as I am downsizing my closets and doing much needed housework.

Love the doll. A lot of work went into that project.

LizzieK8 said...

I don't envy your job on the stairs. On summer everything pretty much goes on hold. Now we have higher humidity but not much rain....

I love Barbie. It's good color for mermaids!

Ann said...

If you are attempting to remove carpet (or tile) that was glued in place, heat (your steam iron, a hair dryer) will soften the glue, making it easier to get the stuff up.

(I got this tip from the guy who redid our kitchen floor.)

Sandy said...

Removing glued carpeting is a bunch of work.It sounds like you have a plan for it. The altered barbie was a great way to try something different. I love that you are so willing to jump in and try stuff. I think that creativity sparks creativity.

allie aller said...

Thank you for the very, very kind comment you left on my blog this morning!

I ADORE your Altered Barbie!!!

;-) Allie

Karin said...

Love the altered barbie.

Also love the altered-back-to-normal stairs! So much work for you, though....