Do you know of Johanna Parker? Well, if you love Halloween and holidays in general and love to decorate with fun knick-knacks then you *must* check out her site and see her lovely creations. I found out about her through Martha Stewart's "Dreamers Into Doers". The timing was amazing, I received the email about Johanna, checked out her website and blog and discovered she was having a Halloween show about a week later in my area! She's here in CO too.
I was able to go to the show, meet her in person and of course - bring home one of her amazing cat sitter figures (which I just love, love, love!) Johanna is as sweet as her handcrafted goodies and I really enjoyed talking with her about her art and goods! Needless to say, I was feeling very inspired after meeting her and had all kinds of grandios ideas for projects I wanted to try and to interview her for my blog (which I still hope to do... after the holidays, yeah, that's it!!! I'll put it top of the list for next Halloween.) Alas, many other things sucked my attention and the rest of October and November flew by.
In the back of my mind I couldn't let go of wanting to try papiér mache figures. I put together an armature of balled up pieces of newspaper to make a snowman. He sat on my desk for several weeks while I pondered the best way to go about putting him together. I asked Johanna for a few pointers on what to use and any tips she could offer. It almost felt like asking a magician to reveal her secrets. She was very gracious however, and gave me enough info to dig in and get my hands dirty!
All I can say is WOW! Playing with papiér mache is F-U-N!!! After a few layers, sanding, painting, altering and making accessories I now have a really cute (IMHO) Johanna inspired Snowman! Not to mention complete respect for her art, craftsmanship and deatil! So, thank you Johanna, for your amazing creations and for sharing!
She has another show coming up this weekend,if you are in the area go see her. Check out her site for more information and be prepared for papiér mache creatures to take over your decor! Look at the pics from last year's show from her 1939 Cottage house. It's simply spectacular with all the attention to the retro details! I can't wait to see it and bring home more goodies for the holiday season!
1 comment:
Ahhhh, thanks Heather! So happy to have inspired you, but it looks like you have plenty of creative talent under your belt already..... Glad I was able to help you on your way with papier mache... It's FUN!... and what an adorable snowman!
Happy creating and see you soon!
~ Johanna
( and thanks for all the sweet comments about me and my work! )
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