This Sunday May 24, 2009 12pm-2pm!

This coming Sunday come to the Grand Opening of the new ACMoore Store located:
926 Airport Center Drive
Allentown, PA 18109

and meet me for a BOOK SIGNING, art/craft demo from my new book: Altered Art Circus or just come by and say hello. I'll be there from 12pm-2pm!For the amazing opening I will be creating a project from my book: Captured Jar fairies using a variety of materials, easily found around your home and in ACMoore. I will also demonstrate the various versions of jar fairies which I also call Specimen Jars or Magical Glass Vignettes created with built in scenes which recreate a special moment of life: a birthday, shower favor, wedding surprise, a seaside vacation or camping trip. A jar filled w/clear gel and glitter to form a magical water style globe.

Jar/Glass Vignettes also can bring that extra festive touch to your holidays, filled with a small snowman figure, elfen or pixie figurine, vintage plastic reindeer, Easter rabbits, Valentine cards, or filled to the brim with faux robins eggs or your favorite flavor of jelly beans. LOL!Jars, cookie jars, cake containers,clear glass xmas bulbs,gumball machines, aquariums, canning jars, apothecary jars/bottles,clear glass lanterns, small decorative conservatories, old ringer clocks, framed wall clocks-minus the clock,glass vases, birdcages, shadow boxes, cigar boxes, candy boxes, glass domes over plates, hurricane lamps, wine glasses, martini and other glass ware, recycled yankee candle jars can all be used to create vignettes or scenes from your fave memories, fables and imagination! Or use some of them to fill w/your fave art supplies and notions.This jar scene is made called: Captured Mad Hatter, using a canning jar from ACMoore, then filled w/reindeer moss,a painted wooden tea pot, a vintage image which I colored in w/oil pencils, blending solution (Ranger), some paint, mad hatter hat and glitters, the background is a photo I took while I was in Jim Thorpe, PA, finished w/ a vintage wire/jeweled flower stick, ribbons, millinery and paint.This is a Specimen Jar I made called: Miss Bugglesworth, this technique is similar to the one in my book called: The Fiji Mermaid, both show how to 3 dimensionalize one image for depth and character.Here is Oliver The Pixie Wizard, I made him for a show called: Halloween Opera, which I was a vendor at for 2 years in Jim Thorpe, PA. At this event I choose, more gothic themes and tones such as: The Phantom of the Opera and Wizard's Apothecary, here I sold my more rustic, wizardly, fantasy and primitive Halloween style works, different then the color palette I create in now. This magical jar is an example of that wizardly style, made in a canning jar and the base is made with reindeer moss and peacock feathers, small apothenary bottle I embellished, along with a carnival scene, vintage wizard costumed image, wings, glitters and ribbon.Here is one I made called: Fairyland Presents, a gift for my mom a few years ago. The inside was made using reindeer moss which I painted and a real egg shell, which I soaked in bleach over night, then painted w/acrylics and sealed with decaupage medium., glued to top of moss inside the jar, then added the rest of the items: images, backgrounds, etc.
Another party style jar I made are the wedding jars for the bridal party/bride for a wedding I was in: These are perfect for shower centerpieces, favors, bridal party gifts, garden and tea parties, or birthday favors. The possibilities are endless. These were filled w/light green excelsior, embellished vintage images,
digitally colored piano book covers, shrunk to size, ribbons and elegant silk flowers for the top.Here is another party/storybook style glass vignette I made called: Doll House Mania which I made using vintage berry garland inside the jar w/vintage dolly dingle image,vintage brownies by Palmer book cover I shrunk to size, handmade tinsel stars w/silver glass glitter and a handsculpted kewpie head I made from scratch w/no mold, hand sculpted, along w/other magical goodies.
scene inside a plastic covered Easter Egg!A fairy orb which can also be turned into a wand, the instructions for that project is in my book: Altered Art Circus!
Party Jars are my small versions of Bonne Fette:
Fête is a French word meaning festival, party, holiday or even birthday (as in "bonne fête" being an equivalent to "happy birthday"), which has passed into English as a label that may be given to certain events.

Bonne: Meaning a few thinsg depending on where its used: "Good", feminine form Bonne masqueline form "Bon", when applied to "Fette" as in "Bonne Fette" Happy Birthday or Happy Party!

It is widely used in England and Australia in the context of a village fête, pronounced /ˌfeɪt/. These are usually outdoor shows held on village greens or recreation grounds with a variety of activities and are organised by an ad hoc committee of volunteers from organisations such as residents associations. Attractions seen at village fêtes include raffles, coconut shies, bat a rat stalls, white elephant stalls, cakes, and home produce such as jam and pickles. Entertainment could include morris dancing, tug of war, fancy dress and pet shows. The American and Canadian equivalent would be the County Fair or City Fair.

For additional info on Bonne Fette visit Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fete

For additional jar fairy/specimen jars or glass vignettes visit my jar fairy photo set at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/moonfaires16/sets/72157594563774774/

Have a wonderful and magic filled day!
xoxo!
Lisa!

The Gingerbread Castle, Hamburg, NJ!
On the way home from the Earth Angel Toys held at Charlotte's Tea Room, I wanted to stop off at a place I used to go to as a child called The Gingerbread Castle located in Hamburg, NJ!Tucked away, deep in the countryside of northern New Jersey is a place called The Gingerbread Castle located on Rt. 23 & Gingerbread Castle Rd, Hamburg, Sussex County, NJ. The grounds of the castle started as flour mill built in 1808 called: Wheatsworth Mills, then it became something called the Plastoid Corporation. This changing of factories was the result of the unprofitable flour company, so it was turned it into the Plastoid Corporation which was actually a wire and cable factory this sale was actually became the basis for the castle. In 1928 the owners used their wire and plastics to create several plastic dinosaurs which adorned the property. As children came to visit these life sized creatures, the owners added more dinosaurs and finally, they added the Gingerbread Castle which was built hanging off one of the factory walls, evolving into a fairy/story book style amusement park, built in 1930 by F.H. Bennett, inventor of Milk Bone Dog Biscuits and the owner of the Wheatsworth Mills, whose original tiling can still be seen on the stone gate structures today. Mr. Bennett created a life-sized castle to tell the story of "Hansel and Gretel," this painted pink structure would be called: The Gingerbread Castle. He also created additional life sized vignettes which showcased other stories from Mother Goose Rhymes including Humpty Dumpty who sat on his wall, the park even had a miniature railroad for children to ride and get excited over. Along with fave replicas of Cinderella, Jack and Jill and A Woman Who Lived In A Shoe.During the latter part of the 1980's, the Gingerbread Castle fell into a state of disrepair, this showed the lack of maintenance and care of the castle. Eventually, the property was primarily closed and used only as a haunted house attraction during Halloween, not a fitting event for this once storybook place. This demise seemed so dark and dreery, don't you agree?But around 2002 someone had taken a renewed interest in the property, a man by the name of Frank Hinger who bought the property. Mr. Hinger started a series of fundraisers to help fix and restore the castle to its original state. This restoration project was boosted, by some donations and contributions from the Hampton Inn hotel chain who prompted its workers and other to volunteer work as part of the restoration attemps.The sad thing is Mr. Hinger's attempts to restore the castle failed, so did the structure he built across the street called the Gingerbread Grill. It just seemed no matter what he did his attempts failed, having resistance from town officials/municipal I'm sure didn't help his cause and efforts, but that is something the public may never know, a battle between parties.

The next measure was to sell off the property to someone who would elaborate on his vision and have the money to do it. In the beginning of 2007, the properties were finally sold, this time to Gene Mulvihill who vowed to not turn the property into condos, townhouses or a strip mall. Gene was quoted in saying: "It's in blood, I won't change the castle," and created the Historic Hamburg LLC, which he is a principal holder in, formed especially for the castle renovation project. He also is a principal holder in Grey Elephant LLC, which own the vacant 15 acre Plastoid Factory site adjacent to the castle. Basically Mr. Mulvihill bought the 1-acre castle site and another 7 acres across from Gingerbread Castle Road that includes a the Gingerbread Castle Grille.

I hope to see a surge in restoration on this historic site, which I believe will be turned into a children's museum and park again, a day I'd love to see and watch come alive. To read more on the sale of this site visit:
http://www.crystalspringsbuilders.com/Content/Articles.asp?SID=1&CID=24&AID=109
To learn more about the Gingerbread Castle and to see old pictures, visit:
http://www.thegingerbreadcastle.com/

An eventful weekend in May: Earth Angel Toys, Gingerbread Castle and Workshop!
My whole month of May has been booked with events, workshops and adventures, this coming weekend I will be appearing at the Grand Opening of the AC Moore in Allentown, PA, promoting the book and doing a project demo from it, come on by May 24and visit.

This past weekend, My mom and I headed over to Charlotte's Tea Room in Warwick, NY about 45minutes from my house for the Earth Angel Toys Event hosted at the tea room by the amazing Jen O'Connor http://www.earthangelstoys.com/ http://earthangelstoys.blogspot.com/ the event was filled with the most beautiful artful eye candy I have ever seen in one place, you just wanted to buy a piece from every artist on hand. some of the artists and work on hand were: Jo Packham http://www.jopackham.com/ Letty Worley, Jody Battaglia, Dara DiMagno, Kitty Babendreier and Debbee Thibault http://www.debbeethibault.com/ everyone of the artists I met couldn't be more talented and sweet, each making you feel right at home as you viewed their works.Here is a picture of Me, Kitty and Debbee!Debbee and Me!Debbee and My Mom!Debbee's dolls have always been a fave of mine, each one telling their own story and sharing their own magic. After visiting Pleasanton, Ca, a few weeks back, I had wanted to go to American Harvest and buy one of her dolls, but didn't have the chance, then an art friend surprised me with one, just making my day. Now in Warwick, what did I forget to do?, why bring the dollie of course, LOL! Next time!Here is a photo of Jo and Me!
Not only were there loads of artwork to buy, but also books and magazines which were located at Jo Packham's Spot!http://www.jopackham.com/ Jo is the publisher/creator behind "Where Woman Create" which is available in book form and magazines, each one I recommend for an array of artful inspiration which you can bring into your own studio, home or life. I've been wanting to buy the hard cover book edition and I did, plus Jo personalize/sign it, I also picked up the book: Crowns and Tiara's by Kerri Judd and I just love it, another must have book. All I can say is that once you meet Jo, you will meet some one beyond works nice and multi-talented.Here is the Charlotte Dollie I made for her called: Queen Elizabeth Ann, these dolls are part of my handmade charlotte doll line! Stay tuned I have 83 of these to embellish, here they are sitting in my studio right now:
Another fabulous woman I met was Kitty Babendreier, she is so sweet and talented, we must have hung out the whole time I was there, chatting and sharing laughter and artful ideas. Kitty lives in NY a few hours away and makes wonderful shadow box assemblages, I bought one named Gus, lol, I just love him, my mom bought one too which was tea and victorian in tones. Here is Kitty with Gus and Me! LOL!Kitty, Debbee, Me, Letty and Susan!
Jen O'Connor and Me!Sue and Me!Me and Mom!The following are photographs of the quaint and picturesque Warwick, NY, just over the NJ border, filled with Victorian and Romantic Charm!If you are ever in town, you must visit Charlotte's Tea Room located at 15 Oakland Avenue, Warwick, NY!
After we left the event, I drove mom and I to the Gingerbread Castle which is located in Hamburg, NJ about a half hour from my house: More on our adventure at Gingerbread Castle, Along with the history, folklore and photos tommorrow!

Have a magical night!
XO!
Lisa!

ZNE Convenzione Day Five! Post 6
By Day five of Zne, I was exhausted, but still finding the energy through lots of Starbucks Coffee, I was missing my Dounkin Donuts Coffee at this point, LOL!
Today was the last day of the Convenzione in Pleasanton, which I was sad about, since the next day we would all be leaving our friends and heading home. But I was also excited since this day would be when I signed my books with some fabulous people.On a Foggy Sunday all the vendors and artists returned to the fairgrounds for another day of fun. Today I was signing books and hosted a project near my booth area called: the Silhouette Box Assemblage.Here I am, LOL, Signing!I saw the picture coming, LOL!Jill and Me! She is wonderful!Traci and Me, She rocks!Me, Katie Jean and Yvonne!Patti and Me!Pam, me and Brandie!The Fabulous Diva JenMe, Claire, AnnDenise and Katie!Shoshanah from Hannah Grey and Me!Me, Mom and Yvonne!Gina, Me and Shari, notice the kitty shoes, love them, here are Gina's Kitty shoes and my Butterfly/flower shoes upclose, lol, I love this picture:We took this later on in the evening at Chevy's, LOL, put your best foot foward!Marsha and Yvonne, I bought the book Marsha is holding and Yvonne is holding the wand from me!The ladies of the Silhoutte: left to right: Mica, Jill, Liz, Heidi, Lana and Claire! They came to learn and make my silhouette assemblage, even donating some extra goodies to the project, flowers from Liz, sewn crepe paper from Heidi and vintage papers/advertising from Claire!Liz and Her Box!Heidi's Box!

Each attendee to the Silhouette project would hand assemblage their own rounded box bases, layered with designer papers or vintage book pages, faux bouillion, glitters, trims and silhouettes. I will show examples of these boxes next week!

After the show, a bunch of us went to Chevy's(Jen, Her Hubby, Hollis, Yvonne, Mom, AnnDenise, Gina, Her Hubby, Son and Mica and Me) Today was Mica and I would play our final prank of the weekend on AnnDenise, I told the waiters it was her birthday, lol, and they came out singing w/dessert and a sombrero hat, it was hilarious, I told her she could decorate it with crepe paper and AnnDenise flare, lol! A perfect ending to a wonderful weekend.

Well thanks to airline mix-ups I couldn't visit Wendy Addison's Studio w/Iva and Colleen, but Heidi and her sister went, she has some pictures on her blog, click on Birds of a Feather blog link below. Instead My mom and I hailed 3 trains into the San Fran Airport, and were told due to bad weather around Newark Airport we would be delayed, let's just say I finally walked in my door and to my bed at 3:30am, Eastern Time, LOL! and slept for a day still catching up on sleep, LOL!

Ladies and Gentleman this concludes my 6 blog posts of my adventure at ZNE in Pleasanton, California, I hope you enjoyed the adventure and photos as well! Have a magical weekend!

http://www.americanharvestinc.com/site/
http://americanharvest.typepad.com/
http://auroratique.blogspot.com/
http://www.cottagejewel.com/
http://whimandfancydesigns.blogspot.com/
http://www.ivascreations.typepad.com/
http://www.oldetowneantiquesmall.com/
http://www.themuseisin.com/
http://elevenmorningstangerine.com/
http://garb-oodles.com/
http://www.garboodles.blogspot.com/
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http://hkwdesign.blogspot.com/
http://www.itsmysite.com/ruthrae/
http://ruthrae.blogspot.com/
http://kollaj.typepad.com/kollaj/
http://www.treicdesigns.com/
http://www.colleenmoody.blogspot.com/
http://www.handmadeforall.com/
http://glitterandgrungeblog.blogspot.com/
http://sabiiwabii.blogspot.com/
http://katiejeandesigns.com/
http://katiejean.wordpress.com/
http://thebagladysart.blogspot.com/
http://heartcollective.blogspot.com/
http://ullam.typepad.com/
http://theberrypatchcraftgallery.com/
http://blog.couragetocreate.com/
http://annacorbastudio.com/
http://thepolkadotpixie.blogspot.com/
http://jillzwhimzy1.blogspot.com/
http://littlepiecesofart.typepad.com/about.html
http://www.wendyaddison.net/
http://www.wendyaddison.blogspot.com/
http://www.jontroast.com/
http://www.lost-coast-designs.com/
http://www.melissamerrill.blogspot.com/
http://www.hannahgrey.com/
http://kvcreativedesigns.blogspot.com/
http://www.edgarandedgar.typepad.com/

P.S. Magic and Artful Joy to you all!
Lisa!
P.P.S. To see more of the Zne 2009 photos click:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/moonfaires16/sets/72157617764536165/