DECK THE HOLIDAY'S

How to make Paper Clay I fell in love with sculpting with paper mache during my first project five years ago. However, I never really found a recipe that was worth the time and effort and mess that it took to get what I wanted. As a result, I used  Celluclay  for most projects. However, I recently stumbled upon an incredible blog called,  Ultimate Paper Mache  where Jonni (the artist and blogger) shares all sorts of tips, tutorials and recipes to help anyone on their way to successfully paper mache-ing. I am blown away by what Jonni can create, but I was especially grateful for the  recipe  she shared on how to make your own paper mache clay. Hot dog! It is easy as pie, quick, and works like charm! For my purposes, I ended up altering the recipe just slightly so that I could get the thicker consistency that I like. Here's my version of the recipe but I strongly suggest popping over to Jonni's site where she posts all sorts of detail...

    Moon Festival, Mooncake Festival , or the  August Moon Festival  - they are the different names of the same festival, which is popularly also known as the  Mid Autumn Festival . It is a celebration of abundance and togetherness.   The Chinese believe in praying to the moon god for protection, family unity, and good   fortune. It falls on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, a date that  parallels  the Autumn Equinox of  the   solar  calendar.On this day the moon is unusually bright, clear and round. Historical accounts are silent about the exact origin of this festival, but as far as the assumption of the  scholars  are  concerned , it is related to the two  customs  in China. The first customs concern the Chinese farmers. China is an agricultural country and farming in China is intricately associated with the seasons. In the ancient times, the farmers used to worship Earth God and pray...

    Under the watchful gaze of crumbling saints and baby-faced cherubs, you hurry down a path lined with mausoleums. Eventually, you pass crops of headstones casting long, narrow shadows in the moonlight. Each engraved with the epitaph of the dead person's life. You run past sunken graves and dying flowers, hoping that the sound you hear is just the wind and you're trying to shake the feeling that something is following close behind you.     Maybe you've never taken a midnight stroll through your local cemetery. But if you have ever set foot in one, you've likely felt a hint of fear and uneasiness that is their legacy. Maybe you were attending a funeral of someone dear and close to you, touring graveyards or simply fleeing things that go bump in the night.     Whatever your reason for strolling among the tombstones, you probably felt something noteworthy about the experience-something different from all the other spaces and places...

Killorglin     For communities like Killorglin to survive against the often overpowering commercial pressures imposed by their larger, urbanised neighbours it takes an inherent, deep seated tenacity. To say that the industrial and economic success of the town came about as a result of being ably represented politically, at the right time - is true - but only part of the overall picture. This train of thought displays an ignorance of how these market towns, strategically set down at cross-roads, not only survive against fierce odds but indeed thrive. A cursory glance at the history of any such town will reveal the growing pains and battle scars endured by generations to get us to where we are today.     Rivers played a huge role in the establishment of trade centres and in Killorglin's case the Laune with its link and proximity to the well sheltered Castlemaine Harbour must have presented a very attractive location to the first traveller...

Those of us who love room plants probably already has plenty of different pots with them. Halloween is coming and it’s probably a good idea to decorate one of them or a new one in the manner that shows how you do like this holiday. Happy Pumpkin Pot is the project that you can done by yourself and it would make you happy every time you see it. Here are materials you’ll need: Acrylic paints of different colors #1 liner brush ½” flat brush #4 round brush 1¼” foam spouncer 2 25mm wiggly eyes Glue Clay pot of your choice The process of painting is quite easy, but if you need instructions, go to  Plaid  for them.

    When the moon is full it is said that the canine shape shifters prowl the night seeking new prey! Gypsies around the world tell folktales that warn about the anthropomorphic wolf-men cursed to endure a life of transmutation when the moon is full, becoming a predatory killer until the sun rises.     Are these half-human, half-wolf "monsters" real, or are they a figment of our imagination, that people ages ago created to explain shadows in the night? Could these shape shifters actually exist? Perhaps Hollywood has instilled a false memory and predisposition for beings of the night, like vampires, zombies and werewolves. Maybe latent fear of the unknown drives the human mind to justify their fear of the dark by creating and believing in strange and bizarre creatures.      Then it may also be true-werewolves may be more than mythical creatures in stories told by many people with roots that run deep in the old country of th...