In preparation for creating the paper doll party hat project or PDPHP as I like to call it, I had to wrangle a few craft items curently not in stock at Casa de Calamity. For several days I had been on the lookout for large party hats. I assumed that the party stores would have a better selection. After driving all over town I found the largest ones at the Party Store and also picked up some cool paper party picks with umbrellas and flamingos. In the picture here you can see my big old chunk of beeswax sitting on the mini Crockpot. Lisa from oceandreamer was nice enough to send me an email about melting the wax and I used my Walnut Hollow heat iron thingie to melt and drip the wax on her torso and face and arms and then smooth it out with the iron attachment. It melted into the Crockpot which was good. Not on the counter top like I would have normally done. 
This is the first time I have used my heat tool, I had bought it last year on clearance from Walmart and some attachments too- thinking I would burn some designs into fabric or whatever. It worked great by the way and I recommend it to anyone who wants to cut mylar stencils or burn the edges of tulle or silk flowers. I normally use the bar-b-que lighter and then there is a bit of smoke and sometimes I set off the smoke alarm. Then of course chaos ensues. So this was much better.
I also scouted about for some ink jet transparencies to print on. I had some laser transparencies but not for my color printer. I went to Staples and when the guy asked if he could help me I said sure- is this where they are and he said yes. I asked if they were always so expensive and he started telling me that they were because the art teachers who refuse to go digital/computer presentation wise still use the "old fashioned" over head projectors and so because the market dropped now they don't make them as much. I said well I use them in Art. He assumed I was a teacher and said well- there ya go! I said no, in Art Dolls- Paper dolls and Mixed Media. He said, Oh, wow, that's really cool! So I paid my 29.99 for 25 sheets and when I got home and printed the first one on the wrong side I almost cried. Calamity! But wait, I then turned it face down on to a sheet of some scrap book paper and used my brayer to transfer the image to the paper.
The image on green paper is the rubbed on transfered transparency and the one above on top of the pink flowered paper is on a ink jet clear transparency sheet. I had read in Cloth Paper Scissors Magazine about how to use acrylic gel medium to transfer the inked image to fabric or other surfaces and never tried it. I like the ghostly affect of the green girl. She looks like she was printed at the damn factory! Haha! Anyway, trying to find the girl image is probably the most difficult part of this whole hat business.
I have several copyright free image books and used several in these exercises. I print them on to the scrapbook papers and on to cloth and will try some different things. The image on the bird paper is just a test. I found some 59 cent place mats at Goodwill and cut them open- you know the old kind with the paper inside the plastic? The paper is white and fresh even though the graphics were printed in 1972. The ink jet ink ran a bit and the image is more ghostly than detailed but I wanted to see what would happen. I had 3 more so I wasn't wasting them all. Sometimes you have to stop being afraid that you'll ruin it and just give it a whirl! 
When I took Sadie out I grabbed a handful of flowers out back and threw them between the transparency and the bird place mat paper and got the image on the right. Just playing around. I knew that the girls were too large in perspective to the party hat skirt so I was just goofing around. These will probably languish in the craft room until the Eureka Moment when I need just that certain thing and there it is! It never hurts to stretch your boundaries with new projects and methods of design. Once you ask yourself what are you afraid of and let that go then you are free to explore the possibilities. Art is Messy. So is Life. Take that chance. Go make a mess!
My first paper doll party hat isn't quite finished. She needs a hat or something on her head.
Here's how I made her: I took the party hat and opened it up to make it lie flat. They are just closed with tabs- no tape even on the ones I had bought. Then I traced around it on to the scrap book paper. after cutting it out and gluing it down to the hat I used the brayer to flatten it and then let it rest a few minutes under a heavy book while I decided what to do next. I didn't want to get bubbles but I was anxious to start so I didn't wait long. The next thing I did was use a stencil with a swirl pattern to apply chalk from a cat's eye stamp pad. The chalk was really wet so I next added embossing powder to the wet chalk. I endured a phone call from my Mom while I spent the next hour searching for my heat gun and explaining stamping and embossing to her. I finally found it and got busy setting the embossing and then added blue German glass glitter next to the copper embossing. I stamped butterflies and then embossed the edges of the leaf skeletons with moss colored transparent embossing powder. 
Then out came the hot glue gun! I put the hat back together so that it would stand up and glued the edge. Then I started adding the leaves, the tinsel garland, the silk flower petals. [At this point the Mister came home and saw that the craft Bomb had indeed been exploded all over the kitchen and he said he needed a nap and went to bed. (!) Oh, no! Fearing for the worst ( a migraine) I asked are ya ok? and he said yes, just had a bad day. Aww, and me, just here playing!] So, anyway, then I had another 2 hours to finish her up while he rested. I went with it and worked some more. I got out the Walnut Hollow Heat Tool and put in the iron attachment and started melting the wax on top of the doll half. I used the iron to smooth and melt the wax to get a thin layer.
I forgot to mention cutting out the butterfly and stamping another butterfly and chalking the edges before gluing that to her back. I had some tiny fern garland in my silk flower drawer so I added it around her waist. I like the way the wax coats the paper, giving it strength and a nice finish. I think she needs a bonnet. Maybe a big flower on her head. Something. She isn't finished but I wanted to share the process so here we are.
Thankfully the deadline has been changed for mailing this off- I have a bit more time! I am going to go clean it all up so that I can drive up to Tallahassee tomorrow to visit Troy. Yeah! I am taking Sadie and it will be her longest car trip ever! I am keeping my fingers crossed that all goes well. I'll be back on Sunday with pictures of the state capitol and all it's splendor! I love the farms and the trees and the campus is beautiful. So, have a happy weekend and have fun, whatever you do.
I borrowed her picture as mine was fuzzy from my shaking fingers! 
