Paint Party Friday: Thumbelina

"Tiny Keepsakes"

Thumbelina assemblage using an altered soap box

Happy PPF! 

I hope this week has found you happy, well and in a creating frenzy. At least that was the case for me. It seems as if weeks' worth of ideas swirling around in my head have finally turned into something concrete and frankly, between 3 projects on the fire and a daily drawing for 29 Faces, I've been crazy-busy. But in a good way . . . .

On this post I shared some Instagram shots of a teeny tiny project I started last week. If you guessed that it was about Thumbelina - one of my favorite childhood stories - you were right.  It all started on a walk with my baby (okay, I know she's 7 but still) when she picked up a pea pod type thing off the ground. I'm sure you know what it's called (I don't) but when I saw it, I instantly thought of a little bed. Which, for some reason, led me to think of the little fairy girl I have always admired. 

Ironically, Thumbelina is a Hans Christian Andersen tale about a peasant woman who could not have a child of her own. (Hum). She exchanged food for special seeds that once planted, grew into a tiny little girl, no bigger than your thumb. Here's my interpretation of the special keepsakes that I think her Mama would have saved - in a special place - just for her:

The altered soap box. Martha Stewart crackle paint (from the hardware store) on the sides of the lid and crackle paint covered in Martha Stewart glitter on the sides of the bottom. The top of the lid is covered in decorative paper, watercolor crayons and beeswax.

The first element: a little jar of "seeds" (or glass glitter). Vintage text reads, "Little Girl." 

The flower pot I imagine she sprang from. It was made with Paper Clay (a first for me) which I purposely (I promise) distressed and cracked. It rests on a shell that was painted and prettied with Stickles glitter, Swarovski crystals and a vintage tiny flower bud coming out from the cracks in the shell.

Little things for the little one: a decorative plate that I "chipped" and distressed. The napkin is a small piece of fabric and the glittered shell serves as her bowl.

Her bed. With a pearl for a pillow.

Everything in it's place. Keepsakes for Mama's tiny one.

All tied up for safe keeping. With a "T" for Thumbelina of course.

There it is! And now I'm off to a Tea Party . . . Check out the Instagram pictures (on my sidebar ;) if you wanna see some of the next WIP's I'm working on. Hint: Her name's Alice . . . .

Kristin xo