Y is for Yellow and March/April is Green

I'm very inspired by the project spectrum... I don't know why, I have never before been so fired up by it and it has been around for some years. I think as long as I have been blogging!

Anyway, I have already a pile of papers on which I have been doodling (or, if you wish, designing) things.

I want to make a sort of advent calendar. It is a piece of cardboard with trees made of forms cut of colored papers. On these trees are matchboxes covered with the same paper and inside the boxes is a surprise... like, a picture of a bird's nest and a tiny little bird that can stand on the matchbox. Or a picture of a squirrel's nut collection and a little squirrel. You get the idea. I got the idea from Moline's spring matchbox swap.

I have wanted to make my own altered, remodeled, customized fashion doll, and with the theme "green", I have decided to make a Green Fairy (Absinthe) and Poison Ivy, and I am interested in making Malachite Mistress as well. I have been looking at the barbie dolls at Tradera. I think I can get all three quite cheap from there. Then I just have to figure out how to do the rest, rerooting hair, remodeling their faces, painting, clothes... I haven't quite figured out how to make the tights... I haven't seen such thin fabric anywhere. Perhaps organza would do? Or perhaps I need to go and buy a pair of green socks. Well... the time the sorrow.

Anyway, from OOAK (one of a kind) altered dolls to other kind of dolls one could be making for Project Spectrum Green. I found Elizabeth Ruffing and her amazing calico cats... Calico is plain, white cotton, rather thick, and perfect as painting base. They made dolls like this on the 19th century, of calico, painted on the underwear, shoes, faces and hair, but I have never seen dolls like these... reminds me of paperdolls my sister and I used to make when we were small. They were all animals, dressed in clothes just like Elizabeth's cats. Poodles and spaniels had all ribbons around their ears, of course, and animals with no "hair" had a bow on top of their head, like Minnie Mouse. It would be nice to make calico doll versions of those paperdolls. I wonder if I can find fine papier mache here somewhere of if I have to figure out how to make it myself... it shouldn't be too hard, but it must be fine paper mass to stay on place. The dolls must take some handling!
Then there's of course the ATP, art paperdolls. Did you know that in the beginning, paperdolls didn't have changable clothes, they were more like characters from a play, had the clothes they were "born" with from the beginning of the play to the end. I don't know when the first paperdolls with carderobes came, I suppose somewhere in the Victorian era, but the play dolls were popular to the 20th century. I love paper dolls, and I was really happy to find this Brazilian site. I love the Betsy McCall dolls!

Then there are the nesting dolls... Here's a sample of dogs and cats and here's an amazing forest animal serie... So I am bidding of nesting dolls too at Tradera. (The Swedish version of E-bay). I have some ideas. One of my ideas with nesting dolls was the Moomin characters. I haven't seen such a set, though I think it would be a huge hit. I would have loved that some years ago. Now I'm not too fond... Perhaps. Maybe. Maybe not. I like my other idea better though, but I won't talk about that before I have made them :-) I can say it's green LOL

Nesting dolls and Malachite Goddess (The Mistress of Copper Mountain) leads me to another thing, and that's malachite boxes. There's a malachite room in the Winter Palace in St.Petersburg, and I once saw a photo of a man who collected antique malachite objects... he had several malachite boxes, and I was so envious! I love boxes. Now, if you collect antique malachite boxes, you probably don't use them or put anything in them. I want things to be used, and antique malachite boxes are way too precious and fragile to be used by me :-D So - I thought of making myself faux malachite boxes. Either painting wooden boxes, cigar boxes or tins, or decoupaging/covering with malachite paper cardboard boxes. It would be fun to have a pile of boxes from shoe boxes and cookie tins to matchboxes, all covered with different malachite pattern...
(I would also like to learn to do things with polymer clay...)
(And narrowboat ware... Love those. And Khokhloma woodware. And I would really love to learn to make pysanky - the Ukrainian wax decorated eggs.)

Then I saw at the Project Spectrum Flickr group that someone had made small bags and in the mini-picture they looked much more fun than in the actual size picture... I wonder why it is often so? This is what I thought I saw... patchwork bags, small, the size of small plastic bag one gets when buying something small, big enough to fit a pocketbook, but not larger. Anyway, it would be nice to make those too. I think people would appreciate that size totes as well, not only the bigger, "normal size plastic bag" sized totes. Sometimes one wants only a sandwich and something else small. Tights and toothpaste. No need to get a bigger tote.


Somewhere was "little green leaf baskets" and of course I thought immediately of Anne's Spring flower paper basket. So I - still in the "March is the national crochet month" mode, so I thought of crocheting little leafs and sewing them together into little baskets, pouches, bags... bigger baskets and bags... Making a shopping net bag of green leafs Irish crochet :-) And two leafs sewn together with green silk lining and a zipper would be a perfect coin purse :-) (Talking about leafs one must remember Tikkun Tree project. Of course one must knit or crochet some leaves to Leslie.)

This idea of a little leaf basket makes me think of fairies, and it would be lovely to make a fairy castle... If I had a garden, I'd make it of wood and put it in the garden, leave small gifts for fairies near it and believe the fairies would live in it :-) I suppose it would become a home for several insects in stead, but - insects are mostly good in a garden :-)
Now I don't have a garden, so I was thinking (following the "march is the...") of making it of crocheted lace... Irish lace starched to stand up. Towers, domes, spires... I really like the towers, domes and spires of Copenhagen :-) And the Cathedral of St Vasili :-) I could copy those in crochet and make my air castle... starch it and hang it on the wall. *hmm* (Very Russian entry...)

I have been thinking of woven and braided bands.

I have been thinking of Easter grass. It's high time to grow it. It probably won't grow big enough in time for Easter, but it will grow to my birthday. (My 40th - 10 days after Pesach :-))
I have also been thinking about the plant terrariums... I have been wanting a cacti terrarium for some time now.

I have been thinking of green linen, bedding, table linen and Mad Hatter's tea party - in green.

I have been thinking stones.

I have been thinking about an easter applique apron. Easter is green in Finland, green and yellow. Pastels are ok, but 90% of colors are green, yellow and white. Eggs and grass.

I have been thinking about nature, ecological, green stuff. You know, stones, earth, green...
I have been thinking of recycling material and making new things of second hand finds (trift shop, charity shops, flea markets...)
I have been thinking of making a "save the planet" charm bracelet, Gaia shrine box, nature-eco-Gaia scrapbook and other such things. Filled matchbox with green eco theme?

I have been thinking about clothes. One of my 101 things was new wardrobe. Also, I need to make my costume for summer party.

I also want to finally dive into the dyeing pot and start dyeing my own yarns. It would be lovely to dye own rowing and spin own yarn with beads and charms - green, of course, with ecological theme ;-) - and knit it into something... probably a scarf.
I also have found 4 interesting stitches that would probably be something interesting:
Clapotis, By the Sea, Dream Swatch and Drop Stitch Scarf. I don't know what yet, but perhaps a mile-a-minute afghan with sea theme? Make four panels with these stitches and knit a picture in the middle, of a ship or a mermaid... *hmm* One could embroider the mermaid in the middle. Yes, I think that would be a very nice afghan :-) Of green-blue Koigu, of course... X-)

I have been thinking about the puppet theatre I've been planning for 20 years now. I think it's high time to give it to me ;-)