Crazy, Fun Sculptures

I thought up these crazy, sculptural pieces as a fun way to showcase some of my scanned artwork- they are basically like these little art blocks that were such a hit awhile back, but on steroids! :-)

I made these sculptures with little components I mostly already had in my stash:  vintage blocks and spools, wood candle holders for some of the bases, scrapwood pieces in various shapes and some very funky knobs off of a dresser that my neighbors got rid of about 2 years ago! (I've been hanging on to them ever since, waiting for the perfect project to come along!)

I also used patterned paper from my scrap paper stash and my new scalloped border cutter. (Fun and easy to make any length!)

 Here they are all finished--

The sides have special messages and doodles too!

Each one is unique and they were so much fun to conjure up! I think my favorites are the ones with the half circle suns.

These sculptures (along with all types of other wonderful new creations!) will be available at THIS WEEKEND'S Iowa Arts Festival, downtown Iowa City!

June 1-3: Friday 5-8pm, Saturday 10am-7pm, Sunday 10am-4pm. 

Here's another look at the types of items we'll have for purchase this coming weekend.  Can't wait!

Last Weekend's Valley Junction Art Market

Before ya'll get too excited looking at these pictures from last weekend's Valley Junction Art Market in Des Moines, just know that MANY of these pieces pictured were sold!  But here's the GOOD NEWS: consider this a preview of our upcoming two shows!* Yay!  MANY similar items will be available at Iowa Arts Fest (June 1-3, downtown Iowa City) and Sturgis Falls (June 24, Cedar Falls)!

Also, you can now find some of our original pieces at Wicker and the Works in Valley Junction, Des Moines, right along side our Demdaco line "This Thing Called Family."  This place is THE furniture and home decorating store for groovy adults!  If you've never been there - you should go - it's totally worth it!

*Last weekend we held back some special items for the next two upcoming shows - so there will be lots of new things available that no one has even seen yet!

Anyway, here are some highlights from last weekend's art market:

Hope this gets you excited about next week's IAF!  I know we are!

Hey, were you at last weekend's art market in Valley Junction?  Did you find some good stuff?  I bought 2 prints from artist friend Amylee of "Hidden in my heART." Check out her scripture art on her facebook page and etsy shop.  Good stuff!

SOMETHING NEW!!!

Here are some new goodies that will be at the Iowa Artsfest coming right up the first weekend in June!  They are metal on a wooden base.  Kinda cute, huh?!  Yeah, you might want to come downtown and check things out! (items on the wall are mine and are not for sale, no way, no how!!!)

Join Us this Sunday!

Valley Junction's Spring Art Market! 

Sunday May 20th, 11am - 5pm

5th Street, Valley Junction, Des Moines, Iowa

Clicking on the link at the top will direct you to our facebook event (we'd love if you'd invite your facebook friends by clicking the share button on facebook!) where you can find directions and more info about this free family event! Hope to see you there!

New "This Thing Called Family" for June!

We love this new bright version of the TTCF logo!

It's been surreal to think that we have 3 releases of new products this year with our Demdaco line.  We feel truly humbled and blessed by the response.  It's kinda crazy.  The spring color palette that came out in March has been going particularly well - several art pieces and the compact mirrors have sold out already and are back-ordered! 

June 1st will be our 3rd launch this year.  Below is just a sneak peek of all the goodness coming your way.  We especially love that we are able to combine our style with something functional.  That just makes sense for so many of us families.  We, like so many of you, are in the midst of living the nitty-gritty family life with busy schedules and chaotic households.  We've just got to be practical!  Pictured here are some of our new favorites: a magnetic family tree picture board, a weekly chalkboard for schedules, meals or whatever,  a wall clock, a "Hang it Up, Please" board with pegs and a big, fun bowl for mail, keys or catch-all.  There's also new wall art, dimensional houses and more not pictured! 

We can't wait to show you the rest! 

GIRLS!

 

These are some new pieces I just finished and they make me smile whenever I look at them.  They will be for sale at the Valley Junction art sale next weekend.   -Connie (Momma Winger)

Two NEW Winners!

Because we never heard back from 2 of our giveaway winners, we decided that we should choose two NEW winners for the "Do Your Best" box and the double-sided door hanger!


The new winner of the box is Lisa who said:  "Love the box...so cute!"

The winner of the door sign is Lori Leissner who said, "I voted for the sign. For some reason, the closed door is not sign enough that I might be taking a nap. :)"

Congrats! email us your mailing addresses, paperprayers@hotmail.com, and we'll send them out!

My Two New Loves

These are my new Love - these Keens.  Love them.  Don't they look like our artwork, with the combinations of different patterns?

My other new love is Instagram.  It used to only be available for iphones, but now there's an android version!  My user name is thingswithwings - come find me!  If you're on instagram, I'd be thrilled to follow you- leave your user name in the comments!

Like all of things I love, I go through a somewhat obsessed period.  Here are some of my favorite pics so far:

helicopters

Chucks with rainbow multi-tongues?! spotted at Kohl's- NEED!

rainbow colored art project

Smiling swings

centerpiece

Thirsty Lucy - drinking rain water

 * If you're looking for something fun and creative to do with Instagram, you should join us for Curly Girl's Scavenger Hunts.  We're currently on challenge #3, which is all about specific colors.  You can see what I chose for challenge #1-"Inspire" and "Inspiring" on her blog too!

Three May Day Winners!

Thank you to all who entered our May Day Giveaways!

We randomly chose 3 winners and here they are:

Marilyn Sherriene won the "Do Your Best" box!

Sweet Violets won the "It's All Good" double-sided door hanger!

And Marylu won the "Sparkle" star plaque!
 
Email us your mailing address at paperprayers@hotmail.com!


*All of these items can be found in our art and home decor line, "This Thing Called Family" and are available in specialty shops nationwide.  You can find a retailer in your area by visiting the Demdaco store locator.   

Thanks everybody!

May Day Giveaways!

 THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.

It's been waaaay too long since we've had a "This Thing Called Family" giveaway!!! So to make up for it, let's do a giveaway...  TIMES THREE!!!

Giveaway #1

Giveaway #1 is the "Do Your Best" box from our new spring line that just came out in March:

This box is the size of a pencil or cigar box.  It can be stood upright (open or closed) as a sculptural piece of art...

Or lay it down and use it to store your treasures!

The outside has scallops...

...and special messages:

Giveaway #2
Giveaway #2 is also from our new spring line- it's one of our double-sided door signs!  You can choose which side to display, depending on your mood :-)

Last, but not least is Giveaway #3:

Giveaway #3 is our "sparkle" plaque:

Just look at how cute they look all together!

Rules:

Vote for which of these three is your fav by sharing that picture with your Facebook friends! 
How? 
Go to this new album on our facebook page and share (your fav) item of the three by clicking on that picture to make it 'big,' then hitting the 'share' button.    


COME BACK HERE and leave ONE comment on this post telling us which you voted for.
 
There will be 3 random winners and which prize they win will be chosen randomly from the three items above.  You may or may not receive the item you voted for.

One entry per person.  Multiple entries will be deleted.

Be sure to leave a way to contact you!

Three winners will be chosen Friday night, May 4th at 10pm CST.