The Art of Playing with Julie Nutting + An Exciting Giveaway

Julie Nutting, author of Collage Couture, joins us today as a guest blogger. Her book is filled with papercrafting and collaging ideas for creating the prettiest pieces of girly art.

Collage Couture is 50% off the retail price until the end of March in the Martha Pullen Store!

Learn how to make this adorable project with a free download!

 To celebrate National Craft Month, try your hand at collage with a free download: the Moulin Rouge framed artwork project. Click here to register for the download.

And without further ado, here's Julie!

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The Art of Playing

Do you remember when there were no computers, video games and--gasp!--no cable TV? We pulled out our dolls, plastic or paper, and played for hours, transforming the living room into a magnificent, make-believe world of being a grown-up. We lost ourselves completely in this world as we lived out our future dreams. Our dolls became wives, mothers, nurses and fashion designers. Whatever these dolls became, I know one thing for sure; mine was well-dressed at whatever she chose to be! I loved the clothes that came with the dolls but what I loved even more was creating my own. My Barbie had the most beautiful dresses made of what would now be vintage hankies and belted with scrap ribbons. I traced my paper doll dresses and colored in my own designs. Little did I know then the impact this time would have on my art as an adult.

Drawing fashion has always been a part of me. From classes in college, to a stint working for a designer, it never left my blood. It was just a few years ago when I decided to combine my love for fashion illustration with my love for collage and beautiful papers. In my forties I was pleasantly surprised to see how I became that little girl again, completely losing myself in my art. I suppose you could say I was still living out my dreams, only in a different way. I didn’t know on that first night of combining my fashions with paper, that it would lead me down this path of publishing, teaching and designing.

I never intended to teach classes. It happened gradually and has become something I look forward to every month. It never ceases to amaze me how women of all different ages can sit down in a classroom together and completely lose themselves in a project. I particularly love the part when they are choosing papers for their dresses. Everyone starts reminiscing about paper dolls and of course we all feel sorry for the younger ones because they never had the pleasure of playing with them. We all become small again and for a couple of hours we head into our make-believe world and start to dream again.

This, friends, is the art of playing, whether it’s making paper dolls, painting abstracts or landscapes, or knitting a scarf. If you can completely lose yourself in your project and forget about your 8-year-old having math problems or the laundry that needs to be done or the car that needs to be fixed, then you have accomplished something big. Every creative soul needs to escape life sometimes and just play. I encourage you to buy the craft book you’ve been wanting, or sign up for that class you’ve wanted to take. Make an art play date with like-minded friends or even just with yourself. Abandon yourself into the art of playing and start to dream again.

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The winner of the Sizzix BIGkick is ... Gwen! Congratulations, Gwen! We'll be in contact shortly. 

Thanks to everyone who participated in this contest and National Craft Month!

You (yes you!) could win this!

It's really easy to enter! Just complete these steps:

1. Locate the Giveaway widgit on the right column of the blog, labeled "Sizzix BIGkick Cutting and Embossing System Giveaway."
2. Log in by providing your name and email address on the widgit, or log in with Facebook.
3. Leave a comment on our blog that answers the following question: "What kinds of craft supplies (fabric, notions, yarn, tools, etc.) would you like to see stocked in the Martha Pullen Store?" After you complete this task, click the "Do It!" and then "Enter" buttons on the Giveaway widget to check off the task. You must complete this task to qualify.

A big thank you to Sizzix for offering this fabulous prize!


Terms and Conditions
In this giveaway, one (1) entrant will win a Sizzix BIGkick Cutting and Embossing System valued at approximately $99.00 USD. The entrant must live in the United States or Canada to qualify. Each entrant must complete Step 3 as outlined above, for a total of one (1) entry. All entries must be in by April 5, 2012 at 12:01 A.M. to qualify.

All entries must be entered through the Rafflecopter widgit located in the far right column of the blog; completing the task without entering it in the widgit will make you ineligible for the prize. To do this, complete each task, then press the "Enter" button on the widgit. The drawing will be performed at random through Rafflecopter's random number generator, and the winner will be announced within two (2) business days of the end of the contest. We will post the winner both on this post and on the widgit.