Fortune Teller

Here's the body pattern for the Fortune Teller for the film I am working on. Her fingers will be wired so that I can pose them around a crystal ornament (ball). Her feet will have some individual toes, so that she can sport a toe ring or 2.
Here is the pattern with the already stuffed head to make sure the scale is right. At least right for me. She will be a doll that will always be in a seated position. Stuffing her is going to take forever.

Here's some work!

Okay, I'm a day late and a couple of quarters short. Life happens but I'm getting back on track. Today was a good day and I finally finished some work. Still have lots in various stages. But I'll get to those. This is my Genie trio. I'm still working on taking pics. I think it really helps if the batteries are charged.
This is Loris. Her close up is not ready for Mr. DeMille. I will get better. I will.

This is Anther. Why Anther? I don't know, I needed a name. She's got a silk and ribbon headdress and sash. Lots of beads around her neck and for earrings.

This is Celesse (pronounced Celessa) because she sort of looks celestial in her blue. She has beadwork around her neck and for earrings too. There is gold ribbon around their ankles.
I have to work on my close ups but I wanted to get pics posted before they go into the shop. Thanks for looking.

Okey Smokey!

Alrighty then. I have a follower who is going to put me to task. I'm hoping she'll become a new friend. Jody is going to keep the fire under my rear end. I guess sometimes we need a kick in the pants. LOL Now I really have someone I can show off to.

I can also practice getting some decent shots with my camera. I do so dislike reading instructions. I might as well learn Chinese. Okay, I do want to learn Chinese. :)

Thanks Jody, look for new pics on Sunday, Sept. 27.

In Progress

Here are 2 very large heads that will turn into fortune teller dolls for the film. The heads are about 6" high each. They will be seated figures, having shaped bent legs. Their arms will also be bent and will support jointed fingers. I'll put on rings and possible fake finger nails. I will make ears to attach to the heads so they can have many earrings. I will design the body on Sunday so that I can figure out how they will sit. The feet will have toes for toe rings and sandals.
Here is the start of 2 needle felt heads. One is still an egg and the other has a nose and brow started. The dark brown is because he will have an open mouth. This is from an online class. I don't know if I like this process or not but I will keep going. I may use part of this with what I've already done on my own.
Here they are up close and woolly. More pics coming.

I'm Back.

I wrote this post on Monday and I'm just now posting it. So some things have changed. I'm still working on the one post a week, at least. Now that things are getting interesting, I have to be more consistent with posting. A challenge to myself.

Last week, I was busy getting things ready for a craft show. I didn't sell anything, not many vendors did, but I had a great time. The weather was awesome, sunny with a great breeze. The people were friendly, I laughed and networked. Once I got back home, I met a neighbor who happens to be a lawyer. Isn't that cool? You never know when one may come in handy.

Sunday was spent reorganizing my show boxes. Then I also straightened all work areas. I designed 3 dolls for the film and started 2 new doll heads. I was feeling pretty good. I had 3 things on my list: straighten up for messing up again, design one doll for the movie, start needle felting. I did all those things and that felt great.

Monday morning I didn't go for my walk with my neighbor. He injured himself. Having stayed up late the previous night, I slept in a bit. Got up and went grocery shopping. I'm working on eating better again. No more cookies or chips. No more candy 'til Halloween. More salads and I've got to look at my casserole recipes.

I got what was on my list. I stuck to the program. The only thing I got that wasn't on my list was juice. I have stuff for breakfast, lunch at the job and dinner for 2 weeks. I'm set. I groaned at the bill. It's so expensive to be healthy. I also had to get some cleaning supplies and toilet paper. Can't eat any of those. Civilizations have fallen because of no toilet paper.

Even though grocery shopping isn't my favorite thing to do, I felt pretty good. I asked myself why? Because I had Sat. off. I didn't have that stress or worry about a job. I was able to enjoy being outside on a beautiful day and be around like minded people. I think I will have to take off one Sat. a month, just to aid my mental capacities. I felt quite content. I like this feeling.

Now, as for dolls in progress. I did take pics and will post them tonight. Promise, or you can give me 50 lashes with a wet noodle. :D

Prioritizing

I was starting to get stressed a little, or at least was. Thing shad been moving along swimmingly until I hit a bump. The reality of what I had to do, needed to do, whacked me on the head and a little fear crept in. What the heck was I doing? I must be nuts. Instead of falling apart, I became still and thought about it.

What needed to be done right away? Items for the Art & Faith Festival. Fair enough. Items for the movie can wait until this is over. Filming won't necessarily start with what I'm working on, so I've got a bit more time. Faith Festival is in less than a week and I may make a little money. In this economic clime, any little bit will help. The world will not end because of my decision and my nerves will feel better. It's great when I can figure things out.

Life is good. Onward.

Getting Back To Writing

My creative writing has been quite sporadic as of late. Several stories in the works and no progress. That's not very good at all. So I asked myself, "Why no progress?" Was it because of time? Was it because of lack of interest in the story? Was it fear? Some of the above or all of the above?

I looked at my schedule. Time didn't seem to be a factor. Was I losing interest in what I had started? No, I really liked the stories I had written. The characters I've created are interesting, charming, inquisitive and grow throughout the story. So it's got to be fear.

The stories are done, now it's time for the hard part. The that will make or break my story. the part that will determine if I'm a real writer or not, whether I can become a good, published writer.

Editing
Someone said, "Writing is easy, editing is hard." Editing, where you go through your story (not just for the basic punctuation and spelling) but does it make sense? Does every word mean something? do you have too many of the same word on a page, in a paragraph, a sentence? Every word, sentence, paragraph, page, chapter has to count. Each chapter should be its own mini story, that makes up the big story.

Editing is where it counts. Where you separate the wheat from the chafe, the women from the chicks- where warriors, goddesses and Amazons are made. Editing makes you cry. It makes your brain hurt, it makes you want to hurt someone, especially if they don't understand what you're going through. Editing is painful and lonely. You can lose weight doing it. Anyone who says that writing is easy hasn't edited.

Questions are always asked. How can I make this better? Am I making this better? When read aloud, does it flow? Or do I trip up the lips and tongue? What am I trying to say and is it coming through?

Yes editing. That is the fear. The real challenge, writing, anyone can write. Editing, that's the true test because not everyone can self edit to the point that their work is readable and ready for publication. I shall wrestle with that fear. I've just to many stories to tell.