My First One Woman Show

Next Ghostie Girl and a Skull head

Now I'm working on getting things finished while dealing with Stink Bugs. Hate it when they fly. The sound is creepy. Anyway, I've been chugging along and here's my next Ghostie Girl. I don't have a name for her yet. That's not good. Maybe once I have her face on, it'll come to me.

This little lady will have a black over skirt, bustle, and black trim on her bodice and bottoms of sleeves. Her boots will have black beads for buttons. She will be training her bat circus.

From my voodoo doll pin pattern, I used green fabric and two buttons for eyes to make these little witch pins. If it weren't for the striped legs, they'd look like little green men from space.

This is my skellie skull. I already had a wet felted oval and added to it with leftover wool. Not wasting anything. You can barely see eye sockets. He has now been covered with white and that was interesting too because I had to hide the under colors. When I look at him now, the under color barely shows through which is good. After all, he is deceased and moldy. Stay tuned for more pics.

More Works in Progress

I was trying to do better with posting here on my blog but other things have taken priority. Like finishing items for my upcoming, first one woman show. It isn't like a doll or craft show, which is what I have to continue to tell myself because I was driving myself crazy. I don't need a hundred pieces because I won't be manning a table. My artwork will be on display the whole month of October. I'm working on not making myself nuts with worry about this. It's supposed to be fun. I'm working on getting back to it being fun.

Enter the mom unit. She asked me about the artwork I'd been working on, once I told her that sent her into a tizzy. She said to just concentrate on finishing the dolls that are in process and almost done. That if I have time, then I can do the other things I wanted to have in the show. It made sense. Why didn't I think of it? Another brain is always good to have around. In a skull.

Anyway, I'm back on track. I will have my witch doll pins ready, another Ghostie Girl, four Moli Dolls (they're the new ones with the stripe legs) and one more head on a stick (candle holder). That still sounds like a lot but when I focus, it'll get done. Thanks mom.

Here are some Moli Dolls and the arms that needed to be attached. They now are and I've chosen black, lime green and red tulle for their skirts.

The one in the pantaloons is a Ghostie Girl.

This pumpkin trio is going to be a wall hanging. Whether I get it done for the show or not is another story but I will get it done.

This one is my bouquet of skulls.

This is my garden of skulls. Two of the worms may have hats on. I do think on a large scale.

I also have to continue to pat myself on the back for all of my accomplishments. I've worked very hard to get to this point in having a one woman show in my career. I've been able to work on new designs and try new techniques. It's all good. After all, Rome wasn't built in a day? I will post pics of finished dollies as soon as I can.

I'd like to welcome Tiffany O'Brien to the party. Didn't see a link but thanks Tiffany for joining.

Aldo the Alien

All righty then. Back to creative stuff. I will work better to finishing more art and posting more frequently. I'm working on it. I finished a companion to Manfred and Silas. Meet Aldo the Alien. Aliens are welcomed during Halloween too. The trio will have a blast scaring old people and little kids. You know they're going to get into trouble and Aldo is ready to party with his party hat on.

Aldo has a wet felted core and needle felted to add a little length to the egg shaped. I then covered him with this fantastic green color. I felted his eye, putting the black down first, then the white and last his pupil. He had a needle felted stump for a neck so that I could add the collar and stick him into the candle holder. I made his had out of a piece of craft felt and attached a pompom and wired ribbon, that has been gathered and stitched in place, around the edge.

 

I still have to decorate his holder. But he's done. I'm quite pleased.

Sushi Night

The Piedmont Craftsmen Gallery has How 2 Night. It's a way to showcase the artists and local restaurants and caterers. The artist will demonstrate or discuss how they create their work and more than likely there's some sort of wine or beer tasting.

This month there was sushi for dummies. I love sushi and have always wanted to make my own but it seemed so difficult. Chef Melissa Mirchandani of Mise En Place catering demystified sushi preparation. Kathleen Barnes of 6th & Vine Restaurant and Bar, served a Peach flavored plum wine.

Learned that the sushi with the seaweed on the outside can't have a lot of fixings on the inside. Makes for difficult rolling.

In the above picture is blanched asparagus, avocado, red pepper, cucumber and Heart's of Palm. It's good to have everything that you need sliced and ready. I was introduced to Ponzu Sauce which is a bit sweeter than soy sauce. All of the ingredients Chef Melissa got from on of the local grocery stores. Also good to know. I don't have to find a special market to get ingredients. We'd also be able to get the grade A salmon there too.

You've got to keep your hands wet because the rice is sticky.

The prep time for the rice takes the longest. You have to rinse it well and that helps it to be sticky. Rinsing and cooking can take an hour.

It was as good as it looked. It helps to have a sharp knife too.

Because the rice is sticky, you can form it into different shapes.

BBB

I'm still going for fun things to do to celebrate my birthday each month for a whole year. I was invited to the BBB first cookout. Big Butt Brothers. A couple of guys who got together to start a meat smoking business. I've tried some of the meats before, they make their own sausage and then smoke it. They have a their first big gig in a couple of weeks and wanted to try out their super duper smoker.

It is huge and can hold a ton of meat. I don't know if that is the exact amount but you get the idea. They smoked homemade sausage, ribs, brisket, pork, boar, these wonderful bacon wrapped sausage, and I want to say venison. There was also a wonderful zesty cold slaw, homemade hush puppies, and baked beans. It was a success and oh so good.

Smoking is much better than grilling because you don't have to worry about the carcinogens in the dark parts due to grilling.

This back section is where the wood goes and the fire is stoked.

A better picture of the smoker that was made by the guys. It can be hitched to a trailer and pulled to bar-b-cue festivals and shows. When I first saw it, I called it a mini submarine. I had a great time.

Silas and Manfred

Hello September. I was hoping for some cooler days but they haven't shown up in these parts just yet. I'm waitin'. I'm still a waitin'.

I finally finished Manfred the Maniacal Pumpkin and he's got his buddy Silas the Scarecrow and they're about to head out to a party of ghoulish proportions. Or something. They have been wet and then needle felted.

The leaves are cut out of felt and felted wool fabric. Some of them I embroidered veins on them.

I made Silas's hood and it has been distressed. I made his hat out of upholstery fabric. The tie around his neck was a tie from around a bag of cornmeal from a local mill. I had made my last batch of cornbread muffins and I liked the string that held the bag closed. Re-purposing is great. I painted both candle stick holders black and then used orange, yellow, and gold as accents.

Silas has mismatched button eyes, French knots for his nose and embroidered mouth. He does have rosy cheeks too.

We know which one will be the more responsible one. Or do we?

Work in Progress

This is Manfred the Maniacal Pumpkin. He needs some dental work but he's so happy I finally got his face done. His candle stick holder stand has been painted and will probably get some gold accents. He'll have some vines and leaves for accents and probably a pet spider to keep him company. I don't know what it is about spiders because I really don't like them. Bad memories of my epic battle with one in Japan. Remind me to tell you about it.

Hop To It 6

I think I've been numbering my blocks correctly. We've done seven so far this year and I completed number seven before number six. So here's number six. I think. At least it's the only one that I haven't taken a pic of.

I added the carrots to my block. They weren't in the original block design.

Hello September

I thought September would never get here. August was such a bugger of a month. What with the earthquake and that crazy Irene mucking things up. Now it's back to being hot and I'm really looking forward to fall. Cooler temperatures, leaves turning colors and falling. Crunching on the same leaves once they're on the ground. Wonderful breezes and fresher air.

I have one more month to finish off things and get new things started for my first one woman show. I'm excited, I'm not excited, I'm excited again. It's a brand new month and my sinuses are feeling better and things are looking good once more. I've got a list but I think I'll keep it to myself. I've been writing everyday for the past month averaging three pages each day. Getting ready to attempt NaNoWriMo again in November. Yeah, I'm a glutton for punishment.

Thanks for hanging around and I promise to get more pics up on the strange and unusual things I'll be making. After all, Halloween is just around the corner.