In Progress

On the left we have three aliens.  On the right, we have three puppet heads.  The puppet heads are covered with Rigid Wrap and now everything will be covered with paper mache clay.

I got this recipe from Ultimate Paper Clay online.  I've been wanting to try this out because she (the chef of the recipe) said that you didn't need to have lots of paper strips and glue.  You do have to have your form made out to what you want it to look like.  I have made up my first batch and after my break, I will get some on my pieces.  My monster and alien puppet heads have a bit more detail on them than the one that will be a Day of the Dead head.  I'll let you know what happens.

New Doll Pins

I don't have much to say right now, working to get things done for Saturday.

On My Table

I'm working on some old tried and true pieces and some new pieces for a show in what, three days.  Yeah, you know I'm special.  I will take whatever I get done.  I'm okay with that.

New Cauldron Critters are hanging up to dry.  I couldn't find the wonderful pattern I had made for the first batch, so I had to make another one.  And that one needs some tweaking.  I will put this pattern in a safe place, no really, a safe place that I can remember.

I do love my Voodoo Doll Pin pattern.  I've decided to turn them into Day of the Dead Doll Pins.  I think they're turning out quite well.

Just one of my paint containers.  Food storage containers are good for something.

I don't know if I'll have these guys done by Friday night.  They are puppet heads.  One a Frankenstein's monster, a Day of the Dead character, and an alien.  My fingers are crossed.

Painting is Done

I finally finished my first large painting. 24 inches by 36 inches. Mixed media and acrylic.

Not the best pics.  I used a gloss medium to cover the whole painting.  I think I'll try matte next time.  I had fun doing this one.  I have another to finish after this art show I'll be doing on Saturday.  Yes, this Saturday.

Almost Done

Now for the details. I've been having a great time painting her. I will probably continue to paint after this project is done.  I still have the mate of this painting to do.

My creative, yet messy table.

Wow!

There are times when you are so fed up with fear, you just have to kick it to the curb.  And when you do, all sorts of creative happy comes.  There are so many things I want to do with my life that I got fed up a few days ago and decided to do something.  I'm back to working on several projects at the same time.  For some reason, I feel better about that.  Some people are good at working on one thing at a time until it's done.  I tried that and, well, it worked for a minute but I felt that I was missing something.  My whole apartment is getting back to looking like one huge studio and it feels good.  I know, I'm so special.

I forgot to mention that I got another doll commission last week.  Yesterday, I snagged a spot at a local art fair that will happen in a week and a half.  I will have some new pieces and I was so excited that I couldn't sleep last night.  I'm kind of dragging today.  I went to pick up some artwork but one of the owners decided to keep everything.  Most excellent.  I've been sketching more new pieces for the upcoming show and the giveaway.  My birthday is next month.  I had asked for some help from the creative muses and they sent the art fair.  Thanks.  I finally got more coffee and some chocolate because I will be burning some midnight oil.

I was able to work on some other projects which had stalled because they weren't working out.  I got back to a sleeveless blouse I had started. It fits but the collar wasn't working out so I put it to the side.  For three weeks.  Seeing that I don't have many items of clothing that fit, why hadn't I finished this piece?  So I took the collar off yesterday and will cut a new one that will fit.  Sometimes commercial patterns are like that and I'm glad I know what to do when that happens.  I'm also glad that I had fabric left to cut a new collar.  I also worked on my second pair of knitted socks and got back to my short stay.  I redid the hand stitched eyelets.  Now I can get the boning in and finish it.  Then I can look for fabric for a gown.  There's an even coming up in July here in town that I would like to go to in costume.

I've been reading a lot of kid books, a writer should read everything they can.  And Halloween is calling.  Right now I'm feeling pretty good.  Excited, which I haven't been in a long time.

I've got this.

Painting

My paintings are coming along quite well. I'm starting to get back into it and really, just have fun.  I drew the bodies of the ladies and had to stop to figure out what I wanted to do with the background before painting the lady.

This one is going to have a Day of the Dead theme to it.  You can barely see a skull shape under her elbow.  There will be flowers with skulls in the centers of them at the bottom.  She will wear a flowing skirt with a belt of skulls and there will be a headdress with flowers and more skulls.  Along with some tattoo art on her body.  Stay tuned.

On My Table

I've got many things on my table right now.  More dolls and some paintings.

Getting back to my Day of the Dead doll pins.  I just started to paint their faces.  I've given the voodoo dolls a rest for the moment.

Necessity is the motherhood of invention.  My makeshift easel is several drawers put together.

As you can see, these paintings are huge.  I don't know if I'll ever work this big again but if I do, I will have to invest in an easel.  I still would like to get a table top one.  I had fun finally getting started.  I always seem to have a problem with that.  But once I did, now I can't wait to keep going.  Will try to have more pics tonight.  They both will be mixed media paintings.

Writing

Been busy last week writing mostly. Very little work on dolls but that's okay because I wrote. A total of 3810 words. I'm working very hard to enjoy each moment and not think about what I hadn't done. That's easier said than done but I'm getting better at it. Any little bit I do gets me closer to where I want to be. And I haven't been that hard on myself last week. Also good. It's still a struggle being a creative type but I would not trade it for anything.

I am still working on Map Hunter II and three adult stories. I don't know whether they will be novels, novellas, or short stories. Right now I'm just getting the words down. I do plan on reworking a shorter kid story and will probably post some parts of that. I'm getting back to the point where I feel I must write everyday or I get a little antsy. I've also picked up on my reading by adding some kid books.

Carolina Mountains

Just because.

More Friends

My little alien has some more friends on the way.

My hands are getting better and some fingers got a little toasty.  The feet are really coming along quite nicely.  What you see on the heads are the backs of the heads.  With the first little guy, I did the head in one go and kept messing the back on the head up.  Then when I got the back of the head fixed, I messed up the front.  So I put on and baked the back of the head first and I will do their faces tomorrow.

I got a new doll commission today.

I've been going gang busters getting the writing typed up.  This week so far I've gotten 2934 words.  I will just write to get my stories down and then see which ones are worth finishing.  Map Hunter II is coming along also.  More pics soon.

I'm still going to have the giveaway but it's been postponed until next month which is my birthday.  Plus it will give me time to get some more aliens done.  I'm seriously having fun with the aliens.  So please bear with me.  I want a new design for the giveaway.

A new doll - Finally!

I feel like the Little Engine that could. I think I can, I think I can, I did it. I haven't made a new doll in a long time and I have made one out of polymer clay in ages. Eons. Okay, maybe not that long. I had a new oven and all. Even an oven thermometer, which did come in handy. The head did get a little toasty and it's a good thing that this little alien will be painted anyway. I will continue to work on hands and I'm so happy that he/she can stand alone. Never could do that with my cloth dolls. The pic isn't the greatest but I was in a hurry to get a post in for the day.

He/she does have a little belly. That was fun making.

Writing

I'm making an effort to post on a more regular basis.  Yet again.  Hey, I'm a work in progress.  You have to ride the waves, move with the flow and around boulders.  Fall down, get up, and keep going.

The writing has been going well.  I know it hasn't even been a week yet but I'm working on the 350 words a day for five days.  If I do more, that's great but I think that's a good number.  I've been typing new material and getting bits and scenes for one particular adult story.  Whether or not it gets turned into a finished piece, I don't know yet but I want to have all that I've already written in one place.  When I'm done with this story, the whole story from beginning to end, I will let it sit while I get the next one together.

I'm also making progress on Map Hunter II by writing one page a day and I'm reworking one of my short kid stories so I can put it up on a website.

Between Map Hunter II and Begin Anew, I logged 2065 words.  On Tuesday I logged 2754 and on Monday I logged 1869.  I'm okay with that.

Writing

I'm slowly crawling out of a pit of dread, despair, fear, terror, along with icky squishy things that crawl in the dark.  How's that? It's still gloomy, gray, wet, and cold here but supposedly, things are shaping up for a nice weekend. Come on Mother Nature, give us a big break.

Any hoo, I got up this morning and went through a good deal of my writing material, looking for a particular story that had resurfaced in my tiny mind.  The story had been written over time in bits and pieces and all of a sudden, those pieces were falling into place.  And because I had come up with a key element to really pull the story together, I spent time looking for those bits.

Here's my initial pile.  A few months ago I had pulled out a good deal of my writing, trying to organize things.  At that point I did manage to arrange file folders for my stories by category of adult long and short stories and kid long and short stories.  Well... I'm still arranging but now it's time to get what's hand written onto the laptop, flash drive, and printed out.

Here's everything nice a neat. Each pile is a different story and there are several different stories in each notebook and lots of bits.  Looks like I'll be busy for awhile.  Not a bad way to start off a new week.

A Pretty Picture

This is from when we did have sun eleven days ago!

Works on Progress

Ack! I'm failing already.  This has been a crappy start to a new month. I do suffer from seasonal disorder and we haven't had lots of sun in over a week and it's killing me. I'm just dragging around and it sucks. I've continued on some things but... okay Mother Nature, it's time for you to get back to work!

I finally got my heels knitted. Eegads! The first heel I had to undo three times before I could get it right.  The second heel I took out twice.  And I haven't figured out if I can do two heels at the same time because it just didn't happen this time.  I'm waiting for Maya to get to her heels and see if she can figure it out.  There's way too much turning and decreasing on the heels and my little brain just wasn't making it happen. But I got them done and I'm back on track.

Borders for my Bless This House quilt.  I'm being creative with my borders because of lack of fabric and funds.  These two will go on the sides of the quilt and I haven't decided what I'm going to do with the top.  I have started appliqueing the one border.  Probably the easiest thing I've appliqued in a long time.

I got the collar on my dragonfly blouse but it doesn't fit.  Sometimes commercial patterns are screwy. Now I have to take the collar off and re-cut a new one. Great.  I'll have to really get into a good frame of mind for that but I'm so close to getting the thing done.  Maybe by the time I do, the weather will have changed to something more appropriate for spring.  I think we should just do away with the whole Groundhog Day thing because this year, he was way off.  I totally feel for the people who still have a boat load of snow.

I continue to work on getting my creative energy and good vibes back.  I have a dollie to do for a giveaway. See ya!

May Day

May Day! May Day!

Okay, things aren't that bad around here. I'm getting my warped sense of humor back. I do have to amuse myself at times and get out of my apartment on a regular basis. I ventured out this morning to pick up groceries and almost forgot how to drive and get to said store. Not cool. I made it though and back home in one piece. I also finished packing up things for Goodwill (had started over a year ago) and made myself take them to a drop off truck. I can now say my apartment looks pretty good. And so does my studio. Of course, I'm asking myself why it took me so long to unload the stuff? Beats me.

Speaking of my studio, since my art table is big enough, I've decided to paint on one side and do other crafty/dollie things on the other side. That way I won't have to put something completely away to work on something else. Why did it take so long to figure that out? Good grief!

I've decided that this will be a challenge month for me. I will make it a doll month because I've been doing so many other things (creative things and those to pay bills) that I've put dolls on the back burner. I need to put them back on a front burner and cook like crazy. I do miss them but thinking too much about a new medium put the kabash on making anything new. So I'm putting it out there to you. I will have to make some new little people, witches, ghoulies, whatever. Why?
     One: because I have another challenge coming up.
     Two: There's probably an art show coming up and I need new material.
     Three: I need to restock the shops where I have old work.
     Four: The characters I've been dreaming of, thinking of, sketching are driving me crazy to get out.
and          
     Five: I will be having my first Giveaway at the end of this month to celebrate me being on my own. Details forthcoming so check back.

I will be updating my profile for this blog because I've changed. Things in my life have changed. I'm not techno enough to redo my whole blog to add on things I want to add. So I will leave it alone. I will be doing more sewing for me and hopefully be adding some costumes. For me. I have to make something for the Renaissance Festival this year.  And I even get to dress my little niece this year. I even get to make her up for Halloween. Awesome!

Another thing I will be preparing for is my writing website where I will be offering short stories with illustrations. Seeing that Map Hunter is still a ways off, I can entertain you with my other tales.

Now my list for the month, along with the dolls:

• Polish my first kid short story for a new website
• Write one page or 350 words a day, working on Map Hunter II
• Finish my dragonfly blouse
• Finish my Bless This House quilt top
• Finish my second pair of socks
• Read 3 books
• Do more sketching

A lot? Yeah, but I'm crazy like that. We'll just see what happens. It's a brand new month and all things are possible. Toodles!