New Face and Hair

I'm still working on being more consistent with things. Still. Not giving up though. I got Raggedy Ann and new face and hair.

Below is a trick to do loopy hair I learn a gazillion years ago when I first started dollmaking. I couldn't find my original but I taped together two pieces of cardboard and cut out the center up to about two inches from the other end. I wrapped the yarn around it and stitched down the middle. I'm able to pull the board towards me and the stitched loops backwards in order to wrap more yarn and continue stitching.

The new hair is on the top. Looped and ready to be stitched on her head. I didn't have the same kind of yarn so I used what I had in my stash. More pics coming.

Start, Stop, Start

Okay, this has been a weird six months. I relocated back to Michigan from North Carolina and I'm still adjusting. I'm now looking for some work and I'm okay with that. It was a big move and resources have been tapped. For awhile I felt like a failure and beat myself up a lot. But I've some wonderful friends who believe in me and my work and they have helped me get through a lot of things. I'm still learning about my new community but I'm ready to get back onto the creative bus. Train. Boat. It's time to put the big girl pants back on along with the tool belt and shoulder holster. And I'm working through one of my lists. Here's what I'm working on this week. Four projects need to be finished by the end of the week. Others need to be worked on.

I've got three cloth dolls to finish, two aliens to dress, a table runner to work on, a short story to retype, some doll dresses to make, and a purse to make. Wish me luck.

An Apron

My mother wants two aprons and I got the first one done. I was a simple one and I'm glad I did it because it's easing me back into sewing for myself. I couldn't believe some of the things, small things I forgot to do or look for. But, it's a start. One of those things is to make sure fabric is out of the way that you don't want stitched. Yes, that still happens to me. Next, if you're working with directional fabric, make sure it's cut the right way. I'm sure that will happen again, cutting directional fabric the wrong way. But she'll love. And the most important thing. Thank goodness for seam rippers. I need to buy a few more. You can never have enough of those or pincushions. Or fabric scissors. The ones only for fabric and if anyone else touches them you will put them in thumb screws. Off to the next thing.

Catching Up

Really working on keeping up with the sketching. I got a head cold on the way to South Haven and then when I got home it turned into a sinus infection. Feeling lots better now and my nose is still on my face. Another Day of the Dead Mariachi guy and some other creepies I may or may not work on. Thank goodness for Google Images because I only had a vague idea of what an accordion looked like. Now I have a set of five and have some different ideas for them. But for now I have a small commission for some doll clothes.

Mini Trip- South Haven

My friend Kellie wanted to go on a sailboat but she didn't want to go by herself so she invited me. It was very nice. I'd been to South Haven before on a lighthouse hunt but never stopped long enough to do anything. Year round population of about 4,000, it's a nice little town on the Black River which leads right out into Lake Michigan. The sand on the beaches is so fine, almost like powder. We went to the Maritime Museum, The Cultural Arts Center, of course the lighthouse, several shops, and restaurant. We took along food to eat for lunch and a dinner. We had one lunch in a local park. The weather was great. So here's a look at South Haven, Michigan.

This is the sloop Friendship Goodwill we went on. I had good sea legs considering the wind died down and we only got up to about 6 knots. But it was beautiful out on the lake. It is a working ship through the Maritime Museum and anyone can sign up to work on it.

This is the second pier out into the lake. We were sitting on the pier with the lighthouse watching the sunset. It's a beautiful little town and I'm sure I'll go back. There were so many things going on; The Blueberry Festival was this weekend. We tried Blueberry Soda and it was actually blue and quite good. Their farmer's market is on Wednesdays and Saturdays. It was crowded on Wednesday.

Short Week

I have been mostly keeping up with my sketches and some embroidery. I have a fairly decent project list going but it will have to wait until next week. A friend has invited me to go with her to the west side of the state for a mini road trip. So I really won't be able to start back to anything until Saturday. Until then, here are some pics.

More Wendland Witch sketches. I'm so looking forward to getting started on those.

Recovery

I already feel like I'm behind this month and it's only the second day in. Yesterday I was at a hospital practically all day. My mother had surgery on her hand. She's doing well. But hospital chairs are like torture devices. Anyhoo, met with a friend at one of the many lakes around and we talked art and dolls. The sun was great, saw a paddle boarder and some water skiers, and a lot of camp kids fishing with soda cans, fishing line, sinker, and worms. Some even caught little fish. Enjoy kids, you're gonna have to hit the books soon.

And I found some of my old crayons that I will use on an upcoming project. I think. The price sticker is from 1981 and they cost $1.08. Wow. I didn't really use them. But... there's always today. My mother also gave me some cotton yarn and some small zippers that will probably be going into some small bags. We shall see. I just need to get over yesterday.