March List

Grab a cup of tea or coffee and have a seat. Are you ready for this month's list? Here we go.

Quilting
Hop to It block #2
1/4 more quilting of bunny wall hanging

Writing
Polish Map Hunter manuscript, send it off
Set up Kitchen for Script Frenzy

Reading
Beyond Positive Thinking
Changeless
Ireland's Pirate Queen

Art
5 Postcards
1 Painting
Rough sketches of Halloween paintings for Oct show
Design Halloween mug rugs

Dolls
3 Ghostie Girls
1 Creative Mojo Man
2 Koji Bears covered
3 Koji Bears dressed
2 Mardi Gras skellies
6 Wandi Dolls finished
6 Wandi Mermaids
10 Day of the Dead ornaments

Not included are extra pieces for the film. I may be ready for a padded room with a view by the time this month is over. But if you're ready for a fun ride, join me.

Mavis Ready for Mardi Gras

Say hello to Mavis.  She started out as a bunner, then a pirate, and now she's a dancing skellie.  I have been looking at her armature for several months now, wanting her to be a pirate.  But she wasn't going for that.  I had her and her friends out in the open so I could constantly see them and they taunted me.  Only, not as pirates.  I didn't have a clue as to what they wanted to be, so I left them alone.  I knew not to put them away because I have a very good habit of keeping things safe and not being able to find them again.

Her body is needle felted.  See the previous post.  Her finges have pipe cleaners in them so she can hold her maracas.  Her eyes are felted, her nose and mouth are embroidered.  She's got such a sweet smile.  Her sandals are also needle felted.

I almost went crazy with the beading.  Almost.  She also has a beaded bracelet on.  I did add more earring gear.

She is the first doll I've made showing movement and I love it.  Thanks to a wire armature.

She is at the Hampton House Gallery, getting ready for her debut at the Small Art, Big Heart art show & sale.  Part of the proceeds benefit the AIDS Care Service.  This is my third year participating.  So far, all dolls have sold from that show.

Growth
I've learned something working on Mavis.  Besides waiting until the last minute to finish her.  For many, many moons now, I've worked on cloth dolls.  I really like them but it's time to move on.  To expand my creative horizons and see what else I've got.  I knew I wanted to do more 3D pieces and started my experimentations.

I have done porcelain before and I love the final result, it's just at this point in my life, I don't have the room to do it.  I've carved wood pieces and I don't have what's needed to keep my tools sharpened.  Polymer clay has a beautiful look to it.  Very flesh like but again, I don't have a separate oven for baking, and I don't care how safe they say it is, I don't like the smell.  I haven't totally given up on it but in the scheme of things, it's not high on the list.  I have also tried air dry clays.  Several types.  Even though it's messy, it can be painted, sanded, drilled, and whatever you want to do with it.  I have found several places for instruction and help.

For right now it's needle felting.  Not so quick, but relaxing in a strange sort of way.  The up and down motion of felting can be soothing and you can always get some frustration out on the wool.  I'm still learning how to manuever the medium and so far I like my results.  There are artists who make dolls completely out of wool, which is cool.  I, am a costumer.  The body is a place to put stuff.  It's still cotton, but that will change soon to some silk, satin, and other fancy material.

My flat cloth dolls were easy to dress.  Most would be sitting propped up or hang on a wall, so I really didn't have to pay too much attention to the back.  Once I started making things more 3D, I had to consider the other side.  It started when I made Koji, and then the Bunners.  It wasn't until I made Mavis that it hit me.

The basic forms are totally different.  From flat cloth to round neelde felted.  It was a little scary at first, but I continued and got a kick out of it.  I had to rethink how I was going to do a basic shirt.  The underpants needed more room in the seat.  Pieces had to be cut bigger to go around.  It was a challenge, my head even started to hurt a bit because I was using another part of my gray matter.  I do believe my brain has grown a bit because of this one simple exercise.

I am looking forward to Mavis' friends coming to life.  They are quite excited too.  Breakthroughs are awesome.  I hope you have some too.

The List

No pics yet because I did promise a gargantuan list for February.  I know, I'm overly ambitious and a nut plus some caramel and chocolate chips.  Last month was fraught with illness and this month, not only do I have to do what was on the docket but I have to also catch up from last month.

So here we go!

Quilting
1 Hop To It block.  Yes, I've started a block-of-the-month quilt.
1/4 more of quilting done on my Bunny wall hanging

Writing
Finish polishing my manuscript so I can send it off to an agent
Find all writings for a screenplay (will try Script Frenzy again this year)

Reading
I am to read three books a month (way behind for last month)
- historical
- self empowerment
- fiction

Dolls
2 Ghostie Girls
1 piece for Small Art, Big Heart show & sale
1 Creative Mojo Man
2 Koji Bears covered with brown wool
2 Pirate Skellies (needle felted
1 Mardi Gras Skellie (needle felted)
6 Wandi Dolls finished

I won't mention French.  Have you got all that?  It's on!

Eegads!

Okay, I kind of don't know where to start. It's been so long since my last post but I've been working on things for the Expo and working on the manuscript to get it ready for a writer's conference. Two friends have seen what I have so far for the show and they say I have a lot. Of course I don't think that way, me being my own worse critic, etc, etc, etc, and I'm thinking that I've got so much more I want to do. Like pirates and some ghost people. I mean, hello!!! Halloween is coming.

I had a nice four day weekend to really get some things done and worked on and wouldn't you know it? I got sick. Yep, a grand sinus infection. There were times I could barely sit up, let alone look at or concentrate on something. I'm a little behind but started to catch up today.

Here is Skele Pirate Man. He's huge. I have so many plans for him and I finally got his legs on. I have to start going through my fabric stash for some clothes.

I started armatures for his arms and hands that will be needle felted. His body is wrapped with wool batting and then covered with core wool.

I finally got all my Wandi Witches put together. All 23 of them. These guys need their bloomers and skirts which will get sewn on this week. The black and white ones are the goth ones. I'll be painting faces all week too. Then I get to go get trim and charms for embellishing these little beauties.

I also started three more Koji bears that will either be pirates or trick-or-treaters. I've got to get arms for the bunners so I can get them dressed. Today has been good so far. I still have time after dinner to work on my manuscript and do some needle felting.

I am so ready for FALL!!!!!!! This has been the summer from the equator and then some. Does anyone smell brimstone?

And I'd like to welcome Karin to the fun. Didn't see a link. Hi Karin!

Skele Pirate

Here's another critter I started some time ago. His head started out as a body for something, so it's totally different now. Love re-purposing. He's my biggest needle felt yet and I don't know if I'll do another so big. Right now he's at 11" and will be in a seated position. I've already got bullet holes and dagger slashes planned for his shirt. He'll be going to the expo.

This is him next to a bunner. Bunners are between 8.5 and 9". So this guy is huge. I hope he doesn't scare me when I go potty in the middle of the night. LOL Grim Reaper is happy to have another guy to talk to, along with Creative Mojo Man. GR was feeling a bit outnumbered.

A new warren is forming. I will get these covered tomorrow, then arms, and I can dress them. I forgot to take a pic of my Koji Bears. Three of them now have heads. I guess I'll get a pic when they have arms. They're going to be in sailor suits. I will be making three more armatures so I can dress them in Halloween outfits.

Stay tuned.

I'd also like to welcome Linda of http://www.lindasminis.blogspot.com/

Working It

I got home from the job yesterday and wasn't feeling it at all. But around 8-8:30 on the pm, I asked myself if I wanted to be mediocre for the rest of my life? If so, do nothing. If I want to be on that beautiful beach in the Caribbean or on a New Zealand wine tour, I had to do something that would get me closer to that goal.

So I picked up my sprite pieces and closed up the seams. I had gotten into some sort of zone (could've been Twilight), when I stopped to look at the parts and thought that I had so many limbs compared to bodies. It began to unnerve me, that maybe I made a mistake in counting. Then my mind came back and I told myself (I know you know where this is going) that there are usually two upper limbs and two lower limbs per one body. Is that goofy or what? I had to laugh at myself. It was my Dr Frankenstein moment.

I will cut out their bloomers and sew them today.

I read on another blog that one should always have small achievable goals at all times. My 'believe' sign was one. Here is Creative Mojo Man almost wrapped. I think he will have some funky felt boots on and he's got to have wild hair. The fabric is scrap from a totebag a friend made me. The fabric was going to be a blouse but that never happened so it's now a totebag. I get so many compliments on that bag. Well, CMM is feeling very happy right now. The Wendys are getting a bit jealous and I'll have to start them soon too.

On the docket for today along with the bloomers:
2 more Koji Bear heads felted
3 sets of Koji Bear arms felted
complete torso of pirate formed
chapter 4 of Map Hunter

I'd like to welcome Lainie of www.lainieslittlethings.blogspot.com Love your fish tank with the not-so-little fish.

July Wrap Up

Well, well, well. July was a doozy, it was hot and humid, and threw me for several loops. But once again, I rallied and got things done. I'm done with the film and feel great about that. Now I've got to bust my you-know-what to be ready for the Doll & Teddy Bear Expo. Two months. Is this crazy or what? Yep, it is, but I'm a bit off anyway.

I got my bunners done and off to a new shop and gallery. I have more in the works and some will be bunner pirates along with Koji Bear pirates. I edited the first three chapters of my young adult manuscript, which is coming along quite nicely. I'm very excited about it. Things are looking great because I can now work on things for me.

And Halloween is coming.

I will have pics of stuff in the works tomorrow.

Almost a Warren

My Bunners have started to multiply. I know I need to get my new camera but it's been so hot, I don't want to sit in my car or traffic to get to the store. Maybe in another week the temps will be back to normal. I've been busy. I knew I needed to get off my rear end to get things done. So I started, again, doing just one little thing at a time. That then developed into a few more minutes, and then just outright doing the project and finishing. And when I put their ears on, I couldn't believe how cute they were. Why had it taken me so long to finish them?

This is Sachi. She was one of the two I had started eons ago. I had her dressed but she had no face or ears. You may remember her pic. But now she's done and oh so cute. The tongue sticking out is a Koji Bear thing and I'm sticking with it.

This is Miko, the other half of the first duo. I didn't know if I would like her but once her face was on, I picked her to keep.

I had sketches of the faces and different ears, so I would have something to go by and they aren't very much off. I surprised myself. These two still need their stands.

This charming pair are Ryoko and Keiko. They have their stands and are off to galleries. Keiko, in the stripes was giving me problems with her stand. I don't think she wanted to leave me. I didn't want to see her go either but bills and more supplies yelled at me.

Isn't her face just adorable? I feel like a new mom.

This is Sachi and yes, she's got a wonky ear. I did have a bunny like that in real life. Her ears kept going in weird directions and never the same way. I love her big cheeks. She was more behaved on her stand and ready for her new adventure.

All of the Bunners are needle felted with an armature. The faux kimono design is my own. I've several more in the works but now I have to blitz the apartment. Only because I have a friend coming over on Saturday and I don't want the dust bunnies (pun!) to chase her away. But once that is done, along with laundry, I'll be free to create some more. Thanks for hanging in there with me.

I'm getting excited again.

Works in Progress

Three Koji bears ready for heads and final wool covering. They have personalities already. I have sailor outfits on the drawing board for them.

I have a mermaid ornament pattern. I think they're the right size to double as pins. These lovely colors will be tails and fins. Gee, I made a rhyme. I never cease to tickle myself.

I am so looking forward to my weekend. You should see my list. I will come up for air to post more pics.

I'm Back!!!!!

Sorry for not posting in a couple of days but I had to take a day off and do nothing. I also started walking again and oh my gosh, I'm creaky. Anyhoo, here are the beginnings of new Koji Bears. I'm still missing him but it's the beginning of being a self supporting artist.

A better picture of the armatures.

I used some wool that I'd had for ages because I was low on core wool. This stuff is polyester roving and I didn't think that it would felt but it did. They look like little grey game birds.

I finally got my wool order. Woo hoo! I'm so excited. You can't really tell, but the colors are gorgeous. This is the Citrus pack, I also got the Ocean pack which is pictured below. I've got enough core wool to keep me busy for awhile and white for more skull ornaments and some bunners. I didn't take them out of the package because I knew I wouldn't be able to get them back in neatly. Like unfolding a road map. I love maps too.

At some point I will take these out and get another pic. I've found that I like working with C-1 batt instead of roving because roving fibers are too long for what I want to do. Live and learn eh? Well, I guess I better get busy.

Sold!

Just got news that my Koji Bear sold. I'm a little sad but happy that he has a new home.