Halloween fun

I made another severed hand pincushion. I'm selling this one on eBay. I'm also going to teach it at the quilt store. I made up my own pattern for a glove, very simple, but pretty. I think these are just plain fun.

Getting closer!!!

My troll is getting closer to the picture in my head! I'm on Body #2 , which I will keep. This is leg #4 which needs the foot flattened a tiny bit and then it's a keeper. Check out head #1 - he has eyes in the top of his head, LOL. Really have to fix him up! I have to drop the nose some and work on the forehead a bit. He's really little too - only about 12". But it's fun to do ...

Sew, stuff, and repeat

I am working on a new design for a troll. I picture a fat, humpbacked little dude. I'm pretty new to designing so this is going to take me a while, LOL. Here's what I've got so far ...

The first body was 2 pieces and it didn't give me a good fat tummy so I did a four piece pattern instead. Now it's too short but nice and fat. The leg is still too skinny too - even though I made it fatter than the first one. I think the leg needs to be fatter and shorter. What do you think? I want the arm to be totally exaggerated so I think it will be okay. I have the head drawn up but I haven't sewn it yet - I want to get the body right first. I wish there was an easier way to do this but I guess it just takes practice.

My first doll

Kai posted a photo of her childhood doll so I thought I'd do the same. I've had this doll since I was 2 or 3 - somewhere there are photos of me with her. She is probably close to 50 years old now (if you include manufacturing time and time on the store shelf). When we moved to America in 1963 the bag with all my toys was stolen from the dock in New York. She was the only toy that didn't get stolen because I was holding her. She wears a dress my late grandmother knitted and a mob cap that I bought in Williamsburg, Virginia when I was about 10. She is discolored, drawn on by cousins with markers, and one eye doesn't work anymore but I still love her. Post your childhood doll at your blog or picture site and leave a comment with the link to it.

Bar Code ATCs

These are the ATCs that I received from Helen over at Swap-bot ... aren't they awesome!!!!


Click to enlarge

Wanna swap?

I am hosting an ATC swap over at Swap-bot with a theme of "Vintage Ladies in Hats". It is a 3 for 3 swap - you make 3, mail them to your partner, and get 3 back. I like Swap-bot because the computer does all the work of assigning partners. You can sign up here.

Last of the paper people

I think this guy is finished, but maybe not. I used a stamp I just received from Judi and some Etal from Sharyl. The Etal is actually metal but it can be cut like paper and sewn like fabric. It can be distressed with heat and painted. It's pretty cool stuff.

For those who care ... the face is a watchface with a fake coin in the center. The leg joints are washers with a big brad holding it all together.

Round robin traveler

First off ... FRAN ... DON'T LOOK ...

Okay, now that that's out of the way ... this is the second piece I've received in the current round robin. After I freaked out Judi A. with the work I did last month I figured I'd better do something more normal this month.

This is how she came to me from Pammy. Isn't the face divine? It's Fran's sculpt and her first face mold for sale. I had to order one of the molds after I saw it in person. Anyhow, she attached the torso to the top of the box with apoxie sculpt. Pammy had added the hair and the pink headband and scarf ribbon.

I decided that since this is a traveling doll she should have a trunk. So I took all the hardware off and gave the box a base coat of gesso. Then I gave it a coat of pink followed by a dry brushed coat of Jacquard's Halo Pink/Gold Lumiere (what a mouthful!). Lot's of travel 'stickers' were added as well as paper cut to look like bands going around the trunk. I've put one coat of varnish on it and now I'm trying to decide whether I should antique it or maybe do a peeling paint technique. What do you think?

These were kind of sorta my inspiration .. these are the trunks that my family used when we sailed to America on the Queen Mary in 1963.

A dangerous beauty

I was saddened to hear about the death of Steve Irwin, the crocodile hunter. I always enjoyed watching him on the telly. As I was brainstorming my paper dolls today this little gal sprang into being. I think she's a cross between a hammerhead shark and a stingray, Judi style.

Kind of saying how there is danger in beauty. The first photo is unembellished - just the basic paint job. The second is dressed. She has lots of crystal micro beads and rhinestones. Someone out there will receive her in the Doll Street swap.

Organization rocks!

It's taken me two days but I finally have all my little bits of yarn organized. I have done tons of trades and received tons of yarn as presents - but in 1-2 yard pieces. Some as big as 5 yards but that's it. I had them in a plastic grocery bag and each time I looked for something they got more and more tangled up. I'm thrilled with them now though! Check it out ...

Before - wound on tags, in little baggies, on cardboard - huge mess!

After - nicely wound on little embroidery floss bobbins. There are about 185 of those suckers. But worth the effort for sure!

Now for something simple ...

I had to make three Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) which incorporated bar codes into the artwork. I wanted to make three completely different types of cards. My favorite, which should be no surprise, is the one with the vintage lady.

The middle one is supposed to be the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland - it probably would have worked better if I could have found a wider, longer bar code. The little girl is my Aunt - she's getting to be a regular feature in my work, LOL. The bar codes on the fish are actually blue and they came from the back of paint chip samples. This was a fun exercise and they are already winging their way to their new owner.