Where have I been?

I feel bad about neglecting my blog lately. I set up a destash supply shop on etsy called DollDestash. Sorting and listing items has been taking up so much of my after work time. I still have so many things to photograph and add. Here are some of the shop goodies :].

Grace (puppy at the top) is doing well. She is just about potty trained and is becoming very feisty--the 'no bite' and 'off' training is now in place. She gives you the most hurt/tortured look when you scold her. Besides the day job, that has been about it. I've been designing and sketching a lot. Hopefully I will have a chance to work on some of these things soon--I am really excited about them! First I need to focus on the pile of laundry that has migrated into the downstairs hall. ;/

The Second Skirt

Here is the second skirt in the series of 7 dolls I am working on. I painted a tree onto a black piece of ultrasuede with bronze golden fluid acrylic paint. To make the foliage, I used the same paint watered down with acrylic glazing liquid and titan buff paint--I dipped a q-tip into the paint and dabbed it on to make the little circles. I like q-tips. I stitched tiny potato and rice shaped fresh water pearls to the ends of some branches to enhance the foliage.

I wanted to accent the tree with something dimensional. I remembered seeing those neat little wire birds' nests and did a google search to see if I could find an idea on how to make them. I found a little tutorial and a great blog on "Just something I made."

I went to Shipwreck beads (a huge bead store about a mile away from my day job) and picked out large freshwater pearls to make 'eggs.' I spent about an hour and a half perusing the bead aisles. If you haven't been there, Shipwreck beads is akin to a large gymnasium full of nothing but aisles and aisles of beads/charms/findings. I found a few other beads and bits I had to have...but I did get out for less than $30, so yay me ;p. Below is a picture of the store I pilfered from their website. They have a gallery with more store pictures.

Enough distractions...On to skirt number three! :]

New Fibers & A Box

A few weeks ago, I ordered some fibers from the UK and they came today, rolled and stuffed into my tiny mailbox. These particular fibers are hard to get in the US--I had one skein that I purchased about 4 years ago at a fibers shop in Southern California for $23. I've used that one skein to make so many different types of doll hair, but many of the colors were getting so limited after I cut so many snippets of color out. The three dolls below are some of the dolls I did with that same multi-colored skein. So, as you can imagine, I am ecstatic to have 4 new ones! And, I only paid $40.55 USD for all four including shipping. Woo :].
(In case you are wondering, the fibers are made by Colinette.)

A friend and I found a box of Easter chocolate on clearance for about $2.00. We thought the box was cute, so she bought it. When we got it into the car, the handle popped off and all the little pearls flew all over the car floor (it was dark out). As she was driving, I was picking up pearls and she said she didn't really want the box--that she liked the bunnies, but not the colors. I told her I would make it more her style ;]. So, the original box with sad broken cork screw handle is the top pic and the bottom is my 'makeover.' I added a few extra beads in the handle to make up for the pearls that are still under the car seats. She hasn't seen it yet, but she likes blue, stars and bunnies, so it should go over well. I like doing simple crafts here and there. They remind me of being small. :] It's back to dolls for me tomorrow!

Hand Model

I purchased this Hand Model from Dick Blick about a month ago along with some Golden Fluid Acrylics I needed to replenish. I was hoping the hand would make a good model for my "About Hands" mini class I will be teaching at this next year's Portland Art & Soul.

The hand is life-cast in plaster from a large man's hand. I know plaster usually shrinks about 10 percent, so his hand must have been enormous! Look at it compared with my fingers below. The thumb is three or four times the size of mine! I think this will be fun to sketch :].

I have an Addiction

An addiction to making tiny bows. Last summer, I spent a full week working on nothing but tiny bows. I purchased several spools of 2mm and several spools of 4mm silk ribbon from a seller on eBay, took my tweezers and got busy. I tied hundreds of bows. Sometimes it's a pleasure to immerse yourself in a simple repetitive task (at least I find it pleasing).