What I've been up to part 1....

Well......................I finished my FIRST original doll tonight! I don't know what to call it - "dude with horns" will have to do for now. It took a long time but I am pretty happy with how it turned out. It is just what I had in my head - so pretty cool that it is "real" now. It is just muslin- painted over and over and over... I hate all the repetition -but it turned out nice. The detail is with an art marker. He is floppy which is cool - when you pick it up his arms and legs flop. I love a doll that has movement.
THEN - I finished my very own Hitty. I just think these little dolls are too cool. There is a great story behind them - check out the website: http://www.hitty.org and http://www.hitty.org/research/realhitty.html They are usually carved out of wood, some with cloth. They cost a fortune, even on ebay - but they sure are sweet. A friend of mine has a real one and it is lovely. This was a free pattern at the website above. I just have to make the clothes. I had to put pants on her, but she has socks and shoes painted on her as well. She too is made out of muslin and painted. I sure am happy with how she turned out too. Wow! 2 dolls just for ME for a change! I LOVE IT! Hope you enjoy....
Oh yeah - check out this site: http://clothclaydolls.ning.com It is wonderful and has tutorials, and tons of members with so much talent. I started the Gritty Jane doll, but still have to sculpt her face. Really a treat for the eyes and the imagination. I have so many projects going - I have Art ADD! hahaha..

What I've been up to.....part 2

I have a few journal pages that I had done for the 8 girls. Also have the fabric house pieces completed. We are meeting in a couple weeks to exchange pieces and then put the house together. It will be so amazing when this happens. We will each put in a roof piece, then all pull one out of the bag - so we may not even get out pieces. There are 7 pieces, 2 roof, to sides, 2 peaks and 1 "basement". I will post the exchanged house when that happens. The journal pages were fun - not for my personal book but for 2 of the members of 8 girls. These sure are fun to do. Hail to Teesha Moore! hahaha...

blue doll and new project

I have finally finished a doll order for a co-worker. I am so happy with how she turned out. The colors she wanted were aqua and chartreuse. I hope she likes it. I have 3 views of her to see.
Then................ I received such positive feedback for "Mobius and his Birds", that I wanted to try a 100% original doll. I have a sneak peek of the back of the doll. So far it is exactly how I pictured it to be. I have been working on it for days. Painting is not my "thing", but I wanted to try this. I joined Cloth and Clay dolls and the inspiration on that site is amazing. SO much talent. I hope to take the tutorial in a week or so. Hope you like it.....

the planets are in line - part 1

I have another entry for today below this one, but I had too many photos, so I have 2 entries.
I forgot to mention - Mobius is a birch tree and the initials "carved" in the heart on him are my parents' initials. I really like that idea.
OK
Yesterday No Rules met and we made this birds nest from wire - it is in the Somerset Home - volume 4 2009 book. I think it was in the late fall - there are candle sticks on the front. There are TONS of awesome projects in this book. The nest should have fibers hanging from the bottom - but for now I want it hanging in the tree. The fibers would be just too entertaining for my cat Olivia, so for now no fibers. I added (3) moonstone beads as eggs inside the nest. I bought last year at a bead show, because I just HAD to have them...They look really neat in there and the light makes them glow a really cool blue.
8 girls has a couple projects going and I have alot done so far - but cannot post them until we have our swaps - 2 more journal pages and we are making a fabric journal house - from the book "Fabric Art Journals" by Pam Sussman. Awesome things to do in there. It is really a fun project to do. We will complete all the pieces and again - put every one's in a bag (fr example, all roof pieces, then all sides) and pick like we did the little dolls - these are going to be amazing when they are done. I will post my completed pieces, after we swap - along with the new pieces I will have picked.
So much for now - better get back into my happy place while the planets are in line....maybe just maybe I can finish Fiero! He is still sitting on my tv with no shoes and his hair pinned to his head (poor baby).

the planets are in line!

OMG! I FINALLY finished my challenge doll for the doll club. It was a mystical theme and we had to use a specific fabric in the doll - long story short - I made tiny birds from the fabric and have them on a tree. The tree is cloth and painted with acrylic. I named it "Mobius and his birds". I normally do not name my dolls, but this one just came to me. I just love the way the name Mobius sounds. I am SO happy with how he turned out - It will be at the sewing expo at the IX center in March with our doll club's display. It is my first original doll. The face is from a Julie McCullough pattern (the fisherman), but the rest was an idea my friend Mickey gave me - gotta love those 8 girls! hahaha...so creative!
Hope you enjoy the photos. (If you were wondering - Mobius was a German mathematician born the late 1700's... another long story.. hahaha)

8 girls

What a great time we had last night. We exchanged our journals and we did our doll mix up project. Everything turned out wonderful. The dolls were so cool. Everyone did such different things to their dolls - and when we mixed the parts all up and put together our "new" dolls - they were awesome too. Before we picked the new parts, my doll was the aqua and pink one with the colored skirt. When we finished - I now have the yellow body doll shown with them all together.
The journal pages were so amazing. I have posted the 2 pages I did for Mickey's book. I will post all the pages in my book when the project is complete - then you can see all the different techniques. They are all so talented - It is so nice to have these projects, because we get a piece of each other in everything we make. The next project is a fabric house from the Fabric Art Journal book. This is supposed to be completed in February - which means no TV for me for a while!
Hope you enjoy the photos - even though everything looks so much better in person.

tree trimming

As much as I love this tree - it has become too much for the room - too dark for me - not enough sunlight comes in. My neighbor/friend (who gave me the tree) mentioned trimming it - so I did - I like it alot better for my room. I LOVED the shape it was - but too much for me, for now - maybe if it was summer I wouldn't mind, but for now I need light.
Also, I worked on art this week - Made a funky little doll from the December issue of Cloth Paper Scissors - really fun. Also worked on journal pages. 8 girls journal exchanges is tomorrow - we had to do 2 pages in the book we received last month - I had Mickey's book- I will post the pages and the doll after we meet tomorrow - I don't want them to see stuff until we are all together.
It has snowed her for a week straight- finally stopped yesterday and today- we had ALOT of snow - glad that is done for the moment.