The first of the ladies is finished. This batch will be the Ladies of Summer, so all pastel and flowery.
I didn’t win a Softie Award, but you can see the winners here. I was thrilled to be a finalist and proud of myself for entering at all. It is not really in my nature to participate in competitions- I think I have an inborn aversion. Congratulations to the winners and all of us!
I’m having a fantastic time here in Portland! I REALLY have to get out of my studio more often, eh?!
First, an amazing hotel- Hotel Monaco. Thanks Ben and Priceline…
We got into town around noon on Sunday. That’s noon, west coast time- we had been up and traveling for 10 hours by that time. Ariana, of Staindrop, met us at the hotel and gave us a wonderful walking tour of downtown Portland. The weather was perfect. We got to spend several hours talking about art, craft, blogging, etc.
Monday morning was our tour of PNCA. I have loved going on these Art School tours! On Monday afternoon, I met Diane of CraftyPod. I have to say that getting a chance to meet her was high on my list of why I wanted to come to Portland with my son! I enjoyed talking to her so much when she interviewed me last fall. Getting a chance to spend a few more hours with her was amazing. She found my blog originally because of my tikis. I wanted to make her a little gift and on Saturday, before I left, I got a flash of the perfect present-
a tiki pincushion! As you can see, she liked it 
There is nothing so satisfying as figuring out the right gift! She gave me a list of great suggestions of crafty places to go and things to see- Thanks so much Diane!
The weather was beautiful and clear, so Pete and I decided to go to dinner at a restaurant described as a place for tourist- I said, Heh! We’re tourists! It was a wonderful way to see the city and surrounding area-
Today (Tuesday) I spent the day checking out craft wonderfulness and Pete did his thing. First stop for me was the Knitten Kitten (a Diane recommendation).
How amazing is a craft supply thrift store?! I left there with a bag full of goodies. Then back into town to the Museum of Contemporary Craft. Next stop- The Playful Needle. And last, when I was worried that my feet were going to give out on me, The Button Emporium.
That place was heaven… well, actually I think Portland is an embroiderer’s paradise- I have never seen anything like the stores full of beautiful threads and embellishments that I’ve seen here. Swoon!
Okay, so here was what was in my bag at the end of the day-
from the Knitten Kitten-
and everywhere else-
Tomorrow we go back home. My stay has been a delight!
another trip, another bag!
I even added one of my printed patches to the pocket. This bag is to put my computer and my other bag into. Last trip, I didn’t take the computer and my regular bag isn’t big enough to hold it comfortably. I am not going to leave it home this time though… I really missed it when I went to London.
The fabric was given to me by my niece, an interior architect. Thanks Laurel! I absolutely love it!
So, now that the update is finished and I can stop stressing about that, I’ve moved on to stressing about my trip to Portland, Oregon. Not too much really- it is just that it is such a long travel time. I am trying to figure out books and projects to bring. I am hoping to meet up with some fellow artist/crafters … if you are interested, email me or leave a comment.
I finished one more before the shop update- Hurray! This guy is a little different- a totally modern type.
I had some problem figuring out how to do the chest hair. I stitched it in. It seemed okay. I went on to do the moustache and chin hair. Hmmm, now the chest hair looked less than perfect. Snip, snip, embroidery removed and new hair (done in feather stitch) looking much better!
Wispy facial hair, bead necklace, ponytail-
Side-view-
close-up of his hair in back-
He will join the others in my shop update later today- 3pm edt.
The Etsy shop update will be Tuesday afternoon- 3pm edt. I will post a group photo later today or tomorrow- I have to get to work on that! I had fun making this man mosaic on Flickr yesterday.
Old style bathing suit. I believe these suits were knitted of wool. Now that makes ya think!
I have really been enjoying doing the man faces. I never felt confident drawing mens faces until I started doing all these guys. I would try to draw a man but usually I thought the faces looked feminine. But, practice, practice! I get better!
I put 2 more (different) photos of this doll in my Flickr photostream.
Today is the last day to enter the 2nd Annual Softie Awards. I entered this year- I had to. They had a category for Embroidery!
I didn’t realize how funny the pointing finger looked until I was working on the photos!
I love this toile. Before dyeing, it is brown on cream. I had originally rejected it because of the scale and the brown print. Now I think it’s perfect!
Check out this vintage Doll Man comic- so funny!
starting now. Getting going on these has not been a smooth process. First, I misplaced some of the toile that I’d bought especially… well I did finally find it. Isn’t it great? The Hawaiian theme?
And I’ve been having trouble dyeing flesh tones that I like- I am no expert with the dyes. As a result, it is difficult to reproduce colors that I’ve been satisfied with before. (Reminder to self- take more notes!) Also, all the scrap toiles I’ve been using take the dye differently. Arg. I have a crafting mantra- limit your variables… that’s the problem here- too many variables.
So- here is the first to be finished- on the left. I looked and thought and brought him to show off at doll club, but his skin was just too, too pink for me. I HAD to change it, but was afraid I’d ruin him… in the end, I knew I had to do something. I mixed up a wash of Burnt Umber acrylic paint and brushed it over him to tone down the color. Thank Goodness, he survived the operation! Phew! So, now we present Mr. Tattoo Man #1 in the next series!
I’m not sure you can even tell from the photos, but trust me, it’s better.
I sewed up 4 dolls. One, I managed to spill ink on- ink that does not come out … I told you I was having a rocky time with these. I have another one finished which I will post later. One more that I decided needed a color wash. We will see if he survives his treatment.
My plan is that when I have 5 or so finished, I will put them into my Etsy shop in a bunch. I will post and notify people who have written to me, when that will happen.
In my head and on the patterns, I’ve been calling this doll design “round bottom lady” which doesn’t sound quite nice when I post them… so then I have to come up with some other name and it never seems quite right. Anyway, not important.
Next! A Nature Guardian angel. I love these colors-
Some day I will find the photograph of my Mom in the caftan she made out of this crewel fabric- circa 1975.
Printed wool sweater and floral wire wings-
some side views-
and the back-
and here is the original sketch-
I imagine a guardian angel/fairy. The idea grew out of this baby. I guess it is suppose to work the other way around- creativity versus biology.
She has a sort of roaring twenties hat or crown thing going on. I love the felt roses. I will post a little tutorial on them later- lots of fun and very easy.
I made her thinking that she would hang on the wall.
I am having so much fun with the wool I dyed in January. I used some dyed angora sweater for the hair. And here are the wings-
I got a little frustrated with the wings. It took several tries. Some times the hardest thing to do is keep it simple.
I am having another attack of studio reorg. I have some great fabric for more tattooed guys- which ought to be happening soon- but I got it in January, I put it aside for later dyeing and now I can’t find it- ARG! Why does looking for fabric turn into clearing off bookcases and going through old magazines!