Doll

Today (5/7) is the last day to vote on the Softies Awards… although if you haven’t already, by the time you read this it will probably be too late.

I am back at work-

a group (choir? gaggle? giggle? luncheon?) of big ladies in pastels.

I have been reflecting on how the internet and blogging community has become such a good part of my life.  In one week I met Ariana of Staindrop (Sunday) who gave me a fantastic walking tour of Portland. Then Sister Diane of Craftypod (Monday) for talk, coffee and recommendations for great places to visit in Portland.  Tuesday was spent visiting those places.

On Friday, back home, I spent the morning with Abby of While She Naps.  We  discussed all the favorite topics- kids, marketing on line, our blogs, other favorite blogs, the state of Art and art and the world.  Wonderful!  But not only that- we went out for a walk and stopped in a fantastic coffee/tea shop-  Look at this!

We split one of these-

Thanks Abby!

Sunday was a party to celebrate a little more then one year since Boston Handmade began.  It is my Etsy marketing and friends group.

Wow!  What a week!  And so many people look at me like I am some kind of nut when I say I blog, sell online, post on Flickr…  they just don’t know what they’re missing.

I am hoping to have 6 done by Monday and then post them all on Etsy.  Here they are, in progress, this morning.

I got one finished today-

I thought I’d ruined him with the acrylic wash, but I love how he turned out.

Vintage bias tape, rick rack and snap belt-

Back view-

I finished him at about 5:30 pm and then took him outside to photograph.  The light was just right and I got lots of photos that I really liked- not the usual situation- hurray!

Dolls in progress-

and the first flower pictures of the year-

hellebore-

and crocus-

definition- a turning aside (of your course or attention or concern)

That’s what happened to me, right after I finished Night Lady. I had the doll that became Nature lady cut out and the machine stitching done. It was time to stuff, construct and embroider. Instead I started thinking about the next project in the line- more tattooed men. I needed to gather the toile and dye it to flesh tones. I thought I would do that while working on the nature lady doll. yeah…

What happened was that I couldn’t find the scrap toile I bought on Ebay in January. It turns out to be difficult to find toile that works well- I need blue or black printed on white or cream, the images need to be clear, the scale has to be right. I somehow totally lucked out when I bought some scraps on Etsy last summer that I used on this guy. So, after looking in the obvious places, I ended up pulling everything in my studio apart, going through all the bins of fabric in the studio and then the back storage. That lead to sorting through papers, clearing out and reorganizing a bookcase, listing books to sell on Amazon (I call that as “un-buying”), packing up and shipping the 7 books I’ve sold so far (!), thorough vacuuming, etc., etc.! I did finally find the fabric, folded inside some wool fabric that was ready for dyeing. I didn’t find it until I’d given up and decided to dye the wool and so the bag got emptied and the fabric sorted. Oh well, it most certainly needed to get done.

I “processed” some recyclables- un-constructed, washed, bagged-

I pulled out all the striped fabrics that will be needed for the tattoo guys-

I did some more dye testing on various wools-

And finally- the toiles and other “soon to be tattooed people” fabrics.

And then I finished the nature lady.

I love pollarded trees.   It is something one rarely sees in the US.

I noticed a lot of these trees in London- they look like they have ornaments hanging from them.

And here is what I’ve been working on.  Trees on the mind.  I didn’t get much done on my travels.

This photo is from my walk yesterday.  Chilly flamingos!

I will be away from my computer until next Monday. Then I will give you the London travel report- Yep, we are off tonight! As usual, I have been crazy ever since hearing about the trip- I am not a relaxed traveler… I might have mentioned that before. One thing I worry about is having nothing to work on. That happened on one trip we took. Since then, I always try to bring a project to work on, just in case. Even if very little ever gets done. The picture is of my work table with 4 swaddled babies started. I thought I could bring them along to work on the embroidery. I will be happier just knowing I have them.

Thanks for the blog birthday good wishes! See you soon!

Actually, this photo is from Saturday-

She is finished now. I am doing the last step- cleaning off any marks from the water-soluble pen. Now she has to dry before I photograph her, so you’ll see all tomorrow.

And here is the next one, waiting for me-

They are Fairy Grandmothers.

Projects creep out of my studio when it is really cold in the attic.

I don’t know what it is about January.  I feel like I spend the whole month revving my engine… I seem to spend my time thinking- I could do this… or, well, I could do this other thing… well you probably know how it is…

I am doing a lot of sorting out in my studio, moving piles around and hopefully clearing some things out that I’ll never use.  I am slowly getting a few things done…

hopefully I’ll have something to show in the next few days.

And I am slowly starting to think about some new ideas and taking baby steps toward working on them.

Thanks so much for all your input on the “Buy Handmade?” question!  Hopefully, if anyone asks me again, I will have a better  answer.  I like thinking about the connection that happens when you buy or sell something handmade.  Interesting.

Getting something done for Lovely Hearts 2-

commission work- another tiki in tweed-

piles and projects, creeping out of my studio because the attic is just too cold.

I needed to make some more of these school picture atc’s. I’ve been thinking about boys, which I pretty much left out of the last batch, and glasses.

They should be done by tomorrow. I hope to post them and also the 2 moustached tattooed guys to Etsy tomorrow.

A story from when I was in Chicago for Thanksgiving- I was walking around in the neighborhood where my daughter lives. Down a side street, I saw an awning that said Toy Gallery. I got SO excited- a Gallery! for Toys! I rushed over to get a better look. It was a sex toy store… I still cannot believe how disappointed I was! I think in the nanosecond between seeing the sign and figuring out what the place actually was selling, I had developed a whole fantasy of what would be there- my fantasy best ever art gallery. Oh well… it amuses me every time I think about my reaction.

I had the pleasure of visiting Danny Mansmiths studio while I was there. I didn’t take any photos because he is always posting great pics of his studio at his flickrstream. I kept him away from his sewing machine for an hour or so- it was so much fun to see everything close-up and get to see the textures and layers of the fabric and the sewing. And gab.

I also connected with Brandy for a second… she was participating in a craft fair on the day we flew in. I really wanted to meet her so I went over. But, of course, meeting someone when they are at their booth at a craft fair isn’t exactly ideal conditions for craft/blog/get-to-know-someone-better talk. It is great for getting to see a bunch of someone’s artwork though, so that was wonderful!

We have had unusually wintery weather since Thanksgiving.  Right now everything is coated with a glaze of ice.

the boxwood-

and alyssum-