back to work, sort of…

Posted on November 14, 2006 by mimik

I had a great expedition up to the Fiber Studio. It was a beautiful day for a drive and so after scooting up on the highways, we meandered back to Boston on back roads. I bought wool roving and batting to do wet felting. There was such an amazing assortment of colors and types of sheep and all kinds of other variables that I don’t know how to figure into the equation… so I chose solely based on color. Well, actually I bought a bag of assorted colors (the smaller balls) and then filled in with what wasn’t in that. I like playing with felt for doll hair and embellishments. I was inspired by these juggling ball also, so who knows where I’ll go with it.

wool

Now I’m back to work starting with postcards. Here is what I’ve done in the past 2 days- 7 postcards, ironed onto the backing but I still have to satin stitch around the edge and then cut them apart. I’m working on a “Seasons” theme.

postcards

Day of the Dead postcards

Posted on October 12, 2006 by mimik

for a swap. I need to send out 4. This was probably the hardest swap I’ve done. I struggled to find a way to relate to the subject. I looked at google images to get inspiration. I ended up thinking about it in terms of the end of the natural year… as in the garden, autumn.

In the end, I am happy with how they turned out- especially this last one. The actual cards took me a lot longer then I expected/hoped. All the embroidery is labor intensive and my fingers are like pin cushions now. I’ve got to get back on track to make things for the sales I’m doing.

progress report

Posted on October 11, 2006 by mimik

I thought these were done- the blue one was finished months and months ago, but I ‘ve made 3 more. I brought them down from my studio, set them up to photograph and then I could see… not done. Hrmph! They’ve gone back up for a little more work.

babies

I did a little rearranging this morning. I cleaned out a drawer in my desk- it was full of patterns for dolls and doll clothes, most of which I’ve never looked at, none in the past 2 years. I put them all into a box and filled up the drawer with my embroidery wool- much better use of the space.

wool

Then, I got to work on my Day of the Dead postcards for a swap.

dodead

dayof d

I’ve worked on them all day- I was hoping to get them done today, but not gonna happen.

postcards- girl series

Posted on October 8, 2006 by mimik

Here are the other 9-

postcard 1

happy days

Posted on October 4, 2006 by mimik

Some good stuff has been happening lately.

On Sunday, Mary, of A Saloia fame, came over to see me. She is with her family in the Boston area and so we were able to meet up. We sat around in my studio, looking at fabric, chatting about doll-making and blogs, among other things. Then we wandered down the street and went to my corner fabric store where we each managed to find something we “needed”. Now I have some pretty fabric bits that will remind me of our afternoon together when I use them.

I have finished up my atc’s for Kirsten’s Bird atc swap. I made 10 and 6 will be sent off to Minneapolis. I still need to make the little envelopes. They are always fun.

atc

On Tuesday, I was the very grateful recipient of a treasure trove of embroidery threads- Mostly wool (about 200! skeins) but also some wonderful embroidery thread called Danish Flower Thread. It is a matte, vegetable-dyed thread (I don’t know if that is the right word?) in beautiful soft colors. I love sewing with it. Lucky, lucky me!

wool

And lastly, one of the reasons I’ve been doing postcards recently , is that I have several friends who have been ill and need them. I went to see my friend in the hospital today. She was so much better then I was expecting and I can tell you, I am very relieved. I was so happy to be able to give her this card-

postcard

Now I have to do the other 9 and make another series!

September

Posted on October 1, 2006 by mimik

flickr mosaic

10 postcards- house series, 2. boyfriend 5, 3. boyfriend 4, 4. all the boyfriends, 5. boyfriend 3, 6. big man 7- boyfriend 2, 7. postcard- beach lady, 8. postcard- girl with flowers, 9. postcard- lady with bird, 10. postcard- house, 11. postcard- pink girl, 12. postcard- rain girl, 13. night cat postcard, 14. trees postcards, 15. topiary postcards, 16. big man- boyfriend, 17. hydrangea 4, 18. hydrangea 3, 19. hydrangea 2, 20. hydrangea, 21. ff9- granny fairy, 22. ff8, 23. ff7 face, 24. fat fairy 7, 25. fat fairy 6- spring September on flickr.

Great idea Hanna!

postcards- house series

Posted on September 29, 2006 by mimik

This is what I was talking about here– the last paragraph about doing sets. Ten postcards, house with window, a face in the window. The same, but all different. This way works better for me, I think.

house series

house 1

house 2

house 3

house 4

house 5

house 6

house 7

house 8

house 9

house 10

I really need to find the manual for my camera and figure out how to adjust the setting so that the night postcards will not come out over-exposed. I hate seeing the rich colors and face details wash out… but I have an overwhelming need to post them anyway!

the rest of the postcards

Posted on September 18, 2006 by mimik

I will put them up in my etsy shop later- I am still thinking about/working with them now.

beachlady

girlflowers

housechild

ladybird

pinkgirl

raingirl

this one is washed out- my camera would not cooperate.

nightcat

so here is a close-up. You can sort of see the stitching on the moon.

cat

I’ve got some more Boyfriend dolls in the works. And I want to do more of these postcards- figure out how I want to approach doing them. I usually don’t work on two separate ideas at the same time, but somehow both of these projects have got my focus right now.

okay… postcards!

Posted on September 17, 2006 by mimik

I’ve finished 4 so far- 2 trees

trees

and 2 topiary

topiary

I have some problems with the stitching puckering the fabric- sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn’t-

this is what I am using inside these postcards. It is great- very firm and iron-on adhesive on both sides.

pellon

I should do sets of these cards- 10 (or some other random number) of each design at a time. Then I could concentrate on color, stitching and fabric work instead of trying to make each one completely different. As I was making such a big mess the other day, I was thinking that I was approaching this project all wrong. Somehow I was trying to start from a detail (my little sketches) and work out instead of having an image/ composition that I would be working toward.