Category Archives: other projects

recent news- so much!

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My blog birthday was last week on February 13- 9 years old! Yes, I am amazed too! Nine years old is the age that I look back on with the most fondness in my own childhood. We’ll see what this year brings for my blog.

Okay, I have the Swaddled Baby pattern done. I am planning to have it available for sale on Wednesday evening. I’m going out of town for a few days and I don’t want to put it into my etsy shop if I’m not around to send out the pdfs. I will also be setting up a shop at Craftsy which does automatic downloads. See you on Wednesday!

I have recently gotten some very inspiring books-

Hurray! I now have my copy of Lilla’s book- I Just Like to Make Things: Learn the Secrets to Making Money while Staying Passionate about your Art and Craft and have started reading. It is so exciting, inspiring and beautiful! I am so proud to have a little part in it- yes, there I am!

I also bought myself a few other beautiful book treats last week- Mark Hearld: Workbook, an amazing, almost all picture book of the work of a British illustrator. Gorgeous.

And, Illustrators 53 , the Society of Illustrators Annual. I looked to see if I could get some back issues out of my local library and the most recent on they had was 1980! These books are keeping me motivated to keep on with my “draw more” New Years resolution. I’m doing pretty well on that, btw. I have missed days but keep going back and not giving up. The trick for me is that I try not to do it at the end of the day when I’m tired. And, in case you might have noticed something a little different here, I just signed up to be an Amazon affiliate so I will actually get a tiny kickback if you click the links and buy. Figured I’d give it a try, now that I am 9 years old!

And other things- I’ve been playing with colors and my dots and flags.

Making these is one of the ways I deal with myself when I’m freaking out about something- like feeling overwhelmed by computer ignorance when I’m doing the patterns. Step back, breathe deeply, calm down, play with the pretty colors.

And, as usual, lots of unfinished projects are littering my space. Right now, foxes and kitties.

So many projects, never enough time.

Gather Here reception

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There is going to be a little closing reception tomorrow night at Gather Here, 7pm. It was fantastic to have my dolls on display all month. Hope to see you there!

I’ve been taking care of various business this week. One thing on the list- clean the studio. This is mid-day when I was sorting through drawers- the type of project that gets done at the end of the clean-up.

Then, all done. Of course it was nearly dark by then so I have the yellow light affect in these photos.

So many clear surfaces- That won’t last long!

And now I can start messing it up again!

Wow! What a week!

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I taught 4 classes- 4 nights and 2 weekend days. Phew! And I learned so much.

First we did the owl as seen in the last post. Then the swaddled baby.

The 4 hours scheduled was nowhere near long enough. Next time, 6 hours. The faces take a good amount of time and concentration.

Then, 2 nights of Perfect Puppies. There was lots of laughing and doggie talk here. And the dogs came out great! Well, the almost finished versions that I saw. I hope I’ll get more photos of completed pups.

And lastly, 2 long afternoons of foxes.

Wow!

This is how it was from my perspective. I want to do more teaching so when Virginia of Gather Here asked me to do the Artist-in-Residence, we decided that I’d teach.  I volunteered to teach 4 classes, 3 of which I hadn’t even written the patterns for. Yes sir, jumping into the fire here. Because really, not only were the patterns not written, I have very little teaching experience. I’ve taught in my house where I have all my stuff and I taught a class with my doll club where I knew everyone. This past week was the first time I was working in a new environment with strangers- scary!  I’m a worrier and a homebody. Knowing I’d committed to being out of the house for a week, I worried that I’d get the flu (nope, my husband got it though), I’d have horrible insomnia the whole week, I’d forget everything I needed, etc, etc. I can always think of endless things to worry about! Of course it was all fine. I didn’t get sick, I was so tired at the end of the day that I crashed every night, and everything I forgot, they had there- of course, cuz you know, it’s a store!

Every day I’d start to get really anxious about half an hour before the class started. By 15 minutes into the class I was fine. Phew!

I was a little flummoxed by a different sewing machine but there was always a helper to work with the students on the machines. And I got to play with some new to me tools/toys like these light-weight Gingher scissors– I really liked them.

Honestly, I am so proud of myself for doing this. It was totally out of my comfort zone in a lot of areas- writing the patterns, teaching out of the house, so many people I didn’t know. But I learned so much by watching how people worked, the mistakes they made, the mistakes I made. I will be doing some tweaking on the patterns based on the experience. And everyone was so great! Thanks all you amazing students! I want to see more photos!

I hope to be finishing the patterns in the next few weeks. The Swaddled Baby will come first. I’ll keep you informed!

Owl Class

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My first day of Artist-in-Residence at Gather Here was fantastic. We had loads of fun in the owl class.

Mid-afternoon was quiet and I organized supplies and went over the owl pattern on my own.

The evening brought the students- everyone worked really hard.

And look who was hatched by the end of the evening- A Parliament of Owls!

Tonight we’ll be making swaddled babies.

making patterns

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I am working away at pattern-making and it is using up all my words. So, no blogging and no tweeting and no facebook.

This is the “basic baby”. I’m working on some embellished versions.

And the dog.

So many steps to think about. And lastly the fox but no pictures yet. Pattern making is very difficult- I used to think just for me but after being on twitter with other people who do this, I know it is hard for everyone. I am stressed out by the technical end of putting it all together because everything I’ve used before (old photoshop and indesign) will not work on my new computer. If I upgrade (expensive for something I rarely use) there will be the re-learning how to use it. All that is swirling in my head as I work on the directions, the photos and the diagrams. I will get it all worked out but in the mean time I will make myself crazy. Now, back to work!

the dolls of 2012

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Turns out it was the year of the fox for me. I made 25 foxes-

I made 18 men-

and 18 Women and girls.

12 fish, 7 owls,

3 kitties, 3 babies and 12 dogs.

I also made 14 pincushions including one for me!

This total is down from the last 2 years which make me kind of sad. Ah well. Today starts another year. Happy New Year 2013! Hope it is a good one for you!

Classes

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I am going to be the Artist-in-Residence at Gather Here in Cambridge in mid-January. I’ll be teaching a bunch of new classes! I knew if I said yes to doing the classes, I would have to finish some new patterns- you know, deadline incentive!

I’ve posted photos of examples but what we will make in the classes will all be unique because everyone will choose their own fabrics and colors. Here is what the week looks like.

I’m teaching the Owl on Tuesday, Jan 22 (although that one looks full already!)

On Wednesday, Jan. 23, I am teaching the Swaddled Baby. I am working (or maybe mostly procrastinating) on that pattern now. The class (and pattern) will include directions for needle-sculpting the face. Also a variety of designs from very basic using pretty ribbons, a design that includes a new baby’s name embroidered on the ribbon, a folk-art type design and one like this picture which I think of as a puzzle pattern (fit all the pieces together).

On Thursday Jan. 24, I will try to convince you that the patterns aren’t sacred and you can cut them up and tape them back together, make them bigger, make them smaller and generally take charge and get what you want. I will be specifically referencing the dog toy since dogs come in so many variations. On Friday, January 25 we will be making the dogs.

This is the basic design-

And above is a long version. Obviously there are lots of options to play with. This design is a basic toy with the clothing as part of the body.

On Saturday (1/26) and Sunday (1/27) will be a two-day class to make foxes. This class will cover constructing the fox and then dressing. You can make a girl or a boy fox. The clothing options will include a vest, jacket, dress, and/or skirt. You could make a kitty instead since it is the same basic construction and fits the same clothing.

This is my first adventure of 2013. I want to teach more so I am pushing forward full steam ahead! I’ll be teaching all these classes for the first time so there will be some unknowns- the biggest mystery for me is always how long a project will take another person. I’m hoping we’ve scheduled the right amount of time for the projects but I’m willing to be flexible and relaxed and hope we will all have fun. My teaching philosophy is that most people who take a class from me are looking to have a little time away from their everyday life and want play with new materials and tools- a mini-craft vacation. I hope to see you there!

The patterns will not be available for sale until after the classes so hopefully at the end of January.