Category Archives: progress report

tropical lady and some linkage

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I am working on some ladies-

I’ve put 6 together- the cutting and sewing phase. Or maybe I should call it the inside-out phase- all the parts of making them that I do before I turn them right-side-out. Hmm, I like that!  They will trickle out as I figure out who they are.

One done-

She is a tropical lady.

Hopefully, this one is next-

Did you see the enormous and beautiful mushroom that my son found in our neighborhood?

I found this interview of Sharon Schamber on Craft Sanity completely absorbing. The way she talked about creativity and ideas truely resonated with me. I love podcast interviews with artists where they talk about how they work, how they think, when and where they get their ideas. I end up participating in the conversation in my head! It helps me think about and make words for what I do too.

banner

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this is a side project I’ve been working on-

It is a banner for shows. To avoid the embarassment of realizing, halfway through the day, that I haven’t got my name anywhere in my show booth… yes, it has happened. Several times.

detail-

This is a carry-around project, a watch a dvd project, a project to do when other projects aren’t going right. I actually have a doll finished. I will probably post her tomorrow. I am still thinking about whether she is done.

happiness is starting new projects

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?  That has got to be the reason for what has been going on in my studio this past week!

I am having a little problem with my focus. I started by cutting out three grandmas- a doll that has been waiting in line to be made for a long time-

but I needed to cut out some babies too, because I had *an idea*. (six babies) Actually, several design images floating around in my brain that really need to land on something soon-

So, I’m going along, working on the grandmas, and I get frustrated with the face (that is why it is not showing in the picture). Instead of moving over to the projects that I have already cut out, I start thinking about some gifts on my list. So, I cut out three tote bags-

hmmm. Now they are partially done too. Oh well, sooner or later I will have a finished project to show you- because I’ve got 12 of them going here!

back to the studio

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I’m liking this fortune. Enough of the pretending that I am going to clean my house, organize my studio and weed the garden. Not working makes me crabby and anxious. So, back to my cool, dry (air-conditioned) oasis. Ahhhhh!

I need to get my hands back to wool. I’ve put the toile and tattoo men to the side for a while.

I’ve got poppies and Luna moths on my mind.

what a week!

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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-

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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!

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We split one of these-

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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.

tattoo man 3c

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

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I got one finished today-

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

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Vintage bias tape, rick rack and snap belt-

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Back view-

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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!

digression

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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-

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

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I did some more dye testing on various wools-
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And finally- the toiles and other “soon to be tattooed people” fabrics.

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And then I finished the nature lady.