Yippee! Finally, finally, the stars have aligned and I have gotten myself one of Rosa’s wonderful dolls. Of course, it is much better in person then this photo-
there is a better photo on her site here.
this and that
Our elusive kitty, Mango. He doesn’t usaually allow photos.
Fall flowers- asters and chrysanthemums. We haven’t had a frost yet and the flowers are still blooming.
How I drive myself crazy… working away and lose one eye. Search everywhere, waste way too much time. It showed up eventually.
I am working on a group of sweater babies. I thought I should finish them up before I get distracted by the robot.
yesterday and today
Last night was a farewell dinner with Mary before she returns to Portugal. I’m so glad we got to meet and become friends while she was here. Someday I will get to Portugal and sit around in her house and talk dolls again.
Today, a friend from my doll club spent the day with me and we worked on robot dolls together. She wants me to make a pattern, but since that is unlikely to happen in the near future, I figured I’d just show her what I do. It was a great day.
And look at the great stuff she brought me- buttons
and beautiful vintage ribbons-
Some other fun stuff too, but not so pretty for photos!
swaddled babies
I did the adjustments from this photo. In case you don’t notice, I changed the hats on 2 of them- the beige checks and the fall color stripes. Made them bigger, 2 layer and not stitched right to the edge so there is more dimension to the whole face. I took off an inch or more from the red baby’s blanket on the bottom. It makes for a better proportion in my eye. I’m picky, picky, picky about this stuff.
#2- recycled woven cashmere check, recyled vintage sweater hat
#3- recyled wool sweater body and hat, cashmere face
#5- vintage wool knit fabric (fulled), vintage ribbon, recycled wool sweater hat
all stuffed with polyester stuffing.
moo
my moo cards came – the 100 batch that I paid for, not the 10 that were free.
They are fun- and interesting to look at and think about. They are a long thin shape. Some of the images work really well, some are pretty awful. I think I like partial faces the best. The colors work in some, not in some others. I will use them for tags- they are perfect for that. A bit small for business cards, but maybe okay.
I was having fun, clicking around Sharon’s Saturday blog round-up, and came across this great blog- Woof Nanny. Two postings really caught my interest. This one about making children’s clothing from tablecloths. It is so interesting because I am always trying to use vintage table linens in my work. I also like this post about old children’s books, especially The Make-It-Book. She talks about pouring over it as a kid. I had this same book when I was little, I still have it and like hers, it is held together with old yellow scotch tape. I think it was probably the most used book in our house (by me anyway) until I was about ten. Well, actually after that I started using it for babysitting ideas.
I worked on the swaddled babies today and fixed up what needed fixing. I’ll post them again tomorrow.
Day of the Dead postcards
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
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.
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.
Then, I got to work on my Day of the Dead postcards for a swap.
I’ve worked on them all day- I was hoping to get them done today, but not gonna happen.
and other stuff
I forgot to mention this the other day- I got a nice email saying that I had been nominated to be a featured website here at Indie-O-Rama. I tend to be a bit dense about this kind of stuff and I don’t really get what this is all about, but it looks like a new site geared toward promoting independent web-based art/craft businesses. I guess I qualify and I am very pleased!
Yesterday I went to the RISD Alumni Sale in Providence, RI. It was fantastic- the artwork, the crowds, the people. I saw Teresa of Sewing Stars. And I actually introduced myself! I bought one of her fantastic owls-
and her pattern book which I had been meaning to get, but forgot about. I am very interested in how different people put together patterns.
I was so pleased to finally meet Megan in person- I’ve been online friends for a year or so. I loved seeing her work too-
I also saw a few other people/artists I know that I wasn’t expecting- such a nice surprise. It was such a perfect day and I hope everyone made tons of money!
When I got home, there was an envelope from Eleanor- this is what she sent me-
does she have my number or what! She found it here at Microcosm Publishing, which she found via Zack’s blog. Thanks everybody, for being part of presents for Mimi. Now I need to go find something to attach it to…
Hope everyone is having a great Columbus Day week-end.
postcards- girl series
Here are the other 9-
happy days
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.
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!
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-
Now I have to do the other 9 and make another series!