more on the fairies

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I worked on these all day yesterday. Stuffed with wool. Wool dust is everywhere now. Sewed closed on the back-

sewed

Next they got their sexy figures and a start on their faces. I put pins in for their eyes before I embroider them in. It makes them seem more alive.

5dolls

I’m very fussy with the faces so I do a lot of picking out stitches. The purple/lilac body doll is one of the fairies from the first series I did in February. I embroidered a face, gave her some hair and embellished her with trim… but it wasn’t working for me. First she sat around for 5 months or so, then I took off the trim. More waiting then off with the hair, and finally yesterday, as I was working on these other ones, off with her face. Here we are, starting over.

face1

And another. I am happy with the lips and the noses so far today. I am working on the eyes. Next it will be eyebrows and hair.

face2

thinking about…

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musicians-

sketch

and working on fairies-

fairyparts

I had a wonderful surprise yesterday. Last month I cleared out a container full of old cassette tapes. I threw some away, others I piled into a box and brought up to my studio. Slowly I’ve been listening to them and deciding if they are worth keeping (a lot are damaged in some way- they sound like a warped record). It has been a strange trip back to other times in my life, as far back as the early 70’s. Yesterday, I tried out a tape with no label- I thought it might just be a blank tape. Little kid voices started singing “Happy Birthday to you”, slowly. Eleanor and Julian, I think. They got to “Happy Birthday, dear (who was it going to be for???) mommie/ mom” -they hadn’t agreed on that part I guess- I got chills! They went on to sing several more songs- talk about being sent back to another time! I could picture the whole project being organized and excecuted.

2 finished projects

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wow, 2 finished projects to post about in one day!

finished

Here is the finished “make-do” pin cushion for Tina.

pin cushion

I glued the pin cushion to the glass but also put these strings on. I thought it would be a good reinforcement and I also like how it looks-

pin detail

And here is Little Red Ridinghood 2-

rrh2

a detail of her face-

face

and body-

body

and here she is flat- “I fell down and I can’t get up!!!” – sorry, don’t quite know if anyone would be interested in this view but here it is anyway-

fall down

I put up some more dolls and postcards on my Etsy shop if you’re interested.

that blogging thing

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In real face to face life, I am with a lot of non-bloggers. People who don’t understand what a blog is, why or how someone would do it. Sharon of In a Minute Ago, has been thinking about it and explaining it clearly since she started blogging 2 1/2 years ago. Her most recent post on the subject is here and she talks about the community building aspect of blogging (among other things). If you are curious about the whole why and how, just read everything she’s posted under blogging– and the comments. It is all very interesting reading.

If any of this inspires you to read more blogs, check out this post about managing your blog reading.

And then, if you decide to jump in and start one, there is a great article on Whip Up about starting a craft blog. If you are not feeling like it is working out the way you had expected, read this other Whip Up article full of excellent craft blog advise.

Good luck!

and now…

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This is what I brought home from NIADA-

church hat

It is called “Church Hat”, is about 6″ tall with the pedestal, and is by Annie Wahl. If you are interested in seeing some more photos from NIADA- much better then mine- Deb Wood posted her’s here.

Since I’ve been home my mind has been spinning with ideas. I am inspired to do another gourd doll… a bit late for the NIADA show, but I don’t do well when I feel I am trying to fit my work into a challenge prompt. I cleaned a bunch of gourds and who knows, I might get around to painting them…

gourds

I had several things on my list of things to do, even before I left town. I had promised my sister a “make-do” pin cushion. She picked out the glass and the colors when she was visiting me last month.

pin cushion 1

I got it finished today. Here it is in bondage, no I mean being glued in place-

pin cushion 2

and now another Red Riding Hood. I’ve got to work through some of the bits I’m not satisfied with on the first one-

hood 2

I was so excited to see that my first Red Riding Hood was on Whip Up! Welcome anyone that has found me through Kath’s fantastic blog!

and then Chicago

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Well, actually, this sign was from the Minneapolis Airport. We don’t have signs like this in Boston-

sign

I was a day late getting to Chicago. My plane got so delayed leaving, that I spent another night in Minneapolis. I had one full day in Chicago with Eleanor- what a great way to spend my birthday! We did her errands, then went to Fabric Stores- 2121 21st St and Vogue Fabrics. I used the birthday excuse to buy myself some really special wool/angora(? or was it cashmere, I should have written it down) blend in my favorite acid green color. Then downtown to the Chicago Cultural Center and Millennium Park. Thanks Brandy for the fantastic suggestions. I’ve got a few left that I’ll have to do next time I’m in Chicago.

So here is the bean, of course… had to take a picture of that-

bean1

bean2

I don’t know how I managed to get those pictures with no one else around- there were crowds of people everywhere…

and this amazing fountain-

fountain1

it was hot as anything and I was very tempted to jump in with everyone else-

fountain2

fountain3

On Thursday morning, before flying home, I went out to Redmoon with Eleanor and she gave me a tour of the shop. Wow! They are doing some amazing stuff and it all looks like it would be so much fun to work on. Another life maybe.