What I'm Working On This Week...

 

 

Hi there! I haven't posted in a few weeks and just thought I'd show you some of what I'm working on.

 I worked on Dollie Doll's facial features some more and added some hair. She's the 36" bed doll I'm making with a cloth body and a paper clay head. I also put a layer of black gesso on the head/ shoulders before adding the first layer of flesh ochre acrylic paint. She is now sitting upright in a drawer waiting for me to put her makeup on and attach her limbs, before dressing her. She's being very patient with me. :)

I decided to make another attempt at paper cloth making, and, using stuff that was handy to me, this is what I came up with. It's about 12 x 18", white cotton, with tissue paper, tea bags, napkins, ink blots, magazine words, and a written "to do" list, among other things, glued on with gel medium. This is my third attempt, and I haven't sewn on any of them yet, but I've discovered that if I want to use them as book covers I need to put the most interesting part on the right side of the cloth, so that it will be on the front of the book instead of the back. :o Anyway, it's fun to do! :)

I also got the bug, for some reason, to learn to weave, and in my research on the web, found out how to weave with yarn on cardboard, with instructions on making a cardboard loom. I tore the bottom out of a sturdy card box, measured 1/4" increments, dotted them, then cut them in each end of the board, then, using a skein of variegated crochet yarn and a yarn needle, I proceeded to weave a bookmark using a very basic weave. I enjoyed it immensely. It's very meditative. Above is while it's still on the board. I had to do more research on how to get it off and finish the ends.

This is the finished bookmark. I didn't leave the end threads long enough for longer fringe, and that also made the knots hard to tie. I would have also liked the bookmark itself a little longer, but, I'll know better on the next project. I learned what not to do next time, plus I enjoyed doing it, so it's all good! I'm thinking now I'll make one of thinner yarn with beads on the ends. I'll have to make another loom though. I have some mat boards upstairs that should work nicely for that! :)

I've also made another bunch of prints using my Gelli Arts printing plate. Love that thing! I haven't maade pictures yet though. And I've been working on the huge Contrary Angel painting some more. She's getting there! If I could ever work more than a few minutes at a time without being interrupted I might get her done. But there's really no hurry to see the final outcome. The process and the learning is what counts, and she's been one heck of a journey for me. :)

LOLLY- Articulated Paper Clay Doll

 

Lolly has been in progress for a while and is my second attempt at a paper clay doll, the first attempt at articulation. She started out as an empty plastic lime juice squeeze bottle and a couple of sketches.

 

Oops! Caught by some stray spray ink!

 

 

Her head was shaped from a wad of tin foil and taped to her body with masking tape, which was then used to cover the whole thing.

 

The whole thing was covered with paper clay and features added to the face. Funny, I never did imagine her with hair after the first sketch.

Legs and arms were formed from rolls of paper clay, holes were punched in the top of each, and they were left on wax paper to dry. Here I've used straight pins to hold them in place. The feet and hands went kind of wonky on me, but it adds character, I think.

The limbs were taken back off and everything painted and let dry, then re-attached with the floral wire, which is really not strong enough, but it's what was handy. I tried some hair, but it just didn't work for her. She insisted on her favorite hat!

I tried to talk her out of this outfit, but she insisted. The skirt is a lace collar off a flea market clown doll with a can-can of net under it. The hat is meant to be kind of ragged and has a satin flower on it. It has great sentimental value to her.

The scarf was the last thing added. She wanted this color blue, and since I couldn't find anything else, I took a strip of bandage gauze and painted it with watered down fluid acrylic and let it dry before wrapping it around her neck. She was very pleased with her ensemble and did a little twirl, of sorts.

Lolly is kind of rough looking, but she's been through a lot of stuff. Despite that, she is a pretty happy person, though a solitary tear rolls down her cheek. I've learned a lot from her through our journey together and look forward to making her another friend soon. :)

HAPPY EASTER

Wishing you all a happy Easter with bunnies, eggs, family, and friends, but let's not forget the real reason for the Easter celebration, the resurrection of Christ and what He did for us on the cross. :)

Enjoy the day!

Shopping Trip and WIPS

I actually typed this whole post a few days ago, only to discover I was having internet problems and blogger hadn't saved most of it to publish. Interruptions kept me from finishing it until now. Hopefully, I will get it posted before I get interrupted again. :)

Tuesday, Mar 27, was our 42nd anniversary and hubby and I had a spontaneous day out, just the two of us. We couldn't decide what we wanted to do, if anything. We had to take some stuff to the bank in town, so after we dropped it off, we just started driving northwest and wound up an hour and a half later in one of the nearest large towns (or small city?) to us in a huge shopping center. The drive was beautiful and we chatted and laughed as we drove, just enjoying being together.

I had received a Hobby Lobby gift card for Christmas from our nephew and his family, so we went in Hobby Lobby for a few minutes, where I spent the gift card, plus a couple of extra dollars, on a crop-a-dile II. Then we had a delicious lunch at Ruby Tuesday's, which we relaxed and took out time with.

After lunch, I went to JoAnn's Fabrics while hubby went to a sporting good store. I found way more great things than I could afford, but I came home with a sheet of plastic canvas for stenciling, etc, a liquid gold leaf pen, a fabric bundle, a sample pack of glitter, a small silk pouch, mama some pipe cleaners, and a CPS magazine.

We enjoyed frozen yogurt at Sweet CeCe's, which was do-it-yourself and the NY Cheesecake yogurt with almond slivers was really good. That's the only shopping we did in the center, but on the way out of town, we stopped by a Goodwill store. It took some digging, but I found an unopened box of Anna Griffin print-it-yourself wedding invitations with background paper of navy/cream, invitation cards of cream with silver borders and rsvp cards to match, with navy ribbons and two sizes of envelopes. 25 of each. I also found two bundles of nice napkins, also unopened, and some unopened Disney stamps, all for about $8.00!

Close up of the smaller napkins. Metallic gold borders with black/white drawings of the four seasons, and the words are in German. There are about 25 of these. How cool is that?

The larger napkins, also about 25 in pkg, are about hankerchief sized and have a cloth like feel to them. I love the colors and vintage look! I have already used both napkins on journal pages, plus I have plenty to share in a stash swap when one comes along. I loved finding these treasures!

The drive home was beautiful also, and we got here safe and sound, plus hubby surprised me with a copy of the Cloth, Paper, Scissors book. It was a good day of bonding and we're grateful to still have each other and that we were able to enjoy the day just enjoying each other's company.

 These are a couple of projects in progress. The one above is a sleeve for my e-reader. I needlefelted some yarn samples onto the edge of a piece of needlefelted material, lined the inside with a colorful turquoise, black, and white cotton cat print, and used bookbinding thread to stitch the edges together. I still need to attach some sort of fastener to the top to keep the reader from sliding out in my purse, and I may or may not add an embellishment to the front. The needlefelted material is thick and soft enough to help protect the reader from bumps and bruises in my purse too.

I had a 9x12" signature left over from the journal I made for Misty Mawn's class, so I cut it in half to make two smaller signatures. I used a scrap of canvas for a soft cover and stenciled on it with modelling paste, let it dry, and rubbed over it with titanium buff fluid acrylic paint. Enough of the pink was still wet enough to mix with it, giving it a pink tint.

The signature already had five holes punched in it, so I just went with it, and, using bookbinding thread, stitched them in in the uneven holes, giving a wonky look. I plan on carrying this one in my purse, so that's ok. It'll also be light, and if I need more signatures I can add them.

Since these pictures were made I practiced using the crop-a-dile to put little red eyelets on the edges of the closure. I kind of messed up the ones on the front, but I finally got the hang of it on the back ones. :) I tied a piece of the bookbinding thread through the center eyelet on each side, then tied it in a bow. I also added the title, Jots and Tittles, in black marker on the front. I will do some more to the covers when it tells me what else it needs. Right now I'm thinking I need to take some of the buff paint off the dancing ladies for a start?

Hope you enjoyed seeing what I came home with and some of what I'm working on. I sure am enjoying playing with everything. :) 

Gift Boxes/Organizers

Look what I found at Goody's after Christmas sale! They are to put bottles of wine. or bottles of anything, in for a gift, but I saw storage possibilities for my work space, plus they're so pretty.

They are twelve inches tall and made of heavy cardboard and all three cost me less than ten bucks. It doesn't matter if they are Christmasy. I can use a little, or a lot, of joy and cheer all year. :)