My Wing Chair

Waaaaaaaaaaayyy back last October, I signed up for a class with Jean Bernard to learn how she makes her fabulous Fantasy Chairs. However, my Artist's ADD kicked in before I got too far into it, and then I broke my arm... and well, anyway, I am finally working on it again. I got quite a bit accomplished this morning, but my hand is screaming "Enough!", so I will let the apoxy set up and get back to work on it again later.

This chair is being made for a specific doll, but once I got started on it, whimsy took over and it flew off in a VERY different direction from Jean's wonderful forest-y creation. Gives a whole new meaning to the concept of a "wing chair", doesn't it? I don't know if there is enough contrast in this photo to see them all, but there are 6 faces on the front...


... and 4 (so far) on the back. I am also designing a headpiece for the top set of faces, but I will be sculpting that out of polymer clay, as I need more detail than the apoxy take. I can't wait to get out my fibers and Paverpol and start embellishing!


Earlier this week I finally got around to opening the envelope of charms from FDA's charm swap. Aren't they great?? I put a few of them on a chain, but my hand isn't up to any more fine maneuvering today, so I'll see if I can get them onto their doll tomorrow. The little pink and white purse in the upper right is made of paper and is SO cute. It held one of the charms -- I'd love to get my hands on the template.


And finally, because I could work on her without pain, I finished my "Stress Angel" from a pattern by Jacque Uetz. Her skirt is actually a little drawstring bag to be filled with emergency chocolate. I LOVE this idea!

A New Toy

There is almost nothing as much fun as learning to play with a new process AND getting to go shopping at one of my favorite stores in the meantime. I bought some of Dharma Trading Co.'s discharge paste and used it on the Altered Clothing Round Robin outfit. This first photo shows the paste applied to the skirt. It became invisible when it dried.

Applying heat with a steam iron caused the color to disappear. It was a little like magic, watching the design reappear as a ghost image.

I thought about leaving it just like that, but I just couldn't, so I pulled out my Dyna-Flo paints and added a little detail. The first squares were too flat, so I shaded them with bits of other colors to give a little depth. The shiny squares in the top row are actually Duo Green Lumiere, though as usual, the camera's flash distorts the true color.

And here is the whole outfit finished and ready to be packed BEFORE its mailing date. Woo Hoo!
I've been playing with other things this week as well, but I'll save those for another post. I finally got around to starting my chair from Jean Bernard's online class -- it is taking a VERY different direction from where I originally intended it to go! I'll post photos when I get a little more of the detail sculpted. I am EXCITED about this project, as I haven't been excited about anything in a very long time.

Slowly returning to life

I want to thank everyone who has been so kind to check up on me in my absence -- has it really been a whole month?? I got my cast off on January 28, but have been wrestling with pain and depression ever since. I did NOT expect to lose so much of the use of my hand. After 6 weeks of forced immobility, it was a blow to realize that I still couldn't do so many of the things I used to be able to do as easily as breathing. It is getting better, but I still take a lot of Advil and continue to use my left hand for a many tasks.

Spring is coming though, and my spirits and hand have improved to the point where I feel like doing more than the bare minimum. This is my kitchen window -- aren't the candles pretty? It gets SO dark here in the winter, and my candles are such a comfort. Yeah -- I have regained enough grip strength to use the lighter again!

The dressform holds my next project for my Altered Clothing Round Robin. Oh my, I like this outfit! It took me a while to think of what I wanted to do -- because there are two pieces, I think this one is a little more challenging. I want to balance the top and bottom, so I am going to play with a design around the skirt hem to coordinate with the pocket on the cardigan. I got to place an order at Dharma Trading Co. to get what I wanted. That is enough to brighten my day right there, LOL!


If you look close out the window, you can see that the sun is shining today. The worst of the Winter Dark is just about over. At last! If it warms up just a little bit more, I am going to see if I can take my bike out for a spin.