Between our crazy-busy schedule and the crazy-awful weather we've been having, I haven't been able to do much more than dab at my paintings now and again. I had hoped to be done with both of them by now, but at least I'm making progress. I have only a few more bits of base color to lay in on my Laurely Birch style painting before I can start adding the details and bling that make her paintings so appealing. I've already begun to add some gold metallics...

Hmmm... gotta fix her lips and chin too I see.

I signed up for a class on Doll Street by Linda Misa to learn her style of collage painting. This is a FUN technique! I'm afraid that I got a little carried away with my background paint layers so you can't see much of the original collage any more, but I am still very pleased with the way the background turned out. Right now I'm a little stuck trying to decide how I want the mermaid's tailfins to look...


Family business called us up to Washington State earlier this month to attend our new baby granddaughter's baptism ceremony. My Dad even flew in from Iowa! I hadn't seen him since my Mom's funeral, and I didn't realize how very much I had missed him until I was able to hug him again. I couldn't resist having a group snapshot taken, even this is the sort of photo I usually avoid.


While Jake was holding Annika after church I couldn't help but take notice of their matching haircuts. This kind of photo is much more fun to set up and capture. I laughed my head off when I saw what I had done in the playback. I'm afraid that I have proven to my DIL once and for all that yes, I am a little demented.

One thing leads to another

I had so much fun working on the little beaded fetishes that I sort of got on a roll with beading this week. This is good because a lot of little annoyances came up in other areas of my life, and the repetitive stitching and the sparkly little beads were very soothing. I finished the two pink ones.

I plan to add a strand of beads between the "hands" to use as a hanger. I think they will look nice hanging on the bulletin board by my desk at work.

If you want to try one yourself, the templates can be found here, as well as a gallery of other beaders interpretations of the designs. I have just one tip -- don't stuff the shapes too full. Not too floppy either, but just full enough to hold a shape. Mine are a little fat, especially the one with the butterfly bead.

I started beading the little orange one, but while rummaging for more bead colors I picked up an old project that will eventually become the centerpiece of a new collar. I finished the bead embroidery this morning with my first cup of coffee. Now I just need to decide which color I want to do the edging with. It's going to be a pretty dramatic piece.

One thing I have noticed is how much faster I have become at this. That second fetish just flew off my fingers! Practice, practice, practice... if only everything were so much fun!

Just one last thing -- I finished my Dark Fairy doll and submitted photos to be judged. Now I just have to wait for the results. I will post photos as soon as I am allowed. Wish me luck!

Waiting on Drying Time

I truly believed I had finished my Dark Fairy Challenge doll last night, but then I thought of one more thing I wanted to do, so I guess it's fair to say that the obsession continues. An obsession it has become! I worked straight through the weekend on it (OK, I did manage to get a little laundry done, but we went out for pizza again, LOL) and it has consumed every leisure moment so far this week as well. I am loving every minute of it.

I'll be able to share pictures soon -- the deadline for entries is next week -- but in the meantime I want to put up what I've been working on to pass the time while the the layers dry.

This first photo is of the canvas I posted a while ago with the decopodged gingko leaves. My intention is to create an image styled after the work of Laurel Birch, specifically the "Swan Goddess" from her Legends book. The leaves are adding such a cool textural element under the paint, really adding to the piece as a whole. I want to wait to work more on this one though until I can concentrate on the painting and do it real justice.

So far, so good!

These little guys I found on my beading desk. I have no idea when or why I began them, but I knew right away that they would make a fun pick-it-up-and-put-it-down project for me to play with that wouldn't suffer too badly if I got distracted. I can't believe I've almost finished the big one already!



Hey, I just discovered that this is my 180-something-th post on this blog. (Oh my!) I believe I will offer one of these beaded beings as a drawing prize for my 200th post. Sounds like fun to me!

Undercover creativity

It has been a busy and exciting week, and I am deep into the creation of a new doll, one quite different from any I have made before. Unfortunately, I can't share pictures here yet because it is destined for a challenge on Doll Street. It is coming along better than I could have hoped for though. I am experimenting with many new processes, and while none of them have turned out *exactly* as I had planned, each one has worked well in ways I couldn't have anticipated. Very exciting!

I do have a few things I CAN share -- both of the girls have Occasions this week, so I made them each a piece of jewelry to wear. We went to an absolutely wonderful bead shop in Poulsbo, WA last month. They had a delicious assortment of incredible sterling silver findings, and I HAD to have some, so I let each of the girls choose a pendant and a clasp for a necklace. I was amazed and amused at how the girls' choices reflect their personalities.

This one is Alice's, which she plans to wear to her first prom tonight. The pendant is a large pearl wrapped in silver, and the dangles are kyanite and pearls. They are strung together with seed beads, more pearls, and Swarovski crystals. That clasp is so beautiful that it should be featured in a necklace of its own, but I stuck to my word and let her put it on her necklace.

My Lydia is crazy about dinosaurs, so she was excited to find a pendant of fossilized ammonite. Her necklace is make of jade, dyed quartz chips, and "Vitriol" Swarovski crystals which are the coolest color, a green that flashes purple in the light.

We chose the colors to go with the dress I made for her originally, but she ended up wearing something else for the banquet. She still loves the necklace though.

I'll share one last picture before I close for today (and go check and see if my doll is dry enough to work on some more, LOL.) This is Lydia at her coronation as Marion County's Dairy Princess-Ambassador for 2008. She has been working toward winning the title since she was a little girl when her aunt was the princess. Congratulations Lydia!

Time to play

I confess to being disappointed that I won't be able to take the credit for Lydia's dress tomorrow night. No lack of ego here, LOL! But it was such a headache and took up so much time... and I just got a call from my oldest son -- he and his wife are going to be able to come down from Washington to attend the banquet with us. NOW I'm excited and relieved that she has a lovely dress to wear and I don't have to sew any more.

Time to play!

I truly believed that I was finished with my contribution to this month's Altered Clothing round robin project. I got to work on this fabulous vest -- isn't it amazing? I found some wild and lovely orange/fuschia irridescent silk to use as binding for the armhole edges. The colors work perfectly with what has already been done, and there was enough left on the bolt to buy some extra to make something for myself as well. (I don't know what yet, but it was too fabulous to leave behind.)

I intended to mail it on last week, but my contact person was in no hurry to receive it, so I kept it long enough to do a little more to it. I cut a few more bias strips to use as ribbon and sewed them to her headdress with beads. NOW I feel I have done enough and will put it in tomorrow's mail. Whew! Another one done.

Next Saturday is Alice's first prom. Their theme this year is a masquerade, so I volunteered to make her mask. I haven't had this much fun playing with glue and scissors in a long time!

I began with a plain black plastic form from the craft store (like the one on the left in the photo) which I cut into a more pleasing shape and sanded down. Then I added paint (layers and layers of paint!) feathers, paperclay, microbeads, glitter, rhinestones, and varnish. I see by looking at the photo that I want to add a little more shading around the paperclay shapes.



Unfortunately, she is getting dressed at a friend's house so I won't be able to see the whole costume in person. However, she is going to take my camera along and get pictures. I have threatened her with dire things if she forgets!

Lost It

It's been over a year now since my Mom died, and I thought I would go back to work on the portrait of her as a young girl that I started before I knew she was so sick. I am happy with the skin tones, and the way the background is taking shape, but I have lost the likeness. It's still a cute picture of a girl and a kitten, but it isn't Mom anymore.

Thank goodness for digital cameras! These instant pictures really help me see where I go wrong. Anyway, since this photo was taken, I have painted out the eyes, which have somehow grown apart (!) and will wait for the paint to dry a bit before I try again.



Have I mentioned how much I adore the smell of oil paint, LOL?

I have been frantically sewing on a dress for Lydia, but I bit off WAY more than I can chew. The pattern is much more complicated than I anticipated. The technical aspects I can handle -- it only takes a little patience -- but the fitting is driving me insane. I do believe we may go dress shopping this weekend after all. The very idea fills me with so much relief... I don't remember dressmaking EVER being this stressful before.

In the meantime, I finally thought of an idea to use the beautiful gingko leaves my wonderful sister-in-law sent me. This is just the beginning...



They are such gorgeous things!

Spring Break?

Oh, my poor neglected blog. I have been so busy this past month that I haven't gotten the chance to sit at the computer much. I have been sewing, but not much worth photographing. I WILL have stuff to share soon though.

In the meantime, I'll put up some of my other recent photos. I've been reading a lot working hard to learn Photoshop Elements, as well as the concepts of good photography. I have a decent camera and it really is about time I learned how to use it to its full capacity -- I hope to work up to deserving a DSLR soon.

We took the girls to the Coast for Spring Break last week. Now, when you go to the beach in the springtime, do you think it is unreasonable to expect a little fun in the sun? Well OK, this IS Oregon and they don't call us webfoots for nothing, but we had SNOW. It was too weird and amusing to get worked up over, but I still wish it had been just a *little* warmer.

This is the only sunset we had all 3 nights we were there. That black cloud on the right was on its way in to dump yet more snow on us.

We enjoyed our room very much, and got quite familiar with the cable channels on the TV. We don't have cable at home, so that in itself was a little treat. I'm not much for TV though, so I played with my camera instead. Look at me -- I *finally* understand F-stops!


















So maybe sharing portraits of my family's feet is a little weird, but understanding focal length has been a challenge to me for so long that I HAD to play with some alternative points of view just to prove to myself that I could finally do it.

And hey, does this family know how to kick back, or what, LOL!













I don't want this blog to become a forum for sharing too many family pictures, but I have to put up one more. I am so proud of this photo! This is Jake holding his granddaughter for this first time. Annika is not a tiny newborn, but doesn't her little hand look almost lost in his? (Jake's hands really ARE that big.)

The original was in color, but the image worked so much better when I rendered it in black and white instead. I think I want to crop it just a little more and maybe up the contrast a smidge...

My Granddaughter has arrived!

Are we there yet?

The one thing I have discovered about taking classes with Jean Bernard is that "Baby, it ain't over 'til it's over". Each project goes through so many incarnations, and each look is a complete and total change from the one before... it's enough to leave one dizzy!

Anyway...

I spent yesterday painting. Dibs here... dabs there... My *intention* was to work in shades of blue over a silver base to give a pewter-y fantasy effect. Sigh... I simply couldn't keep my brush out of the gold paint. Or the gold microbeads. (I LOVE those little beggars!!) I learned that putting gold metallic and copper metallic paint side by side on the pallette and using them together makes an utterly rich and delicious blend. Topped off with a highlight of interference gold... well, as you can see, my "pewter" chair... isn't!


This is what I have so far. I am much more satisfied with it this morning than I was when I quit working last night. I'm not sure it's finished yet though. I guess I will just have to let it percolate for a while.


I really REALLY love the colors on the underside of the wings. So... what do you think? Is it finished?

Whew...! I've been at it all day (don't you love weekends?!) The only reason I quit working on the chair is because there is a bunch of stuff that has to dry before I do any more. It's a good thing I have a loving a supportive family that also likes takeout -- notice the pizza boxes on the table behind the chair?

I'm sorry for the lack of contrast in these photos. I layered a piece of stockinette knit left over from a previous project to the wings. It was dyed BRIGHT fuschia, so while it gave a marvelous web-y texture to the surface of the wings, it was also horribly distracting. To tone it down I gave the whole thing a coat of metallic silver paint, which creates a horrible glare in the flash. Unfortunately it's too wet to move down in to my light tent, and I want to post this update tonight, sooooo... I hope you can see enough detail to make it worth the look.

Front view -- notice the smidge of fuschia left on the right wing. It's too bad I didn't take a photo before painting over all that color. It was seriously wild! The bits of white around the edges are new apoxy added after the coat of paint, and some coarse texture medium which will eventually dry clear. I'll give the whole thing a remedial coat of paint tomorrow, and then I can begin adding color. Making progress... woo hoo!


Here's the back view -- it has as much going on behind as ahead. I can NOT wait until tomorrow to play some more.

And finally, I know that hard winter still has a lot of the country in a tight grip, but this popped up in my garden yesterday. Take heart everybody -- spring is coming!

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.

Where There's A Will...

...there IS a way!

I have begun a new Round Robin project, this one centering on altering a piece of clothing. This sweatshirt is the first piece I am to work on.


I had originally intended to applique geometric shapes of hand-dyed silk in a cascade down one shoulder, but some experimenting with a needle and thread left me hopelessly frustrated and in too much discomfort to continue. (Only 15 more days...!) Lumiere paint and some rubber stamps I bought on a whim to the rescue, and my left hand was up to the job.


It's a pity that the camera can't capture the complexity of the paint colors. They are much prettier in real life than they are on my monitor. It was also so much fun that I REALLY wanted to continue adding to this piece (Hey look at me - I'm being creative again!) but other artists will need room to add their touches as well, so I stopped. I just have to heat set the colors and it's ready to go in the mail. On time no less!

I'll end with a fun thing I found on FabricDollArt. This was such a quick and fun quiz, and I really LIKE my answer for a change, LOL!

Here's to an Orange 2008!!

You Need Some Orange in Your Life

Orange will make you feel open, lively, and artistic. And with a little orange, you will project an aura of friendliness. If you want bolder experiences, you've got to get a little orange in your life! For extra punch: Combine orange with red or yellow The downside of orange: It's too powerful and unusual for some people to deal with The consequences of more orange in your life: You will become more creative in almost every aspect of your life You will find humor in the most serious and dismal situations You will feel like life is exciting, even when you're doing ordinary things

What Color Do You Need?

Unexpected Blessings

My arm is healing nicely -- the doctor is impressed with how little pain I have considering how bad the break was. I feel as if I've done nothing but whine about my cast since she put it on, so it's time to QUIT that (it's only 22 more days...) and mention some of the blessings I have received instead.

*OK, so I didn't want to cut my hair, but it really is cute.

*My left hand can do a lot more than I would have thought.

*Because I can't put in my contact lenses, I have been forced to depend on my glasses. I have finally learned how to manage my bifocals.

*No underwires. I can't fasten any of my clasps, so have been wearing a "sport" style bra instead. Not very stylish, but comfy, LOL!

*The outpouring of love and concern I have received has been such a joyful comfort. They really like me!

* Company in the kitchen! I have become pretty capable with my left hand, but some tasks simply require 2. Chopping onions, or draining a big pot of pasta for example. Both of the girls have surprised me (and themselves I think) by suddenly becoming very interested in cooking. It has been a good learning experience for me too, to tell them what to do and how, and then force myself to BE QUIET and let them accomplish the task in their OWN way. They have been quick and capable students and I am so proud of them!

Lydia has done several full meals now, and Alice put out a hamburger spread the other night that would have been suitable for a great casual party.

Our biggest triumph though, was the family's Christmas Feast. Working from my new favorite cookbook, "Pure Flavor" by Kurt Beecher Dammier, we through tradition to the wind and put together a Salmon in Herb Butter with a savory blueberry sauce. Oh my! Even though the whole preparation was simple, we felt like real chefs. Yum!



I include a photo of the cover to liven up this plain little post. Also a plug, as well as my thanks to the author for sparking up my meal list... if you enjoy cooking interesting things, you will LOVE this book.

I don't recommend breaking one's arm as a life-affirming practice, but I gratefully accept the gifts given. God is good! and with a beginning like this, the rest of this New Year HAS to get better. Happy 2008!

No photos please...

Is it too dumb to go into mourning for one's hair??

It had to go. I *know* this. This doesn't make me like it. But when you have to ask your daughter to put your hair up in a ponytail in order to get some exercise, and you can only reach your head with one hand... it's time for a haircut. I got an appointment with a very good stylist and tipped her well, because I don't actually hate her for cutting my hair off. (2 feet of it!) I might even learn to like it. Later. Maybe after my cast is off and I can do stuff for myself again.

I've really done it this time...

We are going to have to use our old treetop angel this year after all. I ordered some wings for the new one, and they are lovely, but before they arrived I broke my right arm in a fall down our back steps. Oh, that hurt! No sewing for me for a while, or at least until I learn to use a needle in my left hand.



Tomorrow I will be fitted for a new cast that will once again allow me to bend my elbow. Woo hoo! In the meantime, I am training myself to use my left hand rather well -- I look forward to trying out some new ideas after Christmas. I *think* I will be able to do them left-handed...



Gatsby is now firmly established as a housecat. He stalks and pounces on anything that catches his attention...



...even birds on TV. He has brought so much laughter into our home.

The Aftermath

I live on the fringes of an area that was visited by a powerful set of twin storms last weekend. While we and our animals were stressed and frightened during the worst of the winds, we escaped with only some debris to clean up and a little water in the basement. Others were not so blessed. I am haunted by the images in the news this week of dairy farms in the Chehalis, WA area that were destroyed in the night by a flooding river. Feed, hay, even the cows... literally washed away. I can't imagine how Jake and I would cope if we were to lose our herd.

Cooincidentally, my husband's brother sold his herd earlier this month, and is grieving their loss as well. This is one of those times that remind us how fragile our lives really are, and I am simply grateful that we are able to continue on. For now at any rate.

On a lighter note, check this out.

Yes, that is one of the kittens that was dropped on our door last fall. One has disappeared without a trace, and another was hit by a car. This little guy came to the door of the house during the storm and sat there and meowed. Then he went to the front porch and sat on the table in front of the living room window and meowed. (The dogs were not amused!)

We finally let him in just to shut him up, and now we can't get him out again. Oh, we can pick him up and carry him out of the house, but as soon as the door opens he is in again. Like a shot! I suppose this means we now have a 4th cat.

I have been complaining for years about my ugly Christmas Treetop Angel. I made it back in the 80's -- it's fake rafia needlepointed onto plastic canvas. At the time I thought it was cute (WHAT was I thinking?!) but it really is quite hideous. So I am making a new one.



This is an angel from a pattern by Leta Benedict. I gave her sleeves and hair this morning. This afternoon I am off to Michael's to see if I can find some wings for her, and something to put in her hands.

I am looking forward to putting up my tree this year!

Two Finished Objects!

The past weeks have been maddeningly busy, but I did manage to finish Emma and Pin-elope between the bouts of madness. I made some rather goofy mistakes... er... design changes to both patterns, but I am still happy with them, and happier still to have actually FINISHED something for a change!



Emma's pattern was designed with seam allowances, but I constructed her with the template method, so she is a little wider than the original. If I make another one, I will add at least one layer of gesso under her paint as well. I don't dare sand her smooth now or I will take off her flesh. Ouch!



Isn't Pin-elope a delightful pincushion? He sits on the little table beside my spot on the couch -- I haven't misplaced my snippy scissors in weeks. Once I finished beading him, I looked again and realized that I had put the little pouf ball that forms his body on sideways. Oh well... he's still cute as can be. I will SURELY make at least one more of these.

Both of these patterns were designed by Jacque Uetz, and can be found at Dollmakers Journey.