Accidental Sun

There's a reason for this being the way it is. I was trying to make a sun but my original idea didn't pan out. I wanted to use the orange-yellow print fabric for the sun's rays. Unfortunately I wasted too much of it on my first unsuccessful attempt. I just had a little piece of this fabric left and I wanted to make sure I used as much of the yellow print part as possible. And this why the new rays are a very odd shape.

Butterfly...Flutter By

I had to chuckle when I looked at the photograph of my new butterfly. There is actually no red on her other than the lips. I sewed some silver sequins on the body and they are acting as tiny mirrors. The red you see is the reflection of my bright red fluffy housecoat while I was leaning over and snapping the picture.

Another Floral Ornament

A friend sent me a lovely Valentine card. I didn't make any cards for anyone this year, but I wanted to thank my friend for her thoughtfulness. I am sending her a letter and enclosing the floral ornament you see above as a thank you.

Notice how the petals of the flower look like a little bonnet?

Willowy Spirit (Adriana)

She gets to be christened Adriana because as I was finishing her up this afternoon, I was listening to the live Met Opera radio broadcast of Adriana Lecouvreur. Placido Domingo was singing today. I am absolutely amazed that he can sing as well as he does at age 68.

I love the giant print fabric that I used to make this spirit doll. It has a lot of pastel shades that are swirling and flowing and if you cut at the right place, you get these curly-kew things growing out of her head. :) Half of her delicate pink face transitions into a soft baby blue on the other half.

My friend Julia came to visit me for a few days. She has three cats and a dog. Here is a most wonderful photo of her critters which she said I could post on my blog. Even though the photo is a bit blurred (try to get 4 animals to sit still for a portrait), it's still good enough to share. Let's see. It was dinner time and they were all hovering around the kitchen. This photo is called "Feeding Time At The Zoo".

















From left to right are cats, Tom, Dick and Harry and the girl dog is Lilly.

Creature

Here is a great shape I found after studying a 6" x 45" strip of batik. Kind of like looking up at the clouds in the sky and seeing things.

The body is cut all in one piece. The horns/ears, however you care to think of them, are the second piece and the face is the third piece.

I love this little critter. Click on the image for a good view.

Two Valentines

I made the above Valentine ornament. It has a lot of sparkle and glitter and therefore was difficult to photograph due to glare. I tried with and without flash and in natural and artificial light and this is the best I could achieve.

And below is the sweet chocolate cookie hubby brought home for me last night. Like I really need a chocolate cookie, but d*** it was good. :)

Blue Heart...Wild Child

As we approach Valentine's Day, I thought I'd make some heart ornaments. The one above is in non-traditional colours.

The little doll below arrived in the mail today. Belinda of Metallic Dreams had this on her blog as a giveaway and I was the lucky winner. Isn't it adorable? Thank you, Belinda. :-)

One World One Heart Winner

We threw all the names of the participants in the draw into a big bucket and hubby stirred the pot (for what seemed liked forever). Finally he picked the winner. Congratulations to Carol Stocker of Spirit's Journey Designs.

Coming Soon...

A sneak preview of an upcoming project.

Floral Ornament

Out comes some more of that pretty silhouette floral fabric leftover from the skirt I made last year. Actually, I am ashamed to say I never quite finished the skirt. It still patiently awaits a hem. I AM going to finish it in time for my trip to Estonia in May.

I wanted to make a quick and easy ornament so that I could practice stringing beads and sewing them securely between the front and back layers. Previously I used a nylon (fishing line like) thread for stringing beads but you can't easily sew with it. Today I used an extra strong cotton thread which worked a lot better. I love when you try something new and it works.

Marina

Thanks for the comments (opinions) on yesterday's post. It seems there was a slight preference for the batik fabric. I went ahead with the bubble fabric and the mermaid before reading the comments, but no matter. I was planning on making another green faced doll using the batik anyway. And I never even thought about a witch, so I can make one of those as well.

The mermaid above is called Marina which to me seems like a perfect name for a mermaid. All the while I was stitching her, I kept thinking of the beautiful mute slave girl Marina in the 60s Supermarionation TV Series "Stingray". That Marina wasn't a mermaid, but she was an aqua creature able to "breathe" equally well under and above water. Anyone old enough to remember that show? No, eh?

The handsome Captain Troy Tempest, I am now learning, was based on the physical appearance of James Garner. I never made the connection as a kid. And Marina was based on Brigitte Bardot. Marina's theme song and some images from the show are in the clip below.

New Doll With A Green Face

My new doll will have a green face. I painted it a really weird and hard to match green. Above are two possibilities. I like the look of the batik but I see the bottom one with the bubbles as a possible mermaid?

Green is a tricky colour too as when someone looks green in the face, it is associated with sickness.
I've tried to make my girl look healthy. :)

Elisabetta

Hubby said her name must be Elizabeth. I was listening to some Italian opera as I was stitching her, so I have christened her Elisabetta.

I have not been completely happy with the hair on some of my dolls. I'm new at this so I really don't know what to do other than figure things out by trial and error. My very good friend Julia who always has a solution for every artistic problem has moved far away from me. I can't run across the road to her for help anymore (maybe that's why she moved?). Now I have to try and figure stuff out for myself. I think I've made a breakthrough with this doll. I love her hair.

And below, as I was fooling around with the kaleidescope effect in Nero PhotoSnap, I discovered this is what Elisabetta could look like as a floor rug.

"Maddie" FoLk aRt dOLL

(The fringe near the bottom of her dress is the fabric selvedge).

Fun With PhotoSnap

Just foolin' around with Nero PhotoSnap. :)