Early Valentine

Hubby gave me a few little chocolate treats today. He couldn't wait until Valentine's Day and neither can I.

I scarfed down the chocolates and now I'm posting a preview of my Valentine's creation. The whole thing can be seen here on Monday February 14th. (Edit: February 13th - OR SOONER).
:)

Miss Kitty Dragonfly

Miss Kitty Dragonfly acquired her name from the dragonfly cotton print that adorns her body.

I started working on her last November and finally finished her today.

I have lots of works in progress. I get to lose myself in thought and good music while painting and stitching. Evenings are reserved for old movies from the 40s and 50s. It sure makes the winter fly by.

First Attempt at Assembling "Junk"

Remember this post? I admit I have been a bit scared to start my first junk doll. What if it really turned out to look like a piece of junk? :)

I will say that it certainly is a lot harder than I thought it would be. I only used four pieces of the stuff Carla sent me - a paint brush, two scrabble letters and a wooden bingo number.

The face is my own creation. While I was arranging and rearranging the pieces on my work table, I noticed some crumpled cardboard with printing on it. It is actually the tag from a pair of cargo pants that I recently hemmed for hubby. I cut out a shape similar to the paint brush and glued it onto the brush.

I really am a minimalist. I thought about adding more to it, but no. This is as good as it's going to get. I plan to glue the piece to a background of painted black plywood and hang it on a wall. :)

I have a lot more "junk" so check back for more dolls.

Looking Ahead To Spring

Although it's only February 1st and we are warned to expect a severe snowstorm tomorrow, I am looking ahead to spring. At the same time, I am also thinking ahead to tomorrow and seeing myself moving a mountain of snow. :(

What you see below are details of a work in progress with a spring theme. I am making a spring banner. I had to think about it for a week before I began and then suddenly, in our local thrift shop, I found inspiration - a single white tie dyed pillow case with a rainbow of light and bright colours. Perfect. I spent a whopping 75¢.

More inspiration last night as I was trying to decide what text to use. Searching for spring themed poems on the internet was not producing any results that I thought were right until I remembered a song I heard years ago. I could only remember a couple of lines and managed to find it based on my memory. I even found a few performances of it on YouTube. Not all songs translate well when read as a poem, but I think this one does. Anyway, that I will share in a later post. In the meantime, there's a lot of work yet to be done on the banner.

One World One Heart (2011)

EDITED: 17FEB2011 - COMMENTS WILL BE CLOSED MIDNIGHT TONIGHT EST.

It's that time of year again for a tour of the "blogosphere". If you're not familiar with the event, click here for the details. You may even want to join in the fun yourself, but you must have a blog to participate.














Below is my giveaway which is typical of the art that I produce. I like to mostly work with fabrics. I have a special affection for cats but I make dolls and other things as well. I give every one of my creations a human face.

Here then is my giveaway, a cat with a menacing face. She measures 7 inches in height and 6 inches across at the widest point. She is made from printed cottons. I "painted" the face with inks. She is backed by felt and the edge is embroidered with a blanket stitch. There is a little hook at the back so she can be hung up on a wall. I think she would be especially appropriate for display around Halloween.

























If you would like a chance to win her (and you have a blog), all you need to do is leave a comment on this post and your Email address (if it isn't shown somewhere on your blog or profile). I need to be able to contact you if your name is drawn. The draw will be on February 18th.

Good luck and many thanks for stopping by.

Evil Cat (In Progress)

This is my giveaway for the One World One Heart event. I will do a separate post about it when the blog hopping begins on January 30th.

I had a great idea for a bushy tail but after I studied this cat for a while, I thought that I just had to leave well enough alone. My planned tail treatment would have detracted from the subtle shading in the fabric. Why mess with perfection? :)

I can't always do cute - must toss in something "dark" once in a while too. This would make a great Halloween ornament.

Blue Muslin Doll

I started this doll last year. How good it feels to have it completed today. This was supposed to be my giveaway for the One World One Heart project, but I'm seriously having second thoughts. I want to keep it for myself. It looks great against our blue bedroom wall and I'm pretty sure I can have that ominous looking face in there without fear of nightmares. :)

It's made of muslin and printed cottons and mostly machine stitched. The size is approximately 18"x6". It's flat and meant to hang on a wall. (Click on the image for a larger view).