G-Ma's Birthday card

Last month was my Grandma's birthday. Usually it is Grandma who is busy making delicious cakes, cooking up yummy recipes, or cleaning up. However her perfect day involved her doing absolutely nothing while her kids take charge. Love you Grandma!

Just wanted to share the simple little card I made for her:

  

Elf Sculpture - Part 3

Now that I have gotten sufficient sleep and my roommates are no longer able to distract me, it's time to continue!

Still learning a lot about placing hair on a sculpture. I've looked through many tutorials and I've seen a few different ways artist go about it. The process I've enjoyed so far has been by Natasha Red October. Another artist who shares her process is Patricia Rose.

Material for "MISSION: HAIR!"

Mohair - Has a nice soft texture and my experience with it so far has been positive. (found good deals on ebay!). 

FabricTac - An adhesive found in any local craft store.

Here is the sculpture with the hair placed on. I've made a few choice parts in how it will lay on her forehead and in this picture, I am playing with how I would like her hair to be styled. Eee! This is my favorite part!

All that I have visualized so far is having it as an up hairdo. In the second picture it is shown in a bun, but when I started on actually forming the style my first step was to place her hair in a secure ponytail (in a position slightly above center of where I'd like the bun to be)

From the ponytail I made several braids that would wrap around a small bun created. The two front bang pieces were braided and then wrapped in gold wire.

-This is where I do a
victory dance-

Alas! More to do. After dancing in victory I realized that she needed a head piece of some sort.

Picture to the left is a table set up to get more stuff done!

I find it helpful to have an assortment of items laid out that could have the possibility of being used. Helps in pairing items together or seeing if things work well together.

Wish I had taken better pictures of her hair at the time, but later progress pictures will show more of her hair piece. Also, I added curls to her style afterward to help give it a more full feeling.

Curls were created by wrapping mohair around brass tubing (just like a curling iron!). It is then placed under water to dampen the hair before being placed into an oven of about 150-200 degrees for about 10-15 minutes.

This is where I must end for now. Next blog will contain the progress pics of her over jacket.

Elf Sculpture - Part 2

Working on my sculpture slowly and I've finally kicked myself in the petunia to update my blog. She has come a long way since the last update and I am excited to share her progress. If you follow me on twitter, I post my pictures instantly as I am creating (It's just so quick and convenient!).

For some reason I keep seeing her as a Flora, one of the three fairy sisters that looked after the sleeping princess. She carries a worried look, like a decision needs to be made.

Starting with a few sketches, I try to get an over all idea of the direction I want to go in with her outfit (It helps me understand how I want to piece it all together). Sometimes this process can take a whole day. For one part of the outfit (AHHHhhh!). Since the outfit isn't going to be slipped into like traditional clothes (her limbs are not going to move!), I have to work around this limitation.

(1) Her skirt was the first piece to be created. Did a fun bunching technique to give it a nice poof. (2) Using a strong wielding glue, I attach her sleeve to her form. Working with tiny pattern pieces can be frustrating. My fingers are SO BIG in comparison, or the material is so sensitive you have to check to see if the material easily frays and if it's the right amount of frustration you want to work with. This soft pink material was not friendly, but it didn't stop me (mwuahaha!).

At this point I wasn't sure about the direction of where I wanted to go. I added ribbon to act as the straps and moved on to what I WAS sure about: (3) An underskirt. Keeping with the pink pallet, I found a nice sheer, darker pink.

Helpfulness: As I work I like to make sure to look at the doll from all angles (Simple "duh!" concept, I know). But it really helps me keep in perspective how the cloth will lay on her and how she will be viewed by people not looking at her from straight on. I always keep reminding myself that this is important.

I must end here for now. A bit late and my sleepiness is winning. 

Next post will be on her NOT being bald! Whooohoo!

Elf Sculpture - part 1

Sad news. My first sculpture is being put on hold.  One morning it fell over and she was decapitated and de-legged. On the day of my friend's wedding it didn't leave me much time. I just placed it on the table and looked at it for a good two minutes and I said to myself, "I have no time".  So she sits now in the corner of my craft desk, repaired and lonely.  I'll return to her but a good break from the heartache is needed.

Good news is that I have started a second sculpture!

This lady elf is 9 inches so far and is made of a mix of Prosculpt and Fimo Puppen. Learning much from my first project, I find that baking in parts helps to make a more detailed and smooth sculpture (more control which means more tedious time involved).

And lookie!! She has a base:

Hair at last!

Ta-dah! 

She is no longer a baldy - yay-

 Starting to wonder if I am posting to many progress pictures. With all the work I have going on she literally the only major art that I have been devoting time to. Sometimes, I'll be working and my eye will wonder over to what I wish I could spend all my time doing. One day I will! News: I am working part-time for an amazing music artist Dane Drewis. I feel happy that part of my week is spent helping talented and amazing people.

It was about 10:30 p.m. when I took the photos so the colors may be off. Her hair has been clipped back for now as I've been working on her dress. Sketching has really helped in planning out how her outfit will be placed together - like puzzle pieces - and I am working on the idea of layers to achieve a particular look. The top layer of the dress is just pinned in how I hope it will turn out (helpful in visualizing the next step).

A while back I found this pleather jacket at a thrift store and I have evil plans to (er, glorious plans), to create a top jacket as well as a cute hat.

More details.

In other news, it was Charlie Chaplin's birthday! He wrote one of my most favorite songs that always cheers me up. "You’ll find that life is still worthwhile... If you’ll just... Smile"

Etsy Shop & Doll clothes

Sewing and sketching away this March. There are new ideas I want to tackle and projects still in the works. I recently added a new item to my Etsy shop called "Spring's Contessa", a fabric book cover for all the ladies who await spring.  Love combining sewing and illustrations!

Realizing my projects involve monstrous amounts of detail and time (makes life interesting...but complicated. Ha!). The past week I've been sewing undergarments for my doll. It consisted of googling, laying about in yards of fabric thrown all over the place, and staring/willing the cut pieces to magically form together.

Here are a few resources that helped me get started in thinking about how I wanted to construct her clothes:

• Bloomers tutorial
• Chemise
• Hemming sheer fabric?

Bloomers. Can't get enough of this word. Made bloomers for the first time! It was very exciting for me...well, it lost its momentum when the first pair didn't fit over her bum. By the time I made a fresh cup of tea I was ready to try once more. Gave it a good glare for measure before starting (making sure to scare it into submission). Above, are the pair I made along with my *bee bustle*. Naming it so because of its appearance (fitting, eh?)

The background of this picture shows only a faction of the mess found in the path of my creative tornado. The next layer is the first skirt layer. Made ruffles that will probably not even be shown when she is fully dressed. But I'll know it's there! Mwuahaha.

Hopefully in the next photos she will no longer be a baldy! My mohair has arrived.

-Cheers-

Doll - Dress Sketch

Happy Wednesday everyone @-->>----

I want to share an article that has helped me accomplish more in a day. The idea has been rehashed many times by different people, but things never sink in until you put it to good use. LISTS. I'm starting to write them (not type), every morning before turning on the computer or checking email. I make lists of things I want to accomplish, and then rewrite them into a schedule. It helps!! -- link --

Genesis paints are fantastic! They go on light, or I am not being bold enough to go heavy at first, but I find layering on the paint in between bakes create a nice effect.

She is still a baldy. The next step of adding hair make me nervous. If anyone has tips they wouldn't mind sharing let me know.

Started to make a cute ruffle. Details, here I come - this is my favorite part. YAY!

Sketchy, sketch, sketch.

Spent all night sketching out ideas of how I am going to put her dress together (while factoring in the limitations of placing them on her frame). I need to channel into my talented friend Vani's sewing skills.