Meet the Pink Skinny

Created on: 2/18, 2009 at 06:58 pm

So a couple of days ago, I mentioned the Pink Skinny and how he came to be.

This is him, or possibly her, DD2 can't decide.

I handed it over to her as soon as it was done and she announced that it wasn't a Pink Skinny anymore. It was instead the shell used to keep Ariel's voice in the movie. She wore it around her neck and sang her mermaid songs.

The very next morning, I say to her "Baby, where's your Pink Skinny. I want to take a picture of it."

And she says "Oh, I dunno. I lost it."

To my credit, I kept small eyes. I decided that nothing gets lost in the house forever and it would surface soon. Breathe, breathe.... and go to work.

The next day, DD1 found it under the couch cushion. Yay!

So now you know the skinny on the Skinny.

I also got the arms done for my SWRR doll. Not bad. They're polymer. Doing them gave me a butt-load more respect for the people who can fashion realistic hands.

I'm concerned about the paint. It was kind of old and it feels chalky.

---

The Pink Skinny

Created on: 2/12, 2009 at 08:31 pm

I think I need to figure out a way, some mnemonic device, that gets me to take photographs before I leave the house in the morning. Although spring is sprouting its way closer to us on the calendar, it is still dark at 6pm when I get home. Which bites for documenting my art.

Today I worked on the Pink Skinny, which is a bit of an inside joke with me and the kids. About a year and a half ago, I had the burning desire to get a pair of hermit crabs. What great starter pets for the girls, right?

Yeah. Well, about a week into it, the big one, Shanks, got scared and took a pinch out of my hand, cutting me deeply and earning my despise. He was, forever after, at least out of earshot of the kids "That Fucking Mean-Ass Crab". The little one, Skinny, is more docile, and not surprisingly became the girl's favorite at feeding time.

After getting pinched, I wasn't okay with letting the girls hold them any more. Frankly, and this might be a bit juvenile of me, I don't think I could be nice to a creature that put a hole in one of my kids the same size as the one I got. For example, last summer DD2 found a piece of plywood on one of our daily trails and she started jumping on it. Underneath was a wasp's nest, a big one, and before we could do anything about it, she had five puckering stings on her calf.

The next time I went down the trail, I flipped the board over to see just how big the nest was. I left it flipped over, thinking I would return it on the way home, after the wasps had forgotten me. But while I was out, a colony of black ants found the nest, which was absolutely packed with waspy babies, and they had begun the process of feasting on them. I watched this with a grim pleasure spreading through my belly, wondering why I was taking vengeful satisfaction in their destruction. The wasps, when they stung my daughter, were only defending their own young, same as I would have done.

Because the girls could no longer hold the crabs, They decided the next best thing would be to carry around empty sea shells, stroking their tops and showing me that "Skinny" was happy in their hands. Now you know the back story.

Last night, as I was putting the last few beads onto a felted shell, DD2 asked me what I was doing to "Skinny". Playing along, I answered that I was making Skinny pretty. She thought about it for a minute and asked me "Mama, will you make me a Pink Skinny?"

So that was today's art. I started the Pink Skinny. In the morning, provided I don't go on autopilot, I will post pictures of a finished shell, a little one this time, and today's work on the Pink Skinny.

DD1 isn't being left out. She asked me for a Purple Skinny and I am happy to oblige.

---

My South Whidbey RR Doll

Created on: 2/11, 2009 at 06:36 pm

When I envisioned my SWRR art doll, I didn't picture this one. I had actually wanted to try out a new pattern and give it one of the stone faces. But I've been watching this one for months. I'd see her at the thrift, tell her how pretty she was and promise that as soon as I had the cash to spare, I'd get her. She's not that old, maybe only 20 years or so, but she's got the look of a doll much older. I liked that.

The last time I was shopping there, she wasn't in her usual spot in the kid's section. Nuh-uh. She was on the front counter with her price slashed in half. I went over to tell her how much I liked her eyes but before I could even open my mouth she said "If you don't buy me this time, you'll never see me again."

Huh. Okay. I slid her over into my pile of things on the counter and she was mine.

On the way home, I looked her over more critically. The ribbon around her waist concealed that her side-seam had split. The lace around her neck was cheesy and had to go.

Once we got in the door, she took up a spot in my new craft hutch (Thanks Larkin, you rock!) and I decided what to do next. In the photo above, I have wrapped her in wool and needle felted it to anchor it slightly. I will wet felt her next.

DD1 and I made our own crayons this afternoon. This is her stirring the colors before we put them into the tin foil. Unfortunately, I melted them too long and they blended too much. Ah well, good for the first try. DD2 broke them into pieces before I could get a finished picture. Breaking them was good, however. The middles aren't too muddy. I think I can still get the effect I'm after out of them.

I did this one in early November, but I forgot to post it then. I'm working on getting comfortable with drawing and painting and this book was a gift to me from Esther James. On the way home from receiving it, I looked over the trees and saw this moon. I couldn't wait to give it a shot.

I'm pretty pleased with myself. It's no Picaso, but who cares?

The facing page has glitter and tiny little star confetti. It reads "I am in love with the harvest moon."

---

And She Said Whoot!

Created on: 2/8, 2009 at 06:09 pm

This is my mom at her torch doing lampwork, and, I have to add, she is the bestest mama in the whole world. She's sending me her hand-me-down camera to replace the one I lost. The she who said Whoot was me. Thank you, mom. You just added considerable Sanity Points to my IRL* character sheet.

I wish I would have had it last week. A doll from the Cool-Aberration has passed through my clutches without being photographed. Well, not necessarily so. I snapped it with my webcam, but the photos are akin to those documenting UFOs and Nessie. Not the best focus, in other words. I'm gonna save my words about this doll until either the next gal in line for him takes some pictures or I'm forced to use the grainy ones I have. We'll see.

Right now, Be(a) is with me and I worked on her journal last night. This brings me to my current read...

Collage Unleashed is my kind of book if only for the first line: Create every day. Traci's writing style is fun and easy. So are the projects in the first few pages. The projects increase in complexity as the book goes on, so there's something for everyone. I recommend this one if you're a little skittish of paint on paper, as I am.

*In Real Life. Only a gaming geek would get this reference.

---

Freedom of Speech

Created on: 2/6, 2009 at 09:44 pm

I love pesto.

---

- More Twisted blogs -
:: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Next ::