Trepanning Bravura

Created on: 12/8, 2009 at 07:24 pm

So what makes me shake in my boots and sweat bullets? How about taking a drill to someone else's doll. It took forever to drill the 12 holes because I had to go sit down and quit hyperventilating between each one.

Now, you'll quickly see that there are no visible holes here, which is good. I needed to make the holes in order to start the peyote stitch around her face. This amazing clay face was done by Karma. I can't recommend enough that you go look at her dolls. They're great in the photos and even more impressive in person.

It took days and days to place all the beads, not because peyote stitch is inordinately hard, but because I was trying not to break Bravura, her beautiful face, or mess up her fleece and feather headdress. All's well that ends well. I ruined a needle on it, though. Mangled it completely. It's the first time I've ever bent a needle to complete shit before. Husband says it's because it's the first time I haven't been able to manhandle the beadwork before.

You win this one, Bravura.

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A New Baby Somewhere-er-'nuther

Created on: 11/23, 2009 at 11:26 pm

I take DD1 to her elective classes once a week. I've got about three hours to kill between the commute and down-time in class, as long as I'm not being a pseudo den mother of the educational sort. I use the word pseudo with purpose. I don't know what the hell I'm doing usually. Luckily my duties don't go much beyond wiping up paint, sweeping up garden dirt when the classroom is used as a potting shed and making sure none of the wee kiddos decides to go AWOL.

That happens more often than you would think. There're 15 kids in the class and they're all different ages- from Kindergarten through 6th, like in a one-room schoolhouse. How the woman who is their teacher keeps order at all, I have no idea. But she does, and does a decent job of it too. I've noticed that it takes right around ten seconds for someone to notice that one of the kids has nipped out to the office, which is in the next room.

But when you throw paint into the mix- all hell breaks loose. Welcome to Artland. Population- bat-shit crazy.

Probably not the best way for a grown woman to describe a bunch of kids, but if you have ever tried to corral 15 kids, 15 kids armed with tempura paints, you know I'm right.

So what does that have to do with the new baby?

This. One of the Big Kids, must be ten or so, her mom's going to have a baby son at the end of this month. What's a girl to do if she wants to surprise her mom with a present for the new tyke? Yep! Ask the wild-eyed mother blocking the door and crocheting for all she's worth if a baby cap could somehow be in the mix. After a long conversation about commercial trade and fair compensation, she offered to make DD2 a scarf by way of something called Fingerknotting. I have the feeling this is the same technique I used when I was 10, making a finger crochet with slipknots. When I get it, I'll post a pic.

Usually I knit. But on this wild-eyed, door-blocking day I was making scrumbles for a mini-sweater. Gail, here's the first bits. In the middle is the hemline all done. The next bits will be fitted together like a puzzle and sewn together to make the body of the sweater. By the by, this shot took 5 tries because the (insert swear words here) wind kept blowing the towel over.

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Decidedly Different Dolls 2009 Icicle Doll Swap

Created on: 11/18, 2009 at 03:05 pm

I love doing swaps. But I haven't done one for the last four years- since DD2 was born. It's so much fun to create a mini work of art and it's even more fun to open the mystery package you get from your swap partner.

This particular swap was for an Icicle Doll. It's so cool how each person makes it their own.

I wanted to start with a face. I did this one in polymer and, well, lets just say it had a life of its own. I didn't have anything specific in mind when I started, except for a little delicacy. Yeah. It didn't go there. This one is earthy and, happily, full of personality.

Who ordered that schnozz? I pulled clay from it twice and it's still huge! Another example of a doll knowing what she wants.

The person I'm sending to likes purple, which rocks. I can get into purple. I painted the face with metallic purple and then did a lighter wash over it.

The rules said you could use any medium, so I did some needle felting to create the icicle. I used some of last year's kool-aid dye; grape, lime and blueberry. I added a hammered copper spiral to the bottom, sewed on the face and surrounded it with petals.

Now, the whole time I was doing this, I was asking myself what the hell I thought I was doing. It's an icicle doll... for a December swap... Um, flowers? Really? I compounded the whole spring thing with some very "grow-y" beadwork at the bottom. (The blossoms are shells.) The whole thing looks more like Equinox than Solstice, if you catch my drift.

I decided that I'm being pushed over the edge by clouds, rain and grey skies. I love winter, especially winter here, but I'm still living in Summertime inside my head. Hopefully, my swap recipient will feel similarly. She's not too far from me- maybe 45 minutes drive to the south. We've had a few rippers blow through in the past week. Perhaps having a big, happy, purple flower "Icicle" will help her hold on to that warm Summer feeling through the damp, cold months ahead.

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We Were Just Carving Pumpkins....

Created on: 11/2, 2009 at 10:17 pm

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If It's Too Hot In The Kitchen...

Created on: 10/8, 2009 at 10:28 pm

I've got a friend who's going to barter fair this year. The idea of it sounds fantastic- a whole community where you simply make a trade for what you want. It sounds like a great load of fun for the week it lasts. I'm very likely never going to barter fair. I don't think I can camp for a week in a group of 5,000.

Anyway, my friend agreed to take a few of my things there to get a couple of fun trinkets in return. I decided to make some polymer clay dragons, a la Christi Freisen. A while ago I got a huge bag of polymer scraps. Nothing was marked. The whole time I was making the orange dragon, I kept thinking how weird and wet the clay was. Huh. Not polymer. Guess it was a li'l too hot for it. I love how you can still see the details in the feathers.

Ah well. Greenie here turned out great.

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