Saturday WIPs

I'm busy getting ready for the holiday. Lots of ideas not enough time so I decided to work on the smaller, quicker items first.

Box O Penguin Ornaments

These little guys were very popular last year, so much so that I ran out quickly. Making a big box this year.

Owl ornaments that I never had time to make last year. Only doing a few in different colors this year just because I love owls so much.

I also have to make something for 2 swaps and a challenge too! How do I get myself into these things?!

Paper Clay Skellie Doll is Finished.

I think I may be in love with this doll. She's a manifestation of turmoil and emotions that I've been dealing with in clay form. I started her just before my step dad went into the hospital and just finished her Monday night. She's a bit disturbing possibly and certainly not cute. She appears to me to be a bit sad and slightly crazed but she has a place in my heart.

Introducing Morilla.

This is the sneak peek I put on Facebook last night. 

She's made from paper clay and has jointed arms and legs. She can sit on her own. I added diamond glaze to her eyes to get the glassy spaced out look that I'm sure I wear myself most days. She wears a simple skirt with dancing skellies on it. She has a headband with red roses.

Her body and head have 3D details but her limbs have the bones painted on. She has thighs, a separate knee and lower legs with attached feet that have been wired together.

She's the most complex, detailed and largest paper clay doll of mine to date. She's approx 13"  (32.5 cm) tall.

She and my felt skellie have been getting on great.

Monday In Sassyland....

...or peeks around and finally a finished piece. My brother finally got my shelves above my computer desk up for me. He has the height and long arms that I lack, lol. So of course I had to rearrange everything.

These hold my finished pieces and a few of my collections of other artist's pieces. I have an elf from Kaerie Faerie, a jointed paper doll from Honey Girl Studios, a doll from OCR Primitive Arts, A Bit of Whimsy Dolls Gnome and Patrick's awesome Prim Santa. The empty shelf above will hold my Christmas dolls.

 

Rearranged this set of shelves above my work table too. Yes I know I did it recently but hey things change...right? I really wanted a place to display the great but few Halloween pieces I have. I also filled out the shelf with a bunch of owls.

Patrick of Cre8tor's Touch made this wonderful witch on a moon piece that I got in a swap. She's the main feature of this shelf. I also have a tiny little paper clay matchbox goth doll from Moriah of MLBetterly, a sweet black cat doll from Cindi Meyers, an awesome pumpkin from Linda Kennon of Gourdqueen, Sherry Hall's pumpkin ornie, a Day of the Dead ornie from Mealy Monster Land oh yes and a great candle from Joni Nickrent of Pop Art Minis.

Here's finally is my finished retro, vintage, prim, goofy, whatever pumpkin head. I like him so he's been added to the shelf too.

In other news this fun plush couple has been sold and I'm so thrilled that they are off to a new home. The Vampire and the witch are both still available if anyone is interested.

What I Was Doing Last October.

I saw a post about what someone was doing a year ago. I got curious about what I was doing then too, so I took a look back. Surprisingly or maybe not so surprisingly I had myself more together and had started lots of Christmas stuff. It just makes me tired to realize how productive I used to be.

I made everything on this table except for the Santas and they are all hand sewn too.

I made some holiday owls in different sizes last year. I miss my owls. I was kind of becoming know for them and I feel like I abandoned them. Just one more thing to add to my list!

I LOVE Nutcrackers! And this was to be the first of many. I need to revisit this design cause he's a serious cutie!

This little trip down memory lane sure let me know I need to pull myself together and make some decisions about how I want to move forward. I do have a few of these pieces left which I'll put in my etsy shop soon. I need the storage space so I hope they find new homes.

What were YOU doing at this time last year?

WIP Wednesday

 Let's start with the Never Ending project. Sigh! I cannot make up my mind about this one and keep changing things! One day I'll complete her and proudly show her off to you all.

Trying out some new head shapes. Blurry photo but you get the idea. I have a few more rolling around here...literally rolling around. Had to chase the dog to get one back from her.

Another never ending project. I can't even remember when I started these nor do I know when I'll finish them. A zombie child and some other children who may or may not be turning into zombies. They haven't tried to bite me yet so who knows?

Of course in the midst of all my unfinished work I decide to start something completely new. It's a folk art doll the kind with the big round heads that I love so much. I actually bought a pattern and am doing it in my own Sassy Pack Rat Studios Style. My ADD isn't letting me focus on one thing lately.

I have some styrofoam bodies standing around waiting for clay that I didn't take photos of yet. I'm following Moriah's tutorial on youtube. I'm also getting ready to make my ornaments for The Hive Christmas Ornament Exchange. I still need to work on the Bigfoot plush too. Sigh!

Update: My step dad is doing better. He's off the walker and the oxygen. We are looking into some assisted living for him cause he's going to have a long recovery and needs help with medications, has some memory problems and tends not to eat if you don't put food in front of him. He's on round 2 of physical therapy and has a crap load of doctors visits.

So that's what going on in Sassyland. Hope you are all doing well.

Bigfoot Needed Some Serious Tweeking.

So I started working on a plush Bigfoot design last week. You would have thought I never made any plush before if you saw the way he turned out. Ugh! Now to be fair to myself I haven't designed any new plush for months and months since I've been concentrating on dolls and things so I know I should give myself a break...except knowing me I won't.

After I made the prototype and stuffed him I realized the "plush mistakes" I made. 

#1. Flat doesn't translate to a 3D piece so what looks good flat NEVER does stuffed.

#2. I made the design too simple. 

#3. His feet should have be the focus not really the face. 

#4 I got cocky and thought I could just bang out a design without thinking about it properly. UGH again! Disappointing!

So I sat back down at the computer and looked at my design. I played with it and think I finally have the final design. In case you are interested and haven't run screaming from this post yet I'll show my designs and you can see my thought process.

First here is the horrid thing I made. I'm embarrassed to show you. This is the mini prototype. The body isn't big enough for the large face features.

This is the first re-design I did. Hate it!! Ugh, pancake feet!

 

This one is modified more with the feet as more of a focus. The body is the same and I was really not happy with it but I felt like there was something good about the feet. So back to the computer I went.

So this is where I am at the moment. I thought I was done really I did but as I was writing this post I was thinking about other changes I can make. He's a bit too doll like. It's a never ending story around here. Once I finally make a firm decision he'll be made from green fake fur. Why green? Cause the person who requested him wants him green and I thought it was a fabulous idea.

Thanks as always for reading my crazed ramblings!

Worktable Wednesday

Both my worktables are a complete mess again of course but here's what I'm working on.

This is a prototype of a Bigfoot plush I'm working on.

The final will be done in neon green fake fur.

A skellie paper clay doll WIP. I might actually finish

before Halloween!

What's on your worktable today?

Where I Shoot My Photos

I took me a while to figure out where in the house I could use to shoot my photos. I used to shoot in my studio but I gave that room up and all that glorious light when my brother moved in. Sometimes I shoot outside but wanted more professional looking photos. I also used to shoot and lay out large projects in the sun room but I gave that up to my brother for his living room/ playroom for my nephews.  I'm now in the dining room on the dark side of the house. I finally realized at certain times of the day when it's finally sunny, my now studio will work just fine. So here is my no frills, no money solution.

2 sheets and an old console table I almost threw out. I love this table cause it's at a great height.

The table is long enough and just deep enough to accommodate just about everything I need to shoot.

I just tie the back sheet to the tall shelving unit. First I ironed it! I always forget to do that...ugh! I get just enough light in here, turn off my flash and tweak the heck out of the photos in Photoshop! But it's working pretty well and I'm happy so far. I love figuring out a no cost way to do something...don't you?

My Day of The Dead Skellie Doll is Done.

I originally started working on this doll as a skellie for Halloween but then she kind of took on a life of her own and ended up very different than I intended. She's not a traditional Día de los Muertos being no where near as colorful but she's my special version in honor of the day with a small nod to Frida Kahlo.

 Here's the sneak peek of her unfinished I shared on Facebook yesterday.

 Back of Doll with coffin backpack.

 Coffin detail.

 Baby skellie inside.

Front of Doll.

Sitting front.

The french knots almost drove me insane but in the end I was pretty happy with them. I hope you enjoyed seeing this doll/soft sculpture piece. She'll be available in my etsy shop by Monday.

Update 

This doll is now listed in my etsy shop.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/83156471/dia-de-los-muertos-day-of-the-dead-doll