My Special Day of the Dead Couple.

I made this awesome couple in the Spring of 2015 but I never really showed wips or good final pics so I thought today was perfect to do that, being Day of the Dead and all!

The beginning stages are always so fun!

These quick sketches are all I have of the start of these dolls. I wanted to make a pair of eternal lovers who weren't able to be together in life be can now spend eternity together.

I also only have this beginning wip pic. For some reason I just didn't take any pis of these being done, that I can find.

 Sewing on her hair. (Ignore my unmade bed, my studio was in my bedroom then).

Hair done and flowers sewn in.

And finally the veil attached.

I finally got some beauty shots in my light box so you can really see the detail.

 Side view of Estella with veil and bouquet.

Side view of Ernesto with his sombrero and guitar. 

Close up of Estella's Face. Don't have on like this of Ernesto.

His guitar and her bouquet.

The lovers together! Ernesto is 17.5 inches tall and Estella is 17 inches tall. They are available in my shop. Here's a link to the listing where you can see more photos.

Christmas In July Sale!

The month of July kind of got away from me, so I threw together a quick Christmas In July Sale.

Why Am I Having A Sale?

Well. I'm planning on re-organizing my studio soon and I need room! I have so much packed in bins that I feel like I'm working in a closet. 

I also have all these really amazing one of a kind pieces that need new homes. I'd keep everything that I made if I could, but I can't.

What Kinds Of Things Am I Selling?

All of my physical products are being sold. Any thing that can ship in a box is for sale. My digital patterns are not on this sale, but feel free to buy one if you like too.

Everything is made from my own patterns and all hand sewn except the mermaids which are machine sewn with hand embroidered details.

 Fairy Tale Felt Dolls.

 Raggedy Ann and Andy Felt Dolls.

Felt and Fabric Mermaid Dolls.

Day of The Dead Couple Soft Sculpture.

Plus a few more items. Since I turned my business into a pattern business I haven't had time to make these one of a kind pieces anymore. I really slashed the prices hoping they will find good homes. So if you've had your eye on something, now's the time to grab it!

Where Is My Website?

It's at www.sassypackratstudios.com and here's a link to take you right there! There is also FREE SHIPPING ON EVERYTHING!

I hope you at least pop over and look. Thanks!

The Reveal!

Ok my client has now seen the piece she commissioned me to make and it will arrive at her house tomorrow so I can finally show finished pics.

First let me say that there is a huge difference between a commission piece and a custom piece. 

A commission is a piece of art that has not been created before, completely one of a kind, requiring hours of research and multiple prototypes to get the design right. This took me almost 5 weeks from start to finish.

Now a custom is a change to an already designed piece. Say you wanted a pink deer ornament instead of the dark brown I'm currently making, easy to do and that piece is now a special custom to that client.

I've only made 2 commissioned pieces this year and here's one of them. My client requested a soft sculpture of her chihuahua with Day of the Dead designs and flower motif. This piece is 11.5 inched high and 12 inches long. 

Links to the work in progress posts are at the bottom of this post.

My muse, Rio.

 Side view.

 

Flower crown. 

 3/4 view.

Back design.

Full back.

My littlest chihuahua for size.

My bigger chihuahua for size.

I'll do another post soon showing the wips for this project. Thanks for looking!

UPDATE: I'm linking this post to the making of this piece. PART 1, PART 2, and PART 3 

Have you heard of Periscope?

It's an app that let's you record live videos that can be replayed up to 24 hours after the live broadcast. People watching you live can also type chat with you, asking questions etc. They can also tap their screens to send you hearts, which means they like you or what you are talking about and invite other on their twitter feed to watch you too.

It's a app for the Twitter people so you need a twitter account to sign up. People can follow you on Periscope like any other social network and you can block rude, annoying and unwanted followers.

I use Periscope to watch social media and handmade business marketing people. I also watch other artists. The artists I follow do wips, make art while you watch, talk about their artistic process etc.

People do all kinds of scopes, as they are called. Some people scope random life moments, some use the scope to promote their business, you can decorate a cake, re-arrange your living room, take the dog for a walk. Whatever you scope about some one will be interested.

There is now a new app called Katch.me which records your scopes and saves them in a accessible library. You can then put them on your website, blog or make them available to youtube. Oh and all of this is free!

Anyway, the reason I brought the whole thing up is I'm going to make my first video soon and I hope you'll watch. I plan on showing my studio, detailed looks at my new products etc.

 I decided to put this Day of the Dead Skellie girl in my shop and here are some random studio shots of her that I really liked.

Worktable Weekend.

This weekend I spent some time doing some more work on what seems to be a never ending project. This lady has been standing around bald headed for so long so I made some time and gave a big push to finishing her.

 Attaching her hair. Then I did braids and did those into a Frida hairstyle.

I made the little felt flowers for her headpiece. I think they came out so cute.

The light in here is horrible but here's the back with the veil.

A better shot of the front. She has little flowers on either side of her hair too.

I was happy to get this much done, but she's far from finished. Now I have to set her aside for now. Her dead lover IS finished and I haven't shown him completely yet. But here's a small peek.

When they are finally finished they will be up for sale together on my new website. I hope you enjoyed seeing my progress.
 

My Swap Doll Is Here!

A package arrived yesterday from Florida. Inside was a lovely doll from Moriah Betterly of MLB Studios! In a previous post I showed you the doll I made for Moriah, now I get to share with you the doll Moriah made for me. 

I just love Day of the Dead, Dia de los Muertos. Moriah made me a lovely La Calavera Catrina style doll. She's so hauntingly beautiful!

To give you an idea of her size, she's just slightly under 12 inches tall. I don't know how Moriah works on a face so (to me) small and gives it such amazing detail.

I have small hands so this gives you a good idea of her head size. She has a beautiful crown of black and pink roses.

She has a sweet stitched bodice with black lace.

Her skirt has beautiful ruffles with a sweet tieback over skirt. The photos are coming out really pink but the color is more a lovely dark magenta with sparkles.

Moriah also included one of her new snowman ornies. I love snowmen and this is a great piece. He has a paper clay head, hands, feet and I believe buttons too with a sewn and stuffed body. It's a work of art in itself.

I will treasure both of these always!

If you'd like to see more of Moriah's art check out the links below.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/MLBStudios
http://mlbetterly.blogspot.com/
http://www.etsy.com/shop/BluMudd

Day of the Dead Doll Finished

Took me longer than I thought it would but she's done. I think she came out pretty good for a last minute project. I really wanted to do her to be active in Art Dolls Only. Introducing Delores.

She's small, about 13 inches tall and made entirely from felt. I embroidered details on her face, arms and legs. Her skellie kitty has embroidered features too.

I'll put her in my shop as soon as I price her. If anyone is interested before then just let me know.

WIP Tuesday

At the last minute I decided to join in the Art Dolls Only Dia de los Muertos challenge. This challenge is open to the public too. I'm not sure if I told you all yet but I was recently accepted into this wonderful Art Doll group that I've been wanting to get into for so long. Well another goal reached!

She still needs a lot of work but I'm loving her so far.

If you are unfamiliar with  Dia de los Muertos, it is Spanish for Day of the Dead and is a Mexican holiday. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. 

I'll share more photos once she is finished.

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.