A Finished Project I Can Now Share.

 My blog has been pretty quiet for a while. I haven't had much to show. I had been working on a doll for a couple of months for a dear friend. It was for a doll swap. The swap was for a Fall/Autumn themed doll, whatever Fall means to you. It took a while to complete and I didn't want to show it until she received it but now I can share. Part of the reason it took so long was I designed a completely new pattern for the doll. I also spent tons of time on the accessories to make everything just right. My swap partner Moriah Betterly is such a great friend and has been so supportive of my work. We actually met in an online swap years ago. So it's like we came full circle. She loves the doll and I'm so pleased.

 I borrowed photos that Moriah Betterly, my swap partner, took cause they are so much better than mine.

 I made the doll a little prim doll to carry.

 Messenger bag with appliqued fall leaves.

 Little matching capelet with appliqued fall leaves.

Also a matching Tam hat.

 Especially for Moriah I made a little ADQ magazine that had pages of her dolls that have been published there and tucked it inside the dolls' messenger bag.

 Here's the dress she is wearing under the capelet.

And a close up of the boots. I modeled these after my daughter's Uggs.

Now that Christmas is over I feel the need to get back to work so will hopefully will have more to show soon!

An Update Of What's Going On In Sassyland

Unfortunately the same old things are still sitting and waiting to be finished. I've only made very small progress on these 4 paper clay figures. Not sure why really. Maybe it's all the other projects I have coming up that are making me feel rushed and when I feel rushed I can't work. I also have the attention span of a flea so that doesn't really help things either.

Here's a peek at my Goth Santa. My Facebook friends and some blog friends gave me great ideas for something I was stuck on with this. I HAVE made a DECISION on what he will hold in his hands, so thank you all!

I also got a great response about getting this soft sculpture piece done too. Several people offered to kick me in the butt so I'd get going. ;0) I have 2 swap pieces to do first then I PROMISE I'll FINISH this!

We moved my step dad into his new senior apartment at the beginning of January. He finally seems to be settling in but he's not really eating properly so I'll have to deal with that.

I've joined 3 challenges, 2 for the Spring and one that lasts the whole year. Nothing like a challenge to get the old brain pumping! The first challenge is an Steampunk Animal at Cloth Doll Artistry. Too fun! Can you guess which animal I'm going to do? The second is Patrick Gill's Vintage Easter Challenge at The Hive and it's a swap. The year long one is a Wonderland one at CDA also. I intend to do a fab showpiece that I can take to craft shows and have it be a portfolio piece. I can do that in a year....right? Well I hope so, there is that attention problem I have! Anyhoo there are lots more unfinished projects around but I'm pretending they don't exist. I'll deal with them later.

What going on in your little land?

Do you love Halloween?

Well I do. I belong to a creative group called The Hive (see the button on my sidebar) and Patrick Gill from Cre8or's Touch is hosting a Second Anual Vintage Halloween Card Creative Challenge Exchange & Swap!

 Come join us and create something special. Patrick is also creating 2 wonderful pieces as prizes so not only do you get a fun piece of art in the swap you have a chance to win one of Patrick's great Izannah Walker inspired Halloween dolls.

This swap is for all kind of artists. You can make a sculpture, doll, shadow box, or dreamscape, ornament, or even a wall hanging or multi-layered scrapbook page. Your piece just has to be 3-D.

This is my second time joining in. I did the 4th of July Swap HERE and loved it. So come check the swap out and I hope you'll join us!

Friday's Worktable. It's A Dark and Rainy Day ...

...perfect for working on witches! I have 2 more bodies to sew but I decided to play around with some fabrics. I'll be working on faces and attaching heads over this long holiday weekend, so they'll really start to look like something soon.

 I received Omayra's doll from Patrick's 4th of July swap and she's wonderful. I'll just treasure her! I love to see close up how other people do their dolls. The dress is amazing! This photo doesn't do her justice.

Here's a quick shot of my pup Lita yesterday checking out the view on top of my felt storage.

A Crappy Week, My Swap Challenge Piece is Finished and What Going On In the Studio..

You may have noticed that I've been quiet for the last week. It's been a sucky one in many ways and I've been majorly lacking in motivation and kind of still am. The only thing I did was finish my swap piece.

I joined in at a swap challenge over at The Hive and they have already seen this finished but I wanted to share the finished picture with all my Blogger followers who have been watching the WIP.

Here is the card I choose for my inspiration.

She's one of the hardest pieces I've done to date. I'm glad I ended up having to redo her skirt cause it came out so much better the second time! Her face is partially needle sculpted and embroidered. Her tam hat has a handmade red pom on the top that you can't see in the photos. And also has white bloomers. She's completely sewn by hand including her clothing. She stands approx 24 inches tall including her hat and is the tallest doll I've made so far. I'm going to be sad to let her go. She's already been assigned a swap partner and I really hope this person likes and will enjoy her!

I have just started cutting out a new piece that will be perfect for Halloween and will share the WIP when I have them.

The mermaids are still naked. There are elves and fairies cut out and waiting to be sewn. Still working on my paper clay dolls but have run out of clay. ;0(

I did a freelance graphics job a few weeks back and am still waiting to be paid so until I am everything in the studio will be in various states of "unfinishedness".

Determined to send something to STUFFED Magazine this time around for real this time! Well now I'm just rambling so bye!

My WIP Freak Out.

So basically my 4th of July Challenge piece was done and then I noticed something. Someone...and no one has admitted to me who...touched the skirt with greasy fingers! After much swearing, crying, throwing things and a major freak out that a two year old would envy, I had to remove the skirt that took 3 days to handsew and I have to make a new one. Sigh!

Needless to say I'm not happy. I hate having to redo things and this is such a time intensive project for me and it'll be going to another participant so I want it to be the very best I can do.

 A peek from a few days ago.

I look around at my worktables and see all the other projects that are waiting for me and feel a little overwhelmed by it all right now. Well I'm off to work on the new skirt and photos of the completed piece will appear at the end of the week I guess.

Vintage 4th of July Swap WIP.

I'm taking part in a creative swap in The Hive a great creative site I belong to. We had to pick a vintage image in the 4th of July theme and recreate it in whatever medium we use. Showing WIPs always helps keep me committed and some other folks are showing theirs too, so here I go.

O.k. this is the image I choose. She's a Victorian Lady Liberty. I make soft sculpture dolls so I'm making her into a doll. Should be interesting right?

I'm starting with my standard body and trying something new with a 3D sculptured face instead of my usual flat face. It's a bit terrifying really but I'm charging through! The pins show facial feature placement.

The drawing shows large low set bosoms so that's what I'm doing here.

She also has a bit of junk in her trunk (probably a bustle of some kind) so I added that too. This might be a little too big but until I do her dress I won't really know for sure.

So here is the face that I lightly needle sculpted around the nose (a huge first for me!). I haven't sewn her eyes on yet so she's pretty scary looking but I hope she'll pretty up as I go along. Well here's where I am so far. She'll come together very quickly so I know I'll make the deadline. Hope you enjoyed seeing my progress.