This will soon contain quick links to the archives. For now though, just a simple nav menu.
We are under construction. Things are going to be out of order, broken and otherwise not functioning as efficiently as they might otherwise be! Please feel free to look around but consider yourself warned that things might be broken. Enjoy your visit, and come back soon to see the completed site.
Away Goes Eloise
Created on: 11/11, 2008 at 11:36 pm
Eloise is one sweet little doll if I do say so myself. But being that it's closely galloping up on the time whence I turn into a pumpkin, I'm going to skip the chatter and post the finished photos of this tremendous hottie.
And here's the journal portion, upon which I think I outdid myself. A bit cocky? Maybe. But for someone who draws like a kindergartener, it's pretty fucking sweet.
I'm waiting for Dave....
Happy First Try
Created on: 11/6, 2008 at 10:08 pm
These are Eloise's wings, and in case there was any doubt, they are the shizzle! I couldn't even wait for decent light to get them up here.
These are what they looked like yesterday, so you can probably see why I'm dancing around about them now. Better pictures tomorrow, yeah?
Working On Eloise
Created on: 11/3, 2008 at 09:36 pm
Eloise started off with Kris in England.
And then went to Roslind in Japan where she got her lovely make-up and hair
And then to Jutta in Australia who put on arms. Jutta has dropped out of the project and those arms kinda showed she was done. They were pastel when the tune of this project is rainbow butterfly. I couldn't resist giving her this colorful accent on her arms. Besides- she's a butterfly goddess. I've never seen a butterfly that didn't have furry arms. Roslind provided her with this awesome hip-wrap. I decided to bump up the color. I had intended to give her a grass-skirt-esque thingy with strands of beads hanging down, but with my shortened time with her, I don't think I'm going to be able to.
This face is unbelievable. Kris did such an excellent job making it and Roslind really did it justice with her work.
Too good! This doll rocks.
I couldn't resist a shot of my lucky seed.
So the other day, my kids are sitting together and playing quietly. They also have a cardboard screen around their laps and are bent into it intently. Uh-oh. I sneak over to see what they are doing... and I found this. Those are lions eating a zebra. Too much Animal Planet perhaps?
Where Was I Again? Oh Yeah....
Created on: 11/1, 2008 at 01:53 pm
I've always wondered what goes on in the lives of faithful bloggers when all of a sudden, one day, they just go silent. Death? Alien abduction? Gainful employment? In my case it was a screaming episode of Iritis with consentual photophobia. This translates into one red nasty eyeball that won't open and one regular eyeball that, even though there's nothing wrong with IT, it still can't stand the light. Aw, man, it was filthy. Really disgusting.
Unfortunately, it also caused me to relapse into not doing art everyday and even when I did start again, to not document it. But with the changing of the Cool-abberation dolls, it seemed like a good time to get back into the blog.
Without further ado....
This is Precious, owned by Roslind of Japan.
She came with a body and a wonderful cape of wings to which her arms are attached.
She then went to Jutta in Australia who added hair and eyes, plus a bit of lace trim around the collar.
When I first took her out of the box I was really interested in her body fabric. I seem to remember Roslind saying that she'd cannibalized a kimono. (You'll have to correct me if this is wrong, Roslind.) I love silk but I'm really rough on my clothes. Therefore I don't buy a lot of silk clothing. I hate putting on silk in the morning because I want the feel of it and later in the day ending up playing in the woods and ripping it. Or worse, not playing in the woods because my clothing isn't up to it. A kimono is really a big deal, or so it seems to me. I can't imagine living in one like most people live in jeans. But then again most people who wear (or wore) a kimono every day didn't do much forest dwelling. Anyway, when I got Precious I was on a knitting kick but didn't want to start a huge project for myself or one of the girls. These little sweaters were just right.
I love doing random crochet. No rhyme or reason, no set length of the strand, using a bundle of three and tying on one line at a time when the strand runs out- the variated result is perfect. This sweater was a blast to make. The fibers came from Ann Niles Davenport's studio, thanks Ann, and the inspiration to crochet this one came from Esther James; two good and creative friends who probably don't know each other but who got this sweater going inside my brain.
I have to admit, even though this was the last sweater to be completed, it was the first one I was planning. I made some sweet little clogs for Thea and did Precious' at the same time. The fantastic green jogged my memory of some lovely wool yarn that I picked up last fall for one of the kids to have a hat or something. Since I wanted this work to have a PNW feel, I connected this sweater with the view from above the trees. All green, baby!
I did and redid this sweater three times trying to get it right. I have Ann again to thank for the way this one turned out. She told me about a new beading technique that lets the beads lie up and down instead of on their sides. Much better. If I hadn't come upon that tip I wouldn't have included this sweater with the set.
I did a lot of reading about harajuku culture in Japan in the days before conceiving this idea. I was sorting out "crappy" pony beads from a mixed bag of glass beads I'd gotten and these reminded me of candy. These aren't just ordinary pony beads. They have glitter and that's what mesmerized my magpie brain. I faced my prejudice against plastic beads to do this one. I'm glad I did. I really like it. I hope Roslind will too.
When Precious arrived, her cloak was held on by two pins. Blech. I couldn't let that go out the door. I banged out a hook and eye clasp from copper, my first metal work in ages. Incidentally, it was the inaugural use of my new anvil, a much loved gift from Jerry Wenstrom.
Precious is the first doll I have been late shooing out the door. Hopefully she will be the last.
I was royally intimidated by the journaling aspect of this project until I realized that it's only scrap booking on steroids. the only problem- I hate scrap booking. Having been born and raised in The Land Of Zion, and having thusly escaped at my first opportunity, anything that reminds me of dowdy women tamed to within an inch of their lives with only enough creativity to document the doings of their family frightens me to death. I always viewed it as talentless fodder done by empty women who would rather hold a glue stick than a needle. It's a skill that can be done by the most brainless, information chucking, experience dodging homebody. (Can you tell that I'm still a little edgy from growing up there?) Needless to say, I had to expose to the light the festering part of me that feels that way. And I had to admit that there are bright and creative women who love scrapbooking and that I shouldn't condemn the entire art form based on the women I met in a small town who did it. And besides, even if those soulless, dried out, small minded drones did it because it was all they could do... at least they were trying.
If you do scrapbooking and you love it and you're still reading... I hope you're not from my hometown. Heh heh. This is page one of four. I acquired a watercolor kit for this project and it is literally the first time I have used watercolor in 30 years.
This is my rendition of Precious on her journey.
I'm really pleased by how this came out. I tried a million things for the hair before I settled on wool.
I think this was a good idea that went lame. I love the whole blossoming heart thing, but it's not as polished as I had pictured it.
A Day of Receiving
Created on: 8/16, 2008 at 08:47 pm
We started out today with the intention of getting to the library, returning our rented movie, but most of all, getting our over-cooked carcases out of this metal box of a house.
We slowly picked our way up the road, enjoying one another's company. It was hot but the breeze did its job of making the weather tolerable. We've been spoiled. It's been cloudy and wet most of the summer. The down side is that the roadside berries (as well as garden tomatoes) aren't ripening up. The upside is that I've been nice and comfortable- a good thing.
But today it was hot, filthy hot. Dressing the kids was a challenge. It was like trying to shoehorn them into clothes after pulling them from a shower. They, like DH and I, are sweaty, hot and grumpy.
Heading up the hill, we decided to hit the library first. The breeze was rejuvenating. On the way home, we figured, we could use the rest, shade and cold drinks the store would provide after we rammed the DVD case home into the slot. On the way to the library, however, lives a friend of mine, and her car (which usually isn't) was in her driveway. What a perfect time to give her that thing I've been trying to get to her.
This is the first time I've been to her house. She has a dog who would rather chew your face off than not. That's fine. If I were a single lady, I'd want one of those too! I stood out in her driveway and hollered at her until she came to the door. I can never remember how long her dog's lead is.
She was so happy to see us on a boring, baking Saturday afternoon that she invited us in to see her garden. Once out there, she proceeded to snip and chop into a grocery bag until it was full of produce. Then she started all over again. Two hours later, we left with potatoes, garlic, green beans, peas, oregano, parsley, lettuce, kale, beets, raspberries, blueberries, logan berries and a crab. And no, she didn't grow the crab herself.
Actually it came from her neighbors. I've seen them in their huge and lovely boat many a time cleaning their crab catch at the beach spigot. I don't know how they do it, but they always come in with more than an arm full. Lucky bastards.
So, thank you Curly. Your garden repast is going to be excellent and I appreciate it very much! We stayed to bullshit for almost two hours and- dammit- I missed the Library by 10 minutes. Oh well. Monday will come soon.
On the way back home, DD2 was absolutely having a howl. It was maybe an hour past nap time and she was frantic with it, throwing the kind of epic fit that only a 3YO can. She screamed at the top of her voice, that purple-vein-in-the-neck scream, for about 2 blocks. When we rounded the corner past our neighbor Ruth's house, Ruth came out to greet us. "I could hear you clear up the street", she told DD2.
In hand, she had two little gifts for the girls. For DD1 there was an awesome little journal with a baby sized pencil inside. For DD2 there was a little basket to collect treasures in. "Oh, but wait, she said. "I have something for Mom too."
Inside a little bag was a pretty scarf that will look great in my hair. And then there was this absolute treasure...
I really do think this is from the late 1800's. It's some sort of decorative collar. Ruth said she bought it for the fringe along the edges, which she removed. She knows I'm crafty that way, so she gave me what's left of it.
The inside is just in tatters. The silk lining was shredding under my gentle touch. But the stitching is amazing as is the outside fabric. Somebody, a very long time ago, was all that and a bag of chips in this collar.
I'm going to rescue the beads from it. I'm feeling like its sacrilegious to even do that. This little piece of kit has outlived anyone who was alive at its debut. And I'm going to disassemble it, tossing the fabric aside. I hope that maybe there's enough life in it yet to make something of it. Can you imagine this ancient relic forming the body of a doll? Man, that would hold some serious energy!
Thank you Ruth, for this treasure as well as the other things you sent my way this evening!