Music Filler - Fun New Song

The last few days have been busy, busy, busy with company and various
appointments and I've had little chance to be very creative. Today, aside
from an appointment later this afternoon, I hope to finish up a couple of my
new little pieces.

For your listening enjoyment however, a new song from the fabulous
Pet Shop Boys. This single, "Love, etc" is from their new album which
will be released towards the end of March. I first heard this last week
on the music feed on Silke's blog.

Proof in the Cure

In January I posted a pic and entry about a faerie that had turned

a 'lovely' shade of brown once she had been baked. The clay before

baking had also been very, very soft. I wasn't sure just what had happened and at first faulted my roaster oven. To be safe, I put the four bars of clay from this batch aside to use on display pieces or items I knew I would be painting.

This little piece which I cured last night, was sculpted from two separate samples of Prosculpt Baby from two different bars...both clays were the same colour before curing. The clay I had used on my faerie is the darker clay in the pic. The lighter clay is from a batch that I had purchased just previously to purchasing the 'bad' batch. Thickness was the same for most of the sculpt, excluding the arms which were solid clay.

I think this proves that there was definitely something wrong with some batches of Prosculpt Baby which were manufactured at this time.

Hmmmm... No Name W.I.P

I'm having fun with these little guys. I want to offer something in my Etsy shop that while not having the same amount of detail as some of my other work, will be cheaper. Little figures that will have charm and whimsy, but that someone won't hesitate over the price on.

I'm not sure yet just how the costuming will go, if I will fully paint them, what kind of fabric treatment I will use, or even what I will call these little guys, I do know that I am having a lot of fun with them. I will probably do various clothing/painting effects on them - I have several ideas scrambling around in my head. This is a new adventure for me as I tend to over-complicate most of the ideas I come up. This is very "freeing" LOL

hmmmm....but what to call them?

One World One Love

"One Love", a favorite song of mine by the legendary Bob Marley, this rendition is awesome. By http://playingforchange.com/, turn up your speakers and enjoy as muscians around the globe perform and are dubbed together for a wondrous mix of 'one love'

A Valentine View

On Thursday Feb 12, my daughter and her boyfriend went out for dinner. This was in celebration of Toronto's Winterlicious festival and also a prelude to Valentine's Day. They chose the restaurant on top of the CN Tower. This pic was taken of their relection in the window of the restaurant, as they were seated at their table... with the lights of Toronto literally at their feet. I thought it was perfect for my Valentine's Day post.

Valentine's Day, recognized today as a day to celebrate and embrace that special someone in your life has an interesting history. It was originally a pagan festival, renamed after two
early Christian martyrs. The tradition of celebrating romantic love became common in the Middle Ages and it has continued
from there. A detailed history of Valentine and St. Valentine's
Day can be found here.

Regardless if we have a romantic 'someone' in our lives, we all have special people that we can embrace. May today be special for you!

I am a Failure

Yep, I'm a failure....at doing creepy. Over the years I have tried to create creepy, gory, gruesome in answer to that small corner in me that sometimes craves to touch on the dark side.

I can't do it. Everything (which hasn't been alot) that I have tried to 'do dark' ends up with a definite lighter side. The head
above is an order for a zombie bust. I was given a picture to base
it on, a zombie with a definite evil leer. Somehow my tools/brain/hands came up with evil zombie's Mr. Congeniality
cousin.

I even noticed that the maggots in his one eye look like a small
sleeping child hugging something.



The good thing is that the gal who ordered this is happy with it and said she like that it had 'character'. A zombie with character - who'd a thunk it!

I Feel Honoured - Two Features

ADO (Art Dolls Only) is starting a new feature on their blog, interviewing doll artists. I was lucky to be picked (by random drawing) for their first interview.

I've never done an interview in this format before (i.e. not live) and it was fun. I found that the act of typing a response caused me to reflect more on the answer, and perhaps give a more
concise and heart-felt answer. LOL, I didn't realize that I was quite so wordy though.

The interview is here if you would like to read it.

I would also like to thank Kerin of Remnants of Olde for featuring my Amelie Ghost Child on her blog a couple of days ago. I met the wonderful and talented Kerin through the fabulous OWOH blog event and if you haven't visited her blog, please do yourself a favour and check it out. Her jewelry and automata creations are
fantastically wonderful.

Teddy and Noelle Say Hi!

Noelle and Teddy arrived earlier this week and wanted my help to post this. As soon as I opened the box, they were waving to
Zan to let her know they were safely in Canada.

Quickly they were fitting right in, meeting other "folk".

Getting familiar with the place (and trying to avoid the cat)

After an exhausting tour, some hot chocolate and cookies, they
settled in with Elizabeth and Harriet for a rest

Bye Zan! We miss you, but we really like Canada!

Picture Tag ...Watch Out!

I've been tagged by Marie of My Little World. The idea is that I pick the fourth photo in the fourth picture file on my computer. I then must tag four more unsuspecting bloggers to do the same! I was a bit worried, as I have a LOT of image files and I wasn't sure what I would find.

Rather hesitantly I went to check and it wasn't too bad. Bad would have been the folder of pics I took of my hubby's back when he got shingles. LOL.

My fourth folder is "Christmas 2007" and this is actually a rather comical photo. Looks pretty festive, the tree, the gifts (it was Christmas morning),sun shining....and what is that? THE cat!

Mordecai, our eldest daughter's cat thought that the tree and all those gifts looked like a great place to play hide and seek. Yep, it was a fun time had by all! Mordecai has since moved with Nicole to their own place to create havoc and mayhem there.

Now, I must tag four more people (hee!hee!):

*Kamila at Wooded Woods

*Kim at Kim's Art by the Sea

*Jacqui at OddDollz

*Cindy at Oops Desperate Blogger

Now, I must go and let these poor unsuspecting peeps know how I've "honoured" them!

Guardian of Broken Hearts - ADO Challenge Piece

Finally I've finished my ADO Broken Hearts Challenge Piece..."Guardian of Broken Hearts". My thinking behind this is that often when one's heart is broken, we try to hide it. It is like a guardian takes it and protects it for us...however at times we can't help but let the world see - thus, the open skirt.

She is sculpted from polymer clay and affixed to a modified vintage birdcage. The hearts in her basket are also polymer clay. She is dressed in vintage silk and antique lace and trim. Her hair is tibetan mohair. She stands approximately 12" tall. I plan on putting her in my Etsy shop later today.

To see more ADO (art doll only) members Broken Heart Challenge pieces, visit the ADO Blog

Guardian of Broken Hearts ~ WIP

The Art Dolls Only Group (ADO) Broken Heart Challenge ends today...and I WILL be done! Yes, I left this to the last minute *sigh* and am now in the process of costuming and wigging my "Guardian of Broken Hearts". The above pic is the state she was in on Saturday.

This is the first cage type doll I have done. I've had a vintage bird cage on my shelf for several years, wanting to do something with it and this piece was the perfect application (with slight modifications). Will post pics of her completed later today.

Off of Vacation Mode

I have had my Barton Originals Esty shop in Vacation Mode since just before Christmas, fully intending to reopen it in January. Unfortunately, due to a very nasty bug and two torn muscles, I have just reopened it tonight. I just listed Amelie and Jasmine/Spike, who join Tort who has been on vacation too.

I have several other pieces in the works that I hope to add very shortly and then my shop won't look quite so bare.

My Etsy Shop