Big Pants, Dinner and WIP

I planned on posting this earlier today, BUT,  take one loose rug, add one clumsy person (moi) and one cup of coffee just as I'm ready to sit down at the computer, and yes, you guessed it......dumped coffee all over my  keyboard.

Nothing was working four hours ago, but just got back on now and everything seems to be back to normal - whew!!!

Yesterday we drove into  'the city' (Toronto) to visit our girls, Nicole and Keara.   We were looking forward to seeing both girls as it has been several weeks and we also wanted to meet Nicole's new little kitty Edward.

Nicole has a date for her surgery - this Thursday at 9:30 a.m. at Princess Margaret Hospital.  Please keep those good thoughts coming!

Just before getting into Toronto we pass under this old bridge, which Keara ever since she was little, has called the "Big Pants Bridge".

I guess in a child's eyes, it could look like a pair of

pants, but she is now 23!  I'm also beginning to think she is rather quirky about big pants because on her table was this.......

Mr. Salt 'n Pants

We had a lovely dinner, Honey Dijon Apple Chicken and Veggies and super delicious Squash soup to start.  I always envy some of the food pics that I see people post on their blogs.  Most of them end up making me very hungry.  Thought I would do the same, but when I was taking the pic, Nicole told me that meals like this don't translate that well in images - they can very easily look like puke.  (She is so eloquent, and unfortunately, she is right LOL).

It may not look it, but it was yummy!

On Saturday I had planned on working on the two Kindreds I have on the go, and also maybe starting my little Fall faerie.  Instead I decided to play with a couple mashed up balls of aluminum foil (one was for a head, not sure what plans I had for the second one) and some wire. 

I added some clay and this is what I ended up with...

and here he is 'baked' and partially painted....

I think I'm going to do something pumpkin themed with him/her, and hope to work on him/her tonight.

Hope everyone has had a great day!

♥

HOPE.....WIP Pics and Finished

HOPE

It's been abit of a long haul due to my right hand, but I finally have my bust done. I had a lot of fun with this piece, which was created for the ADO Monochromatic Challenge.

Some WIP pics:

The clay I use is Prosculpt. The head was sculpted over an aluminum foil egg shape. The neck was a 16 gauge wire, covered in foil and floral tape and then covered in clay. The base was a small novelty tin bucket I had that I covered in floral tape and then clay.

When painting over polymer clay I like to use a coat of gesso, or in a pinch, white acrylic paint. I find this gives a bit of a 'toothy' base for the finishing shades of paint to grab onto.

I was going with a neutral ivory/light mocha monochramatic theme for this piece and used Golden Titan Buff acrylic paint (2 coats) for the underlying skin colour. I then used
watered down Burnt Umber, adding it in small areas and rubbing it off to give an antiqued look.

After 'antiquing' the piece, I painted the lips and eyes. I also added any shading that I thought had to be done. The eyes were glazed with a 3D lacquer and the skin was sealed with a satin matt sealer.

The above pic was posted in a previous blog - one of the hardest parts of any piece I create is figuring out what fabrics and trims to use!

A follower of my blog saw the 'fabric indecision' pic and contacted me that she wanted this piece. I thought I had her finished yesterday however was not totally happy. I sent some pics to Hope's potential new owner to see what she thought. She made the suggestion that perhaps the headpiece could be moved up slightly. Brilliant idea!
I also added a gold bead hoop earring to her right ear....

♥

I Finally Breached The Mess

I held my breath, cranked up my courage and opened the door to my little studio last night. April and May have been particularly busy with a lot of birthdays and anniversarys, and thus a lot of pieces being created as gifts. I have not posted pics as I know some of the recipients follow this blog (you know who you are *grin*).

Anyway, when I work, I must start with everything organized and then within 10 minutes, chaos has returned to my 8 x 10 room. I don't generally put things away as I work (bad habit). Did a fast tidy-up last night and started 3 Kindreds. At this point, I know I want to do a darker, gothy one.



I also started and almost finished the sculpting for my ADO Challenge piece. For the last challenge, I didn't get finished until the last day....I would really like to be earlier this time. The challenge is to do a piece (or 4) based on the elements, Earth, Wind, Water and Fire. I'm a Taurus, so of course, I am going to do Earth.

I had to use my old camera for these pics while my new one was charging - sorry for the graininess.

I'm hoping to go to an estate auction tomorrow, so probably won't get much done on any of these pieces, but will try to post pics
as I continue on them.

Hope everyone had a creative day!

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?

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.

Now The Fun Part

Jasmine and Spike, and Amelie are now ready for a trip to the makeup salon, the hairdresser and the clothiers. I'm further along with these pieces then is shown, as I took this pic yesterday. I've also just about completed my head for the ADO challenge. Will post more pics of these guys as I go along.

This is the first time in a while that I have not done a full-body sculpt, however I like the freedom that this type of body gives, both for posing and costuming.