Shrines, Stuffies, Dyes, and my Chairs

According to Carol Owen, a shrine is an enclosure for displaying objects of personal significance.  A few years back I made some little shrines.  They are all gone to other homes, except for one.  I keep it, and I still love it.  It not a piece of art that I have grown tired of and wanted to send on to a new home.  This week I have been designing some new little shrines to take to JFGs.  Hope someone falls in love with them!

Little palace looking buildings...

One with a guardian within its embrace...

One with handmade papers and a dragonfly for it's guardian, although he is rather hard to see in the glare of the upper part...

This one's guardian is a little bird...I am sorry people, I am still in love with birds, even if some people are thinking they are tired of them...I have daily visits from all kinds of birds where I live...today, two hawks...maybe Job has found his true love!

The stuffie I started with the 100% scottish wool...

Is looking better everyday, and so is his little strange buddy...

In this box, is my next project...it's from dharma trading...

On a more personal note, I took this picture because I had been thinking I wanted a new dining set.  I have had these vintage chairs for quite a while for me.  I recovered them a few years back...you could view that process if you go back in time here on my blog.  But, when I was cleaning house on Monday, I had the chairs in the family room and realized, I still really love these chairs, the table not so much,  so I don't think I do want a new dining set.  Maybe just a new table...

Boxes and Wool

This morning I finished up some unfinished projects.  I had two boxes I have been working on.  They are not beautiful.  I always think I am going to decorate these boxes and make them beautiful, but for some reason, they never are.  But, they are fun and someone might like to have them for a jewelry box or a keepsake box.
I finished up my commissioned ornament box too.  I really like it.
And I felted some wool and started another cat...bigger than my usual ones.  I see stuffing and stitching in the unforseeable future, lol.

I put this box on a pedastal...not so good... it is fine when closed but tips when you open it.  HRH told me this would not work but I didn't listen... I may have to do some design adjustments...if something comes to mind!

The top of the box in pretty nice...

The inside has red with a gold lace across it...

 

The other box is black with silver on it...very tiny legs so it sits nicely, lol...

The interior is actually black but the camera red it...I don't know, mauve?

And the starting of the cat...

The third box I finished was an ornament, the picture of it is on my phone I guess... it doesn't pay to have too many photo devices around... you think you have a photo but you don't, hehe.

Sock Making

While Mom and Dad went Black Fridaying... the car girls decided they would like to make some stockings.  We dung into the fabric stash and found some green velvet...perfect, dug out buttons, ribbons, trims, glitter, and such.  The two oldest car girls were able to draw, cut out,  and design their own.  Littlest car girl needed her's drawn and cut and sewed but she picked out the design elements and told me how to put them on the stockings... we had a fun creative day!

Age 4...she is very creative and knows exactly how she wants things!

Age 11...she is getting so big and independent!

Age 8...she too is very creative...and she loves the new left handed scissors I bought just for her!

Whoops,  this one calls for a re-take, lol.

Ahhh, much better and very proud of her creation!

And my left hander... also very proud of her creation too!

Birds

On Wednesday, we traveled to a near by (30 miles) town.  There, a national meeting of Falconers was being held.  I don't know what I expected, but I am so glad I went!  The birds are awesome to see up close.  I did feel rather sorry for them too.  It is not natural for them to be tethered.  Nor is it natural for them to be carried around on someone's arm.  But, having said that, I know it is a very OLD sport, and there are people who are passionate about their sports... we accept diversity.  The birds are so beautiful... we got to talk to a man from Houston who filled us in on a bit of information about falconry and the different species of hawks and falcons used to hunt...

A field full of majestic birds...

The one in the front looks like the hawk that stays around our yard, the one we call "Job"...

Many different colored hawks or falcons on display...

A welcome sign with information for viewers...

A very large golden eagle...

Plus this guy...

A horned owl... seemed to be the biggest of all the birds...

And this little falcon was the smallest... about the size of a robin...

He has a cute little stripedy face...

As an artist, birds are one of my favorite subjects... so I really enjoyed seeing all these special breed...

And in keeping with the bird theme...my car girls and I spent a bit of time making cookie and candy turkeys to hold name tags for dinner...

They and I had so much fun making the turkeys, lol.

Day 21 of Creative Everyday Challenge

It doesn't seem like Creative Everyday has been going for 21 days, but what do I know, lol.  Today I got to play in my studio with some dolls and an ornament.  And, yesterday, when I was out on the deck, I peeled a layer of ice from the bird bath and stood it up thinking I might make something with ice.  We will see...

I started this little lady in the Terri Brush workshop last week.  When reading "supplies to bring" before the workshop, a globe was mentioned.  I went shopping but found no globe.  I did find two of these pink and one turquoise glass thingies at a thrift shop, all for $1.  These seem to be some sort of candle holding device but must have had something else with them... A protrusion of glass made a nice connection for the clay head to attach to.  The hat I found at a thrift shop too... it actually was a little pin made to put a fresh flower in but looks so cute on her.  The wings are recycled from a discarded elf doll  given to me by Gypsy Mama.  And the hat pendulum-a glass tree ornament I think,  I am sure must have come from a thrift shop or YSM.  Her body is filled with crystals from an old crystal chandelere from the YSM too. Her necklace from the scratch and dent stores.  I feel she is all done now, thanks to Terri for the inspiration!  She is so cute!

This is a big jar that was filled with pasta...one of those gift ideas I believe, from a year or few back, lol.  The head is a ceramic ball.  I found two of the balls  at the scratch and dent store a few years ago, and painted faces on them.  The faces have been hanging around in my studio, waiting for my intended completion of making dolls.  I just never quite felt like I had found the right body, ya know?  But last week I went to the thrift shop and found the big jar and it was just the right size and shape for the head.  I think this will become my new cookie/candy jar for the car girls.  

My friend Jen, over at JFGM's gave me this broken bird, no head.  I brought it home and since I have the glass grinder out, I smoothed off the broken neck...

Found a head from my box of doll parts that fits the body size...

Gave her a layer of solder on her head.  Now I have to attach the head to the body, and give her some embellishments.  I don't know why, but I am already in love with this girl!

I continue to work on a charm with an angel in it.  I got the angel suspended today...

Terri Brush's workshop has opened up a whole new world of creativity for me!

Yesterday, when out on the deck, I peeled a layer of ice from the bird bath, and stood it up at the base of the bath thinking I might make something with the ice disks.  Today, even though it snowed and has been cloudy all day, it seems the temperature was warm enough to thaw the ice disk enough it fell over and started to melt.  Then, the temperature dropped and the disk re froze over some dried foliage.  Rather pretty don't you think?  A gift from Mother Nature.  With all the things we are paying attention to in thankfulness with the season, don't forget to look for and be thankful for "unexpected" gifts!

Last but not least... I have returned to the old format so my friends can find their way around my blog!

Yoolie Number Two

I made another Yoolie a couple of weeks back.  But, (don't you just hate that word?) once I cut away some of the fabric and roll hemmed the edges I did not like the bottom.  It looked too much like what I describe as a man's cut-away tuxedo jacket.  You, know, short across the front with tail(s) in the back?  I was not happy with that.  I did like the little twisted tails in the front.   Also, since I cut the sweater down the front, when I had it on, the top corners wanted to lay out kinda wonky like so I turned them out like lapels and stitched them in place.   I hemmed the sleeves shorter than what I originally cut them  and I like that better too.
Then,  a light bulb went off in my head.  I could put back what I had cut off in the front.  So, I picked through my pile of discard fabric, found the front pieces and played around with them.  I found that if I swapped sides and turned the pieces up-side-down, they made a nice flowing rounded hem to the back.  Just what I wanted.  So, now I am happy with this yoolie.  I think I might add a little applique to it yet to brighten up the forest ranger color, lol.  That is still in maybe stage.  I used varigated blue embroidery floss to do the hemming, to add a bit of color to the 100% cotton knit sweater...

You can see the pieces I added back in here.  

I have been playing too, with some dolls using glass containers for bodies.  Here is a peek at their progress:

I am going to make the large one into a cookie jar!

I like the little winged one lots!

And, when I posted a peek of my ornaments on fb, I got an order for a commissioned piece using this darling little angel:

So, my daily creativity continues!

Trying the Heating of Craft Foam

I have had pieces of craft foam in a drawer for months.  I knew eventually I would find a use for it.  I read about using a heat gun to heat it, press it on something and viola, a stamp!  I decided to give that a try, with a voice in my head saying "well, the dang stamps could not be too great!"  But, I am pleasantly surprised.  I used a figurine and a shell to make these:

Left to right:  one side of figurine head and arm,, wing, other side wing, head and arm, shoulder rose, and the shell... the shell reminds me of my eye con, lol.

A close up of the figurine head and arm... I think I will have fun stamping with this one!

Darker head and wing parts...

I have to find some more things to try this on!  

Charms, Ornaments, Fun

I really did not have a clue what Terri's workshop was going to be like when I signed up!  I saw a post on Cresendoh, followed the link, saw that Terri was going to be "in my neck of the woods" and signed up.  I loved the charm making, and relearning to solder.  I did some of the sculpting, but found the small sizes were not easy with my stiff arthritic fingers and hands.  I have a tendency to drop things too.
 So, after I arrived home and started to play around, I decided to not reinvent the wheel.  I dug out some rare finds, and made charms and ornaments using that.  I think they are okay, not as beautiful as the hand sculpted angels,  santas, and snowmen and such that other workshop attendees did.  You have to do what you have to do, don't you?  I did.

I have been playing with boxes to see what I could do.  

Isn't this one cute?  

I love that the music paper behind this one is "Hark the Harold Angels Sing".  Serendipity...

How often do you find a triangle box?  

Cute little wooden snow angels...

A woodsy sort of ornament...

Cute...

A poensetta charm...

A cute angel with a kinetic rhinestone swag...

A charming star...

A vintage look

A vinginette...

A swaddled baby...

And, tonight, a most beautiful sunset...