She's Finished - and so am I.

The queen of the Fairies had her photo shoot this afternoon after weeks of panicy preparations.  I do believe this is the first doll I've ever pulled an all-nighter for and I was still tweaking her look minutes before the photographer arrived.   She is lovely, though.  To my child's eye, she is the queen of Nordic fairies because of her very fair complexion, palest blond hair and blue eyes.   And she is tiny; the grasses and flowers tower over her.

I on the other hand, sit amidst the shambles of my office/studio - the battle zone between my imagination and my physical skills - or lack thereof.  The desk and floor are littered with the bits and pieces of bad judgement, bad cuts, wrong colors, wrong fabrics, hair I've pulled out and fingernails I've torn off.   It will probably take a week to get it all cleaned up, sorted and put back where it belongs.

Then I start all over again.

My Constant Companion

My little toy poodle Sassy is an Alpha.  As such, she considers herself to be my boss. To a large degree, she is.  She has taught me how to read her signals.   If she comes to my chair and puts her paw on my arm , most times, this means 'follow me'.  So I go to the back door.  If she wants food instead of a potty break, she stops in front of the cabinet where I keep her food.  She can tell time, when her meals are served, when it's time to get the mail, that she must go sit in her chair when someone comes to the door.  I've had to insist on this, because she will joyfully jump on all visitors and most visitors encourage this (bad) behavior.  So I'm training family, friends and neighbors as well;  no fussing over the dog unless she is in her chair.

Sassy isn't a cuddler and she doesn't like to be picked up and carried around.  But she will always be in the same room with me, quite often on my desk, looking out the window, watching squirrels and traffic.  Or she will lay with her chin just as close to my hand as she can. - with out getting her nose bumped by the mouse.  I can't imagine a dog owner who wouldn't admit in a heart beat, that the mere presense of their dog in the same room is comforting.   That love is worth every minute, every cent of their care.

Stepping Back

I've had to step away from this little doll that is driving me so crazy.  It's so bad I phoned my sister yesterday just to vent - even though I knew she had house guests.

I'll try to concentrate on other things over the weekend.  I have a bag of potting soil in the back seat of the car that I'll lug around to the potting bench in the lanai. There is tarragon and basil seed to start and rooted cuttings  that need to be put in soil.   If it will ever stop raining long enough for the grass to dry, I'll cut the grass in the back yard.  And, provided my back holds up, I'll pull up all the Roselle that didn't produce fruit this year.

Perhaps by Monday I'll be ready to tackle the problem doll again,

It Happens Every Time It never fails

. . . . . . every time I get in a hurry, I screw up.  TWICE, yesterday.   I'm just glad I had enough fabric (barely!!) to cut new pieces.  If these don't fit, I'm gonna be up the creek BIGTIME!!

I couldn't buy more fabric because nearly all of the fabric I have was given to me by two friends who were both professional seamstresses.  I was thrilled to get their scraps and leftovers.  Most pieces were more than adequate for a doll costume.   And some exquisitely beautiful pieces must have surely cost someone a month's wages for a single yard.

And leftovers from my days at Michael's made a pair of beautiful fairy wings.  Like most crafters, I hang on to anything that might be just the thing I need, in the future.  Consequently, because of the boxes of 'stuff', there is barely leg room under my big, U shaped desk.                                                                                                                                                          

Pedal to the Metal!

---- realized late last night that I have a doll due on the west coast no later than Sept 15.  I'm now in full panic mode!
Fortunately, I started her months ago.  She needs sanding and all that PLUS her costume.  That's started too, but the main piece still needs a pattern and mock-up - called a muslin by real designers - but I use heavy duty napkins to work up the final pattern.
Being a fairy queen, she will have elegant wings.  They're the reason I was up so late last night - I'd finally figured out a way to make them so that they would never droop.  I will not have a fairy queen with droopy wings!!

. . . and Ninjas, too.

a Ninja doll??  Yep, for my littlest art student for his 6th birthday.  How on earth do I get myself into these fixes?  (Easy, just open mouth and volunteer!)   Afraid this 'doll' is a quick and dirty version of one of my first attempts at doll making.

I'm using black fabric for the basic doll, will use white fabric to cut out and glue on details like face and hands.  Little artist gets to paint those and whatever else he wants on the figure.  I must remind myself to call it an action figure as opposed to 'doll' although HE uses 'doll'.  Hopefully, his guy friends won't tease him.

It's frustrating . . .

I'm finding it difficult to maintain a more or less level work progress.  Ideas that seemed to work on paper just don't work when attempted with fabric and glue, etc.  I suppose this is part of the creative process, but it feels like trying to run in knee deerp mud.