Sneak Peek-More WIPs

Here they are, as promised, Maude and Jet, who will soon be on their way to England. (Sorry for the marginal picture quality...I got tired of waiting for "good light" and just had to get things rolling.)


Jet is not attached, so he can be moved around







Maude has an internal armature and can be gently posed.




Moving on....



No, this isn't supposed to be cute. Good thing, huh? This is the head for my latest Halloween piece. He has a bizarre little body wet felted body and paperclay legs. I'll post again when he has it all together.

Until next time, happy creating!

Theresa

Home again, home again, jiggety-jig

I am finally home again after the big family trip. Done unpacking, but unable to photograph WIP's as of yet. Too much running around to get the children ready for school. I have it on my list for tomorrow morning while the little ones are still asleep, but since my littlest is still on Eastern time, it may be a joint venture. He has a good eye for lighting....


When you see my next post you will meet Maude and Jet, a small needle felted gal and her kitty that are headed across the pond to Maygreen Fairies for her Handmade for Haiti fundraiser. Check her out at http://maygreen-fairies.blogspot.com/.


You will also likely see my larger Halloween-inspired felted doll and possibly the beginnings of the paint job on the alien doll. (I don't usually post the painted guys 'in progress' because I work the heck out of them until I find the point at which I finally feel finished, which could take a couple of hours or a couple of weeks. I never know which it will be until I am covered in paint splotches. We shall see....)

Missed everyone! It has been fun catching up on all of the posts I missed while I was away.

Don't forget to check out Cart Before the Horse for a cool giveaway. She has offered up one of her awesome dolls or a cheater quilt pack. http://cartbeforethehorse.blogspot.com/

Until next time, happy homecoming!

Theresa

When Should I Start to Worry About This?

The following vignette occurred at my house this morning. I need some outside opinions to tell me whether I should be worried or not.

Here we go...

Ready?

Are you SURE?

Daughter: (gesturing to doll on the table) "Hey, Mom! What's that thing?"

Mom: "One of your old Bratz dolls."

Daughter: "Huh. *shrug* Okay."

Daughter walks away without so much as a FLINCH!

Didn't even BLINK AN EYE at the fact that I had turned one of her old dolls into an alien.

Shall I be happy that she understands that Bratz dolls are a symptom of the general ills of society as a whole or be worried that she thinks it is normal for her mother to make, um, aliens and such?

Any thoughts?

This redo isn't quite finished. She needs all of the bells and whistles and evil alien stuff. And to have a gown not made of cheap paper towels. I'll post her when she is done and ready for sale.


Until next time, happy restructuring!


Theresa

The Stuff in My Space-Warning: May Cause Dizziness

For those of you who are curious by nature, here is a glimpse into the chaos that is my creative space. Sometimes it is tidier, sometimes it is messier, but this is usually how it looks.

Contrary to popular belief (around here, anyway), I can find things relatively quickly and easily. My "organization" makes sense to me. And apparently ONLY to me.

Please note that I am treating you as family by NOT tidying it up before shooting the pictures. No artifice here, thank you very much!

This poor, flightless bird has been waiting to be photographed and sold for ages now. He needs a little hair-do and some proper lighting and then off he will go.

I know this girl is supposed to be a vase of some kind, but I think she does a great job holding onto my pens, scissors, crochet hook, etc. Everyone should have a purpose, don't you think?

This is Ming. She watches me use the computer. In this picture, she is just standing around, but she also likes to ride on my mushroom crows.

Isn't he funny? Peeking out of an old Bunnykins mug? I love him and the graphics on the mug, too.

Doesn't everyone use the skeleton of a foot as a picture display? No? Hmm. Perhaps I have shown too much.

Directly after this photo was taken, the girls each received a lovely set of chenille arms and will soon be going to a new home.

Don't they seem glad to be moving? Perhaps their next home will be a bit less cluttered.

This just makes me happy.

Tee-hee.

This is someone else's work. I fell in love with it and out it comes every Fourth of July.

Buddha is always in a good mood. He helps me with attitude adjustments as needed. He also sits on my vintage trading stamp holder.

That's about it for the virtual tour of my space. I left some things out. A gal has to maintain SOME mystery.

Until next time, happy spaces!

Theresa

I Have Pink

Nils the gnome has chastised me yet again.

He feels I am guilty of being a monochromatic show-off in my color choices within the garden out back.

There is no logical explanation as to WHY there is so much pink here. Pink is not one of my favorite colors. In fact, much of what I choose to surround myself with would fall under the "earthy" tones umbrella;

browns, tans, greens, rusts and oranges.

But you'll see pink in my blossoms. You can find it in the foliage.

It is here, in the plant that I always neglect that keeps on blooming all the more for it.

Yet again in front of the far back wall, where I have little time to attend to my leafy friends.

This is a fragile, needy pinky pink.
"Don't let me get too much sun. Don't let me stay too wet."
The grand surprise is that she is not yet dead. High maintenance and I don't get along well.

Even my succulents prefer this posy hue. Who knew?

Here is an up close pink, though the center, decidedly NOT pink, is the true star of this show.

And my fuchsia, which continually tries to commit suicide, is pink.

(Secretly I wanted a fuchsia fuchsia, but hey-it's still alive! Sort of.)

A hummingbird's eye view of the struggling fuchsia. Very different from here, no?

To those interested in my artistic ventures, let it be known that, in addition to all of my WIPs which all get a little love every day, I just shaved the head of a Bratz doll (shudder!) and am prepping her for a Halloween makeover. (Though truly, Bratz dolls are already pretty darned scary, don't you think?)

Think inset glass eyes, a face reshape and mohair wig.

Until next time, happy living!

Theresa

To be green or not to be green?

I must admit that the tiny, immature part of myself goes "Harumph" lately when I see yet another repetitive article of TV show that is geared towards helping me to be more "green".

We do pretty well, I think. Please don't misunderstand- I don't mind it when I learn something new. But SO much of what is out there is just the same old information about toilet paper squares, packaging, and composting.

I get it, already! I have always lived by the following:

Use it up
Wear it out
Make it do
Do without.

This goes a LONG way towards explaining the condition of my garage. You never know when you will need twine, old ribbons and a leather punch. I can think of so many ideas.....

I digress.

The following is one of my kids' favorite ways to use up fruit peels. It isn't fancy, so don't get your hopes up. It will, however, make your house smell great. I promise!

When making a fruit salad, be sure to set aside all orange, grapefruit and lemon peels. Keep apple cores, skins, and tidbits, too. Anything that has a nice smell will do. (I don't keep banana peels, as they don't smell good. They can go directly into the compost pile without passing GO.)

Throw the leftover goodies in a large pot of water on the stove. Bring the water and peels to a boil. Throw in a cinnamon stick (or some ground cinnamon), some nutmeg, a little vanilla, some cloves....you get the idea.

As soon as it is boiling, Viola! Your house will smell great! A nice, spicy clean citrus-y smell. My daughter says it "Smells like Fall."

I like to put the hot pot in front of the floor fan; that really disperses the fragrance well.

Once the peels cool, you can strain them out and put them in the compost pile, too. They will be pretty mushy, squooshy, though.

There you have it. Nothing earth shattering. Just a little fun tip that may be new to you that uses something that would normally pass into the trash can without a second thought.

Until next time, happy brewing!

Theresa

Look What I've Won!

It's Wee Crabbie from Denise at Odd Imagination!

Denise was having a "name this creature" contest and she liked the name I submitted.

I was SOOO excited when he arrived in the mail. My kids, who all knew he was on his way, gathered around when we opened his box. He now occupies a special place on my computer table. I get to look as his sweet little face as I go about my daily routine.

He now sits next to these neighbors:

As you can see, the wooden girls look lovely, but they can be a little mean. In their defense, however, the monster is a bit of a baby and has a hair-trigger when it comes to crying. He sobbed for days when he thought that Wee Crabbie was more popular than he. It can be taxing, really.


And, of course, here is Darth Maul, who is channeling his inner fairy. He sabered Wee Crabbie, but W.C. is secure in his manliness and just let the whole thing blow over.

Until next time, remember to be thankful! And remember to check out Denise's work at http://oddimagination.blogspot.com/

Theresa