Doll Pillow

My Mother-in-Law called me one day with a request. She used to have this doll pillow years ago that she loved and didn't know what happened to it. She was hoping I could make her one, that was similar to what she used to have. She really loves Native American style so we decided to make the doll pillow a bit Native American in the colors to match her décor. We chose buttery yellow, golds, turquois, cream, and a dark red. She described how her doll pillow had her arms pinned together so she could hold something like flowers. And she wanted her to be about 18" tall.  

So off I began to sketch and think, and shop (my favorite part) for supplies. I had fun picking out buttons, beads, trims, and fabric. To start I drew out a pattern of her head and body onto paper that I pieced together. I then traced the pattern onto some muslin. Sew, turn, stuff and ta-da, a doll shaped pillow was coming together! I painted her lovely face and hair, but left the body part unpainted since she was going to have a pillow case dress.

The "pillow case dress" was exactly that. Fabric I made into a pillowcase of sorts to be slipped onto the doll body and attached at the neck. I sewed and stuffed her arms and sewed them into the side seams of the pillowcase. After attaching the dress I glued it closed, and added her shawl (which was a must have) and her necklace.

Here she is with a little babushka. I just thought she looked cute tucked in her arms. I know my Mother-in-Law was thrilled with how she turned out, and I thank her for the inspiration, and opportunity for me to make this Doll Pillow. :)

Cards!

After taking a long break from posting, I decided it was time to get back into it! I LOVE making cards. You can get immersed into a project for a day or two and then be done, and move onto the next thing. I made these last year, and thought I would tell you about them.

They are made from cute cardstock paper. First I make up a design/pattern from plain white cardstock, that way if I want to make more than one, I already have my template made. Then I trace the template onto the cute paper. For these guys I decided to add some black ink around the edges, since I wanted them to have a more 3-d feel. I used raised tabs on the backs of them so they were slightly lifted off the background paper.

For the quail and mermaid I wanted their parts to move, so I used brads, so you could actually move their arms/tail/ and wings. (see look at the two pictures of the quail.)

 I used the little tabbies on the owls wings here, so they were raised up.

On the house, I made the curtains, bushes, and moon raised, and decided to make a little door that could be opened. Oh, I also used some glitter glue to put a little sparkle onto the cards. They are a larger card, but you'll notice I attached them using photo corners so the card can be removed and used as a piece of art too! Ah ha multi-functional cards :) I love them.

Wall Hangings

I have always been a fan of polymer clay, also known as Sculpey and decided to make some clay wall hangings for my booth at the Holiday Market this year. I am always trying to think of new things to make and be inspired by, and I have always loved the image of the Sacred Heart. I love the wings on the heart and the fire above it. So I decided to make my own. I started out with a small ornament size, then got inspired to create a larger version that could be hung on the wall. I used my Sculpey I had, (although it has been a while since I made anything from it), and sculpted a sacred heart measuring 11" wide x 7 1/2" tall. I made holes in the top corners to attach wire in the back so it can be hung on the wall. After the clay is baked you can then paint it. I also used a crackle technique on the heart. I also like to use a dry brush technique while I paint to give it an antique feel. But in this case it made it look almost as if it was made from metal.

Of course I had to make some Christmas wall hangings for my booth. The Market is after all during the Holidays. I plan on making a few more of the Santas, and some Santa ornaments.

Plushes

Almost all of my Plushes sold over the past Holiday Markets. So I decided to make some more. I crochet them all first and piece them together, then felt them. After they are all dry I stuff them, and sew them up. Then make the faces out of polymer clay and attatch sepertately. I am trying different colors, so they won't be exactly like these ones. 

Mermaid Ornaments

A while ago I made a bunch of Art Dolls, and one of them was a mermaid. So this year, I decided to make some mermaid ornaments. They are much smaller than the doll mermaid, so details are harder to do, but I think they turned out pretty cute.

I made some standing ones, as well as modified sitting ones. I used my original pattern I used for the doll, but shrunk it down to 40 percent. With the dolls and mermaids, they are made from muslin I sewed and stuffed, then painted. The arms are sculpted from polymer clay.

New Ornaments

Finally after a few long crazy months of having a baby, packing up our house and moving back to my home town of Boise, I am back working on my art. I am making some new ornaments for my booth at the Holiday Market this year.

So I saw these great mushroom ornaments on Martha Stewart and I decided to make my own out of paperclay. First you need an armature so the clay has something to mold to, and that way its not a solid clay lump which would take a long time to dry, and also use more clay. I used a Styrofoam ball that I cut in half and cut into the desired dome shape. I also used a wooden dowel for the base part that I cut to the desired length and inserted it into the Styrofoam and then covered the whole thing with paperclay.

I love using paperclay, you can apply it piece by piece in a thin layer, then when it dries I sand it smooth and apply more clay where needed. Before it dries I put in a small ring on top to hang the string by. After the ornament is dried and sanded smooth I can paint it. I love this part, it is where the ornament comes to life. I did several styles for these mushrooms, some all painted and some with glitter.

This one is a lot more sparkly in person than in this photo.

The white glitter on the bottom of this mushroom is a velvet glitter. It is more of a mat type glitter, so not as sparkly.

Of course I had to make some more birds. I used a Styrofoam egg shape then carved out the tail part. After the ornaments are all done I glaze them with a protective UV varnish which will help preserve them.

Summertime: Wedding Season

It is summertime, and that means weddings. Here are a few cakes I have made for weddings in the past.

For this cake, I used real flowers for the cake topper.

This bride wanted a miniature wedding cake, with a bunch of cupcakes.

All of these roses were handmade, both on all the cupcakes, and on the cake below.

All fresh flowers on this pink cake.

My sister's wedding cake, my first "real" wedding cake I ever made. I learned a lot from this one cake.

I was thinking I could make some paperclay painted birds for wedding cake toppers. Instead of hanging by a hook at the top, I could add little wire feet that would sit on the cake.