Painted Art Dolls

I finally finished my art dolls. I had to stop to make a wedding cake, and after the holiday weekend was able to catch up. They were mostly done except for the clothes. When I paint their bodies, I usually pick out the fabric of their dresses so I can paint the top to match. I like to have a general idea of how they will look from the beginning, but art for me is always progressive. Things evolve and change as I go, to what I think looks best for the piece.

These dolls are meant to be looked at. They are not meant for toys, so I added a loop onto the backs of the dolls so they can be hung up for display. They can sit fairly well on their own, as their arms and legs are movable.

This standing doll has a base, and she finally got her arms that were missing. I also added a pink design on her dress for more depth. (For details on how I made my art dolls- see my march 10th and 21st posts.)

These two pictures are of the dolls hanging on the wall. (click on any picture to see a larger version)

Wedding Cake

Over the weekend I made a wedding cake for a friend of mine. Her colors were ivory, blush pink, and charcoal grey. The cake was white cake with a chocolate ganache' filling and then covered with fondant. I actually had to dye the fondant an ivory color so it wouldn't be a true white. To get ivory I used pink and yellow food coloring-in very small amounts. The pale pink was a light rose color dye and the charcoal grey was the trickiest to make. I started out with a brown color, then added teal, then black and added more white fondant or frosting to get the exact color (if you just add black, it looks too purple- unless you add a ton of it to get black.) It was definitely tricky to get the colors right, so playing around with the colors a day or two before is a good idea- instead of stressing out while your making the cake.

I found these darling pink pearls to add to the flowers, instead of using white which wouldn't necessarily match the ivory color. When making a cake, I usually let it lead me as to what it needs. I start off with a basic idea and sketch it out into my cake sketch book, but always have an open mind knowing things and ideas can change as you go. For example I added a lot more filigree to this cake when originally I didn't plan on it.

Lastly, when I delivered the cake they had these gorgeous flowers for me to use as a cake topper and where ever else I wanted. When looking at the cake, I felt it didn't need any extra flowers on it, so I just decided to make a full cake topper. I think it turned out beautiful.

Mermaid Art Doll

Sirena the Mermaid, named after my good friend Sirena. (Sirena actually means mermaid in Spanish)

I am in love with this doll. First of all, I'm in the middle of making three other dolls, but they have legs, and will be wearing clothes. But this doll is my first attempt at making a mermaid. I loved that I actually painted on her scales, instead of using fabric. She is made from muslin fabric, that is sewn and stuffed with poly fill, then painted with acrylics. (For details about my painted art dolls- see my March 10th, and 21st posts.)

In making my art dolls this time around, I decided to make the arms out of polymer clay. The fabric ones just didn't seem right, and by using the clay I could sculpt them exactly how I wanted. I also used some paint art pens for the little details on her seashell bra. A coat of UV satin varnish seals her up and protects her from damage.

I made her scales with varying shades of blues, greens, greys, and teals. I wanted her mermaid body to have a variegated effect, so I layered each of her scales with a different color, shading the colors differently down to her fins. Using a round tip brush- it was easy to get the scallop effect, making small downward brush strokes worked perfectly.

She will be going on my Etsy site soon, incase anyone is interested.

(click on pictures to enlarge)

Organizing Jewelry

I found this really cool idea from a magazine on how to organize and display your jewelry. It was simple really, a frame without the glass, and a piece of foam core covered with fabric acting as a backing or cork board to then pin up your jewelry. I had this amazing shadowbox frame that I have had for years, and I always wanted to use it for something, but never found quite the right project-until now.

I used leftover fabric from my pillow covers so it would all match my room. I also had the perfect space for these frames, right behind my closet door-sort of in a corner, but not out of view. I made this jewelry frame first and put my favorite pieces on, by using sewing pins. But I realized I had much more jewelry than would fit into one frame. So I dug around in my art stuff, and found another frame that would match the room and made another bigger jewelry frame.

When I travel, I love to find unique jewelry. I found these amazing flower earrings (below) in Greece. I didn't want to spend a lot of money, so I didn't buy the matching bracelet (above), but when I wasn't watching my mother-in-law went back into the shop to buy me the bracelet for Christmas. I was overwhelmed and surprised when I opened it at Christmas to find the matching bracelet to the earrings I bought months before.

The beautiful blue necklace (below) I bought in Venice, Italy. The glass jewelry is from Murano, Italy where they make it, and it is everywhere in Venice. I had to own my very own piece.

The red necklace (above) is one of my most favorite pieces that I bought in Paris. I absolutely love it and wear it whenever I can. Having a place to display my jewelry gives me a chance to look at these pieces I treasure, and takes me back to the places where I bought them.

This is the second frame I made, when I still had more jewelry I wanted to display. Some of the necklace/bracelet/earring sets my sister made for me. She makes jewelry as a hobby, and is very talented. The brown necklace and earrings (upper right corner of frame) I bought when I went to Alaska.

The blue and white diamond necklace I wore on my wedding day, and the beautiful black shell necklace I bought in Florida. It's not just a way to display your jewelry, but to organize them as well. After I finished putting together these frames (which was so fun by the way) I organized my other jewelry boxes (yes I had more jewelry) which finally there was more room for everything to fit nicely.

(Jewelry frame idea from Real Simple magazine)

Pillow Covers

When we painted our bedroom a milk chocolate color, I wanted to make all new pillow covers. The old ones we had didn't match our duvet cover, and I just wanted something new and fresh. I found this amazing fabric with the large flower patterns and paired it with the striped fabric that I used for the back of the pillows. The smaller cotton flower fabric I used for the actual pillow cases, and then used the more ornate thicker fabric for the decorative pillows.

Since I already had previous pillow covers, making the pattern for my new ones was simple. Instead of putting zippers in the back, I used buttons for all three pillows. I also found some really great trim in matching colors.

For the smaller pillow, I spent a lot of time appliqueing the bird. I found a realistic picture of a bird that I based my pattern on, then pieced the bird together using all of the fabrics. I embroidered it with all hand stitching, none of it was done on the sewing machine. I added beads to help embellish the bird, which I love. Anytime I can use beads in my projects I love them all the more.

Click on the images to see a larger picture.

Apron set

For Mother's Day I made my mother-in-law this apron set. She saw the one I made for myself, and liked it so much she wanted to buy a set for herself. But I decided that she definitely deserved one as a gift. This set is really similar to my first one, however the fabric is slightly different, but the same design. And in doing something twice, I find easier/better ways to do things. This set turned out "cleaner" then my first. I also did a lot of the applique' by hand, instead of the sewing machine because I like the look of it better, and I have more control over the details by hand then with the machine.

For the back of the apron, I picked a matching fabric to make it a double-sided apron, a feature my apron didn't have. It's nice to be able to use the back of the apron for those messier occasions, and it covers up all the stitching from the applique'. Plus the extra layer of fabric makes the apron feel sturdier as well.

I also decided to add a fun pocket that is different than my other apron. I appliqued an owl on the other apron pocket, but liked having a fun flower shape for this one.

When making things a second time, you discover easier ways of doing things and can't believe you did it the hard way before. For example, I used bias tape around the oven mitt and pot holder-but I decided to put the bias tape on the oven mitt BEFORE I stitched the oven mitt together.

And with the pot holder, I stitched the bias tape around one side first then hand stitched it on the reverse side, instead of trying to stitch both sides together at the same time. I like to use contrasting thread so you can see the stitches-adding to the look. I think these turned out really well and I hope my mother-in-law enjoys them! Thanks for everything Jana! xo

Click on the images to view a larger picture.