Creating more art dolls for the NN Fall Festival

I think about Halloween year round which is good because the Newport News Fall Festival is the first weekend in October and there will be lots of Halloween themed booths (by the way I received my official acceptance letter a few days ago).  So my latest creation will fit in with my Halloween themed art dolls.  Let me first show you the "before" photo:

 

From the photo you can't tell that the moon (and on the other side the sun) are both raised.  So I first needed to sand them down a bit.

After I sanded it it was still raised a bit so I covered it in a texture medium then painted it orange

I then painted a spider web on it, drilled four holes then reattached it with fun yarn.  Next was to create the rug for the cat.  For the rug I used the same technique as my fabric bowls then I added a decorative trim around the perimeter.

 

 

The fabric I used is black with candy corn on it but because the sun is shining on it it makes it look grayish.

 

And another "before" and "almost after" photo of one of my other art dolls:

 





 

(More on her later)

52,000 Buttons

The number 52,000 is an inside joke between my mom and me.  When I was a little girl I used the number 52,000 to describe something very large.  It didn't matter what it was, 52,000 years, 52,000 steps, 52,000 feet (you see where I'm going with this) so this is what I decided to call my new shop on Etsy.  52,000 buttons because that is about how many of these little jewels I have. 

I started buying buttons about five years ago for my arts and crafts and what I realized was that they were too pretty to use, I just wanted to put them on display.  I love all buttons!  From celluloid to glass, from bakelite to fabric covered I love them all.  The older the better.  What I have found is that there are other button lovers as obsessed as me!  So I have decided to sell them on Etsy.   

I will have a number of categories such as vintage yellow, vintage metal, celluloid and my favorite category will be my hand painted buttons.  Here is a picture of some of my hand painted lovelies:

These things are virtually indestructible because of the special topcoat I use.  I have run them through the washer and dryer to see if they could withstand a good beating and they all survived!

 

 



I will be closing up shop for a few weeks because I'll be on vacation (buying more buttons up North) but please bookmark it and stop back by!
The address is: http://www.etsy.com/shop/52000Buttons

Auctions and Estate Sales

Last August my next door neighbor died.  He was a very nice elderly man who lived by himself.  I didn't get to know him too well because I only moved here two years ago but we spoke on occasion.  This past weekend his family had an estate sale at his house.  I had mixed feelings about going over there because I knew Mr. Marshall.  I have thought about him a lot since his passing because when I work at my art table my window faces his house.  But I decided to go.   Super nice family.  I talked with his niece for quite a while and I'm sorry I didn't get her name, her name tag read "Doll Lady".  As soon as I read that I knew we would connect.

I have been working on a mixed media art doll made out of nuts and bolts and screws with a clay head for a few weeks now.  But, as with all of my dolls, I get to a certain point and then I need to let them sit for a while.  At Mr. Marshall's estate sale I had a ball in his garage!  He was very organized and kept everything separated and labeled.  This is what I ended up getting:

I LOVE all of the different size springs!  I went to the hardware store two weeks ago looking for springs but couldn't find the size I needed and now JACKPOT!

Hopefully I'll be able to post pictures at the end of the week of Metal Girl.

Great news!

First I want to apologize for being so negligent in posting but I have great news!   One of my dreams is finally coming true!  Secretly I have always wanted to be in the Newport News Fall Festival.  Here is a link to last year's show at Newport News Fall Festival 2012 My mom has been in this show for years and I thought if I could just get in I would feel like my art was validated.  I love what I do but it's a little on the "whimsical" side (I haven't posted a picture yet of my cat/pig or my bat/fish).  A few months ago my mom, in passing, said that I should apply to the Newport News Fall Festival.  She planted the seed but might not have known how much it meant to me.  My mom, an artist, was validating me!  Yesterday I found out that I had been accepted into the juried side of the Fall Festival! So if you're in the area please come out and see me this October in Newport News Park.

Next, I bought a dry erase board for my work area because I have so many projects going on that when I sit down to work on one I don't know which one to pick up first!  So here is a look at my list:

 

Here is a look at some of the dolls (and a bat like creature) I'm currently working on:

 



And last but not least I'm still working on my Hoffman Challenge doll.  I LOVE the way her skirt is turning out but I always have trouble painting faces so this is usually done last on my dolls.  Last night I sat down and painted her face.  I'm pleased with the way it turned out:

The green eye shadow isn't as bright in person as it is in the picture; and her gold blush is a lot more translucent too. I haven't attached her hair yet, I just layed her head in the hair so you could get the full effect.  She will probably be wearing earrings too.  I just went back to the only store in the area that carries the Hoffman fabric today so I can get started on her peacock this weekend.

So I think that's about it from My Art Room in Portsmouth, VA.  Thanks for stopping by!

Update on my Hoffman Doll challenge

Well I'm coming right along!  Because I have two young boys I'm not able to devote as much time to working on her as I would like but "where there's a will there's a way!"

As you remember these are the Hoffman Fabrics for the 2013 Challenge (except for the teal one):

Step 1  Body finished
After sewing her body I decided to add lace around the bust line to give her more curves.  Her necklace is made out of seed beads and an old earring.

 

Step 2 Legs and shoes finished
The legs are made out of one of the Hoffman challenge fabrics then I painted the shoes and laced them up with gold ribbon.  The soles and heals are painted brown.  Later I may add more embellishments to the top of her boots.



The most fun I've had with this challenge is creating the skirt. I first thing I did was to create a crazy quilt with the challenge fabrics. I then started embellishing the seams and creating decorative designs within the blocks.

 

 

And just today I finished her arms, hands and shrug around her shoulders. I have taken these photos because I'm so excited about her but her skirt isn't finished and not even attached yet! And of course she needs a head (which is still waiting to be stuffed). But this is a first look at what I've been working on these past few weeks.

 

 

Her left hand is "palm open" because she will be feeding an animal but I'm not going to tell you what it is yet incase it doesn't turn out.

My art room

This is a corner of our spare bedroom that I have set up as my work space where everything is at my fingertips, almost.  The open door leads to a finished off attic where I am able to store my larger art supplies like fabric, paints, beads and buttons.  Now you may laugh when I call my beads and buttons my "larger" items but I have at least 15 plastic bins for each (beads and buttons) organized by color so they actually take up a lot of shelving space.  I absolutely love buttons, mainly vintage and most definitely fabric covered.

Sneek Peek of my "whimsical" dragon

When I decided to do another "art doll" I started to look around my house for inspiration.  My boys were watching Mike the Knight cartoon and I thought, I'd love to do a dragon and then maybe have a little girl sitting or riding on it like they were friends.  So I started sketching (something I rarely do).

In my stash I had the perfect orange and gold fabric for the dragon and then I found a dark red print for the girls dress.  He is completely stuffed and the girl has a soft body with a polymer clay face and hands (then I painted the face).  I created both patterns.

While I haven't finished the dragon yet (he still needs hands and horns) I really wanted to show you all some pictures of his progress.  There will also be a gold cord around him somehow that the little girl will be holding onto.

In the next pictures I take I'll get a shot of her hair because it's rather long and she has a jewel in her hair that matches the one on the front of her dress.  Plus a picture of her hands because she has some wicked long red nails.

New Fabric Bowls!

I have been working hard on my art dolls but I've also come up with some new fabric bowls as well. I got tired of just using 100% cotton so when I went to the thrift store I looked in the linen section to see if I could find more "texturized" fabric. I came across what I think used to be curtains; I would not have hung this color in my house but doesn't it made the cutest looking shabby chic basket.  (The top three rows are 100% cotton)

Then I had another idea, upholstery!  This bowl could be named "The Sound of Music" because it reminds me of the drapes that Maria used to make the children's play clothes out of.

And this last one is really not new but has embellishments added to it.  I plan on doing this a lot more with my fabric bowls, adding found objects, beads, wood, seashells, anything I can get my hands on to create one-of-a-kind fabric bowls.

With most of my art I have to let it sit for a while to decide if it's finished or it needs anything else.  With the above wood and fabric bowl I will be adding some kind of handle, maybe even more greenery, I'm still in my thinking stage with this one.