Hoffman Challenge Doll Progress

I have been playing with the doll - she is dressed and sitting on the stool but I am not 100%.  I needed to name her though I did have a specific idea, just not a name but I have decided on "It's the Economy's Fault!"  The sign in the flowers says it all - I hope!

The rolled roses and the daisy are two of the flowers I will be demonstrating at Day With Dolls in August.  Actually, the lilac behind the sign is also another one.  These are all made with two layers of fabric fused with  fusible web.  the lilac flowers were cut out with my Sizzix.  The daisy and the roses are my design.

The sign is made from paper, embossed with wood-grain and colored with alcohol inks over 3 layers of chipboard so it is very sturdy.

Off with her head!!!!!

When I originally made the Red Queen, I experimented with sculpting and cloth over.  I really never was very happy with the face - her nose was too big, her eyes too slanted so I decided to do another.  I took pics as I was doing it as I think I may put her out as a pattern.  So here is the after and before and a pic of the whole doll.  I reused her hair and eyelashes though I see her one needs to be adjusted.  I have been staring at this doll hating her face for weeks now that she is sitting in my studio.  Now  I am happy with her.

Watch for information on Day with Dolls to be held August 13, in Boonton New Jersey.  Hope to see lots of dollmakers there.  We always have such a wonderful time.  Flyer coming soon!

Fairy Prince Shoes

I made a little change in the Pink Fairy shoes - adding and changing some of the embellishements to make them a little more feminine.  I also modified the pattern a little to make a pair of fairy boots fit for a Prince.  I am going to modify the pattern a little to make the toes a bit longer so they don't look so much like babie booties.  The blue shoes are made from felt with cotton fabric fused on.  I dyed and stamped this fabric then added highlights with dimensional paint.  The felt was covered with blue glitter glue so the inside of the shoes sparkle too. I buttonhole stitched all around the pieces by hand with metallic thread then whip stitched them together couching in metallic fuzzy yarn.  The actually took only about 3 hours not counting drying time.  Now to finish my Hoffman Challenge doll. 

Pink Fairy Shoes

A few years ago I started to design fairy shoes for a possible class. Never did finish but this week I received a wonderful gift in the mail from my dear friend Leonie - an article torn from the April/May 2011 Stitch magazine. The article is a pattern and directions for fairy shoes by Annette Emms. They are just lovely but before I read the article, I was determined to finish my own design-which I did! Here are the results.  They measure about 4 .5" from toe tip to heel along the sole.  A bit larger than Annette's.

I started out with red felt but after I had them sewed around and cut out, thought they would look too Chrismassy so painted them with Lumierre Halo Pink, Metallic Fuschia , Yellow and Gold.  I took strips of sheer fabrics, distressed them with a heat tool and attached them to the sides and front top with beads and sequins.  Finishing touch was gold dimensional paint along the top edge.

 I made them like slippers with a right and left foot, separate sole, shoe sides and front foot top.  You can see how the felt was treated to change it from red to Pink.  I wasn't too careful when sewing the outline so the shapes aren't exactly matching, but not bad for the first attempt.  If you would like to see Annette Emm's beautiful shoes, her blog is here.   Now I am going to sit down and read her directions.  I am sure I will learn something new.

More Journal RR Pages

First, some Art Bra news!  The ArtBra site is no more.  There are still a few 2011 and older calendars left and they can be purchased from Ribbonsmyth  Once they are gone - they are gone!

 I received an order from Joann's of the new Cuttlebug Quilling dies.  There are three, Chrysanthemum, daisy, and carnation/rose (shown in that order is the pic).  Here is a pic of the flowers I made experimenting.  They are so cool! Each kit contains 4 strip dies (center strips, flower centers, outer petals, and leaves), a quilling tool, floral wire for stems, and a ready made sample!  WOW! I used construction paper for them though cardstock works also.



I received the second RR Journal, this one belonging to Sandy A. with a theme of Grungy Numbers.  The base of the book is grunge board.  Here are the pages I made.  I am really enjoying this.

Front
The background is done with a Shabby Chic
Technique created by Tim Holtz.  Background
is colored, numbers stamped in clear, then
the whole thing is painted over and the paint
is removed to exposed the embossed elements. 
The dressform and scroll at the bottom is from
paper I created using a new stamp of rows of
small numbers I embossed in clear on offwhite
paper then colored with inks. The top frame
is grunge board with verdigris embossing
Powder.  The numbers are also grunge board
embossed with DI Weathered Wood EP.

Back
The background is paper done with that
number stamp and inked. Lady Time is a
stamp from Stampers Anonymous, the
numbers on the bottom is a Tim Holtz
stamp.  The numbers on the top are Grunge
board on grunge board background squares.

New Project

When I created the ArtBra "Closet Cowgirl"  I wrote a poem to go with it.  While the bra was on display in Texas, I received an email from someone who said she and her friends were very touched by the poem and could they have a copy.  So, I thought I would make a little hanging with the poem with some inspiration from KC Willis and my dear friend Vickie. Also, a tut on the rolled muslin flower was posted on a blog I follow http://craftingwithowse.blogspot.com/ though I used regular glue and no cardboard base (mine is smaller too).  This just meant I had to use Muslin for the project.  I printed out a picture I liked (Rose Dunne, the Rose of Cimmeron - google her-very interesting!), my poem and I also used my print program to create the striped fabric.  I used Tim's mini scroll mask for the corners and made pale stripes with inks and a sponge brush. I placed the muslin background on a piece of felt and stiched around the scrolls and added stitched lines.  The picture, poem and words were hand sewn on with a piece of felt behind them. Everything but the pearl buttons is colored with Distress Inks including the lace and ribbon.  The plaque it hangs from is a Tim Holtz die and wood grain embossing folder, the smaller plaque is a sizzix die made with 5 layers of cardstock and the words applied with gel medium transfer. The chains are also Tim Holtz.  Learned lots doing this and can't wait to try it again.  Since I did a print out on paper as a test, next one will be paper.  Following is a tut on how I made the small flowers.  At the scrapbook show there was lots of trim with little rolled raw edge flowers.  This is my version.

First step is to tear a stip of fabric about 1" wide x 8" long and cut it in half so you have two strips 1/2" wide. Color with Distress Inks (I used dried Marigold, Worn Lipstick, and Tea Dye).

 With Heavy thread, fold one short edge of the fabric, secure the thread and make a running stitch about 3 thread from the cut long edge. Gather to 4". 

Put spots of glue along the stitching and roll up the strip. 

Press the bottom together. And there you have a rose. I also trimmed off all the extra threads

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