Hmmmm....

  Thought I would use my diva pattern and picked out pieces from my pieces folder and well-most were from that pattern, just not the body bottoms!  Had a panic attack when they didn't fit perfectly the first time then realized the problem when I pulled a print out.  Who will she be???

I am supposed to be cleaning...

But instead I made this purse.  I had purchased this fabric for a doll but the print is too big.  Want a messenger bag to hold my iPad so this is the test version.  The strap buttons and can be adjusted so I can wear it as a shoulder bag or slung diagonal.  Going to a punk rock flea market Sunday too.  Next one is Route 66 fabric.  Looking for a map print to put with it.  

I also made a few charms and thought I would make a pin for another purse-just don't know which one yet!

Live Love Bezel Charm

This is the bottom Left Bezel.  The words are from a cheap romance novel.  The heart is from a charm I broke in half.  The bezel was painted with Black Cherry DecoArt Precious Metal Paints.  

Experiments

Thursday I visited my friend Colleen of the Artsy Soul at her new digs.  Of course I brought my newest ladies to visit.  I also brought some bezels with prisma paint backgrounds.  We experimented with a new die and started working on some charms using metal sheeting and chipboard.  I have pictured my layered Heart Pin.  The dangling hearts and cupid are from CJS in NY and the filagree is from The Artsy Soul.  Lots of product on this!  From Ranger Patina paints, embossing powder, Ultra thick embossing powder, a new product from Susan Lenart Kazmer Ice Resin Enamel, Gilders Paste too.  Think I will add a pin back to this.  I also used Stamping paste by Deco Art on the bottom heart.  That stuff has diamond dust (at least it looks that way to me!) in it.  Love it.

I also did some experimenting with bezels and Peobo Moon and Prisma paints.  I have had them for awhile and finally decided to experiment.  Here are the 6 bezels I made.  I think I was given these with an order.  They were all in one bubble pack with no price tag.  They are very shallow, just right for the painted background and a layer of resin or tripple thick, which I used. on the one I show finished.  I used a piece of wire to drop the paint into the  Bezels..  I did finish two but only took a pic of one.  The second is drying.  I painted the outer lacy part of the bezel with Deco Art Precious metal paint and then highlighted with  24K Gold Paint Pen.  The lovely Cab in the center is also from CJS.  They have such beautiful crystal and glass pieces.  Vickie and I split a bag of them.  This base is shown in the above pic top right.  I used a pin to help move the Prisma and Moon colors.  My favorite is the one right below it which I haven't done anything with yet.

Finished and playing in PhotoShop

Her hair is styled.  Kept it simple as this yarn was very limp, just added small bows and flowers at the sides.  As I looked at her face, I realized how unsymmetrical her features are, especially her mouth.  I love to play in Photoshop so decided to see how she would look if her features were perfectly symmetrical.   I do this with my drawn faces when I print them out for multiple heads for special orders or classes where I make the heads and faces.  Interesting how different she looks and how different the emotion she exudes is!

 Right Side cloned.  Sad eyes but slight smile and her nose bridge is wide!














Left side Cloned, wide mouth, still sad eyes but better nose.  And here is one with the face flipped.  WOW!  I do look at the faces in the mirrow, but must be my stigmatism!

Using Leftover Hoffman Challenge Fabric

The pink of her dress is one of the coordinates.  Have a friend having a baby, thought I would make something for the big sister. Her dress is the Hoffman Fabric.  Deciding on her hair.  This is my Lady
Ragalia pattern.  I know which hair I like best.  Her apron is a pink Polka dot that goes perfectly with the dress fabric.  Lots of eyelet trim.  The flower trim down the center and around the neck is from Ribbonsmyth. and one of my favorites.

New Pendants and finished doll

First I received an order of new releases from Sizzix that included this wonderful SeaHorse Die.  I did the same with this as I did with the Dress Form and made a mold.  I also covered some chipboard with metal tape and created another one with that method.  All the charms on these except the large dangle (which is made from base bezel and glass insert from Crafttastic.com) on the Golden Seahorse are from CJS and colored with variouse mediums including Gilders paste.  The charms are hanging from an earing ring!  These two are also colored with Interference colors so they shimmer.  The clay on the left shrunk a bit so the chipboard backing shows a little but I colored it with markers and added some dimentional paint so he looks outlines in black.









I also finished my Selfie doll.   She is dressed in a replica of one of my favorite dresses my mother made for me when I was about 7.  It was purple with collar, cuffs, bias trim on the skirt, and an under skirt of a large purple gingham check.  It also had a large bow in back.  I took some liberties with the design as I had limited check fabric and locally couldn't source any purple gingham!  I remember I used to hold the tails of the bow and swing back and forth so the skirt swished.  My Mother made me such beautiful dresses.  She is 93 and starting to lose her memory and I have been involving her to remember the dresses and sketching as we talk.  She is made from the Style design.  I needed to test the face again and of course blew out an area being in a hurry so I did a clay over and took lots of pics so will probably include that if it does become a pattern.  I also made her able to stand without a base.

Another OOOPs Face

One more face before I decide which one to use in the In Her Own Style pattern.  Since I had my mind on a Clay over face, I wasn't careful and blew out the filtrum.  Sooooo did some needle sculpting and the clay over thing.  I am going to use this face for the Self Portrait Challenge over on Doll Street.  Here is the finished face and following is the needle sculpted OOOPs head.  Think I am going to use the original face in the pattern.  Really love her pointed chin.  Thought it was too large, but the more I look at it, the more I like it.  The last pic is the one I am using for the self portrait though I wanted a pic of me around 7 and in this pic I was 3 so I elongated her nose a bit and thinned the lips. I also used fabric medium on the face before coloring.  Not happy with that either.  No pilling, but the colors really just don't look the way I want.  I tried just spraying with Krylon Matte clear, but the fabric still pilled.  Oh well, I still haven't tried gel medium. I am dressing her in a purple dress with a print underskirt and trim.  It is exactly as I remember it - being one of my favorites.  My Mother made it for me as she did just about ALL of my clothes until I was maybe 9-10 when I started sewing my own.  Can't wait to tackle that hair do!  If I try to reproduce how I wore my hair when I was 6, it would be frizz because my mother always gave me a perm to combat my straight straight hair and tons of cowlicks!

Being Productive

My friend Colleen is doing wonderful things with Charms.  She is using diecuts for patterns and I thought of another method.  I just love the mini DressForm die by Sizzix and thought of using that to make a mold of sorts - I 'm not very good at cutting clay though I do have the tools!  I figured I could place the mold on an embossing folder and press the clay into it.  Actually it worked pretty good.  Need to refine the process a bit. Love how the dress came out. It's more a pendant than a charm.  The drop pearls are from Vickie's and my treasure hunt at CJS in NYC.  Going back Tuesday for more!

I also got a wonderful free purse pattern from Craftsy.  I need a large purse to carry my iPad in and I have had this wonderful piece of purple drapery fabric hanging around for a year or so waiting to become a purse.  Here are pics of the finished bag.  I added pockets inside, a stiff base in the bottom, and pleats in the front and back.  It was a little too large but the pleats were just the trick.  The ornaments in the center front and back are again from our trip to NYC.  The buttons on the Straps were in a button tin gifted to me by Mrs. Youngman, my SIL's Mother.  They were very tarnished to the point I didn't know what color the metal was.  But a little patina and gilders paste and they are Perfect!  Now to go out and it give a test drive!