Today has been the day for taking down Christmas. I am sad to see the tree come down. I could just sit and stare at the decorated tree and it's twinkling lights, especially at night when the rest of the house is dark. Not sure why it makes me so happy, maybe because I only have wonderful memories of Christmas.
That said, by the new year I am ready to start anew. Get the house clean, year end bookkeeping done and get busy on new projects.
New Years is also a special time for hubby and I. We shared our first kiss after a New Years party. These days we aren't much for partying but we will have a nice cozy night.....happy to be together.
I love this time of year! The gifts are all wrapped and there will be a little more baking tomorrow but it's time to relax and just enjoy Christmas. I made 4 tutus and several batches of fudge. They were sent off last week. We will spend Christmas with family nearby.
Soon it will be time to start sewing for a couple of upcoming shows. The ideas have finally started to flow again so I am kind of itching to get to them.
So... Merry Christmas to all!
Nick and Nixie are already on their way to a new home. But Nixie got to make a special appearance in Teddy Bear and Friends.
There is a free pattern to make a small dog like Nixie.
And a nice little article about me.
I am very pleased with this issue of Teddy Bear and Friends. It also includes and article about Joanne Livingston of Desert Mountain Bears. She is very talented and gracious. Check out her blog post about the article http://desertmountainbear.blogspot.com/
The weather was beautiful and the sales were plenty. I purchased several Christmas items to resell at the flea market. A couple of great finds will be on ebay this week. Some little vintage bone china angels and a vintage cardboard church in it's original box. After a little research, I learned the cardboard glittery buildings are called Putz. Not sure why.
The best find was the Hermann Teddy Bear in the photo. When I picked her up I knew she was a good bear but she was wearing a shirt that covered her tags. She came home with me for $1 and I didn't discover she was a Hermann until I got her home. I'm thinking she might stay here awhile.
I finally got around to creating a fireman and his dog to go with the cute fire engine found at a sale.
Shaunessy and his dog, Sparky, are ready for a parade. They will be going to Tampa with me in February, unless someone wants them before then.
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and lots of good food. Now it's really time to get going with Christmas decorations. There is not much shopping to do for gifts this year. I have decided to give some heirlooms as gifts. Each heirloom will be given with it's story. It's time for some of the things in my jewelry box and on the curio shelf to be enjoyed by others.
This little dog got it's name because I was watching coverage of the storm while sewing. Sandy was designed to sit and is only 6 inches tall, not including that perky ear. I'm pleased with the way Sandy turned out and there will probably be more puppies headed to Tampa with me in February. Couldn't decide which background was best. Which do you think: blue or black?
There are still a couple of projects frustrating me. The monkey I mentioned several posts ago had been put away for several weeks. One head has already been rejected and I'm not happy with the second. He is supposed to have a needle felted face. I learned about needle felted faces in a class taught online by Judi Paul. She taught that you have to think from the end. After looking at many, many monkey faces visualizing the end result escapes me. So it was best to put him away for awhile. I also ran into a problem with the bear I am currently working on. He has had 2 different heads. After making the second I went back to the first and narrowed the center gusset. Not sure why I am struggling so much and I sometimes wonder if other bear makers also have these troubles.
Anyway, there are a couple of things besides critters I want to make as holiday gifts. Got to get busy.
I found this cute little pail at Target and immediately envisioned a pincushion with a felt turkey perched on top. After working most of the weekend I gave up on the turkey. The only part I was happy with was the tail feathers. Next, I thought an owl. Another day gone with unsatisfactory results. Two partially completed owls and neither looked right. Wrong colors and wrong dimensions. So I did something I learned a long time ago. I put it away. Then got out some mohair and cut out something I'm sure of....a little dog. It is almost complete and I now I feel like I have accomplished something.
Well, to prove I have been doing some sewing, here is Xander. I wasn't sure what he was going to be up until his face emerged. He is a brave knight ready to rescue a damsel. He is not listed anywhere yet. I haven't decided if I should save him to take to the Bright Star show in Tampa in February. It seems like a long way off but there will be a lot going on between now and then. Not sure why, but my creativity seems low right now. Maybe too many distractions. It will pick up, soon I hope, but it's not something you can push.
Absolutely none! We had the kitchen counter tops replaced last week. So I spent the time running around for supplies, returning the wrong things and getting the right ones. The old ugly stained white formica counters were replaced with black granite tile. Solid granite was too pricey for us so this was a nice alternative. The backsplash was done in pretty irridescent glass tiles. The edges are now oak trimmed. New cabinets would have been nice but not in the budget. The white plastic cabinet handles were replaced with stainless steel ones. Company coming now so hopefully back to sewing next week.
The show is open!! Lots of wonderful creations to look at and purchase. Nudge is available along with Nelson, Jessie Joy, Majik, Candi K, and the Fairy Gift Bear.
Just click on the banner at the top to get to the show.
Here in Florida it still feels like summer. That's not unusual because we could still be in the 80's in November. Sometimes I miss the cool, crisp fall days and changing leaves but I definitely don't miss cold winters. Been kinda goofing off this last week. I read 2 books by one of my favorite authors at the beginning of the week and watched baseball with Bill. He is a big Yankees fan. Yesterday, I started working on the face for my first mohair monkey. It didn't go well so I started over today. My show page is ready for the Fall~La~La show, which starts on Friday the 12th. You can see why Nudge is called "an Elf for all seasons" in the photo. He has a hat for each one.
It's kinda last minute but I will be participating in this online show in under 2 weeks. The show starts Oct 12 at 10am est and continues til the 14th at 8pm. I already had a couple of new bears finished.
Nudge, the elf for all seasons. is my preview bear. There is also one more new creation in the works. Click on the banner to take a peek at the preview page. Lots of wonderful artists participating.
I spent last week trying to get my domain name to point to the new website. Check it out.. www.dogpatchcritters.com
Still needs a couple of tweaks but I'm pretty happy with it.
This has been on my mind all week. Besides all the political ads :-( ,
there have been a lot of back to school and fall clothing ads. My interest in style is just not there anymore. Don't get me wrong, I like to look nice, but the desire to keep up with the latest trends is gone. It has been replaced by wanting to be comfortable. I realize this tags me as "over the hill" but I have come to accept it. I occasionally see clothes I think are really cute but know I would look like a late middle ager trying to look like a teenager.
I remember in 7th grade begging my mom for GoGo boots. For those that don't remember, they were white patent leather knee high boots with heels. It's a good thing my mom didn't relent because they would have looked ridiculous on me. I also remember my first pair of bell bottoms. They weren't blue denim but green plaid. I guess I really was never much of a "fashionista". Now days you will find me in a comfortable pair of jeans and a tshirt.....call my style classic.
The photo is me in 1971. I made that outfit myself. It was grey pinstripe and the pants were bell bottom.
I played some yesterday and made a dress and some leggings for Pippa. So today she is having lunch with Sunkist, a Strawberry Shortcake girl. It would be nice to find the time to make Pippa some more clothes.
This will be a busy week with several Dr appointments, including one for Lexi very early tomorrow morning. Looks like an eye infection. Poor thing, she gets all the ailments and Lucy just keeps chugging along at age 17. I think Lucy was stung by a bee or some other bug bite just under one eye. I noticed her rubbing it and next time I looked at her she had a puffy face. So I gave her a benedryl and within a couple hours the swelling was gone.
One good thing, Bill's appointment is near Hobby Lobby and Michael's, so I have been making a list of things to shop for.
Work in progress finished and on her way. Emma the little Beagle girl is wearing a cute little pinafore and a matching ribbon by her ear.
I just love making these cats. Zelda the Zombie cat is now available on Bear Pile. She comes with her pincushion and pins in case an effigy needs to be poked.
I spent the holiday goofing off. Well, not really, I tried to make some little dresses for Pippa but wasn't happy with any of them.
This afternoon was spent needle felting a nose for this dog. It will be a tricolor Beagle for a custom order.
A couple of packages arrived on Saturday. Some eyes and other supplies AND some mohair. I keep saying I'm going to use up the all the mohair in my stash before buying more BUT....that never seems to happen. Now, to get busy and turn that mohair into little critters.
I wasn't happy at all with my first attempt at Pippa's face up. So it was sanded off and after some work with a file and more sanding, then spraying she looks better. I also redid her wig using Joanne's (Desert Mountain Bears) instructions. The photos on her blog were very helpful. I still need more practice on the wig making though and will try to make another later. Some of Strawberry Shortcake's clothes fit Pippa, so she is borrowing them til she gets some of her own.
I recently created a custom order little Dachshund girl. Her new person has named her Elvira after a doxie she once had. So Elvira now has a real doxie brother name Ringo. Their person tells me Ringo loves Elvira. I'm sure she feels the same.....as long as he doesn't mess up her dress.
On another note, I'm in the process of moving my website to blogger. It's pretty much ready to go, just need to set it so my domain name takes you there.
It's only a couple of weeks til Labor Day. Here in the states it's the unofficial beginning of Fall. Living in Florida, I sometimes miss the changing of the leaves and cool nights of the fall season farther north. But in getting into the spirit, I made this pincushion with a black mohair cat and little needle felted pumpkin. Right now the cat and pumpkin are just pinned on but I'm debating whether or not to sew them on. What do you think?
We made some good garage sale finds this weekend. This great little fire truck.
Should I make a fireman Teddy or a Dalmation? Hmmmm....or maybe both???
We also picked up a couple of Fiestaware bud vases, a Hull pottery dish and this wonderful Matryoshka doll. She has a surprise inside...a bottle of Russian vodka!
I have long wanted a small bjd but they were way out of my price range. Joanne of Desert Mountain Bears blogged about the plastic Hujoo baby dolls and hers turned out sooo cute. They are pretty inexpensive if you buy a naked one. It has no make up, hair or eyes. Joanne is always very helpful and shared how she applied the make up and made the wig. I have been doing a little at a time on my little doll and I'm afraid she needs a lot more work. Her make up is too tenative....she needs more! The wig is too big. I followed the tutorial for making a wig but I don't think the fabric I used to make the wig cap was quite right.
So this is her first appearance and my first try. I'm going to start over(so glad this is possible). Her name is "Pippa" and she is counting on me to find her personality....it just might take me awhile.
Trying to get caught up after a 3 day road trip to Georgia. It is normally an eight hour drive from here to north of Atlanta but we managed to get to Atlanta and 5pm on a Friday afternoon.We visited with hubby's sons and grandchildren. It was a nice visit but it really took a lot out of us and a week later I think we have finally recovered.
I listed a number of Teddy bears and critters that are still hanging around here in my etsy shop. Chopper the little spotted anime dog and Gwendolyn are just 2 of the listings. Meanwhile I'm working on a custom order Dachshund.
Bill and I went to garage/yard sales this morning. Besides 2 nice pair of shorts for him at $1 apiece and 3 tops for me at 50 cents apiece, I found this cute Patsy doll. She is just a reproduction but I will have fun making clothes for her.
I have made an aviator bear. Can't reveal him yet but he needs a plane. I envision him with a vintage looking toy plane but I have run into a problem. Size wise the plane should have a 4 -5 inch wingspan. Maybe a wooden biplane? Or an old tin toy one? So I started searching with no idea how difficult it would be. The wood one are all too big or too expensive. The tin toy ones are definitely way expensive...more than I would sell the bear for. I was hoping to find a toymaker that makes wooden toys. I thought I had found one on Craig's list but he didn't answer the email. Last night I came across some airplane ornaments and some are the right size. So I am looking at a quasi vintage(1974) wood mattel plane with a plastic propeller and a Kurt Adler ornament(the green and red one in the photo). I keep searching and hoping to find something better.
My aviator bear is Christmas themed so I am kinda leaning toward the red and green one....
I actually started working on this Puppy Grrl months ago. She has had 3 different heads as I tried to get the look I wanted. Penelope is currently available on Bear Pile. I think Pugs are wonderfully cute and expressive dogs and puppies.
The Friends of Teddy show at Teddies Worldwide was a great success and 4 of my critters are on their way to their new homes. The next show is a Christmas theme and takes place in November. I don't know if I will be participating but I will definitely attend.
I just have 3 critters still available at the Friends of Teddy show at Teddies Worldwide. Julius the lion, Sirius the Dog Star, and Spike the Bull Terrier are waiting to be adopted.
The show started at 4pm est today. My little kitty, Imogene, has already found a home. So, there are four dogs, a lion, and the Steampunk Puss N Boots still available as I type this.
That is Sirius the Dog Star in the upper left of the photo. Happy Herbie is in the upper right. Bottom row left to right: JoJo the terrier, Julius the lion, and Spike the bull terrier. Lots of other great creations to look at.....www.teddiesworldwide.com
When we bought our home a year and a half ago things were financially tight(still are). I used everything I could from the previous home and bought very little new. Curtains, area rugs, wall art were moved to the new home. We even transfered a ceiling fan. The windows in this home are an unusual width - 52 inches. It is not impossible to find blinds in that width but they tend to be very expensive. The windows in the two back bedrooms had wood roll up shades. The problem was they face the east and the morning sun was heating up the rooms. Also they didn't provide much privacy and you could see the neighbors windows. After researching online and discovering that liners are also expensive I decided to make liners myself. Using my 40% off coupon at Hancock fabric I purchased drapery liner for less than $15. It's 54 inches wide and that made it very easy to make the liners. It took less than an hour to cut, stitch and then staple to the wood header on the shade.
Now, that boring job is done I can get back to some creative sewing.
I can hardly wait til Friday, when I can show the critters that I will have for adoption at the Teddies Worldwide show. Make sure you check out the preview and vote for your favorite before Thursday!
Til the Friends of Teddy show at www.teddiesworldwide.com ! The show starts at 4pm est on the 13th and last til 4pm est on the 15th. Go to the Teddies Worldwide page to vote on your favorite now. There are some really great critters from 75 artists from all over the world.
I want to thank the bear artists that gave me advice on the forum at the Guild of Master Bearcrafters. I was have trouble with dark shading and they helped me figure it out. Now I can finish a little dog I have been working on (on and off) for several months. The problem was causing me frustration and I would work on it then put it away for awhile.
Lastly the little bears in the photos are previous creations of mine now available in the orphan section on Bear Pile. You can check out Audrey here .
You can find Missy Ann here They traveled to Singapore and now they are ready to travel again.
Finally the show preview has begun. I took a quick peek and there are lots of amazing critters created by 75 artists from all over the world. The "Friends of Teddy" show begins July 13th and last til the 15th. You can go to the preview page now and vote for your favorite. The Collector's Choice Awards will be announced at the beginning of the show.
Steampunk Puss N Boots is my preview critter. Now you can see what I needed that black leather coat for that I posted about several posts ago. In total, I will have 7 all new critters for the show. Mark your calendars!
