Autumn scarf, online class

At Cifi Jean Bernard asked me if I was interested in writing an online class.
That was an exciting, but also terrifying proposition.
So I thought I dip my toe in the water with an easy, but fun to do project.
A lacey autumn scarf. In this workshop we will make our own lacy fabric to create a piece of wearable art.

For more information go to  http://www.jeanbernardart.com/OnlineClasses

The ghosts of my past hold the key to my future

 

Jean bernard sent me a picture of a doll's arm made of wire (go and see here at http://www.jeanbernardart.com , she is a fabulous artist). So this wire hand started bugging me. I got out my wires and started bending and twisting and soldering and ended up with a complete doll made out of wire.

The wire frame is covered with fiber optics, so she lights up at night. Unfortunately  I can't seem to capture that in a picture.
Here face is made of air dry clay and Jean's Olivia mold.
You might wonder why the name "Ghosts of the past hold the key to my future"?
Well she is wearing the key around her neck, but the real secret is in the cape.

The cape is transfer printed with cuttings from my scrapbook from the time I was a horse rider.
The clippings refer to shows that I've won. Over this I added a picture of me and Nicky, my most successful horse. And last but not least a picture of my dad.
He was always there with me, every training and every show.
After transfer printing the picture onto silk I added stitching and lots of bling.
She even got a blingy rosette on her hood.

CIFI 2010 dessert dolls

It's been a long time since my last post.
Not that I didn't have much to say, I just didn't have anything to show.

I've been working on my CIFI 2010 dolls and they had to be kept secret.

So now I am back from the States and I can finally write about my dolls.

I made 2 challenge dolls the theme was desserts and I've been having sugary sweet and above all pink nightmares about this theme.

So in the end I decided to go for one true dessert doll and for one variation on the theme. This meant that one doll had to be an orignal and one had to be made from an excisting pattern. 

So I started with "Fruity Sorbet" I used Arley Berryhill's fabulous La femme pattern for the top half of the dessert. Now this was a worry....knowing that Arley would be at CIFI, he would see straight away how I butchered his pattern.

Every bit of fruit, icecream, biscuit and whatever else you see is sewn. The glass is sewn by hand from a double layer of table plastic.

But although I put a lot of time and effort into making this doll, it never really became "my doll". It's not really the kind of doll I normally make and I didn't feel like it was "mine" because I used someone else design.

Boy was I in for a surprise!

Fruity Sorbet won a blue ribbon, a perfect score, judges choice and best in show.

I really could not believe it! And to top it all of Arley said he was impressed with the work, so what more could a girl ask for?

My second CIFI doll was my little Thai street vendor.

We met this lady on our holiday to Thailand, she was selling sticky black rice with mango wrapped in banana leaves.

This lady is the kind of doll I love to make. It's all about the expression. And aged hands and feet are so much more fun to make, they tell a story all by them self!

I must admit she looked a little demure in between all those fabulous dessert dolls. But never the less she won a blue ribbon!