Bringing gifts home is a hassel!!

So my dear Olive requested a Teddy Bear from Germany.  Germany is known for there Steffi bears and we thought this would be a good gift.  About 3 day into vacation we spoke with olive and she said "GiGi make sure it is the softest bear in all of Germany"....Pretty tall order when all the German bears feel like they are made of Muslin!! so we gave up on the Germany bear.

But in Paris we came upon a high end baby store with lots of VERY soft dolls.  after rubbing each stuffed animal, we decided the rabbit was by far the Softest (and most expensive!)

You can tell it a Parisian rabbit by the Counterpoised position!!!  We could have come home an bought a really soft doll at TJ Max and she would have never been the wiser, but she loves it and now she has something for show and tell.  Then she can take my MasterCard bill and use that as next weeks show and tell!

OK Last post about Olive for a while.  I know I think she the smartest, cutest, most well behaved, highly artistic child on the planet, but I get that not everyone else shares my views!!  I promise next post will be jewelry!!

Blessings to you all

painted pieces

so I repainted the tragedy  of several nights ago

Then I added Hair

I need to make her a body then get my ass back to making Jewelry!!!

Back from teaching at Idyllwild

Trying to recoup form teaching at Idyllwild in California.  linda mcnulty graciously invited me to be her assistant in her Santos making class.  We had a blast

The students were amazing

There work was spectacular.  Here are a few examples

The artist in class were so talented and produced amazing works. Thanks to all the ladies who took the class and allowed Linda and I to share this amazing experience with you.

Idyllwild is a private high school for the arts.  It has an amazing staff, campus and students.  The kids were so fun and it made me long to be a teen again.  Well maybe not emotionally!!!  But to be young and attend a school that fosters growth in creativity...what a blessing.  The setting was breathtaking.  Above is a picture of where graduation is held.  And Im told, a favorite hide away where young love blooms!( and staff patrols frequently!)  Linda and I even caught a gimps of a zombie (or a victim of a horribly kiln explosion....we couldn't decide)

some new work

I have been so busy, I have just been posting old stuff over.  Thats a cop-out.  I have made 2 new pieces.  I was keeping them quiet as Im not sure what will happen with them.  Art Doll Quartley had a call for book charters.  The challenge was to create one of your favorite charters from literature. 
I chose Christopher robin from Winne the Pooh.  I made a beautiful rain cloud, with the words "tut tut it looks like rain", I made a sweet umbrella from paper and wire and....that's where the good ideas ended.  I wont even show  you they attempts at the actual doll.  I made him from cloth, I made him from clay, I made him from everything I could find in the hundred acre forest with no success.  So I abandoned the idea of the challenge.

 Days later Olive asked me to read her one of her favorite book Everything on it.  This book was published after shels death by his children.  It is full of quintasensial silverstein poems and illistrations.  Lightbulb.  I love his quarquey drawings and charters.  So I attempted to do his drawings justice by bringint them to life

Original Pix used as inspiration

I made a cloth doll in the shape of a carrot.  His hair is made of lots of different green fabrics.  I made 2 smaller carrots to stick in his eyes.  I painted his face to appear more realistic, but I forgot to take a final pix.  I sent them on there way. 

I also did a smaller piece that is more of a wall hanging.  The original looks like this:

Artfest Junker Janes Class

I never posted about my PROJECTS from artfest because there was just to much other grand things to comment on!  But my classes were fantastic.  I tool a 2 day class from SLK and made a metal journal with transparent papers (it came out a bit wonky so I really dont want to show it off) The final day was monster dolls with Junker Jane.  She and her husband were so very sweet.  Miss LuLu offered me her sewing machine but as she was bringing it up to the workroom, it fell and broke.  I felt so bad...she was being so generous and offering to help a stranger and it bites her in the ass.  Again, Im so sorry LuLu.  But Cathrine was fantastic.  her husband set up a new machine they had recently purchased and let me use it for the class.  It was much like mine at home (basic,,cant mess it up kinda machine) I made 2 dolls but did not stuff them as I did not need any extra items in my luggage.  So over the weekend, I stuffed them and put on the finishing touches.  I love how the first one came out.  The second is a mermaid and I really did not understand how to sew the tail so that when I reversed it right way out, it still looked like a tail.  He will need some remodeling!

 I used one of my enamel disks for the eye

 I made 2 furry bunny ears

I think he looks like a drag queen at 3 AM.  eyes a bit droopy (maybe to much absolute Vodka!) Matted wig, just a few falsies (I mean eyelashes) the rest fell off in the dance off, but Ill be dammed, the fake mole and bright red lips are fantastic as ever!
I need a good drag name for this fella.  Any suggestions?

Olives Halloween coustume

 I made olive a "Sweet pea rag doll"

 Her "tail"was a little saggy!!

But she was sooo cute

Dolls for recycled art show