Bunny Rabbit Dolly

 



Coloring bead caps for joints





She is laughing because she is hiding a pink jelly bean in her hand!



yes...yes...I know its wayyyyy after easter! But The doll was completed ...and I got all caught up in family stuff...easter...a high school senior that may or may not graduate....you know...Silly stuff....that could rip your heart out!!!! 

Anyway...I gave the Bunny Dolly to my mom....but I know I will make more animal dollies....it was a cool experience and I didnt have to wig her!!!! 

So..jointing the rabbit , this time I doubled the wire...I added a wire going through the arms and the body, (same for the legs) and then added a decorative bead to the outside of the arms, looped the wire with pliers, then clipped...It really holds the arms and legs to the body and is an added embellishment.  The bead caps were treated with alcohol inks and gilders paste, sealed with matte varnish spray, to give a cool vintage look. I added pink dots with acrylics to pretty blue beads that i had...

Her jelly bean shoes are made out of soft pink dyed leather, premo polymer clay soles (premo is great for the soles because it is very strong...yet has some flexibility.  I

Her  clothes were all dyed with an acrylic paint , mixed with fabric medium and a little walnut ink for that "old " look.....you can see all the lace and ribbons ivory...then after dying...how great is that you can use any one of the magnificent cheap craft paints and make all your fabrics match....WOW.... The tiny jelly beans were made from polymer and varnished.

her easter basket is a silk cocoon dyed with acrylic paint...the chocolate chick is a cheapie plastic chick painted brown...then glossed with triple thick ......the grass is paper towels left over from painting everything!!!!

"Art Is" Dr Suess Theme for 2011 Swap



Original simple polymer sculpt with 2 paperclay "Copies"





10 Heads and 20 arms!





Cindy Lou from the Grinch Movie



Brush your mold with powder, smooth the paperclay into a thick disk



Press the paperclay disk into the mold, Press in the foil "skull"



An easier start to a paperclay doll when creating a "Series" 



So it seems that I needed to just dive in and start my "Art Is" swap ornaments.  They are due in August...but I know I am a huge procrastinator, and I am trying to change! HAHA.  I put all my wire joint doll projects aside to at least start the swap...Now that I have the beginning of 10 Cindy Lou dolls from the "Grinch"......heads, and arms....I have gained momentum, I can actually breath a bit easier... 

I knew this would be a lot of work...but the deal is, you make 9 swaps (I made an extra to keep!).  When you get to Art Is and you receive your registration "packet", you also receive a package with 8 handmade ornaments (the 9th one goes to Marlene Halveron for The HoneyComb Cottage Project )  How exciting is this...to open 8 handmade gifts,  and Know that one of my pieces of art will go to a beautiful human cause!  Oh My Gosh! I cant wait..So I"m workin at it, every chance I get!

I am designing the dolls using a picture of Cindy Lou from the "Grinch Movie".    This little character inspires me to try and remember to be loving and compassionate even under "not the best circumstances"...  I sculpted one simple face from polymer, and then made a mold.  This helps me to create 10 dolls a little quicker , for this type of Project.  Now.... dont get me wrong...you cant just stick a wad of paperclay and pull it out of the mold and ...Wha lahh! you have a sculpted head!  NO...it comes out pretty flat and there is work involved...but at least you have a start, to a doll (for me...the START is the Hardest part!!! ). From there I add bits of clay, building the face up and smoothing it out.  AND Then....Its your original doll....you made the original face and mold...so there is No CHEATING involved!!! haha

Cuddling "Moon" while working on 10 faces!

For the head...after lightly dusting the mold with powder, I smooth a piece of paper clay into a disk and fit it into the head mold.  I then take a tiny foil "scull" on a piece of armature wire, and push it into the center of the mold (creating a nice solid armature), halfway down into the paperclay.  I then pull the clay with the armature out of the mold, and add some more clay to create the back and top of the head,  When I get the right shape, I start to add my details and let it dry.  I am constantly adding wet clay to the already dry face, perfecting the details.  I love the way you can take away and add to paperclay....and after sanding , smoothing and painting...no one really knows what you did, if you were in turmoil, if there is a "fix it" going on, they just see the end result!!! 

So now that the heads are completed and smoothed, the arms are created but have to be refined.....then I will create the legs and then the neck/bodices...I think they mill have a ball joint swivel head. I'll have to see how it goes!    



Lot of "refining" work, But it"s a start!



To Doll or Not to Doll Today! huh!



Bead Joints



"Moon" Cat Doll



A Charming Mood!



Hmmmmm..To Doll ...Or Not....! NO...i just have too many crazy ideas flying through my head...so I pulled out ..... a LOT of STUFF to just "Create" !   On Monday...I will be getting together with a group to show them how I created "Girl Interrupted's Charms....and for the Girls to show me some cool  "Charm" techniques that they do.  I am definately excited for this meeting...because this is what brings together..."The Energy that CREATES WORLDS" !!!!!!  Everyone bringing ideas and techniques to the table...I think its the Best kind of meeting. 

Today I also pulled out a Tim Holtz Book that I have "moved" around for a while...But today's the Day! This book is SOOO Interesting...Today....(You know what I'm talking about...something has to click before you "SEE IT"......

So,  I will play today with whatever I have at hand...(that's a "LOT"! haha) ...and see what I can come up with.  I will then use these new charms as inspiration for the doll I have started...but cant seem to continue!  I think this will be the boost I need.

The paperclay doll that I started is being bratty...I tried to work in the "IDEA" of a ball joint doll using beads and making a type of Hinge....looks cool right?!  haha Well....it doesn't work!!  after trying different connection ideas..I chopped them off and and started something more basic..I guess I'll have to do more "Ball Joint" detective work....

I also started a cat...while looking at my "Live Model" MOON (my favorite cat-child in the universe).  I love the animals eyes I used...he already looks alive ...even without a mouth!

So these two dolls will remain in a "Coma like" state until I can blow some creative life into them

I started some thin polymer clay sheets (so thin...like paper), stamped.  after heating with my heat gun and baking the sheet to a cardboard feel...I used my new tiny punches that I found as leftover valentine merchandise...a tiny wing and elongated heart...whoa!! what a bargain find...this was the only one there! I also cut out some tiny kemper cutter flowers...shaped and texture stamped....and Then started fooling with all kinds of mediums...crackle, triple thick, texture glass....rock candy stickles..acrylics...and my new favorite stuff....Gilders Paste....so here is a starting point...gotta get to work....I'll come back with results and techniques!   

Little "Truffle" is done...Happy Valentines Day!



Tiny Red Valentine boots Designed from my Favorite Boots! 



Truffles Peanut Butter cup hat...Top stamped, highlighted and glossed!

Well. its almost Valentines day....and I completed my doll before the holiday!  I am usually behind the "eight ball" ......and the doll never gets done in time...but the weather made me just SIT and "BE" ! I am thankful for this lousy cold snowy weather!!!!

So I think this Doll feels like  a "Truffle" ....So Be it!! (i think its a cute name....and some day if I ever get a chocolate color cat, I will name her "Truffle" too!) 

OK, anyway.....DETAILS!!!!  Her Valentine Heart on her dress was "Heart" stamped out of red polymer clay, I cut a hole in the center before baking...then I took all of the tiny candies I made and arranged them to fit snugly inside (That took a good hour and a couple of cracks in the heart because I had to find the right combination for the candies to fit with no spaces..ugh! they are so tiny, I thought I would have a breakdown...



Boot pattern cut from paper towels



Soft Pink Leather painted with RED acrylic



Her RED Boots are my favorite Part of this Doll!  I did the boots differently this time...instead of attaching the leather directly to the sole, I made a pointy toed boot cardboard sole first (I made it longer so i got a very fine point that would be able to curl up...(JUST LIKE my FAVORITE cowboy boots that I ADORE!).  I then attached my leather pieces (That I had to paint red because I had no RED leather, I sealed with Super Matt spray by Duncan...they actually came out very "worn" ..just what I was looking for!)  to that, gluing "UNDERNEATH the cardboard (I usually glue inside the  already baked polymer sole...very tricky when something is this Tiny).......Then I made the same pointy sole in polymer,  a teensy bit larger, and attached that to the cardboard, then baked the entire shoe...WOW..the boot came together with much more ease....that is not to say that these boots were quick and easy....they took a good part of my day to make...but I couldn't be happier with how they turned out!! haha!

And Finally her Hat...oh my...we tried MANY hats..... But this is the Hat for her!!!  It is made from polymer, BY FORMING in a Wilton peanut butter cup candy mold.  At first I tried making it look like a peanut butter cup, but it didn't look right with the top not covered in chocolate....and the only way to see the peanut butter would be to take a bite out of it....hmmm, I just wasn't feeling it....I tried to make the chocolate on top sink, but as I was attaching the thin layer of chocolate to the top...it "Pouffed out"   and I thought...OMG it looks like a TAM! one of my favorite hats when my daughter was little! Still a little too "plain...so I stamped it with a valentine s word stamp....and i added a tiny bonbon candy to the top.

Leather glued "OVER" a cardboard sole

Valentine Wire Joint Doll

Valentines day is coming up ...and a doll is half way there!  The came fast...But, its what I'm trying to do with her that I am lolligagging around with.  I Know what I want to say with this doll...but I sewed all day...and nothing worked...right at the end after I shut my shop light off...an Idea hit me!!!!   So I will try again!!!   TOMORROW!   

For Now...here is how she started and where h is right now.  I patina'd the gold findings with Gilders Paste and then matte sprayed them...In my stash, I found "Cool" square beads in the exact same color as the patina and I thought it was a very vintage look.....BUT....when I used the "SQUARE" beads...it limited how far the arms and legs will bend...a round bead works like a ball joint and allows total movement.  I had already glued the wires inside the body parts so this is a "Lesson Learned"!!!   But she poses just fine...sitting or standing..I would have had just a little more freedom with a round bead.

This Dolls HEAD was done different than girl Interrupted...(her head and bodice were one piece. )   This head was sculpted separately and I made it fit onto the separate neck like a ball joint so it swivels smoothly in all directions.  I love this because now the doll can look around...it gives her "Personality" and freedom to be posed. 

I also worked on these tiny candies for a couple of hours.....I even made the tiny candy papers...they will become a heart shaped box of candy some how incorporated into the  doll...wether she wears it or holds it....only my "spirit guide " knows ...(haha..seriously...)

Charm School!

So this is the second part of Girl Interrupted....It is the meaning of the doll!  She is actually a "Journal" for my daughter who is traveling between being a teenager and an adultt, and getting mixed up along the way in substance abuse.  The petals in her dress are Proms and grammar school dances gone by......her leopard kitty dolly and  Leopard Boots, are her "Funky" style that I love.....a crown for the "Princess" she truly is!  The Handmade Charms are "Tiny stories" of where she has been and what she holds inside.

These charms were created from polymer clay. A lot of my "New charming" experience , came from Amber Dawn, a miniature charm artist and a very good friend  (who actually Created a NATIONAL CHARM DAY!!!!  Hooray!!!)  I used stamps for design,texture...and words. I used all types of mediums including sparkles, acrylics, alcohol inks, ink pads, gilders paste, crackle finish, resin and triple thick,  for shine, sparkle, texture and color.  

I had found out about Gilders paste from a magazine, and my friend Tery picked them up at a bead show....WOW!!! I quickly ordered them...and I'm loving what they do!  (They can be used on all surfaces...)

I used a light cured resin system and I love the beautiful shiny hard domed result that I get.  After I  "resined-up"  some of my charms, I was able to drill holes for my connections,  with no problem.

Well, " Girl Interrupted"  is compete and its time to "move on" to new dolls! 

Some processes of Girl Interrupted

Mezmerized by a found "Charolotte"

 

As I am working through  parts of the doll, I took a few pictures to document some processes.  Sometimes a picture is worth a "Thousand Words"!!  haha! Really!

 





So As I tried to Wig this doll, She found a tiny Frozen Charlotte that she became "Mesmerized" with...ugh!  She would not let me Wig her!...... (just kidding, I got too tired tonight!)







I Created her crown and Little Boot "Soles" from polymer clay that I ran through the pasta machine. Running it through, gives you a perfectly smooth thin uniform piece of polymer so everything comes out evenly.  First, for the crown,  I  "ink stamp" the clay for color and texture. 



I am a "Findings" Freak!

 
  I cut out my crown shape with an exacto using a handmade template place lightly on my stamped clay. I smooth the edges for a "softened" look, then I put the clay around a metal form (piece of 2-4 inch metal tubing). At this point I add wire where ever I want to add beads and crystals.  After baking the crown, I loosen it from the form with my exacto.  I then layer after layer..blah blah blah..alcohol inks, dry brushed acrylics, crackle medium, triple thick...whatever, then I add my findings  and gems!!!!  There you have it!



Funky Leopard Boots are  about 1/2 size of my pinky!

 

For my boots, I created the polymer soles with the same type of template...adding an arch...then I shape the fabric around the soles with a PRO tool and my fingers, using fabritac and a lot of  "patience"!!! I found  the tiniest ever metal lace holders. 





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And Kitty doll is complete!  Her Crown was created from  a polymer clay "Leopard" Cane...(taught to me by Amber Dawn...Miniature extraordinaire!!!!) decked with diamond Crystals. She has a Leopard mohair sweater from fabric that was given to me by my very dear friend, Mary Louisa Klawetter...Its very special, so I only use it for tiny things so it "Lasts"!!! haha   and Moon (a naked pink sphinx cat)   , My inspiration for Kitty Doll....Loves to "Eat" Tulle...Now I have to hide this doll in the cabinet......

Jewel Joints and Bloomers