Recent Project: Plush-O-Rama

In addition to being a full time mom, starving artist and working part time at an independent arts and crafts store, I watch an 8 year old named Raechel on her breaks from year-round-school.  So... I am always on the lookout for new crafts and projects that she can do while she is here. I was thumbing through the book Plush-O-Rama and I thought that making plush toys with the Raechel would be fun.  So she picked out a few examples from the book and we made those.  The first toy that we made was directly inspired by Rosa Pomar's Bonecos. 



 The fabrics that Raechel picked were super cute and I think that she really liked the way that her doll turned out. The 2nd doll that we made for Raechel was inspired by Jenny Harada's Double Devil. Raechel picked out a purple peacock fur instead of the red, and it looks great. I will say that I should have cut the "legs" larger because they ended up a bit scrawny. That's o.k. I really liked working with the peacock fur; It was a little slippery but when I made the final seam on the hole for the stuffing, it was completely hidden because of the fur. There are some faux furs that are soo thick that you can see all of the seams and then there are some that are soo thin that you can see the thread This fur was perfect! AND it is really super soft! I can't wait until my son gets older so that we can make some plush toys from his drawings. I think that in the meantime I will just have to make him some out of my drawings :-)

Current Projects

Like many artists, I have about 20 different projects going on right now. As I have mentioned, my typical wedding present is a painting. I have a wedding coming up in a few weeks and I am sorry to say that I am SOOOOO busy that I don't think that I will be able to paint one... although by telling myself that I can't do it, now I am somehow getting inspired and dared to try. We will see if that happens. My most recent project wasn't art at all; I knitted a pair of fingerless gloves.



I enjoyed this project immensely!!! The above picture is the end result. The pattern was from the Louisa Harding Gathering Roses Accessories Collection and I used Artful Yarn in Candy. This is the second knitting pattern that I have ever followed and I loved the challenge. I loved it so much that I made my own pattern for an easier pair of fingerless gloves, which might be an Urban A+C's free monthly pattern (I will keep you all updated). On another note Urban A+C is having an Artist Trading Card contest that ends on 7-25-07. So, I am inspired to make some more ATCs that I can trade on that same night. While searching the Internet for more inspiration, I spotted one of my cards on a familiar blog: http://kcatc.blogspot.com/2007_02_01_archive.html I am also starting to make ring-a-dings out of alternative materials. The picture on the left is my fist ring, let me know what you think.



The picture below it is the side view. These are the projects that I am working on today.... I have at least 15 more in the bag that are started, close to being done, or just a thought. But a lot of those are going to have to wait. I have company that is coming in less than a month and my most important project of all is getting my house clean!

Big Chief

Wow, I have been busy!!! Consequently, I haven't been able to blog in a while. One of my recent projects is the "Big Chief". I was recently commissioned to paint a logo of sorts on a hit or miss engine from 1912. The original logo was a decal and because of normal wear and tear, and the fact that the engine is almost 100 yrs old, there aren't any Big Chief engines today that still have the original logo. So, I was provided with a drawing of a Native American Chief's profile and I modified the design to make it more of a logo and simplify it for a smaller size. I was painting with enamel so I also had to modify the design to accommodate the restrictions of the paint. The image on the right is a close up of the logo that I painted on the right side of the hopper. I painted a mirror image of the logo on the left side of the hopper, and I also painted the words "Big Chief" on the front.



The painting below is the engine assembled.



The design ended up being about 8" x 8", so that will give you some idea of the size of the entire engine. I must add that I did not do any of the pin striping!!! The pin striping turned out great and I knew that if I would have attempted that... it wouldn't have looked as good as it does. I am satisfied with the way the logo turned out... I would have liked to have spent more time with it, but I know that if I kept working on it I would never be done! This was the first time that I have ever really worked with enamel and I definitely had some trouble. In the end I think I pulled it off. I would like to work a little more with enamel, the only catch is that unless I learn how to airbrush, anything that I paint will be really flat. The paint does not mix at all and I am not sure that it would mix with any type of oil based medium.