Rough Week

I've just had the crappiest week. It was great to have family visiting from St. John's I hadn't met my cousin Marilyn before and she came down with her mom, my Aunt Alice who I haven't seen in years. We spent a lot of time shopping in the evening after I got off of work and on the weekend. Marilyn is the "QUEEN" when it comes to finding the best bargain anywhere... I swear... I am humbled by her extraordinary finds! Everytime I hear the price "9.99" again I'll think of the excitement in her voice as she said it!

I took my mom to her Oncologist on Wednesday and I am thrilled to be able to report that she has been cancer free for six years now. The doctor even discharged her so she doesn't have to go back to her anymore. Of course there are still the regular colonoscopies, scans etc but so far so good!

Now the bad news... I lost my mother-in-law Fern McGall this week after a long struggle with Alzheimer's. Fern was a wonderful woman who had to struggle with so much later in her life. I will always remember her love of gardening, her afternoon cocktail (some orange juice, cranberry and vodka concoction), her wonderful cooking and slow, steady pace. When she got flustered or tried to remember something her hand would always go to the top of her head in a move reminiscent of Laurel and Hardy. Although I lost touch with her in the past few years, I will miss her.

The other bad news is that I got laid off yesterday at work. Suffice it to say that I am devastated. I felt truly blindsided by the news and am desperately seeking a new job. I have taxes to pay back and no income. I may have to put all my stuff in storage, put my cats up for adoption and move in with my mother. Not a happy camper. Doubt I'll get back to Dragon Girl for a bit as I scour the city for a job.

Wish me luck!!!

Dragon Girl Part V

I made another set of wings for Dragon Girl yesterday and I'm still not happy with them... I'll try to bend them out a bit so they flare and embellish a little more. I used a wire armature, then covered with fantasy film and fusable angelina fibre. I very carefully set them up with my embossing heat gun then embellished with paint, glaze, interference powders and micro beads. Either they're not quite there yet or I have to start over....

Unfortunately the project may have to wait a few days as I'm expecting company from the East Coast and don't want to be in a mess when they visit. Putting everything away for now ... and for any of those who know... putting it all way only makes you want to create! So there you have it....

Dragon Girl Part IV

This morning I gave the mulberry paper a try... there was another fabric I thought of using but Dragon Girl didn't think it did anything for her and thought the Mulberry did better things for her complexion.

Now I'm off to attempt better wings, Dragon Girl decided they were just not glorious enough, and I don't blame her they were looking rather wimpy...

Dragon Girl Part III

A well-meaning friend told me to take another look at Dragon Girl's tail... LOL... okay IT DOES look like she's taking a dump... LOL but I do like Dragon Girl's tail just he way it is actually, She's gotta fit it under her clothes afterall.... I actually tried a thicker tail and didn't like it.

Here's a pic of her with her paint job. I gave her an all over base coat with gesso, then a wash with a dark blue, blotting off almost as much paint as I put on. Then I gave several several more wash coats in the same manner this time with a leaf green. Then I went in to do her face up. WIth a coat of of glaze on her eyes I continued onto her head wear.

Dragon girl didn't want hair, she wanted a cap style do. So I found some interesting shell stype beads in my stash and some microbeads.... (one vial of which I accidentaly dumped on the floor... yeah me... you only have to do this once to understand what I mean...)

I think she'll wear some mulberry paper...not sure yet.... maybe I'll have her look through my stash (now that she's got eyes) and see what she thinks... I'll have to sleep on it.

WIP- Dragon Girl and Peeps Part II

Today has me adding wings to my Dragon Girl. I drilled a hole in her back and cut some wire for her wing frame. Then added some more wire with apoxie to add a phlange (not sure what's it supposed to be called). I fit them back on the Dragon Girl to see if they fit properly and get them in the proper position to dry.

I also added a back toe to one of my "peeps" so it would give it better balance.

Once the apoxie sculpt sets up a bit I'll continue my work on the wings and give Dragon Girl and my Peeps a paint job. Not sure what Dragon Girl wants to wear yet.... must let her check out her closet after she gets a paint wash and gets her face on.... lol

WIP - Dragon Girl & Peeps Part I

Today after running my errands for the week, I decided to sit down and try to work on my dragon girl.


The Dragon girl was my first experiment with Paper Clay and after talking to people in my doll club I found out that the paper clay I was using was too dry... hence the lumpy nature of the clay. I sanded her quite a bit and managed to get rid of most of it but she still had missing hands and a bit more muscle tone.

After making a great armature and pose I hated to waste the figure so the day's adventure was to see if I could take away some of the lumpiness by covering it with apoxie sculpt. I gave her some hands, smoothed out her chest and upper arms as well as a face lift. I added more emphasis to the bumpies on her back and added her tail.

My Peeps

I also has some small egg gourds that I wanted to turn into peeps.

I then played with my "Peeps", I loved the silly big eyes on those cat and dog pictures that have been around for a while so I dug up some oversize plastic eyes I had in my stash and added them to the gourds as well as some wire legs.

Keep posted!

New listings on ebay

I haven't been up to too much new this week, I've posted my Barbie Reconstruction "Earth Day Barbie - Dryad" on ebay as well as a couple of miniature dragons. Working in miniature is new for me, I need a lot of practice. I love the Kaidon my dragon turned out.

I promised my friend I'd be posting my shoe experiments too, so I'll try to post them this week. Who knew there was so much involved to make shoes! They take me almost as long as a sculpt... only kidding.. but they really aren't as easy as you think!

Remembering those I lost this week

GORDON YOUNG I worked with Gord in Winnipeg. He was our computer guru and he was very patient with me as I learned. He was a mentor, a good friend and he will be missed.

GORDON KITSON YOUNG 1931 - 2008 With great sadness, yet with peace in our hearts, the family wishes to announce the passing of Gordon Kitson Young, a wonderful husband and father on Tuesday, May 6, 2008. Gordon was predeceased by his Mother Eva, Father Harry, and Grandson Adam. Left to mourn are his beloved wife of 49 years, Loretta, sons, Robert (Lynn), Jim (Judi), daughter Carolyn (George), sisters, Margaret (Blaine) and Judy (Reg), three grandchildren and several nieces and nephews. Gordon was proud to be the original Dr. Goodbear for the Children's Hospital Foundation and through his dedication and volunteerism, made many special friends in the community. In keeping with Gordon's wishes cremation has taken place, and a private gathering honoring Gordon's life will be held at a later date.

I lost my Nanny, my grandmother on my mother's side. I never knew Nanny very well. She lived in Newfoundland and I remember only a few visits. KATHLEEN CASHIN had a lovely sense of humour and loved her cards and occasional hot tottie. lol
I remember her chasing me off the couch, apparently she had put her bread there under a blanket to rise, and there I go sitting on it! I remember her making me up in the bed because I was sleeping in.
Nanny came to visit when my father was sick with cancer and I remember she cheered everyone up. She also took me and my sister to get out beginners driving license test and told us we needed to learn to drive. It was years before I finally did go out to get my license but the memory is fond never the less.

OUR LOSS IS HEAVEN'S GAIN