WIP: Dooncha' be touching me lucky charms!

I found the perfect vintage fabric for my leprechaun's vest yesterday and since it survived the wash it had now become the perfect vest for my little guy!

I'm thinking his name will be Orthanach (UR han ach) which means - potent in prayers or charms.

I imagine chillaxin' at him at home... shoes, socks, jacket and hat off... sitting on the floor and playfully counting his gold.

"Dooncha' be touching me lucky charms!"

WIP: Leprechaun

I started this doll as part of a doll club workshop. One in which we were to make a doll in the styling of Kate Church's lovely Sculptural Puppetry.
I must admit I thought when I first made him he'd be grabbing his toes, but once baked they weren't in the right position.

I've been costuming him. I didn't want to use the traditional green suit, and had some lovely gold and green and yellow silks. He's looking a little Maharajah like so I guess I'll have to get some green in there afterall.

Elements Challenge on ADO

1. What inspired you to participate in the Elements challenge? Which Element(s) have you decided to do?
I was a member of the Canadian Doll Artists Association and the theme for the conference challenge that year was the Elements. Actually even for the original conference, the request was for any one of the four elements but I couldn't get past the idea of my Solstice Circle. So I did all four. Earth was my first, I created her shortly after taking a class with Doll Artist Kathyrn Walmsley on a polymer clay elf at the previous conference and added the others slowly until the next conference.
When they announced the challenge for Elements on ADO I checked to see if my entry would qualify and couldn't wait!! I love the way the piece turned out and didn't really get a chance to share it with anyone before I sold it.

2. What materials were used in creating your pieces? How long did it take you to create your piece?
I used a mixture of Super Sculpey and Cernit for all the dolls, styrofoam for rocks, some actual pebbles and resin for a water puddle, recycle sari silk for the fire, lots of ribbons, beads and wool for hair.

3. What was the easiest aspect of creating the piece? What was the most challenging?
Easily the most challenging aspect was creating the base, I had never done anything like that before and working with the four elements I definitely needed a base. The easiest, I had a pretty clear story in my head so I knew what I wanted them to look like.

4. Did you learn anything or feel you've accomplished anything new through this artwork?
I was pretty new to sculpting, so the whole sculpting experience and materials were new to me. Working through the process over the period of about 8 months or so gave me a little time to develop my skills and a feel for the material. I now LOVE sculpting and though I don't use Cernit any longer... no particular reason other than availability... I will never stop sculpting and trying new materials and looking for new props!

Stella's 80th Birthday!

Hi all,
Stella's 80th birthday is coming up on June 13th.

We are only planning a small family dinner, but we hope that you'd like to be there in spirit and can help us spread the word so we can surprise her with Birthday wishes from all her family and friends by way of Birthday card or email message. Please click on the photo above for details on where we would like you to send the message.

Patty is coming out in July so we will be getting together again then to celebrate.

Can you help us out by please forwarding this message to any friend and family that you have email addresses for and ask them to pass it on by word of mouth.

It took us a while to get our act together so if we use regular mail we won't get the message out in time.

Thanks for your help!
Nancy
www.littlebitwired@etsy.com
http://littlebitwired.blogspot.com

Ellen Degeneres Puppet

As Part of Ellen Dolls-to-the-Wall challenge on Art Dolls Only,

I'm creating an Ellen puppet. Still a work in progress, I'll post as I go along so stay tuned!

Here, I've cut and glue the head from foam. Actually a foam mattress topper that I bought but it didn't fit my bed. Rather than try to put it back in it's original packaging I kept it to re-purpose at some point. Guess that point was now!



And now testing out a body.

Zoya Papier Mache Finished

Yes! Finally finshed her. It was a really long arduous task... papier mache is not for the meek! Endless layers of paper and sanding.... uggg. But I am absolutely thrilled with the way she turned out!

Russian Papier Mache Technique Doll in Progress

I wrote much earlier of the new Russian Papier Mache technique I was learning from Lydia Caine in my doll club. I thought I'd pass along some more progress pictures.

Here is the head and body.



Now positioned on the wire armature.



And my progress on costuming. Still a lot to do.



Keep posted!