Baking bread...

...working on peevish Mr. Rumpel... his "trunk hose" will be that colour...and are pretty much done except for some "panes" that I want to try to add...we'll see how that goes.  The coat...not that fabric after all.  He is supposed to be done for the Cloth and Clay Doll site...this weekend...and this is turning out to be a verrrry busy week.  And...it's getting old that he glares at me like that all the time when I am trying to work on him........

Ladies day golfing begins tomorrow...and I have only hit balls once since last October....yi9kes!  Oh, please let me able to hit the ball sort of okay and not totally embarrass myself.  Yes it is a bit stressful, but, once I get past that part...I love it.

I'm already signed up for more lessons...and... wonder of wonders..this year the club is starting a mentorship program.  Alright! I signed up for that as soon as I saw them advertise it.  From that I hope to be able to learn more about the actual game..proper etiquette, rules, and ... manage to find some regular playing partners so that I don't have to jump in with total strangers every time I try to get out there.  That is the really tough part for me it seems.  This should mean more regular golfing and therefore.... better game.  Oh, I sure hope so!  I'm determined to golf well.

adding a flower to little Fleur....or whatever her real name will be when done....actually....maybe that will be it.  Sounds pretty cute....

plus...wash my hair, get some groceries..make some supper..and in between all of that...punch down some bread and get it baked in time for supper.  Portuguese Kale soup.... Caldo Verde...and cornbread.  Oooooohh...   and hopefully this time the loaf will be more tasty than the last one I tried.  I have found dozens of recipes..but so far...not the taste we remember from the best loaf we tasted while in Portugal.  When I find the right one?....definitely will post it.  Until then>> .... try the migas at least?....or perhaps look for a soup recipe? .. I'm sure you will enjoy both.

I think I have a cold....

.... ........ my nose is dribbling so I guess it's a cold...... I kind of forget what one feels like.  This is the first for ...erm.... 16 years? .... haven't had one since '95.  Broke my lovely long streak.   Darn it.  Probably my own fault... I was getting a bit cocky...thinking I was now totally immune to cold germs.  But, this time Mr. BV brought home more than he could handle on his own I guess and some appear to have marched right in.  Probably 13 abreast or something... the little buggers.....

Oh, well....it was a good run.  And, if this is the extent of it... big deal.....

Did a tiny bit of work on little Rumpel...that's what I've taken to calling him.... but, not much really..... no time to play.  I'm in holiday mode...and am busy organizing things......













Worked up a wire armature for a body.... wrapped it with some cotton batting and tape..

some foil on arms and legs in case I decided to put clay on top.... but, ... haven't really decided yet.... it may be clay..... it may be thicker padding and taping...

He's going to be a funny looking little manny..... his feet will eventually be larger than they are here.... for now..they are just wire bent to hold him up.... you can see he is not very big.  Only 9 inches tall....

..I've decided if he could spin straw into gold....he certainly didn't have to be of the "common" portion of the realm.... he could be more "of the court" if you know what I mean.... .....didn't have to wear any old woollens or shabby duds, did he?  My Rumpel is going to be in rich fabrics.... ... perhaps velvet..... and cloth with shiny gold highlights.....  a dapper little manikin....

check out this giveaway....

Hurry over to Shelley's blog and get in on a great giveaway!  Make a cute little dolly with her pattern.
We all need one of these to carry around don't we?

Look at the sweet little gals she makes...  I'm waiting for a certain other little bear or kitty to appear on her site.... so I can buy one.

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Well, that was pretty funny.  Mary Ann guessed right off.  Rumpelstiltskin.   But, maybe I should have chosen something or someone with a much simpler name!  Every time I write it... which, of course, now is quite often...  I have to look back at it, say it out loud to nobody in particular, and assure myself it's correct!

I put on ears and baked him...but, kind of forgot about him because I was on the treadmill.... jumped off and raced upstairs just in the  nick of time....whew...only the tips of his ears got over toasted.  And...in the long run...I could have left him a few more seconds to a minute longer anyway.  He would have been a bit browner on the tips and perhaps a perfect colour.

As it is...I did some painting... with several shades of pinks, browns, and yellows to get what I liked for his face, lip and mole colours.

It is a bit difficult to get a perfect shot that shows the real life colours.... but, ehhh...you get the idea.

Still a bit more work to do on the colouring.... but, he's close.... and, of course....some hair..... hmmm...but, what...I'm off to have a look in my stash of goodies...                                                                    

I won socks!!!

Makes me feel a bit like Dobby!  wooohooooo

Anne had a giveaway and I won!   ....yes... I do get pretty excited about things like that!

Check out the beautiful socks she is going to knit.... and we even get to choose the colours. Some lovely new yarn she just received.  Here is my colour... ooooh...I can hardly wait to see them in person.

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And...in other news...

Gwendolyn found a friend in Frikkles .... they like to hang out together on the table... he really loves the attention.

Yep...she whispered her name to me the other night as I was pottering around doing something nearby and keeping my eye on them and the antics ...

She actually looks pretty ladylike here...but, she has a sense of humour too believe me... much like myself it seems.  Mostly conservative...but given to bouts of silliness on occasion.

Forget Wordless Wednesday...it's dolly day...

Finally finished her.  I am pretty slow with all things doll and bear related.  But... I'm usually pretty happy with my results...so....that's a big plus in my book.

Decided to make her shoes the colour of the flowers on her dress fabric...it took a few tries and 3 coats to get the colour right.  She seemed pretty happy with them..

.... Although, she did seem a bit reluctant to pose for some photos...

But, then...it was like...."I'm ready for my close-up now Mr. DeMille"...






































Then...all of sudden she got cheeky and showed a bit of leg... woohooo,,,,,

Embarrassed herself I think...hahhaha..

...and soon....she was pooped.....

Here are my gals for inspiration.... The dolls of Black Eyed Suzi.  I decided to make one for myself, even though I don't actually know her techniques... all I gleaned was from some of her photos of her own works in progress.  What fun it would be to spend a few hours with some of the well known doll makers....

In the meantime... I'll bumble along on my own and see what I come up with .... hence the BumbleVee.....

still putzing on her....

....at my usual slow and deliberate pace...
she is proud of her legs and takes any opportunity to show them off.

I made her top from strips of a beatuful ribbon that has water coloured flowers on it...lots of fiddling... but, I love that ribbon and this was a perfect chance to use some of it. I've had it years....

Then, found some pretty fabric that went so well with the ribbon...but, it is ...well, let me just say I was describing it to my sister and called it ...creepy.... hahhaha.... when I had meant to say crepe-y....but, then I laughed and said it must be a Freudian slip...or skirt...ahahha...and we were off on a laughing tangent....we're a couple of nuts, but happy in the knowledge. Our Mom used to say all the time...if you aren't worth a laugh, you aren't worth much at all. So, some days we feel pretty darn rich...... lol....

So, for the hem of a skirt that is slippery, slide-y ... and frays like nobody's business.... what to do. I keep mentioning that I don't really know much about sewing...and I don't...but, every so often, I do something that is kinda cool and actually took a while on the machine.... long enough to put me in spasm today... my back hurts! Of course, I really put everything into it when I sew... I have to.

I cut some long, half inch wide slivers of sparkly tulle. Laid them over the bottom of her circle skirt so that 1/4 of an inch was visible on either side.... pinned them carefully so they didn't pucker or bunch... then stitched a nice line of straight stitching all around the skirt. Then,... laid a piece of blue nubbly yarn over the line of stitching...and carefully stitched it on....it gave the bottom of the skirt a bit of visual interest and turned out much better than if I had attempted to hem that stuff. She keeps showing me both sides of the skirt...pretending she is Marilyn in a breeze.... I think she likes it too....














My flowers are still perfect after almost two full weeks... who knew that type of flower lasted so long when the petals look so dainty and fragile... Alstromeria ..I think...

the bag on her head is to help keep her hair out of the way of glue and stitching...

Onward to sleeves and shoe trim.... but, for now... bread to bake. I ran out... ackkk! And, I refuse to eat store bought anymore...now that I know how to bake my own. I love my own bread!

It's a beautiful sunny, bright, blue sky day... even if they are calling for more snow flakes later. Who cares...it is mild; the windows are open...the birdies are singing at the top of their little lungs...a perfect day in my mind.

Where did Tuesday and Wednesday go?

Look at this.... Thursday already. Again, the same old question.......what the heck happens to my time? Of course, I do have to listen to my own advice that I often give to others and remind myself... I do keep a tidy house, bake bread and muffins weekly, work out, go for groceries, run errands, cook meals each night and do the cleanup... it all takes time...but, somewhere I must be missing some play time hours. The computer does take up some hours, but, my carpal syndrome has been causing me some grief lately ... so I have been spending less time on it. The typing is not a problem...but, honestly, using the mouse for even half an hour... my hand gets numb. The scary thing is...I already had surgery on it a few years back..but, now, it is getting noticeably bad again, so I am trying to limit my time on here for a few weeks to give it a rest.

I was so sure that I would be back into the swing of things after Christmas but woke up groggy each day with a total lack of enthusiasm for pretty much everything. It seemed I was just going through the motions during my days. Lack of sleep was making me grumpy... like most women... the best gift I could receive would be 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep. It's been so long I forget what that actually feels like. A big rubber hammer could be the answer.

When Linda started the photo a day challenge, it seemed the perfect idea to force me to at least post daily and thus have to think of what to say..what to photograph, etc.. and it worked to at least keep me moving forward for the month. At the same time I figured .. why not link my workouts to a daily routine...and I did that too. I was so hoping I would get a better sleep by working out...and eventually working out pretty hard.... but, so far.. no luck in the sleeping department and I have ramped up the workout pretty good. My limbs are weary...my eyes are more than tired, but at the risk of sounding like a whiner...they have some problems too... ...and, yet, as soon as my head touches the damn pillow.... a million thoughts are racing around in my brain. Mostly thoughts that are not connected to each other at all, but, which somehow spring one from the other like sheep, but not one looks like the other if you know what I mean. I can't seem to find a comfortable position... and ... after thrashing around for two hours or so..I finally fall asleep. I have even been trying Melatonin...it doesn't help me to get to sleep any sooner..but, I do seem to stay asleep for longer at a time. Usually I am awake about every half hour or so.... but, last night actually only woke up twice.... and, this morning I got up and walked out of the bedroom without pulling a Wall-E..... not staggering around and bouncing off doorways.... woohoooo....

If I could get a better sleep pattern going, I feel sure I could be more productive in each day... which I am sure would relate to doing more fun stuff...

I want to get on with making a doll. Want to sculpt a face to be covered with fabric...then colour on the facial features. I actually took a sculpting class from Jack Johnston in June of last year but, for some reason haven't even touched a piece of clay since then. I think perhaps it was info overload or something. Anyway, then I hid my DVD on myself, and couldn't find it. So, yesterday I just gave a face a try on my own... it takes waaaaay too much time and effort when you have no clue what to do... and if you do things bass ackwards you are leaning on completed parts while still struggling with other bits..... sigh.........

Hours later...I had this... but, it is too tiny for my plan... and too much detail really. However, I did something... that's a good start. Then, I found my DVD...so today, I plan to do another.. with instruction. That'll be fun.











A few years ago I made this one...


































My Clownesse... made for a local doll club challenge in which we chose an artist, and made a doll to represent his style... I found a painting by Toulouse Lautrec that I liked... called La Clownesse... and here she is.

I had to resort to quite a soft, stretchy fabric for gluing into all the nooks and crannies. For the new one, I'd prefer a tighter weave fabric to work with ...so will need a somewhat flatter face or at least softly rounded features... with less detail...

The big debate rages on...and on... ad nauseum... .

Dolls are art. Hmmm
Bears are art. Hmmmmm.......

Personally? ... I don't get it. The bear and doll makers of the world seem to be protesting all the time that nobody takes us seriously (well, okay... they mean"them" not me and I mean "them" too...not me) ....that nobody calls what they do "art"... that they don't include them in juried art shows and galleries. So what? Who cares? As a matter of fact somebody yesterday on Doll Street suggested to another that she spit in the person's eye that told her she was not a "real" artist.. because she "just makes dolls". Brother...... what next? I can't figure out why it is such a big deal.

Others were talking about what is art... and why. This debate has been around since, well, ..... forever. If you check a dictionary, there are about 11 different meanings...including this one.. "cooking, sewing and housekeeping are household arts"..... mmm... yeh..... Maybe I subscribe to the one that says: "any form of human activity that is the product of and appeals primarily to the imagination" ...but that doesn't mean it should be juried into an art gallery showing.

Many of the doll makers in the discussion decided that art must "speak" to them; must have an underlying message or something.... huh?..... are they saying that dolls must only be made to carry or convey some special cryptic message? To whom? and why? Maybe I just don't understand what these people are saying. Most of them have some idea of what their own message is I am sure...but when others look at their dolls, how on earth are they supposed to figure it out? I think it goes beyond ridiculous when they then put up their little sign that explains what the doll symbolizes and what it is "about". It is not saying much on its own if it needs a hand written sign is it? Honestly, I just don't get it. Maybe they just mean that the dolls should be made for a reason and it can be as simple as Mingus ... he was made for a challenge on the doll site... they wanted a dungeon keeper... someone to also keep the rowdy jester dolls in line...so I made him look .. uhm... well, you know.... as if he could handle the job. Actually he looks a lot like my Dad used to look. Really...I can show you pics.... He didn't get the position. A felty cute little animal did. There ya go...the right guy for the job is in the eyes and mind of someone else...

But the real thing about making this doll was that I wanted to try my hand at sculpting. He is the third one I have done with polymer clay...and I was trying for more features in a face. Trying to figure out how to do different lips... wrinkles and cragginess.. even a scar.... and I like him a lot. That is what counts for me.

My feeling is.....they really are just bears...they are just dolls. (alright, maybe with the exception of creations by Lisa Lichtenfels and a few like her) So what? Why can't people simply enjoy making them instead of being upset that nobody views their "stuff" as art?

I love to do mine simply because I have discovered that I can. I love making bears, dolls, ( I especially love doing eyes for some reason).... paper things, etc... ...and just want to be able to use new techniques every time I see one... want to learn new techniques every time I even hear about them .... to prove to myself that it can be done perhaps?... I have to confess...I don't really know.

Perhaps as simple as to be able to see how it turns out.....to see for myself and to show a few other people what I am able to accomplish.


This particular face has been shown on my blog before.. but just to illustrate a point... this is a technique that I was learning by taking a class. Cloth over cloth. It was very tricky... took about 5 hours to get that cloth overlayed onto the sculpted cloth face under it. But, I did it!! I was ecstatic to be able to accomplish it. The lips are formed with a tiny iron so that they have substance and do not just sit flat. Absolutely amazing to me! The rest of the doll is sitting, waiting to be finished...she is to be a Harpy... a mythological creature; part woman, part bird. She certainly will get done too...as there are more techniques I have not yet tried, but real life intervenes.. other things need doing at the moment. Like tiles and plumbing etc...

My family and friends like to see what I have been making..but for heaven's sake...if I try to convince them it is art or it has some deep inner meaning...or should be viewed with an eye to interpreting something world changing or earth shattering...... ...well....

Why can't people just enjoy what they do? Enjoy the comments; be happy that anybody even bothered to stop and look at our small creations? .... enter them into challenges or competitions if they are inclined...but why worry if people in "art circles", or whatever they call their little cliques these days, don't accept dolls as art? Who cares? I don't........perhaps because I also don't happen to think welding some bolts and nuts together is art .... nor is the slapping of one big stroke of paint on a huge white canvas... nope..not to me.

I am more a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants type of person...no deep analytical thought processes happening here about bears and dolls. I hate analyzing things to death...like to get on with the business of living, and if, in that endeavor...I find some fun things to do.....I do them. Yup... dolls and bears.... and.... so much other interesting and fun stuff that I guess I just don't have time or inclination to ponder deep and disturbing things.... things like why is making dolls not considered art............lol..........

Okay...Laundry and Dusting are calling my name.....


...... same day...hours later............

Hahahahha... I was talking to my sweetie about the doll artist thingy... and he looked me straight in the eye and said... "Well, I think you are a doll artist"....... oh, no.... now I am in a total quandary ..hahahhah.......