Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas and a creative New Year to all!
And one holiday hint....food eaten standing up has only half the calories! And if someone else made said food...calorie consumption drops to a mind altering quarter! Cheers!

This image is a small holiday quilt approximately 4"x7". The face is hand drawn with colored pencils.

Thanks to all of you "bad girls"......

....and comment posters! Your comments are hot chocolate chip cookies for the soul!

And who are the "bad girls" you ask? Taggers!!!! That's who! LOL

One is no other than Shelli Heinemann of POTBELLY ARTS, such a sweet bear artist by day, crazed-internet tagger by night....who knew! AND Chantal another lovely bear artist and all around lovely lady.....at least till this tagging incident!

Since I've been tagged, here is what I get to do....I write 5 random things about myself and then TAG five other unsuspecting individuals. (That part sounds fun!!!)

1. I love anime. Anything from FRUITS BASKET to GHOST in the SHELL.

2. I miss snow. It doesn't snow in Houston....though I did hear that they got a dusting a couple of years back. Just a little snow on Christmas would make me very happy!

3. Susan Wallace (who I am TAGGING), makes the BEST purses!!! In fact the last one she made is actually mine.....she just won't give it to me. While this isn't totally a random thought about me....I do want the record to show that Susan needs to give me my purse! LOL

4. I've never been camping. I did see an ad for a camping trip that I would be willing to think about. It's a little pricey, but what it is a $595.00 a night camping trip in "big sky country" that comes complete with a butler to make your campfire for you and maid to turn down your down comforter at night! Now that's camping!!!

5. I have lived in Houston for over a year now and still can't decide on curtains....partially cause I will make them, and when I want to sew....bears and dolls seem soooo much more exciting!!!

And, seriously.....a heartfelt thanks to all of you that read and or comment on my blatherings! Group hug!

Silver Scales

I've been pulling my hair out trying to think of a great December post. Thanks to my children, there are 3 Christmas trees of assorted shapes and sizes, all over the house. ("Oh mom, that poor little tree looks so lonesome sitting here in the store next to all these other big trees!") So, while I have an abundance of trees and tinsel, there's nary a Christmas doll in sight. So how about the next best thing! A mermaid!!! I know it brings to mind one of my favorite holiday tunes:

"Silver Scales,
silver scales...
it's swimming time
in the ocean!"

Hum along! I know you know the tune!!!

This is my doll Naiad. Poor dear doesn't actually have a name. That's as much her fault as it is mine. Every time
I have asked her what she is called by her mer-friends, she just rolls her eyes and flips her tail at me! Cheeky!


Naiad would be about 18" tall from the top of her head to the bottom of her fin if she stretched out. She is sculpted from paper clay and painted with genesis paints and acrylic paints.

I think the real reason she's a bit testy is that I overheard she doesn't have her Christmas shopping finished.
Not that I would know anything about that....

Ad ice or Alice

That's supposed to read "Advice for Alice", but.....well truth be known, I'm not the most proficient of typists. I took Typing 1 twice in high school, so there's no excuse for it. To this day I ALWAYS type my name wrong on the end of emails. It comes out Anglea. Why?...I don't have a clue.

So, back to the weird title. I kind of like "Ad ice or Alice".....makes the viewer think! The title is sublime, mildly elusive and highly strange...but it's cool. I should have told the people that pointed it out to me, "Yeah, I meant to do that!"

Oh well.



This doll was an entry into the Houston International Quilt show. I would like to say that it was an error on their part that she was mistitled....but it's all me! When you submit work for the Quilt show, you have to fill out a form that will go to the group that puts on the show. I thought I was being so cool by filling out AND submitting the forms on the computer. What is it they say about pride....hmmm. I depend entirely too much on spell check....it tags my name every time I spell it Anglea! But spell check never was meant to gauge whether what you wrote was sane. And it doesn't help that "ad", "ice" and "or" are words....well, I guess I need to get my own personal editor.


So despite that fact that it will forever be immortalized as "Ad ice or Alice" in the handbook for the Houston International Quilt show, it is supposed to be "Advice for Alice".

Alice is inspired by the book "Alice in Wonderland". Always one of my favorite parts of the book, right up there
with the cheshire cat bit.



Alice is about 7" tall, made from paperclay that is then covered with cloth. The mushrooms are from Aves Apoxie sculpt. Both Alice and the caterpillar are removable from the base.

Big WORD Wednesday!!!

It's been such a longggggg time since I've posted.

You know the feeling. You've been there.....

A week passes and you begin the lies. "Tomorrow....definitely tomorrow." Before you know it a month has passed and you feel queasy everytime you think about blogging. Even visiting other blogs make your stomach hurt for all the guilt and shame that hangs around your throat like so much bad HTML.

Then the unthinkable.....2 months pass by....and anytime anyone casually mentions the word blog, you are sure that they are secretly making the LOSER sign behind your back.

Ahhhh, the humanity!

Well, I don't have a good excuse....not even a lame one.

So to assuage any who think that my first post "back" should be something spectacular, here it is. An installment of BIG WORD WEDNESDAY!!!

It's a strange game that a friend of mine and I play.... (Hark! Could it be this delectable, yet highly-ineffective
use of time that creates my blogging dilemmas?)

Nah!

Strap on those dictionaries and go for it:

Scintillate, scintillate, asteroid minific;
Feign do I fathom your nature's specific
Exaltedly set on the aether capacious
A reasonable facsimile of a gem carbonaceous.

Scintillate, scintillate, asteroid minific;
Feign do I fathom your nature's specific

And....can you finish this?

Tetrade aggregate plus heptad twelve-month period gone, patriarchs belonging to us, effectuated......

And because this is supposed to be a visual blog of sorts, here's a picture of my dog...uh....she....uhm... ate my blog entries for the past couple of months!.....yeah! that's it! My dog Nutmeg ate my blog entries! Very sad ....'cause they were REALLY, REALLY cool.

A thing of beauty!

What do you do when it's way too hot outside....go to the library of course! Actually, the kids and I practically live in the library.....and we're always playing revolving door.....take 10 back, check 20 out. It makes my stomach lurch sometimes when I notice that we have 90 or so books checked out.

Today we decided to take some back. Everyone gets out of the car carrying a pile of books. My 4 year-old jumps out of the car and hands me 2 books that her older sister, Maddie, should have been carrying, but I add them to my pile.

Just as I am about to drop these 2 particular books in the slot, Cayla...the 4 year-old, dances by and tells me that I
shouldn't put those in the slot. Now you have to understand that this daughter is ALWAYS telling me something...like her stuffed cats just had to play with the Play Doh and COULDN'T put it away......or her current invisible friend NEEDS to paint....or, the geckos on the back window just HAVE to come in.......etc., ect......so you might understand why I just smiled at her and rolled my eyes as I dropped the books in.

Cut to 30 minutes later......we are carrying out more books than we took in.....my stomach lurches (I have nightmares of forgetting which house on the street is mine.....thereby making it impossible to return any of the books we have checked out!) We get in the car and Maddie wants to know where her two books are that she left on her seat.

Uh oh!

I tell her that I returned them. Maddie at this point looks stricken. My husband tells her she can just re-check them out later.....he's already pulled out of the parking lot.....and it IS hot....no WAY we're getting out of the car, swimming through the humidity and going back in. I apologize to her and tell her that "Monday we'll come back!"

My husband and I start talking about how weird it is to see armadillos....we had just passed one. Not like the squirrels and hundreds, no thousands...... of rabbits you see in Missouri. However, my "mommy" radar is buzzing like a bad headache.....I look toward the back to see that Maddie has her face turned toward the window.....and from the bit of her face that I can see I can tell she is crying.

Maddie is one of those children that cries without sound. Her private griefs and momentary miseries that break her little 6 year-old heart are always without show. Now Cayla, when she cries, the neighbors know about it. But not Maddie. Her eyes, which are huge and beautiful, just leak a sea of silent tears. Whenever I see her cry I want to do anything in the world that would help her stop. (Heaven help her future husband!!!) Of course I have to console her......."Maddie, we can go back and get that book Monday." She looks at me with those incredible eyes. "It's not the book mom....I had Rita's ATC in it as a bookmark." Now my stomach really lurches.

Rita is our best friend, surrogate-mom-grandma, best hugger in the world....and she is back in Kansas City. She and her husband Bob, are the biggest reasons we have found it so hard to "deal" with moving to Houston. Every holiday and sometimes for no reason at all, they will make the kids cards and ATC's (artist trading cards.) This past Easter was no different. It was ATC's with rabbits, eggs and glitter. I still remember that when Maddie saw her card from Rita, her eyes got big and she sighed, "beautiful!"

And it had never really registered before, but whenever I would see Maddie with a book, that ATC would be somewhere close by. I never connected that that was her bookmark. (I did ask her one time why she carried it around instead of putting it in her folder where she keeps other cards.....she told me that she keeps it with her to remind her that Rita loves her.)

Well, I dumped everyone else at the house and Maddie and I went back to the library toot sweet! The librarian found the book in the back.....and the card was still in it! When she handed it to Maddie, she told her that she
wouldn't have wanted to lose something so beautiful either! Maddie smiled and told her, "Rita made it!"


So Rita, if you read this, know that you are a "thing of beauty" to us....and that there's some poor librarian in Texas going, "Who's Rita?"

Why engineers don't use apoxie sculpt on chairs....

My office chair died yesterday.

I had been sitting in said chair thinking to myself what a lovely find the chair had been. Only $40! And it had lasted a whole year!!! Where in the world do you find "deals" like that? I was sculpting at the time that these soothing thoughts were going through my head. Suddenly I dropped one of my tools on the floor.....no surprise there.....I'm somewhat clumsy. A spaz, some might be so brazen to say.

Anyway....I dropped something. So I lean over in my miraculous chair and the next thing I know I'm looking up at the ceiling. One of the legs had fallen off! Stupid chair!

My husband laughed when I told him this.

He told me to get rid of the chair.

Pfffft! I don't think so!
Silly man.....doesn't he know that in my possession, I have a substance stronger than the will of a 4 year-old? I have Apoxie Sculpt. I love the stuff. I use it on everything.....cause I'm clumsy....I break stuff. Well, not only does Apoxie Sculpt make an outstanding armature, it repairs stuff! So cool.

Well, to show my husband, I repaired that chair today with my miracle glob (if you have used it, you know why I call it glob). I mixed a dollop of the "stuff" from container 1 with the same size dollop of "stuff" in container 2. So easy! I wonder if the people at NASA know about it.

After 3 hours, I had my chair back, as good as new!

My husband was sufficiently complimentary....if somewhat skeptical....but what can he say, here I am working away at my desk with my newly repaired chair. Well, things went well for about an hour......my husband had wandered off to the kitchen, the kids were in bed, I was in the sculpting "zone", feeling goooood, congratulating myself on overcoming simple chair breaks, thereby assuring myself years more use of my wonder chair, when all of a sudden I fell forward.

The next thing I remember is seeing my husband's feet at eye level. My husband said I had screamed and then there was a crash. The leg of the chair had broken AGAIN, but this time I had hit my head on the desk on the way down.

My husband was gracious enough to make sure I was ok, before launching into the "I told you so's".......what he
actually said was, "This is why engineers don't use apoxie sculpt on chairs"............I just thought they didn't cause they weren't in the know.

Oh well.....here's a picture of what I was working on.....I'm glad I didn't pull her off the table with me!

Did I mention that I'm clumsy?

Magda

I've been working in Polymer Clay again....I can't decide if I love it or hate it!!!

This is my latest doll. Her name is Magda. She is approximately 11" and is removable from her base.

Waiting for THE book.....

This is Celia. She is a 4.5" bear. She's very proud of herself....she can get in a chair all by herself.
She told me she is sitting here waiting for some book to arrive. Something about a kid named "Harry" or
something......

Why you should not eat nachos under the backboard and other peculiarities......

This little dog has absolutely nothing to do with the nachos....more the peculiarities part. Her name is Chou-Chou and she is supposed to be a Dalmation, but if you ask her, she will insist that she is a Lhasa apso. I don't see the resemblance.....I think she just likes saying Lhasa apso.




She now lives with my good friend Gayle, who is a kind and patient soul....so maybe she won't mind her peculiarities......not Gayle's peculiarities, Chou-Chou's. Gayle has no peculiarities that I know of....other than having a Dalmation that thinks it's a Lhaso apso.....but hey, we can't all be normal.

And speaking of normal.......on to "Why you should not eat nachos under the backboard"...

......that's what my 11 year-old daughter found out today with 2 of her friends at choir. After they had practiced, they were sent to the gym for snacks.

Nachos and lemonade. Good eats!

I was across the gym from them with my youngest daughter....she opted for just the lemonade. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the 3 girls plunk down right underneath the backboard of the basketball hoop. I sat there in disbelief. Most of the other kids had chosen the sidelines or TABLES. Why right under the basketball hoop?

Did I mention that some boys were playing basketball? Boys with not very good aim?

Well, you know where I'm going with this.......in the blink of an eye, one of the boys goes in for the winning basket (in his mind) and shoots......and misses by a mile. Not quite misses. His ball landed with an amazing bit of speed and precision right smack dab in the middle of the nachos.....and lemonade.

Man, I wish I had had a camera!

Chips went flying, lemonade became airborne in only the way lemonade can when a projectile weapon has been thrown at it. It was amazing! Actually, a camera would not have done the scene justice. The "moment" definitely needed to be caught with a camera capable of capturing the sound of 3 eleven year-old girls "squeeeeeeing" and giggling as they were covered in chips, cheese and lemonade.

The young man at fault, being a gentleman, came over to assure them that he hadn't aimed at them.....but he did look mighty pleased with himself.....which considering the cinematic effect he caused by his lack of aim and problems with manual dexterity.....isn't at all peculiar.

I've been tagged!!!! Twice no less!!!

LOL! Scarlatti and Ute....two of you.....bad girls! LOL!

Here are the rules:

Each person tagged gives 7 random facts about themselves. Those tagged need to write in their blogs the 7 facts, as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag seven others and list their names on your blog. You have to leave those you plan on tagging a note in their comments so they know that they have been tagged and to read your blog.

7 Random Facts about me:

1. I have a overactive imagination. Some might call it neurosis....I prefer to think of it as "a colorful way of seeing the world!"

2. I played with Barbies till I was 16. I always then add that I actually just made clothes for my dolls till I was 16 and went away to college. You say "potato", I say "pahtahto".

3. I thought the Backstreet Boys were kinda cool. (see Random Fact 1.)

4. I thought (and still sort of do) that Girl Scout THIN MINT cookies tasted heavenly with a bit of Grey Poupon mustard.

5. In 7th grade for a speech contest, I chose ANNABEL LEE by Edgar Allen Poe. My brother, who was in 3rd grade also was going to deliver a poem. He was so nervous that no matter what he did, he simply could not remember it. I tried to help him, by saying it with him to help him practice. When the fateful day of the contest came instead of reciting ANNABEL LEE as I was supposed to....I got in front of the entire school and gave his poem! I don't think I have ever had soooooo many people laugh at me....and not realize why!

6. I love Japanese anime.

7. I love Science fiction.....(again Random thought 1!) STARGATE SG-1 is my favorite.....Micheal Shanks, who plays Daniel Jackson, is cute enough to have been a Backstreet Boy!!!LOL

I hate to do this......

If you know me personally, you know that I am just about one of the nicest people on the planet! (Those of you out there snickering......I know where you live!)

Anyway.....where was I?....oh, yes!....I'm a regular sweetheart.

I hate to brag, but I'm just an all around nice chick! And because of that, I hate to make waves. But when a gross injustice has been portioned out, well I just have to speak out!

Below you will see a WANTED poster for a CROC thief!

Sure, she looks nice and all, but let me tell you she is a bundle of danger! If I had all day, oh, the stories I could tell you! But, I'm not like that! Suffice it to say, this woman is in possession of PURPLE CROCS that are rightfully mine.....I did not buy them, but I am talking about on a cosmic level here people.

So if you see her, take the shoes, return them to me and there will be a reward involved.

If you need proof of her guilt:

Click here

Like I said, I hate to do this, but we all have to suffer for fashion every now and then.....

Since my camera died......

I have been working on bears all week....and just as I was about to take some pictures of them I discovered that my camera died.

"If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all....Gloom, despair and agony on me!"

LOL!

Okay, things aren't THAT bad....I just like that song from HEE HAW! (If you are saying,"WHAT?".....you're probably
too young to remember that show or spent your formative years in more productive ventures than in front of the
television!)

Anyhoo....since I have no pictures!!!!....here is a cool site that will, tantalize, inform and give you insight into one of the greater mysteries of this computer age.

Have you ever wondered how the small arrow in the screen of the computer work when we move the mouse?

Now, through the miracle of the high technology, we can see how it is done.

With the aid of a screen magnifying lens the mechanism becomes apparent.

Click on the link below-it will take a few seconds to load. Then run your mouse over the circle. If you stop, watch what happens. Also look what happens when you click on the circle.....

http://tinyurl.com/ytxcr3

The tall one in back......

This is a mermaid that I finished just a bit ago.....but because of her looooong length, I've never
gotten a good picture of her. I've tried. It just doesn't work! If I manage to get all of her in the picture, there
is so much empty space on the sides......that it looks rather pathetic. So I'll have to ask you kind viewer, to sort of visualize what she would look like all together.



She's cloth with a needle sculpted face. Her features are "painted" on using colored and watercolor pencils. Notice her smile....it's because she is tall!






When I was a kid, it was my dream to be tall! I have no idea what I planned to do with all my dreamed of height, but tall I was going to be!

By 8th grade, I was well on my way to my goal. I was always the kid that had to
stand at the back of pictures so that my great height would not obscure my height-disadvantaged peers.

Poor little things!

I would proudly stand in the back....careful not to look too smug, meanwhile exchanging
knowing looks with my teacher....who, due to high heels, was quite tall herself. But it wasn't going to be high heels for me! No, all my height was going to be natural. The product of the gathering of all the tall genes in my family coming together to propel me into the company of the naturally tall and lanky.

Alas! 8th grade I was 5'4" and I haven't grown an inch since.

I'm still waiting.

I have read that some people don't experience growth spurts till odd times in their lives. So, in years to come, if you visit me in the nursing home.....I'll be the tall one...in back.

...and it makes great coffee too!

This is a doll that I finished this past week. I had come up with the pattern for her a while back. I had wanted to do a fugure that was "ample" and looked as if she were dancing! I made her out of cotton and then painted her entire body with acrylic paints. The paints took forever to dry, but I really like the way they stiffen up the fabric, making
it seem more like a canvas. She was supposed to have been an "altered doll".....complete with words and various collage elements. No matter what I tried, it just never felt right. Then last week, my daughters and I were dying coffee filters of all things. (You take Crayola or similar brand markers and color on a coffee filter. Then wet it and allow the colors to run where they will. I usually blow dry the filters so that they stiffen.) Well, we were getting such cool colors on the filters.....and really had no plans for what we were going to use them for...that I toyed around with the idea of making this dolls clothes out of layers of filters! Her clothes are all filters and ribbon. I wish it was as easy to come up with a new wardrobe for myself!


Close-up of her face and coffee filter skirts!

Bears with attitude and head xeroxes!

Before I make a bear or a doll for that matter, I usually will sketch.

These are 3 little bears that I can see so clearly in my head....but when I try...and I have tried several times....to put them on paper, they always come out looking like bears with a LOT of attitude! They stare at me from the paper with their, "yeah, just try to call me cute!" sorta look.

If I could invent anything, it would be the head xerox.

You'd get a great idea...connect yourself to your computer (this is the tricky part) and woohoo!!! Instant great idea on your screen!! It would change the world...it would radically reduce the frustrations of artists worldwide. The world would become a kinder, gentler place because artists would no longer stew in a "I-knew-I-should-have-become-an-accountant" haze when ideas go bad. Instant xeroxing would radically reduce the hours ideas stay in your head, thereby alleviating any undue rottage! Instead we as artists would take to the streets, handing out chocolate and planting flowers! It would be beautiful!!!

I can see it in my head soooo clearly......if only I could figure out that "head-computer" connection thingy.....hmmm.

Crazy people....?

I am such a people watcher! I love to just sit back and watch people interact. Especially people that are really emotive, and use a lot of gestures when they talk.

One of my favorite places is at the post office. Most people, when the line is really long, sort of zombie out. They look like they are almost in a hypnotic state.....trying to "peace out" and find that happy spot, so that they don't go "postal" while waiting for their turn at the window...their turn to talk to that government employee who is even unhappier than they are at the moment.

Occasionally, there will be one or two in this crowd that must be so sanguine that they can't hold it in. You've seen them....they are the ones that talk to anyone and everyone...and use big sweeping gestures and laugh long and hard at their own insights. They are the few, the proud...the ones you are afraid to sit next to on a plane. But standing in line at the post office they are great. They help to pass the time....sort of like a low level stand up comedian.

Today, standing in line at the post office, with my kids no less....there was one of these individuals two people ahead of us. She was so expressive...it was almost like a dance. She had my 12 year-old son enthralled. The best part of it was that she wasn't actually talking to anyone in line, even though the man in front of her kept turning around to her, just to be sure. She had long hair that hid what I hope was a headset to a phone. But part of me thinks that maybe she was just passing time....talking to someone that obviously was highly entertained by her...but that the rest of us just couldn't see.

When I was a teenager I used to get to ride the bus "downtown" on Saturdays to go to the library. And every Saturday, rain or shine, there was this woman that sat in the back all by herself, holding court with an unseen crowd. She would talk, laugh, gesticulate and once I even saw her cry. I remember telling a friend that I thought that the next Saturday I saw her I would go sit by her and talk to her. My friend told me that she was probably "crazy" and that was why she sat alone and that I would be crazy to go talk to her.

I never did get up the nerve to go and talk to her. Wish I had. I may have discovered that maybe she wasn't all that crazy. Maybe she was just having a good time....practicing for her next time in line at the post office....

Aster

This is ASTER, named for what is probably one of my favorite flowers. I did a partial picture of her on a previous post, but then I found this picture on my computer and wanted to add it. I next want to make a bear for a DAHLIA and then one for a RANUNCULUS, both gorgeous flowers that we are going to try to grow in planters this year.

A window with a view.....

It was such a beautiful day here that I took an extra long walk with my kids today. All four of them chattering about totally different things, not caring that because they are all talking about different things that I can't understand any of it.....they were just happy to be able to share their thoughts with the wind.

Conversation turned a little ugly from my 4 year-old when she saw a fire ant hill. She has an enormous fear...phobia...of fire ants after inadvertently sitting on one of their mounds last year.

She fell to her knees and yelled that she couldn't walk anymore till someone moved all the fire ants. It's a shame you can't do that as an adult. Right in the middle of the mall, "I can't walk anymore....till someone brings me a mocha...with a scone!"

One thing that was especially wonderful about the walk was all the flowers that were beginning to bloom. Of course they and the newly budding trees make me sneeze and feel like my head is full of cotton.....but beauty has it's price!

So in honor of my walk today, here is an art quilt that is titled "A Window with a View". It's for all that have bad allergies or humongous fears of fire ants.....sometimes it might seem tempting to watch the world from a window, but it's always better outside!

Procrastinators unite....tomorrow

I saw this on a T-shirt tonight when I was at the library. I almost laughed out loud because just a second ago I had been making a list of things I could put off doing for a while.

Here is a picture of a baby fairy that I just sculpted. She is sleeping peacefully on my desk at the moment....every time I look at her I feel the overwhelming need for a nap. My youngest daughter, who just turned 4, is fascinated with her. She keeps asking me when she will wake up.

This is an image that I just finished for a group book on birds. It feels like a self-portrait.

Our family recently moved.....after 14 years of living in the same house. At first it was exciting. Sort of like going on an extended vacation......800 miles from home! But now after 7 months, the reality of living somewhere so different is setting in. It hit me hard the other day that this may be where we spend the rest of our lives so far away from friends and family. So for now all I can say is, "this is my home."

Maybe one day it really will be.....

Bears

I haven't made too many bears lately, but I thought I would add a few of my favorites:
This is Bridgette and her sidekick Mouse. Bridgette is about 4" tall and made from mohair fur and lots of quilted fabrics.




This is Aster....she is a fully crochet thread bear. She is about 7" tall....and loves gardening.







This is my Bonsai bear. He is trying to grow a bonsai, but is worried that it is so small. Maybe more sun will
make it grow better!

Kilt Pins

These are Kilt Pins for a swap that I am doing with an online group. I should have been vacuuming, but the poor kilt pins have been sitting forlorn on my desk for sooooo long! What's a girl to do? They are embellished with African trade beads, twine, copper wire, odd beads and some shrink plastic that is heated and debossed with a rubber stamp. The bottom one also has one of my favorite beads from GREEN GIRLS Studio. The little mermaid. She's so adorable! Now I have to clean up the gi-normous mess I made putting these together....

Fiber Arts

I love making cloth dolls. I started about 5 years ago when a friend asked me to come to a "cloth doll meeting" she attended. The only "cloth doll" I was familiar with was Raggedy-Ann....so I politely declined. But a few weeks later I saw this same friend in a bead store buying beads for one of her projects. It was a gorgeous doll...made of cloth no less! I was hooked and have been ever since.
Here are a few of the cloth doll that I have made. Their faces are all hand-painted using primarily watercolor pencils. All are from original patterns that I have made.




These are the LaPoire Sisters....they are about 10" tall.





This is a doll that I call FLIGHT. She stands about 15" including base.






This is an art quilt that I made a while back called "Black-Eyed Susan". The quilt is 5" in width. The face is hand-painted and sewn into the quilt.

One fish....two fish.....

Starting a blog...

I believe that I am possibly the last person in this hemisphere that has not fully completed a blog. I would say the world, but I was told that there are 4 men in Uganda that are holding out for better templates.

I have no idea how to get pictures on here....which is why I wanted this "thing" in the first place. I have now to my credit started 4 blogs. All of them failing miserably for one reason or another. Usually something like not being able to add pictures.....but enough of the nay-saying. It's onward and upward from here. Nothing but net!