How To Make An Elephant In No Time Flat!

A couple of days ago, my husband asked me whether it would be very difficult to make an elephant. "Of course not", said I..........and before I knew it I'd agreed to design and make a toy elephant for a young work colleague of his who had just had a baby girl. Designed, literally, on the back of an envelope (albeit a large one!)

I'm kind of lucky that I can visualise something and easily work out how the pattern pieces need to be in order to make what I have in mind......apparently not everyone can do this!

So, over a couple of hours last night, I had designed, cut out, sewn, stuffed and assembled this little Elly for Molly and then this morning I spent a little more time on a few baby-safe embellishments. I couldn't find any plush fabric in a good, elephanty colour, so I used this pretty mauve instead - I think it is appropriate for a baby girl.

And here's a new head I'm working on - this one has been covered with fabric already and has been sized prior to gessoing and painting. More design work on this body pattern. If you're wondering about the pencilled-in features, I often do that when I'm making a one-of-a-kind head so that I can see if I have the features balanced.

No Comment!

B-r-r-r-r-r!

When I woke this morning there was all this white sparkly stuff on the grass - yes: Summer is officially over with the first cracking frost of the year. This spells the end of any more tomato-ripening (whew!) and the start of toasty warm fires in the house and in the studio, shorter days and stick-to-your-ribs comfort food. We had a long, warm and sunny summer this year (doesn't always happen in Tassie) but now we have to bid it a fond farewell and welcome the cooler months. See you in December, Summer!

And here's a little something I've worked on this week - an outsized papier mache head-on-a-stick for a special event - can't say too much - it's supposed to be a secret........shhhhhh!

Pudding Head!

My husband calls dolls like this one "Pudding Heads"........and you can see why. This baby has a very round stuffed cloth head, which is painted to look a bit three dimensional, although the face is quite flat. So it doesn't really work to view this kind of doll in profile....in fact it looks weird. But they look OK from a front or almost-front view. Pudding Head or not, they are great fun to make! I found some premmie-sized real baby clothes that fit this doll perfectly, but she needs some hand-knits as well.........maybe a cardigan, a beanie and some bootees.

Sweet Autumn Child and a bit of Trompe L'Oeil

Here's the Autumn Child all finished and dressed in warm clothes for the nippy mornings.

And I've been working on a bit of trompe l'oeil (trick the eye) painting an another doll I'm working on. I use trompe l'oeil quite a lot when painting my dolls, even when I'm not painting on a flat surface, because I find that I can enhance the sculpting quite a bit using tints and tones to add more depth. With this new doll, the surface is flat, so the illusion of three dimensionality is achieved just using paint. Not sure if I'm happy with this yet - I may re-paint it.

A Saucy Tale!

You are probably sick to death of me banging on about tomatoes...........they have kind of been dominating my life just lately, and I PROMISE this will be the last time I mention them. If you are still reading, tomato season in Tasmania is about to come to a sudden halt - Autumn is approaching fast, there is a nip in the morning air, the leaves are turning and the first frost is not far away. That's the end of tomatoes except for all the unripened ones which will have to be turned into green tomato relish. Here's a photo of some of what I've done with tomatoes......relish, sauce (ketchup), dried, semi-dried and packed into herbed olive oil. I also have frozen puree in the freezer.
Needless to say, I'm rather sick of the sight of tomatoes.......this is the Last Word!

Now.......what to do with all those CAPSICUMS!

A month or so back, while I was doing a bit of blog-hopping, I happened upon a bright and cheerful blog kept by Brigitte. She was having a little naming contest which I entered. Lucky me! I won the contest and here is what arrived in the mail yesterday to live here with me - two of the sweetest Danish Christmas elves who took no time at all to settle in to their new home, as you can see. Go and have a look at Brigitte's blog - it's a very fun place to visit.

Sweet Child

Well.......in my last post, I think I promised some progress shots of this sweet child as I was painting her - and then promptly forgot to take them, when I got carried away with the painting process. Sorry 'bout that if you were waiting for them! Next time, I'll try and remember.
So this child is finished except for her clothes, which I will start on tonight. I'm planning a warm Autumn outfit for her with some knitted and crocheted garments as well as this snug little bonnet (unfinished) that she is already wearing.
The tomato inundation is continuing apace.......I'll let you know how drying them goes. The sauce I made last week is mighty tasty!