Jewel: Fairy Queen of Joy

I just completed (almost completed) my third Fairy Queen. Her name is Jewel. My other two Fairies are holding things in their hands, Jewel is not, so perhaps she isn't really finished.

In the photo, her dress and hair seem to be distinctively different shades of blue, but actually the turquoise hair is almost the same as her dress which is photographing blue rather than turquoise.

As with the other two fairies, she has a needle-felted head, arms, and upper torso. Her gown is designed over a styrofoam cone. All three fairies' gowns are made from craft felt which I just learned is made in the USA of eco-fi polyester made from recycled post-consumer plastic bottles! Pays to read the labels!

Nefertiti                                         Jewel                                            Uno
Fairy Queen of Strength                  Fairy Queen of Joy                    Fairy Queen of Truth
 

March of the Fairy Queens

Pacifica: A Mermaid of the Pacific Ocean

Here is my second mermaid- Pacifica.  I used my same pattern as Pearl (Atlantic Mermaid). Pacifica has a needle felted head with a Styrofoam armature, a stuffed fabric torso and tail and needle felted arms. Her torso has a needle felted overlay. Her hair is hand-spun dyed wool with a metallic thread interwoven. Her headpiece is painted lace. The fabric of her tail has a fish tessellation on it.
Here she is:

Shell in her Hand

Water Droplets on her Tail

Pacifica
Pacific Ocean Mermaid

Pearl
Atlantic Ocean Mermaid

I did change the cut of the top of her tail and added side flukes to Pacifica but otherwise they are the same pattern.
I like to put these wall dolls on interior doors as well as walls. Very inviting.

I have now made 6 wall dolls. Four are elf creatures and two mermaids. The weird thing is all their names start with the letter P which was not  initially planned, but now I seem committed.  They are: Periwinkle, Pansy, Pebbles, Paper Crane and Pearl all named after whatever they are holding in their hands. Pacifica is holding a pearl just like Pearl, so to distinguish between the two she is called Pacifica because of her golden sunny color scheme  in contrast to Pearl's cold blue. I have plans for one more mermaid from the Arctic Ocean. She would naturally be called Polar. It just never ends! At least the mermaids are pretty creatures unlike my little dwarves!

Paper Crane

Please welcome my latest doll: Paper Crane!

I was inspired by the origami doll the Textile Tart's group made last month to create this needle felted wall doll. I will be bringing it to our meeting today to share. If I can get better photo's taken I will replace these but for now these will do. The first photo looks like one leg is longer than the other but in reality one foot is extended a bit from the wall- they are the same length. Also I find it difficult to take clear close-up shots of the face without a bit of blurring. I'll work on that.  But, I do like her. The ornamentation in her bun was once my grandmother's earring. The large button on her wrap also came from a bag of buttons I got from my grandmother. I have had the fabric I used on her kimono for a long time, just waiting for the right figure. I lined the kimono with gray satin and she also is wearing a pair of linen pantaloons that are embroidered with a gold leaf pattern. She is 22 inches tall, I used the same torso pattern as my other three wall dolls. Of course, as is also the case with all my wall dolls, she is named after the item in her hand. It is an origami crane.

Who Is Your Favorite Pixar Character?

Last May, on Mother's Day, we were having a"Collins' Family Breakfast" when I asked each of my children which Pixar character was their all-time favorite. The amazing thing is that of the six people I asked, none of them hesitated- they all had a favorite. My oldest son, Neil choose Woody from Toy Story. Carla, his wife, immediately picked Nemo. My daughter Kathleen chose Mike Wazowski from Monsters Inc. Her husband, Mike had two favorites, but his first response was Guido the little guy in Cars that changed Lightening McQueen's tires in record speed during the big race. Their son, my darling grandson, immediately piped in with Lightening McQueen. And finally, my youngest son, Mike, chose Wall-E. A psychologist would probably have fun analyzing their choices...even I have thought about that a bit... but I wanted the challenge of trying  to create a surprise Christmas ornament for each of them. At first I wasn't sure if I would be sewing or felting but in the end I needle felted them all. I started right away making the first three.

                                May I introduce.....

Mike Wazowski from Monsters Inc.  
5 1/2  inches tall- Needle Felted Wool

Nemo
4 inches long- Needle Felted Wool

Wall-E
4 1/2 inches tall-  Needle Felted Wool with Button Eyes

After completing these first three, I became distracted by other projects and let them sit in my workroom for months before getting back to them. Now I find it is just a few short weeks before Christmas and I am only half done. Plus, I had put off making the most difficult one- Woody! I find it very difficult to needle felt small people. Getting defined facial features on a head that is not much more than an inch long is quite a challenge. But if I was going to have an ornament for everyone I had to get back to it.
     
                     Here are the last three.....

Woody from Toy Story
6 1/2 inches tall  Needle Felted Wool

Guido from Cars
3 inches tall- Needle Felted Wool with button Wheels

Lightning McQueen from Cars
3 3/4 inches long- Needle Felted Wool with Button Wheels

And finally a group shot....

Finished just in time for Christmas Day!

Vintage Spirit #8: Witch's Brew

Here is my latest commissioned piece- a witch! Last month I was given this bottle with instructions to make whatever I wanted. Of course, with the Frog Syrup label it screamed witch! So here she is looking very intently at the unfortunate frog in her hand. I wonder what she is thinking?

I will be giving this piece to another doll artist on Saturday and I must say I am a bit nervous. I really hope she likes it. Personally I love it- but that's certainly no guarantee that anyone else will think the same. When she gave me the bottle it already had the Frog Syrup Brew label on it but she also gave me a second label to use in case I couldn't relate or didn't like the frog one. How could I not like it? I was born on Halloween for goodness sake!
I think my favorite part of this doll is the skirt. It is a vintage handkerchief folded to highlight the lace edges. I think it falls over the bottle beautifully and adds a touch of Victorian charm. She also sports a painted lace collar and cuff, a felt inner vest and a black jacket. There is a small bat on the back of the jacket. The frog is needle felted with green bead eyes. The witch's hair is also needle felted wool roving and she has a small wart on her chin although it really can not be seen as it is blocked by the frog in these photos. Let me know what you think!

Sunday Morning

I've named this piece Sunday Morning. I didn't model this couple after anyone in particular but I do feel as if I know them somehow. I see them walking home from church on a Sunday morning in spring stopping to enjoy a park swing. Or maybe coming to the seacoast to spend an afternoon looking out at the ocean. I know I've seen them before, maybe if only for a moment in my childhood past. In any case, they are in love and love is timeless.

I made the man first, or I should say I started him first. Originally I planned he would be alone on the bench feeding the squirrels or birds. But I had this idea for a netted pillbox hat (what is it with me and hats?) and she emerged from that. The hat is straight out of the fifties and completes her outfit perfectly. In the end, I finished her, right down to the buttons on her shoes, before completing him. The last stitches were his three coat buttons. Both figures are all wool. They have pipe cleaners in their arms and legs so I can pose them but they are not really meant to be manipulated out of their seated positions. Their clothes are made from partially felted wool sheets. This makes them a bit fragile (only I could make "fragile" wool figures!). Initially I wasn't sure if I could put it though a sewing machine to do the embroidery elements on her suit, but I managed. The clothes are needle felted together and onto the figures so they are not removable.

These figures are not large. From the bench seat to the top of their heads is 7 inches.The bench is just a bit over 12 inches high which includes the swirly top piece. It is a swing actually and it does work with them sitting on it which is fun. It is a lovely bench that I got at a Textile Tart's meeting a few years ago. People bring stuff to the meeting periodically when they are cleaning out their stash or studios. It is rod iron with a wooden seat- very cute. It has been sitting on the floor of my sewing room waiting for them.

I'm very pleased with this piece-especially as it is my first "people" needle felt if Humpty Dumpty is considered an egg and not a person! It was a challenge for me. I wanted the faces to be life-like with thinner features than I see on many needle felts. I wanted them to be realistic. I also wanted them to look different from each other but fit well together. I think they do.

Let me know what you think!

Needle Felted Cardinals

A work in progress. I am making a pair of cardinals. The male cardinal is finished but the female cardinal still needs her feet threaded and her wings defined. They are a bit smaller than the robins I made earlier- standing approximately 3 inches high and almost 5 inches in length. I think when finished they will make a cute couple.