Next Project Maybe?

I’m thinking of making two dolls out of these old bottles. The bottles have a story (doesn’t everything?) and believe it or not they also have a bit of sentimentality attached to them. When my husband and I had our first child my in-laws emptied out their liquor cabinet donating pretty much all the different liquor that they had accumulated over the years to us. They thought that since we were young we would be hosting many parties, starting with our oldest child’s christening party, and could use up everything that they had been keeping. Well, neither my husband nor I are the party- throwing type so after two more christening parties we ended up putting everything into our hutch. Time passes...more time passes.....30 years pass/ including three moves in which I packed and unpacked everything! Eventually I decide to move the hutch, so I empty everything out of it and put all this donated liquor on a book case outside on our screened porch with every intention of moving it back into the hutch once I had finished. Of course I never do bring it back inside, so for the past three years we have kept an assortment of alcohol outside through winter low temperatures well below zero and sizzling summer days well above 100 and pretty much everything in-between. Now, I would never serve any of this to anyone fearing it could be lethal. The fact that my husband doesn’t drink at all and I will only have a glass of wine makes me wonder why we have not disposed of this stuff years ago... I think it reminds us of our parents...hence, the sentimentality. The fact that my in-laws had all this stuff originally when they didn’t really drink either only adds to the craziness. So, now I am determined to turn at least two of the bottles into something pretty. I like the color of these two bottles and that they are different shapes. I’m not sure how I will transform them but I do know I want most of the bottle to show- I like the labels and I like the fact that the labels are showing their age. I started by emptying and washing them. I also removed the labels around the top perhaps to use later as part of a headpiece. The bandy bottle has a screw on top (which includes a faded price tag of $3.49) which I will put back on, the wine bottle was corked so I glued a cardboard circle to encase the top. Next step will be to apoxy a wood dowel to the tops to act as a neck armature and support for the head and figure out a way to attach arms. I do love the creative process!

Finally Finished!

I think I have finished this piece- I say think because I’m still contemplating adding a baseball hat to the male character and maybe attaching some balloons to the stroller. But maybe I won’t; in which case it is complete. If I change it I’ll update this photo. I went on-line today to The Big E website and entered, so there’s no turning back now!


Overall I’m happy with the results. I really wanted the figures to interact with each other and I think I succeeded with the dad and the little girl. I also think the addition of the sleeping baby adds interest- besides it was fun making the stroller so someone had to sit in it. The dad has a chilly dog in his left hand although it can’t be seen in this photo and the mom has the Eastern States specialty of the house- a gigantic cream puff.


This piece is attached to a 11x 7 inch base. The dad is the tallest figure. He is 14 inches tall in his bent position. The little girl stands 6 1/4 inches tall. As with all my pieces, I always find it is a little bittersweet when I actually finish. It’s great to see the final piece- was I actually able to create a three-dimensional representation of a concept?- but then again finished means it’s time to walk away. Done.

Three Headless Bodies

I now have three headless bodies- pretty sad. The major changes have occurred with the mother. Although it really does not show in the previous photos, I felt her legs were too long. Every time I looked at the entire piece as it progressed I was bothered by her legs. They weren’t proportionately wrong but she was turning out to be a very tall woman, so rather than get the whole thing done and always be unhappy with her, I took her legs apart and shortened them by about 3/4 inch- and now I like her better! I also gave her a blue design turtleneck jersey and a yellow sweater. The sweater is up- cycled from the sleeve of an old sweater of mine. I also decided there was room for one more character- just a little room - so just a little person will soon be added..

Little Arms and Little Hands

Why is it whenever I plan to work something always comes up that prevents it? Well, today I was able to continue with this piece. The dad now has a pair of sneakers and more importantly the little girl has arms. Little arms with even littler hands and fingers. I’ve never attempted hands this small before- quite a challenge. At first I tried separating all the fingers but I didn’t like the way it looked, very unnatural. so then I started over with mitt hands with a separate thumb. I think that when you reach for a cotton candy you keep your fingers pretty close together so I like this better.

The picture doesn’t show that the girl has a white blouse with a black and white belt under her jacket. Her jacket is made of felt and machine embroidered in a mustard color thread. Once again, I am trying out some of the embroidery stitches on my machine- add a little more detail.

Vacation Week!

I’m on vacation this week and plan on working on this piece every day, so I should make substantial progress! I’ll start by finishing the dad. Today I gave him his arms and finished his sweatshirt. He still needs a chilly dog in his left hand, cotton candy in his right and some sneakers on his feet. Of course he also needs a head but I find if I don’t start with the head then I usually leave it off until the very end.

Although I have a plan to finish the dad before moving on to the other figures, that doesn’t mean I will actually follow this plan. Tomorrow when I approach this piece I may switch over to either of the other figures and start the day there... I have no idea today what I will be motivated to work on tomorrow. The one thing I do know about myself is that I never start a second piece until the one I am currently working on it totally finished. Some of the doll makers in the Textile Tarts will work on a piece, put it away for a while, start something new, then at some point return to the first piece- bouncing between projects is something I just can’t do.

Dad Takes Shape

I have been working on the male figure today. He now has a shirt, belt with loops, and the beginning of his sweatshirt. The Big E takes place in September which is sweatshirt/sweater weather in New England. My next step is constructing and clothing the arms. His right arm will be extended offering a cotton candy to the child so it needs to be positioned in reference to her. I also need to decide if he will be holding anything in his left hand because that will determine the position/shaping of that arm as well. Decisions...

Starting a New Figure

Last weekend I started a new figure- three figures actually. They will eventually be called “A Day At The Fair” and will be my submission this year to the Eastern States Exposition which is held every September at Springfield, Massachusetts. Three years ago I submitted my Mermaid and she took first place; two years ago I submitted a fairy which took third place; and last year I didn’t get my act together in time so I missed the fair entirely! This year I’ve decided to start early so I should have my piece ready well in advance. Every year the fair has a theme, although it is not required that submissions represent the theme, I was inspired by this year’s theme which is “The Big E” (nickname for Eastern States Exposition). When I think of going to a fair my first thoughts are of the food! So my figures will be enjoying different foods found at the fair. The mother will be eating a creme puff which is a specialty of the Big E, the dad will be handing the daughter a cotton candy and maybe he will even have something in his other hand for himself...not sure yet. I also want them to look like they are having fun! That will be one of my challenges with this piece- creating three faces that seem to interact with each other. My first challenge, however, was drawing the patterns and stuffing the figures so that they are proportionally correct in relation to each other. I started with the adult female then worked off her proportions to create the child. This will be the first time I have made a child- so that should be interesting. Once I had those two figures stuffed I made the adult male. They are able to stand freely because each has a brass cylinder up one leg which slips over a rod that will be permanently attached to the final platform.