Wannetta and Gilby

Here are the last two of my School Photo series... thanks for all the nice feedback, they were fun to do and I hope to do more again when the mood strikes!

Wannetta (Old English for "Pale")


Moody and misunderstood.
Prefers rainy days inside.
Delights in the work of Edward Gorey.
Wants to live in Paris and eat croissants everyday.



GILBY - (Irish for "Yellow Hair"):


Daydreamer extraordinar.
Likes strawberry jam and chocolate scones.
Wants to be an airplane pilot and touch the clouds.
Goes fishing every Saturday, but always returns his catch.



Wannetta and Gilby along with some of their other classmates are currently available in my Silly BooDilly shop.
Enjoy your day everyone!

Irma

Irma - (Old German for "Noble Person")
... (and twin sister to Alfred)


Enjoys blueberry picking and tea parties.
Likes writing short stories.
Hopes to be a librarian someday.
Wants to know what the ocean smells like.


Irma, her brother Alfred and some of their other school pals are currently available in my Silly BooDilly shop.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Alfred's School Photo

ALFRED - (Old English for "Wise Counsel"):


Articulate and responsible.
Worries about injustice.
Enjoys solving puzzles.
Wants to be a social worker.



Alfred is currently available in my Silly BooDillyshop along with some of his other stitched School Photos classmates

If you haven't already, be sure to enter my Giveaway for a free copy of Quilts, BABY! The Giveaway is open until 11pm Sunday night and I will be announcing the winner Monday the 25th. Have a great Memorial Day weekend everyone!

Note: Giveaway is now closed!

Alice and Harman

More stitched School Photos...

Alice- (Greek for "Truth")


Excellent in math.
Takes ballet lessons every Tuesday afternoon.
Hopes to be president of the United States one day.
Likes the mingled smell of honeysuckle and wild roses that grow in her grandmother's back yard.


Each School Photo ornament is stitched onto a piece of vintage table linen, (a vintage cloth napkin to be exact) which was backed with some fusible interfacing. Afterwards I paint each one with Japanese made Tsukineko's All purpose Ink, which are great to use on fabric as the colors are nice and vivid, but not thick like regular fabric paint. They act more like a watercolor and come with a pencil like applicator that makes applying the color to small areas very easy.

HARMAN - (Old English for "A Deer Keeper"):


Silent and strong.
Likes cornflakes.
Believes in diplomacy.
Hopes to one day be a forest ranger and to live high up in a tree house.


After stitching, painting and heat setting each piece, the same vintage fabric was used for the back side. A small slit was cut in the backside through which I used to turn the piece right side out, and to stuff the piece. A small cord loop was hand stitched to the backside along with one more piece of the vintage fabric, which was used to neatly cover up the slit and the cord ends. Each piece is signed on the back.


Harman and Alice plus a few of their classmates are currently available in my shop. More next post!

If you haven't already, don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY and win a free copy of Quilts, BABY! from Lark Books!

Odd Sisters

These are the Odd Sisters...


Odd Elsie:

Misunderstood,
quiet,
strong work ethic,
has trust issues,
intelligent.



Odd Sally:

Enjoys secretly following people,
could live on cornbread and lemonade,
believes everything is a conspiracy, and likes it that way.



Odd Lenore:

Strong as a horse,
likes fast cars, smoky pool halls and beef jerky,
kindhearted and generous.



and Odd Nancy:

Sullen,
never forgets a face,
enjoys reading murder mysteries and eating eggplant, (uncooked).



Each one was lovingly made from red quilted fabric and vintage textile remnants including a bit of lace, a piece of linen, a small button and a cutting of flowered fabric. Details are stitched and "drawn" with needle, thread and machine.

The Odd Sisters are individually available in my Silly BooDilly shop... Now go and celebrate whatever makes you odd. It also makes you special. xo

Doll Therapy

I'm not sure if it has been the on again off again worry of Mo being sick, weather that refuses to stay warm and sunny for more then a day, or just the steady stream of daily hard times hitting America, but I have been struggling with keeping my spirit up. However, I am really finding simple joy in creating little stuffed beings...

This is Clair. She was created when I free-motioned stitched her, doodle style, onto a piece of light gray fabric which I had quilted and washed earlier. Clair enjoys clementines, lilacs, poetry, and feeding the birds that visit her yard.


I like the underlying design of the quilted fabric, and forgot until I did her how much I enjoy drawing with the sewing machine.

And as promised in my last post here is Sam the Dog's friend, Bebe the Bunny...


Bebe the Bunny:

Extremely loyal.
Devoted friend.
Occasionally over indulges in fermented carrot juice.
Dreams of someday being Mrs. Barry Manilow.


Carrot is detachable, it slips on and off like a bracelet.


Rear view!

Both Clair and Bebe are available in my Silly BooDilly Shop.

Eye Doctors

I have to go to the eye doctors today, and while I appreciate having the ability to be able to have my eye health and well being attended to, I can't seem to shake my frustration at knowing I have to receive those damn drops. I am of course referring to the eye drops that make your pupils enlarge to the same degree as if you were in the depths of an under ground cavern, where it would be so dark, you would be unable to see your own hand in front of your face.


Ohhh, I despise those drops! I am extremely sensitive to them, and it can take a good 12 hours for the effects to fully wear off. In the meantime, My close up vision will be all blurry, so no artwork for me today, and any light is rather uncomfortable, (and of course it is a glorious sunny day outside.) But this all is a very small price to pay for maintaining healthy vision, and for that I am willing to do almost anything. But I have to ask, why do they always wait until my eyesight is super-duper blurrified from the drops, to tell me that I may now go and select a new pair of frames?

Above is a small illustration piece I did a few years ago. It is free motion embroidered onto a piece of stabilizer. Free motion embroidery is when you set your machine stitch to 0, drop your feed dogs, and use a darning foot. By doing this you are able to move your fabric anyway you wish, giving you complete control, thus allowing you to effectively draw with your thread, (which I used a lot of!) and needle. Some day I hope to do some more of these, but it takes lots of concentration, which I seem to have an increasingly hard time sustaining!