Marie Mouse has an up-hairdo. I has not been easy as I have had to add hair : ) lots of it- to pouf out the top knot.

the back view showing the gold ribbon and pheasant feathers that hold the braid in place

 

The front/side view of the knot

 

After gluing on and needle felting a few more hair pieces, Marie had an awesome amount of hair. I took some from the one side, about 1/6 of her hair, and braided that. I tied the braid off with delicate gold cord. I then took the rest of the hair and twisted it into a top knot. I wrapped the braided hair around the base of the twisted knot and that helped hold it all in place. There is currently a pin holding the braid in place as I intend to stitch it. The gold ribbon has real pheasant feathers glued on. This too is pinned in place. It is a bit to one side. I need to decide if I am going to put it totally to one side or centralize it.

 



Gluing in leather insole

Gluing on leather outer sole.

 

 The shoe making has been fiddly at best. Working in small sizes is never easy. The sole is leather and the upper is felt. I plan to embroider the tops and add bead embellishments. Court shoes were pretty fancy. I also need to figure out how to resize the shoe a bit as they are a bit big for Marie Mouse. I made them pointy from a pattern meant for round shoes....Although I tried to trim the length it did not work. I will have to adjust from the back.

Another project I took on to see how tough it would be- making covers for a composition journal. I ended up making a few for E's friends. Here they are in progress. I am thinking I may make some for my site. I would like to keep the background simple and applique an animal on. Dogs, bears, cats and birds. I am thinking of felt to do the applique in. Maybe a monster for the guys? Personalizing them with a letter is also great, but not for etsy.com unless I add it as an option.

I am also thinking of useful things- cell phone covers, a jewelry roll, roll up pencil cases and maybe a "book" made of fabric for people who quilt. A book that can hold pins, slots for scissors, pencils, stencils- all these things that we use to create. I am always losing my scissors. A place to put them all the time seems like a good idea for me! The brighter the better so I do not misplace my storage book.

This weekend will be spent finishing the tiling job in the bathroom. I will be so glad to get the use of my bathroom back!

Marie mouse has hair!



 

Marie mouse being fitted for the bodice of her dress. So far the dress is good. Fiddly to sew as some parts are small but it is coming together now. I have used a chandelier earring from Charming Charlie store as the centerpiece of her bodice. The colors compliment the ribbon on the outer dress which is why I chose it. I found the earrings in the discount section which helps too. I am going to sew it all together to make one piece as I do not intend for this to come off of her. I have made a fabric bodice and stitched the earring to it. The fabric bodice will be sewn to the dress and the earring will overlap slightly.

The hair was bought from a doll supply- CRS Crafts - and is a Monique brand strip of curly hair. I have cut the pieces to length and glued each one carefully into place to build up a good wig. I am going to needle felt the edges to help blend them in more. Be careful with that glue! It is easy to over do it and put too much on- this makes the hair hard and I want long flowing locks. A bit like Rapunzel really! In the background you can see the pattern for the shoe I am planning to use. Some modification required as mouse feet are different to a dolls. well- mine are : )

The wigging has been started. I start at the bottom and work up. Gluing each piece on one at a time. Once the hair strand is dry I can add the next one. The Mouse hair is going to be a poufy wig with a braid wrapped around it. So far the plans are to tie a gold bow with feathers on to hold the top in place, but pearls look nice too. The outer layer of her dress has pearls glued on at the diamond intersections.

Next are earrings (drops removed from the bodice piece), the finished hairstyle and the shoes...

Marie Mouse is coming together. I have finished her polymer clay paws and hands. I free sculpted them- no molds used. I also tried to size them as if they were cloth ones. If I make another mouse like this - this is one thing I will change. I think making them smaller would be more elegant.

 

 

I am going to add some eyelashes to her face and maybe more puffiness to her cheeks.  The whiskers will be added last. My next step is to make her dress and shoes. After that I can assess the hat. I want a really French delection but I do not want to overwhelm her.

The eyelashes are doll mohair lashes that I have glued using Tacky glue to a leather strip. I will then add them to her face also with glue : ) .

I am adding gold ribbon on the her arms and legs to where the fur meets the clay. Not only will it look more elegant but it adds a measure of extra strength to prevent the arm or leg being pulled out. This little lady will be for looking at- not playing with!

This week has been hard to get work done. Each time I hear licking noises I know the pooch got the "cone of shame" (Thanks Disney movie  "UP")  off and is checking his stitches. Now that the hair is through the licking is slowing down.  That sure was one big incision to remove his tumor. Poor pooch. Sure has slowed work in the studio but at least I know my mom super hearing still works.

I have finished my first Panda bear. He is sure very tubby. But I like well fed bears : ) . I struggled with the eye patches as I decided to applique them on. I am not sure coloring them would not have been better! I am working on a pattern where they are sewn in place first. This requires very accurate sewing or the eyes will be uneven. I will post a picture of this face process as I go along.
I have also worked on a Ranger Bear for my daughter's class, which will be presented to them on Monday. I hope to post a picture of them with the bear. Another exercise has been to make a butterfly bear with the favorite color being purple. She sure came out with a regal look to her! Pictures after the young lady has recieved her first.

School activities are high right now and I cannot believe how much the youngsters at our school have grown in size and grace. Summer is a slow time for me so I will be 'vacationing' my Etsy.com store on the 7 June for a break and a trip with E. There will also be a light of silence from this side as I am not sure how safe it will be to access this account from where we will be to let you know. If I can I will as we have some really fine things planned. I plan to resume on the 29 July or there abouts refreshed and with new ideas!

It has been a wonderful busy few weeks. A lot of things accomplished!

I have been looking on line and with Etsy.com on how to make wings. Thank goodness for you-tube. Garden of Imagination has some great feed. I have found a huge amount of ways to adorn creations with wings but my favorites are using transparency paper and printing on it as a start to the wing; using fantasy film and liquid fimo or gallery glass and then the sewing kind which is a lot more little kid friendly.

Good luck fairy bear

As usual the trying to strike a balance of beautiful fairy looking wings and being something a young one could play with is the challenge. I am starting to think that the wings have to be removable. Sewn/quilted wings sewn onto the body work. Any other type is more for display : )

 

 

This is "Lady". I have been working on fully jointed puppies to add to the collection of the small fleece un-jointed ones. I have made some in the past as gifts but feel the pattern is now ready for me to list.

 

"Penelope" is one of our dragons. She has a green brother that I donated to E's school for a fundraiser. It seems like he was noticed and he went for a good end bid! I am delighted as I know schools all need the money. Penelope has another of my favorite kid of wings- made from liquid Fimo Polymer clay. Then you add micro glitter and bake it. Very much stronger that the fantasy/Angelina film used on the green one. I have been making wings- haven't I ?

 

I have also managed to finish the "Spring Bear" in our series of seasons bears...

And this is Sunshine dragon. I am happy with the body pattern now but I am still developing heads.

 

Another project I am working on is a Mouse that would be in the French Court of Marie Antoinette. I am using Tissavel woven back fur in summer squirrel, supplied by Fabric Empire. I buy online as it is not always easy to find what I want in my neighborhood. She is getting her face needle felted and feet and hands are sculpted from polymer clay.

Marie Mouse needle felted head with glass eyes.

The inspiration for the mouse came from Beatrix Potter's Tailor of Glouster illustrations.

 

 

This scary stare is from another needle felted face project. I have started, stopped, undone and restarted so many times now! Polar Bear Queen will have a fully sculpted head and paw pads. She is also made from tissavel fur from Fabric Empire. Fabric Exchange and Intercal trading also carry some tissavel fur.

Polar Bear queen sits a whopping 26 inches high and she is fully jointed with a double jointed neck.

I will keep posting as I move along on these two projects. the dress is cut for the mouse and I am ready to joint her. She is going to be fully jointed but with the split pin and washer system rather than safety joints. the original pattern I used for her is the same as the mouse I made for E's birthday party. just adapted to felting by changing the fabric and adding sculpted feet and hands instead of sewn ones...

 

I hope everyone who reads this has a fabulous and productive time as I have. I will be slowing down as my best bud in my studio- my pooch Mushu- just had a huge tumor removed from his leg. This is not his first ad he is an elderly gentleman now. I wait for the test results anxiously and find it hard to work as all I want to do is sit with him and give him love.

 

 

This week saw the creation of a much wanted to do bear. I have always loved the idea of steampunk. A victorian romance but with the idea of modern technology.

Charles's hat took forever! I really had a tough time figuring out how to make it and in some ways it still bothers me that it took so long : ) It looks good on him though. I love the outcome of the heart pendant that he holds. I made it out of sculpey and old watch parts. Thank heavens for Etsy sellers who have these things available! His fur is a special fur I got a while back and it resembles feathers rather than a fur! Super soft to the touch and has fooled more than 1 person. Califabrics.com sells it in all kinds of colors.

 

I am working on dragons now. Have a look on Etsy and Emma's Bears! I love that dragon- mine is a little more bulky in his nose : ) E's school is having 'diversity day' and I am going to show how I make the dragon- so I need one finished, one half way and one just started I think.

Time to shake some tail feathers and get going...

We have finally finished our dragon. I am a lot happier with the result : ) We have also been busy exploring polymer clay.

 

Our dragon is wearing glasses and red sparkle eyes. He is going to be a Library Dragon for E's school.

Paw detail- we embroidered the claw shape to add emphasis.

 

His little wings- he is after all, a baby dragon!

Our ploymer clay explorations have also included dragons, mice and seahorses! Most of these were done by E! She has a real talent for making clay critters...I just did the green dragon on the bottom.

 

Plans are in the works for a top hatted steampunk feather fur bear, a really chubby bear and another fairy bear. Esty should have them by the end of next week if that top hat works out! Ouch on a new thing to make that feels a bit flimsy to me. Maybe thicker cardstock as the base of the hat that the fabric is glue to my be in order!

 

I am also expolring some polymer clay options to see if they can be sold as beads in our etsy store. The green dragon I made is a bead, and his leaf wings on top are the bail.

 

I did make one with pearls and gold, but as E lost a tooth- the toothfairy was asked to bring that dragon. Oh well. That tooth fairy has been way too busy in this house, but at least she brings nice things for E's teeth!