HAPPY NEW YEAR!

HAVE A HOLLY JOLLY CHRISTMAS!

SQUIRREL CLOSE UPS

STEP 2-9

I'm 99% done with the squirrel. His head just needs to be mounted to the plaque and hardware needs to be added.
It was hard for me to remember to continue taking photos throughout the whole process. I'd get so into working I'd forget. But I think I did pretty good.
STEP 2 COLOR COMP
I've already posted what is step 1. Which is just a sketch. Step 2 just consists of that sketch scanned into the computer to do a color comp. I think I've mentioned that before.

STEP 3 PATTERN
This step requires some engineering and is always the step I dread. However the squirrel template isn't much different from the deer so I was lucky. It also depends on how you stuff it.

STEP 4 SEW HEAD & STUFF
Pretty self explanatory. This is were you need to do a lot of manipulating to the fleece while stuffing to get the shape you want. I really pack it in there.

STEP 5-8 SEWING ON FACIAL FEATUTRES
I don't usually have any order I do this in. I chose the mouth first this time. It doesn't look like much untill it's sewn in place and stuffed. I'm always not quite sure how this is going to turn out . Sometimes I've cut my piece to small and have to start over. I stuff this like crazy too to get it to look like it's three dimensional. I have to go back with a needle and thread and stich some areas around the mouth and under the nose to pull it in really tight to get the effect.


Next I worked on the eyes. Simple ovals cut and sewn in place. I stuff as I sew. Then I go back and add detail. Let me just say that needle is the best purchase I ever made. As well as a curved needle. I finally realized this about 8 months ago. It's a lot easier when you have the right needles. You should have seen all my old needles. All had curves to them because I'd bend them so much when stitching .

Next came the ears. Not much to say about these.

STEP 9 DETAILING
Finally I get to the fun part of detailing. I decided at the last minute he needed hair.

Once I get him mounted I'll post a better pick that you can really see.
So there you have it. My process isn't really that exciting and there is no real secret of any kind.

SNOW,SNOW,SNOW...SNOW

Currently as I post it is still snowing. Nothing major just a couple of inches. But it's our first real snow this year. I don't count ice. I always love it when the yard has no footprints in it. That'll change after the kids come out tomorrow. So I snapped a quick pick. Plus it looks nice with all the christmas lights. Happy sledding!!

FUN WITH iPHOTO

We had some fun at work last week playing with iPhoto. I thought this was appropriate. A nice tribute to Maisy & Daisy.

STEP ONE: SKETCHES

Quick sketch of the squirrel and bird.

SMOKIN' DEER

Here's some pics of the deer. This piece is pretty large. It measures 21 x 12.5. I thought this plaque was just screaming for a deer with antlers. It fills up the space nicely.
So now I'm working on sketches of my squirrel head and bird head and I promise to show my progress as I go along. These will be considerably smaller and much faster to make. The plaques for these are only 5 x 7. I wanted all three to be some what proportional in size.

THANK YOU VANNA

I finally finished the scarf I started back in August. I blocked it last week and I'm happy with the results. I saw this yarn on an end cap at Michaels when I went in to get embroidery thread. It's Vanna White yarn. Yes the Wheel of Fortune Vanna has her own line of yarn. Who knew? It was an impulse purchase for me. I thought the colors looked good together. So thanks Vanna!!

I'm so close to being done with the deer. It took a little longer to paint the plaque because I decided to paint all three to save time and make sure they were all the same color. I still hope to have a pic taken this week. I keep meaning to show a piece in progress from beginning to end. I will try really hard to do that with my next two, the bird and squirrel. I get so in the zone that I end up going to far to even beginning documenting. I'll write myself a note :)

PLUSHED ::ART GONE SOFT::

I've been working on three new plushies this week for this show. The show is called PLUSHED::art gone soft::. It is being held at Purdue University from Jan.21 - Feb. 1. I'm working on a deer head, a small bird head and a small squirrel head. They'll all be proportional to each other so the deer head is quite big. The plaque for the deer itself measures about 12"w x 20"h. The bird and squirrel are about 5"x7". I hope to have the head of the deer done by the weekend and I can share it with you. Because of its size it is defnitely taking a while.

I just thought it would be fun to do some ubber cute forest animals and give them some sort of twist. I was watching the show MGM on Boomerang last week and got the idea. The MGM show is just a collection of old cartoons. Bugs Bunny, Tex Avery, Tom & Jerry...that kind of stuff. You kind of get the idea from my sketches. When I post more pics you'll understand the inspiration.

WORK PROCESS

I'm currently working on 3 new pieces for a show in January. I don't have a whole lot to blog about so I thought I'd share my process with you.
I always start out with a sketch. It's not much more than a doodle really.


Then I do a quick color comp on the computer. This one is especially rough. But I just do this to get an idea of what colors I want to use and if I need to go purchase a color I don't have.


Then comes the technical part, the pattern. This usually takes a good part of an afternoon. I easilly do 3 or 4 versions before I get it right. I also sew up a quick dummy thats about 1/4 the size of my actual piece. Time consuming yes, but in the end there's no guessing or ripping out seams when something doesn't look right.



After I feel my dummy looks pretty good I blow up my pattern, print it out and begin. Then the fun begins.
As you can tell I'm currently working on another head on a plaque. I'm really enjoying these. I love the idea of plush hanging on the wall and not stuck on my shelf. I don't have more photos to share right now because my deer is in the process of being stuffed. I'll share more and explain more about it later.