June Swap Pin Dolls

Here is the picture of summer swap pin dolls. I thought of so many different things like picnic baskets, or ice creams but liked the Bermuda babes the best. I made two of them since I swapped with two people. I exaggerated the proportions a bit to give them a light hearted "cool" look. They can stand up on their own. I forgot to measure them before sending them to their new moms but I think they are around 7" tall. I like the beach bags they are carrying, don't you?

100th Post Update

I should first thank all of you who visit my blog from time to time and leave lovely comments about my work. Last night both kids picked one name each and the winners are: Connie and Shashi. Congratulations guys! Shashi, please send me your snail mail address and I will mail your surprise to you. Connie, I will mail yours on Friday.

Long Weekend in May

It's been more than 2 weekends since the long weekend but I decided to post the pictures anyway. We went around the South Lake Tahoe area, took a gondola ride, played on a small beach on Lake Tahoe and also went to Circus-Circus (a casino with circus acts and arcade for kids) in Reno, Nevada. A very fun trip and what made it better was a warm pool at the hotel room which the kids enjoyed since they can both swim now. Here are a few pictures of the Gondola ride and the lake. Circus-Circus pictures pale in comparison to the beautiful natural scenery which Mother Nature provides so generously. The last picture shows what I did while the kids played in the sand. Of course DH was clicking away.

Walk-a-Jog 2007 and 100th Post!

Yay! My 100th Post! Write a comment and I will draw a name to send a surprise to you (as is the tradition among bloggers). This is the 3rd Walk-a-Jog at Miss. N's school and the second year I put henna to make money for them. Henna was very popular this year and I must have put henna on more than 50 people. In the end I ran out of henna and had to stop.

P.S. On June 11, 2007: I will wait until the 20th of June to draw a name. I will announce the winner on 21st and mail the gift in a day or two.

Secret Pal Doll

Here is the picture of the secret pal doll which my friend Judy made for me. I found out Judy was my secret pal at the April meeting. The first one she gave me was in December. This one is a Barbara Willis pattern as well. I love the colors and the costume too. Judy did such a fine job with her.

Miss. N's Fairy Pumpkin Cottage

My Miss. N picked out the pattern in February at the Treasures of the Gypsy store during the creative art festival. She also picked all the fabric for her fairy house including the leaves and the stem. She was very particular about which fabric to put where and handed me beads while I was sewing on the beads. I did the stitching and did not worry about aesthetics. It is fun to work on something and not worry about how it will turn out. I love it, don't you? It is about 9 inches tall and hangs in N's room. Oh, I forgot to mention that the pattern is Gloriya Bradford's.

May Teddy Swap

Here are the teddies my swap partner Sue and I exchanged. Neither one of us had made a teddy before. I think these teddies are very cute indeed. The sailor teddy was made by Sue and the other one is my creation.

This teddy is my second attempt actually. When my Miss. N saw the first one, she said "This looks like a mouse. Also I had never seen a teddy standing up. Teddies always sit." So I went back to the drawing board. This one has the seal of approval. And she can sit too. I liked the theme behind the bag. It has tea bags and tea cups hence the "T". The lace has teddy bears on it and hence the "bear". So it makes the bag a T-Bear bag. Oh, did I tell you that the bag was my 3rd attempt? I tried making a teddy bear shaped bag twice and was not too happy with the bags which looked like big "blobs".

My next swap is the summer theme. I am actually working on it. I re-organised my sewing table for the n-th time yesterday. Now I have to look for body parts and the other materials to finish the pindoll! Will post pictures when my swap partner receives her pindoll.

Connie's Umbrella Pindoll for Me

I should have posted this one long time ago. Connie was my pindoll swap partner for April and here is the cute pindoll she made for me. Isn't she cute? The umbrella almost opens. I love her and so does my 5 year old. When the package with the doll came home, Miss. N opened it for me and said "This is the most beautiful pindoll that I have never seen." She still has the doll and I think she talks to her from time to time.

Tuesday Class Pictures

I thank my friend Debbie for sending me the pictures again this week. She took the last week's pictures for me too. Looking at my work in a picture is a tough thing to do since I want to make so many changes but can't do right now. This waiting is tough too. I wish I could reduce the length of the right arm a bit. Also give more space between the body and the right arm. Trim the tummy a bit. Changes I made this week: I filled out the hair a bit since there were gaps in the strands. I also added a crown. I plan to add a starfish under the left arm or over it. I have 2 more weeks before the class is done. So I think I will hollow out the sculpture this week and then make the fine changes during the last class.

Update from Tuesdays' Sculpting classes

Last Tuesday I finished the face mask. I worked on it the entire morning mostly "picking" the nose!! Without knowing, I had used a different kind of clay to fill some of the spots on the mask including the nose, the eyes and the lips. That is a big no-no since the different clays dry at different rates and they shrink differently too. If there is any gap or air pocket in the piece it could chip the piece badly and even destroy the kiln when fired. So I picked the nose, and the whole section where I had carved the flower among other places and filled in with rodsbod (that is the name of the clay I am using). Anyway, the mask is done and is at the teacher's place waiting to dry and eventually to be fired. I took a camera last week. Next time I will take the batteries too so I can actually take some pictures.

Here are a couple of pictures which my friend Debbie took this week. I forgot to cover my mermaid with a wet cloth last week so she was very very dry on Tuesday. I learned another lesson- to not leave the sculpture without a wet cloth cover. I could scrape some of the clay and give her a better shape but could not add clay to her (can't apply wet clay to dry sculpture). There is still a lot of work to be done included the hollowing (which is pretty scary for a novice like me).