Post left eye surgery and new work

Good morning. I'm sitting here seeing better (out of the left eye anyway) than I have in a long time. Computer is a challenge still and reading is a bigger one - but I'm improving. I will have the other eye done at the beginning of April and then (hopefully) things will be amazingly better. (Can't believe they let me drive - I think from what I can tell now - I was close to blind.)

The really good news is that I have been able to work on a couple of things that I had started and they are now finished. Both are gifts for very nice people. As in my previous post, I have been working on coiled dragons. These are also in the style of Christi Friesen.

The first dragon I'm showing is one that I am making for our future daughter-in-law. She is a very nice, very talented woman who I really like. Ted's son Aaron is a very lucky man. (Of course Aaron is also a very nice and talented person so it's a good match.)

Annelise showed me a sketch of the dress she is designing for her wedding dress and told me it would be beige and turquoise. They are getting married in France and Annelise has worked very hard to make sure that Ted and I will have a very good trip there in July. The dragon I made for her is a thank you for all of her effort and hard work. It is a beige and turqoise coiled dragon bookmark that has a turqoise nugget at it's center. The ribbons attached under it's wings are to mark the pages of a book. I'm sure that with all of the talent that Annelise shows she will be able to put this little dragon to good use.

With love to Annelise:

The other coiled dragon bookmark is a black and turqoise style dragon with a black faceted glass bead at it's center. I made this bookmark for a very good friend at work who is moving. Trisha is a really great person who I will really miss seeiing each day. She has a lot of talent and a very promising life ahead of her. I wish her only the best as she moves forward into her new adventures. This little dragon will help to mark her places in either the wonderful cookbook that she is compiling for her own use or any journal of her travels that she keeps. With love to Trisha:

I am working on a challenge object for April 5th on the polymer clay sight I belong to but I can't post any pictures of it until after that closes. I am also working on putting together some dolls for a gallery showing in Central NY in May. I hope that I can make it out to that - I should say that I am going out to it and just be done. Determination.

I am also still trying to come up with a bride doll for this Central NY doll guild for April. Fast running out of time. Really need to just do it - problem is although I love pearls and lace - pretty dolls are very difficult for me to do. Need an angle I guess. (No, that's not angel - although that wouldn't hurt either....)

Until my next post - be healthy and happy.

One last thing that I've been trying out in the style of Christi Friesen is this dragon pendant. I'm not sure at this point that this is a pendant / jewelry thing as much as a pendant / book mark thing. LOL. The one thing I would change is the stone in the center. It's a cherry quartz donut and is really the wrong color for the work. Oh well, experiment and learn. I love the dragon though. (You can click on any image and it will enlarge in another window if you want to see more detail.) The first one I didnt' use the flash on and the second I did.

Today is a beautiful, sunny but really chilly March day. I thought it might be a good time to try and up load a few of the pictures that I tried in vain to load yesterday.

These are pictures of my dressform sculpt that is a work in progress. I am having a lot of fun with this one.

I began with gesso on the form and added a topper of shells and pearls and beads - oh my. The next step was to paint it out - just loving it and then I foiled in both silver and gold - life is too sort for just one. Next I worked on decorating the stand with paints, glitters and beads. (If you like this you need to check out Jean Bernard's link that I included in a previous post.) Then came the collar - too cool. The last picture here is a couple of sculpts that I've done that attach to the base on wire. (A sea turtle and a fish so far.) I'm not even close to being done with this one. Hope you enjoy and I will keep you posted.

My Birthday!

Today was a good day and my birthday! I got to talk to all of my family members and it was nice to catch up. Ted and I went out to breakfast. He surprised me with a new ASUS pc. It's a little pc with a 7" screen that weighs less than two pounds. It will be great for on the go. He also gave me a beautiful red begonia. I worked on some of my outstanding projects and just had a really nice day doing things I enjoy doing. Life is good.

I want to share some of my work in progress on the Dressform class that I'm taking with Jean Bernard. This is the project that I won by guessing some of the products/objects she was using in a new endeavor. I'm having a blast and think it's coming out really good. I've also included a couple of items that I've sculpted using the techniques of Christi Friesen. This is a work in progress (WIP) so I will be posting again later as I get further along. (It helps that the weather has been rather wintery/rainy/cold/miserable, so staying in and working on things has been a welcome opportunity to stay warm, dry and happy.

Now for the dressform art. When I started this for some reason I had Ocean/Atlantis on the brain so of course - here is my rendition of the reigning queen of Atlantis. Blogger is haviing difficulty with uploading photos right now and says to try later. I am going to have to try another time. So stay tuned - pictures to follow. Have a happy night.

Happy Last Sunday in February 2008!

Hi and welcome to another cold but sunny day in Cambridge, NY. It's been a rather drawn out week but a busy one. We had the pleasure of Jacquelyn's company for the week she was on "spring break". I've finished my swap sculpt for Lee on my BPCAG list. This is two good friends sharing a special story. I really enjoyed swapping with Lee.

This is a picture of the Welcome to Bear Heaven that he sent to me -

Lee also makes very nice gliceryn (sp) soap that we are enjoying.

I've also sent a new pin out to my swap partner on Pin Doll Alley, Maureen Thornton. Our theme this month was a mouse and its swiss cheese. I had a good time with this one too. Trying my hand once again at making a free form miniature animal head. This pin is cloth whereas the two best friends are polymer clay. You can't really see the yellow fabric of the heart but it has shaded areas that make it look like swill cheese. This one is titled "The Queen Of Cheese". Cloth and clay are very different mediums to work in, and both have some very exciting possibilities. This little mouse is made out of craft fur/felt. It came out pretty good too if I do say so myself. :-P

Since it's the end of the month of February, all my challenge's are due that I've entered for the month. I have entered a hat in a magazine challenge. It's an edwardian ladie's hat. I really love hats and had a good time making this one.

I guess that's all for this post. Keep on looking up and pressing on. I'll leave you with a picture of my Jacquelyn the beautiful butterfly face. Have a safe and happy week.

YMCA - isn't this cool? Only 1 man! Enjoy.

Another weekend - sunny and bright

This was a long week. Valentine's Day broke it up nicely but the weather certainly left much to be desired! More is on the way so I am just going to enjoy today's sunshine happiness. I have been working on various projects and am pretty happy with how they have been working out. I'll post some pictures a little later. I have a mouse and cheese pindoll to mail out to Maureen and another polymer clay feature that I'm swapping with Lee. I've also made an Edwardian ladies hat for the Doll Crafter and Costuming magazine that Judy Skeel is hosting. I am also working on a fairy to put on my shoe from an earlier post and I'm making another sculpt of an older man - I think he will be a fisherman. LOL. Been busy anyway. Well, more later - getting closer to spring! Yippee!