The Un-fun stuff

I'm so happy that Midsummer was born still in February, as that gives me time to do some un-fun but necessary things, like my accounting, and the (ugh) annual taxes. (Sigh.) I'm guessing the business taxes will take a day, but it's really just meticulous and detailed, not difficult.

And then there's some mending that needs to be done, and some other maintenance things. Ah well... The ratties are itching to be worked on, but so far they haven't been too impatient!

Also, I have to nail down the necessary paperwork to go to the Philly show! I have not been able to find anyone knowledgeable about this, who can say "here are the steps you need to take". Nor anything concrete online. I have a few contacts I need to pursue... Does anyone know the exact legal steps to take to go from Canada into the US to sell art and then return with the unsold items? Anyone?


Yes, being an artist involves lots of un-artsy stuff!!!! I wish it was all fun and creativity...


In the meantime, I have spent some late hours on the computer finding new animated gifs for the Online Hallowe'en Artists' Studio Trick or Treat! Yes, only 249 days to go to Hallowe'en, time's a flying!!!

And what's this? A new follower?? Is that you, KIM!!! Have the faeries once again returned you to our realm!? The email I have for you must be junk, so please do send me word that you're still alive! Yippy!

Midsummer's birthday!

I spent most of Sunday creating Midsummer's head. I can't believe it took 5 hours to do his nose, mouth, ears and eyes! The nose went beautifully, but was complicated as the embroidery floss changed colors too often, away from the pinks I wanted. The mouth took three tries. The eyes... poor bear tried on so many eyes before he settled on the 10mm amber glass eyes. And the ears... I re-stitched them this morning as I thought they weren't on tight enough.

Well, today by contrast went smoothly! Whip, stitch, snip! And his legs were on, then his arms! Lastly his head! By about 5:00pm he was born, just in time to snap a photo before dinner! I need to take some better photos, but here he is, Happy Birthday Midsummer! He looks a lot like his brothers and sisters and can stand on his own.

So, what do you think?

And don't forget this is Freedom to Read week! We take for granted a lot of our freedoms, including to read what others have to say: be mindful that this isn't so in many countries. Appreciate your Freedom to Read!

Almost a full moon!

I took this photo yesterday, as I finished work at 1:00 and spent the afternoon sewing. Today I finished the last paw pad during my lunch hour, so now comes the head! I'm excited and scared: will another perfect nose materialize?!?! And what color should his eyes be?

And 2 weekends ago Mom and I found this lovely miniature divan/chaise/lounge in a consignment shop! It's about 10 inches high and 18 inches long and the owner of the shop said it belonged to artist Pat Wilde and was used to display cats! I've always loved these miniatures, and now I have this lovely piece, with a history... I think I should have a contest or something to decide who/what sort of creature should be created to lounge here? The prize? Hmm...

Raspberries by moonlight

Midsummer, a black mohair bear, needed something different, something new. I was putting away a supply catalog when I came across (well, they fell out on me!) bags of samples from Intercal, Edinburgh Imports and other companies... and there were so many lovely colors I would never buy: greens, blues, yellows, and... purples with lovely names like "Old Rose". From somewhere (where does inspiration come?) I thought why not give him purple paws, as if the berry juice had stained them? Why not 4 different purples? And so Midsummer Eating Raspberries by Moonlight with the Faeries now has purply mohair paw pads, to go along with a pinkish nose! Sadly, the Pearl cotton I wanted to use is very red and doesn't go with the paws, so it will wait (again!) for some other critter.


And after making so many complicated ladies and critters, Midsummer is flying together! So easy, so simple, in comparison to pesky darts and claws and wires! I'm very much enjoying the birthing process, I'd forgotten... plus "The Green Mile" book on CD is really making everything run so smoothly!

Share the love!

Not my favorite day, but Happy Valentine's to you all!

And if you still need a loving gift for your sweetheart, how about sponsoring a pup in his or her name? Go to Best Friends and choose a pup to help!

sore fingers, heavy heart

Okay, so I'm into the boring part of critter creation: cut, trim, whip stitch, run 'em through the sewing machine, pick seams, etc... Then it will be fun again. Perhaps doing three critters at once was a bad idea, it's hard on the hands!





In the meantime, do you like this faery portal? Would you like to see more? Than visit Sally J. Smith's website http://www.greenspiritarts.com/ and check out her Kickstarter project! Care to give her a hand?






And I have sad news: White Nose Syndrome has spread into Indiana and North Carolina! So their bats are now struggling to make it through the winter alive too... So sad, please inform yourself by reading the news at http://www.batcon.org/ !

"Great Expectations" indeed!

The April 2011 "Teddy Bear Review" magazine includes Seian in their article "Great Expectations", about Teddy trends for the new year! Wow! She's surrounded by lots of diverse critters, take a peak!

Sarah Medina and Amber Rose Lawrence are also represented, both ladies took part in my Online Hallowe'en Artists' Studio Trick or Treat last year. And fellow Canadian Melanie Clark, showing off her multi-colored bunny, may be joining the tour! Perhaps we can entice her to share a Hallowe'en critter picture with us?

My little brother sent me this cartoon. Thank you, Eric!

Onward!

So, what's next?

Well, as you may know, rats are my "thing" and I'd be foolish to show up without any, so 2 rats are in the works! A milk chocolate and an old-bone white!

Also a bear, a bare Teddy bear in black with a raspberry nose. I bought this gorgeous multi-tone raspberry Pearl cotton years ago and will now create the bear! Some ideas just take time to re-surface...

It was a productive day, pinning and cutting these 3 critters. I'm listening to Stephen King's "The Green Mile" and this ordinarily somewhat tedious task has been flying along: what a Master storyteller! Mr. King is truly awesome!

Fiona, the Moulin Rouge Dancer!

Presenting... Fiona!

Except for the red velvet gloves that simply were not turning out and were not looking nice, she's pretty much how I imagined!

For the sake of interest, here's a list of the materials that went into her creation:
German mohair
ultrasuede
Flexlimb, 3 rods
wire
thread
floss
paint
German glass eyes
eyelashes
pearls, 2

wig
shoes
fabric for "invisible" under suit
feather head-dress
feather 2-tail boa
beads, small and large, 13 mini strings
Rhinestone earrings
antique head-piece jewelry
tail-piece jewelry
doll stand

All totaling $119.51, and that doesn't include the labour, lots of it! Yicks! She's the priciest piece I've made...

So what is a reasonable adoption fee?

What's up!

It's Friday, the weekend is here and Fiona was born, on January 30th! She did not want to be photographed nude, so you'll have to wait as I create her costume... inspired by these lovelies!

In other news, I enjoyed a wonderful birthday! Cake, presents, cards, dinner, more cake (including a triple chocolate cheesecake that a colleague said "made men redundant"!) I am grateful... and quite stuffed!

PS Kathleen, do you remember giving me this card years ago!? :)