Etsy Victoria Artisan Holiday Pop Up Show

 What a crazy year!  We are all trying to stay safe while still enjoying day to day life.

Markets have been closed but we have been fortunate to set up a retail holiday shop for one week only to allow artisans to display and sell their creations to the public. 

Here is my set up for the week: these are the photos in my garage when I was trying it out.  The actual set up is on my Facebook page.  I concentrated on smaller cost items that would be suitable for the young and young at heart.

Frida

 As you all know if you follow me, I am thralled with Frida Kahlo and never tire of making dolls in her image.  Here are the latest two made from an online class with Leslie O'Leary:

The older Frida:

A Leash of Foxes, Oh My

 Although my first love in making dolls remains fabric, I do enjoy working in polymer clay using techniques I learned from the amazing Kate Church.

This strange year I was searching you tube and came across some short videos made by Kate Church on sculpting a wee fox.  Well I had to try and one fox became two, became three and so on and so on...  Here are the leash of foxes I made three of which have gone to good homes and one which is on its way to our Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry (in appreciation for the calm and compassionate way that she has guided this province during this Covid epidemic).

Enjoy!

I have moved on to making cloth bunnies from vintage linens based on the work of the incredible Mr. Finch.  I will be posting them next week. Until then, keep safe.

Two Giraffes and a Fox, oh MY

My goodness but time in a crisis does fly.  I have been keeping busy with my art dolls and wooly critters.  I am sharing my giraffes and fox: the first is Raj, an eastern Prince who loves his marionette and long walks in the gardens.  He is all cloth, gessoed and painted with glass eyes.  I made his costume using a sari top that I had in my stash from a thrift store.

The giraffe is my own pattern with inspiration from Marj Gorman

The marionette is from a Karen Shifton pattern

The second giraffe is a country gentleman who loves walking in the wood and foraging for mushrooms.  He is an avid reader and lover of good food and drink. He sits about 16" tall and in total is about 26", same as his eastern friend Raj:

Chilling without his jacket on

Ready to receive guests at his country home

The back of his embroidered jacket

This country gentleman is going to a good home in Duncan.  Finally, I made Mr. Frederick Fox a good friend of Gerome (the country gentleman).  He enjoys accompanying him foraging for mushrooms.  Once again, my own design and all cloth, gessoed and painted. As you can see, he sits about 10.5" and is about 18" in total.

These fellow were great fun to do and I may do more in the future!  I hope you enjoyed your visit.

Abigail's Dream Adventures

In this troubling time of virus worry I am staying safe and inside as much as possible.  I was contacted by Karen E. Franks, an author, that lives in Bermuda to make wooly critters to bring her children's story characters to life.  I gladly accepted the challenge.

Karen's book (Abigail's Dream Adventures) feature a little girl who dreams of wonderful adventures with close friends whenever she falls asleep.  The four main characters are:

Abigail
Agatha (french Canadian, red hair, blue eyes)
Pearl (Blonde girl )
Troy (a boy that loves to colour graffiti with crayons)

Here are some illustrations in her story:

I made the four main characters using wool sweaters that I felted in the washing machine and then cut and made into adorable children dressed as animals. I loved the results:

First is Abigail, dressed as a kitten fairy with her pet unicorn, of course:

Next is one of her best friends, Pearl, the little blonde haired girl dressed as a squirrel with her pet kitty:

Next is Agatha, a french Canadian girl with red hair and blue eyes. I dressed her as a frog with her pet dog (her dog is shown in the book as her companion):

Finally, there is Troy, a fun loving, crayon carrying boy dressed as a mischievous monkey:
Troy carries his crayons anywhere he goes and a wee frog tags along with him,

I am happy to report that Karen loved my rendition of her sweet characters and we are waiting for this mess to clear before I send her the sweet darlings.

Stay safe, stay indoors and this too shall pass my friends!