August in Toronto

As you may know, I grew up in Toronto, Ontario, Canada's largest city.  My mom, sister and two brothers and their families live in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area).  I left Toronto in 1989 and now live here in beautiful Victoria, BC.  However, I do miss my family and the big city with all it has to offer.  Every year I travel back to T.O. (Toronto) to visit and take in a show, event or major tourist activity.

This time I took my husband and my friend Marian back with me.  Now Marian has never been to the "centre of the universe" so I was interested in her take on my home town.

It was a fabulous visit indeed.  The first thing that Marian noticed was all the brick homes (the west coast is in an earthquake zone so very few brick houses).

She loved the view from the top of the CN Tower:

Then there was the fantastic Ripley's Aquarium at the base of the CN Tower:

We went in the evening after the crowds as during the day it took us one hour in line to finally reach the top of the CN Tower!  So many tourists, I had no idea.

We also visited the Toronto Zoo, specifically to see the baby Panda cubs.  We were not disappointed as they were so adorable!

The mom was fun too as she was busy eating bamboo.  Apparently, they have to eat a hundred pounds of bamboo every day!

We also visited the Distillery District and the Brickworks (both reused as quirky areas with shops and farmer's market):

The photos above are the Brickworks with a large farmer's and artisan market.  The Distillery has more restaurants and high end shops as well as quirky sculptures:

Victoria has a lovely quaint Castle but Toronto has Casa Loma:

We had to take Marian to one of the wonders of North America, Niagara Falls.  The day was warm, the sky blue and the sites marvellous:

Besides all of the site seeing we spent a lovely day at a family BBQ and a day at the Canadian National Exhibition.  We went shopping, of course, in both Little Italy,  Kennington Market, and downtown.  We had gelato and Italian food and hot chocolate and Italian cookies and ... (I must go on a diet!).

The shopping is divine for craft supplies: ( I do miss the big city selection, just look at the ribbons at Mokuba):

Until next year Toronto.  I do miss you and especially my dear family and friends in Toronto, but I also love my new town, Victoria.

Mysterious Fashionista

The Cloth-a-dollics are having a doll challenge this September called "Mood".  Since I am going to Toronto for vacation and will not be back until the week of the doll club meeting I decided to make my doll now.

I decided on which mood I wanted and I choose "mysterious".  Now I have always wanted to make a fashionista doll asI love, love watching Project Runway.  I remembered a "haute couture" gown made by Mondo Guerra in Season 8 (I think) of Project Runway that I loved.  I googled the gown and started collecting appropriate fabrics:

I choose the fabrics (I did make one change as you will see).  The colours are true to the original gown.  I used the Arley Berryhill "Candlestick Diva" pattern for the doll and off I went.

Here is the finished face of the doll:

I wanted to try colouring the face with bolder strokes (inspired by the talented Linda Misa) and I used watercolour pencils, art pencils and sigma markers.  I used three different yards for the hair.

To make her "mysterious" I added a hat fascinator that covers part of her face.

As you can see, I substituted the yellow cotton for a silk checked fabric to add more lustre.  
Here is a final close up of the hat I made using bias tape stuffed with pipe cleaners.

Does she look "mysterious" enough?  She is quite tall at about 23" in height without the hat and 26" with the hat.  I had fun making her and hope that she will be enjoyed at the big reveal in mid September.

Cardinals Abound

Did I mention that I love to create cloth figures with steampunk?  Well this time I started with a design by "Frowning Francis".  I used cloth for the cardinal body and the wings are made of foam board.  The legs are wired and I added polymer clay for the beak and claws to make them stronger.  I then went to town on the steampunk additions (industrial revolution, science fiction fantasy and victorian fashion touches).  I titled this piece, "Time Flies at Cardinal Speed":

 I made the base by adding "Tim Holtz" fabric scraps and time pieces to a hardwood plank.  I had a lot of fun using upholstery tacks, wooden and metal gears, fabric tape measures, keys and watch faces:

As the cardinal tells us, "Encourage your hopes, not your fears"!

My Little Cubbyhole Finished

I finished the doll and then decided to knit her a sweater.  Not content, I then embroidered some flowers using silk ribbon on her sweater!  The effect was worth it as  the embroidery picked up on the flowers of her dress.  She may be a sad little girl at times but her granny and mom dress her well. The cubby hole was made by Don Campbell (Cedar Creations on Craigflower Rd in Victoria):

Now she needed her toys surrounding her.  I made her a Raggedy Anne, a "waldorf" style doll, a bunny and a cat.  I also found two perfectly sized teddy bears to add to the tableau.

I think she will be very happy in her cubbyhole and hopefully her parents will stop fighting!

My Little Cubbyhole II

The body for this little girl came together well.  I used a combination of ball joints and traditional joints to pose her in a seated position.  The legs and arms are made from the same cotton knit fabric as the face while the body is calico to prevent it from becoming too "fat" when stuffed firmly.  I used wool batting to stuff both the head and body as I wanted the doll to feel warm to the touch.  Also the wool packs well and is easier to needle sculpt than polyester stuffing.  It makes the doll heavier and for this piece, it works well.

I am pleased with how she is able to sit and her legs can pose as well as he arms.  I found a perfect pair of shoes for this little one in my "stash".  They are real children's shoes, size 2.

I was pondering hair as I want her to be a brunette and I found one wig that was made for her: medium brown with two pigtails and some loose ringlets to frame her sweet face.

Now she needs some clothes.  Back soon!

My Little Cubbyhole

This year at the Coast Collective Art Centre(CC)  in Victoria, BC, similar to last year, there will be an exhibition of poems and their interpretation by various artists.  Last year's event was a great success.

The way it works is that local poets submit their poems and the CC artists choose a poem to illustrate using their medium, be it paint, pencil, sculpture, glass, wood, or fabric.

I participated last year with the poem "The Mushroom Angel" and it was fun to try and make a figurative cloth piece to illustrate what the poem meant to me.

This year I choose the poem, "My Little Cubbyhole" by poet Chris Henry:

This poem touched my heart and I could picture a little girl with pigtails hugging her dolls and stuffed animals after hearing her parents fight.  The tears dried up and she starts to find happiness in her special little cubbyhole with her cuddly friends.

I started the head using the technique I learned last year from NAIDA doll artist, Shelley Thornton:

The head is made with a underlay of thick "fleece type" stretchy fabric that is needle sculpted to bring out the eyes, nose and mouth.  Then the head is covered with a cotton knit fabric and carefully stretched, pinned and then secured to the underlay.  Ears are then added.  I needle felted some wool fleece to the back of her head to get the proper dome shape.

I used acrylic paints, pencil crayons and sigma permanent markers to detail her face.  I then used "Diamond Glaze" to add a tear that had not yet dried.  I am happy with the result so far.  Stay tuned for tomorrow's progress.