arms and legs

Bear making continues.  She has some arms and legs now.... all still attached with pins... but.... moving along, albeit slowly......

The rest of the guys are hanging out with her on the table....just for company.....

And maybe to keep warm.  Today was a rotten -36 C with the wind chill and plenty of blowing snow.  All I wanted to do was stay in the house and try to stay warm too.   A perfect day to turn on the oven and bake something.

But..no...I had to go out and shovel at some point.  This is how I stay warm outside at these temperatures...

I also cut out some bunny bits and looked at my little man...but, didn't add any more clay to him yet.  I'm sure he would love some ears.   I know he thinks the bears are talking about him...but, he can't hear them.  I'm keeping them apart for now... he is lying on the coffee table facing north...they are south of him ... on the dining table.

another new guy...

New challenge underway over at the Cloth and Clay Dolls site.  This one will be fun.  Not that they all aren't...just that I happen to be more interested in this one.  I can hardly wait to see the creations.

Most of you know that I seem to be doing not much of anything crafty lately...haven't had any inspiration or motivation or much of anything in that department it seems.  In the past few months... well, ever since my wrist surgery I guess....I haven't made anything or "anybody".  Not that I felt down and out or anything...just didn't put my hand to anything ...or my mind.  But...all of a sudden...I feel like doing something again.  Kicked myself in the butt and started a little bear...and now... also began playing with some clay.  I don't really know what I'm doing with clay even if I have taken a course...it was so long ago...and I do so little of it... I forget everything I learned... ...but, I do persevere.  That's about it.  I played with it for hours....and hours... my neck has been killing me for two days now... too much bending in one direction.  I don't even come up for air or tea or food when I get going on something.  Maybe I needed a few months off.... lol.....  and, I think I better set a timer for half an hour or an hour at a time... so I don't wreck myself.

The challenge is storybook characters....... and here is his head.... fresh out of the oven...no paint yet....so looks a lot paler than he will eventually .... and no ears either.... hahahhaha....  ......guess who it is.....

...the "new guy"...

Finally ... I'm getting motivated to do some little things.  Part of the reason is...I have a couple of deadlines. Aackk!!  That's me.  The world's best procrastinator.

I pulled out my bag of variegated New Zealand Romney and tore off some pinkish/purple.... trying to get the most purple strands.  If you ever try some felting..don't cut it... it leaves too many blunt ends to stick out all over the place ...it makes it easier to needle if you just tear it off...

Got to try out my new pen shaped needle holder suggested by Paint Granny....  it's a totally different feeling than how I used to do it..but, it worked fine.  I used to put a blog (hahahha.... a blog..hahaha...I meant a blob...got blogs on the brain !) of polymer clay on each of the needles for a handle... and I think there was a bit more fine control because my fingers were closer to the end of the needle...but...this will be better for my hand over the long haul.  I'm also trying to remember not to have a death grip on the pen or the piece of fluff I am holding onto with the other hand.

Here's how the little guys begin.... nothing but a bit of fluff...

Here is the head and a little body about the right size... I say right size...but there is no right size... it is whatever we feel like doing.  No wonder I love bear and doll making... there are no rules.  I make 'em up as I go.

Here... head is stuck on with a needle...and test eyes inserted ...

Do I want little eyes? ...

Or...do I want big eyes?

Posie looks perplexed... she can't make up her mind either....hahahhaha....

The finished little girl is Posie... you have seen her before if you've been coming here awhile. I call her a felted bear...but, she was felted up from strands of fluffy rayon plucked out of a chunk of rayon fabric instead of wool.  A bit difficult to stab ... almost felt sticky when the needle would go into it... and it got more and more difficult to stab it into it.... but, she turned out really cute.

OKay then....arms and legs.....

... humiliation and big bucks $$$....

Well, I wasn't taking any chances.  It is darn cold today.  Minus 24C with a bone chilling wind...makes it feel more like -34C....

I was feeling cold even in the house and checked the thermostat a few times... wondering why the furnace wan't keeping up... not getting up to the set temperature of +21C.... it seemed to be running steadily.....

Finally I went down there and looked in the furnace room...and at this...

the diabolical red eye....reminds me of The Terminator...

If it is just like this....still and red...it's a good thing.  But... if it is flashing on and off in a series of well choreographed blips... it's trouble.  Today.... it was 3 short and one long..... aha! Definitely not right.

There is a troubleshooting list right beside it...

Lying on my belly, with my glasses on... I could clearly see that 31 indicates heat pressure switch not functioning correctly or a relay problem... great.   I could have turned everything off I suppose,... and let it restart..but, usually it takes a while...and I was not about to let the better part of the day go by without getting a service call organized.  They tried to put me off til tomorrow...but..eh..... it's a long cold night without any heat ...even inside a house, so I insisted they come today.

I had already taken out the big electrostatic filters as instructed on the phone...they didn't look dirty, but, I left them out...no improvement.  The service guy (who speaks very little English) shows up.... opens the furnace door and says...."Wow...hot"... takes out the other small screen filters (they were filthy) ....... hands them to me and says..."You vacuum...I put back...it work".  Oh....

His next sentence was...."How you pay"? .... and the bill for that....$115.00 with tax.  How humiliating.  I thought I was a pretty good housekeeper...but, my slothfulness with the furnace filters just cost a bundle. Lesson learned.

Do your furnace filters need a bit of a vacuuming? .... if I save one person a whopping "regular-service-call" bill as well as being totally humiliated.... this will be a great day yet...

crafters are crazy....

I thought it might be interesting for some of you to see how I get a fluffy look to my little needle felted bears.

This little guy I made before Christmas.  See the eye of a needle sticking out of his head?  Just to hold on his head... til I get a read on him...  I attached it later.  The eyes are still just "test eyes" (I have different sized eyes on the ends of a sharp little pins to test for size) .. his nose is a bigger test eye...to check for size.  I finished him off with an embroidered nose and little black onyx beads for eyes.
But, then...sometimes I look at them...and think they look bald or naked or something....and just have to give them some "fur".  I can't help myself....

Maybe it's because when I first made bears... they were stitched...and done in fluffy mohair...  who knows why I do it...but, I just do.

Anyway... here's how I do it.

Find a perfect colour of mohair in my stash...

Pluck out some individual strands...

Pull and shred and mix them up a bit...

'Til they look a bit more fluffy, but still with some sprigs sticking out here and there..

Carefully needle in fluff and specific "hairs" all over the bear...paying particular attention to his head "hair" and around his face for the cuteness factor. (and try  not to stab myself in the process with a very sharp needle... because each part of these little guys is ..well... very little ...  anyone who has tried felting will know what I'm talking about)

His back side needs some too of course... don't want him half bald....

There..... that's better.  For me anyway.  I love a fluffy little tyke.

Fun Friday

Look what the parcel post guy brought yesterday.  A lovely "bauble" in the truest form of Christmas baubles.. from Marie!  Thanks so much Marie!  
I certainly wasn't expecting anything from anywhere ..so I was definitely surprised.  First of all when she wondered the other day if I had received a package in the mail .. which got me to wondering too...   We hadn't talked about doing a swap or anything, so I was totally stumped.  What could she be sending?... and why..? .. but, oooh, I love a good surprise. 

At  Christmas I saw some of these that she had been making.. and definitely admired them.... now..I own one.  Love the deep, rich, jewel tones. Makes me want to put up my tree again.  However, Mr. BV might think I'm losing it...you know...the last of the  little "grey cells'... so ..I guess I'll just have to admire it on the dining room table for now.  And...then... before it gets dusty...it can move into the curio with the bears.


These two are already getting an eyeful; doing their close-up inspection.  .. what busybodies ...they're everywhere!

Christmas in February.... love it!  I like surprises any time of year.... all year 'round is fun.  Thank you again Marie.... it's lovely.

Wordless Wednesday..

the day after Valentine's Day...

Somebody went to work on Sunday after being sick and off work for a few days..... so of course, I thought it was Monday all day while he was gone.  Then... Monday... all day I thought it was Tuesday... and today I haven't a clue what day it is. Oh, just a second....there goes the garbage truck..it must be Tuesday now!! Acckkk!

All I know is... Valentine's Day got all screwed up somehow....seeing as I didn't really know what day it was. My sister reminded me in an email the night before.  And in reality, Mr. BV and I don't do much for "special" days anyway... I always say every day around here is special.  But, sometimes, if I know in advance, and feel the desire to do something... well, I do.  And, this time I did sort of think about doing some cupcakes or a cake at least.... 'specially after watching Cupcake Wars on tv a few times ....cupcakes are calling meeeeee.......

Somehow (along with the women's shopping gene), I am missing the gene that causes big celebrations to happen on specific dates chosen for us by "somebody" ... ...the genes that get people so busy doing and planning special events.  I'm usually just happy with all my days because, well, because in my other life I had plenty of not so wonderful days...and I am truly thankful for this great life I now have.  Sometimes we do mark special little occasions...but, it isn't really a big thing with either of us.   Kind of like my Mom used to do.  For no reason..out of the blue...a little "just because" giftie would arrive in the mailbox...and it was such fun.  How I miss the silly little fun things we used to do when she was still alive.  Just for that...I'm going to send somebody something.... for the fun of it.

I stood in front of Bernard Callebaut Chocolaterie yesterday and wondered if perhaps somebody would stop in on his way home from work and buy some....and thought.... maybe I shouldn't ...just in case.  So..I didn't.   Darn it.  But...I did go next door and got this little cutie....

Catherine will have a good laugh.... we obviously have the same ideas on a few things....  but, my photo is certainly not anywhere near as amazing as hers of her orchids is.... along with her beautiful hands....

I had planned on a nice supper once I knew what day it was though.. and had kicked myself in the butt to make me get going. I picked up some cheese for my version of Chicken Parmigiana stuffed with asparagus.  (and, no there are no photos...I forgot ... and all of a sudden...it was too late... eaten!)   but...it was delicious if I do say so myself...and I do.  Decided to do cupcakes too... and found a recipe with no egg if you can believe it.... how weird is that?  I couldn't figure out how they would be light and airy with no egg. But...... no cholesterol, so thought I would give them a try. Who needs more cholesterol when there would be cheese on the chicken?  Not much...but, there has to be some when it is called Parmigiana.... hahahhaha..

I did not get around to icing the cupcakes.  My treat for the day after Valentine's Day will be ... pink icing on chocolate cakes!  Maybe with some raspberry jelly in it...mmm.... we'll see how the day goes today....... first there is vacuuming...dusting...some laundry and oh, yeh...exercise.  I'm into it now with a will and a way and noticing good results.  Feeling stronger and fitter...woohooo... guess I'll have to add a few extra jumping jacks to offset the cupcakes I definitely intend to eat.... ... what am I saying?  I don't like jumping jacks....my knees don't like jumping jacks... maybe just extra time on the treadmill, some kicks, some shadow boxing and, oh, 40 or more crunches for a week should do it.... that sounds more fun. ..

... and where is my little toy piping kit I bought years ago?  I want to learn how to decorate cakes and muffins.... er...cupcakes... some day.  Gotta do it.  I'm really a muffin kind of gal myself.  More rustic... less fiddly... and perfect for snacks... not as many crumbs and no icing ... although, I have to say...these little cupcakes are very, very moist.  Not dry or crumby at all!  They are great just plain...of course, I tested.  Have to make sure they're edible.  It's the little lady's job after all... . keeping her family safe...

my lovely socks!

And I say I never win anything!  Wrongo!  I sure did this time. Look at my lovely sockies... from Anne.  It was her second blogiversary and 600th post all at the same time... a busy lady.  But...somewhere in there she still finds time to knit ...and knit some more...and 3 of us lucked out and got socks.  From a lovely yarn with circus themed names.... we chose our own colours and voila....socks!

As a total non-knitter I just don't understand knitting at all. How do they fit so perfectly?  when all she had to go by was the length of my foot?  Amazing.  Nor do I understand how, from a single variegated strand of yarn, a pattern is formed...but, somehow it happens!  Somebody, somewhere... must have gone to an awful lot of work figuring how to make it do that.

They fit perfectly Anne!  heel and toe bang on... tops perfect....

I love my socks!

... and...that wasn't all.  In the packet there was also a lovely piece of fabric that is designed and made right there in her area.  She wonders if perhaps one of the dolls might like to wear it someday.

Now, I'll have to get my thinking cap on ... and I'll definitely have to be organized before I cut into it.  I think I better make the original design in muslin and transfer the design to the good stuff.

Hmmmmm....

... can't even turn my back for a minute to change batteries in the camera and somebody gets curious.... just had to feel the material and check it out didn't they?.....

Thanks again Anne.... oooooh.... who's a lucky girl?

-16C .....

... and another 8 inches of snow.  Sigh.....my blog has turned into a weather report.
It's hard to get motivated to do much else it seems when I'm having to spend hours shovelling and more hours trying to get readjusted to doing my exercise routine. I even opted out of doing my weights and most of my exercise routine today.  I figured I did enough weight lifting just scooping and shoving and tossing the white stuff.  The main piles are now over 4 feet deep at the corners of the property.

There is a skating rink under the snow where the alleyway meets the sidewalk....I sure hope the mailman or a dog walker or any other unsuspecting passerby doesn't have a nasty accident.... it's tough to know where to walk for safety's sake.   We had some lovely warm days...and then... pow!... pummeled by Mother Nature.  Temperatures plummeted and the snow flakes swirled.  Again.  This is a pretty big snow year compared to the past few.  Last year I hardly had to shovel at all.  And... snow shovels?  (they are really wide scoops .. but, we call them shovels.. I had Judi worried for a bit there..she thought I was only using a little shovel..hahhaha nope...) Somebody is getting rich on what I call planned obsolescence  ..worn one out already and it's only February.   We're not nearly out of the woods yet as far as snow is concerned around here.  Ridiculous.  Don't dare buy the kind that has a metal strip on the sharp edge either... if ya hit a bump in the sidewalk you could do yourself an injury midsection.... or wreck a wrist... forget that.  Too much uneven pavement or pavers to shovel.

The youngish male neighbour across the street has anger management issues.... there was a lot of swearing coming from his quarter.... even with his ancient mother out there.  What a wimp and lazy ass that guy is.  The 83 year old fella 3 houses over was out there shovelling.  Whistling.  Suck it up baby boy....

Another day or two of this... and the weatherman is talking about plus numbers once again.  Yo yo weather.  We are sort of used to it...but, still...each time it begins to melt and you can sort of see bare pavement in spots... it seems hopeful.  But, again...waaaay to early for any springtime stuff.

Good thing I did some shopping on the weekend....
tomorrow... baking...hahahha...that's the other thing about this blog.  It has become my second food blog.  Somewhere I must find an hour and do something cfrafty...hahahha...look at that will ya?  I even forget how to spell it!!

Just for that....I'm gonna show and tell my latest wonderful focaccia bread.
with spices, olives.... sun dried tomatoes... and ... hmmm... forget already what else...oh, yeh...a bit of cheese.  More on Mr. BV's side of the loaf than on mine....

Just some pretty photos....

I was going to do Wordless Wednesday a day late, but changed my mind.... and am giving you some pretty snowy photos instead..

I love how the snow piles up into little cone hats on the dried flowers that I left standing.  I always think perhaps the birds who are seed eaters might be able to get something from them if the weather is really bad and there is not much else around..
















Somewhere under this...is my birdie bath.... honest...

And.... under here..... my little 5 foot spruce...which was supposed to be a globe spruce..but appears to be a full size guy that I am trying to keep pruned to a manageable height.   I think I will have to excavate it soon and give it to somebody with a bigger yard.

Time to start some of this in here...

it piles up so high and then leans precariously...and then...just falls off....

The piles are getting deeper where I have to toss it off the sidewalks....

I love the deep purples and blues as the light fades in the evening....

This was a few days ago.... at the moment...it has jumped up from -24C to a lovely balmy +7C...and the roads are clearing and melty... more cooler weather forecast for next week...but, not nearly as bad as last week.  Wheeeee.......

The eyes have it....

well, ... sort of.... guess we'll see when I get around to trying to use some for my next dolly.

I've been looking for some eyes without the whites.... and there don't seem to be many out there.  Or... maybe I haven't quite figured out yet how to track them down.  They must be out there ...somewhere...

Two doll making buddies did share their sites ...but, while I am looking... I also decided ...perhaps I can make some of my own.

My first simple attempts.... just colouring with pencil crayons... on water colour paper.  Wetting it down a bit.  Adding a pupil with a Pigma pen.

Then...using Glossy Accents.... dropping on some gloss.  The first few I did a couple of separate applications.  Began just covering the colour with a thin coating.   Then... after it has completely dried... at least 24 hours to make sure...added a second drop and on one set of eyes...a third layer.
You can see on the middle set of eyes.... they are getting progressively higher ... I was thinking to make them about as bumped up as the left eye....  but, you can also see that my blobs are not perfectly done on top of the other layer of gloss.

At first the Glossy Accents looks cloudy and murky...and seems to magnify the size of the pupil...but, when dry... it's clear and glossy and the pupil looks exactly the size I made it in the first place.
I like this stuff for several different things.  Some of you may remember I used it for the glass on my white rabbit's watch.

Just to demonstrate...the middle pair and also the lower right...have just recently been dolloped on.  Still cloudy looking 'til they dry.  Also, the eyes on the lower right I tried using only one single large drop instead of several layers  ...a large, slow drop  .. to keep it from overflowing the outside edge of my colour and also so that I don't have to try to keep it exactly on top of the first layer.. ...we'll see how it dries.  Seems to be staying in position at the moment.  I don't think it will spread out now... but, we'll see.  If so...that's definitely the way to go with my experimental eyes.  One good drop.

My next trick will be to learn how to cut around them perfectly...or see if I can find a punch that can punch them out without ruining them..or without hiding them in a portion of the punch from whence it cannot be retrieved!  lol....

Here's looking at you, kid!  Ack...scary eyeball ! ... big pupil... totally distorted til it dries... hahahha....

Wordless Wednesday..

Ooooh.... and it was tasty!

We never did get quite as tidy a slice as they did for the photo in the book....but.... it was very tasty anyway.  Ours seemed to have a few more crumbs stuck to the pink filling.... ah, well.... 

Recipe on my other blog if you'd like to have a go at making one some day.   It's called Black Forest Decadence.

Gwendolyn refused to look at the cake....

Somehow she knew she would not be included in the festivities.....
                                                                            

Wordless Wednesday..

I won socks!!!

Makes me feel a bit like Dobby!  wooohooooo

Anne had a giveaway and I won!   ....yes... I do get pretty excited about things like that!

Check out the beautiful socks she is going to knit.... and we even get to choose the colours. Some lovely new yarn she just received.  Here is my colour... ooooh...I can hardly wait to see them in person.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And...in other news...

Gwendolyn found a friend in Frikkles .... they like to hang out together on the table... he really loves the attention.

Yep...she whispered her name to me the other night as I was pottering around doing something nearby and keeping my eye on them and the antics ...

She actually looks pretty ladylike here...but, she has a sense of humour too believe me... much like myself it seems.  Mostly conservative...but given to bouts of silliness on occasion.

Hey Anne!!

lookie here....

I made a "sponge"

and...

it's darn yummy!

Anne and some friends have a group that meets every so often to enjoy each others company and do some chatting and sewing on projects.  I have no stitch and bitch or doll or bear making group... so... I ate it all by myself.  Well... Mr. BV did help..

She sent me the recipe after I've had to endure drooling over it on her blog several times.  I faithfully followed the British version.. weighing and measuring... which seems so much more complicated than our method of baking.. just tossing in a cup of this and 1/2 cup of that.. and only having to wash up one bowl... but, it turned out to be quite a tasty morsel.

Forget Wordless Wednesday...it's dolly day...

Finally finished her.  I am pretty slow with all things doll and bear related.  But... I'm usually pretty happy with my results...so....that's a big plus in my book.

Decided to make her shoes the colour of the flowers on her dress fabric...it took a few tries and 3 coats to get the colour right.  She seemed pretty happy with them..

.... Although, she did seem a bit reluctant to pose for some photos...

But, then...it was like...."I'm ready for my close-up now Mr. DeMille"...






































Then...all of sudden she got cheeky and showed a bit of leg... woohooo,,,,,

Embarrassed herself I think...hahhaha..

...and soon....she was pooped.....

Here are my gals for inspiration.... The dolls of Black Eyed Suzi.  I decided to make one for myself, even though I don't actually know her techniques... all I gleaned was from some of her photos of her own works in progress.  What fun it would be to spend a few hours with some of the well known doll makers....

In the meantime... I'll bumble along on my own and see what I come up with .... hence the BumbleVee.....