Let It Snow, Let It Snow! They're Ready to Go!!

They're here and ready to find new homes!!!  The Snow Urchins and Snow Angels are now ready to find special homes in snow creature lovers' collections.  Each doll is soft-sculptured and comes with a signed and dated certificate of their individual legends.

Come on over to my Etsy shop and adopt one magical creature for your very own.  They are limited edition dolls and are very popular.  See them in my shop: www.etsy.com/shop/pollywogpatterns.

Snow Angel

Snow Urchin

Winterlings 2 - The Snow Urchins

While the Snow Angel lives among the wishing stars and waits to be summoned to Earth, another Winterling is quite Earthbound and is known as the Snow Urchin.  A Snow Urchin is a tiny creature that comes to live in the woodlands during the winter snows.  They live in the underground caves and caverns in the mountain country where it is very cool all year round but emerge to play above ground in the winter when the first snows sugar the countryside.

Snow Urchins are the caretakers of the tiny and helpless wildlife of the woodlands.  They perform various important tasks which include feeding seeds and nuts to the winter birds, field mice and other fragile creatures.  They also protect animal babies such as bunnies, opossums, and yearling fawns who may have become orphaned by hungry foxes, bobcats or hunters.  The Snow Urchins  keep them warm, fed and loved in special boroughs and hidden caves through the worst of winter weather.  Some Urchins carry bags of seeds and nibbles as they move silently through the underbrush at night. 

The Snow Urchins have very strong healing powers and should they find an injured or sick animal during their daily rounds, the little animal is brought back to the caverns where herbal broths and concoctions are ministered to the little patient in order to restore it to good health.  Because they are very clever at moving about unnoticed through the snowy woodlands, Snow Urchins have rarely been seen by  human beings.  They are masters of disguise and often strap false rabbit footprints to the bottoms of their beautiful red curly-toed boots so that their prints in the snow confuse even the most seasoned of trackers.  However, on very rare occasions, and especially on Christmas Eve if it snows, the little Snow Urchins will allow themselves to be seen by children and the very young-at-heart. 

So, this Christmas Eve, if there is a magical snowfall, peek out your window and you just might see a little Snow Urchin blow you a kiss for Christmas.

Snow Urchin

Snow Urchin





The Inside Story ~~ A Visual PeekTutorial on Making Soft Sculpture Dolls

Since I designed my tribute piece to Bob Keeshan as CLARABELL, I've had several inquiries about how the "sculpting" process is done.  I'll show you some pictures of different stages of making Clarabell, the meercat clowns, Rudy and Kazooty, and Alistair the Shy Clown. 

Rudy and Kazooty - Meercat Clown brothers



Clarabell the Clown

Alistair

We'll start with Clarabell.  First I used a man's work sock in tan color.  The toe of the sock is stuffed pretty firmly with batting and tied off at where the neck of the doll should be.  I then pull forward the bridge of the nose and bring in a threaded needle from the back of the doll's head to the left side of the nose and take a stitch.  Then I stitch under the nose bridge to the right side of the nose and take a stitch.  Stitches are made back and forth down both sides of the nose until I come to the top of the nostril area.  A stitch is made from the bridge of the nose at the nostril area down through the nostril and another locking stitch is made in the nostril and back up to the top of the nostril at the side of the nose.  The nostril will then start taking shape.  After that side is done, I repeat on the other side of the nose and make the other nostril. 

As you are pulling the nostrils into shape, you will notice that a slight ridge is forming just below the nostril where a laugh line might be on a real face.  The needle is run under the laugh line, bringing the needle and thread up under the laugh line where the corner of the mouth would be and a stitch is taken here.  Next the thread is run in a single line across the top of the fabric in the mouth area to the other side of the mouth and a stitch is taken where the other side of the mouth would be, under the potential laugh line.

I then draw the threads up the face, under the fabric from one corner of the mouth to the inside corner of where the eye would be, along side of the nose.  The face will begin taking shape and it can be as detailed as you wish.  The pictures below show how the Clarabell face looks when completed with sculpting and before painting.  The meercats are done in a similar way but I used white flannel as the face/head fabric and just pulled the threads in the same way but in a much simplier and less detailed way since these guys are so little and don't need so much detail.  Alistair's head was done with a child's sock.


Faces were painted and then sealed (so paint will be permanent).  This is a very simplified tutorial but I will write a more detailed one at a later date.  The more practice you put in, the easier it will be for you to form the details you want.  Often, I have been surprised at the end result of my work when I started out to do something completely different.  That is how the little meercats developed. 

Have fun and play with the magic!



Clarabell in early stages of soft sculpture

 

Kazooty after face painting



Alistair wip



New Life, New Adventures ... Good-bye, Big Sister Hermione!

Well, it was quite a bittersweet day for both Hermione and her little sister.  Hermione had to say good-bye to Little Sister who was going to move to North Dakota to live with her new friend.  Hermione's sister is a spirit and healing creature and knows much about healing herbs and teas and affairs of healing the heart and spirit.  She is off as a birthday surprise from Hermione to join a new special friend and live with her as her new companion.  Little Sister hasn't been named because that will be up to her new friend and herself to decide together as was the custom in Hermione's family. 



Hermione and her sister gave each other a big hug good-bye with many kisses and a few tears.

Little Sister waved good-bye one last time as she topped the hill and began her journey across the mountains to the west and North Dakota and her new life there.

They promised to write and Little Sister turned and began her travels to Roanoke before the sun set and there she would catch the snowy owl express flight to North Dakota.  She had left Hermione a fresh kettle and cup of lemon ginger tea and a little pumpkin butter for some freshly baked scones for comfort. 

In the evening, Hermione sat and sipped her tea and nibbled her scones and tried to picture her little sister winging her way across the mountains and plains on the back of the snowy white owl in the moonlight.  She encircled her sister and the owl in a lavender bubble of protection for a safe and speedy trip.  Sleep didn't come easily to Hermione that night but she knew in her heart that this day was meant to be and that Little Sister was venturing out into the world and following a journey that her heart was meant to embrace.  She gazed up into the face of the moon and knew that somewhere her little sister would be gazing at the moon and thinking of her, too.  Majik, her cat, nestled in her lap and tried to comfort her with her soft mews and warm purrs.

"Good-night, Little Sister.  Always know I love you," she whispered and slowly rocked in her twiggy rocker in the moonlight as little tears glistened on her cheeks and the hooty owls, crickets and croaky frogs sang her softly to sleep.

Secrets in the Garden

With the weather blazing hot and the humidity so dense it sucks the breath out of you, I was down on all fours in the garden, handpicking out the wire grass and other pesky invaders and trying relentlessly to swat gnats and stay on the lookout for kamikaze bumble bees who are upset at my unreasonable intrusion into their daily routine of bee buzzing and flower tending.  I must have been a comical sight with my floppy sun hat and huge, insect-eye like sunglasses, rummaging through the undergrowth.  Though the heat was penetrating my brain and baking my senses, I distinctly heard a little chuckle within the lavender.  When the stems and leaves  parted ...

Hermione was there in the garden inspecting the lavender crop and checking out the Black-Eyed Susans and gathering a little thyme for her evening salad.

She decided to rest next to the Black-Eyed Susans  and we got caught up on each other's projects and gossip.  When she asked how the writing of stories was going, I swallowed hard and could not answer her.  She insisted on scolding me for not getting on with my writing about Frog Bottom Borough.  After I whined off at least 10 excuses for not writing, she gave me that look:

stood up with a large hrrrummmph and said, "Well, my dear, they are not going to write themselves!" and waddled off into the undergrowth.

  Guess I'd better get busy!  Ouch!  Where is that bug spray!??

Such Nunsense!!

My mom turned 85 yesterday and to celebrate her birthday, I made a doll for her as her patron saint.  Mother Merry Walker is the Patron Saint of Senior Walkers.  She comes with an iPod tuned to "A Closer Walk with Thee," and the photo on her monitor is a miniaturized scene of the view out my backdoor which is graced by the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains.
Mother Merry Walker is about 7-8 inches high and she is signed and detailed on the back of her wings.  She sports cross-trainer shoes and is full of zip and vigor just like Mom. 

My mom walks every morning for a half hour at 4:30 a.m. in her condo highrise apartment building.  She is bright, adorable and beautiful.  Mother Merry Walker is just a reminder to Mom that I am thinking about her as she starts her day.  Love you, Mom!

Mom

Part III - Anniversary WIP

Well, this was a busy weekend but good progress was made.  I thought I would catch you up on the designing process.

Here is an engagement photo of the happy couple that I used to set in my mind the facial details for my puppet caricatures:

Now, I'm not that good at capturing details yet but here are the ideas I had.  Doesn't Mike remind you of Waldo in "Where's Waldo"?

So, I made a simple drawing to simulate the face and here is the puppet face in the early stages:

Now, Chris was the challenge but here she is in early stages:

There you go ....  Of course, they will look much better with hair and costumes but we are on the way.  I also painted and sealed the handle rods and attached them to the heads.

So stay tuned for more updates!!

One Wedding Anniversary to Remember - Part II

So to continue with our project, as mentioned in my last post (Part I), I had decided to design a Punch & Judy miniature puppet theme using caricatures of my brother-in-law and sister as the main characters.  I also decided to design a presentation box for the puppets and would decorate it to look like a Victorian puppet theater.

Now, how do we begin?   Designing the puppets will be easy, so I will start with my search for a box to accommodate the puppets both for storage and display.  I had very good luck in my visit to Michaels and found an unfinished wooden shadowbox in the best size for the job (11" x 14") with a glass panel on the front and wonderful hidden magnets which hold the display case door closed.

With that done, I moved on to cutting my main puppet handle rods from a dowel (cut 2 ; one for each character) and painting them with 2 coats of acrylic paint; one red, one blue.  I also painted the finials to match the respective rod.  As you will note, I didn't have anything clever to hold my dowels and finials while they were drying, so I improvised by using a mini cupcake pan.  I wadded up a ball of aluminum foil into a cupcake section and jammed the dowel down into the middle of it.  It held the rod like a charm!  As for the finials, I fit them down on the end of the handle of a sponge applicator brush (which I always have handy) and used these nifty sponge handles to hold my finials as I painted them.  When it was time to let the finials dry, I left the very tip of the finial (which is flat) unpainted and propped the brush up against my twine drying line until they were dry.  By the way, I have included a picture of my twine line which is simply a length of twine tied up to two rather tall candlesticks and stretched.  My pic shows how I hang little doll legs with painted boots up to dry in between paint and sealant applications.  Pretty neat, eh?  If you have longer legs to dry, just raise the candlesticks by setting them up on stacks of books so that the item you are drying does not touch the surface of the table, etc.

As you can tell, I have adapted my dining room table as my studio annex for painting projects, etc.

When the finials were dry enough, I placed craft glue on the bottom of the rod and some into the opening at the end of the finial and carefully pressed them together and let them rest until the glue was completely dry.  Then I coated the rods and finials with at least 2 coats of sealant (I like to use Modge-Podge "Satin finish").

So, I hope these little hints have given you some food for thought as well as letting you assess my progress so far.  Now I must go back to the drawing board and begin assembling the puppet heads and attaching the rod mechanism.

Be back with Part III shortly....

Carlin





One Wedding Anniversary to Remember - Part I

Punch & Judy

Punch and Judy are one of the most beloved and oldest married couples known down through history.  I won't bore you with all the details of their marriage [nothing, of course, like my sister's], but they have been around squabbling and interacting in their relationship since the late 14th century and perhaps even earlier.  That's about the longest ongoing relationship I have ever been familiar with and I love the two characters almost as much as I love puppets and a rollicking puppet show.

So in honor of my sister and brother-in-law's 40th wedding anniversary, I decided to recreate my beloved puppet characters with a caricature of both my b-i-law and sister portrayed as the two characters in a miniaturized rendition of P&J and boxed in a wooden presentation box to look like the Victorian version of the Punch & Judy stage (see photo above).  This piece will be able to be hung on the wall or allowed to sit upright on a mantle-piece or to rest on a coffee table.  The puppets will be miniature rod puppets with tiny wire rods to control the arms.  They will be attached inside the box when it is on display or detached so the puppets can be removed for some fun action.

So now you know "what" I am going to give and "why."  In the next post, I will begin revealing just "how" I plan to execute this project in some wip posts.

So.....until next post ....

Carlin

Fortieth Wedding Anniversary --- the Good News and the Bad News

The Happy Couple

Well, nowadays, a fortieth wedding anniversary is something to be very excited about.  Of course, it is!  My sister and brother-in-law will be celebrating such an event this spring.  Now, the bad news ... what do you give a couple who are very well-established housewares-wise, just got back from a beautiful Hawaiian holiday early last year [both work, so taking leave cannot be done at the drop of a hat], and truly enjoy close friends and family with dinners at home and just relaxing in what free time they may be able to salvage outside of two separate, busy working schedules.

Well, I am so proud that they have had such a beautiful marriage and have such sucessful lives together and individually.  They have two incredible daughters who are both equally successful.  Perhaps you have run up against the dilemna of deciding on a gift that would be special enough for two such special people.  I wracked my brain morning and night for a couple of days and finally came up with an idea that I know won't be duplicated and will be enjoyed by both of them because it is so personal and it is a piece of art that will be personalized and one-of-a-kind.

Can you guess?  It's not a collage of their lives together (that's being done already and not by me), not a sterling silver engraved serving tray ....

Okay ... I am going to keep you in suspense and let you follow me on my ongoing blogs to see my anniversary work in progres as well as to understand that it has to do with my speciality of making 3-D art!  I will also give you hints to how you might adapt such a gift for your special couple's celebration or celebrations in the future.

So ..... hang on out there and catch the next installation in this Anniversary Idea!

See you soon .......

Carlin

Need Inspiration for Creating Doll Characters?

This winter weather has definitely knocked the creative edge out from under many doll artists.  Halloween and Christmas seem so far away and Easter has its perks but not like the Big Two.  Somehow our brains have shriveled up and withered as has any inspiration.

Well, to stoke my fizzling imagination, I first looked back at what I had done in the past year.  One group was particularly outstanding as far as getting very positive reception from doll fans.  The PumpkinHead family had a small group of fans that asked to see more.  In order to help me to design dolls that had that special "kick" to them, I wrote a short story description which lent character, personality and warmth to the family and allowed a connection between the dolls and clients.  By adding depth to the characters, I found that more potential clients were interested in returning to ask questions about them and to "relate."

After receiving requests to write about these PumpkinHeads, I needed for them to have a story, at least one in my own mind, so that I could introduce them to the "public."  They needed more involvement in their own lives (the PumpkinHeads) and therefore, they needed extended family and neighbors to plump up their purpose in life.  In developing another family, I felt I needed to learn more about the particular area in which the PumpkinHeads lived.  The description only mentioned a field in our Virginia mountains; there was no named location.

While having lunch with my hubby in a local family restaurant in Buena Vista (pronounced Bu-na Vista), I picked up on a conversation my husband was having across the table with a BV life-long resident named Red.  Seventy-year-old plus Red was talking about growing up in BV and some of the names of places long gone by, some of the city's past residents and a lot of local color that no tourist guide handbook would ever reveal.  I went home rolling all this "color" around in my head and decided to return the next day and sit down with Red and discuss more about his life.

Well, Red is a storyteller to rival Joel Harris (Uncle Remus stories) and he was delighted to have someone new to soak up his rendition of local history.  It was one of the most fascinating and enlightening afternoons in a local cafe over a salad and tea that I have ever spent.  By the time I got home, my head was bursting with characters, stories and adventures for my entire lifetime (or at least for the lieftime of my dolls.)

I started sketching characters, doing research on gourds, scribbling down names, descriptions and a wealth of rich Virginia history that I would have never been able to capture first-hand had I not taken the time to just listen that one afternoon.  Looking at my beginning effort with the PumpkinHead family, I realized that they were a bit sterile, but now a little man with a twinkle in his eye and a gift of gab has helped to breathe life into my otherwise Plain Janes.

If you find yourself in a creative brain fog, take an afternoon and go to the local cafe for a cup of java or tea, a bowl of homemade soup, piece of pie or a bowl of salad and just listen.  You'll be surprised at what creative gifts and inspirations are waiting for you in the most unlikely places right in your own backyard ... or "thair 'bouts."  You might even walk away having a new friend.

Avoiding the 7 Deadly Sins of Pattern Malpractice

I can't believe that it has been over 35 years since I started designing, teaching and writing patterns for dolls and puppets.  Being an insatiable pattern collector has only served to whet my appetite to create more characters and share the excitement of designing with others.

In my quest to share what I have learned through experience, I have written pattern instructions that I hope have served my clients and students well.  Here are some tips I thought I would share with prospective pattern designers:

1.  Include concise details and measurements where possible.
    
      One thing that has always been the "fingernails on the chalkboard" creepies for me is finding a written pattern that assumes that I am on the same level of sewing, painting, detailing or crafting experience as that of the author and does not instruct me with those finite details which allow me to be more successful in crafting the end product of my desire.  For example, simply stating, "Place front and back of fabrics together, sew, cut out and turn," leaves the beginner with a myriad of questions and hidden secrets of technique such as:  Cut with any seam allowances?  Clip curves?  What size seam allowances?  Smoothe curves?, etc.

For the very experienced crafter, anticipating all the problems by leaving out these details would prove to be a slight challenge, but for a novice customer, this would be a disaster and cause much frustration and, of course, a loss for the designer in future sales, not only from that client, but from others with whom she/he would be discussing those frustrations (or with an infinite number of contacts through blogging!).

2.  Include "Figure" drawings to show and visually explain a detail included in your instructions.

     Nothing can be more frustrating than to have a critical detail of the instructions explained in writing and, for the reader, not to have a clue about what the author has just said even though it was fairly well-stated.  Always include drawings to demonstrate and clarify complicated (or even simple) techniques or details.  These can be simple "stick" drawings or cartoon-ish renditions but make sure they are clear to the reader.

3.  Drawings of pattern pieces should be clear, legible and as crisp as possible.

     I hand-draw my pattern pieces and use a very fine Sharpie pen for the initial product.  I then send them to my son who "tweaks" these drawings with his PhotoShop skills and makes the lines clearer, bolder and very concise.  Without my son's expertise, my pattern templates would be perfectly concise enough for use in a pattern, but I prefer the professional look of this technical step-up.

     If you don't have the advantage of the extra fine design step, be sure that your drawings are concise and smear-proof.  Your hand-drawn creation can be accurate enough for production; however, it doesn't hurt to use "White-Out" or white paint, etc., or any other correction products to help smoothe out the little bumps and lumps that might occur in a handwritten pattern.  Always checkout a test run of your template copy before proceeding with copying and assembling your pattern package.

4.  Include an accurate listing of materials needed to create this design.
    
     List appropriate quantities of yardages of fabrics; colors of items used such as flosses for details (even list the colors, color numbers and manufacturing names to help your client to make decisions about their artwork), varieties of metals, etc.

     A listing of alternative items that could be substituted for a material (eg.:  muslin, flannel, cotton, etc.) is very helpful and very appreciated by your client.  A suggestion of detail accessories that may be used to enhance your finished product is also important, especially if the photo of the finished item on the pattern has accessories that are not included in the pattern.

5.  Never, never, never print pattern templates on both sides of the same page!!

     Directions can be printed on two sides of a page (I strongly suggest that pages always be numbered and that you print out a sample page and check if the paper you used is of good enough quality not to allow the printing from one side of the paper to interfere with the legibility of the printing on the opposite side).

     Pattern pieces to be used to cut out fabrics, wood, metals, etc., must be free of any "bleed-through" of other pattern pieces on the backside.  I never cut my original paper patterns out from the original pattern; however, some clients may do this and it would be impossible for them to execute the design with a double-sided pattern.  Do not cut corners here!!!  (No pun intended.)

6.  Number pages of the written instructions (at least).

     Numbering the pages in the Footer of the page is so helpful, especially if the client might be inclined to lay the instructions on the worktable.  One good sneeze or breeze could set a negative tone for the entire day.

     I also number the pattern template and figure pages.  I include the copyright information in the footer on every page and have found that including the name of the pattern in each footer also helps keep things organized.  If the client works like I do, ideas from several different patterns and resources help in the design process.  At the end of the project, it is so easy to reorganize patterns, sources, etc., properly and quickly if they are labelled.  In most word processing programs, once you set up your footer information, it is automatically placed on each page.

7.  Proofread your pattern and check and double-check your pattern templates.

     It is so crucial that you proofread your instructions. If there is time, it is important to do at least two to three proofreading sessions on a pattern for typos and in order to make sure that the instructions make sense.  I find it so valuable to make a doll from one of my patterns by simply following the directions that I have written.  You can't believe some of the interesting things I have found and/or caught and corrected before these went to publication.

     Always double-check that you have included all the pattern template pieces.  This needs no further explanation.  One experience of extreme embarrassment through neglect will be all you need to remember this one!


     So, I hope this has helped you to alleviate the Seven Deadly Sins of Pattern Malpractice.  I haven't included everything in this blog on pattern publishing, but I have saved that for another time!

Happy Designing !!

Carlin
Polly-Wog Patterns