My New Passion...

On the right side of my blog is an icon for a group I joined called 'Cloth and Clay Doll Workshop'. Through a series of videos, Jane DesRosier demonstrates how to complete a doll from beginning to end. One of my favorite parts is her demonstration of the use of paper clay to sculpt the head and face. As I watched the videos it became very apparent to me that this paper clay stuff is very cool.

The other day I completed my first ever 'sculpture' and I love it. Do I think it is a great work of art? No. But in just 45 minutes I was able to create something that looked pretty much like a face and hair. I am enjoying this so much that just about all my other projects have been put aside until I complete this little gal.


This is a view of the head just after sculpting that also includes some of the tools I used.


This is a closer look of the head. This is also just after I finished the sculpting. She is definitely not perfect and she does have spooky eyes that seem to follow me.


This last one is a bit hard to see, but on the left is the same doll shown above with a black base coat and the first coat of her dress. On the right is a second doll I started. I wanted you to see what the doll looks like in the beginning before sculpting the face.

I will post other pictures as she progresses.

Early Morning Visit...

I love waking early - especially if it is a non-work day. I open the kitchen door that goes out to a screened in porch and my three cats run out and jockey for the best spots to watch the chipmunks and birds. One recent morning the cats burst back through the door and scampered around desperately trying to hide under something - anything! They had been startled by the black bear that stops in every so often. He usually grabs a feeder filled with sunflower seed and then slips back into the woods as quietly as he arrived.

Win a Madsen Cycle...

I realized today that I placed a link on my sidebar to the contest to win a Madsen Cycles Cargo Bike but never mentioned it. I heard about this giveaway around the same time SEWN and SewMamaSew had their giant giveaways. So, I was busy checking out all the web sites and entering giveaways. By the way, I didn't win a thing. Except some new friends and that really is what it is all about - right?

Anyway, I digress - back to Madsen. Please click on one of the links and check out this giveaway. It ends soon and my motto is (as always) you cannot win if you don't enter. Brillant - right? The giveaway ends this week - July 15 - so go ahead. Clink on the link. It is a gorgeous bike and just the thing to save on gas.

Rain, Rain and More Rain...

This spring has been very rainy. We have only seen the sun for 7 out of the last 39 days. Today was one of those wonderful sunny days and some of the flowers in my garden shook off all the rain and just blossomed. Here are two of my favorites. The first photo is of Pink Canterbury Bells and the second is of large greenish-yellow day lily. These wonderfully resilient flowers are among my favorites and I wanted to share.

As you can imagine, all this rain has kept us indoors on weekends. During a recent storm, as I worked on the doll for the Cloth and Clay Doll Workshop, my great little Quality Control expert examined my work.


Progress is also being made on the quilt for the Red Barn Quilt Along. All my stripes have been sewn and I am in the process of cutting them into blocks. I am enjoying this so much and slowly making progress.