Violet Waters "Glissando" Wearing "Gold Sensation"

Here’s the newest addition to my doll collection, Gene Marshall’s BFF and famous jazz chanteuse, Violet Waters. She was very inexpensive on EBay but I bought her an articulated replacement body (see previous post to see what I’m doing with her old body).

Recycling Old Vinyl Doll Bodies

There are new articulated replacement bodies available for Gene Marshall doll collectors to upgrade their old beloved Gene dolls for more pose-ability. I just performed that easy operation on one of my dolls and was wondering what people do with the old bodies. I belong to a Yahoo group for Gene dolls and someone in the group suggested adding Styrofoam or wooden eggs to the necks and turning them into mannequins to display extra outfits. I found an abandoned needlesculpted cloth cat head (from a pattern in an old dollmaking magazine) and placed it on the neck of the old body. Perfect fit! Now, I have to figure out how to finish it. I will either add cloth ears and then paint it or I will add paperclay on top of the cloth and refine the sculpture a little more before painting.

Anyway, here are a few photos of the muslin-sculpted head. Check out that overbite!

Hope everyone is having a safe and happy holiday!

Nature Journal: Beach Pea (Lathyrus japonicas)

Beach pea plants grow with wild abandon all over the yard. I love these flowers!

Interwoven Diagonal Cross Stitch

I found this cross stitch flower in Judith Baker Montano’s lovely book, Elegant Stitches (page 41). It’s very easy and fun to do. As you can see, it starts as a simple cross stitch. Subsequent cross stitches are added into the same holes, making sure to weave the thread through the stitches.

Geeky Star Trek Fun...

Here's Binky.


Here's Binky as a Vulcan cat. Turn up volume. Click arrow to play.

You can upload any portrait, here, to create your very own Vulcan - and even put words in his mouth.

Needleweaving

I finally got a chance to work on this month’s Stitch Explorer challenge. I had a great time learning these woven stitches! I used raised needle weaving for the flower petals. For the leaves, I followed Sharon B’s wonderful tutorial on the closed needlewoven picot leaf stitch. These stitches are simple and quick and substantial. I will definitely be using them in the future! The background is a piece of upholstery fabric with wool roving felted onto the surface. Free machine stitching was added with variegated thread. Underneath, I used Peltex for support – no need to hoop!

Backyard Trail

Woven Picots and Wheels from TAST

Other than just searching for inspiration on the web and in embroidery books, I haven’t begun this month’s Stitch Explorer (needle weaving) challenge, so I thought I’d post my woven picots and wheels from 2007’s TAST challenge.

“Feed Me, Seymour!”

I just keep picking this darned thing up and adding stitches… It’s beginning to remind me of Audrey II, the man-eating plant in “The Little Shop of Horrors.”