little arty crafty crow

Treasured Gingrebread Men

2009-11-11T20:39:00.000-08:00

These happy little fellas will be for sale at the Handmade Hobart market at the end of the month.

The design came about from a cookie cutter that has been in the family before I was born.

It belonged to my dad, who worked as pastry chef in Austria.

I've never seen another one like it. So the other day I rang my mum up to ask her weather she knew where my dad had found this cookie cutter. To my surprise she told me my dad had designed it himself and had it made for him by a friend of his who worked with metal and owned a shop in Austria. I was so amazed that I had never know this story and really makes me treasure my fathers cookie cutter even more.

Since my dad died 26 years ago, every Xmas I always make gingerbread men in memory of him.

oh and TEN more

2009-11-10T16:41:00.000-08:00

I love it!!

2009-11-08T17:35:00.000-08:00

Finally warm sunny weather, it's just brilliant. Last night Pig and I had a little impromptu barbecue....and yes we did chuck prawns on the the barbie!
Beers, wine, ouzo, what a night!

And today its back to work, but that's alright cos' I'm loving that too. Just finished and listed two more Xmas decorations/ornaments...one vintage style black SantaCat and Mr Snowman!!

Gotta get back to work....I've a table full of more Xmas dolls and ornaments. A few secret projects and oodles of doodles for new dolls next year!
One last thing before I zip off . A big thank you to all my new followers. In the last few weeks my list has grown so fast. I'm really very appreciative to all of you that have signed up, take a peek at my work and make comments!!

Veronica Vampire

2009-11-06T18:29:00.000-08:00

What a morning!! First of all I had to do battle with a moquito and spider infested pond. All the fish died a long time ago. It was in the part of the garden that we, well apart from the cats hardly ever go. So it became overgrown with weeds, blackberries and worse ivey! I don't mind spiders it's the tics and scorpions that I loathe..fortunately I didn't see any. Anyway it's all been cleared and the plastic and water removed. So now we have little garden hide away that I think I'll just plant out in ground covers.
Anyway that was my weekend priority out of the way and now I'm back into the studio working on lots and lots of different dolls and ornaments for my little market stall at the end of the month. So if you find yourself in Hobart on the 28th and 29th of November with an urge to shop for handmade items get yourself down to the Handmade Hobart Market, St Peters Hall, in Harrington St between the hours of 11 - 4pm.
But the best news is that I've finished my little mini monthly vampire challenge for my Art Dolls Only group.

Veronica Vampire, 'it's just a little over bite', Veronica's

mum used to tell her.

My first full polyclay doll. I used super sculpy, wire armature, acrylic paint and black died sheep's wool roving for the hair. The hair I glued down little strands at the time.

The wip photo's shows glass beads for her eyes. I chose to make them out of sculpy too and shaped them to fit her eye sockets.
As much as I enjoyed making her I think next time I'll just make the head and hands out of sculpy and make a cloth body. I have a deep love for stop motion and some of my favorite characters are from Rankin/Bass's Mad, Mad Monster Party. You can see the imperfections and the hand made quality to the puppets, it's terrific. I approach my dolls as if the where 3D drawings. Drawing onto them ans scuffing them up.
Another thing I guess is that I just always seem to draw my little girl characters wearing a Wednesday Adams dress and a little widows peak...some would say that they also resemble the artist...well I was nicknamed at one work place as Eddy Munster!

Little Vampire girl in progress

2009-11-01T15:16:00.000-08:00

My little vampire for the ADO mini Vampire challenge. Still need to make her hands and hair. She was fun to make. Her body took the most time to make.

Happy Halloween!!

2009-10-31T16:04:00.000-07:00

Calling all doll detectives!!

2009-10-30T13:55:00.000-07:00

Last night I was treated to a wonderful surprise by a friend. He opened up a roll of bubble wrap and out fell these 6 wonderful antique cloth dolls. The dolls belonged to his wifes mother. However she has no recolection of them from her childhood and was surprised to find them amongst her mothers things after she had passed away. My friends wife's mother lived in the UK. But I'm not sure if that's where they came from. I'd love to find out more about these dolls.If anyone can help with information about these dolls it would be fantastic.

Little red Riding Hood

her clothing has lots of layers from her cape, pinafore, dress and lacy knickers.

Her little straw basket is very well made as are her limbs. Click on the photo for a larger version and take a look at her hand holding the basket.

Little Red's rear

Little Red Riding Hoods, face detail

I just loved the little detail to the socks. I'm thinking that the shoes where painted ontop of the socks with a gloss paint.

the smallest cloth doll in the collection, 4inches

Couldn't quite make out what was used to embellish the fronts of the hand painted shoes and socks. It looked like wire coils.

This doll was about 5inches.

wool hair

Could she be Gretal or a German costume doll?

Beautiful fine sewing on her clothing.

And who is this gentleman?

He looks to be like a hunter or Shakespearean actor.

Very fine needle sculpting on the face. Black velvet cloth was used for the hair.

Just look at how clever these hands where made!

You can just see some wire poking through where the cloth has worn.

The Random Ten

2009-10-29T15:07:00.000-07:00

Tony

Ruby

Audry

Bess

Bert

Greta

William

Annabell

Bobby

Ginger

8 pink ladies and 2 sailors

2009-10-29T01:25:00.000-07:00

Flora

Petunia

Candy

Chloe

Pete

Kim

Bell

JuliaJeff

Julie

the last little doll, Julie I've dedicated to my friend Julie who died 3 years ago. This little elephant is the 48th one I've made and is the same age that Julie was when she died. I finished her yesterday morning which was her anniversary. Apart from leaving all her friends and husband behind she also left three lovely cats. I've put a little dedication to her on the back of the label that can only be found if you peel the top layer off or if it was x-rayed! Julie never saw my dolls which is sad as she loved bunny's.

SantaCat has arrived

2009-10-28T18:40:00.000-07:00

What a busy, busy, busy time of the year this has been. Not only having family "issues" to deal with but trying to concentrate on getting my art business up and running. These last two months have really been the most productive, exciting, disciplined time.
I've come to the conclusion too to stop making the elephants and bunny's for a while and start making some brand new dolls. One of my new additions to Etsy this afternoon is SantaCat! go check him out there are more photo's of him there. I'll be adding some more Xmas decorations soon. There are some Snowmen people, and more animal Santa's plus a whole lot of other odd ornaments.
I'd love to stay and chat more but BF is about to come home and the place is a mess....I don't know how it happened but doll bits are everywhere!! Gotta Run!! Cheers.....oh one more thing 10 new photo's will be up this evening of my new 50!!

The Big 50

2009-10-27T21:05:00.000-07:00

Guess what? Today I finished my first 5o dolls for Xmas orders. Yeah!! I'm so happy I've even managed to finish before the end of the month. But not only did I finish 50 dolls, 50 names where also given. I had to print 50 logo's, coffee stain and bake 50 tags, then tie each tag to those 50 dolls. Oh and not forgetting my 50th sale at ETSY!
Now as fun as it would be to show you all fifty dolls, I won't because then I would have to take 50 photo's of 50 dolls and that would be boring. Plus I've already started work on another 50 dolls, but not bunny's and elephants. I think I will stop making these for a bit as its starting to feel like production line and that's not what my work is about!
So I'll start posting 10 photo's a day.
Sit back and enjoy.

Charlie

Lynette

Emily

Karen

Denby

Helen

Trish

Trevor

Sue

Roy

My personal favorite is Trish, I love her little school girl look. All these dolls will be for sale locally here in Hobart. I'll be putting up some Xmas dolls soon in my Etsy shop.
Another big hi and thank you to all my followers, boy can't believe there are so many of you!!
And a special thank to Blue Berries in the Field for another blog award! If you don't know of Monique's work go take a peek.

Two little art dolls out and about!

2009-10-20T17:38:00.000-07:00

Little Red Dress

Little Pinkie

These two curious looking dolls came from my imagination when I was 5 years old. My mother kept all my drawings in a scrap book.

I still have the book and I'm amazed at certain images can still be found in my more simple little animated characters.

You can see more photo's at my Etsy store where they are looking for a a new home.

Oh and look here what Abi has put together!!! So exciting to see her treasury pics!

Over The Top Award!!

2009-10-17T20:06:00.000-07:00

wow, thanks Yve from Freaky Little Dolls for this truly over the top award!

Now....you want me to answer these questions with one word? I might have to make up a word or two!!

1) Where is your cell phone? somewhere
2) Your hair? Burtonesque
3 )Your mother? living
4) Your father? departed
5) Your Favorite food? olives
6) Your dream last night? gone
7) Your favorite drink? martini
8) Your dream/goal? garden
9) What room are you in? studio
10) Your hobby? Knitting
11) Your fear? leaches
12) Where do you want to be in six years? seaside
13) Where were you last night? visiting
14) Something that you aren't? blond
15) Muffins? rum'n'rainson
16) Wish list item? boat
17)Where did you grow up? Sydney
18) Last thing you did? gardening
19) What are you wearing?jeans
20) Your Tv? off
21) Your pets? furry
22) Friends? missing
23) Your life?interesting
24) Your mood? good
25) Missing someone?yes
26)Vehicle? bus
27) Something your not wearing? makeup
28) Your favorite store? quilted crow
29) Your favorite color? green
30) When was the last time you laughed? today
31) Last time you cried? funeral
32) Your best friend? Julie
33) One place that I go over and over?garden
34) One person who Emails you regularly? brother
35) Favorite place to eat? outside

Ok now I have to pick 5 other Over the top bloggers

I know all these people are very busy, so I'm just going to link names here for you to check them out and leave a comment for them, letting them know just how over the top they are!!

Vivian...Viv Out On a Whim
CurlyPops....CurlPops
Jenny Lee....JennyLovesBenny
Betty Jo.....Lino Forest
Severina...The Omnigraphic Blogopticon
Mazsu........Mazsu

50th Sale!!

2009-10-14T21:57:00.000-07:00

A couple of days ago on Etsy I sold my 50th item....little Penny the cute little pink elephant is making her way to the BIG APPLE!!
I'm still enjoying making my dolls and it's getting to be quite a serious business! This is definitely what I want to be doing. I'm starting to organize my work flow better and trying to compromise with my partner our domestic duties...not easy, but getting there.
I've meet some great people through Etsy, not only other sellers but buyers as well, which is pretty cool!
Another great thing about ETSY is their forums ...wow so much information on setting up your business and how other people work successfully. Plus when I've needed help, advice it comes in abundance!
Oh and I just found out one of my favorite sellers and and blogster, Blueberries in the Fields has just sold her 50th item on Etsy too!!!! I think virtual champagne all round, and then I will think of about having another sale!!

the smell of Xmas stock

2009-10-14T15:33:00.000-07:00

just a little sneaky peek at my knitted and hand painted Xmas ornaments.

I's been a bit quiet her in little black crow's blogland but she has been working her crafters butt off!!.

I've a big Xmas order to fill, plus keep ahead of supplies for a couple of other online shops....AND hopefully getting some other dolls and odd assortments of things for my first craft market! oh and I think I even put my hand up to complete a few art doll challenges...YIKES what was I thinking?! A good thing that insomnia runs in the family...either that or we have vampire DNA in our blood!

But I see I'm not the only one. So many of my fellow crafters are in full swing for Xmas...its so exciting and inspiring to see what everyone's is up too.

Cart Before the Horse
The Holiday Queen
Ruby Victoria
Notions
Bird and the Fish

Peg the Pumpkin Slayer

2009-10-05T22:31:00.000-07:00

Halloween art doll challenge

2009-10-04T15:33:00.000-07:00

All the pieces laid out for my Halloween art doll!

Roughly sketching out the features. The doll has been stuffed and painted with a couple of coats of gesso.

The drawing on the left was the inspiration. She is a little character I drew and animated a while back.

Painting eye ball. I followed the eye ball tutorial over at ADO's blog

Blogger in draft: little arty crafty crow - Create Post

Polyclay sculpted shoes an axe and some tiny little shoes for another project.

My first ever sculpted shoes! The tutorial can be found here!!

The dress is knitted from 4ply black merino. I designed the dress based from a vintage pattern. I added a bauble edging at the bottom and just under the arms a little ribbon holes.

waiting happily for her hair

I thought this Halloween I was going to make more ghoulish dolls than last year but this cold is being rather persistent and making me very tired. I really had to push myself to get this far with just one doll!

But come to think of it it doesn't have to be halloween to make ghoulish dolls!

Blueberries pumpkin treat give away!!

2009-09-27T02:15:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite crafts people is Monique from 'Blueberries in the fields' Just look at these charming fabric Halloween pumpkins and treat bag!! And guess what? They can be yours!! Just follow the link and tips here
Not much time left so hurry!!

away

2009-09-03T13:07:00.000-07:00

Howdy people!! It's my mums 80th birthday!! I'll be away for two weeks, yep our mum is a real party animal!
But I'll be back!
Cheers have a great couple of weeks without me!!

domestic witch presentation awards night

2009-09-02T00:12:00.000-07:00

Thank you Abi for this terrific award!! Abi is from An Angel At My Table and she received this award from Barton Originals who received it from Pattee of Odd-Dolls!!

And there are three lovely talented ladies that I know deserve this award too.....a little drum roll please...

Viv out on a Whim.....such an exciting place to visit, especially on Halloween!!!

Lady Euphoria...she is the queen of domestic witchery...I hear she even wears fairy wings to do the house work!!!

Obsidian Kitten....surrounds herself with so many furry familiars she must be a witch!

Beach Market!!

2009-08-31T04:12:00.000-07:00

The weather was just awful on Saturday morning but I was determined to get to the Beach Market in Blackmans Bay and meet some fellow crafter's that I've only meet on line and I was seriously in need of some shopping therapy!!:)!!

So bribing BF with coffee and crepes for breakfast he caved in and drove me to the markets...I don' know how to drive you see:(

Anyway we made it there in safely as did so many others, they are a hardy race these Tasmanian's!

As we squeezed our way into the front door the first person I noticed was Rosie from NOTIONS!!

Even though it was very busy we where able have a few chats each time I passed.

Her work was so beautifully displayed I could have stood there admiring just how everything looked when I noticed this little brooch with a little black ~~crow~~ bird perched on a cage..Rosie must have known I was going to be there!! So yes I had to buy it!!

Next door to Rosie was Ruby Victoria with her beautiful lino prints, printed tags and lables. We talked for a while and she gave us a demonstration with her awesome printing machine, go check out her blog there is a great post there now with a photo of her press!!

And then in the middle isle was Loopy Designs!! Loopy makes very desirable bags, purses, needle and pencil rolls and heaps of other necessities. All in beautiful fabrics. Loopy's little zipper purse with the little babushkas was too hard to resist!!

There were lots of other lovely stores and people I wanted to meet but time was running short lots more things to be done and places to go!

A great day was had despite the rain and wind!!

Thank you and say hello to some new buddies!!

2009-08-26T19:07:00.000-07:00

Thank you to everyone who made a comment in my last post....I'm going to investigate this issue further. The dreaded 'D' word discipline is important, I know that when I was working I could turn out about 6-8 finished background designs, get ruffs ready for the next day, help my assistant, color and the layout department. Advise animators and FX designers. All in a days work, week in week out for almost 2 years full time. No way could I have done this with out having a plan and making lists...so why is it that working from home I don't have the same discipline?
What I'll do is search other peoples work practises and list them here, I don't expect to follow rigidly to plans but I would like to know how others break there days up when working from home trying to run a business.
But now onto something new that was created in the studio this week!!!

Fernando

Ben

Esther

Pip

You can find Pip and Fernando for sale at my Etsy shop ....right now!!

sunday studio

2009-08-22T21:07:00.001-07:00

What's wrong with this picture, besides the obvious need for organization and more storage containers??

and a sneaky peek at a new design!!

I think I have to start organizing my weeks better. Monday, Tuesday I can paint....Wednesday and Thursday is Sewing..Saturday should be book keeping...yuck! And Sunday reward day!
Sunday will be reserved for experimenting and making things for family, friends and me, with a bit of gardening thrown in.
Do other people have a work flow routine that they stick too, write me a line or two in my comments and I'll do a post about it.
Also book keeping how often do you do it and what is the best method for you? I've downloaded a template from Etsy to help with my book keeping but I'm still not convinced it is the best method.

I had a Notion

2009-08-20T19:57:00.000-07:00

Take a peek at notions and see who's been talked about!
While there take good look around as notions makes some very beautiful brooches and bookmarks, all beautifully displayed.
There are also some very cool and crafty links to click on!!

finished and in progress

2009-08-20T19:27:00.001-07:00

Annie and the white rabbit is finished!

Billy the Kid is progressing nicely!

Belle Starr in progress

John Wesley Hardin...in progress