been awhile....exciting developments :o)

So I took a chance on a posting I saw on Spoonflower's FB page and emailed someone about designing fabric for a children's clothing line. I got the gig!!! It is for a company, Ann Loren, and they make girls clothing, infant up to size 12 I believe.
Here is a link to their online store. They also sell on Zulilly, Amazon, Overstock and then their outfits are sold throughout the US in children's boutiques!!
http://www.annloren.com/
Here is a pic from their blog, super cute clothing!

 I have done 4 designs for them thus far, designs I will get to see in clothing in the summer!!! They own the copyright to these designs, and I am more than ok with that as it gives me a chance!!!
I am soooo honored and excited and validated!!!
And then I am also finding the world of BJD dolls/fairies and fabrics for them!!
Here is a new print, I will be listing today, it is gnomes! why didnt I ever think of gnomes before??? LOL

And then did up some hummingbird fabric too!! 

Hello!!!

Been really busy working on new approaches to real life designs. Also taking an online class for the designing. Today, however, I got up a gargoyle design. The drawing was made by my son's fiance Linda, and then I created the design with it....pretty cool I think!!!

I also have a design up in the current spoonflower competition....Here is my design

Here is a link to the contest page to vote, vote for as many as you want!!!! the theme is islands...oh and you dont have to be a member to vote

\http://www.spoonflower.com/contests/297

ok spooky stuff

I finally got a new keyboard so all is good once more!! I have been working on some spooky quilt designs, and today I am playing around with aging them as I think witches or wizards would not necessarily have clean crisp new looking patchwork quilts?? :o) the3 last picture shows how the fabric looked before I aged it.

so much so little!

keeping this brief as my keyboard is really hard to work with and with no real car can't get to a store that has them!!!
sooo cleaning house (which was in serious neglect due to my work) and today working more on cheater quilt patterns!!! using my prints!

making stuff for molds and half inch scale copper pots and pans

I spent the day sculpting things to make molds as my casting stuff arrives tomorrow! yay!! Excited to do up some new things. I also have a custom order for some Alice in Wonderland chairs and well, in the process of organizing my space I put the origiinal sculpt, with the tea pot and cups used in my first chairs, aside and lost it!!! so had to make another one! Got a bat for the back of chairs, a fairy with mushrooms, a princess crown for little girls/boys and tea parties, and a couple other things!
Also, I got a custom order, well hubby did, for some half inch scale copper pots and pans and he made extra so I listed some up!

Here is a link to one of the pots if you would like! :o)

https://www.etsy.com/listing/224864237/half-inch-scale-copper-frying-pan-ooak

busy busy!!!! chairs and a desk station built!

I have to contend with a space about 5 feet square to work in, feels like a walk in closet!! LOL At least I have that though :o) I need to get an old window we have and cut a hole in the wall for a window to outside to make me feel less cramped!!! Anyways, last week spent all week madly getting chairs done and have spent the weekend building a shelf unit, work station, that I planned. My Mother in law took me to town last week and I got the wood, 1x4's and 1x6's to make a station where I can cut fabric, freezer paper, make molds, store or use sewing machine. and on and on.
I built it, painted it with 4 layers of paint, 2 earthy green and 2 layers white, then sanded down and eurathaned it all.
Because I have no car right now I was stuck in this process with only little art brushes, no paint brushes!!! And even if I had a car there was way too much snow coming down to drive 15 miles down our rural road to a dollar store! So the solution? get a rubber glove and an old washrag, dip in paint, slather it on!!! LOL And I painted the wall behind the unit white as well and used a little art brush to get that section where the wall meets the ceiling! making due, although I think I got tired last night and tipped over the gallon of paint all over the floor!!! Fortunately it was a part of our floor in front of woodstove that is just wood and needs to be replaced, but ugh!!!
If I werent so impatient I would have done more layers of paint! LOL It feels soooo much more open and organized. I used to have my old treadle sewing machine in that spot, so there is lots more designated space now!!! One shelf hinges down to create my mold making space. Under that is my paper and fabric cutting desk, complete with freezer paper roll on a tension curtain rod (even got some ribbon on it!!) way off in that corner is my clothes dresser LOL and I hung a rod above that for shirts or sweaters to hang! organizing in tiny spaces eh?
I have another unit ot 2 planned for my space! But for now this will surely help!!!

2 chairs finished, one is my first fancy witch chair!!!

I am putting both of these up on ebay. Etsy is making category changes that may prove problematic so Ebay right now with these, and also going to be working on my Weebly website.

link to ebay auction

http://www.ebay.com/itm/An-Alice-in-Wonderland-chair-throne-March-Hare-OOAK-dollhouse-miniature-/151597643790?

Link to ebay auction

http://www.ebay.com/itm/A-Witches-easy-chair-OOAK-dollhouse-miniature-/151597666096?

I am going to do some molds for the top back of chairs for witches that will have this sort of bat wing shape!!! 

healed?!!!! A new chair!

So after a week of doing nothing but try to get rid of pain I am healed (knock on wood) and obsessed LOL, or as obsessed as I can be while I try to not sit hunched working for longer than a few minutes.....driving me nuts!!!
So i did up a mold for arms for an armchair and fancied my pattern for the chair up quite a bit, complete with a lovely frosty glass bead on the back! Look for witchy armchairs with spiders/bats soon!!!!!

struggling!

Been incapacitated for almost a week due to some freaky back thing!!! excruciating pain when it hits and really tired of taking aspirin etc all day and night...think it is on its way out though! A reminder i cannot just sit for endless hours and then expect to be able to get up and doing physical labor that involves moving things that are heavy!!! not so young anymore!!!
I was working on more Alice chairs, including new characters, and got a couple done (complete with new molds) before my back attacked me!!!! Also did a table from molds which i really liked, listed and then the next day took it down because for some reason the Krylon spray sealer got gummy!!! DAMN!!! Here are some pics of the items. Also, am hoping to get to some witch designed chairs (using molds) when I know I can sit without damage for long!!!!

new chairs in progress!!!!

These chairs are more random in terms fabric combinations

footstools and patiently waiting for mold making supplies!

I have been immersed in ideas but also stuck in real life for too many days, unable to get to things!!!
I have been trying to hole up in my tiny (so tiny it is really really frustrating me! LOL) workspace to get things done! Yesterday I finally finished up several little Alice in Wonderland footstools. I have everything cut out and ready for more chairs too, including new characters.
Unfortunately I am out of cotton fabric for printing and am without a car to get to a store that has it! I have a truck to use to get to the nearest store (14 miles away) but  not real stores (45 miles away along a big freeway).
I am also awaiting mold material in the mail. I  have many ideas for tables, witchy and whimsical, and chair elements!!! cant wait!!
Meanwhile, here are my new pics of characters for chairs, and also a pic of one of my footstools! (in my store right now)
This is the dormouse, the caterpillar complete with hookah, the march hare, and the gryphon....oh and I did a mock turtle, forgot to get him in here!

working!

While I try to get life organized a bit here, and prepare to be homebound due to essentially being (perhaps almost indefinitely) without a car in the mountains, I have some things in progress. I drew up a caterpillar with a hookah of course, and the dormouse. I think I will complete the design, or initial design, of 8 with the gryphon.

And also did up some witch welcome mats, thanks to a customer asking for a design with brooms! This is one of a few I did up and put in my shop

The chairs

I should mention the Alice in Wonderland chairs are listed on ebay. :o)
http://www.ebay.com/sch/dandelionretreat/m.html

And then my other chairs are on etsy
I have a salon type corner chair with Alice fabric

 And my Ikat inspired fabric chair

Alice in Wonderland Tea Chairs

First off, I should admit I am not a huge fan of Alice in Wonderland, the story. It is kind of too crazy and confusing for me? LOL But I love the imagery. On the same not I am in love with Beatrix Potter, her life, her story, but really  have only read a couple of her stories. I love HER and her drawings.

So I worked for hours and hours on making designs, creating more color options, and then printing! I love my printer although it is probably bottom of the line (all I could afford LOL). It prints well and yet it also decides it doesnt want to print, and runs the fabric through and says "out of paper" LOL This can happen up to 20 times sometimes. Sigh! I finally gave up last night one sheet from finishing my agenda. I have enough fabrics though (the picture above shows about half the fabrics I have printed. These are all my drawings and designs.

Below is my first prototype. I just used the bad prints (printer was reading black ink) I had to  make sure my chair design would work out. I also decided I didnt like the background design I had made up to go behind characters.

Below is the chair, as I realized it needed more than planned, trim around the various pieces.

Then I realized it really needed something on top of the chair. I sculpted a teapot and tea cups to make a mold to then mold with polymer and paint and adhere.....

Then I realized it still needed something!!!! Now I think I have a design I like!
So below you see the final product,or well one of the final products. I wish I had a fun table to put the chairs with but I made do with what I could come up with. Also wish I had a major Alice in Wonderland tea set to really set it of!!!

These are obviously straight backed chairs that are upholstered. I thought it would be really fun to do 2 different fabric layers on the bottom part of the chair to add a bit of whimsy, more detail, and fun color/pattern depth. 

A couple chairs! witchy!!!

I looked around online and found a chair I thought was very fun, so I did up a pattern. I made the Orange chair from the first pattern and then realized there was no slope and altered the pattern. The bat chair is the result. Will do more today with different fabric, modern I think!

Also worked on a few half scale things. I took my son's lego magazine he gets in the mail and cut some things out for a boys room. Wanted posters etc LOL glued on cardstock then am putting in a room. I also thought hmmmm I just read how you can take a magazine pic and glue it to sandpaper for a textured like rug affect. I tried it with play money. then painted it and put fabric on the back and did up fringe. What kid wouldnt love that as a rug! I dont love it but I think kids looking inside the room would think it would be fun? It will go in the room with the lego posters.

I did a chaise!!!

As I plodded along figuring  how to make this work, including embossing pieces of a disposable pie pan (which worked along the bottom edge but not for the swan) I got closer and closer to getting it! played with lace and then trying to handle our puppy who was whining all day to be played with, I hurried and finished. This meant paint on the fabric. Then I thought oh well it is going in advent calendar so lets experiment more and not worry about possible mess, and well I got eurathane on the fabric. But nothing that cant be fixed with a throw and pillow and book and cat? LOL The rug was sent to my by a friend (thank youuuuu) who  made the rug years ago but it didnt match anything she wanted it to. I had planned to make my first chaise, before I got the rug, from a piece of silk I have and love. I had the silk from my doll making days. I didnt plan it but boy does this chaise match that rug beautifully or what!!!!?????

ugh!!!

I have spent days, with a frenzied determination, to make these jumping jacks, also called pantins, and almost there but still too big! i need a break!
Meanwhile, truly inspired and in awe of this woman's skills with cardstock! just wow!!! going to come up with some designs for half scale furniture inspired by what she does!!! And I think it is truly incredible that she shares her knowledge online!
http://1inchminisbykris.blogspot.com/search/label/French%20chaise%20made%20from%20card%20stock
Here is a pic of something I would love to make in half scale, this is a real life chaise. I have long adored them and never had one!!!!