Day 251 - 365/2014

Day Two Hundred Fifty-One

I was looking at the frame that came with the estate sale painting that I am making into the fluffy black monster -- I think it looks really cute -- like it is looking out a window or something. 

Looking out of its frame.

Then I was thinking...wouldn't it be silly/cool to have him (or her) extending over the frame...maybe something like this:

I printed out a copy of the photo from above and added black marker to see what it might look like.

I have a few ideas for this guy but I am not sure what way I want to go yet...I need to think about it a bit.  But I did realize something else...I think I want to call this sort of nondescript monster/guy (and others like him) a biteyou.  It will be the name of the sort of creature it is, like "dog" or "horse" -- there are many different breeds within the groupings, but they are all the generic name as well.

You may remember that I originally got the name "Biteyou" from retired Detroit Derby Girl Sass Knuckles whose son re-named their cat "Biteyou"...as in "don't pull the kitty's tail or he will bite you."  (I don't remember the exact quote, but you get the idea.)

My first guy named Biteyou is this guy...even back then I knew I would reuse the name.

And yes, I still need to finish this guy.

But this guy will also now be known as a biteyou character:

And yes...this guy is far from done, as well.

365/2013 - Day 324

a little bit of progress

Okay.  I went to Joann's Fabrics and got some felt pieces for the little guy's claws.  I really like his foot/claw but I need to keep working on his hand/claw.

The colors of the felt pieces are pretty intense, but the colors in this photo are pretty off...LOL.

I opened up the end of his foot again and took out the felt from yesterday.

THIS is what I had in mind -- I like this much better.

I am shortening his arms and opening up/fanning out the fabric and adding claws.

But I am not happy with this hand/claw yet.

It's getting there, but it needs more work...shorter arms I think...different look for the claws.

365/2013 - Day 296

yay -- a little progress 

I feel like I am starting to make a little bit of progress on this batch of Tooklets.

I took off the bottom half of the guy from yesterday and gave him a longer legs/body section.  

Then he got a sort of a flower on his tummy.

Next I started building his arms.  I wanted to use glove fingers but I didn't want to stuff them with fiberfill and I didn't want to have them be as wide as they are.  So I tried sewing the fingers in on themselves and then stitched them shut again on the outside and attached them to the sides of the guy.

This was as far as I got before I needed to leave and go meet up with Sue for an errand.  And this is a perfect example of why I take so many process photos...I totally forgot how I made the first arm for this guy and I had to go back and look at the pictures to remind myself.

Then I started on a new guy.  The glove I am using is a another new one from this "season" at Target.  The gloves weren't all in yet and weren't packaged inexpensively so I only got just these two pairs (turquoise/black + charcoal/navy).  I don't know if these colors will be available later on.  Also, the charcoal/black ones have a different feel to them.  I will decide after this guy is finished whether or not I like this kind of glove-fabric.

This guy quickly asserted that he wanted a long, one-piece body.  He was going to have a flower on his tummy but instead he preferred it on his butt.  The face came quickly (button and mouth colors) and it was also decided early on that he'd like to have roundy ears and no horns.

I wanted to try to use some of the plaid pajama fabric on these guys...so I am making his arms out of a small piece of it.  I think I like how long his arms are...they might stay that long...I am not sure yet.

I wanted to get this post onto the blog early tonight -- just in case I end up treating my allergy reactions/symptoms later on.  Neither one of these guys is finished.  I have no idea yet how they will end up.  I like both of them very much.

365 Day 357

more work on the experimental plaster cloth dog

I will be a happy happy girl when television programming goes back to its regular schedule after the first of the year. I don't usually try to work on stuff this early in the day...but my day(s) right now are really thrown off without my usual working-from-my-chair-in-front-of-tv routine. I am not complaining or bah-humbugging...I am just saying.



The experimental plaster cloth dog laying over on its side so that I can lay plaster cloth on the inside bottom of the base.











How it looked before the plaster cloth.











Much better after plaster cloth.

I am doing this step for two reasons. Because this is the experimental piece, I can see if I need to do the inside of the base...see if it makes a difference in the structural strength of the piece.

Reason #2 is because I am considering leaving the middle of the base "open" and since you'd be able to see inside of the bottom of the base, I'd rather have people looking at a finished-looking interior of painted plaster cloth rather than the unfinished bags and tape.





Longer shot...you can still see way up inside of the top tier where I didn't add plaster cloth to the bags and tape.

I was just now thinking there is still time to apply the plaster cloth -- but that would kind of defeat the purpose of the experiment.







The front of the piece with the wacky floppy (yet rigid with plaster cloth) edge.















View from behind.














I really need to start thinking about how I want to finish this guy. I know he is a "working dog" and I know it is a male in a shirt and tie and pants with belt...if I finish the whole base. If I leave the middle of the base open -- I don't know -- I think I would want something to relate to him in there (still a working dog). Lots to think about...and it could simply come down to how the piece feels after the bottom of the base dries.


In the meantime, I took some of the photos and doctored them a little so I could see the details better. Then I traced the basic outline and tried to draw on what the painted guy might look like with shirt, collar and tie, arms and sleeves with cuffs, paws with claws, pants and a belt.



Rear view. I figured the wonky edge might be his shirttail hanging out of his pants.








Front view. Proportions aren't exactly right...but this is just a preliminary ideas stage.















Wow -- it is only 3 o'clock! I have a whole lotta time to kill before bedtime tonight. My routine is really messed up. I guess I will have to find some more projects to work on...

365 Day 355 -- part three

Yes. I had to put the last couple of layers on the base tonight.


I am really running out of plaster cloth now, though. My new box is supposed to be here on the 24th.

This guy could use a layer inside on the back of the base (to even out and match the front) and a good smoothing out layer from top to bottom. I think I need to tweak the face and ears a bit, too.

I wonder how I am going to finish him off...what is he supposed to look like? All paint? A mixture of a lot of different things? Hopefully my guides will visit again soon.

365 Day 353

cat-creature progress continues...and I learn a few things


In yesterday's post I decided I wasn't going to do the plaster cloth layer. That was just before 7 p.m. Naturally, as the night wore on I got antsy to do it.

(That was the first thing I learned -- if I prepare a surface I really need to plaster cloth it before I go to bed no matter how much I say I'm not going to.)

So I did.

Remembering the bottom of the goat-creature's base (and how it was becoming uneven) I propped up the base of the cat-creature so I could get my fingers/plaster cloth underneath it.





More of the things I learned...


Trying to lay plaster cloth on top of chicken wire doesn't work so well. At least not in this configuration. There is too much of a gap happening and I am beginning to run low on plaster cloth.









I thought masking tape might help that area.











Kinda, but not really. Plus I needed to apply much, much more tape and my hands were wet with plaster cloth. And the water was hot/warm and plastery already...too big of a deal to toss it out (because I can't just dump it down the sink) while I applied masking tape (that I didn't want to use).












What was handy...???

Uh...okay...I will try the Scott's Xtreme Rags again.

I canNOT believe how well this works. I didn't stop to take a lot of photos, but I used a lot of "rags" on the surface of the chicken wire. And the tape on the inside (facing out of the chicken wire) helped to secure the paper rag long enough for me to slap a plaster cloth triangle or two onto it (one handed) until I could let go of it. Amazing.












What the inside looks like right now. I had a few triangles left so I put them to use on one of the horizontal tomato cage rods to secure the tiers. (I doubt it is actually doing much.)













How the cat-creature looked from the doorway into the studio last night.
















I realize that this guy is up on a table and that being a solid color is making a huge difference in my perception at the moment, but man -- this guy is looking TALLer than before!



I also learned that although I liked him a lot before, he is really making me smile now...Chime Cat smiley.









One more thing I learned...today.

My hand(s) are not ready for linocarving yet.

This block is salvageable, but not right now. Ow.

365 Day 329

a bit of "before" and "after" and a small reward



My studio became a dumping ground again...especially during the prep for the de-stash/clear out/giveaway. LOL


This is a "before" shot. All of those various items have been put away -- mostly taken to the basement for storage -- but they are sorted and put away.











I have been working on re-sorting and putting things away, instead of just rearranging and shuffling things around on shelves.

LOOK -- there is nothing stashed underneath the table anymore!







I also made a major dent in the area at the bottom of the stairs in the basement. That space has always been an undefined area where I keep 25 lb. bags of cat litter, old paint cans, window screens, etc. Today I set up the last two 4-ft. white folding tables and straightened stuff out and at least put it up on the tables and made some room.

I also dragged the three 6-ft. white folding tables downstairs. I probably shouldn't have done it on my own, but I reeeeeeally wanted them out of the kitchen and front room. I set them against a pole in the bottom of the stairs area and I will wait until my sister Sue comes over early next week to move them any farther.

I have been doing all this stuff in short bursts so that I don't overdo it and totally mess up my hand again. It isn't 100%, but it is a whole heck of a lot better. The finger tips still get numb pretty quickly but if I stop and rest it goes away quicker now. I am beginning to think this is how it will be from now on and I just need to get used to it. Not that big of a deal I guess.


As a reward for clearing off the big table in the studio again, I allowed myself a short plaster cloth session. I didn't want to make it too detailed or lengthy so I worked on the Studio Snake...I just put one layer on plaster cloth on four tubes and changed the shape of the head.










It sure didn't seem like I did very much, but it was enough to numb my fingers...and most of it was open-handed work. Sheesh.










Ah well...at least I played with plaster cloth again -- I really miss it!

365 Day 300

Tookies progress



I put the Moda Dea Ticker Tape yarn "hair" on 35 of the 58 (out of 90) Tookies tonight.

Those shaggy hairdos really need some styling -- I will cut them when I finish all of them...it makes such a fun looking pile of snippets of color.













AND look at how dried out my hands are -- man oh manny man! Working with the yarns for many days in a row does this to my hands.

I slather on the lotion before I go to bed -- it doesn't do much good to do it while I am working because then I can't hold the needle, it slips right out of my fingers...LOL.

365 Day 299

58 Tookies got soft bottom edges today

I ended up going to the dentist twice today. I love nitrous oxide, but that is not the way I wanted to spend my day today.

I got the soft bottom edges put onto 58 of the 90 Tookies that I am working on for Art-o-mat.

They are turning out to be the most colorful Tookies I have ever made. I am pretty darn happy with them so far.

I ordered another color of the Moda Dea Wild yarn that I use for the soft bottom edges. The color I found that I haven't had before is called Russet. I got a message that it was shipped today. Perhaps I will work on the "hair" for these Tookies and then come back and use some of the new color for some of the remaining Tookies...maybe not...I sure would like to finish this step and then go on to the hair stage. Maybe I will just stop for the night...take it easy and just watch television and rest my neck and hands. Yeah...maybe.

365 Day 289

wow -- I need a short break!

I decided to wait until tomorrow to exchange the yarn (from yesterday). I got a lot done on these 20 Tookies today!

It is a little hard to see it in these photos, but this was an all-day job.


Here is the bin full of Tookies after they all received their side seams. These Tookies all have two seams (instead of the single side seam that the Art-o-mat Tookies have).









And here they are with their oh-so-soft bottom edges on now. I just want to keep putting them on all of my fingers, they feel that good...LOL.

They are beginning to get some personality now, too. All that is left -- in the construction phase -- is their "hair".

I am hoping to work on that tonight and finish up before I go to bed, but for right now I need a dinner break...and to rest my hands for a bit.