Happy Fall Ya All Mouse

Adopted
My "Happy Fall" Mouse is a new design for me...first time I have made a mouse that has his head looking up at you, instead of being shy & looking down.. A simple change...but never the less it took a few tries & a few mice later until I was happy with this look. I have another design similar to this one but with a tilted head & a longer nose...but that is for another day.

This wool felt mouse is hand-painted with chenille stem feet, glass bead eyes & a suede tail. He is holding a metal wand that reads Happy Fall. I have perched him on a comfy hand-dyed wool cushion which is attached to a paper-mache box...I have covered the box with vintage fabric look scrapbook paper.

I have placed inside the box a small collection of old buttons, a rusty star, sewing bobbin, pins & needles.
To complete the look I have lovingly aged the box & given it a nice old patina with the use of crackled paint & a good dose of walnut stain.

This piece is 7" inches tall from the top of the wand to the bottom of the box & is all done up in wonderful fall colors that will warm your heart.

The price for this wee fall mouse is $85.00 US plus $12.00 US for shipping to anywhere in the US or Canada.
All my wee critters are shipped by airmail with insurance.
This is not a toy & is for adult use only.
If you should have any questions regarding this piece please feel free to email me as I would love to hear from you.
This item will be listed on the TDIPT Mercantile site the evening of August 31st.
Please come by the Tdipt Mercantile for a visit as there will be a lot of wonderful art created by a very talented group of women.
Thanks for popping by & have a wee wonderful day!!!
Warmly
Susan

Tdipt Marketplace Goody - Gooseberry Gus

Adopted

Hello & happy Saturday. Thought I would introduce you to Gooseberry Gus...one of my new fall creations which will be available for purchase on the TDIPT Mercantile website on Sept. 1st.
Download to take place on the evening of Aug. 31st for all you early bird looky Lous.

Gus is a hand-painted wool felt bunny with glass bead eyes & chenille stem feet, he has a needle-felted sheep's wool tail. This wee bunny is 5.5 inches long & 3 inches tall. He is sitting on two cushions made from quilters cotton & hand dyed wool. Both cushions have been embellished with lots of decorative stitching in a rather rustic style. LOL...rustic being about the only style I can manage! Around his wee bunny feet are blanket stitched wool leaves & a few glass beads which I chose because they looked so much like Gooseberries....

I have sewn a couple of wool felt pieces to the underside of the bottom cushion & finished off the piece with an old black button. The bottom cushion measures 5 inches in diameter...the entire piece is 6.5 inches tall from the tips of his wee bunny ears to the bottom of the lower cushion. Over all I think this piece would make a nice addition to your fall decorating scheme or you could place him in your sewing room as a pin-keep... I am sure Gus would love to keep you company.
Little Gus will be priced at $85.00 Us plus $12.00 Us for shipping to anywhere in the US or Canada.
Shipping price includes insurance.
This is not a toy & is for adult use only.
I am hoping to post photos of a couple of other pieces shortly.
Please feel free to email me if you should have any questions.
Thanks for popping by & have a great day!
Warmly
Susan

Delights & Disasters

Delights first...the other day a girlfriend & I traveled to Perdue, a very small Saskatchewan town about an hour outside of Saskatoon...there we found a real old gem of a bookstore...you know the ones you dream about, the ones where, as you walk up to the front door you spy stacks & stacks of books haphazardly & should I say precariously piled one upon the other...I am not exaggerating. I was in pure bliss the moment I walked in. Was it the dusty old book smell...the tantalizing colors of faded book covers that lined row upon row of shelves...the Piece De Resistance(pardon my French...it isn't so great)...the store owner could have walked out of a book himself...rather short...coke bottle glasses...mussy hair, baggy pants & a general air of quirkiness about him. He was a real character who's most endearing trait was the habit of having to push his coke bottle glasses back up his nose...as they promptly fell down every time he bent over to look for a book. He was a most knowledgeable host who knew exactly where to find what. My only regret is that I forgot my camera at home that day, next time I will take some photos.

I could have spent a fortune as there were rows of antique books...the farthest corners had little cob webs & places where some small creature had nibbled on a leather cover...a real museum of forgotten books. I did however come home with a few treasures. Directly above is a photo of a small grouping of antique miniature hymnals & well worn bibles...you can even feel & see where the owners thumb & fingers have worn the edges of the books from being held in church...that's what really got to me & why I had to have them...to me these well worn spots brought life to these books...gave them character & meaning...
I also found a few books from the early 1800's that are beautiful inside & out...the one with the Sunshine cover, as well as the little red one sitting on the other books is chalk full of beautiful prints & decorative fonts. Are they cutters or a keepers...I haven't decided yet...I am soooo bad at hoarding books that I promised myself I would use in my artwork...for now I am happy just to hold & look at them...
The photo sitting on the book is my grandma.

One last tidbit...
I am very pleased to say that I have completed the set of critters that I want to send in to be considered for publication...it has been a real whirlwind of creative activity around here & it feels so good to get them done & be satisfied with the way they turned out.
Now for the write ups...thank god my hubby can be my editor...he is so good at these things. Unfortunately this whirlwind of activity has resulted in a very messy studio...so this morning is clean up time & then back to work for me.

Antique Canadian Painted Pine Dresser...I Couldn't Resist

Noooo, I haven't been ignoring you...been very busy of late with more then a few projects on the go. First I have to tell you about this wonderful antique dresser that I purchased...I can't believe I found one of these in Saskatoon as it is not often that you find painted pine furniture in these parts. I kept going back to the antique store where it sat all dusty & forlorn...couldn't believe it was still there after my third visit.
Well that third visit did it to me...I contacted hubby saying, "But we need the extra storage honey...really we do....we live in an apartment....there's not enough places to put things". Well, soon after the phone call I had it paid for & had made arrangements for it to be delivered to our home. Did I mention that the store just happened to have a 40% off sale that week....ohhhh I am a lucky ducky!!!

And as as it so often happens when you bring a piece of furniture home...you have to find a spot for it...a spot that is just perfect. Well I decided to put it in our master bedroom...but of course...I sat pondering...it would look ever so much better in our bedroom if the walls were a darker color. Soooo, guess what I am doing this week-end...its not like I don't already have enough to do. I AM PAINTING THE DERN BEDROOM CHOCOLATE BROWN...I have one coat on & have a 2nd coat to paint today. I have to say that it is looking great & the dresser will look stunning against this color. But now I to have move this & have to move that, put that do-dad here & move that do- dad there...trying to make everything look just so...knowing me this will be a month long project before everything is just the way I want it. Why O why do I do this to myself...oh well....I am sure it will all be worth it in the end.

As for the rest of my life as of late...I have been working up a storm in my studio trying to fulfill one of my life's goals...& that is to have some of my critter pin-keeps published in an art magazine. I have three pieces so far that I am satisfied with, I want to make a few more & then choose the best of these to send to the magazine. Wish me luck...
I have also been busy creating for the TDIPT Mercantile website update which will take place September 1st. I will be posting photos of them on my blog in the next little while.
Wishing you all a happy happy week-end!
Susan

My swap with Margaret of "The French Bear"

Well...I received my swap goodies from Margaret Bouwmeester Of "The French Bear" & I have to say I squealed like a little kid when I unwrapped the wee rabbit below. Margaret, the love & attention you put into our swap overwhelmed me...as I mentioned to you earlier, I really did get tears in my eyes when I saw how much work you put into our swap. I love my wee rabbit...he is perfect in every way. I also want to Thank-you for all the other goodies...the little blue mouse needle-punch cushion, the antique photos, buttons...everything.
I really had a lot of fun taking part in this swap with you...but most of all I really enjoyed getting to know you through our chats back & forth, commiserating about life...& finding that we have so much in common.
I hope one day we can meet in person...
Thanks again Margaret...for making this so special for me!
Warmly, Susan

Margaret is an avid blogger & a wonderful artist...please take the time to give her a
visit at "The French Bear" She has great posts & lots of interesting things to peruse.
"The French Bear"

Below are a few of things I put together for my swap to Margaret. I made a little notebook for her which I covered with a wonderful flowered paper...I then added a vintage style label & stamped her name on it. I antiqued the booklet by sanding all the edges...I then buffed it with Walnut Briwax to give it an aged look . Most of the pages in the booklet have been stamped & inbetween the pages is a collection of ephemera. Last but not least a little wee bow to hold the ephemera in place.

When I began this swap for Margaret I recalled her mentioning that she would love a rabbit with a cream colored jacket...well that is what I created for her.
When I finished the rabbit I decided to put him on a couple of small tuffets. I then attached the whole piece to a paper-mache box onto which I pasted the same flowered paper. I then finished the piece by placing a small collection of buttons into the box.
I really enjoyed this swap & I truly believe that this is one of the best things we artists can do to enjoy & explore each others work.

Intuitive Character Design Continued

Good Morning...been busy with that intuitive doll designing I mentioned in my previous post. I love when synchronicity happens...I have been wanting to make a Badger doll for ages...but I didn't have a pattern for it...well...when I do my Intuitive Doll designing I never know what I am going to end up with...I just fool around with pattern shapes...sew them up...then see what they remind me of. One of the heads that happened to come into existence was exactly what I have been wanting to create...a badger. This wasn't planned...it just happened & I love that!!! So I looked up some British Badger pics, ( I love the look of British Badgers...think "Beatrix Potter", "Wind in the Willow's" & "Brambly Hedge") I printed them out...got some great reference photos & was on my way to designing a brand new character doll.

Now I just want to think up a body for him...thinking pot belly with little feet & biggish arms...I just ordered some glass eyes...I made him some little Badger ears & now I need to think up a paint job for him...thinking mixed media painting with an aged look & patina...maybe some black funny fur for the stripes on his face...stitch on the fur...don't hide the stitches want him to look real folksy, hand made...not perfect...couldn't do perfect if I wanted too. He's gotta have an outfit...hobo looking...a little rough around the edges with patches & a few sewn up tears here & there. A little dirt too..badgers are dirty anyways. Will post my progress with the wee guy...he's not so wee though...the head is quite big...can't wait to see how he will turn out.

Made this Rabbit as well...the head is an intuitive process head...designed the body out of mix & match pattern pieces...had a lot of arms & legs...bodies floating around....tried this & that until I came up with what you see below...his character is already coming out even though he isn't painted yet. Going to live with him in his naked state for awhile...ponder the possibilities...that's half the fun when making these critters up.
Until then...go visit your imagination station & have some fun.
Susan

Play Time at the OK Corral

My name is Pea's

I am a figment of Susan's Imagination

Well....been back from the cabin for a few days now...not much to report on that front as the weather was the &^%%#$% ...only got to the beach one evening for a swim...was the only person there...which was kinda weird but exhilarating at the same time. Swimming by yourself is very peaceful, but I wasn't alone for long cause as soon as I got out I was swarmed by those hateful horsefly's. I spent my entire walk back to the cabin. whipping my towel around like some wild possessed banshee trying to swat the flys away...anyways, I am at home again & have been in my studio playing around with round head doll shapes. I call it my....aww crap...whats the word for it....intuitive doll making....not having a plan, but letting the shape come out naturally with out any preconceived ideas about what it will end up as. I like doing this as it frees up my creativity...I don't have to follow any kind of pattern. I needle-sculpt away & then step back to see what I have...maybe a badger, a bear, rabbit, who knows...some kinda Frankenstein doll concoction...I like to paint them, but not in a realistic way...I like the naive look to dolls...want to have fun with color, shapes, texture & patina. They end up being a figment of my imagination...some kinda imaginary thing made up of bits & pieces. I have to do this every once in a while as I get a trapped feeling if I work to long on the same thing...like wee mousies & such. I have some photos for you of some heads I have been working on & also an older finished piece that I couldn't part with....the weird rabbit looking thingy with pinkish spots & green skin...he keeps me company in my bedroom...I named him Peas & want to create a few companion pieces for him called Sweet Potato & Corn. Three pieces in all. After I am done my mandatory playing I will get down to more serious business...
till then...have a good day...play....smile...& be a kid once in awhile....
Susan