Sewing again..

We have been so busy outside in the garden these past few weeks that i have gotten very little crafting done. i'm slowly finishing up the rag dolls i have started, and also began a new Waldorf doll, as well as a mini needle felted alpaca. :)
So although i keep promising to start creating some new things for my website, i admit i would much rather make stuff for my kids.

Now that the weather has turned warm, i realized Sage was in a need of a few new clothes for the spring. i let her pick out her own fabric at the store, and she picked out this really fun pink panther print!
She loves the pink panther, but doesn't love getting her picture taken. :)


i stitched her up these basic capri's with a matching head band.



i did a 'Melody inspired' applique' on this brown shirt when i thought i was getting a pair of the See Kai Run Melody shoes. (i won a free pair of See Kai Run shoes, but the ones i wanted the 'melody' pair were out of stock! Doh!)

i dug into my fabric stash to find the prints for this super cute set. Patchy skorts and yellow calico top with butterfly applique and another matching headband.

i love seeing little girls in skirts, but Sage is a really active kid and doesn't do skirts well. So instead i made her skorts. They have overlapping panels with shorts underneath. So they are easy run, jump and climb in and she doesn't trip over them.

i love making kid clothes, and will be stitching up more and sharing photos soon!

Mei Li, Calliope and Sarafina

i finally finished the custum Chinese Waldorf style doll i have been working on for the past few weeks. i am quite pleased with how she turned out, and decided she really needed a little panda toy to go with her. This is only the second Waldorf style doll i have attempted. i was able to over come a few of the challenges i faced with my first doll, but then a couple of unexpected challenges pop up as well. All in all, i am very happy with her.

Although it's not very visable in the picture, i used a little pink mica powder on her cheeks. Her hair and slippers are made from wool yarn, and the panda is made using cotton and wool.

i am also in the process of finishing these three rag dolls that i have been working on.

This is Sarafina. She has on a basic pink/purple strip dress with spring butterflies. She will entually have bloomer and perhaps a bandana or tote bag.

This is Calliope. Her hair is a mixture of rainbow wool blend, and a deep midnight blue underneath. She is wearing a plain purple tunic, and a tie-dyed wrap skirt. She is still waiting on accessories, jewelry and more.
The last doll is still without a name, although she will get one as i finish the details of her and her personality becomes more obvious. i truly love adding all the little details that give these dolls their personalities. The rag dolls will be for sale soon on my website and/or Etsy.

New Beads on Etsy!

Kenan has been busy in the glass shop! Here are a few of his latest beads! He'll be adding new pendants and marbles this week!

Etsy Buy Handmade tiemeyerglass

More dolls.

This week my focus has been on dolls. A local friend had seen the Waldorf Style doll i made Sage for Yule, and asked if i would be interested in creating a custom doll. She was looking for a Chinese looking doll, for a friend who had recently adopted a baby girl from China. Even though i'm still a bit intimidated by this style of doll making, i felt like i was up for the challenge.



She is still incomplete, but came together well. Her face will be simple hand embroidered, with slightly elongated eyes, to give her an Asian look. i'm am still working on her hair, which is added strand by strand, and is the most time consuming part of making these dolls. She will have crocheted Mary Jane style slippers, and probably fingers and toes that are stitched

i'm pretty happy with how she came together, and am looking forward to finishing her up and beginning a new one. i will post pictures again when she is completed.

i took a break on the Waldorf Style doll to make a new Rag doll. After making the Whimsey dolls last week, i knew i had to create some rags again. i forget how much i love to make these. You can expect to see a few more in the next couple of weeks.

This is not the original outfit i made for this doll, and am not sure that she will keep it. She is still a work in progress, one of my favorite part of making these dolls is adding all the fun details. i also tried a new approach to adding the hair on her, and need to work on it a bit too. i am thinking she will probably have bangs and will get a bit of a haircut.

These projects have kept me pretty busy this week, and i am hoping to have them finished up this weekend or early next week. Of course having unfinished projects never stops me from starting something new when inspiration hits!

Slave to the Flame.

Here is some of Kenan's latest work.
There are so many times that his glass work is made one day and sent out the next. He tries to photograph as much of it as possible for his archive but occasionally some if it gets away unrecorded. He works with a number of dealers and wholesalers so the vast majority of his work is not seen by the general public and shows up in a few select niche markets. Even though he is trying to retail as much of his own work as is possible it the wonderful wholesalers that really keep the glass moving. Many thanks to all the great glass aficionados out there.



This is the newest batch of pendants being sent out to Japan. These pictures have a terrible glare, and really don't do them justice. If you ever end up in Osaka Japan, go check out Fool the Hermit. You will find the largest collection in the world of Kenan's glass work.



Kenan has recently begun to add etched dichro designs behind his classic the honeycombs, and finish of the backs of the pendants with swirly color designs. This really adds to the design adding visual layers, and creating a miniature work of art.

He has been working extra hours every evening trying to save up some stock for the Glass Craft Expo in Las Vegas - April 3-5. He will be spending much of the coming week creating new pendants, beads, and marbles for this show. This will be his first time in Las Vegas.

He has also been working on creating some new variations in his marbles. Specifically, this new style of fumed vortex has been evolving nicely. This is his biggest marble to date, measuring a whopping 3 1/4". It can be found on ebay this week:

http://shop.ebay.com/merchant/tiemeyerglass



Hopefully after the upcoming Las Vegas show Kenan will be able to update his web site with new available marbles and pendants. Until then - he truely is a slave to the flame.