The Promise Keeper

Remember the doll with the cage on her head? This is a different version of her as I alluded to in my last post. This is my entry for the bottle doll challenge- because I am such a good time manager- I don't really need to pay bills or clean my house or raise my children- do I??? So, she is ready to mail off and we will see if ADQ likes her.....I titled her "The Promise Keeper" as she looks like she's carefully guarding the contents of her bottle. Good girl! Don't let too much of that stuff out at once!

This is a perfume bottle that I had in my collection. At one point I thought I would 'collect' things. Then I realized that I'm not really a collector. "Things" hanging around kind of bother me. Too much clutter in my head to have clutter in my house.

People have been giving me old jewelry for my kids to play with and of course I scope it out first. The silver and white rope-ish thingy is a perfectly awful bolero someone once wore- a lot...I had to repaint the silver and clean up the white leather.....makes me cringe imagining the rest of the outfit?

The starbursts? Well, have you ever noticed the hangers on Christmas ornaments? If you flatten them out they are really quite attractive on their own....see, its not what something is- its what it could be...ask me about Headless Amy sometime...

Jewelry findings and corsage pins and a little paint made up her brooch. Oh! And wire armature- love that stuff! It can be bent and stretched and folded and crunched...love it!

That brown metal is florist wire- a new thing some clever person came up with. Very bendable. I bought it because I knew I'd use it some day....

I'm working on developing a process wherein the skin of the doll looks like old fashioned enamel dolls or like the finish on carousels.... working on it anyhow....

More jewelry from the pile. This heart looked like something Cleopatra would have worn. Shiny gold with black stripes. Not any more. I painted it and dipped it in those tiny glass beads....not sure what they are called...not drilled, too tiny....

And so there she is....hope you enjoyed her...now she has to get packaged up so she won't break during shipping...good thing I have 20+ years of retail experience- knew it would come in handy...know how to package something really well and if you combine that with my design skills I ought to be able to fashion a really sweet house out of a cardboard box for my retirement. Kids- go into the medical field.......I'm just sayin'....

A Little Summer Fun Followed By A Little Summer Anxiety!

Yep. Got a little goin' on... First off- Anything to keep these two busy! Very first overnight camp- thought I'd be really anxious. Turns out- not so much! A few family reunions with a few too many pictures taken.... A little surf and sand and a husband who says "Back up...I'll get the bay in the background." Hmmm ... looks like we're in the background and those flip flops are are pretty much the focal point of this picture. No wonder I'm always behind the lens! Did I mention- ANYTHING TO KEEP THESE TWO BUSY???? There's been some art.... And then there's this lady. This is the final on her face- because if I don't get this done.... Their gonna lock me away in the funny house! Oh yeah, because I just don't have enough going on.... Remember this? The birdcage never quite made it on this lady's head but.....I did not throw it out. Actually I lost it and finally found it un...

Paper Mache` vs. Creative Paper Clay vs. Paper Clay Recipe!

For those of you who work in figurative sculpture, or are art doll makers, or just like to putz around in an artsy way this post is for you. If you don't fit into the categories above this post may just be a yawn. Sorry. The following is a comparison of my experiences using three different products. Paper mache`, Creative Paper Clay, and paper clay recipe. This picture is a good example of how I like to mix up my mediums. The round flower is Creative Paper Clay. The 3-petal blossom is made from the paper clay recipe found on line. Both of these flowers adhered quite well with out any glue to the paper mache` background. In my Cloth and Clay group I have a discussion going about a paper clay recipe vs. purchasing the manufactured paper clay. I wanted an alternative to the little bricks and my dependency on whether or not my local hobby stores would have it in stock or not. And, truthfully, at the time with a rather large sculpture in mind I knew I would eat through those...

I thought I could hack it....

Going a week without posting....but I was wrong! The problem is that while I have been working my patootie off on the big little lady there's just not much to show for it. Since you've seen her last she's gotten hair with stuff growing out of it. I've had some metal garland for years (I'm a pack rat, thanks parents of that generation!) and wove it in there along with some wired rope. Then I decided I needed way more leaves so I went to the hardware and bought aluminum flashing and spent hours cutting out leaves. I wasn't sure I even liked her "do" but its growing on me. One thing was for sure I hated her hands. More specifically how huge I had made them. her delicate arms were attached to these huge clubs and I wasn't happy. After all, I wanted her to have thin arms and a thin neck so it wasn't like I could make them bigger! But- last week I did make those arms beefier and guess what? She looks good. Then I real...

KimAugust 10, 2011 at 7:11 AM
She's fabulous Christine! I love her! Don't you just love to get stuff people think is useless but you instantly see possibility in? I never refuse a hand out- that might be why the craft room is bursting at the seams? I can't wait to see her in the magazine- I'm sure she's getting chosen ♥
Trudie AverettAugust 10, 2011 at 11:50 PM
Love the combination of elements and the flow of the piece. Great work!
Daryle and Katie... kindred spiritsAugust 11, 2011 at 4:42 AM
Christine... wonderful use of some incredible repurposed jewelry and other finds! You made such a strong design statement with your Promise Keeper! Daryle
DebbieAugust 12, 2011 at 8:57 AM
O.K., you've got it going on! Very cool! Have you thought of doing 3-D illustration commercially. Not as many illustrators out there doing that. You're a good story teller.
meliAugust 12, 2011 at 4:36 PM
You crack me up! awesome work...
Healing WomanAugust 18, 2011 at 4:46 AM
Your bottle dolls are great! I love to recycle and I see you have retrieved a lot of second hand items. The expressions on your dolls faces work so well in bottle art. Shine on!!!
chinamommyAugust 19, 2011 at 8:53 AM
she IS fabulous!!!!! now I know why we haven't had coffee all summer... don't forget me when you're famous!
xoxo
MelanieAugust 22, 2011 at 12:43 PM
She's wonderful! Congrats on finishing her. And I know what you mean about collecting. If it doesn't have an immediate purpose then I just can't deal with it. Unless you're talking about stocking up on stuff. That I can do like those crazy coupon people. Just without the coupons. Because who has the time and energy for all that?

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