Photo Restoration

I have been trying to figure out what I want to create next and I've hit a wall.... nothing sounds appealing to me. Maybe its the excessive heat we are suffering through currently.... who knows. To try to snap myself out of this creative funk---- I was determined to work on something--- anything... so I decided to try to fix an old-old photo of my grandfather that was badly damaged.

Here is the before:

Since these are family photos I've added watermarks to them *wink*

Here is the after. I had to create the left eye completely as the one in the original photo was for the most part non existent.

I must say, I did take some creative freedom with the photo--- I cleaned it up considerably. All in all, I am very happy with the outcome of this restoration. It took me a little over an hour to repair the photo. I am curious to get this printed and see what it looks like next to the original..... I have never restored a photo so heavily damaged before, I think I've found another hobby. *wink*

big hugs,

Sailing...

Aarrrggggh me hearties... its been perfect yard sailing weather of late.... I found this beaut of a treasure chest waiting for me at the very last yard sale I went to. How much did I pay for this old chest?.... Would you believe me if I told you only $10?... 'tis true, 'tis true!

Some one, at some point- lined the entire trunk with wood, they did a really good job.

The little trunk next to it was only $5.00..... argh... that beaut came home with me as well~

This one was full of treasure! Well, ephemera treasure that is!

I also found some other odds and ends that caught my eye... it is never to soon to start working towards next years pirate party. *wink*

I also bought three pieces of drift wood and a fabulous metal banded box. I'm going to cut a piece of wood and cover it with burlap to make the box into a table....arrrgggh....

 I also found two rusty pulleys and some chain... 
and a few pieces of jewelry and other odds and ends to satisfy my piratey weekend~ aaarrrrgggggh~
big hugs,

Santos Doll

I finished the Santos cage doll I was working on. I think it turned out pretty good for a first attempt. This is "Our Lady of Fatima" It really didn't take that long to make. Had I been more diligent and worked consistently on it, I could have finished this in about 3 days total--- including drying time for the clay. But you know, life happens. *wink*

 I didn't follow any particular face or style of any I'd seen online while looking at the antique ones. 

 I wanted this to be my own... I made articulated arms using copper wire to hinge the pieces together. The bones of the arms are Popsicle sticks I covered in clay. I cut the popsicle sticks with my wire cutters, rounded the cut ends and then drilled a hole in them to feed the copper wire through.

 I made the hands out of smaller pieces of popsicle sticks that I taped wire to and then formed into fingers. Once the fingers were formed, I wove some floss through the fingers and around the popsicle stick for added strength. Lastly, I covered the hands in clay...


The arms I added to the torso with a peg joint. If I were to make another Santos doll, I think I would have the shoulder joint flush against the body. I might redo the arms at a later date... who knows.
 
I have my Lady of Fatima Santos cage doll standing on my dresser in front of a beautiful wooden cut piece. This amazing piece was cut from one solid piece of very thin board--- there is the Hail Mary prayer cut into it surrounded by beautiful scroll work. I found this piece years ago at a thrift store for only $3.00....

 I have half a bag of clay left.... I need another project to work on before I get withdrawals!
big hugs,

Santos Cage Doll W.I.P...

All it took was one look at a Santos Cage Doll, and it was love at first sight.  As with everything I come across--- I always have the attitude, "I can make that".... weather I can or not... so it was on...
 I went to one of the local craft stores in town and bought a package of large Styrofoam eggs, paper clay and a paper mache  dress form. The dress form cost $8.99... high way robbery if you ask me! If I make another one of these, I will be making the body shape myself! *mumble-mumble*

 I cut a 3 inch piece of dowel and hot glued it into a hole I made in the styrofoam egg. Once that had set up, I made an "X" in the neck portion of the paper mache dress form and slid the dowel in and hot glued that securely in place. The body of the dress form was very long and so I cut off about 3" and added some foam core to the bottom to keep it stable. Plus once this is finished, it needs to be attached to a wooden circle over the cage part of the dolls skirt...
The first layer of paper clay went on easily.... then I had a horrible thought while it was drying. *gasp* I don't know how to sculpt a face!... what was I thinking!

 Well... I do know what a face looks like - duh... so0o0o0o0o0o.... I gave it a go! Once the first layer dried, I started adding more clay to the front of the face to add the facial features. Here is what I came up with, keep in mind this is the first time I've done this! Also, this is still a work in progress!  I left the eyes and the ears hollowed out for now....

 I want to have a photo of an ear close by before I add any clay to the ears so they look somewhat like what an ear should look like.

 As for the eyes, I would like to have super shiny eyes, so I might play around with adding some resin to the eyes once I figure out what they are going to look like. I don't think it looks to bad right now... considering this is just the rough stage and I'll keep adding clay to keep building up the face as I go...

I'm definitely going to add more clay to the lips to make them fuller, I just wanted to make sure that I had a partial opening in the mouth. I may knock out the eyes and remake them, I think they might be to small.....so far so good..... I think! *wink*
big hugs,

Fabric Party Bags

I whipped up some super easy pirate party loot bags using some left over painters tarp that I had....

 I simply made a starting cut and then ripped down the length of the fabric to create frayed edges. I made them rather large as I knew they were going to be stuffed to the top with fun things from our pirate party. I think they were something like 12" deep by 10" round...

They were fast and easy to make. I just sandwiched some grograin ribbon in between the fabric so it would be caught in the side seam stitches....
Once that seam was sewn, I pulled the finished seam I just stitched so that it was centered in the back and then stitched across the bottom....

I then pulled the bag bottom open so that I could stitch the corners so that the bags stayed open when they were set down. I made a template out of cardboard to mark each corner...

The tops of the bags are frayed and oh so cute~ Here is the front,
and the back....

and all tied up~ As each guest arrived they were given a sharpie to write their name on a bag... when they returned the sharpie they were given a ticket to get them started on winning prizes. Nothing more stressful than a small child with a sharpie! Everyone returned the sharpie they had used--- super fast... worked like a charm.

Everyone is pooped.... pirate party pictures coming soon... I have 167 to go through! 

big hugs,