Making Mermaids

I got the urge to make some mermaids this week, so I have 2 down & who knows how many to go LOL

I made this gal first & she is pretty slim & 11" tall - I think she needs a few more curves, don't you?
This one took some fiddly sewing but I like her shape a lot more, she is 10" tall..

Of course they will both end up with beads, at least that is the plan as it stands now ;o)

My MIL gave me a bunch of fabric when her home was being sold last year & this is from her stash - perfect for mermaids in my opinion

CareDoll

I made this wee doll for a special friend who I have never met in person, as she lives on the other side of the country - Isn't it wonderful how we are able to be friends with folks we would never have known without computers & the Internet

My friend has suffered from recurring fibrous tumors on her uterus for the past 5 or 6 years & is having a partial hysterectomy next week. She is naturally feeling more than a little worried about it all - I thank God that she was able to have her sweet wee daughter 2 & 1/2 years ago, as this surgery dashes any hopes she had of any more children but I pray that this will be the end of this painful problem that has plagued her for so long.

Ladies, have those Pap Smear tests done every year!

November BJP finished

Yes I have finally got November finished...

This is Frankie, my BFF - LOL

We have known each other for about 6 years & she lights up my days, which is why she is wearing a 'crown' of golden sunflower petals.. I can't imagine what my life would be like without her in it..

I had to add a touch of purple, which is Frankie's favorite colour, but she sure looks good in yellow.

I have started on my January page & with luck I'll have it done before the month is out.

The Polar Bear

I have been working on this for Joe, he used to work on Tug Boats up in the Arctic Circle, all around Alaska & the Bering Sea.

Polar Bears are favorites of his, so I thought this would be a good gift for him.

I still need to bead around Mr Bear, who will then be framed & go on the wall. He is about 3.5" long & I used silver lined matt size 15s for him.

I am just getting over a nasty bout of sinusitis which really put me on my tush - 3 days in bed while on antibiotics! I still can't smell a darn thing & my ears are popping like a bag of popcorn going off LOL but I am breathing freely now & I didn't get any congestion on my chest which I consider a blessing.

Save Handmade, Time is Running Out!

LONG but please read & feel free to copy onto your blog

As of February 10, 2009 - most, if not all what WE make and sell could very well become ILLEGAL TO SELL IN THE US.

This is not hyperbole, this is a FACT and a law that, unless something is changed, WILL AFFECT US ALL.

As a result, for those of us who create art dolls, there is a movement growing about removing them term "art dolls" from what we do - more specifically the word "dolls" - because if this law as it is currently written - ANYTHING that is geared or even possibly seen as being geared or made for children, will be required by law to be tested.
It is far reaching, and will affect EVERYTHING if it remains as it is written. (It will likely not get voted in as it is written, but we can HELP to see that it doesn't by speaking up about it and being aware that it exists).

If it is thought or implied or in any way able to be seen as a item meant or geared for children, it will be REQUIRED BY LAW to be tested and be certified as passing the test to be legal to be sold in the US, including everything that is used to make the item. EVERYTHING!

In addition, unless the items that we use to make the item come from the same batch lot they have to be tested individually, and not as a batch.

It's a HUGE thing on Etsy right now.

***As taken from a post by marionscott77**

Here is a quote from the Certificates of Compliance http://www.cpsc.gov/businfo/frnotices/fr09/certification.html "The Commission is also designating the domestic manufacturer as the sole entity that must issue the certificate required by section 14 (a) in the case of a domestically produced product. This certificate must be available to the Commission upon request before the product or shipment is introduced into domestic commerce."WE are domestic manufacturers. Doesn't matter if we do wholesale, resale, direct or whatever. We are still the manufacturers. WE must be able to provide certification of compliance with lead testing by Feb 10th or pull our products off the market. This certification can ONLY come from a CPSC-certified third-party laboratory. All substrates of your products in all iterations must be tested (and yes, fabric is a substrate).

Read this entire thread here: http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5935591

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081224/ap_on_bi_ge/tainted_toys

We need to come together, even though we are NOT creating "toys" - this WILL have an umbrella affect on us.

Taken from http://www.handmadetoyalliance.org/

It's Not just Toys! The CPSIA does not just affect toys--it regulates all products for children under 12.? Clothing, school supplies, cloth diapers, car seats, boy scout patches, bicycles, sippy cups - everything!

Congress in its wisdom decided that a problem caused by irresponsible mass-market toymakers should be solved with a one-size-fits-all solution for dozens of industries totally unrelated to toys.

The Handmade Toy Alliance supports the parallel efforts of other industries to gain relief from the onerous enforcement mechanisms imposed by the CPSIA. Although we have proposed our own ideas that would help small toymakers, we believe that the following reforms of the CPSIA would be fair, just and appropriate to all affected industries:

**** The law should be scaled back to focus on products that were an issue in the first place (namely: toys and children's jewelry).****

Enforcement should allow component versus unit testing.? Manufacturers and/or industry groups, in cooperation with the CPSC, should decide the most rational method for their situation.

**** Testing frequency rules should be adjusted to allow smaller companies that deal with smaller runs, the ability to stay in business.****

Random testing could be part of the legislation in place of some of the more burdensome requirements, especially for "low volume" companies.

**** Companies should be allowed to keep testing certificates on file instead of re-sending them with each order.**** The law should be simplified to be understandable, while maintaining (or improving) its effectiveness.

**** Batch Labeling should be required only for companies producing more than a certain quantity.

MORE LINKS:
http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5935591

http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/summaries/102brief.html

http://www.cpsc.gov/ABOUT/Cpsia/legislation.html

http://www.cpsc.gov/library/foia/advisory/322.pdf

http://www.nationalbankruptcyday.com/

http://www.fashion-incubator.com/

http://www.apparelandfootwear.org/

http://cpsia-central.ning.com/

This will affect how you sell what you make anywhere - online, garage sale, flea market, etc.
Here are Etsy's new rules regarding this: http://www.etsy.com/terms_of_use.php

When each seller signs up to sell on Etsy, they agree to these terms and are each responsible for their own items. From the TOU:"Restricted Activities: Your Content and your use of Etsy shall not:
# 5. Contain items that have been identified by the U.S. Consumer Products SafetyCommission (CPSC) as hazardous to consumers and therefore subject to a recall.

Let's get this spreading through our mailing lists and discussion groups and start getting INVOLVED as a group to help CHANGE this. Let's get talking about this and protecting ourselves and our art and our businesses.

One thing that we CAN do to IMMEDIATELY protect ourselves might be to immediately cease using the terms "dolls" or "toys" with our artwork. That one term alone might be enough to cause our work to seem as if it is meant for kids - even if you use a disclaimer saying "Not intended for children." And if you post in the "Dolls and Bears" or maybe "Toys" or "Children's"categories, maybe you might want to reconsider that right now.

Copied with permission from VARIETIST MUSE

Picture Tagging

I got tagged by Lora

Here are the rules:-

1. Go to your 4th picture folder
2. Go to the 4th picture
3. Tell everyone 4 things about that picture
4. Tag 4 more people

1. This is Joe & the picture was taken at the 2007 annual Jazz & Oysters here on the Peninsula & by the look of the sparse crowd the show was just beginning as the place is chock-a-block full by midday.


2. I think Joe is puffing out his chest because he's wearing his very cool, Maori design t-shirt that he got at WOMAD while we were down in New Zealand for my dear Mother's 90th birthday.


3. I don't see any shadows so I guess we had a grey start to the day but the sun came out as you can see here, which BTW, is how we cook oysters up here in Pacific North West ;o)


4. We volunteer at J&O & while Joe was selling T-shirts, CDs & stuff I was selling desserts

You can read more about it all here

I'm not going to tag anyone but if you are reading this please consider yourself tagged & feel free to tag your friends ;)

The New Studio

Last year Joe got yet another free trailer, this one is a 35' Spartan made by the Howard Hughes Aircraft Company & is just beautiful, fallen on hard times but beautiful all the same.

He has been working on making the front of it into a studio for himself & is also redoing the wiring where needed.

Because my little room in the house that I use for my studio/storage was so full that I could not see a flat space (nor could I walk in it, as the floor was also covered with STUFF) I asked Joe if I could have the bedroom at the back of the trailer for my Mixed Media Art, I figured a board or two across a couple of boxes for a table to work on but in true Joe fashion he set out to make it solid & sturdy.
He found a free table by the roadside & he remade it for my workbench. There are closets galore which are almost full of cool STUFF waiting to be up cycled into something new.. Joe has also built shelves of ingenious design to hold all the storage containers that hold all my groovy STUFF for assemblage art, he has been careful not to drill or put screws into the lovely wood lining the trailer, as restoring it is a possibility someday if not by us then by someone else.

Now it is cold as we are in the middle of winter & this is the Great North West but we have a little heater running on low all the time so that it doesn't get freezing in there & just crank it up a bit when we go out there so that it is not unbearable ;)



On the inside looking out....


Anyhoo...... Here are some pics of the studio so far...



I have 3 projects on my worktable at the moment all in different stages of done & I am hoping to produce some interesting art dolls & such to share
This is what Joe gave me for Christmas, my own mini drill/screwdriver with its own charger, too cute, eh?

Here are Joe & Phoebe visiting me in my new play room..
What a wonderful space I have out there in the trailer, I am lucky to have a husband who can do this stuff, aren't I?