Ladies & Gentlemen...Drumroll Please!.....

FORREST IS COMPLETE!

Yippee, Yay! Hurray! (had to put it in bold....didn't think it was ever gonna happen. you too? wow, imagine that. LOL)

He's actually done! Photos and all. I feel...so...accomplished. :)

I'm only a week behind....not too terribly horrible. considering. So, I now have my Etsy shop open, Harley and Forrest listed. That feels good. Here's a shot of the two of them...

 

 

Forrest didn't get his liripipe. I did not like the way it looked. It made him look like 'granny'. But he had to have something to keep him warm. So we decided on a scarf made from 'eye lash' yarn. Orange, yellow, brown and black. Looks really good on him too. He's ready to make someone a life long friend! (Harley too!)

Today was kinda ruff....it is my daughter's 20th birthday. She was having a really hard time with it. But family and friends showed up and helped her through it. I'm really glad everyone came. Hopefully it sank in that she is surrounded by people that love her. Started out this morning with her dog (yes, she con-ed me into a dog) finding a tiny hole in the fence and taking off. We spent an hour (by 'we' i mean my wife, Connie, Amy, Barry and myself) looking for him. I didn't want to tell her. I finally found him about 8 houses down in someone's backyard. It worked out for the best and he's home again. I had to patch the hole in the fence. Hopefully he won't try to dig for another one......the hole was a quarter of his size. I have no idea how he squeezed through it. I made her a red velvet cake with double chocolate frosting. And sprinkles, of course! I made bar-b-q chicken and ribs, baked beans and corn on the cob. They were supposed to be grilled but my grill didn't want to cooperate. So I put them in the oven. Came out very tasty! 

Next up......I have to finish my doublet. I have two weeks left to get it completed. I swear it was only yesterday that I had two months. Wow, that went by fast. Have to sew the side seams and try it on for adjustments. Hopefully it will be minor ones. 

And then....on to the Wee Stuffies! Need to do some sculpting on them. I haven't decided how exactly I want to go about them yet. Plenty of ideas, just have to pick one. Or two. Wish me luck!

Back to Etsy......I really, really appreciate all the advice from everyone. I have been surprised at how many people have stopped to look at Harley. I would like to wish all a heart-felt Thank You!

A couple of really good friends have added me to their circles and 'favorite-ed' Harley. Thank You!! 

Susie & Summer....please explain 'circles' to me. It looks like it's the equivalent of 'friends' on FaceBook. Is that correct? I see your circles and your 'circlers' circles....wow, I'm getting dizzy. LOL. All my artist friends are inspiring my to move forward....I have no idea how you keep up with it all. Creating art, Etsy, Ebay, Blogger, FaceBook. I still swear y'all have three hands. :)

I guess that's all for now. Wow, that's really weird....I have only one pic posted. Doesn't seem right. Maybe it's just me...? Til next time....

Be Good, Be Safe, Be Happy!

TTFN

this is post 109, members seem to be stalled again. Hhhhmmmmmm. :)

now that Forrest is done I'll have to work on the member thing. LOL

Harley's lookin' for a home!

Hi Everybody!
Hope you're week is starting out great!
It's been really crazy around here. Dealing with family problems has had me preoccupied......hence the no recent posts.
HOWEVER, I have managed to get an Etsy shop opened and Harley is now listed! YAY!
Go take a look and let me know what you think!
Forrest is next, that's making the assumption that the world doesn't crumble around my ears again like it has the past couple of weeks.

Just wanted to post a short one so that nobody thinks I've died and am ignoring them. Hopefully things will improve shortly and get back to a semi-normal flow. My daughter (and me) can use all the good vibes / prayers you can muster. That would be a great help and comfort.

anyway, that's all for now. I promise I will post more shortly so you all can see what's been going on (or not going on, as the case is now).

Be Good, Be Safe, Be Happy!!


TTFN

Hairy Forrest and little Black Bunnies!

Good Monday Evening All!
Hope the world has been treating you all well since the last time we spoke.....

Guess what I've been doing since we last chatted?......

one little corner of my backyard....seeded

Yep, tilling the backyard.....planting grass.....and spreading hay. OMG, lots and lots of hay! LOL!  It's taken much more time than I thought it would. But I'm hoping that I will get some grass out of all the work. I'm still not sure why, cause then I'm going to have to mow it. Yippee! The above picture is approximately 1/3 of what I've done. I still have another area (the far end in the pic) to do and then I can start on the side and front. Lots of work. When I got done for the day it looked like I had been working in the mines....I was covered head to toe in dirt. It's been dry so the tiller kicks up A LOT of dirt.  :)

Let's see, what else?.........Oh Yeah....
FORREST HAS HAIR!
I was beginning to wonder if this day was ever going to happen...as I'm sure you were too. LOL! He looks pretty damn good! It's the same black semi-curly hair that is around his hooves. He looks like he has a 'fro'.......nothing racist, I grew up in the 70's and that's what they were called! Isn't that ridiculous that I think I have to clarify that? What has the world come to? Anyway, Forrest is now waiting for his liripipe to be completed. It's fitted, I simply have to sew it around his huge hair. :) Wanna see???

ain't he cute? :)

side view....i should have given him some 'chops' - HA!

Forrest and his liripipe.....the last piece of the puzzle!

In the midst of the yard work and Forrest I managed to squeeze in two more projects. Both of which were for my daughter.....really crappy news this week. I was trying to make her feel better. I hope it helped a little. I made her some paper roses. I was going to make a hair bow from them but couldn't get it to work the way I wanted to....so, she just got paper roses. They made her smile for a bit. And then, I gave her 'The Bunny'!  She seemed to really like him a lot. I hope it brings her a little comfort. At the very least I hope it reminds her of how much I love her. :)  The bunny was a recycle or an up-cycle or whatever it is they are calling it this month. I cut him from an old shirt. I had two 'thermal' shirts, one black, one dark purple. They were starting to fall apart - I guess 4 or 5 years of wear will do that. Just some little holes. I had put them aside in hopes of using them for something (other than rags). It worked out rather well. The material is stretchy and was perfect for the bunny!

paper roses! I printed a color design on one side and

a b&w on the other.

cut and waiting for the sewing machine

stuffed! too many carrots!  :)

button eyes, pink nose and a lil' heart!

fuzzy pic, but i wanted you to see his lil' white tail

I've squeezed some time in for my doublet as well. Man, I don't know how you all make 10 / 15 / 20 or more dolls at a time. It's exhausting! Maybe I'm not focused enough? Or maybe some of my craft / artist friends have more than two hands - LOL!! Anyway, as you can see I am easily side tracked, comes with age I guess. I have gotten the material cut and placed on the manikin. I hope to work on it more this coming weekend after I get Forrest and Harley listed on Etsy.

not much to look at right now...but here it is

Speaking of Etsy....I've been doing some research on the 'hows and whys'. Wow, there's a lot to read over. Got my work cut out for me in the next couple of days. Have to have it set up by Wednesday or Thursday!

Have too! I see that you can use their 'payment' or you can use something like PayPal. I have a paypal account. Anyone out there using Etsy please give me some insight on how you manage your account. Which option do you use? And why? I really appreciate the help and input I've gotten from everyone!!

What else? Hhhhmmmmm.....

the Wee Stuffies have been temporarily set aside so that Forrest could be focused on. However, the ideas are still flowing for the Wee's. Maybe I'll be able to squeeze some time in for their sculpting this weekend too. Wow, I've got a lot of time to squeeze in! Positive thoughts! The little engine that could has made it to the front of my brain. :)

The 'sneak peek' from the last post is sitting and waiting along side of the Wee Stuffies.

I guess that's all for now. I'm sure I've forgotten something....as soon as I hit 'post' I'll remember it. LOL

I see I have another member. YAY!

Hi Pamela! I didn't see a blog. :( 

Be Good, Be Safe, Be Happy!

TTFN

p.s. - that brings me too 30 members and 107 posts. Getting closer!  :)







Full Moons and Horror Stories

Good Friday Evening To You!
Hope everyone has been well, been productive and been..well.....Fabulous!
I can't believe it's been three weeks (well, almost) since I posted last. My how time flies! Ssshhhoooowwsss....and it's gone. I feel like that little pig on the geico commercials. WWWWEEEEEEEEEEE! LOL!

Do you know what tonight is? It's a Full Moon! But we'll get to that in a minute...or two. :)

You know my head was full of things to write....until I sat down in front of the computer. Now it's all jumbled up and squished together.....

I guess we'll start with the doctor's visit. I was just about out of my blood pressure medication. Which I've had to start up again. Not sure why - stress? nah, that couldn't be it. It was only a half a pill, so it wasn't too bad. Anyway, I went to the doctor and of course my blood pressure was up. I don't like going to the doctor, so he kind of takes that into account when he sees my readings. When I went the last time he told me to keep track of my blood pressure and my sodium and my weight. So I did. I had it all written down so he could see the last six months worth of readings. He looked at my 'book' and simply said 'holy shit'. I guess people don't do what he asks them to very often. He looked over everything and said that it all looked good. He then said 'I guess you don't need me'. So I was very happy....which is a really weird feeling when leaving the doctor's office. He wrote me a prescription for a years worth of blood pressure medication. And said to continue to monitor it. And that I didn't need to come back unless there was a problem........that I would obviously notice, with all my notes. YAY!

This past week, my wife and daughter (with my daughter's friend and our neighbor) went to Florida for a vacation. No, I didn't get to go, I had to work. Somebody has to pay the bills. They had a great time on their 'girls vacation'. It was only four days but they crammed a lot into it. They spent time on the beach (my wife is really, really tan) ate out, partied, went dolphin watching (and saw lots of them) and my daughter and her friend went parasailing. They took video while they were up in the air and saw a mantaray. He was pretty big too! My daughter said 'Dad, you should go!'  To which I replied 'yeah, sure....I'm afraid of heights and I can't swim...that would be a wonderful experience'. They were 500 feet up and over the ocean. I don't think so. LOL

 

Shark Attack!

 During the time they were in Florida, I was really bad. I had pizza - twice and ate tortilla chips and nacho cheese and didn't go to the gym once. AND believe it or not I managed somehow to lose a whole pound. I was really shocked. I figured I would have gained weight. A couple weeks ago I got some new shorts (seeing as how my old are huge now). They're still a 36 but they are loose. :)

not too shabby for an old man. LOL!

I've been working on Forrest...I am in the process of gluing his hair in place. It's taking longer than I thought it would. I have been doing sections at a time and allowing them to dry so that I can get it 'tight'. I've also made him a liripipe (a medieval hoodie). But he wanted (badly) hair. So now he's getting his hair and I think I'm going to use the liripipe too. 

The Wee Stuffies are all put together - well, their bodies anyway. I will begin their faces shortly. Or at least that's the plan at the present moment.

I've been working on a couple of other 'surprises' as well. Those will just have to wait until I get a little further along. 

I was going to post a bunch of pictures of the progress of all these things but I think I will just give you a shot of my 'god awful messy work area'. What do you think? A couple of photos or a whole slew of 'in process' shots? Let me know which you would prefer.....

If you look close you can see Forrest, the Wee Stuffies and the newest projects in the first photo...

 

my messy, messy work table. I won't show you the

other half....it looks like a bomb went off...plaster, clay,

paint, neoprene. what a mess!  :)

 

*sneek peek*

 

this is the material for the doll on the left in the first photo.

I absolutely love the way this material looks (changes color)

and feels (silky) but OMG what a nightmare to sew!

Now on to the Full Moon....I had told myself that I wanted to have my Etsy shop set up with Forrest and Harley by the full moon. Man, I almost blew that one. I had my thoughts backwards....the full moon is a time when you cast out the negative. To get away from the 'bad'. To remove obstacles and clear a path. It would have been a bad time to start a new venture. The new moon is when you focus on the positive. On things that you want to accomplish. A 'new start' if you will. So, I am setting my goals on the 21st when the new moon rises and gives me an added push for my 'new start'! I hope you will all be there for the opening of my Etsy store! Wish me luck and send me some good vibes! Lord knows I could use them. :)

Guess what I saw the other day? 

 

looking forward to season 2!

 Let's see...what else...

The RenFest opens next weekend.....guess what isn't done. Give up? My doublet. But we aren't going until May 19/20th. That's the new 'fantasy weekend'. They have themed weekends....Highland Fling, Pirates and a Pet's weekend too. The Fantasy Weekend was added this year. We thought we'd give it a try as we've been to some of the others. It will be interesting to see if the costumes are 'more out-there' on this weekend. So, I have a short time to get my doublet finished. Six weeks....just have to stay focused on it and it should be fine. I will keep you posted on this en devour. I have the material and the half the pattern, just have to put them together now. I guess first I have to clean up my work area and make some room to spread this stuff out on. I found a shirt that I really like but I'm not sure it will go with a doublet. It's more of a stand alone design. It ties with a rope (where the buttons would be) and has rope on the seams of the arms that allow you to tie it to fit. Got to decide this weekend....so I can get it ordered if I want it. Just not 100% sure. 

My son and his family will be over on Sunday for Easter. Haven't got to see him in a while...it will be nice. Not a clue what I'm going to cook. Not sure if I want to cook ham or not. Yet one more thing to decide on. However, yams do sound good...hhhmmmmmm. :)

 

my son and my grand daughter....think

she loves her daddy much?  :)

Throw in working all the time (issues, issues, issues), trying to squeeze time in for the gym and dealing with the day to day stuff and all the projects - home, car and crafts - and you can see how three weeks went by in a flash. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it. 

I guess that's all for now.....I will try very hard to keep you updated on the progress of Forrest, the Wee Stuffies and the newest ones before I open my Etsy store. So until then......

Be Good, Be Safe, Be Happy!!

TTFN

p.s. - seems I've stalled out at 29......then again maybe not. :)