Hello, My name is Paulette and I'm a clay addict

I am so frustrated right now. I feel like I've lost my crafty mojo. I want to create, but my hands aren't working right! I've sculpted and taken apart the same head 6 times now. Argh! Here's some of the stuff I've accomplished this month:
The picture on the left is the Witch's head that I sculpted a couple of weeks ago. I've wigged her by gluing sections of wool roving to her head using fabric glue. A technique I learned from watching a youtube video of the Creager sculpting tutorials. You can't see it here because the picture is so fuzzy, but she has a couple of hairs coming from her mole too. And I didn't like her painted on eyebrows, so I carved them off and "rooted" some new ones.
The head on the left is about half of the size of the Witch. I started out sculpting a woman's head, intending it to be Mary for a Nativity. I decided to turn her into joseph, because I didn't think she was pretty enough. The beard and hair are "rooted" the same way as the Witch's eyebrows. I know I need to finish the witch. I'm having some issues about how best to costume her. I bought some fabrics, but some of them just don't feel right. I want her done before Halloween, so that I can display her.
I've also sculpted a baby's head and part of a torso.
My house needs a good cleaning and the laundry needs to be done, and I need to make bread today, so, I need to switch gears. I need to buckle down and tell myself no more sculpting today!

Discworld Challenge finished

I can't believe how long it took to make that necklace. That's what I get for dumping all my beads together. It took 2 hours to find all those seed beads and fish them out and string them together.
Hopefully now that this is done, I can get motivated to fix some things around the house! LOL!

WIP Mermaid

It's funny how things don't always come out as I envisioned them. The doll I'm working on is a mermaid. I've sewn the pieces and have found out that the arms are too large, her tail isn't as long as I thought it would be, and she's chubby! This is entirely my own pattern, so I have only myself to blame for these strange happenings. I'm thinking having her turn out chubby might be a good thing. There's so many skinny mermaids out there. Why not have a chubby one?
I know why this happened. I'm using a knit, and laid the pattern out so that the stretch was horizontal. I have some ideas for embellishments, but nothing has been decided yet.

Edgar the Troll

I almost forgot about Edgar! I made him for Hyrum's 9th birthday. Don't ask me how I got from 1 baby to 5 and now my eldest is. It's so true taht the days go by slowly, yet the years speed by!
Anyhoo, Edgar is made using Ute Vasina's pattern for Whisper. To make him more masculine, I sculpted in an uni-brow, and gave him a hint of facial hair. I learned a few things using this pattern that I am now incorporating into my own pattern making. I really like the seperate tow, and the seperate thumb piece. It make the hand look more natural. The only thing I didn't like was the attachment of the legs. I jointed the arms, but the pattern is drafted so that the troll is permanantly in a sitting position. This is okay if it's a work of art that won't be played with, but since I'm making him to be played with, I repositioned the legs. He's a bit bow legged, but that just adds to his character I think!

Past successes

Pacific sea Maid, from Spiderwick Chronicles. Adaptation from the poppet pattern.
The White Rabbit from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. He is crocheted using angel hair yarn, and then brushed to make the yarn fuzz.

Thimbletack from the Spiderwick Chronicles.
Maude the Fairy Godmother is made using the Elenore pattern which I developed using the poppet pattern as a guide.



This is Albert the Lab Rat. He is made using an adaptation of the poppet pattern.

Alice in Wonderland dolls

I made a series of three dolls for Christmas presents for the kids this year. The theme was Alice in Wonderland. I made the March Hare, Alice, and The Mad Hatter. I'm really enjoying learning how to needle sculpt. It's fun to watch the dolls come alive in my hand, as I go through each process.