The Time Fairy...

You might not remember but I started this little piece months ago, when I made a paper doll head. I do that kind of thing when I can't think of what to make, or what to write.

She's been sitting on my table, waiting for me to finish her, but I couldn't think of her story. Why DID she have that skull in her hair?

Because she's a Time Fairy, that's why. The skull is a reminder. Tick, tock.
I finished the edges with gold tissue paper and then added a crackle finish.
We're getting ready to go on vacation. Chaos prevails. I can't find anything, and yet I am sure I will pack everything but the kitchen sink (I'd pack that, too, but it's attached!). When I get back, I am going to finish Barbie's makover and have her reveal. I need to think about how to dress her. Maybe something will pop up alongside the road. Kidding.

Have a wonderful weekend all, and I will see you all in a week or so.

A new doll and a Barbie update...

I've been working on a new kind of skelly doll. This is Lurline.
Lurline is made from sculpey. I made all her bones separately and then tied them together with embroidery thread and a little glass bead. I have to say, I have fallen in love with her, so I'm going to keep this one. Besides, I need to have her around to help me tweak the design some.
I had this great black fabric from the 'after Halloween' sale at JoAnns. Igor and I rediscovered it while tidying the lab.
I shaded her face with colored pencils and then gave all her little bones a crackle finish. Before I tied them together, I gave each bone (and her head) several coats of matte varnish (except for her teeth, I used gloss on those so they would shine!). She has glass bead eyes for sparkle. I decided she needed some kind of hat, so I hand-stitched one from felt and black glass beads. Of course, she needed a necklace. I'm going to be making some of these for my etsy shop. I think they would look great sitting next to a Halloween pumpkin, or maybe I should put a loop on her back so she can hang from a Halloween tree?

Speaking of hanging around, here's Barbie lounging in a teacup. She's wearing her special 'beauty mask'. (Shhhh, don't tell her it's really gesso!) I'm telling you, Barbie is VERY different from this picture now. She is scaring me. I can't wait to scare you, too.

Have a fabulous week! (And remember, gesso is NOT a beauty mask! Unless you are a Barbie...)

When it's hot outside...

...it can get a little spooky inside Casa Smallcomb. While Barbie is off at the 'spa' getting her new look, I decided to play with textures on canvas. I decided what these little canvases needed was some skelliness.

This one is called "Home, Sweet Home". I used all sorts of gel mediums, and tissue paper and crackle on the canvas before I added the sweet little skelly girl.

"Best Friends"

These are small canvases, about 3 x 5. They are the perfect size for spooky little experiments.

"Lou Anne"
You can see the paper doily I used in the background. One thing I am learning, if I want the background to have any color left after I crackle-finish it, I have to start with really bright colors. The background colors for Lou Anne were bright red and yellow.

Okay, that's enough weirdness for now. I'll go call the spa and see how Barbie is doing.

Igor and I were cleaning the laboratory...

...and I discovered some new victims...er...I mean dolls I bought at the thrift store a while ago.








This Barbie cost me an entire dollar. Why did I buy her? (Yes, I can hear you asking.) Well, because she bends at the knees and elbows, of course.

And some one has already cut off all her hair, so I know she would have been in the thrift store doll box a long, long, time. When I bought her, the lady at the counter gave me a weird look and said (to the doll), "Poor thing."

I have issues with Barbie. It's because of her that I had unrealistic expectations concerning my body. Let me tell you, it was a shock to grow up and not have a 9 inch waist and a 40 inch bust.
For that matter, Ken sure took his sweet time. So the least I can do is give Barbie a slight makeover, right? He he.

Now some would argue that these 3 little dolls are cute. I don't happen to agree. I think they are already pretty creepy. I paid 75 cents for the 3 of them. They aren't good toys for kids, so I think I am doing the world a favor by giving them a holiday makeover (Come on, guess which holiday!).

Igor agrees.

So things are a little busy down here in the lab. I have lots of new work to post, but tomorrow is high school graduation for Pat, where we will sit in the sun and bake like clams. Actually, we will steam like clams.

I wanted to end this post on a happy note, so here are some flowers from my DH.
Now I've got to go. Igor is putting seasoning salt on the dolls. That's never a good sign.