Ellifolks - Bears, Critters, and Stuff

January 8th, 2012

Kelly Kilmer Workshops and Art Journaling

Last week (December 29 and 30) I took 2 days worth of Kelly Kilmer art journaling workshops at Ink About It, a rubber stamp store in Westford, MA. Kelly was a wonderful teacher and the classes were great fun.

I learned how to make two simple journals with 40 pages each. One was made of a smooth 140 lb. paper and had decorative tape covered cover pages. (See above.)

The second journal was a hardback journal with a sewn signature and a variety of papers used for the pages.

We made each journal in a very short amount of time which was very liberating.

Inside of hardback journal with collaged and journaled page

The rest of the workshop was spent working on some of the pages. Kelly had inspiring ideas on designing journal pages and also a ton of writing prompts. We tried out lots of supplies (many were new to me) — various pens, decorative papers and tapes, stamps, and transparencies. The way Kelly paced the classes so that we worked very quickly without too much planning made art journaling seem like a doable rather than an overwhelming process.

Inside page of tape journal with collage and ink drawing

Collage page with journaling

January 6th, 2012

Suzette, New Miniature Mohair Bear

I finished a new bear. Suzette is a 3 1/4″ miniature made of a hand-dyed sparse German Schulte mohair. She is wearing a pearl cotton headband with a satin rose.

She is sold, but you can see some more photos and description here in my Etsy shop.

January 3rd, 2012

Illustration Friday – Highlight

The “highlight” of Josie and Ralph’s day was sitting in the parlor together watching the boats come back into harbor before dinner.

I decided to do participate in this week’s Illustration Friday “Highlight” challenge using my new IPad and some IPad art apps. For this little sketch, I used IDraw, a vector drawing program for the drawing and Art Rage, a paint program for the color. I’m having so much fun drawing on the IPad. Will write more about it in some future posts.

February 28th, 2011

Sullivan New Miniature Mohair Bear in Etsy Shop

I have added my new little Sullivan, a hand dyed and hand shaded miniature mohair bear, to my Etsy shop. Sullivan is 3 1/4″ tall and is dyed a pretty ochre color. He is made of a sparse Schulte German mohair with hand shaded detailing.

Sullivan has big brown glass eyes and a distressed grey-blue silk ribbon scarf. He would love for you to visit him on his Etsy page here.

February 16th, 2011

Sadie and Olivia, New Bear and Bunny in Etsy Shop

I have added a new bear and bunny to my Etsy shop. They would love for you to come visit.

Sadie is a 6 3/4″ hand dyed and hand shaded mohair bear with glass eyes and embroidered nose, mouth, and claws. Sadie is wearing a vintage rayon ribbon headband. She is made of an aged, sparse Schulte German mohair that I dyed a dusty rose color. You can visit her here.

Olivia is a 7 ” hand-dyed wool bunny with glass eyes and embroidered nose. She is made of a lovely short Schulte German wool that I dyed a nice tangerine shade.

She has long, curly whiskers and is wearing a vintage flower by her ear. She can stand by herself. You can visit her here.

December 31st, 2010

Last Day for Chance to Win Beautiful Essie’s Dolls Book!

Browsing through some doll blogs, I found that doll artist, Esther Verschoor is having a give away for a book on her wonderful dolls. Today is the last day to submit a chance to win a beautiful book by Essie’s Dolls, Vanessie by Esther Verschoor.

Essie is a talented doll artist who makes dark art dolls. She is from the Netherlands and is a member of the DABIDA doll organization there. You can find her give-away post here.

December 14th, 2010

Thrift Shopping in St. Louis

We were in St. Louis visiting friends and relatives. As always when I visit a place, I love checking out the thrift and antique shops and flea markets. This time I was on a mission to find vintage clothing or fabric to use for bear and doll clothing.

St. Louis has two antique areas that I like to visit. One is the Central West End and the other is Cherokee Street. Central West End Cherokee Street is less high-end than the Central West End and it is easier to find bargains. There were several second-hand clothing stores there, but I didn’t find anything for the dolls/bears. I did buy a pair of cute earrings for my daughter (a modern combination of new and retro).

I also found some fun t-shirts and a small bag for my daughter at a Salvation Army store, and a vintage Japanese stuffed dog (for me) with a red beret at a thrift store near our hotel.