The Freedom to Create

Flora the Book Promotion  Good morning everyone and Happy Spring! I've recently accepted a commission to create a doll to  represent the character of the book "Flora". I've been tasked with making 25 dolls to go with the book. Flora doll While making these dolls I thought I would share with you some design tips in crochet with what I've learned while making these dolls. Unfortunately I can't share the pattern itself but I can share some do's and don't(s) which may make your design projects go a bit more smoothly. For instance: Tip #1 (which I may have come to learn a bit late in the game) for a smoother finish look around the edges of sleeves and dresses use a slip stitch around the final row of the piece. The sleeve on the right is the sleeve with the slip stitch. The one on the left is not and it leaves a definite mark at the end of the row.  Let me know your thoughts about it or if you have any other suggestions to benefit all you lovely crochet-ers...

Even if you've never made a fabric doll before, but have always wanted to try it, here's a video tutorial to get you jump-started on your way. It doesn't require fancy machinery. I have a simple light-weight Brother jx2517 along with a Brother Serger (not required). All you need is a large selection of fabrics to choose from. I used some new (fat quarters from Walmart for $.97) and recycled some clothing into scrap (clean). Sewing needle for hand sewing, thread, the pattern pieces which I have available as a digital download ($7.99) at LollyLins  on Etsy. Stuffing material and notions (ie: buttons, ribbon, etc) and last but not least an unbridled IMAGINATION. I hope you enjoy this video and you'll give this a try. Happy Creating, Linda, LollyLins

All the little pieces that go into creating something special. From the vision of designing, to layout, measure, and cutting. To bring everything together into a unique expressive creation. The weather is cooling down and has put me in the mood for sewing and creating cloth dolls.  This pair of unique Monster/Voodoo Dolls were my first creations which are now available through my etsy shop at LollyLins . The Monster pictured on the left is my frustration doll (resembling #45) while the one on the right is the Zombie of the Corn. With each creation I find myself more free to express by using various techniques with fabric. The denim on the Zombie is first bleached with rock salt added to give it a mottled effect. Marker was used in creating the eyelashes and charcoal around the eyes and face to give it a scruffy appearance. I found that making these dolls was very therapeutic in helping me break out of the norms by being bold and daring to try new things.  Do...

This is an update on my last post of "The Right Combination". I am considering what jewels to place on the portrait study. Recreating an image I had viewed many years ago, I am having difficulty with imagining the exact jewels I had originally seen in the photograph. So over the past few days I've been conducting a little research. I've discovered (or so I think) that the plates on the necklace were not necessarily "gold" but may be hammered brass. Giving thought to what natural elements would they have at the ready. What raw materials would they use? Raw gems such as turquoise, bone, beads, clay, metals such as brass, silver, copper. In the drawing below, I used my eraser end to put in place where I want the adornments to be. The shape of the headdress fitting the contour of the head, the nose ring, the earrings, the gemstones and placement of the necklace. This is my working copy of the portrait so I don't want to get hung up with the...

First Flight This is my next painting challenge. The sketch came about when I was combing through a magazine in search of subjects to draw. I came upon this ad for boy's attire dressed in the style of vintage wear dating in the 1930's. He caught my eye with his endearing pose and such a serious look on his face. Wearing a shirt and tie with a cream colored cable knit sweater vest, tweed knickers with argyle socks and his "newsboy" cap. He looked as though he had just completed his first flight in a hot air balloon. The backdrop was just as intriguing as the boy himself with a slate blue sky and the contrasting shadows of the hot air balloon at rest as it lay on a field of yellow green grass. Striking. The sketch was created in 2008 (six years earlier). I had tried to do this painting as an oil painting. I love oils. At that time it just didn't seem to go well. I packed the sketch away in my box. In my opinion it is as important to select the right medium as...

The Gilded Path One of my daily pleasures is to make paths in the woods which are located out my back door. I walk them alone or sometimes with my daughter who climbs the trees. We take our goats in the woods so they might enjoy the tasty morsels of  foliage. While raking the paths I take notice of tender new plants that emerge after a winter's rest. These new sprouts change the direction of my path. I have a particular spot that I seem focused on so I began doing a pencil study. The path The log from a dead tree (located on the right) serves as a watering trough for the animals. The tree itself had been a fallen tree and has since birthed a new tree. I love to watch the light play through the leaves onto the paths. Initially, I thought of creating a watercolor from this sketch which I had started. Rather than allowing the painting to take me where it wanted to go I was the one controlling the painting. I stopped. Placed it aside and took another prepa...

                                                                  final painting                                                                        sketch I thought it would be fun to use the pony sketch to practice with all the bells and whistles in Corel Painter 12.  Beginning with a simple sketch of the pony, scanning it into the com...

Just think of all that we are missing out on when we keep our focus on worldly affairs and how they're going to " infect " (aka affect) our lives. Wow! that's like watching paint dry which is what I am doing this morning as I prepare a piece for painting. I caught my muse this morning while putting Jaime on the bus. I looked at the heavens and there it was. This beautiful morning sunrise filled with pinks and purples against a light blue backdrop. Emerging from the Georgia pines was a huge ball of fire all ablaze in it's glory. I couldn't get in the house fast enough. I so wanted to capture what my eyes fell upon this morning. I had unloaded some scrap wood from the car the day before. I selected a crescent shaped piece of lumber, grabbed my sandpaper to clean and smooth it out. I drilled holes in the back for hanging. Now, I am waiting for the first coat of gesso to dry. While I am waiting, I drew out a rough sketch. Nothing elaborate. Simply to note p...

This foot was made for walkin'...and that's just what it'll do....one of these days this foot is gonna walk all over you. Singing to Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots are made for Walkin'" while painting my foot. Adding color, trying to control a realistic feel of this foot. I am still not satisfied with the toenails but I am satisfied with the overall appearance.  ' In the picture above there is a vein that I think is too large, so I will add a bit of flesh tone to narrow it out a bit. Overall, I don't think it's to bad for a first timer. Next, I'll be constructing a hand.  Stay tuned! I would love to hear  some feedback as to any suggestions. Please feel free to post and comment.

This post is a continuation of " The measure of a Foot ". The final goal is that this clay model represent the life-like quality of a human foot. After allowing the clay to air dry. I began applying gesso as a primer before applying acrylic paint.  The above picture shows the application of 3 coats of gesso. The picture below shows the application of acrylic paints. Human flesh is comprised of several shades. The color is not one single color. I mixed some red, some blue, some sienna brown, along with a touch of yellow. All in varying degrees adding gesso to the paint as I did not want the transparency of the pure paint. I used a papertowel dipped with a touch of water to smooth over the surface. I think this foot is developing nicely . I hope to see it walk off the table by itself. I see that I still have the toenails and maybe another over all thin coating of color. I will post the completed piece in a final entry on this project. Hope you'll follow along.

Julinka is from Jumar the planet of the Green Moons.  I had created a sample character drawing awhile back. The drawing sat in my stack of papers for some time. I thought it was time to bring out the character and do something with it. I then created "Julinka". I gave her a jeweled nose and pads on her hands to imitate jewels. The background for Julinka was computer generated. I thought it would be neat to have a jeweled appearance as well. Now it's time to create a story around "Julinka from Jumar-the planet of the Green Moons".

Where would my mom and her co-workers have been without that 38 button call directory? Growing up that's all my sister and I heard, repeatedly. What is it you might ask? It's a switchboard. Thank goodness for God allowing the human mind to go beyond the limits and to stretch the imagination through the use of technology.  I, myself, was technologically challenged when I bought my first computer and mainstreamed with an internet connection. The door was wide open and so much to explore and learn. There still is, in fact even more now than before. Things are changing by the second. In traveling with the Divine Creative Spirit one has to be as creative in marketing as they are with their individual talent. I saw on Elance.com that I could submit a video about my artworks to post on my profile page. It displays a bit more professionalism for those who are looking at your work and that is exactly what I am trying to convey: Professionalism. There are so many creative ways to ...

I thought I would take some time to learn animation and this is what I came up with. This is a little short of a bunny doing his thing. It took all day long and still not quite right but I was exhausted to go any further. A while back I had searched for alternative editing programs and found Sqirlz Morph . It had been sitting in my computer downloads for sometime as I had been busy with other things and qu ite frankly, wasn't ready to learn any new technical material. Yesterday, while my daughter Jaime was at a birthday party, I opened up the program and gave it a go. I like the hands on and dive in approach rather than read tutorials. That's probably why it took me all day.  I used two illustrations that were almost identical. Then I  picked control points in each of the illustrations. It was difficult at first to find the relationship between each illustration and their corresponding control points but with a little maneuvering I began to see it. Now it was starting to...

      The stage is set for a grand production. Camera, lights, action. "Wow!", you're thinking. Y ou take a seat front and center, lights dim, actors in place. A hush falling over the entire theater as the curtain slowly goes up. Undetected by anyone, the faucet drips. Draining all the excitement and enthusiasm from yo ur body. It's left pooling on the floor beside your chair. You attempt to pick it up so no one else slips and falls like you just did.       That's the sort of feeling I get when I make attempts to create something I think is so grand and wonderful in my mind. You set the stage, all the right tools in place, the finished piece in your mind. Filled with excitement and fervent energy waiting to bust loose. All of a sudden "nothing"- it's gone. A voice swept across my mind like a north wind saying "you can't do that", "you're not good enough".      Remember your first experience with being taught "col...

.........are thoughts and words of gratitude. Sipping h ot coffee as I look out the kitchen window, "Good morning Creative Spirit. How are we going to play?" The weather conditions are not my ideal but I know the Creative Spirit will undoubtedly find a way to dissolve the clouds and rain away.  It's rainy, windy and cold so I'll put on my thick green garden boots and my green fishing cap to brave the elements. Remember the colorform boards where we would dress the boy or girl creating a scene with that plastic that stuck to the board? That was fun! I think I will be one of those. Have to go out and feed my herd of goat (nope didn't forget the "s"- I only have one and she is precious). This is Molly  Hey Creative Spirit, we had such fun drawing "Elsie the Cow". I went on to select another project. This one I am not having as much fun with. It has to much "me" in it. What would You like to do with it? If it were left up to me ...

This little bovine is becoming more real as I work on the hair detailing above the eyes and ears and adding the little freckles on her nose. Keep your pencil sharp. I had used an eraser to lighten some areas giving depth to the overall look. She is a glamor girl for sure. Well time for her to head into the barn. Tomorrow we may finish her up. Hope you've enjoyed Elsie today as much as I have. Look forward to hearing from you. 

Elsie says "MOOOOOO-rning!" as we get started on today. No Elsie didn't need milking. She's enjoying the bright sunny gorgeous day while sitting on the kitchen table. Keep your pencil sharp. To start I am using a #4 pencil to increase the shaded area. In the photograph her picture was taken on a  sunshiney day so there are a lot of different tonal areas on her. I see by this posting her left ear looks natural with the different shades even though the light source is coming from the right, that right ear doesn't look as natural. But she is a "work in progress" so I'm not to concerned. I am happy with the shading under her chin on the left side it is appearing to have more of a "hair" texture to it along with her belly shading with the natural dimples. I love her nose and it feels as though I can pet her.  I know she is enjoying all this attention. Woops! Molly the goat outside is getting jealous. Hope you follow along today. I would...

Hi I'm back with stage 3 of playing with Elsie. Still using a #2 pencil. I thought I should attach her head to something. So I set in some of her body. Layering the dark areas, enhancing her eyes and putting in more shading. Keep your pencil sharp. I think I will stick her back in the barn for today. Tomorrow I will move on to a #4 pencil to emphasize the darker midtones.