find my jewelry in these shops

If you live in the Tucson, Arizona area, you can find my jewelry at "The Grey House" on N.Country Club Road. If you are in Orange County California, you can find it at "Flatter Me Again" on Santa Anna Canyon Road next to LA Fitness. Please stop by and see my creations! I will be adding inventory to other stores when I return from vacation on July 11th. I am also going to be doing a line of branding jewelry for a new company based here in Orange County.

OOAK baby fairy in magical baby buggy!

Here's another wee one! I named her Gracie. I didn't make the buggy, but as soon as I saw it I thought "I have to make a baby fairy to sleep in that!"

She is only 3 inches long. She has a green sparkly hat and shoes. She is very cutely anatomically correct.

She will be up for auction on Ebay until July 18,2010.

Here is the auction link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170506517589&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

OOAK Pod baby named Bitty Bug!

Bitty Bug is my new pod baby listing on Ebay. She is not really a fairy (no wings) but not really human with her little sprout of maribou hair!
She really is tiny and cute, though.

I tried photographing the ear process to continue with my tutorial, but I just couldn't show you how to do it without someone else to hold the camera. So, maybe I can grab a family member to help me take photos with the next one. I hope you have been somewhat enlightened from my tutorials.

I am working on two new babies right now. One will have open eyes. I haven't done one of those for a while. I really like the position of the other one. You'll see!

June Bug! A baby OOAK fairy

This is June Bug. I really think she has the sweetest face of all of my babies. She is only 3 inches long and has transparency wings that have been sprinkled with magical fairy dust.

She is getting ready to celebrate the summer season.

She is not the baby that I show in the tutorial, but she was created with the same method. The baby in the tutorial will be finished soon, so watch for her! I will try to show you how I do ears if you stay tuned!

My new OOAK doll baby tutorial!

This is my gift to you. I spent a lot of time last night trying to capture images as I create my next doll. She will probably be about a 4 inch doll when she is completed.
I could not photograph everything that I did, only because I don't have a third hand to hold the camera while I am working. So, this is not a complete tutorial as would be possible with a video camera. But, I have tried to give you the highlights of how I go about creating one of my little ones. I could not show all of the tweaking and smoothing I do for my dolls because I sometimes spend hours working on a piece until I get it the way I want.
I hope you enjoy looking at the process and please check out all of my new work as it appears here on my blog, on Ebay, and on my web site at www.toodlesocks.com
I appreciate your support and hope you appreciate my effort to teach you how to sculpt like I do.

Little Riley is listed on Ebay!

I named her Riley, a name that can be either girl or boy since "she" is neither. I think of her as a girl baby, though.

Here is her auction link.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170502639268&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

New OOAK baby sculpt

I have finished a new baby to put up for auction on Ebay and I really think it's adorable. My daughter-in-law thinks it has a pure and innocent look. I have made this one "blank." In other words, it is not anatomically correct so it can be a boy or a girl. I'll leave that up to the imagination of the collector. I also left it bald because this one looks so cute that way.
This baby is 3 inches long in it's curled up position.

jewelry box display

A local shop sells my hand crafed jewelry. The owner suggested that I create a little display box or cabinet for it. So, I came up with this design. I am really happy with it. In fact, I plan to make similar ones for Christmas gifts! I don't know about you, but I never seem to have enough places to hang my necklaces and I am a necklace nut! This cabinet could be hung on a wall. I love its altered and eclectic look. For this one, I used photo boxes. One was not long enough to let necklaces hang freely, so I put two together. The wooden top gave me a solid top to screw in the cup hooks. For gifts, I will make the entire piece from wood.

Steampunk OOAK doll is finished!

I think I am keeping her for myself. I love her sweet face and am not ready to say good-bye to her. She is one of my favorite sculpts.

Steampunk is an interesting genre with a blend of Victorian, science fiction (think Jules Verne), fantasy, and, of course, the age and invention of steam power.

I might end up putting her on my web site, but for now she takes her place in my family room with other magical creatures and babies that I have created. I like to have my home filled with items that have meaning rather than merely store-bought decor, although I have a bit of that.

I haven't named her. I am sure a name will come to me. They always do.

Here are some facts about her:
The watch is brand new, but I aged it to keep with the look.
I hand sculpted her satchel and need to take some close up photos so you can see how realistic it is!
I cut her wings from tin and then filed them down on the edges so they would not be so sharp.
Her top is made from very old vintage lace.
Her eyes were hand painted and then glossed.
Her finger nails are very detailed with white tips and gloss.
I used Prosculpt for this doll. It's my favorite...thank you Jack Johnson!
She has a brass key hole on the back of her wings. I will have to take a photo of that too!
Now, on to my next mission....budget babies for ebay! With the economy so tight, I am going to do a line of simple babies so that collectors can keep collection OOAK artist dolls at a low starting price. Collectors can be happy with the opening price and I can be happy doing them without much clothing.

what the camera sees

So I had been working on my steampunk doll and didn't realize how out of whack her chest was until I saw the photos of her. I have now re-worked her chest. She is a young fairy, so I don't know if I will put clothing on her chest or not, but it wasn't to my satisfaction to see her chest be so uneven. I simply had to re-do it.

My tip is to use your camera to see what you are really doing. See what is really there and don't go by what you THINK you see.

A lesson learned.

Steampunk fairy child WIP

I am really excited about my steampunk fairy! The "work in progress" or WIP picture is not a very good one, since took it late last night and had to use a flash. The real little watch gears on her helmet are much more detailed in person.
I am drawn to steampunk for some reason. I liked it even before I knew it had a name! Gears, watch parts, nuts, bolts, flying machines all of the components of this look are intriguing to me. Each person has their own interpretation of what Steampunk is and where its boundries lie. Within my definition are old typewriter keys and old telephone components...two things that I was drawn to as a child. As a matter of fact, my love for typewriters almost killed me. There was a metal cabinet in one of the bedrooms in the old white house where I lived until I was seven. On the very top was a lovely old black typewriter. I wanted that typewriter! I climbed the shelves of the cabinet and it came crashing down on me with keys flying and bouncing on the hardwood floor everywhere. My mom was afraid for Dad to pick up the cabinet for fear that they would find me dead under it. But I was tougher than that! I just wish I had those keys for my work today! Who knew they would be valuable treasures?
This little girl has a long way to go, but she will get steampunk-ier and more refined as I continue with her. So stay with me and watch her.
My next sculpt is going to be a treat for my followers. I am going to try really hard to take pics from the very beginning.
See those books from Amazon that are running along my blog? I started out with the Maureen Carlson book and progressed to the Katherine Dewey one, which is my Bible for sculpting. I highly recommend these books.

Have a good weekend!

Summer Garden Fairy Baby

I listed a baby garden fairy on Ebay. She sleeps in a miniature wheelbarrow and comes with three tiny clay pots. She is a wee one at only 3 inches to the tip of her lace hat. She has very rosey cheeks, lots of baby creases, a cute little chest an bottom, and the sweetest little detailed feet. I hand sculpted her from professional polymer clay.
It's fun to be back on Ebay. I hope this baby gets adopted soon so that someone can enjoy her company during the summer months. She is anatomically correct and arrives in only her hat and her birthday suit!

Here's the link to her auction:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170494197926&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

I started her out at only $25, so grab her and add her to your miniature or doll collection!