Beautiful new jewelry!

I promise I am getting back to my ooak dolls. In fact, I have three baby heads sculpted and am going to work on the bodies starting this evening. But, I just had to take time to list my new jewelry. I am especially fond of my new bracelet. I found a vintage Oneida bracelet and embellished it with silver metal stampings and an onyx center. The new Wedgewood pendant is really striking too! I love embellishing my broken china pieces. I think the embellishments really raise the bar on this popular trend. The collage necklace with the chain is really unique. The chain gives it a lot of dimension.
Please check them out on my website. Click on the collage box or the broken china box on my home page.
www.toodlesocks.com

New collage necklaces!

I love these necklaces! I never make two exactly alike,so just like my dolls, they are OOAK, or one of a kind. I use vintage looking stampings and antique findings on a brass base to create these "statement" pieces of jewelry. They are each 16 1/2 inches long, but I can lengthen or shorten them. To purchase, please contact me here, or buy with PayPal directly from my website:
www.toodlesocks.com

The Junk Jar

Soon, I will be posting some photos of my new collage jewelry, but, in the meantime, I thought I would tell you about one of my childhood memories. In the 50s and 60s we were easily entertained with simple things, very simple things. We had two stations to choose from on our black and white TV, so we had little technology to keep us busy. My sister and I spent our time playing with paper dolls, board games, playing school, and making tents out of old blankets, but one of our favorite past times was going to Grandma Bartocci's house and asking if we could get out "The Junk Jar." This special jar held an assortment of random odds and ends that Grandma had collected over the years. It was a Mason or Ball jar that held wonderful things like a few marbles, buttons, little animal figures , pieces of hardware, jacks, coins,Cracker Jacks prizes, and other "magical" items. I don't know why we were so intrigued with the jar, but I thought it would be interesting to make my own collection of junk for children to dump out on the floor when they come to my house to visit. Sure enough, I found that they immediately were drawn to it and the junk was the first thing they wanted when they came through the door! Of course, you can't let very small children play with junk jar because of choking danger, but you just might want to start collecting your own odds and ends for your very own junk jar! I think that part of the fascination with Grandma's jar was that we had to ask permission to play with it. So, you might keep that in mind.

I don't know what happened to that jar, but I sure would like to look through it one more time.

New! Baby Garden Fairy!

My new baby fairy sleeps in a flower that is attached to a brass candlestick. She is only 4 inches long. The candlestick, including the flower is about 8 inches long. She is anatomically correct and she is removable from her flower. The piece looked so cute sitting with my pots of flowers while I was taking photographs. She fit right in! I have her for sale on my website:

www.toodlesocks.com

The shipping is included with the cost of this baby! Also, I do take PayPal.

Decorating on a shoestring!

As promised, here is a photo of my $12.90 night stand! In the photo of the finished guest bedroom, you can see the matching one on the other side of the bed. In case you didn't see original post about this room, let me fill you in on some of my thrift store finds. The triple dresser is by Stanley and I paid $19 for it. The hutch on top of the dresser was free! My son and daughter-in-law pulled it out of a trash bin at their apartment complex. Unbelieveable, huh? I made the pictures over the bed. For those, I simply used scrapbook paper and watercolor paper. The frames were inexpensive ones from WalMart($3 each if I remember correctly). They were brown so they got a couple of coats of white paint. The chest on the left, the one with three drawers, was only $29.00 and the mirror over it was $11.00. The vintage lamps were $10 a piece with new shades. I just want to show you that you don't have to put a lot of money into a room, any room, to make it attractive and inviting. BTW, my dad made the shelf over the bed many years ago. I painted it white to match the rest of the room. All of the bedding and pillows are new and were found at Kohl's and TJMaxx.

So get some paint and get to it!

Foot Stool Idea!

I really must start remembering to take "before" photos so you can see some of the "ugly" things I turn into treasures.
For example, I have had this small foot stool for years. It had some very dated fabric on it, so I decided to recover it in a neutral tone. When I finished with the fabric, it just didn't look very interesting. The idea of a doily came to me. Although I often use antique and vintage doilies for my dolls, the one I used for this stool is new and came from JoAnn Fabrics. I will do anything to avoid a thread and needle, so I used FabriTac (gotta love it!) to secure it to the new fabric on the stool. I am thinking that I just might add a button to the center of the doily.

Coming soon:
I will show you my $12.90 end tables that I painted to go in my white guestroom. Honestly, they are super sturdy and well made, but they were an ugly blonde color. At only $12.90 each, I had to give them a try! I just need to put the knobs on them and then I will click some pics!

Sue Anne's diet tip!

Ok, this has nothing to do with sculpting or soldering, but I want to share one of my diet tips that gets me through the day.

Sometimes, I just have to have something fizzy! I pour selzer water over ice and top it off with juice....maybe just an 1/8 of a cup to give it a little flavor. The selzer water has no calories (don't use club soda as it has salt in it) and the juice is so sparse that it must have no more than 20 calories or so. I am not a fan of diet drinks and they just aren't good for you! This way, I get the fizz, a bit of flavor, and not many calories. My daughter-in-law, Christine, calls it my "refreshing drink!" If I am out of selzer water, I do the same thing with filtered water. Just top off a glass of ice water or selzer water with pomegranate juice,orange juice, pineapple juice....whatever you have in the fridge! Of course you can do something similar with lemon or lime, but I prefer juice!

I have this baby in a bunny suit up for sale on my website for only $59. That is a great price for a doll that is one of a kind. Her face will never be repeated because I never use molds.
If you would rather buy her from my blog, please write me at am803@aol.com. I have her set up on the website for paypal, but other payment methods are not out of the question.
About her:
She is 4 inches high to the tip of her bunny ears. She has hand painted eyes which were glossed for realism. I sprinkled a light layer of fairy dust on her because I simply love sparkles! She has detailed bunny feet pads. Her face was painted with fine acrylics and Genesis heat set paints, then sealed.
She is eagerly waiting to help you celebrate spring at your house!

Soldered ephemera collage memory or jewelry boxes

I don't think I have shown you my jewelery boxes! Using purchased boxes, I soldered a collage under glass to embellish the top of the boxes. They are simply beautiful, unique, and one of a kind boxes where you can keep your memories, trinkets, or jewelry. The one with the little girl, vintage doily, and key is sold, but the fairy one is available on my website:

www.toodlesocks.com

I can customize boxes if you forward any old photos or other memorabilia to me. Please contact me at am803@aol.com if you are interested. These boxes would be an unexpected and fanstastic gift! Ideas for your collage would be old tickets, meaningful fabric, photos, labels, buttons, lace,old keys, jewlery, etc. I will forward a photo of the collage to you for your approval before I solder.

OOAK fairy baby WIP

While I have been working on my baby bunny, I have also been working on this baby fairy (I make use of the time that I have one curing in the oven). Here is my baby fairy, which I think I will finish with a Victorian look. I know she looks pretty shocking without arms, but I will "transplant" her forearms and hands tomorrow. If you want to see how I sculpt hands, go to my hand tutorial here on my blog. I sculpt each finger individually. Cutting them into the hand just doesn't work for me, so I figured out my own technique.
You can also look at my thread showing you my technique for sculpting OOAK faces.
Happy collecting!

Bunnies made using my tutorial

Think you can't make a bunny for this spring? Look at the ones these Arizona ladies made using my tutorial. I am so proud of them!

OOAK doll ~ bunny baby WIP

Here is my work in progress, a baby in a bunny suit! I still have to refine, paint, and detail her. Wait until you see how much personality will come from the eyes!
The ears have a wire armature for extra strength. I really hate working with armatures, but every sculptor has to learn this discipline.
No she doesn't have her own ears showing because they will be "under" the bunny hat part of her costume. You'll see.
Watch for photos of the finished bunny. Coming soon!