Cottage White Shabby Sweet Bunny!

I have listed another cottage white piece! This one is a little bunny with a hand dyed silk ruffle around her/his neck. The ears are accented with a vintage style print.

Even if you don't have a cottage white style house, touches of it here and there can be quite charming. I think it's a very cheerful look and it takes us back to simpler times. In fact, I'm working on replacing all of my towels and sheets with white. I am a 50s child, so it is a very nostalgic look for me.

Tip:
I used wire armatures in the ears and the tail for this piece. Even simple pieces benefit from armatures.

new website look!

I have been reworking my website. It is now lighter and brighter. I hope you like it! I created a new banner (the photo above).

Also, I am creating a separate sister site for my jewelry so that it is not mixed in with my dolls. I felt that offering both art forms under one roof was too confusing for my customers.

After 8 months of healing from the 8 spinal fusions I had last May, I am finally ready to buckle down and concentrate on my work. I am going to be honest and tell you that the tremor in my left hand from PD has been considerably worse since my spine surgery, but I'm hoping medication changes will help. I see the neurologist tomorrow.
Whatever, I never give up on hope for a permanent cure.

It's a new day! Let's sculpt!

a cottage bunny

I have listed another shabby sweetie on Ebay. It's a shy little OOAK cottage bunny! I used printed paper to accent the ears and I made a simple little fan out of a page from an old school book to send with him for display.....just because I thought it would be cute! Here is the link to my bunny auction:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/170772698940?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

Sculpting tutorials baby face and hands

It has been brought to my attention that my tutorials are not easily found on my blog. I will post the links here today and try to find a way to make them more accessable.

You will have to copy and paste them into your browser because I can never seem to make the link icon work.


Hand part I

http://toodlesocks.blogspot.com/2010/11/hand-tutorial-part-1.html

Hand part II

http://toodlesocks.blogspot.com/2010/11/hand-tutorial-part-2.html


Face tutorial:


http://toodlesocks.blogspot.com/2010/06/my-new-ooak-doll-baby-tutorial.html

OOAK Baby Orangutan

Here is another one of my orangutans, a baby with eyes that plead for you to pick him up! His name is Toby. He has just bits of fur on his arms and legs because he is such a young one. He is 2 1/2 inches long and lies on his back, although you can have him sit if you want. I really do think he is the most pitifully cute creature I have ever sculpted! Here is his auction, started at a very low price!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170632194250&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

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.

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!

Free polymer clay bunny tutorial!

Are you ready? I have finished my bunny tutorial. It's rather long, but I tried to show you each step. And, don't forget to enter the contest! It's all free and you could win! Here are a few additional things that I would like to tell you about making the bunny. If you want to keep the bunny white, and not antique it, wash your hands really well and make sure your working surface is very clean. Polymer clay picks up any debris or dust like a magnet. I like to work on a piece of white paper just to keep my area extra clean. If you don't want to antique your bunny,just stop skip that part and continue on to the painting. I used a filed down toothpick to show you how to dot the eyes if you don't have a stylus. I missed showing the photos where I applied Future Floor wax to the egg, and sprinkled Glamour Dust on it. I can't seem to be able to insert them where they should be, so just do it like you were in kindergarten playing with glitter!

Supplies and a contest!

First, I just want to make sure you have what you need to make the bunny and peeps. If you want your bunny to look vintage, you should buy a bottle of antique medium.....any kind will do. Mine is Folk Art and the bottle has lasted me for years! You should have a bottle of black paint for the face and if you want to put some sparkle on your peeps (for a sugar look), get a bottle of Glamour Dust at Michael's. I use Future Floor wax and then sprinkle on the dust. Just don't use clear finger nail polish because it eats polymer clay! I am going to tie a ribbon around the neck of my bunny. So look around your house for a piece of ribbon or you can usually get a spool of it at Michael's for 50 cents.
Here's a list:

1 bar Sculpey white or ivory
1 bar Sculpey yellow
black acrylic paint (Apple Barrel is cheap and will work fine)
Glamour Dust (use a 40% off coupon to buy this at Michael's)
Future Floor Wax or Sculpey matt glaze
2 toothpicks
a liner brush for the bunny face
An Oven!


I am going to have a drawing for my bunny that I make for the tutorial.......ok, and the chicks too! All you have to do is sign up as a follower of my blog (if you aren't already signed up) and send your name and address to mailto:SABartocci@gmail.com I will put all of the names in a box and have my husband draw a name. I promise I will be honest. I am going to start on my tutorial tomorrow, so you can make your bunny and chicks this weekend! Think Spring!

Back to my OOAKs and soldering for 2011

After a very fun and very busy Christmas (two trips back to Ohio in December), I am nearly ready to start on new pieces for 2011! I have some new ideas in the works and can't wait to share them with you!

I am really into dolls and fairies with extremely white faces right now, so that will be one of my first projects. I plan to make some larger soldered pieces for wall hangings. As always, I probably have more ideas than time.

Alan is officially retired right now so he will be helping me rep my work to various local shops, particularly in the quaint city of Orange. I am also going to work on pumping up my website, which I have had to put on the back burner for a while.

See you soon!

hand tutorial part 1

Here is part one of my hand tutorial that I keep promising you. I am sorry about the debris in the clay. I usually sculpt much cleaner than this, but I had used my desk for soldering and didn't get it cleaned well enough. I wanted to get this done for you, however, so please overlook the specks of dust.

I have struggled with hands ever since I started sculpting and could not make a decent hand with round fingers until I came up with this method. If anyone else is using this method, I have not seen their version. I tried the usual technique where you cut in the fingers, but they always ended up flat! I work so tiny that it was impossible to roll them into round shapes after cutting.

I will post part 2 later today.