Happy

Earlier this week I went to the grocery store in search of 'alphabet' noodles.  Not to eat, it's for a polymer clay project that I have in mind.  While browsing the shelves I came across these gorgeous little teddy bears too.

Who could eat that???  Although, now that it is winter, soup is delicious in the cold weather.  Some teddy bears floating in there could look quite interesting.  I will let you in on the polymer and pasta secret soon soon.

Here in South Africa winter is starting properly.  The nights are cold and most of the pretty autumn leaves have fallen.  Colani says that he will still guard the studio door, but only if there is a blanket...

For the next few days I am going to be quite busy.  I am cutting out teddy bears for the workshop this coming weekend, trying to stay up to date with the homework for my sculpting course, and dealing with month end admin.  Doing it all with a glad heart, I am so HAPPY!  Just heard that a special friend is coming for a visit in June!

More Bunnies on Wheels

This week some more bunnies on wheels were completed in class.

This is Alet's bunny.

And this cutie was made by Lena.

Workshops

If you are living close to Tin Soldiers, put these dates in your diary:
Saturday 26 May - 9am to 1pm is our monthly sale day.  Get 10% discount on all your purchases.
Saturday 26 May - 1.30pm to 4.40pm.  Sew along.  Bring your unfinished teddy bears and dolls (we call them UFOs for short - UnFinished Objects).  Sit yourself down, and sew with us.  It's so much more fun to do something when you have like-minded companions.  And it's always useful to have Megan at hand to advise with the tricky bits!
Saturday 2 June 9am till 4pm.  An all day bear making workshop for beginners.  Advanced students are also welcome.  Bring your UFO and let Megan assist and advise.  An added bonus to the all day workshop is that we serve a delicious lunch.
If you would like to book for a workshop, email Megan at soldier@lantic.net

Bling and Useful Things

For the last few days I have been unpacking a rather huge shipment of supplies.  It is always fun to stock the studio with things that I like, and think I might use.

 We have lots of bling and colourful accessories to play with .

 We are also well stocked on staples such as needles, pins and scissors.

These little polka dot scissors are just the thing one's sewing box needs.  I'm getting one in every colour for myself!

Shame on you, Hannelore Cleven!

It came to my notice recently that the owner of www.teddyundmehr.eu, Hannelore Cleven, is photocopying and selling my original patterns on EBay. So far my attempts to contact her have been met with stony silence.

I have reported her to EBay.
Shame on you Hannelore Cleven!

Hannelore Cleven’s information:

EBay: http://myworld.ebay.com/hcl47589/

Website http://www.teddyundmehr.eu/

Email: hcl47589@aol.com

Address: Dorf 45

47589 Uedem

Tel: 02825-8395

Fax: 02825-938871

Friends are a gift, and the art of Zentangle

On Monday I had a visit from Cobus and Gideon, two bear makers who emmigrated to Canada a few years ago.  It was lovely to have a chat with them about crafts and hobbies in Canada, and how their lives have changed since living there.  It is heart warming to see them doing so well, to know that the things we taught them here at Tin Soldiers went with them, and that they are keeping the hobby alive in the cold north.  They also came laden with presents, I feel spoilt rotten.  One of the things I will treasure is a Canadian 2 Dollar, with a polar bear in the centre.  Somewhere I'm going to work it into a mixed media project.

Isn't it darling?

Another gift was a teddy bear for ages three and up.  That means I'm in the right age category to appreciate it :-)  The bear is made from white fabric, with a design printed on it.  It comes with a set of fabric markers so that one can colour it the way you like.

I'm going to have fun with this.  It reminded me of the Zentangle bear project we did a few years ago.  Remember how much we enjoyed that?  It was one of the quietest workshops I ever taught!
Here are some pictures from the Tin Soldiers archives.
From plotting on paper...

To drawing the design with permanent ink on fabric...

To adding embroidered and bead embellished elements...

To sewing it all together...

The completed teddy bears!

Missed the Zentangle project?  Rick and Maria are masters of the art.  You can learn about Zentangle HERE.

Finished it on Friday

This week I spent a lot of time at the clay table.  The doll with the eyes that have been bugging me so, got eyelids, ears and a neck a with flange so that it can be attached to a cloth body.  Once the paper clay has completely dried, I will be able to cover the head with fabric and start painting the facial features. 

I have never painted a cloth doll face before.  This is an adventure I am looking forward to!

Viola Ruth got arms this week.  Making hands with fingers are also a first for me, I love the way that they turned out.  If you look closely you will see a little heart on her chest.  It is not a heart at all... it's her ears, ready to put on her head later!  She is ready to have her head covered in cloth now, and then will follow several layers of gesso and lots of sanding.

Isn't the bird feeder just the sweetest thing?  Henning brought it home from the greengrocer.  I think it is too lovely to put in the garden, I will play with it here in the studio for a while first.

I have a new photo editing program.  Am still finding my way around in it and learning lots. All this doing things for the first time is quite exhausting, I feel as though I am spraining muscles in my brain.  What a privilege to have the time to experiment and learn though!

Doll Sculpting

I have been working on this doll face since December.  The eyes keep getting the better of me, don't know how many times I've taken them off and done it over.  When I had a look at it this morning I discovered the head is covered in mould.  I need to work a little faster... or get back to teddy bears, they don't go mouldy... another reason why I love them so much!

Online Teddy Bear Workshop

I teach an online teddy bear workshop... there are many people living in remote areas who can not get to a class.  The worksop runs over ten weeks, with a lesson by email every week.  You can find more details HERE
These two bears were made by two sisters, Bets and Marie, who are participating in the online class.  Bets and Marie are both showing potential to become first class bear makers! 

Easter Bunny Parade

This week half a dozen completed bunnies from our Easter bunny project came rolling through the studio.  It is lovely to see how everyone interpreted the pattern in their own way.

Hannelie's Rabbit

Tharina's Rabbit

Phillys' Rabbit

Gerda's Rabbit

Annemarie's Rabbit

Rachel's Rabbit

Cloth Dolls - Easier than you think

Here at Tin Soldiers we stock patterns for a variety of cloth doll styles.  Most of the patterns are designed by Nerina Roberts from Cloth Characters.  You can see the full range of patterns at http://tinsoldiers.co.za/Kits-and-Patterns/DollsAZIndex.html

Evette started making Wendy in a workshop.

Here Wendy (red dress) sits with her cousins made from the same pattern.  Well done, Evette!

This is Isabel, made by Mrs Pekelharing, who ordered the pattern by mail, found all the supplies to make her doll unique, and then completed it all by herself.  A very creative effort, and well done too!

A treasured teddy

I recently received an email with pictures of a from a teddy bear maker in Namibia.  Violet made a bear from one of my patterns to give away in a swap.  In the photos you can see that she spent a lot of time and effort on the details.

I love the colour combination, and the trapunto detail on the feet is gorgeous.  Well done, Violet!

I designed this pattern to celebrate the birthday of Loubear mohair.  Sibelius is available as a FREE download from Loubear for a limited time.  You will find the download link HERE .

Polymer Clay Tutorial - Brinjal

Quiet doesn't mean that I'm not cooking up something... for the last few days I have been playing with some stunning new polymer clay cutters that Peter from Everpace Supplies sent all the way from Hong Kong.  There are very few molds and cutters for clay available that are truly small enough for 1:12 dolls house scale.  These fit the scale perfectly, and once one gets the hang of working with them, they are pure pleasure.  I'm in love!
So, here I am offering the fruits of my labour, my very first polymer clay tutorial ever!  Enjoy.  If you would like to download the tutorial, you will find the PDF HERE.

You will need only two colours of polymer clay to make brinjals. 

A bit of green.  Not too bright, with a yellowish cast.  I mixed Sculpey Olive green with a bit of yellow and translucent clay to get the colour that I’m using here.

Purple.  This should be very dark, almost black.  I mixed equal portions of Premo Fuchsia and black.  Brinjals come in many colours.  You can use your imagination, or pay a visit to the greengrocer.

 

Roll out the green clay until it is paper thin.  Brush generously on both sides with baby powder or corn starch.  This will prevent the leaves from sticking to the cutter and distorting.  (If you don’t have a clay cutter that will cut a very tiny star or flower, you can cut the shapes by hand.  Roll a tiny ball of clay, flatten it with your finger and shape with a blade or toothpick).

Place the clay on a sheet of plastic or wax paper.

Place the cutter over the clay face down, and cover with another sheet of plastic or wax paper.

I like to cover the clay when using cutters and rollers for two reasons.  I get upset when my clay gets contaminated by colours of other clay that is stuck to tools, and I’m always conscious of damaging the smooth surface of tools such as cutters and rollers.  Bit of OCD...

Gently but firmly use a roller to impress the cutter into the clay.

Carefully pull the clay away from the cutter.  For my brinjal calyx I’m going to use the largest of the four petal flowers.

Roll a log of clay approximately 8mm (3/8 of an inch) thick and cut into segments. 

Each segment will become a brinjal. 

There is no fixed size for brinjals, in nature they come in all shapes and sizes.  I like my dolls house food to be young and tender when picked, so my fruits are approximately 15mm (1/2 an inch) long.

If your dolls house gardener is going to enter his prize brinjal in the regional agricultural show, you can make them a little bit bigger.

Here comes a bit of important realism.

On the fat side of the brinjal, make a shallow indentation with a ball tool.

This is the blossom end of the fruit.

And a bit of trivia:  Did you know that brinjals are of the same family as deadly nightshade and potatoes?  Technically a brinjal is a berry. 

Push a tiny scrap of green clay into the blossom end of the brinjal with a toothpick, and scratch and blend the green to the sides of the indentation so that it looks uneven.

The completed blossom end.

Press a green flower shape over the narrow end of the brinjal.  This forms the calyx.

Press down with your fingers until the petals start melding together and lie tightly against the body of the fruit.

Use a ball tool or toothpick to make a small hole in the center of the calyx.

Roll a thin log of green clay to make the stem.  Make one end of the log pointy.

Press the pointy end of the stem into the prepared hole, and use a toothpick to blend the clay around the base of the stem so that it is securely attached.

Use a sharp blade to cut the end off the stem,  it must look as though it was picked off the plant with secateurs.

Bake your completed brinjals according to the clay manufacturer’s instructions.  (Most polymer clay bakes at 130˚ C for about half an hour).

 

Finally, when the clay has cooled, paint with a gloss varnish that is intended for use with polymer clay.  It is important to paint only the purple part of the fruit, the green bits of a brinjal have a matte appearance.

I use toothpicks and prestik (blu-tack) to hold the brinjals while the varnish is drying.

Ta-da!  My finished brinjals. 

The real brinjals in this picture came from a fellow miniaturist’s garden.  Thank you Rinda, they were eaten with lots of garlic and olive oil shortly after I took the picture.  Just delicious!