Raccoon

Zorro

I love all animals and especially wild ones.  I am fortunate to have lived in Botswana and South Africa and had numerous opportunities to visit the vast, beautiful natural game parks that surround us here.  One can never tire of life on safari, sleeping in tents under the stars, sitting around bush fires whilst listening to the night sounds.  I can honestly say that these holidays fill my heart with joy and serenity; and the moment I'm home I long to be back there.  

Raccoons are not animals I know. They aren't found in this country and I've never seen a live one.  I have read that they can be intruders, rascals, thieves and pests.......destructive and cunning.  I forget about all that and just think how cute and adorable they are.   

Baby raccoons like Zorro are referred to as kits or cubs.  This little kit stands 3 inches tall and is 2,5 inches when seated. 

Zorro and Lily bonding 

Fifty-one pattern pieces were needed to create Zorro, and not thirty-nine as I mentioned in the last blog entry. I had forgotten about his beautiful bushy tail.  Raccoons need their tails for balance and so does Zorro.  His tail is thick and majestic and helps him pose and stand firmly. Bands of white, black and grey have been hand-shaded to give a more realistic effect.

Bright black German glass eyes and a shiny resin nose give him a cute baby face, and his white horse-hair whiskers enhance his soft fuzzy muzzle. 

Zorro, Pippa and Lily enjoying the sunset

 

 

 

 

Washing himself with his paws.

 

 

 Zorro is filled with polyfibre and some  steel shot as well for weight. Alpaca, mohair, faux fur,  as well as longpile, medium pile and sparse velvet have been used in his creation.  

Zorro is a bit lost in my teacup but fits comfortably into my old Susie Cooper expresso cup.

Zorro is the first of my raccoons. He will be part of a limited edition of 20. Hope you like him.  Thank you for stopping by to visit us!

 

On my Workbench

Here are the fabrics on my workbench this week.  I have 39 pattern pieces for this new creation ;  8 different fabrics including velvets, mohair, alpaca, suede and faux fur. These lovely colours and textures will end up as a cute little ........?   Any guesses?   Not positive yet if it will be quite as tiny as the others but it will definitely be under 4 inches tall......probably closer to 3 inches. We'll see soon enough!

Stay tuned.  I should have it ready by Wednesday

Babby and Reva

Babby and Reva

 

Baboons are  social creatures , highly intelligent , endearing and entertaining to watch......in their natural habitat , that is!    The cheeky primates have learned how to open car doors and jump through windows in pursuit of tasty sandwiches and snacks.  The fig tree in my garden was a treat they could hardly resist and I have had many 'babby' visits over the years.   I had no problem with this as our family rule was always to pick the fruit on the bottom half of the tree and leave the remaining fruit for the flocks of Cape White Eyes, Bulbuls and of course, the baboons.  Below is a picture of the last baboon that visited us, sitting on our porch admiring the sea view and contemplating life!

Here is my tiny soft sculpture of the Chacma baboon.  I tried to cuten him up, but baboons just aren't that cute really!!

Babby is small, and stands at 7cm tall.  His fur is sparse longpile velvet, handshaded in places.

He has 10 fingers and toes which have been needlescupted from ultrasuede in a matching tone.

 

 

Babby has a long tail which has internal wire armature for posing. He loves swinging from branch to branch and hanging upside down.

 Babby is 5 ways jointed and can move his limbs and swivel his head. He has onyx eyes.

Babby and Reva are great pals. Reva is a little bear also 7cms in height and 5 ways jointed. She has lovely pulled toes and German glass eyes.

 

Wally 

Wally is a dusky-pink and white rabbit.  He has made an earlier appearance than expected, as I  intended making him just in time for Easter.

Wally stands 3 inches tall to the top of his head, and a whopping 4 inches to the tips of his ears.  His ears have internal wiring so he can twitch them in most directions. 

 Wally is an extremely active bunny and loves hopping around exploring every nook and cranny in the garden.  He has robust hind legs with embroidered toes.  

Wally has large black eyes made from German glass and his eyelids are fashioned from brown leather cord. His face has been extensively needle and scissor sculpted to create his fat pouchy little cheeks.  

Wally is cotter-pin and string-jointed allowing movement for poseability.  He is filled with polyfibre and  has internal wiring in his forelimbs

Some hand shading, twitchy whiskers and a fluffy white tail finish off this little creation.