Thoracotomy........... and House Renovations

I have always wanted to bash down the internal walls of my home and create a larger, open-plan living space; but somehow  never got around to getting it done.    Finally this project came to fruition in mid August.  We packed our belongings into boxes and moved them, plus all the furniture into my workstudio and the spareroom.  We decided not to move out the house as we didnt want to put the cats into the cattery for such a long period of time.  Luckily for us our friendly neighbours were visiting relatives in the UK and offered us their home.   This turned out to be the perfect arrangement.   My husband could pop over the wall and check on the builders whilst I sat reading peacefully on the swing chair.  Lily and Pippa think that John and Jen's garden is paradise and feel very at home there.    As soon as our workmen left for the day we'd pop over the wall again and sleep at home.

The breaking down commences.........

my spareroom becomes our makeshift kitchen for 4 months

Lily at home on the neighbour's roof

Pippa wants to sit on the swing chair too

September was not for the faint hearted.  I had a left thoracotomy to remove a huge pericardial cyst from my chest cavity.   The recovery from this was long and painful and took the best part of the next 2 months.

 

I am now adding some pics I didnt want to show, but a number of people have asked how this cyst looked so here are the awful pics. 

                      the grey mass in this scan shows the cyst lying next to my heart

                and here it is...........             good riddance to this disgusting thing.  Ick.

the banging and clanging doesn't bother Pipsqueak

.........and the building up

 Then back to the fun part of redecorating the newly created room at home.  Of course there were frustrations, hitches and snags aplenty  ( there still are!) but we were able to move back in three days before Christmas.

Cats owning their new toys

  I love my new space.

before

After.

Holle - Miniature Schnauzer

Say hello to Holle,   my latest Miniature Schnauzer creation. She is 14cms tall

Made from longpile grey faux fur, and white Alpaca, with ultra-suede paw pads.

 

Premium English glass eyes  with white accents of ultrasuede

Some of the techniques used to create Holle .....

handsculpted nose from Apoxy Sculpt - dried, sanded, sealed and painted.

needlefelting and extensive rooting of mohair and Alpaca on face.

threadscupting and scissor sculpting

hand painted paw pads

full internal armature as well as  wired tail and ears - which allows for posing

thread and cotterpin jointed

firmly stuffed with polyfibre.

Holle was created in a smoke-free and pet-friendly environment.  She is looking for a new home.  If you'd like to adopt her please let me know.

Price      US$ 220   ADOPTED

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RAFI

 

A new design at last.   Meet Rafi, my silver fox.

He is made from silver-grey Mohair and his white , fluffy bits are from longpile velvet. 

Standing 16cms tall 

 

11 cm when  seated

              

Rafi has very expressive eyes.  The white accents and eyelids are needlefelted.  His eyes are British glass.

Highlighting his sculpted nose which was handcrafted from Apoxy-Sculpt and then sanded, painted black and varnished to a healthy shine.

He loves playing with his one-horned goat, Billy

Rafi loves to hunt and spends hours in this position.... waiting patiently for Monty to appear.  For those of you who don't know Monty.......then it's time to go and visit his creator, Sue McLearie.  She does wonderful work and there's tons to browse on her website. http://www.suemclearie.co.uk/

Jointed in 5 places and fully wired with armiture, posing is easy

showing off his needlefelted pawpads

    My Eddybare tag is stitched into his centre back

Rafi has a long bushy tail tipped with white longpile fabric.  I've scissor sculpted his face to give him expression.  His tonal colours were achieved by hand shading with alcohol ink. Like all foxes his hearing is acute and his ears are large.

Rafi and Billy are sold as a pair.   I would be reluctant to separate them.

Adopted

Coming soon.......Sneak preview

A new design to join my menagerie.  Hope to have it with you some time this week........Just fine-tuning a few details.   It's a cutie-pops!

lamb pie anyone?

 

Lola is my newest soft sculpture.  She is a little lamb and stands taller than most of my usual creations.  She is 13cms tall and seated she is 10,5cms

Her  body ,head and ta are made from imported Tyber synthetic and her paws and ears are from viscose.

Lola has English glass eyes with a white accent underneath.  Her eyelids are needlefelted.  The face, nose and mouth have been needle-felted, hand shaded, and needlesculpted.

The fuschia ribbon travels with her and she wears i... depending on her mood ....and the weather!

Lola was great fun to make and  she oozes personality.  She has a fluffy tail.
5 ways jointed so she can move her head and limbs; and pose.  Nicely weighted with steel shot and filled with polyfibre.

                                                       SOLD

Owls

Hibou  and Chouette

I made these two owlets as gifts for two special people. The smaller, fatter one is Hibou ;  Chouette is just a tad larger. Both names mean 'owl' in French and of course Chouette can also mean 'cute, smashing or great'.

 

 

 

Both little owls are under 5 inches tall.

Tawny-brown, streaky mohair in a longpile was chosen as the primary material; with the softest white Alpaca for the facial and chest feathering. Inner wings are made from Ultrasuede.

Eyelids  have been needlefelted. 

I used English Glass buzzard eyes for them both.

Apoxy-sculpt was used to create the bills, and the feet. When dried, they were  sanded, sealed and painted.  They stand well.

Wobble-jointed heads ensure they can rotate their heads almost full circle while they search for prey.

The lovely long fur allowed for thread and scissor sculpting giving them their cute features.

Fully wired wings to assist in posing.

 

Filled with polyfibre plus lots of steel shot for weight.

 I will be making a limited edition of these owls, so if you are interested in ordering one please inbox me.