Nugget

Pippa was sick last week so I took her to the vet.  On the window ledge in the vet's consulting room I saw a soft sculpture of a sleepy cat - which motivated me to try one of my own.  Here he is.......I think of this as a work-in-progress as I'm sure with each attempt the pattern will improve.

Made from black mohair and white Sassy longpile velvet . The inner ears are pink Ultrasuede.  His face and muzzle are have been needlesculpted and hand-shaded.  Nose is black plastic and the eyes hand embroidered.     

Nugget is unjointed and can't move.  His embroidered eyes don't open......he's sleeping remember!

Nugget is 6cms long

 
Nugget is very tired.  He sleeps all day long curled up in a tight little ball.

Sometimes he sleeps in boxes ...or lids of boxes

               
 

A really tired little fella.

 

                                          
                                           He sleeps with Pippa

he sleeps with Lily

loves mum's Ugg boot

                                      

                        happily curled up in a warm palm....or a shoe                         

                                                         

                              in fact he just sleeps any and every where!

Jamal, the one-humped camel

With the last of my longpile Sassy cashmere I eked out one more camel.   Here is Jamal.  I wanted to create a long caravan of camels..... but they appear to be popular and I have only one left!

Jamal is a lovely solid camel and stands well on his knobbly-kneed, two-toed legs.  Good squarish shape as he measures 10,5 cms wide and 10,5 cms high.

Long mohair strands have been rooted into his neck to make him look a bit scraggly.

The hoof pads, inner ears, inner mouth and eyebrows / eye- sockets have been created out of thin Ultrasuede.

Jamal has black sooty eyelashes sweeping out from the corners of his German glass black eyes.

All other facial detail work has been achieved by needle and scissor sculpting  and hand shading. I spend ages needle sculpting the camels as I must see that profile with the long upper lip ......which gives them the 'cute' factor.

 I created his bridle rope from Ultrasuede and his camel blanket was designed and created to fit him exactly.  Colourful, colour-fast embroidery threads and a couple of antique beads and he was good to go.  Hope you like him.

Hoochie

Please meet my newest puppy.  Although she was created from the original St. Bernard pattern that I designed for my granddaughter Erin...... one can see how different the two pups  are.  It goes to show that each creation is a genuine 'One-of-a-kind', and that no two will look exactly alike.   In fact I think Hoochie looks more like a spaniel.........but nevertheless!  She has her keg of brandy so she remains a rescue dog.

same fabric, same pattern.......completely different result!

                        

                        Being so tiny has its advantages.......I can fit in boxes

or be a keyboard companion

ooh look!  That's me

A perfect pocket pal

When friends come to visit, then its time to play a bit of rough-and-tumble

Groucho Bunny

 

 This is my third attempt at making an animal that is not in miniature.  I fell in love with a bunny made by the talented Mary Jardin Wimberley of Mary's Secret Garden. I bought the pattern from her......and here is my version!    I couldn't source all the exact fabrics and materials needed, but went with the  best options available to me.  Hope you like him. May I take this moment to thank Mary so very much for sharing her knowledge with me.

 

Groucho stands 28cms tall to the tips of his ears and only 19,5 cms to the top of his head. When seated he is just a plump palmful.  I chose supersoft Alpaca with a lovely 14 mm pile in beige and white for his body, but used a longer 22mm pile in white for his face.

 

Needle sculpting Groucho's face took an age as I was looking for fat cheeks and a wriggley nose.  Once that was done I scissor-sculpted extensively to achieve the look I wanted.  His dark eyes are German black glass with handmade Ultrasuede eyelids. Long dark lashes and white horse-hair whiskers finish off this little rabbit.

Groucho is jointed 5 ways and can be posed in many positions.
His ears have not been wired but can still be posed in 'up' or 'lop' positions. They are softer this way and Groucho doesn't mind me carrying him around by his ears!

                    Groucho has a fluffy white cotton-tail, like all bunnies.

His wriggly , rabbity nose was made from spare Alpaca , shaved and stitched into place and his muzzle was created by needle sculpting. His nose, paws and feet , eyes and inner ears have been handshaded with copic markers and blenders.

Groucho has been stuffed fairly firmly with polyfibre mainly but has loads
of pellets inside him to provide a lovely weighty feeling when seated in one's palm

He has been lovingly finished off with a sewn-in 'Eddybare' label  and a satin bow around his neck.

It was an absolute joy to be able to work on a design that I could sew on a sewing machine.  This is not something one is able to do when working on miniatures and it was a lovely change.  Groucho will be living with me and is not for sale.

St Bernard puppy

A few months ago my granddaughter Erin asked me to make her a St Bernard puppy for her birthday gift.  She very sweetly and politely told me it should have a whisky keg around its neck.  She was very precise in what she wanted and I dared not tell her I couldn't deliver!   She thought I could do it, and had no worries that I would fail her............so it was off to the drawing board again.  This is my version of a St Bernard pup with his whisky keg. 

St Bernards are large, solid dogs with shaggy fur. Never all white or one coloured ...... but  they always have a white chest, white feet and white tip to their tail.  I chose a soft furry 14mm pile Alpaca in white and a brindly-brown for the contrast colour.

At first I had to needle sculpt the shape of his face to develop his long muzzle and then scissor sculpt slowly and painstakingly to develop his facial features . 

 Eyes are black German glass and his nose has been fashioned from polymer clay; baked hard and then painted and sealed.

 

 Making such a furry dog in a miniature was a daunting task, and I battled with every limb!  Each time I tried to turn the fabric the right way round the stitches would pop and tear and I would have to start again.  Perseverance paid off and voilà!   He stands just under 7cms tall.

Gaining their name from the dangerous St. Bernard pass in the Alps between Italy and Switzerland, the breed was famous for rescuing people lost in the snow and in avalanches. This was not an easy or safe job for the St. Bernard, and many  perished themselves in the avalanches.

 They are rumoured to have carried a brandy or whisky barrel around their necks but this fact is apparently a fallacy. Even so, mine has  a keg which I sculpted from Apoxy-Sculpt before painting it and adding the colours of the Swiss flag.
Can you imagine being lost in a snow blizzard ......cold and wet,  hungry and thirsty, possibly injured.........and then seeing this face appear through the swirling snow - bringing relief and help - must be such a welcome sight.

The most famous St. Bernard to save people at the St Bernard Pass was Barry (sometimes spelled Berry), who reportedly saved somewhere between 40 and 100 lives. There is a monument to Barry in the Cimetière de Chiens and his body was preserved in the Natural History Museum in Berne.

This little pup has no name yet.  If it were up to me I'd have named him Beethoven after the St Bernard in the movie .......or Barry , after the famous rescue dog............but the choice will be Erin's. I have no doubt she will come up with something original.

Wondering where I am?

 

When I started this blog it was really just for myself......a platform to showcase my work and  my animal creations.  Somehow it helped me to look at my designs with a more critical eye.   I was amazed  that outsiders from far afield  would arrive on my page, intentionally or maybe by chance, to enjoy my creations.Still cant believe over 3000 people have visited my blog and from 53 different countries. Feels wonderful actually, so thank you all very much for that!

I tried to keep the blog specific to designing and creating animals and not go into personal aspects of my life. For once I will deviate a bit.


I have been away well over a month now and will probably not have much to show you for another month ..........so I thought a brief  explanation for my appreciative fans was necessary.  
 
As you can see by the chosen colour script I've selected, I was diagnosed with very, very early stage breast cancer........thanks to early detection with routine mammogram.  How could this be happening?.......I feel so well and  fit, I dance and do gym 4x a week; and besides , I feel 30 years old, not 56!  A big shock it was.   X-Rays, tests, biopsies......... waiting for results, surgeon's visit and finally the waiting for  surgery.

what a wonderful workshop with the inspirational, talented and charming Lian Quan Zhen

I was so fortunate. A while back I had put my name down for a watercolour workshop with the amazing Lian Zhen and this workshop was just in that final week of waiting!  What a privilege and fun-filled four days it was. My mind was full of colours, blending , birds , trees and nature......and no thoughts of needles and operations entered my head.

on my way into theatre

 

at home

Dear friends spoilt me with these yummy brownies....apparently "one can't get through the day without these."  This is absolutely true!  Even the bow is designed to lift one's spirits.

I am home now, still feeling great, still feeling positive, and hardly sore at all.
I am waiting for my sister to come and visit me - counting down the days. We will have such lovely family time together.

Only after that visit  will I be back sketching, designing and cutting out new creations to show you very shortly. Please be patient with me. 

I leave you with a few pictures of my darling Jack Russells who are no more...but remain always in my heart.  Will probably be making many more of these in the future as life without a Russell is just not the same......even a JR in your pocket  is better than nothing!

georgie

lucy

 my miniature Georgie

my miniature Lucy