House of Pugish

Long time no craft!

2011-01-27T18:25:00.000-08:00

Well guys I thought I'd share with you what I've been doing over my holiday break. This is a wee bjd doll I finally cast in resin... being the first there were certainly some learning curves! And I also found how easy it was to carve and sand so this girl turned out very differently from the original wee doll I molded!
I blushed and did her face in pastel chalk which wasn't as hard as I imagined but still came with some problems!

The first face up was just what I wanted but until I held her in natural light I didn't see some smudges that had been there under one of the sealer coats! So being me I thought maybe a light wet sand would remove them... well yes as you can imagine I had temporarily lost my brain and tried it!!! Long story short do not make the same mistake... I then ended up having to remove all the face up which unto itself was very very difficult and a lot of it wouldn't move in the creases!!!!! So redid the face up and after taking pictures I can see where need to go over some colours... but over all I'm thrilled with her :o)) ... so just need to do the touch up and blush her hands, stick on the back of her head and give her some hair and clothes :o))))))

Hope you like....

Hugs,
Sharon
Ps will take some cuter pics later as these are terrible and don't do her justice!

Planet Bid an auction place I found!!!

2010-12-22T10:14:00.000-08:00

Hey Guys found this great auction place yesterday ... so excited by the prices stuff was going for I had to sign up LOL. They have loads of electronics like Dyson vacuums, laptops, iphones, ipads, and more... even some girly stuff like handbags and perfume! Its called Planet Bid and if you haven't checked it out you have to! Theres a Planetbid in the US , Oz, and even here in little old NZ just click the countries to go have a look you will be very surprised if you've not already found it.
How it works, well it pretty simple you buy "freebids" which gives you a certain amount of bids to use... you have to be careful though as you can go crazy and use a few too many but hey you have to get your feet wet and try to get a feel for the auction :o))...since everyone is paying for bids thats how they are able to let stuff go for very very little money! Was up till very late last night waiting for a macbook pro to count down safe to say I blinked and missed the end of it.. (next time I shall use toothpicks to make sure I don't blink LOL)..really amazed me as that mac went for 54c nzd!!!!!!!This place is so much Fun even if you dont join up you still have fun just watching!!!LMAO
There are other ways of getting freebids like bidding on them ... or if like me your just starting out and want some free freebids then write up a blog poat like I have here send them the link and they will slip you a few freebie freebids...Planetbid also offer a points program where you earn points for bidding that you can spend.

Lastly if anyone does join up and have the inclination could you pop my user in as ref when you sign up so I can get some more freebie freebids my user id is Shawkes :o))

here's the sculpt so far

2010-02-15T12:02:00.000-08:00

Well guys I thought I'd post up pics of that sculpt I was doing for my interview... sad to say things didn't quite go to plan in the last firing ... safe to say in my hurry I forgot that you do not fire your sculpt standing as when the clay starts to heat it becomes like rubber ...so the weight of the upper body made her lean and she suffered broken legs... well I super glued them the next morning and well that didn't take as well as it should ...so will have to dig out the broken area and fill with new clay... then I will have to readjust the bottom of her stand so she's not leaning painfully off balance... unfortunately the interview is today so not going to happen... still wondering if I should take her anyway...apart from the firing problems she's still a good sculpt!

Well here's some pics :o))

I got a new Camera today YAY!

2010-02-12T18:33:00.000-08:00

Well guys I got a new Camera today and just love it to bits... boy does it take fantastic pictures :o))

And yep you guessed it I had to post some LOL

This is the camera here... it's a panasonic fz35... isn't she a beauty :o))

these ones I took in the garden as I really wanted to see how the colours came out and was also testing the macro...

These ones are of my half finished Dragon feltie ... he has a lot of tweaking to go yet ... need to straighten up his eyes!

These ones are ones you've already seen but just wanted to show them in a better light so to speak LOL

Next is the flowers I made from Khris Tut ...link can be found in last post :o)) Yes Khris there had to be purple in there LOL

Lastly is the sculpt I'm doing at the present to come along to my interview... I'm applying for a position is this semesters class for a Cert of design and visual Arts ... wish me luck ..thats happening on Tues! Told Andrew I wasn't nervous as I should feel right at home as they will no doubt be as weird as I am LMAO

what I've been up too...

2010-02-03T17:06:00.000-08:00

Have I complained lately about how much I hate my camera! Well consider it a reminder LOL

Okay well this week I've been doing some felting and have almost finished this guy ...he needs a book yet and am thinking about adding in a couple of friends on either side... sorry for the pictures he so deserved better!

I've also decided to save up some money and get some silicone and resin and try my hand at molding and casting that BJD doll of mine... I'm hoping it wont be a flop but we have to try these things :o))

Today I decided to get out the polymer clay and do some sculpting ...I haven't played with polymer in so long and I just had to try out a tut I found on the net ... they are spoon dolls ...if you want to take a peek here's the link :o)) if you click on the Tut link on that page you'll see the step by step instructions...

Here's my guy ... I think he's going to be a jester ...

now here what happens if you don't clean your tile before you put your sculpt on for cooking... Yesterday I had used that tile to make Mr Dragons wings on and I had been a bit messy with the glue and had forgotten about it ... so I will have to cut off his ears and re do them then dig out the burn on the neck and re fill!

How cool are these!

2010-01-29T12:08:00.000-08:00

Well girls just had to share this every cool wee creation from a couple of talented girls from our yahoo CRAFT group.. these are so cute and so simple and easy to make and would look absolutely perfect as embellishments .. I could see a few felties that would look great perched on there maybe even a picnic LOL anyway have a looks see at the link and save it :o))

Link to Khris's blog and the Tut... http://www.sewprimkhris.blogspot.com/

Bjd doll

2010-01-16T14:05:00.000-08:00

Righty well after taking her apart and taking away that nasty leather I popped in white felt instead ... so re strung her then thought I'd attack the knee joints in hopes of her being able to stand... I drilled 2 holes through the upper and lower parts of the joints then inserted a brass bar, so each section of leg is individually threaded hoping for a tighter joint ...also I popped in a brass bar across her hips in hopes of making the top of the legs more stable for standing... strung her up again but unfortunately she is going to be a sitting, laying or kneeling doll... she is just too heavy to stand ...I guess this happens often with ooak dolls made from heavy paperclay... am hoping to try doing some resin ones in the future so they being lighter shouldn't have the same problems!

Well I did buy her a nice wig from ebay last week and it arrived yesterday so this morning I have restrung her for the last time and have put the back of her head back on, got her wig on and have styled it with wee pigtails :o)) I'm thrilled with how she looks even though disappointed she'll not stand!

Well here's some pics... so wish my camera took better pics but it doesn't...

bjd strung!

2010-01-02T15:45:00.000-08:00

Righty here she is all painted and strung... I was originally just going to knot the elastic at the top of her head and secure it beneath skin level then clay over to hide... but I chose a heavier elastic and being 8 ends it just wouldn't be able to secure properly... so this morning I gave her a bit of brain surgery and cut off the back if her head and then drilled a couple of hole and threaded a solid brass pipe ... this is what I secured the elastic too... good lot of knotting and before I attach the back of her head I'll pop some superglue on the knots so they wont come loose.... so the last problem will be the fact the black leather is leaving smudgy black marks... this will take a bit of puzzling .... any ideas?

Okay so here are the pics :o))

another bjd update

2010-01-01T00:51:00.000-08:00

Wow guys I'm on a roll ... another update and not long between LOL

Here's a pic of the face painted ... unfortunately my camera is crap and it doesn't take great piccies ... I did one of the pics in gray scale which I love :o))... you'll note in the colour picture that there is some colour missing on the right eyelid... have fixed that LOL

Bjd doll skin paint

2009-12-31T22:34:00.000-08:00

Right have to remember what I've done since I last posted an update....

Now I did find a couple of things that just didn't sit right after the last test stringing, 1 the right knee joint was not allowing the thigh and lower leg pieces to touch as they should when she's in standing position so rather than digging out the 2 pieces further to make the cups where the joint sits deeper I made that joint just a touch smaller...this worked great and isn't noticeable and I'd be the first to notice it and that would bother me LOL... so after I made that joint smaller I restrung again and found I still had some problems with the right leg... when she stood her right knee would bend...after looking and looking I found the lower right leg was about 2mm longer so she had to have that cut off... safe to say after restringing all was well so I then started painting her skin tone... ended up with a few more problems ..this time not with the doll herself but my mini compressor died ...which isn't surprising as Andrew my partner confessed to dropping it ... so out we went and got a new one which he paid for :o))... well got it home and set it up then found I didn't have the the wee connection needed to attach my air brush gun!! So had to go find one of those and instead found a nice wee new gun which was only $25.00 so was thrilled... got everything hooked up finally and what can I say but that wee cheap gun works better than my imported more costly one LOL

Right after blabbering on here are the pictures I've taken of her as she looks at present ... but I'm now going to sit down and give her some highlights and a bit more of a face... but before that I will clean up around her eyeballs just a bit as there is still a wee bit of paint I've not taken off yet. But once thats done she'll be ready for her last stringing ... Yay!!! :o))

So watch out for more piccies as I'm gonna go for gold and will work on her straight till she's done!

Any questions just ask :o))

Stuff I've been up to...

2009-11-15T12:14:00.000-08:00

I've been making a few Christmas pressies lately... I've 2 finished so thought I'd show you all :o))

The first is Eeyore for Andrew's nephew Harper who is now 1 whole yr old... I will be doing another for him it's a Macaw hand puppet so will show piccies when I've done :o))

The second is a very cute Turtle for Andrew's Mum since she just loves Turtles...

Links... Turtle pattern click here.... Eeyore pattern click here

Now the last is an update on the Bjd dolls... I've added the eyes finally to the big one they are the diy eyes and couldn't have been more pleased with the results! So simple to just print out the coloured eye you like and place in the indent then snap the clear over the top!... made hands and feet... she's had numerous coatings of filler/primer and sanded sanded and sanded ... also I reshaped her knees and cut off some of her lower legs ... I think she's almost ready for proper painting and putting together... but will do a test stringing and see who she moves... might have to change the knees again but we will see :o))

Well thats it for now ... will update again soon :o))

Hugs,

Sharon

Unicorn Horn and wings

2009-11-07T15:59:00.000-08:00

Well we are nearly there guys... this is the last part ...so post links to me if you want to show off your Unicorn!

Here's a pink one in the processes of being created... it's gonna look fantastic :o)) visit Sharon to see how she's going!

Lets get going... I'm going to start with the wings ... so here's a pic of what you'll need... please note I am using cernit but that's not a requirement ...you any polymer they will all turn out the same :o))

next I've rolled out about half of the pkt of clay ... probably about 1-2mm thick..then I've cut 2 pieces of wire and folded them in half and twisted it folded side till it's about an inch long... then I cut the wire to the length I wanted by holding up to the side of my wee horse..

here's a pic of one piece of wire cut on top of the white rolled out clay...

once you've cut both the wing wire to match lay them on the clay making sure the twisted end is hanging over the edge of the clay... this this then end we will insert into the horse so needs to be as clay free as you can get it!... trim the clay so it's about 1/2cm away from the outer edge of the wire ... rub a little baby oil or liquid clay over the wire and overlap of clay... then fold that clay edge over the wire and press it down so that it's well attached to the clay... then slice down the middle of the wings .. like below...

Next give the wing some shape by cutting it like this...remember to make sure you have a pair ...we don;t want to have 2 lefts or rights!

Right with your knitting needle begin to press and drag it through the clay from the wire to the cut edge... press harder as you get toward the cut edge so that your tool goes through the clay all the way to the plate...my plate you can see in the picture is a tile I use for making then baking on.

Now after you've done that you should have something that looks a bit like mine here...

Once you have both wings done lift them off your surface as gently as you can ...we don;t want to rip them or pull the wire out...once you have lifted bend the wire into the pose you want ...then repeat on the other...they don't have to be exact so don;t try else you'll be at it all day and frankly I really love that mine don't match...makes for a more interesting piece!

Righty then place them on some fiber fill ready to be baked soon as we've done the horn...

For the horn all we do if take a small length of wire and twist it to the top ...this only needs to be about an inch at the most so don't twist a huge length!... roll out a bit of clay to look a bit like a carrot then insert the wire into the carrot... now to finish it off I rolled out a very skinny piece of clay then wrapped it around sort of like a spiral ...

Next pop everything in the oven and bake as the direction tell you on the packet...

Okay when cooked and cooled it's time to decorate as you'd like... for me I brushed some glue over just the spirals of the horn and sprinkled with glitter... then because I'm a bit of a fire bug I lit a candle and just gently burned it just enough to take the brilliant white and cut down on the sparkle of the glitter... now I chose to do this as my wee guy has a lot of gray in him and the white was just too white ...for the wings I just burned them again just gently to take away the "white"!

For attachment use a needle tool or a doll needle and poke it into the place were the wing will be attached... wriggle it around and make sure it's wide enough to insert that wire on the wing... if the wire is too long trim it off so it's shorter but not too short as we want it to be firmly in there... when your happy with that use a drop or 2 of superglue on the end of the wire and also the bit of clay at the top of the wire... re-insert and hold till it's taken... then bend the wire to the angle you like... please don't try and bend the wings themselves else they will break!... repeat for the other wing and also for the horn...when your done you should have something like mine here :o))

Well we are all done... I hope you enjoyed and will send me some pics :o))

mysticalbears@xtra.co.nz

Hugs,

Sharon

Unicorn Lesson 4

2009-11-07T15:15:00.000-08:00

Right lets get to finishing this guy...

Firstly we are going to add the long hair over the hooves and lower legs... so take a length of the fiber your using and measuring from about the knee down to the bottom of the hoof cut that from the length of fiber... do the same for each leg ...

Next using a good tacky glue brush some on the top of one of your cut pieces..

Now wrap this around the knee area... yep this is a messy job so do your best...

Do this for each of the legs but only the front of the leg that's bent...

Okay that done allow to semi dry... now before it's fully dry usually about 2-3min ..start to felt the top in where the glue is ... use you needle at the same angle I have here... this will help aid in avoiding your fingers... also remember to go in straight so you don't break your needles!

Once you have done that to all 4 of the legs we'll trim them a bit... note the direction of the scissors... if you trim off the bottom then when your feathering the hair always cut down the hair using just the tip of your scissors... remember to snip little by little we dont want to take chunks out just sort of layer it a bit... now if your happy with the layering stop there... if your not happy with the layering as its a bit thick on the bottom ...that is easy to correct by taking you scissors and snipping upward to thin it out a little... idealistically I aim for just a hint of hoof being visible through the hair... but again this is up to your taste :o))

Pic of all legs trimmed...

Okay... lets get to the mane etc...

But first lets highlight some bone areas... best way to describe it to you is have a look at the pictures... I've used a black pencil quite strongly here so you could see it clearly ...but you would do yours a bit lighter ...just a hint... so follow what I've done ...

Holding your piece of fiber in one hand pull a chunk of hair from the top... you don't need to much here just a small longish bit for his fringe...

Felt this piece between the ears..

Mane now... using the techniques as above pull out a couple of lengths of fiber and spread it out as I've done here... please note you dont need a thick amount as it will be folded...

now if your making a big Unicorn then hold your fiber lengths up to your horse to see if you like the length.... if you do then choose what side you would like the mane to fall and felt the ends down on the opposite side... fold over and finish as for the folded mane...

Place this over the neck like here and felt it up the center very well...

Now play around by folding it over on each side to decide which side you like ...once you've decided which side you like hold it in place but don't pull ..you want it to be a bit puffy and not flat...have a look at the pic to see what I mean...

Next well attach it down just gently to keep it sitting on the side... note were my needle is in the next picture then just gently felt across the neck... only a few stabs with the needle as we don't want to flatten it or have a line there...

Tail... I've pulled out a length of fiber ... then I've folded the top down just a bit and stabbed the needle around to hold it in place... I did this as the top of the tail needs a bit more thickness to it...

Attach the tail by needle felting around the ball you made at the top of the tail...

Okay as you can see in the above picture his tail is just not long enough... so I pulled another piece of fiber, lifted his tail and felted it in just a bit lower down... now yes I know this isn't a pretty picture but it needed doing!

Looking much better now :o))

Right that's the horse part done... now lets turn him into something a bit more mystical :o)) ... With the length of this post I will put it up on another post ... and you wont have to wait long as I'm going to do that right now!

Unicorn Lesson 3

2009-11-02T22:36:00.000-08:00

Righty lets get started on the 3rd lesson... this is going to be a long one and may raise a few questions so let me know if something isn't as clear for you to understand.

Firstly sew the neck opening closed this doesn't have to be all neat and tidy we just want to sew it flat.

Next we'll get some fiber on the head... now I always start by felting the wool onto the flat front of the head then down the sides ... do the under part last... this just helps to keep track of where all the curves are.

Legs next... here is were your going to have to have plenty of patience and work slowly and carefully as stabbing yourself with those needle are not pleasant! wrap a bit of wool around the leg felting one side down just enough to keep it down... fold the other end over and begin felting... keep felting the wool down until it becomes a nice skin...

Now if you have made your horses legs a bit thin then felt wool only to the knee level...we'll cover the bottoms of the legs in lesson 4

Next cover the whole body in wool or fiber ... I always start at the tummy and chest ...as you work you'll notice the legs will be pulled in so they aren't so splayed.

When you've covered the body fully you'll have something like this...

Now is time to attach the head... play around and pin in different positions until you find one you like... now thread your black beads onto some very strong thread about 8-10" length ... thread a doll needle with the ends of one set of eyes and push needle through eye position and through to the back of the neck as you'll see below I have... slip needle off and repeat for the second eye coming out again at the back of the neck but as close to the other thread as possible ..tie both threads together pulling tightly and knot a few times... re-thread the needle with both threads and loose ends within the body.

Lets get rid of that gap between the head and neck join as well as the indent made by the thread... take a chunk of wool and needle felt it over the gap and indent... if you haven't covered it properly then simple add a bit more :o))

Righty ears ...he certainly needs them ... and I'm sure you guys that haven't much experience in needle felting will find them challenging... but I will endeaver to explain them as simply as I can...

Start with 2 balls of wool roughly the same size... if you printed your horse to A4 size you'll need balls of wool around the size of small plums... if like me your doing your horse to around half the size then your balls of wool will need to be about Cherry size... now to get these sizes you need to take a piece of wool and scrunch it up in the palm of your hand and squeeze it... this is the way you judge the size that piece of wool will felt down to!

Okay so you've gotten your 2 balls of wool ready ..now just flatten it down and sort of shape it with your fingers to a triangle shape...

Now take the triangle between your thumb and forefinger with the flat edge between fingers..

Felt that edge from top to bottom then turn over and do the opposite edge... keep doing this until it's 1/3rd the size.... felt across the bottom but not too much ... just to neaten it up a wee bit... when your felting the sides do not felt the top of the triangle we want to keep the point :o)) ... when done you should have something that looks like this here... make another one...

To attach to the head pin in place and make sure you have them even and in the right place... when you begin to needle felt start at the front center and then the right and left sides... then felt around the entire bottom until attached firmly and felted to the size you like...

Now lastly for this lesson we'll tidy up some of those very annoying fluffy bits sticking out all over the place... there are 2 ways to do this ...1stly you can take a pair of small scissors like manacure ones and clip them off as closely as you can ..or if you have a heat gun simple give an overall blast with the heatgun until those hairs shrink and disapear... if you do use the heatgun I must warn you to keep the heatgun moving at all times and dont hold it too closely as burned wool doesn't look nice ...at least not on this guy :o))

Here's how he looks after his blast with the heatgun...

Much tidier eh :o))

Okay thats it for this lesson next one will be the finishing one... we'll be doing the long hair on the legs, mane, tail, horn and optional wings!

Update on lesson 2

2009-11-01T12:04:00.000-08:00

Alrighty .... Here is an extract from my Charlie horse pattern booklet ... I feel so bad about those close up pics of the hoofs I decided to pop these 2 pages up ... the only difference with these instructions is I take the hooves off and bake them then glue them onto the feet afterwards and also I've not done the under hoof sculpting ... Least you can actually see what is in the pictures :o))

--
Hugs,
Sharon 2
http://houseofpugish.blogspot.com/
http://www.houseofpugish.com

Unicorn Pt 2

2009-11-01T00:14:00.000-07:00

Okay so here we are pt 2... lets start with where I should have finished last time ... in the next pictures you'll see the body stuffed and from the underside I wanted to make known that the splayed legs is normal don't worry about it as the will be pulled in as you add the needle felted wool!

Now for the hooves... grab yourself some polymer clay ...this is a good way to get rid of some dirty clay if you have any and roll 4 balls as I have in the next pic ...please note I've made sure the bottom of the legs are in view so you can gauge the size!

Next is the sculpting of the hooves...below is a couple of pictures of what we will be doing.

first is the top view and the second is the bottom view...

Okay lets get started... take one ball of clay and place it on a hard surface ...place finger as I have in pic below and push down flattening that side to about half the height it was... next pinch that flattened side as in the 3rd picture ...

Now we will start using a tool to work the clay... the tool I'm using is a size 8 knitting needle.

Using that tool place a dent in the back as in this picture...

Again I have to say sorry for the pictures ... I do miss our good camera!

Right now you'll use your knitting needle to slope the clay down to your work surface...as in pictures below...

This is an optional step... I like to add a little detail to the under hoof by adding in the wee frog and hollowing it out a bit like the real thing... if you don't want to do this just skip to the next stage of trimming...

Turn the hoof over so you'll be working on the flat under side... now using your knitting needle press a triangle into the clay at the pinched side... then using your thumbs push the clay out away from the triangle leaving the triangle raised... place a small line down the middle of that triangle and that's that done :o))

Now you'll lift the hoof of the hard surface and trim off the excess and making a nice round hoof... when you get to this stage with the next hooves take the already trimmed hoof and the one you want to trim and place flat sides together then simply trim to match the other hoof... remember to use your finger and smooth any rough or hard edges... don't push too hard with your fingers just gently rub!

Now we'll dig a hole in the top as I have with this pic... this will accommodate the cloth hoof of the body...

almost there now :o))

Okay here's something I don't think I put on the materials list ... Liquid polymer clay... if you don't have any a wee bit of baby oil will do just as well... this will be used to help the polymer clay stick to the cloth... so rub either the liquid clay or the baby oil on the cloth hoof... try not to go too high into the leg... pop the hoofs on and blend the top of the clay to the leg... once you have all the hooves on and have made sure the horse balances then pop the whole thing in the oven and bake the clay to the manufactures specification... when baked and cooled paint black or brown...

Okay next step will be tomorrow if all goes well :o))

In the mean time here's a link to my good friend Sharon NZ blog go over and have a look at her Unicorn she's doing along with me :o))

If you are doing one as well and sharing on your blog I would love to see and pop a like here :o))

Unicorn lesson 1

2009-10-30T12:57:00.000-07:00

Well guys here is lesson 1 ...thanks for being patent :o))... I got a cheap camera and well what can I say ... you get what you pay for...so excuse the pictures some are a little blurry so I will do my best to explain them as we go!

So here I've traced out my pattern pieces onto some calico (muslin for you guys in the US) and I've taken some really cheap white glue and run a line over the pencil lines... smear this in so you don't have any lumps when it dries... I've done this as it stops the fraying of the material while your handling it and having seams pop open!

Next we cut out the pieces we will need which are the sides and the inner side pieces as below and sew them together only around the inside of the legs, tummy (not the back or front of the legs) using a small stitch on your sewing machine and a 1/4 seam... Use the edge of your sewing machine foot for a guide.

Sew both sides as above making sure not to sew those outer legs as yet!

Once you've done that we'll join both sides so place your 2 pieces like I have here and fold the neck and body down away from the curved line of the half body piece and pin together as I have in the next shot.

Sew along this curve... again a small stitch setting with a 1/4 seam.

Here's what we should have at this point :o))

Next we'll sew up the outer sides of the legs....just to the point of the inserts points on his rear end. The front is the same but when you sew the second leg closed you will pass the point of the insert and sew to the top of the neck opening... leave the neck open where the head will sit in that curve!

Rump insert... This is one of those places I'll hand sew ... it easier to do so for me... If you'd prefer to machine sew and are confident of doing so then you can do that... I just hate having to unpick and I find I will 99% of the time have to end up doing so ...so I hand sew LOL

Right back to the rump insert... place the fatter point of the leaf shape toward the point of the body insert and tack in place with a stitch... continue to tack this piece in place up both sides till you get to the front point... tack both sides to this point... you could use pins if you want but I like to tack with a stitches... once you have it tacked in place hand stitch together properly with a blanket stitch then a straight stitch ...yes sew it twice as extra strength is always a good thing!

Sew top of neck closed at this point too leaving the curved part at the front open!

Right the Head.... it's pretty easy ... even though some will say Gusset Yuck LOL

Take one half of the head and starting just under the chin bump at A sew the insert gusset from this point around head to B and you should finish just before where you started ...

The other side of the head is done in just the same manner only this time leave a bit open as indictaed in the next picture for turning.

Right so after all that your almost ready to turn your pieces... but before we do that just whip stitch the bottom of the hooves closed to make turning the legs just a tiny bit easier... okay turning can be tricky and the smaller your doing your horse the trickier it will be ...so have patience ... I have done this one smaller than my originals so I actually had to use a doll needle to help in turning them!!

Once turned stuff ...remember to stuff the legs firmly we do want his to stand!!...don't attach the head yet ...

Right that's all for today ... Next part will be up tomorrow...any questions email me :o))

First lesson

2009-10-29T13:34:00.001-07:00

Ok.... got camera ...its charged and ready to go... so first lessons for the Unicorn will be up today :o)))

--
Hugs,
Sharon 2
http://houseofpugish.blogspot.com/
http://www.houseofpugish.com

Unicorn update!!!

2009-10-26T16:33:00.000-07:00

Okay folks... run into a wee snag... I will still be doing the tutorial but it will have to be at a later date as we left our camera down in Carterton while we were visiting this last weekend... so I will have to buy a new one since Andrew's brother is into creating dvd's and ours was a video camera/photo one so Andrew said he could keep it... so hopefully will be able to afford a replacement soon! Sorry to everyone who is waiting on it and promise to get it sorted asap!

Hugs,

Sharon

Unicorn Horse tutorial

2009-10-19T20:38:00.000-07:00

Okay guys I forgot to put a date on the start of class... It will be starting Tues the 27 Oct ... I wont be starting till then as I will be away Friday through Monday... will be visiting with Sharon nz and also my partner Andrew's family... will be good :o)) so hope to see you all join in and I also want pics of what you do :o)))

Hugs,

Sharon

last post for today

2009-10-18T16:02:00.001-07:00

Well guys haven't I done well ... 3 posts in one day wahoo LOL

Just had a thought I've not really let you all know about what patterns I have for sale on my site! And also wanted to offer you guys a special of sorts so if you'd like one of my patterns ...just email me and say you saw this on my blog and you can have any of my patterns (doesn't include the Teds From Threads patterns) for half the price advertised on my site!

You can visit my site at www.houseofpugish.com

Free pattern

2009-10-18T15:51:00.000-07:00

Well since I got talked into making a Unicorn from my Pegasus pattern which is free just click on the images here...download and print to your desired size.... I thought if anyone want to join me in making one I'd pop up the process piccies and instructions as I go!

Should be fun so come on and join in :o))

What you'll need....
Calico about 1/4mtr and matching thread,
Scissors and pencil,
good glue something thick,
black beads about 4mm or what ever size takes your fancy,
Strong thread for attaching beads,
Polymer clay any colour you have as you can paint them after or black to skip painting,
Wool for felting ...I use Merino ...whatever colour you like I've used Purple and looks fantastic and remember this is a mythical creature so any colour goes!!
A needle felting needle .. I like my 38gauge as it felts in wonderfully... make sure you have a few as they do break at times!!
Stuffing,
and lastly a good black pencil for highlighting!

Okay thats it so far if I've missed anything I will update!

Some of past exploits in Needle Felting

2009-10-18T15:45:00.000-07:00

Well I thought I'd post a few bits of my past works... these guys are needle felted creatures ... I very rarely do needle felting these days. I think I just plain got bored with them... I just couldn't find anything that inspired me to work the wool again ... but since I'm going to be doing an order for one I'd show you some past works...

Wahoo... Bjds test string

2009-10-12T00:20:00.001-07:00

Well guys and girls here are those 2 bjd dolls I've been slaving over for months now... I'm so thrilled with both of these girls they are posing just as I wanted them to so I'd say I've got the jointing the way I like... just needs a bit more tweaking before I can say they are perfect...but they coming along!
The girls still need feet and hands but they are 90% done having several layers of filler primer ...next though are feet and hands then the painting begins!!

Hugs,
Sharon

What I got up to today :o))

2009-10-10T23:08:00.001-07:00

Well guys I actually started and finished a wee creature... not sure what he is but his name is Gimble.
He has a sculpted face which took me ages as I just don't find Character faces easy at all ...but I think I pulled it off LOL
He has a wire body which I needle felted his body and limbs over... well hope you like!!

Hugs,
Sharon

Another Bjd doll wip

2009-09-26T13:08:00.000-07:00

Okay I've been busy with this girl a new bjd.... she's taken a few weeks so far, the clay is paper clay which isn't the easiest to use but the hardness of the finished doll is worth it. I started with just a rough sculpt (very very rough) then weeks of detailing and sanding with blade and dremmel... her head is almost done but still needs a bit more sanding... as you can see further down the legs are half sanded but the arms have only been carved with a craft knife.

well that's it for now... I hope to do some more today so might update again later today.

BJD Doll test email update!

2009-08-02T16:36:00.001-07:00

Okay Guys... this is new for me so hopefully it works LOL ...I'm doing an update via my email ... Hopefully!

Well been a busy weekend I actually got some more on the wee doll done... as you can see in the pic I've got the body done quite roughly but everything lines up so far so thats good... need to do more detailing but will do that a bit further on as I don;t want to do hours of detailing and find out it's not right! ...Have also done a mock up of the hip and knee joints I'm going to try...also made a mold of them since I'd like both right and left to be the same sizes etc.

Well thats it from me today will update again soon as I will be doing more work on her and a few other projects that have been woefully ignored this past week...also have to find my stuffing tool... I need it quite badly ... isn't it funny how you get set in your ways and have your fav tools and if you miss place them boy you just can't get what you want done LOL

Ps... sorry about the pic... took it last night and colour isn't the greatest as you can see :o))

Hugs,
Sharon

Christmas in July with the CRAFT group

2009-07-27T20:37:00.000-07:00

Well a few months back our CRAFT group held a Christmas in July swap and we had to make of buy small gifts for our partners corresponding to each letter in the word Christmas and it was so much fun and amazingly difficult with some letters LOL

Well today I got my parcel from my partner Pam and boy did she spoil me ... I just love love love love everything thank you Pam :o))

I just had to show a pic of all the stuff and the list of corresponding letters ...so here they are :o))

C: Charm Pack...which I didn't get in the pic...was so in too much of a hurry!!
H: Handbag ... so gorgeous and so well sewn!!
R: Rita Raggs ... Just a real patriot cutie and all mine LOL!!
I: Indigo pouch... Love it will wear this one tomorrow :o))
S: Stash bags ... love bags and esp ooak ones just stunning :o))
T: Tote ... Oh I needed another tote so will go everywhere!!
M: Mini Quilt ... oh boy I just really fell head over heals for this one just no words here except I love it so much!!!!!!
A: Art thingy ...LOL she's going in my car!!
S: Scarf necklace ...that will get some use for sure with all this cold around and my fav colour too :o))

Well I really feel so spoiled thanks again Pam ... and if anyone wants to see what else Pam gets up to click on her name to have a nosy at her blog!!

Bjd doll face update

2009-07-26T15:51:00.000-07:00

Well guys and girls I finished sculpting the face and just had to paint it just to see if I liked it and yep I'm pleased with it so made a quick mold of it which I thought was going to be a gonner since I realised after pouring the plaster I hadn't sprayed it with mold release !!! But it came out fine Phew!!! ... So I've been sanding and drilling the joints today ... haven't gotten any pics as yet but they are ready to have the limbs worked around them... I do however have pics of the face all painted ... Didn't have any eyes so made them with clay them painted... takes away from the look but they will do until I order some :o))

Looks a bit better with hair LOL

Pay it Forward "SIGN UP NOW"

2009-07-24T13:14:00.000-07:00

Alrighty I signed up for this over at Naomi's so I also pinched her post to make things easier LOL Sorry Naomi! So read below to see how it works and sign up :o))

So, here's the info about the P.I.F......Below are the rules, and just as soon as I work out how to put it on here, the button to copy and put on your blog, will also be here, somewhere! Come and join the fun.
Here are the Pay It Forward Exhange "rules".. The first three people will be chosen to participate once they leave a comment on this post asking to join the Pay It Forward Exchange..By asking to join, they are agreeing to post a similar announcement on their blog, and Pay It Forward to three more people, who will in turn agree to Pay It Forward etc. So what does it mean?

Naomi is going to send me and her other participants one handmade item sometime in the next 12 months.....I, in turn, will send one handmade item to each of the three participants who signed up via my blog, within the next 12 months..You, in turn, will send one handmade item to each of your participants, and so on.

Great Movie if you haven't seen it it's well worth a watch!!

My Pay It Forwards are:
1.
2.
3.

Hugs
Sharon 2

P.S. Edited to add the button for your blog

Another post

2009-07-24T12:46:00.001-07:00

Well I've started another BJD doll.. she'll be much smaller than the last one but this time I'm trying for a younger looking girl doll... here's how she looks so far ... still a lot of sanding to do but she's not too bad for symmetry so far and I've always had problems with getting the mouth right on my sculpts and I think I've finally got it right...well right being I like it LOL

Stay tuned for more updates ...

Look what I found in the mail yesterday!

2009-07-24T12:40:00.000-07:00

Well guys I went to the mail box yesterday and I found a super surprise from Naomi a friend in our CRAFT group... Aren't they so cool! I just love them ... put them on last night and oh wow they are warm and soooooo comfy and what can I say my absolute fav colours too! I can see they will be my fav foot accessory LOL
Thanks Naomi you are such a gem thinking of me when you saw these!

new doll on ebay

2009-07-22T23:38:00.001-07:00

Well guys I finally got myself organised and have listed one of my wee Flutter Fae's ... The original wee one was designed and made for the doll net cloth doll non baby challenge and she won second place! Well making a long story shorter I made up a couple more since the original flutter Fae was spoken for and one has been gifted and the last can be seen here ...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110416897897

If you have time take a looksee she is a cutie ...even if I'm just a little biased LOL

Been ages!

2009-05-01T21:51:00.000-07:00

Well guys it has been simply ages since my last post... I've been very busy finishing up that bjd doll and am in the processes of designing another... have to work out what size I'd like to do and sketch up a nice body shape then carve it into Styrofoam! Will keep you all up dated as I go along :O))

But for now here are some finished pictures of the doll whom has yet to get a name! Any suggestions gratefull :o))

This is her under clothes... complete with a knife and sword in each boot...

This is the Dress type jacket that took me 2 days to design and sew.... all the clothes are done so they can be removed and she can be redressed...

Here's a close up of her face after I darkened around her eyes and added some eyelashes...also added the necklace ...

Hugs,
Sharon

My Birthday today

2009-03-30T14:26:00.000-07:00

37 today!! and just had to share all the super stuff I got so far... My Daughter Tammy has got me something as well but I won't open it till she gets home from work later tonight :o))

Here's a pic of all the Fabric I got from some wonderful girls in the CRAFT group... can't wait to start something with all that fabric!! I also got the greatest wee shopping bag that folds up into a pocket and fits perfectly into my bag so I always have an extra bag on hand...how cool is that!!
Oh and I was soooooo thrilled to get a wee needle felted bear head from Karen ...her first one and she gave him to me!!... thanks so much Karen love him to bits :o)) you did a fantastic job on him!!!

My good friend Sharon also in NZ gave me some gorgeous skin care products some crafting mags and some fabric... Girl I had to try the skin mask out ...fantastic ...haven't had a face this clean in years LOL oh and that hand cream ... perfect !! ... I'll let you know about the wrinkle stuff in a couple of weeks... has a lot to work through LMAO

You girls sooooo spoil me thank you all so much and huge hugs :o))

Okay better get back to getting the house clean so I can sit and do some needle felting before I get Alex from school..have a great day everyone :o))

What we've been up to

2009-03-30T14:00:00.000-07:00

Well hey guys... been a really busy weekend for us, we decided to build our son Alex a playhouse... boy it was intimidating for us since we have never built any structure before LOL least not in wood!

Alex is pretty excited to get it finished ...we just have to get some more wood for the roof ... probably another 1hr and half at the timber yard with the poor guy there trying his damnedest to work out what we need from my description and measurements LOL

Here's some pic's of the work in progress we've still got the roof and all the edgings to go but it doesn't look too bad for a couple of novices like us :o))

Alex taking measure LOL

Alex seeing if he can possibly us the windows to climb through instead of the door!

Gema our dog also enjoying the house... thinking when Alex grows out of it it could be Gema's dog kennel LOL

I have to say my partner Andrew did a great job since he had to cut all those framing pieces and weather board by hand with a hand saw LOL

Bjd Doll Update!!

2009-03-09T14:14:00.000-07:00

Well guys I went hard and got Miss BJD to painting stage...at last LOL ...Okay here's a few more pics of how she arrived at the "ready to Paint" stage...

Here's one of her arms... yes as you'll see she does have 2... as you can see here I have the hand armature ready to go ... and if you look really hard you'll see there was once clay on that wire...well I stuffed up the hand the first time round so using my trusty pliers I took it all off and started again LOL ...Paper clay is very difficult to work with for some parts and in this case I found the wee fingers a bit challenging!!

So challenging I had to do them one at a time, blast with my heat gun then do the next... took over and hour for both hands!!

Well here she is all laid out ready for a test string... I placed a 16" ruler next to her so you could get an idea of her size...

Here we have her all test strung and posing just a bit LOL... I'm leased how she turned out and I will do another with some changes to bits such as next time I will do the double knee as I really want my dolls to have as much to life movement as possible....

Let me know what you think of her so far :o))

Finally Posting!!

2009-02-07T21:34:00.000-08:00

Well guys I've been very busy lately with more than one thing as usual LOL
I'm feeling very proud this week as I managed to give up smoking... boy was that the hardest thing I've ever had to do!!!

I've done some more on the BJD doll but haven't had time to take some pictures as yet but will tomorrow :o))

Also I've made 4 new sculpts none of them any bigger than 5" .... These I will be selling on my site as soon as I get it redesigned... yep that time again LOL I plan on attacking that tomorrow in between sculpting and sewing.... Speaking of sewing I actually made a wee quilt! Not totally finished as yet but I'm very thrilled with it since it's my first :o)) The pattern for it is from Cath Walker and is part of the Teddy Club ... if your wondering what that is, it's a monthly mail out from Cath with Teddy themed stitcheries and projects... she only charges $10. aud ...well worth it as you get so much more value for your buck!! If you want to go have a looksee or contact her about it there's a link to her blog over to the right or click here :o))

Okay so here's the pictures of those wee sculpts and the quilt so far I was talking about earlier... If you are interested in the 2 I have left and can't wait till I get them on my site feel free to email me ...

Adopted

Adopted

This wee girl will be $60.00 + shipping

This wee boy will be $50.00 + shipping

Okay thats it from me for now... hope to be posting more pics of the BJD tomorrow ... :o))

1st post for 09

2009-01-05T22:02:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone :o)) ...sorry I've been slack in posting ...been doing this and that including recently trying to stop smoking!! Well that isn't going so well but I haven't given up on the idea of quitting and will do it!!

Okay besides that I've been playing with making my own bjd dolls... I made one last year for my good friend Sharon nz ...and decided to give it another go! This girl is much bigger than the first and is a challenge as I've never sculpted anything as big...she'll be nearly 20" when done!!

It's a real puzzle as each piece has to fit and move within the other pieces ...so more trial and error at present...

Here's some pics so far :o))

I ended up cutting her neck off and re doing it as I didn't like the angle... also I added a ball to the top of the heck that sits in a cup inside the head...works wonderfully!!

Here's something else I've almost finished lately... he's a polymer dragon and will sit in the hands of his friend...only needs his wings :o))

Well thanks for dropping by... I will have more pics as the bjd comes along :o))

Christmas gifts so far!!

2008-11-16T16:46:00.000-08:00

Hi guys :o))

Thought I'd show you some of the things I've been doing lately... a few I can't show as they are for an Advent swap with the CRAFT group... we at Christmas time buy or make 24 small gifts for our partners to open each day before Christmas and one main that's bigger... well I can't show those as they need to be a secret for a bit longer LOL

I can show you these though...

Inside and outside of a reversible toy bag and matching slippers for our new nephew Harper whom is only a couple of months old now...

Next is a bag same pattern as the above one but done in suede and has a lattice worked pockets... this is for my Auntie...

Lastly for now here's a table runner that I'm very proud of ... First time for stippling and it's not to bad if I do say so my self LOL
The blocks aren't done by me they are the work of someone in our CRAFT group she did them for me in payment for one of my dolls...and boy are they fantastic blocks so neat... I'm hoping to do some as neat soon :o))

Hugs,
Sharon

AWOL

2008-11-14T23:28:00.000-08:00

Well guys I'm so sorry I've not finished the Caterpillar... my only excuse is Christmas!! I've been flat out trying to get all those things made... I will update and add some pics of what I've done very soon :o))

Hugs,

Sharon

Tutorial 5

2008-10-01T23:36:00.001-07:00

Just when you thought No more Balls LOL ..
Here we go again... This time we are going to make 2 sets of 2 larger balls (this larger ball would be about the size of a normal marble), a med ball, a small ball and 8 tiny balls...one set for each arm and hand.... they will be strung like in this picture... Note each ball will still be movable so the hand can be posed..

Here's how it looks when strung together...

Note here I've strung the 2 fingers so they look like they are bent...

Look how tightly I've sewn it to the body....

Here he is so far with both arms attached...Note positioning of the jointed arms...

Just another view for reference...also note I have felted a wee ball on the end of his tail to cover the knot of stringing him together...

Lets attach the head now... you will have this indentation at the top of the neck where there is the knot from stringing the balls together... use this as the entrance of your needle when attaching his head...

Thread the needle with the threads that you used to attach the eyes...
Insert the needle as above and exit between the neck ball and the next one... this is to hide the knot...

Tie the ends very well... I knot them twice just to make sure nothing undoes...

Now I just had to play with poses a bit... LOL
Mmm what do you think...

I wonder...

I surrender!!

Who me??? I'm innocent honest ...

Right I'm off...

Well hope your enjoying this so far... we are nearly finished :o))

Hugs,
Sharon

Tutorial Pt 4

2008-10-01T23:16:00.000-07:00

Well girls I'm sorry this is later than I said... My only excuse is I decided to do some more to it before I uploaded LOL

Okay to finish off the head he needs some antenna ...to do this I felted 8 very small balls a little bigger than his nose... Sharon time to get those forceps out LOL
Once you've done the balls string them together ...remember create character by making one or both not straight!! Then using the same method as attaching his hair needle felt a tuft on each of them.

That ends the head for now... Lets get cracking on the body...

String the balls of the body together knotting the thread on each side of the balls... When you've done that make another 6-8 balls..half felt these and then felt to the bottom of body for legs... Use the muzzle attachment method to felt them on... once you have them in place felt the bottoms flat so he can stand unassisted..

That's it for this part ... next one is about to follow!!

Hugs,
Sharon

Tutorial Pt 3

2008-09-30T12:43:00.001-07:00

The Head..
Lets do some more work on the head...
Use a finer needle for this part...I used a 38 gauge needle. This needle is a great all rounder needle and one you should have plenty of !

Using this needle needle felt the eye sockets in as I have in below pic...

Using normal black beads..I used 4mm Onyx ones as that's what I have ...but any black bead in whatever size takes your fancy will do.. Thread with very strong upholstery cotton or waxed sinew ..do not use dental floss as it breaks down over time and also turns a nasty yellow!!

Attach both eyes by going trough eye socket and out through the neck area...pull firmly and knot securely ...

Lets add some whites to under the eyes and I think I'm going to do something here I've not done to any bear in a few years and that's add a black edging all around the outside of the eye!!
In this picture you can see the amount of wool or fiber you'll need for this part ..note the black has been twisted into what could look like a thread... to do this place wool between thumb and forefinger and roll it... this is important as it will be easier to attach neatly...

Needle felt the white wool only around the lower half of the bead..refer to below picture..

Then add the black outline around the whole eye... first felt one end in place and gently felt the rest down following the line of the eye...refer to below pic as guide...

Here's what we should have at this point... just remember in needle felting no 2 characters can ever be identical so yours will look different from mine!!

Now for the nose... use any colour you like here ..I'm using just plain old black as this guy will have red/yellow hair and any other colour may dissapear so think about the colour of your guy's hair and decide what will look best for your one...
Below is a pic of the amount of wool I'm using to create his nose..

Felt tha bit of wool into a ball ...this is a tiny ball so be very careful with your fingers and as my firnd Sharon says don't look up while your felting esp. on the downward thrusts LOL
Attach that tiny ball to the top of the nose using the smae method as I showed you in attaching the muzzle ... refer to that video if your unsure..

How to attach hair... Take small pieces of wool or fiber and place accross area you want to apply it to... needle felt it to the area using your 38 gauge needle only in the center part as here in this picture...

This is how it will look...This may take practice so use a spare ball and practice first!!

Well here's the head after I've attached his hair...I did a Mohawk but you could do any other kind of hair do you want... try a whole head of rainbow hair if you wish to :o))

Next part will come in a couple of hours....

Any questions? Dont be shy post to me and I'll answer :o))

Caterpillar Tutorial pt 2

2008-09-26T18:58:00.000-07:00

For those that are going quickly here's part 2

Sorry for some of the foggy bits, I was in a zone and forgot to keep what I was doing on the sponge Andrew did a fantastic job of trying to follow me around :o)) What it is to have a partner with patience LOL

There are some added pictures below of the head at different angles to help you out... You don't have to add a mouth as I have if you don't wish to... but give it a go on a spare head just to get a feel for it :o))

Note I did add a little more shape on the sides of the mouth to add a smile..

I haven't used a smaller needle as yet...at this point I really don't think I'm going to need to... But that could change.. If your using real wool I would strongly suggest that you do to remove some of the bigger holes made by the courser needle.

Next part will be adding eyes, nose, hair and whatever else I may think he needs LOL

Hugs,
Sharon

Day 2

2008-09-26T17:47:00.000-07:00

Well guys it was a busy day yesterday not only did I get the first and second parts to the tutorial done (second part coming) but I also got these done.. Toothbrush needles for toothbrush rugs.

One of the girls on our CRAFT yahoo group posted a link to making these rugs and well I had to make the needles since our toothbrushes no longer come with holes in them!! So I made them from Polymer clay, painted them with Genesis heat set paints then covered them in liquid clay to seal all the paint .. I really like how they turned out though they didn't photograph as well as they should ... Link to see what and how to make toothbrush rugs http://whimfield.com/?p=4

Front view.

Back view.

Hugs,
Sharon

Caterpillar Tutoral Part 1

2008-09-26T13:35:00.000-07:00

Okay :o)) Finally have it sorted and here's the first lesson for making your own Caterpillar!! I tell you it was a learning curve getting the right format and size to upload.. I edited plenty of pictures but this is the very first video LOL

Firstly here's a picture of the tools needed... I'm using a 34 gauge needle, it's great for those courser wools such as corriedale or as I'm using some craft fiber that not even real wool!! Thought I'd give it a go and see if it felts well and I'm pleased to say yes it does :o)) Right going off a bit so back to tools... needle for felting, good thick sponge to work on, your wool of choice and some plasters just in case :o))

Next Step is below in Video format so you can see exactly how I form a felted ball... I hope you can see it clearly and understand my ramblings... Just about the whole caterpillar will be made from ball so you want to make a good number of them...I've done 12 balls in various sizes 3 small ones, 3 medium, 6 larger and the biggest of the larger ones I used for the head. Don't make them all the same size ...it will be boring if you do.. different sizes will give him/her more Character.

Okay when you have all the balls felted lay them out and rearrange them until you like what you see... make sure to have a small ball for the neck and a couple for his tail..you can have him/her either with an arched back or a straight back...

Hope you enjoy and any questions just shout... LOL

Next will be the Head and Face... :o))

Hugs,
Sharon

Day 1

2008-09-24T14:01:00.001-07:00

Well after much procrastination I've finally done something about getting my blog up and running LOL

I'm Sharon Hawkes formally of Mystical Bears ... I decided a while back that I needed a change in name as I was doing more and more Dolls and other crafty stuff so Mystical Bears didn't fit any more...so born was House of Pugish...slightly pompous but also fun I thought LMAO

I'm hoping this blog will be a fun place for everybody and maybe have a spot of learning as well! If you have other techniques you use don't be shy and comment... Goodness knows we never stop learning:o))

I will be adding a tutorial for needle felting a very cute caterpillar this week (hopefully tomorrow) it will be step by step as I make him/her, so visit regularly so you don't miss out...I will also have some auctions from time to time of what ever I happen to make ... I don't use ebay anylonger as the fee's have just gotten to be astronomical and quite frankly I want my customers to get the best bargin they can!!

If you have any requests be sure to ask me :o))

Hugs,
Sharon