Monday, November 29, 2010

On to something new... FELTING!!! one of my all time favorite things.

As I was working on some felting projects while getting ready for my open studio, I was so taken by the beautiful colors and textures of the works in progress. Here are some for you to see.
One is of a nuno scarf that I was making Check out how gorgoulicious the colors and textures are. YUM!


these others are just the bats for a jelly roll. Check out these colors.GORGEOULICIOUS!!


Finished bathroom




So here it is finally finished. I was quite pleased with it especially the cute red flip flops. I vas happy to know that I hadn't lost my touch.

Sunday, October 17, 2010



So I started out just painting the walls of this bathroom. But as usual as I was painting the inspiration started to flow and I thought wouldn't it be great to spill the sand onto the floor and then make a little tidal pool so here it is in progress.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Finished diorama


So finally it is finished. I think that some of the things I like most about this are the blue flowers I found this trim that I have been using for everything at Michael's. The color of the flowers is so gorgeous I also like the way the bride and groom came out. At first I thought that I would make farm animals in the background but as I worked on this I decided to do this instead. I think my favorite whimsical touch is the clothesline at the top with the tiny clothespins. I was very happy with the way this turned out.

Wedding diorama finished


So here it is almost finished and next will be the finished art

Monday, August 16, 2010

Finishing the diorama

Finishing the wedding diorama


Now all the finishing details are added like the background which was done using two different trims one for the leaves and the other for the flowers. I also embroidered letters onto small pieces of wool felt for the clothes line. The tound ceramic letters I made at another time and saved for just this kind of project. I made the letters by rolling a small piece of clay, flattening it out then stamping it with a ceramic letter stamp that I had made and then glazing and firing each one. I love glueing everything together and having things work together really well. I felt great about the way things fit together here. I think my favorite thing is the clothesline.

Wedding diorama finishing up


So here finally are the last steps to this diorama. I made the bride and groom out of fabric and then painted them, glued on decorations and hair.

Monday, August 2, 2010

Wedding diorama cont


Now I'm putting the pieces all together to see how they fit and I am pleased with the results

Wedding diorama cont


Here are the bride and groom pieces

Wedding diorama cont.


So here are some more pictures of the diorama in progress Here is the background that I painted with Shiva paintsticks. I love those so much.

Saturday, July 10, 2010

wedding diorama cont.

Wedding diorama cont.


After zig zagging around all the pieces I start to sew them together to make the box. I love this step because the diorama starts to come to life.

wedding diorama cont.


here are more pictures

Wedding diorama cont.


After deciding on shape and size I choose fabrics to use. I chose this fabric and shape because the people that are getting married are having the wedding at a farm.
I take the fabrics and fuse them onto Fast 2 Fuse, my latest favorite material to use. After I fuse fabrics together I cut out my shapes and zig zag around the edges of all the shapes. I also always add curtains to all my dioramas and this is no exception. So I draw out the curtains and sew them with a layer of batting in between, turn them inside out and then I topstich the lines of the curtains. I used a printed fabric for these because I knew that I would be painting them gold.

Working on a wedding diorama


This is how I make my dioramas.
I start by doing a sketch and then enlarging it. First I make the outer box. I decide what size and shape it's going to be.

Monday, June 14, 2010

My trip to Falmouth MA



I took a trip to Falmouth to look for some scallop shells. I had just come up with a new product and loved it so much I wanted to make more but I didn't have more shells. So I called my friend that lives in Falmouth and asked her if she could show me some of the beaches that might have scallop shells. Well, we went from beach to beach and found not one shell. Finally we gave up and decided to get some lunch. My friend suggested that we go to one last beach and I couldn't believe it I found hundreds of shells. So here is the cute little product that I came up with.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

More studio photos





In fact, here are some other photos of my work table. I love seeing all the materials together so when I have a nice arrangement on the table, I pull out the camera and take a few pictures. These photos are actually of my holiday ornaments in process I make hundreds of ornaments that I sell in stores and privately as well as on my Etsy store here is the link
http://www.etsy.com/shop/addictedtomermaids
I also have a bead and supply store and here is the link http://www.etsy.com/shop/mermaidsbeads
so right now I'm frantically trying to get caught up on my work because we had a death in the family and I got a little behind.
It feels great to get back to work, I love it sooo much.

Working in my studio




Here is a shot of the inside of my kiln with a whole bunch of tiny little items. This is how I make the buttons, beads and other accessories that I use in my work. I always love the way things look all together on the shelf.

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Dreams and Visions Drip Dry

This is another diorama from my Dreams and Visions show at the Brookline Arts Center. It was constructed in the same way as the Provence diorama. The inside construction was a little different though. I angled the floor and the walls a bit to really make these look like a room. The tint mermaid is a doll and her tiny bathing suit is a piece of fabric about 1/4 inch big. I loved making these because I love a black and white checker board and as always the metallic oil sticks look so great on the fabric. The doors swing closed for moving and storage. Starfish on the front of the cabana is a ceramic button that I made. The diorama itself measures about 7 inches tall and 7 inches wide. There is a string at the back for hanging.




Thursday, April 29, 2010

Dreams and Visions Sweet Dream



This diorama was constructed basically the same way as the Provence one. The figures are actually dolls that I made and painted. All the accessories on the dolls like the crown were made by me too. To see more dolls that I made please visit my Etsy store where I have them for sale as well as many other beautiful things addictedtomermaids.etsy.com. I think this type of diorama would make a great wedding gift. The doors do close for storage or moving. The starfish at the top is one of my very favorite things that I've made because the size and shape of it. It is sewn then painted and the points are so slim they measure only about 3/16 wide and about1 inch long. The diorama itself measures about 9 inches tall and 7 inches wide. It has a string at the back for hanging.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Dreams and Visions





Here is a photo of one of my dioramas that I made for a show that I had at the Brookline Arts Center in the Boston area. This is one of my very favorites although all of them are really my favorites for different reasons. This is about a dream that I have of owning a beautiful cottage somewhere in Provence. I am planning on buying it soon.

I made the box itself by sandwiching fusible interfacing between 2 pieces of fabric. This makes it stiff but flexible enough to sew. Then I sewed the curtains by sandwiching cotton batting between 2 pieces of fabric turning it inside out, then top stitching. I made the hills in the background the same way. I painted curtains , mountains and the inside of the box with these luscious oil paint sticks, the metallic ones and let those dry for a couple of days. In the meantime I made the rest of the details. I do a lot of felting so the lavender was perfect for that I needle felted the lavender and the sunflowers and was really happy with the result. The tree tops are felted too and then beaded a little for texture .The cottage was made the same way as the curtains. The clothesline is tiny pieces of cloth that I cut out and painted and the clothesline itself is floral wire. Then I glued the whole thing together. I love that part because all the elements look so great together and it is so interesting for me to see if the final product is what I want it to be. In this case it was exactly as I wanted it. This diorama measures about 12 inches tall and 9 inches wide. There is a string at the back for hanging.