Banner Sponsors
For artists and collectors sponsored by Intercal...your mohair supplier and Johnna's Mohair Store
I just got my email - I got two noms -
Grizzelda in the undressed small & Orsino & his Flock' in the Friends'
the thread knots up because it gets twisted during the normal motion of sewing. you can counter the twist by training yourself to roll the sewing needle between your thumb and forefinger after you've made your stitch, as you're drawing the thread and pulling it tight. it takes a little practice and you have to roll in the opposite direction of the twist, but it works very well for me.
another trick (avoiding unthreading the needle while sewing) is to pull all the excess thread through the needle eye until the needle is tight to the fabric, and then run your wax or TM - or even a wet finger - over the thread tail, pick up your needle and continue sewing
congrats on your golden george!
re: Teddy Total. . . in my opinion, moving was indeed what caused the shows decline - but not the move from Munster - it was the move TO Munster that started its fall. the first time I attended Teddy Total (1997?), it was held at Hennif, which was fairly close to Franfurt (if I remember correctly) in any case, it was fairly simply to reach. I was impressed beyond measure by the huge crowd milling outside (no queue, just a monster mob) and by over 500 artists spanning 3 floors. it was said there were over 40,000 people through the doors over 2 days.
it was amazing - and it was easy to get to.
apparently, the convention center they used in Hennif was converted to another use, prompting the move to Munster.
if you are from the USA, Munster is horrible to reach - there is no direct flight and so it's either transfer flights or take the train. . . (I never take a flight to show that requires a plane transfer, it's the best way to vastly increase the chances that your lugge will be lost) and lugging 2 90lb suitcases, plus carry-on bags, ect. on and off trains and planes to get to Munster is/was exhausting. and in spite of the size of the city, it's not really set up for the business traveler - I spent an entire friday trying to convert $3000 USD into Euro before the show - not a single currency exchange in the city and in spite of visiting 8 banks, no one would touch my cash. I eneded up going to Western Union and paying huge fees - again - ironic in that the money had originally been sent to me via Western Union in a rush transaction before leaving on the trip - had I known, I would have just had the money wired to Munster instead of Narrowsburg. . .
but anyway, Munster has delined further every year since the move. I know part of this is the economy, but I think it's mostly location, location, location. . . put it closer to Frankfurt - Stuttgart would be wonderful, in my humble opinion ;-)
:clap: :clap: :clap: completely, totally, amazingly awesome :clap: :clap: :clap:
I really felt like I 'had' to try a pelican with an open beak to really capture the quintessential 'pelican', and imagine my delight when doing my research to discover there are actually 5-6 different types of pelicans. the biggest ones are the Australians, interpreted here by Percival.
Percival is an Australian Pelican and is about 7.5" tall without his 'pier'. he's made
white Belgian plush with black feathered mohair & leather beak, feet, claws & eyelids. he has a lockline spine, rod-jointed legs and wired wings. beak is formed over wire and has some play but does does not open and close (that whole expand-and-contract thing is beyond my current engineering capabilities ;-)
available/$650
thanks, folks!
sue f, he's 9" at the shoulder when on all 4's. he's about 12" seated. (but my last bear, Grizzleda, was 5" at the shoulder, or about 1/2 this size.)
sue j - isn't that a great fur? it's from a piece of Tissavel I bought in '96, when I first started. sadly, they don't make it anymore, the dum dummies
thanks, ladies
(Linda - coming from the queen of unique, that's a very nice compliment ;-))
meet Gideon Grizzly
Gideon is about 16" long and 9" high at the shoulder. He is created out of lush inch long tissavel fur in rich ginger with trapunto leather paw pads, leather claws, nose & eyelids (over german glass eyes) he has a full neck and spine with 14 joints (shoulders, knees, ankles, wrist and that funny 3rd joint that bear have in their front arms between shoulder and elbow. wrists are rotational. airbrushed accents on nose, ears & paws. Gideon Grizzly is filled with a combination of woodwool,polyfil, and glass & silicone beads and weighs in at 5lbs. leather cans with vintage silk batiste labels.
more, bigger & better pics on facebook @ http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/alb … 8537637063
:clap: :clap: :clap: completely adorable! :clap: :clap: :clap:
:hug: :hug: :hug: thanks, folks! :hug: :hug: :hug:
ever since the gulf disaster I've had pelicans on the brain and have finally gotten around to tackling one. . . meet pericles pelican, the brown pelican. . . 7" tall and made out of white faux fur and vintage shaded alpaca (coloration is inherent to the fur) with leather beak, legs, claws and eyelids. he has rod-jointed hips and a locline neck with wired wings. the wings have magnets in the tips to help keep them folded properly. beak 'pouch' is thin, soft leather with silicone beads inside.
5" 'pier' post is made of leather & rope.
Grizzelda is 10" long from the tip of her nose to the end of her tail, and is about 9" when standing on her hind feet. made of vintage alpaca with leather nos, paw pads, claws and eyelids. full neck and spine, rod-jointed with mechanical joints at knees, ankles and wrists. 4.5" trashcan is sewn of silver leather with moveable handles & lid. leather 'tin cans' with vintage labels screened onto silk batiste.
there are more pics on my facebook pages if you'd like to seem them, at:
thanks, folks!
Karen, these guys were sort of an exercise in fabric usage. I've been playing around with printed vintage faux furs this winter. the head and necks are a mini-leopard print from a 50's coat, the body back and sides were from one of those 60's fur bombers. it's not a 100% accurate, but close enough to fool the eye - and saved a huge amount of time, keeping the costs down a bit.
Krista, it would be a fun little crowd alright ;-)
(and I'm flattered anew remembering that you have them)
:clap: :clap: :clap: wow, how cute is that! :clap: :clap: :clap:
(in my very best frech accent)
:clap: :clap: :clap: tre exquisite! :clap: :clap: :clap:
a trio of ostrich chicks - 9-10 inches tall, they are made of assorted vintage faux furs with leather beaks, feet, claws and eyelids with wired wings and loc-line necks.
availible from moi, seperately orasagroup, shoot me a post or an email.
(the one on the left is now sold)
thankss, folks! what a great great bunch! Peter, the cool thing about really big bears is that they feel real, too. I always wish there was so was some way to convey in photo what is feels like to have a 12-pound wiggly-squishy bear sitting on your lap. . . :crackup:
:clap: :clap: :clap: he is amazing :clap: :clap: :clap:
:dance: :dance: :dance: wow wow wow :clap: :clap: :clap:
Grigoriy is 30" tall (20" seated) and made of shaded faux fur in taupe/brown/black with guard hairs (very grizzly) and has leather pawpads, nose, claws and eyelids over german glass eyes, a full neck and spine, rod-jointed at shoulders and hip, mechanical joints at knee, ankle, elbow, and wrists. (wrists are rotational, can turn upwar...ds, inwards & downwards, shoulders also have a 30 degree outward play) his paws end in long stitched leather claws and the paws are individually wired so he can actually hold his cans.
the cans are made of metallic leathers. they are completely lined in bookbinding leather and the labels are antique labels that I scanned and then screened onto antique silk batiste.
I'm having a really hard time loading pics of any decent size, but if you'd like to see more, I've got an album on facebook too:
:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: gorgeous :clap: :clap: :clap:
shanna, I'm wondering if you had written that you had given the mouse gave a squishy body and a wobble joint on purpose in the listing description at the show?
he's beautiful - and those paws are awesome :clap: :clap: :clap:
meet Curly - 12 inches of happy, cuddly polar cub constructed out of spanish shearling and leather. multiple joints, leather paw pads, nose and eyelids, Curly comes with his red leather hot water bottle and hand-knitted wooled blankie. available, contact me for details.
meet Curly - 12 inches of happy, cuddly polar cub constructed out of spanish shearling and leather. multiple joints, leather paw pads, nose and eyelids, Curly comes with his red leather hot water bottle and hand-knitted wooled blankie.
