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Shelli Retired Help Advisor, Banner SponsorFeb 17, 2006

Hang in there, Daphne. You've taken on a monumental task, which I admit I don't remotely envy!  But a worthy one, and one of which you will feel SO PROUD when all is said and done.  I know you know that already.

Big hugs of encouragement...  :hug:  :hug:  :hug:

Donna Feb 18, 2006

Daphne,
I was just looking at a realistic looking bear that the feet were fantastic, I hope I can explain so you can understand.  Use pink shiny leather for the pads!  You are going to cut the pad out as one piece.  Use the picture you have to make the shape.  Have the outside toe pad touch the side of the back big pad.  Then cut a small slit in the leather between the back big pad and the toes but don't go all the way out to the the edge of the toe so that it stays attached to the big back pad.  You will then whip stitch or blind hem the leather onto the furry foot pad.  You will be stuffing and padding the leather as you are stitching it onto the flat furry foot pad.  When it is stuffed and stitched onto the furry foot pad then you treat it just like a regular foot pad and sew it to the foot.  Ater you have the foot stuffed and are ready to finish the foot you will use pearl cotton to match the brown foot and seperate the toe pads so they puff up.  If you need to have fur in between the toe pads you can cut very thin little strips of the brown fur and tack them so they lay between the toes.  Where you cut the slit between the big back foot pad and the toes will have fur sticking up through that slit.  If the toes are big enough you could cut slits between them, but I don't think they will be big enough.
If you need some pink shiny leather let me know and it can go out priority mail.
I hope this made sense.
Donna

Daphne Feb 18, 2006

Kelly,
No you didn't and what a pretty bun! Yes, looks like the easiest solution but I fear not quite the look they are after. I mentioned the pads in my email to him amongst other business stuff. He didn't respond at all to the pads so I guess I just move forward with the sculpey plan....... POO.

Winney Feb 18, 2006

How cute !!!! Hes so  fluffy!!!! I want to put my face down into his fur and just squiggle him....Winney

Daphne Feb 18, 2006

Donna, waaaaa... I need pictures!!!
Actually, it did make sense. However, I've got to use what I've got at this point as they must ship on Tuesday. So it's either needle felted or sculpey and I'm going with the latter....... sculpt, bake, paint, dry, seal, glue... should take another week! HA!!!

Ya know, I bet I could do similar to what you described... I have a hideous pair of pink shiny leather gloves that I've had for years and never gotten rid of. Who knew!!?? I'll have a think on that in the morning or as I lay in bed awake tonight.

Thank you! Can't wait to see what I end up doing!!!

DebbieD Feb 18, 2006

I rather like Donna's idea...and you can kill two birds with one stone, getting rid of those hideously pink leather gloves at the same time     

I tried this technique last night and I was surprised at how fast the results were.  A bit fiddlier than usual, but still fast...

fribblesltd Mar 31, 2006

...ish, well, I'm really late on this topic---but in the future, if one has to make 20+ footpads out of clay, Sculpey has this fairly new product on the market, it's an elasticizer/mold making clay substance---you could make your main footpad and then one toe footpad, and then take a mold from that and waalaa, you can produce umpteen footpads in one heck of a hurry.

Also, to get a good color variation on the pads [it looks like in the photo it goes darker pigmented around the outside of the pad], mix up your regular clay color [pink] and then visit the make-up section of any store, find the shade of blush a few shades darker than your baked clay color, and before you go about baking all of your footpads, take a soft brush and highlight the areas around the footpad you want.

The blush will be permanent when it's baked into the clay.

Amelia

Daphne Apr 3, 2006

Amelia,
Wow!!! You are a life saver!!!
Thankfully I didn't have to make the pads of sculpey in the end but this is great knowledge to have for the future. I'll have to keep an eye out for the mold making stuff!

Thank you heaps!
:hug:
Daphne