Some days I just wonder!

I am starting a new Dress Form and she's going to be Fae inspired. Amongst that I am working on a cuff I had been thinking about every since seeing Karla Nathan's Cuff Tutorial, as well as a pencil drawing that I started a few days ago! I wonder some days how the hell I end up with all these projects going on at the same time! lol I think it's so many ideas and not enough time to get them all out. I have tried drawing more when I feel like this to get ideas to paper hoping that will help me purge that desire to start something else unless it truly has to happen! I am down to my IPad for a PC so will post some pictures soon through the Blogger App. Hope everyone is having a great week so far. Looks like it's going to be a fantastic Holiday Season!!!

Vintage Wedding Dress Form

Well this is how she's coming along. She's not finished just yet but for the most part completed. I had a great time making this one! I used items from the kit Karla's Cottage sent for the Dress Form Tutorial that she offers. The train is actually some paper she used to package the items with! It was just lovely cream colored embossed paper that I folded to make it a bit more dramatic. Lace, ribbons, tulle, paper, buttons, old earrings etc are all wonderful things to use on these dress forms and the design possibilities are endless!!

A little Sneak Peak!

I had an idea for another Dress Form before even finishing the first one. Just keep in mind these are for decoration and aren't meant for lots of handling or playing with. I love using various materials to make these and will most definitely post pictures of it once its completed!

Dress Form is finally done!!

This came along very nicely. The tutorial was well written but honestly once you got going you pretty much have it down once you get to the decorating of the Dress Form. I have another one coming soon that is more of a wedding themed dress form. They are just so much fun!! Let me know wht you think!

Someone STOP ME!!!!!

So I started the Mini Dress Form and am having a great time with it. It's been decoupaged and stained. I am going to gently spatter her then start the decorating process. The problem is I am also going to make some cuffs! I need to stay away from Karla's Cottage !! I found the cuff tutorial yesterday and decided to give it a try. I think my girls might like these so am going to give it a whirl. I am hoping to have the dress form done in the next day or so and already have a Wedding themed one planned for the very near future so stay in touch!!

Mini Dress Form

This tutorial is by Karla Nathan and can be found at http://karlascottage.typepad.com
I am having a lot of fun with it and hope to have it finished soon!

It's been a few months and have decided to pair down some of the sites I have been trying to maintain! lol. The website is officially down. I just don't have the time and frankly between Blogger and Facebook I have all I can do to keep up with that! I haven't had the time really to do much crafting but have recently began a couple of projects and will try to get some pictures posted for the blog. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! OMG, Christmas is coming to quickly and I still have to decorate the house!! <3

Lurking but still around!

I haven't been here to much lately with work, working on projects and the weather sporadically warming up it's been busy around here! I have a new website that I have been working on so would like to provide the link to that. It's pretty much everything you see here with the exception of a shopping cart so you can purchase some of these cute little guys. The web address is Loria Designs . I am drifting twords thread crochet combined with felting so we will see how that all pans out. In the meantime here is a picture of Blossom I finished recently, she's a little cutey!

Princess Mirabelle and New Website!

Hey everyone! Wanted to introduce you to Princess Mirabelle my 3" needle felted bear. She's just a little cutie with her crown and scepter! Things are beginning to slow down just a little bit so I am taking commission work again for a little bit, have something you would like just let me know! I also have a new website that I have been working on and will continue to add to as time permits check it out! I will also be blogging more on the website so if you are wanting to keep up with what's new please subscribe to get all the new updates! There is also a special sale in the making to make some room.........so keep checking in! Web site is: www.loriadesigns.webs.com and here is my little Princess.

Dynia my little Pumpkin Fairy Bear!!!

First I have to give some credit to a dear woman who's been a big inspiration to me and pushing me to make my babies the best that they can be! www.shellylampshireoriginals.com Think outside the box when making your next doll, bear, friend etc. Mixing media isn't a new technique but it was something I had trouble with and Shelly has some excellent tutorials to help you with the process. So with that being said I would like to introduce you to Dynia my little Pumpkin Fairy Bear.  I had purchased some Fairy Tale Pumpkin felting wool from www.livingfelt.com and just knew I would have to make a bear with it once it arrived. I love fantasy and am constantly trying to come up with ways to depict my love for both needle felting animals and whimsy. Dynia stands at 4" tall and is felted over a wire armature. Sitting she sits at 2 3/4" tall with hand painted eyes and nose, then sealed to give her eyes that moist look. She is adorned with wings, bells, yarn and feathers. I hand painted a pumpkin decoration, then flocked it in areas, applied orange glitter and made some felted leaves that also incorporate some of Dynia's colors. I hope you like her! Please feel free to leave comments, I would love to hear from you!

More Needle Felted Lovies

Work has definately taken over life right now but I have been working hard to get a couple of things done. My little Bear Ginger with her friend Peep and Monkey boy with his favorite toy a Tug Boat have been such fun to make! Ginger is a needle felted 5 way thread jointed bear with her little Birdie friend. I named her after a really special friend of mine. Monkey Boy is a commission piece for a friend of mine. The inspiration was his 6 month old son and wanting to incorporate a Tug Boat somehow.  The monkey has the oversized feet and hands of a baby and will one day grow into those and hopefully some day captain his own Tug boat but until then he is happy to have one to play with! My NF piggy is getting closer to being done as well, will hopefully be able to post pictures of her soon! I hope that everyone is having a great week so far, I know Mondays can be a little rough but before you know it the weekend will be here so hang in there!!

My Felting Adventures!

Time for felting had dwindled a bit with work becoming very busy. Tattooing has it's busy times and not so busy times, well we are in the "tourist season" so to speak so felting has slowed considerably. I have managed to complete my new Bear Miss Claudine! I also have another bear that I began then ran out of the color wool batt that I needed. That is on it's way so I will be able to finish that one soon. My other project was to try another animal. I was inspired recently by a photo on Teddy Bear & Friends, the Spring 2010 issue. There are two Piggy's on the cover and both are made a bit differently with different mediums. The large is needle felted, then painted and it's just adorable, well they both are but I loved the bigger one especially. I have a stockpile of off white felting wool here so decided to give it a try. She's pretty much finished needle felting wise and I will attempt to paint her and bring her to life. I hope you enjoy! Ms. Claudine is a 5 way thread jointed miniature Teddy Bear made of Merino Cross Felting Batts. She sits about 2 3/4" tall as does her piggy friend. I will be posting her up on Artfire soon.

Everyone have a great week and lets hope for some warm weather soon! Lj

Tanzi's picture on Living Felt site!

Living Felt If you click on the link it will take you to see Tanzi! Living Felt has been great not only with their products but I love the way they try to promote artists!! Thanks so much Marie of Living Felt!

Tanzi, my Fairy Bear is done!

I finally finished the first Fairy Bear and my gosh I haven't had a lot of time this week to work on her but she is done! Tanzi is a Forest Fairy and is blended with varing shades of green so that she can blend into the forest when she needs to. The legend says that Fairy Bears are a shy but faithful clan. It takes a special person to get them to reveal themselves...once they choose their human though they stay with them for life. . Tanzi is firmly needle felted and 5 way thread jointed to allow some posing of her little body. She can stand if propped but is made to sit. Her wings are made of Fantasy Film and wire then attached to her little body. She will be adopted out soon and will post on FB the link once she's posted.

Emma Bean

Well Emma was a little upset cause big sis Olivia was having all the fun, soooo I took pictures and promised to show her off on my various sites just like I did for Olivia! lol I had quite a bit of felting bat left over so decided to make a smaller bear and here is Emma Bean!

Custom Order Bears

I am currently taking orders for my Needle felted miniature Teddy Bears. These guys are just precious and make wonderful gifts for adults of all ages! Although they are needle felted I don't recommend these being gifted to a small child, they are suited more for the teenager and adult. With that being said here are the specifics:
1. I will consider custom orders within reason :O) You can choose your choice of color and size. Even the color of his nose, if you want paw pads etc. Any other embellishments will be considered on a case by case basis, keeping in mind that prices quoted below are for the Bears ONLY.

2. Bears come in the following sizes: roughly 2- 2 1/2" $35.00 +shp/hdlg., 3-3 1/2" $50.00 + shp/hdlg. Sizes are approximate and may vary slightly due to each one being OOAK (one of a kind and not mass produced)These will be shipped USPS Priority for quick shippment as soon as the bear is completed.

3. These are firmly felted bears, this takes a little time so please allow me some time to complete your order at which time I will email you a picture so that you can see your Lovie before shipment.
4. Payments will be accepted through PayPal or MO.
I will go over more specifics with you prior to completing the order transaction. If you have any other questions you can get in touch with me via email and I will respond as soon as I can. Thanks! Lj

Sweet Olivia

This is Olivia and she was such a joy to make! I purchased a kit from Living Felt and this is the result. I loved working with this corriedale wool! Much easier to felt! She is a really pretty lilac blend with a darker shade of rosey purple for the pad and belly. She sits about 3 1/4" and 5 1/2" standing. She's not made to stand tho! Only thing left is a cute little bow and flower for her head!

I Did IT!! Chelsea is here!

I posted Chelsea on Facebook last night as I was just excited to have her done! I decided to try needle felting to add a little pizazz to my girls that I do and before I knew it I jumped right in to make a bear.  Chelsea is made from local Alpaca fiber and really wasn't to hard to felt. It took a little time and I did have to snip here and there for all the longer fibers that are in Alpaca but all in all the color is really pretty. The alpaca's name is Gizmo and originally I was going to name the bear the same but once she was finished I realized she looked to much like a precious little girl to be named Gizmo, lol.
She's 2" sitting, glass beads for eyes and thread jointed. This particular part I need to work on as it felt a bit clumsy sewing Chelsea's limbs on. I want to be able to maintain functionality with the limbs but also want to feel they are on securely. So much more research on how to do that. All in all I love her and will be making more of these too. :O)

Creating and setting your pieces apart from the crowd

I recently stumbled upon an artist that just caught my eye and really got me excited and thinking about the possibilities with the technique and incorporating my own style once I learned it.  It's really been wonderful, fun and exciting. It got me drawing even more than I currently do and planning the project out a little more, so when I became a bit comfortable with it I wanted to then infuse my own sense of style and imagination. I love seeing things and using that "something" as a spring board for my own creativity. Once this happens I am looking to see what I can do to set my designs and creations apart for everyone elses. I have decided to learn yet another craft to add to the list and fortunately it doesn't require a lot of materials or tools and is very portable for me. My little girls really aren't good for carting back and forth to the shop along with all the paints, embellishments, tools and what not needed to assemble the clothespins. I am hoping this will be the key to setting my babies apart and perhaps help me with sales. I will be posting soon on what that is and my first example so be watching! I hope that everyone in winter wonderland is safe and warm! Luvs <3<3<3

Specialy Surface Design Felting Packs of Wool and other goodies

Specialy Surface Design Felting Packs of Wool and other goodies

Dot, Harlequin Girlz Clothespin Doll

Well she's finally finished just in time to say goodbye to her sister Maddie. A very nice woman from Australia has given Maddie a wonderful new home and will be heading out tomorrow.  Dot is sort of a cross between a clown, Harlequin and mime, lol. She was a lot of fun to make though and sports a big red bow in her hair with a handmade ensemble with ribbon rose. I hope you guys like her! KK, it's getting late and I have to move on to the next one, lol. I am making my interpretation of Raggedy Ann and she will be a hanging doll so this will be fun!

Another Day in the Life......

Hummmm, it's -17 degrees right now and I am supposed to be heading out to do my running around and picking up a couple of things. WHY is it so cold up here? lol I was just interviewed for a local newspaper as sort of a human interest type story and was asked if I liked living in the south better, to which I answered very quickly, YES!! The cold and I don't have a very good relationship. If given the opportunity I would definitely move to a warmer climate. Anyhoo, my second clothespin Harlequin is just about finished. I just have to paint her little arms and assemble everything so she looks just right. I have so many ideas running through my head sometimes that it's hard for me to stay on track. Working full time doesn't give me a lot of "spare" time to do this either so it's a bit frustrating once in awhile. I have an idea for the next Harlequin but first wanted to do a Raggedy Ann. I love the more Prim, country looking Raggedy Ann's so this will me my interpretation for a clothespin doll. Well...I have stalled long enough am going to bundle up, start the car, then prepare to leave. Wish me luck! lol Have a great day everyone and hope you have a wonderful week! Lj

Harlequin Doll Ms. Maddie

 Ms. Maddie is the first in the Harlequin series I started after making a few clothespin dolls and wanting to add a bit more of me to the dolls. Maddie is made of clothes pins, a wooden ball for her head, then I embellish with paint, material, ribbon and other adornments. I also decided to do sort of a primitive jointed arm for my dolls going forward.

 Here you can see the back view, it amazed me when I began making these just how much you could do to personalize this little girls even on this small scale.

Poor Ms. Maddie is upset because sister won't play with her. My next Harlequin Ms. Dot will hopefully be done soon! Thanks guys for stopping in!

Fairy Princess and Harlequin Chicks

 This is my first fairy in the series and her name is Ms. Cloe. She's a clothespin girl, made of clothespins then hand painted. I make the little clothes and attached to her body then create the little embellishments. She will be listed on Etsy very soon so be looking out for her!

 This is the back view to get an idea of the detail I try to incorporate with each doll.

 This is the first of my Harlequin series, Ms. Maddie...as you can see she's not quite finished yet and will post pictures just as soon as she's done. She's got a few surprises yet for you to see!

This is also a Harlequin...her name is Ms. Dot and she's Maddie's sister. This is just a little sneak preview of her. Will hope to post finished pictures of her soon! Thanks so much for stopping by! Please leave a comment and let me know what you think?

Clothespin Dolls!! Ms. Penny and Friends

I am having such a fun time making these girls that I decided to sell them. I will be taking custom orders for a little while so get ahold of me soon! I am also going to be listing them on Etsy and Artfire very shortly. If you are interested just send me a message and I will get right back with you! So here is Ms. Penny

She's been out playing in the rain! lol She's very adventurous and loves being outdoors!

 Here's Ms. Emily, she loves ladybugs and walks in the park.

Ms. Lisa is sporting a lovely 2pc ensemble with a pretty pink bow in her hair. I hope you like them! I am getting everything ready for another one very soon. Thanks for stopping in and take care!

Clothespin Dolls!!

In case you haven't noticed I tend to get easily distracted so recently I happened across a blog called "My Sweet Imaginations" it was on this site I found Clothespin Dolls and fell in love. I first did a quick sketch of one just because I though it was adorable, then started hunting for the clothespins, bases and heads. Here is my attempt at a clothespin doll. You can also see another in the making which is now finished and posted up on my Facebook page. All you have to do is click on the Facebook badge in the upper left hand corner of my blog to go check my other one out!!

Ellie is coming to visit......

I have drawn out my next doll and am itching to get going! My drawings aren't great but give me a jumping off point and help me to get the feel of what I want to accomplish. I do a sketch and use that once I get applying the clay to the armature. For this doll I am trying to get a sort of cutesy, eerie feel so we will see how that works out or if Ellie just ends up a very happy little girl lol. I have to go shopping for some embellishments since I am not really stocked for doll making, space is at a premium in my house so I have to be careful how much to buy at one time. Lets just say there is tulle involved, I will  leave it at that. I hope everyone is having a great week so far. I have to go to work in a few and get some things done before heading to my real job at noon! Take care and many blessings! Lj

Trisha LadyBug Doll OOAK and Friends!

 Trisha is my first Paper Clay project and I am hooked on this product! It's easy to work with, holds lots of detail and is just easy to paint and add to even after it dries. Will be making another doll very soon!

Wings are made of paper clay and attached with plastic coated wire and glue. The wings don't move.

Jack Jr. hanging out with Trisha, be looking for more about him soon!

 Jack Sr. is posing for me here while sporting a new blue striped cashmere scarf no doubt was a Christmas present!

I love sculpting and can't wait to get started on another project. I have a couple of tutorials coming soon so be looking for those as well. I will be posting a link for you to see! Many blessings to all and hope you are having a great weekend!! Lj