Gage's birthday was on Christmas but we postponed the party until today since we have all been sick.. I made him a woodland family and a little twig "pavilion"... Dh made some neat, little wood furniture (you can see a table and stools in the background).. I have some artificial greenery to weave through the branches but I'm really liking the look of the twigs alone.. We also gave him 2 sets of tree blocks that he likes (I'm not happy with them as too many will require sanding to be level enough to stand upright..for the price this shouldn't be necessary) Gage loves the little family .. he kept coming over to me when I was making them and saying "Oh me yuv dos" :heart:

I love how the little bendy family turned out.. except I have to add a speck more paint to the center of mama's eyes as she refuses to look anywhere but up lol ...


http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4df25b3127cce85d1ff976bde0000001610

here is the twig "pavilion"

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4df25b3127cce85d1e6332bee0000001610

thanks for looking

~Sherrie

Did you follow the directions in the crafty forum to make those people? How sturdy do you feel they are. I was considering making some people, but I don't want to bother if their heads are just going to pop off the first time my son tosses them. An arm has already unscrewed off a wooden knight I got him for Christmas, uggh. Anyway, really really cool. Nice work.

Cary

Absolutely beautiful Sherrie and a belated Happy Birthday to Gage!!! :anibirth:

I love the little set up...fits in perfectly with the dolls...

You know, I finally made one and you're absolutely right about the embroidery stitching...it's tough, lol! I'm going to see if my mom can teach some to me, as I just don't get how to do them from the book.

Great work!

Awesome!!! I am so impressed with the embroidery. I have been making the bendy fairies for awhile now but just can't seem to 'get' the instructions for embroidery.
I LOVE the twig pavillion too. How lucky Gage is to have such a talented mama!
Jennifer
Mama to Riley (3.5) and Kaliana (1.5)

Those are wonderful :thumbsup:

now how did you make the house,great job

That is soo cute! Great job! :)

Sue

Thanks Mamas ~

Cary ~ No I haven't seen the directions in the craft forum.. I followed the instructions in the book Felt Wee Folk. The bodies are made from chenille stems (pipe cleaners) which are bent to form the right length/shape and then are wrapped with embroidery floss. The head is a wooden bead which is glued onto the end of a pipe cleaner (the way you bend the bodies gives you a piece at the top for gluing on of the head) ..so it is very secure. They won't come off unless you REALLY want them to come off. The bodies are totally bendable and are basically one piece so they won't come apart either.. The clothing is wool blend felt and can be removed but I attach mine with needle and thread to the body so they can't be taken off and misplaced (except for papa's jacket in the pic) The dolls aren't difficult to make.. but are very time consuming. You could however omit the embroidery and face painting..and also do simplier design for the clothing.. lots of ways to cut time and still end up with a fabulous doll.

Candy ~ Thank you :) Yeah the embroidery is a bugger at first .. believe me I KNOW!!! lol. The first little jacket I made for a fairy took me about 6 hours to embroider I think :rolleyes: ... It was difficult for me to "see" how to do it from the pictures in the back of the book too.. so I got on-line and found some great embroidery sites that showed me all the steps I needed. The little buttons were the hardest .. I could NOT do a "french knot" to save my life lol.. It took me an hour alone to finally get it. Once you finally do get the hang of it though .. it isn't difficult at all. I know with your talent you would do great .

Amanda ~ The pavilion is simple to make.. just takes time to find the right twigs and build up the arbor. I wanted my dh to cut a base for it but time didn't allow.. so I ended up buying one for $7 in the wood carving section at walmart (craft department). I drilled holes in the sides (about the diameter of a pencil). I got a collection of thin, bendable twigs and glued them in the holes.. doing just a few at a time.. and kind of weaving them in and out of the other twigs. I then took more twigs and, without glueing, just weaved them around. I had planned to weave some artificial vines through the top as well... I still may..haven't decided.

Thanks again.. They were all well worth the time spent.. I love.. uhm.. I mean Gage loves playing with them :)


~Sherrie

edited to fix spelling and remove sig pic

Sherrie! They are stunning! I love all the detail you put into them. :)

Cary...the directions have been moved to the sewing/crafty FAQ area. They're basically the same as the book Felt Wee Folk. We had a couple of the wood/bendy rope people and they didn't last nearly as long as the wrapped bendy people do. We've had a bendy fairy go through the washer/dryer with laundry and she came out fine (bald but fine...lol)

Sherrie...I owe you a pm...just remembered. :o

those are great!!!
heather

Gorgeous!!

Thanks again mamas :)

Dannielle~ don't fret over the pm.. I'm a busy mom too so I never expect an immediate response.

~Sherrie

Sherrie~ that is the cutest thing I've seen:thumbsup: I swear, I want a bunch of dolls for myself! LOL I take the kids to this crunchy baby boutique near us and show them all of the bendy kraus dolls and they are not in the least bit interested :rolleyes:

lol Jennifer .. Well.. Jack likes 'em just fine.. He's learned how to turn them into circus acrobats by shooting them across the room in his slingshot ... he's says it's better than shooting them from a cannon.. lol so, uhm... yeah.. he definitely likes 'em .. though making him some with these faces :( :mad: :eek: would be more appropriate lol

~Sherrie

Oh my! My bendy dolls don't look like that! LOL!
Awesome! I normally don't like faces but those are great! :thumbsup:

Thanks KD. I like dolls without faces too... I'm thinking of making Jack, my 5 year old, some bendys without faces. I'm sure after 2 weeks with him they will all look like victims of a tragic farming accident :rolleyes: so the smiling faces wouldn't really work :) ....

I'm planning on making some faceless gnomes soon..

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well.. Jack likes 'em just fine.. He's learned how to turn them into circus acrobats by shooting them across the room in his slingshot ... he's says it's better than shooting them from a cannon.. lol
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

`````````````````````````````````````````````````` ``` Sounds like Jack is just a creative as his mama...lol
Jennifer

Sherrie, those are incredible!! I love the bearded papa. I have to show off some more of your work.

That is one of Sherrie's fairy mamas and babies eating at our treehouse kitchen table. The detail on them, even the tiny baby, is incredible. Our furniture is 1/2" scale, not the standard 1", to give you an idea of their tiny size.

http://www.harmonythreads.com/images/solskitchen.jpg

Oh Allison! What a wonderful picture! I'm so glad that they are being enjoyed :) Thank you for sharing it with us.

~Sherrie

OMGosh! Those are soooo adorable!!!!! I'd love faceless ones....LOL....I prefer them for my nature table...more primitive looking. :D If you ever decide to make some and sell them......................:D

Originally posted by freespiritmom
Thanks KD. I like dolls without faces too... I'm thinking of making Jack, my 5 year old, some bendys without faces. I'm sure after 2 weeks with him they will all look like victims of a tragic farming accident :rolleyes: so the smiling faces wouldn't really work :) ....
I'm planning on making some faceless gnomes soon..

ROTFLOL! of a tragic farming accident!! LOL!!

Thank you Denise... I'm sure I have some faceless bendies in my future :)

KD ~ Where would we be without a sense of humor? I was searching desperately for mine when I realized earlier tonight that Gage had been left alone in the living room .. for apparently too much time.. with a magic marker and my new purse .. Granted the purse was from the thrift shop..but I liked it none the less. I swear I can't have nothin' nice :p

~Sherrie