Upholstery For Borrowers...

I may moan a lot, but actually I do love it when someone asks me to make something different.  I've made knitted sofas in the past, plus other knitted furniture for the animated film, but this is the first time I have been asked to make a felt sofa.  Initially, I was thinking to make it in the same way as a knitted one, all soft, no inner structure, more of a soft toy.  However, after thinking about it and considering that this is part of a set for a grown woman, not a child, I decided to use foambard as the base.  So the lighter purple part is made from pieces of foamboard stuck together and then covered with felt, also stuck, and then sewn around the seams with embroidery silk.  The cushions are made from just felt and stuffing - I added the buttons to not only look cute, but also to keep the shape.  The knitted rug is also part of the set.

Now I have to make the pair of cheeky pugs that will sit on it!

On The Road........

I've really been putting the hours in on this in an attempt to finish him before the end of the week.  It's nearly there, just his bottom and belly to do and then an understated background.  I'm at the stage where I hate it and think it should go in the bin.  I don't know about any other artists out there, but I always get like this a few days before the completion of a picture - I don't know if it is because I have been looking at it for too long or if it is because it needs the final touches to come together, but today it looks to me like an amateur daub.  I am well aware that this feeling will pass, it happens too often for me not to recognise it and deal with it, but it is not nice.  It will be OK as soon as I sit down and get on with it!

On to something more whimsical - it's a chair!  A very little knitted chair!

This I am pleased with - I have adapted the sofa, changed the colours and made the pattern simpler (and quicker).

This will have it's own little dog and maybe a couple of other bits and pieces before going on Etsy.

Talking of knit sofa and dogs, this is still up for grabs...he's feeling pretty sad that only a couple of people want to give him a home!  He's very small, just 3.5 inches (9 cm) tall and the sofa is 8 inches (20 cm) long.  He has wool jointed legs, sewn in teddy eyes and a leather collar.  If you have anything you'd like to swap for him , do get in touch - it doesn't have to be anything arty-crafty!

It Could Be Yours!

Hello, who is this?

Oh, it's you.....you are a cute little chap aren't you?  What are you doing behind the sofa?

Don't you go getting up on there now, you know you aren't allowed....

What did I just say?  Move!

Very funny! Come on, you know what I meant - move!

Now you are just taking the mickey.........

Would you like to give the dog and his sofa a home?  It was too much work to do as a giveaway, but if you have something you would like to swap for him, make me an offer - I'm going to be totally selfish and choose what I like best from all offers (Ferrari? Country mansion?) As you saw, the sofa was just under a week's worth of work, so sensible swaps only.  I'll leave it open until the end of January and hopefully make a choice then.

If you would like to commission something similar - perhaps an armchair instead, different colourways, a cat instead of a dog, different breed of dog, etc. do get in touch - I'm twiddling my thumbs at the moment, no paid work going on, just stock-building.

Never Again....Unless You Really Want Me To!

At last, the tiny sofa is complete - hooray!  This was so very hard to make, I nearly gave up half way through but I am glad I didn't.  Now what?

Well, I just have to make something to go with it and then keep your eyes peeled because it will be up for grabs...with a twist!

Still Having Fun.....

It's amazing, I have had almost a week of afternoons to devote to this, although progress is very slow.  In the days before I got many commissions, a painting like this could take weeks, even months to complete.  It's a style of painting I love to work in, tiny brush (moved on to a size 0 now!) and delicate strokes for almost each and every hair.  It does make for a very labour intensive piece though that has to have a high price to reflect the amount of hours that went into it.

I've only blocked in the ground beneath his front feet so far - makes him look like he is a circus leopard!

This is a very labour intensive piece as well - I don't think I would have attempted it if I had known how long it was going to take.  It's very effective and I can see it will be unbearably cute when finished....but I don't think I will be making another one unless I am offered an awful lot of incentive!

Making Progress......

For the first time in weeks I have had a weekend with free afternoons in which to paint undisturbed - how I have missed that!  So the snow leopard has progressed quite a bit, although still an incredible amount of work left to do.  I am working with a size 2 brush so it is painstakingly slow and will probably damage my eyesight even more, but oh how I am enjoying it.  Will I finish it in time to enter into the David Shepherd Wildlife Artist of the Year competition before the end of January?  Anybody's guess at the moment!

In the evenings I knit  - at the moment I am attempting the mini-sofa from my Mochimochi book that I was given for Christmas and sorely regretting it.  Who knew this pattern involved making a sofa that was anatomically correct?  Add to that the two colour pattern and you have a whole lot of work....but I just keep thinking how cute it will look with a knit dog or cat stretched out on it.