Commissioned santa

Well, I know it was a while ago when I started this Santa. But, as you know, my family tragedy set me back a bit and took the wind out of my sails. Finishing this one was extremely hard for me as you might have imagined. I finally got him finished about a week ago, and in the mail yesterday. All I can say is that I was very grateful that the recipient was also a doll maker and a very understanding and wonderful person.

Again, I apologize for not posting him sooner, but I think you all understand. :-)

I titled him "Gifts for Gaby" which is the recipients name. She has 2 children and obviously her hubby, and they live in Mexico. Initially, she requested that he was winking. Which, I had struggled with that as you all know. But, as I showed her pictures, she said she thought of him as a teddy bear that was so huggable. Thus, the teddy's in the pic. One is a sculpted permanent fixture in his hand, this teddy was for her because she is also a sculptor, the softer teddy was for her beautiful daughter, the sculpted gift package was for her husband because men are always so hard to buy for and have most everything anyway....this way he can imagine the gift to be anything he wants it to be :-), and the soccer ball is for you wonderful little boy...and also represents their country's sport of "futbol" or soccer. I put a lot of thought into the items and she is in love with him. I hope that he arrives to Mexico safe and sound and makes it through customes without any issues.

Enjoy!
Hugs,
Lori

Lori....BRAVO!!!!!!!!! He looks fantastic. You did a great job on him. I know you are proud and you should be. I think sending them on their traveling adventure is the worst part...at least until they arrive..LOL!!! Again...he is just awesome!!!!!!!!

Hugs,
Regi

Much admiration for you, that you've finished this work.
He is so nice with his wink. Good job Lori.

It is clever, that you will make creations again.
And very good to recover from your family tragedy is still a long way.

A big hug Ineke

Good job Lori, he looks great. I can understand why your client loves him. I bet she is on edge waiting for him to show up.
What did you use for a belt? if you don't mind me asking.

And what are you working on now?

Darel

Thank you Regi, Ineke, and Darel. You are all so wonderful. It is amazing how when something like that happens how hard it is to do even the most easiest of task. At the time, all I had to do was finish the base; drill the holes, inset the tubes for standing purposes, and paint and seal. Something that could easily have been finished in one day. I think it took me 3 weeks just to get to that. All the while, he was just standing there on my work bench, winking at me and holding his gifts. He didn't budge an inch, and he stood fast in his purpose. This way, I would not go astray and not finish him. This little Santa was a constant reminder to keep my feet firmly planted on the ground, and he helped me to keep my wits about me. He was a gentleman all the while though, and he waited patiently to receive his final part of his being.

At any rate, Darel, the belt was really very simple to make. I bought some faux suede/leather type of material. It was relatively thin so it was easy to sew on my sewing machine. So, I cut a strip and folded it over to resemble a watch band and stitched it together down the middle holding both the folded ends together in the middle on the backside of the "band". I figure, you don't see the back side of it, so it doesn't really matter to much what that part looks like, as long as the front is nice and neat in appearance. Then, I took the buckle off of an old watch band, and stuck that to the end, used the hot glue gun to glue it all down into place like a belt would be stitched at the buckle, and there you have a belt! Very simple really. Just a wee bit of work and it makes a nice look to it. Atleast I think so. I will go to the flea market sometimes and look for old discarded broken watches and buy them for dirt cheap if I can, and then disassemble them for the buckles and stuff. hehe Watches are some super cool stuff!

Since I have been struggling with getting going on creating something new, today I am planning on taking a box of clay with me and heading down to the nearby lake/park and just sit to push clay. No outside distractions, no nothing, just me and the clay and mother nature. Perhaps I'll come back with something new! My new idea is one of a fairy or elf. But, I want it to blend in with it's environment. Kind of like camoflauged. (and I know I spelled that wrong I'm sure! lol) What I picture in my mind is a fairy standing next to a tree at ground level in a heavily wooded area. You can smell the dampness of the soil and feel the coolness of the forest depths. Here, she peeks out from aside the tree, her skin appears to be just like the bark of the tree and her clothing blends in as well. You would never knew she was there, and it would take a very trained eye to see her. This is what I see in my mind, but being able to create that mind-sight is another story.

Anyway, thank you for your lovely compliments. You guys really are wonderful friends.

Hugs,
Lori

this sounds like fun I need to go to the park and sculpt, but the weather has been so funky here. Speaking I have come up with and idea I am dying to try. It's kinda morbid. I had to go to Petco this morning to get my t-bones some doggie wormer, so I bought a frozen rat that I am going to try and taxidermy. i printed the instruction off the intenet this morning. Gonna try and put a gnome on his back.. Danny is freaking out cause I put it in the freezer, Its already sealed and frozen. I am still working on the SF's.
My laptop is on the fritz again problems getting a signal, so its going back across the street to my tekkie friend. Hope he can fix it. My CPU died and I dont have the money to put a new hard drive in, so the lap top is my only source right now. Every one stay busy! huggs Paula

Ewwwww!!! Frozen rat! But boy, if you can pull that off wouldn't it be cool. LOL Just tell the hubby to close his eyes when he opens up the fridge. roflmao

Hugs,
Lori

kept trying to post a pic it kept coming up squashed lol ok this is what I want to do with the rat. cute huh?

Now THAT is cute! I don't blame ya, I would want to do it too. hehe I hope it works for you cause I really like that image. And, it looks like it would be a lot of fun creating the baggage to go with it.