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Commissioned Piece Finished

I hope I don't give away a surprise! I hope I don't.
When a pet dies it is devistating. We get so attached to our pets they become a member of the family.
I received a very emotional letter from a person inquiring about rabbits on my site.
After a brief interchange of emails I realized the person was looking for a present to help overcome a loss of a pet.
I suggested a commissioned miniature replica of the pet.

On my Etsy page I have examples of commissioned pieces that I have done, which act as commission order for your own commissioned miniature. I suggest your pets or your favourite teddy bear. My Son (the Rock Star) who is so Heavy Metal and wears black-commissioned a miniature of his favourite teddy bear so he can have it in his pocket when he travels (see Pinky on Etsy)

As I wrote earlier this week. I used my new technique of Tufting to add petable fur to the rabbit.

So today I introduce to you the finished piece after his Garden Photo Shoot! This little rabbit is so special to me he got to perch on my very special Amethyst with the Maple Leaf (Canada) flaw.
Finished May 20, 2009
You can click on the photo to make it bigger

Breath of Life into my Crafting

For those of you who know me personally, or those who have been following my Motivated Motion blog for a long time, you already know this story......

I want to tell the new readers why I appreciate them so much. New readers from Facebook and Etsy and International Crafters on Twitter. Folks who are my Etsy customers and my great Crafting friends I hang out with here in York Region, in Ontario Canada.

My Grandmother was a pretty well-known Wedding and Trusseau designer in Toronto...back in the day! During WWII she financed and purchased a home for my Mom and Aunt and Her while they waited for my Grandfather to return from the war. That is really how it all started....

When I was a child I spent a lot of time with my Grandparents as we lived really close to them, and my Grandmother taught me everything I know about crafting and cooking. She could do anything.

I learned sewing, crocheting, knitting, leatherwork, ribbon work, paperwork, painting and sculpting, sketching, and more in my Grandparent's kitchen and I am so greatful for it.

I went out into the world with the idea in my head that I could do anything! I was a scientist for a while after my first degree. Dental science was my field (which is where I got really used to working in miniature) Then I had my family and stayed home with my kids and helping out at their school. I got a chance to be an online editor and that opened up my world to the international world and I got a chance to write internationally for a brief time (an experience of a lifetime)
When I returned I did a complete 360 in my work vision and went off to drive a long haul team transport truck, driving 20,000 miles a month.
I loved trucking. I was alone with my crafty thoughts and had a craft on the go all the time on the road. I loved being a nomad.
In 2003 I retired from trucking and opened a local driving instruction company. I had become a diabetic and wanted to stay in Canada while managing my diabetes.
In 2005 a sudden illness debilitated me. I got shingles of the brain which caused permanent nerve damage to my head. Once I knew I would not die of this problem I set myself to find a New Normal and carve out a new life for myself that could accept my limitations and keep me satisfied.
I could not craft at first. I had too many bad symptoms that would prevent that, so I blogged at the encouragement of my Sons. This opened a whole new world for me. My eldest Son stayed home one summer to help me learn html while I recovered from this really disabling affliction. (I could not speak correctly and my vision was blurred and I had a migraine 24/7 for a year)
Today is 2009 and I have been crazy crafting to sell for over a year now. I had a great success on Ebay but made a leap of faith to solely Etsy last summer and I haven't looked back!

I am in a cutting edge therapy program to manage my pain without heavy drugs, and I am crafting gangbusters! Sometimes I don't get a chance to post new things on Etsy because I am now creating virtual classrooms for my Needle Felting workshops, manuals for my classes and I am teaching classes on knitting and needle felting as much as my body will allow!

I am happy and greatful for these wonderful networking tools starting with Etsy!
I am delighted to get to connect with other like-minded people through Facebook and Twitter!
I am inspired when I see how different all of our works are!

I know everyone has their own story about why they are crafters. I want to hear your story too!

Thank You to everyone for inspiring me every day.
I NEVER have bad days because I found a New Normal going back to my roots of crafting!

Tufted Needle Felting

I have tufted needle-felted works before for effect, but I have never tufted a whole piece before.





Today is a landmark day for me in this aspect.
Today I spent 8 hours tufting a commissioned piece I am doing.
After I finished the great little needled felted rabbit, it was just missing something.

I could not put my finger on what it needed.
I knew I wanted to tuft a bit of the top of the head and face and after I finished that I realized that the piece took on a life of its own and began to get the dimension that the rabbit needed to look realistic.


I then set out to tuft the whole piece.
Tufting is basically adding hair strands individually to create 3D fur.
You can trim the fur to the depth you want. What I wanted was something petable so I went with a velour consistancy.

My first exposure to tufting by hand was with Canadian Aboriginal women who tuft beaver and elk and moose hair into small 3D pictures. I took my skill as a needle-feltor and applied this ancient technique of tufting to it. Needle Feltors do use a similar technique for adding long shaggy hair to a piece, but I have never actually seen it trimmed and tufted before my own works.



I am so stoked by doing this I think I will write a manual on it. I am really happy with the
technique.

Etsy TweetUp in Toronto Today!

As per usual I am a couple of steps behind on news.
I found out last night that there is an Etsy TweetUP in Toronto today!

I was so excited to hear this!
I also saw about the TweetUP on Jessica Doyle's TweetFeed.
She said she had traveled into Ontario for the TweetUP!

In 2006, when I became a serious blogger, Jessica Doyle's blog was one of the first I started to read regularly. She is a great artist who has written about her work, her struggles, at times being homesick, and lifesick, and about her artistic routine.

I was tickled pink to think that now we could meet face to face.

West coast, to East coast and now Here!

I will be attending the Etsy, Toronto TweetUP today.
At The WorkRoom on Queen St. West 5-8PM

If you are an Etsy seller or buyer in the GTA please take the time to come visit today.
I want to meet you! I am excited to meet you!