August chat thread

[fantail]

Sounds fantastic ;D
hope you can share some pics when you are done

[jules]

That sounds awesome Anubis, so much fun!

Yay I have sculptured the body of my competition piece Good to have it started
I have sculpted a big chuck of the flower fairy - had a few hiccups there so will certainly post my findings in my blog
And also have the armatures made up for a Emily and Vincent from Corpse Bride, these I have always wanted to make, and will be made to, hopefully, sell at the doll fair

[Donna]

Excellent stuff Jules.. I knew you'd move on it quickly once you got the chance.
Emily and Vincent make a great sculpt.. all the best with them.

I made some smaller accessories for my comp piece.. unfortunately I'm not happy with the scale, so I might end up redoing them if I get a chance.

Have an interesting and creative day everyone.

[anubis4]

May the creation of your dolls go smooth you two

Well another day of book illustration ahead, its fun but quite a challenge ( especially for someone who has not seriously picked up a pencil in years. )
But the upside is our tutors wife is Robyn Belton who is an awesome illustrator so have been getting lots of tips.

Well I should pack my bag make my lunch then toddle of to school...

Have a wondrous day all

[fantail]

Hope you had a great day at school Anubis
and drew lots of wonderful illustrations
I wish I was a fly on you classroom wall

[Donna]

I wish I was in the seat next to her..

What a brilliant course and top tutors as well.. so much diversity you will learn loads Anubis.. don't forgot to keep us informed.. no skipping off down that rabbit hole missy.. it will be interesting to hear all about this as you go along.

Thanks for your well-wishes... everything is going okaaay at the moment.. fingers crossed.
I attempted to start painting colour on today.. but loaded the paint with heaps of retarder so I could get it off quickly if I needed.. and I did... COWARD. Will try tomorrow.. with bravery...

I have a smaller sculpt on the go too.. when I switched out the lights last night I noticed her arms were glowing hard-out.. Hehe I have used Fimo & Glo-n-the dark mix by mistake. Luckily I hadn't finished... *note to self to clean up after different projects..

[jules]

LOL that is so funny about the glow in the dark clay
Will you incorporate it into the sculpture?

I have done some more on my carnival piece today
Its is going so well its been really really fun, still waiting for the moment something goes wrong and it becomes a fight to get it right...but so far so good
Cant wait till everyone can see each others at the fair

[fantail]

Can't wait either but need time to go slow so I can finish it I need atleast a month the make the clothes and accessories but i have yet to finish sculpting a single thing
worked on a hand and now it looks worse then when I started - oh well move on and comeback to that
never mind me freaking out
hope you are all doing really well with all your projects

[Donna]

Hey everyone...

Hiya Jules.. lol.. no I wont leave her with her radioactive arms.. Really great to hear your piece is playing nice.. its so much more fun when there are no problems and it all goes smooth..

I can't wait to see everyone and their entries either... but I'm certainly not wishing the time away.. I'd like another month really...

LOL Fantail.. I freak out at times too.. Just when I think I'm coming along fine, I realise just how much I still have to do.
You'll get it done.. and it will be FANTASTIC.. as usual...

Well I finished painting mine today... moving on to hair next... then back to removing the glowing arms from the other one.
Its going oookaaay, pretty much what I had in my mind actually. There are faults... I can see faults.. I'm really going to have to say that its as good as I can do.. coz if I start trying to repair those faults I KNOW what will happen... LOL

All the best everyone...

[fantail]

Yeah we can always see faults but sometimes its best to just improve on the next sculpt
the foot is looking better though not quite right but with shoes on I might need to work on something else instead

[jules]

I think the reason why this sculpt is going so well is because I am doing two dolls at once
And I am starting with my Anemone doll, and she gets all the hiccups, and then I do the Carnival doll, and all the bumps are already ironed out, so she is going smoothly

At the moment both dolls have their body, legs and feet done. I will start their hands and arms next week.

I also have a Emily and Vincent from The Corpse Bride started, and will need to have them finished to sell at the fair. And I also want 6 - 10 snuggle babes to take (plus two more that are pre-sold which I still need to make)

And of course getting all my supplies, kits, moulds and bits and bobs that I need for my table at the fair.

So lots and lots to do, but with Dylan in day-care/with his aunty for 3 days a week, starting next week, I think I will have the time required to do it all (famous last words??)

[fantail]

Best of luck with all you need to do
and here I feel overwhelmed by the two sculpts and accessories I'm doing

[Donna]

Yep I'm amazed at how Jules and Blue are managing to make a show entry and lots of other great things for their tables as well..
I too am have enough with just these two pieces...

I'm gluing hair on.. despite numerous tutorials, I'm not sure if I'm doing it okay.. I even made the scull smaller so I didn't get 'high hair' but I seem to have LOTS of hair and I'm only 1/2 way.. AND I shouldn't have used black either.

Glo' arms are removed but not replaced yet..

Otherwise plodding along and wishing I could do a bit better..

[jules]

Donna are you using the wool and fabri-tac method?
At the beginning I found I ended up with way too much hair
But then realized I needed to cut thinner lines of hair, which then results in much less hair on the head

On the plus side you can always pull the entire wig of hair off the head if its not right, fabri-tac is good like that

[Donna]

Hi Jules.. yes I am using the T'wool I got from you.. ;D. I'm not using fabri-tac this time.. I tried it once and found it stringy and glunky.. I'm using tacky glue this time at Fantails suggestion. It's giving the same result without the messy stringiness.. thanks Fantail.. ;D

I think the black is a bit harsh for this piece but I'll continue and see how it goes. I have brown but I'll have to darken it with dye if I were to use it.. also the black is straight which I prefer for this.

I'll try thinner strips from this point.. thanks...

I've started redoing the arms and re-made an accessory piece as I wasn't happy with the first one... I'm going to remake something else too..
I'd better start getting things right first time I think, I'll never be finished otherwise.. LOL.

[jules]

I have a special trick I do with my fabri-tac that makes it much more manageable

I get a little 1oz container (payless has them) and then I put in about 1/3 acetone
And then I add 2/3 fabri-tac. And then continuously turn the bottle around and around until the gloppyness of the fabri-tac is completely mixed in with the acetone. (if its too thin and add more fabri-tac, if its too thick add more acetone)

Fabri-tac is an amazingly strong glue, and thinning it down doesn't hurt its stickiness in the least, but it does make it much much much easier to use.

It also means you leave the main bottle alone, as opening and closing it can make it thicken up. So this way you leave your main stash pure, and you can just fill up your little 1oz bottle as needed

[fantail]

Interesting tecnique, well worth a try, thank you very much
what type of bottle did you buy (any numbers on the bottom or a picture would be greatly appreciated)- as acetone reacts to some plastic and after a few months you have a leeky mess
Hehe I my last entry had big hair
might get onto the face again today-fingers cross
I'm not exactly happy with the eyes but I do think I have a pair for the girl and her companion
Hope all goes smoothly with your entries
Wow Blue are you still making an entry for the comp? This is getting very exciting
In one and a bit months there will be a lots of pictures ;D

[Donna]

Yes thanks for that Jules, I'll be able to use my Fabric-Tac now.
Your last entry really suited her 'big hair' tho' Fantail hehe... My one WON'T.. LOL.
I wasn't totally happy with my eyes either (and alot of other things too..) but you have to stop trying to be perfect at some point huh... Art dolls.. not factory made Barbies.. or so I tell myself
I'm really pleased to hear you're moving along well with your piece Fantail..

"one and a bit months" made my heart sink LMAO.
Have a wonderful and productive day my friends..

[jules]

The bottle has "30ml Spout" on the bar-code label
Bar-code number: 9414604000129
The bottom just has a "2" and a 2 inside the recycle icon

Hope that helps. I have had mine in this bottle for several months now, and it hasn't effected it
Perhaps the fact its more fabri-tac than acetone helps?

[fantail]

That its helpful thank you Jules I will keep an eye out
I swallow nervously when ever I think but I'll keep at it and hope for the best
Hope all goes well for your entries.

[fantail]

Hope you all stay cozy and warm this week
Its so difficult to sculpt when the clay doesn't want to stick to itself because of the cold

[Donna]

How is everyone going.. with school.. projects.. comp entries?

I'm still doing hair.. slowly and carefully.. but still a bit messy (I can see glue no matter how careful I am) made skin a bit darker to blend better with the black hair and re-made a small accessory, otherwise not much done.. I need to move quicker..

Hope everyone is going okay..

[blue]

have a wonderful weekend Lufflies

its still a bit cold. brrrrrrrrrrr
Hope you all manage to find some clay time : )



xR

[fantail]

I did and baked one leg now its sanding and adding more clay
Found the body is to small in proportion to the leg so I'll have to make that bigger
Those sanding block are very nice to work with thank you Blue
better get on to the rest of the limbs
Hope you all had a great crafty day

[fantail]

Donna that ultralight clay you gave me is wonderful to work with and totally fascinating
I just made some rough flats before I build it up for the soles of the shoes
whats cool is they are still slightly felxable
now if only I can make myself the anti-fluffy-box...
I wonder if Nikki wouldn't find the ultralight sculpey great for her caketoppers?