Little Bo Peep is Done!

Now the complete set of Little Bo Peep with her lamb is done! After painting the shepherd's crook 4 times, I glued it to her hand and placed two paint bottles underneath it to keep it straight while it dried:

Once it was dry, and it stopped raining outside for a day or two, I took her outside for her glamour shots:

During the week I thought about adding a ribbon and a little bell around her lambkin's neck, to add that extra touch of authenticity. The bell would let Bo Peep know where lambkin was at all times. But I decided against it; I felt the ribbon and bell would be a little bit too much. Lambkin looked just fine without it.

Shepherd's Crook is Coming Along

Had a chance to paint Little Bo Peep's crook today after I bought the acrylic paint yesterday at the craft store, 2 for $1. I wasn't sure which color brown I wanted, so I bought these two: brown and espresso.

I settled on the Espresso and got started. It matched the color of her hair better. As I painted it, the smell of the paint reminded me of when I used to paint in grammar school, and that was a pleasant memory.

It went on relatively smooth, but it didn't cover extremely well. I know I will wind up giving it two or three coats before I'm done. And I forgot to look at the paint carefully when I was in the store to see if it was glossy or matte. Of course, it doesn't say, so I'll have to wait and find out after it dries.

I painted it on wax paper, but after I started I thought of a better way to paint it. I have a pencil holder, and I could have gotten it painted all over by standing it up in the pencil holder and painting it instead of lying it flat. But it's too late now. Maybe when the other side dries I'll try it that way.

I like how the color turned out, though it is blotching in places, which is what I suspected.

Lambkin is Done!

Here's Bo Peep's Lambkin:

I really hadn't thought of a name for the lamb, so I guess Lambkin will do; it's kind of cute. I used flexible aluminum wire for the legs and sewed them inside the body. At first I was going to bend the wire and sew it along the inside bottom of Lambkin's belly, but the legs simply wouldn't stand up that way. So I finally sewed the wire in a straight line, and the legs stand up just fine.

Bo Peep's Lamb Companion

Here's my progress on Bo Peep's lambkin so far:






The front end is where the yarn needle is pointing. I have been adding more black yarn to the hooves to prevent the wire I used to stabilize the legs from poking through. I just need to stuff it and sew on the head, and it will be done! Soon Bo Peep will be ready for her closeup!

The Shepherd's Crook

I was pretty busy this weekend with promoting my new website so I didn't get to make the shepherd's crook for Bo Peep until Monday evening. Here's the clay I used:

My wife had bought it for me as a present for my birthday. I won't tell you how long ago that was, but I knew one day I would use it. Originally I wanted to try and sculpt my own dolls with it, but the shepherd's crook was the first project I used it for. Perhaps because it had been sitting for awhile it was stiff to work with at first. I found that I didn't need a very large piece to roll out thin enough for a staff. Once I kneaded it a bit, it became easier to work with and I was able to easily shape it into a crook. It was rather limp, so I wasn't sure if it was going need some extra support inside. I put it in the oven on a round tray (which was too small for it and I hoped it wouldn't wilt as a result - it didn't).

I'm not sure what it smelled like as I baked it because I baked a tuna casserole and I'm sure one smell overpowered the other. I also thought it would change colors after baking but it didn't. It felt firm after I took it out of the oven and put it aside to cool. Here it is all cooled off. Now I have to get some brown acrylic paint to paint it. The surface of the crook is bumpy, and I wanted it that way, as though the crook were made of a piece of natural wood.

Now the trick will be attaching it to her hand. I know I want to use glue, but I'm not sure about how to hold it in the position I want it in until the glue dries. Plus I don't want globs of glue dripping down her hand on her dress. I suppose I could put fabric over her dress to protect it.

I had thought about using a stick pin to hold the crook in position in her hand while the glue sets; we'll see if that turns out to be a good idea.

Little Bo Peep's Sheep

Well, I'm just going to give her a lamb, not all of her sheep; after all, she's looking for the other ones...

So far I just finished the head and one leg (apart from the body which I posted earlier).

I was going to sew the head onto the body but thought better of it, since I would need to attach the legs first. I plan to finish the legs by the weekend and put them on at the start of next week, if not sooner. I will make the staff over the weekend. I plan on making a few of them, in case one cracks when I bake them in the oven. I wonder what they will smell like when they're baking.

Little Bo Peep 1

Here she is, my Little Bo Peep coffee can doll!

I think she came out really nice.

It took me a little while longer to finish her, partly because the local craft store didn't have any air freshener dolls at all and I had to order it online. Then I decided I wanted to add pearls to her dress, but was having trouble finding the size pearls I wanted. I finally did:

Now I am working on her lamb, as you can see:

Over the weekend I plan on making a shepherd's crook out of clay for her, since I can't seem to find any that are the right size online or anywhere else. Probably would have an easier time of it at Christmas, with all the creches and shepherds around, but I don't want to wait that long. I'll just experiment with making my own this weekend.

Website almost complete

Hello all! I've been pretty busy as of late, readying my knitting website for launch later this month. There are still a couple of bugs in it that I need to work out, but I hope to have them corrected soon.

In the meantime, I have been knitting another coffee can doll; this time it's Little Bo Peep. I have to find a miniature shepherd's crook for her, otherwise I'll be making one. And I have to knit a little sheep also, as a companion. I also have to braid her hair. But her dress has come out very nicely and this time I made puffy sleeves, which was an interesting experience. I hope to have her completed by the end of this week and I'll post pictures then.