Polly Patches in Progress

I spent some of the last two weekends making "Polly Patches". She is not complete yet. You can see a picture of the Pattern Designer's version (Jan Horrox) at
http://www.thesilverthimble.co.uk/creativeclothdollmaking.html

Mum and I are going to a workshop held by Jan Horrox during the first weekend in September. We will be sculpting faces.

The armature - made with coat hangers because I couldn't find the garden wire. Paul had to help me with it, I just wasn't strong enough.



The armature wrapped before dressing.



I may need to redo the head - the eyes are different and too high up.




She just needs a skirt and hair.

Shopping in South Africa

One of the nice things about going to a foreign country, even in these days of globalisation, is the ability to purchase things you might not find at home.

I had a mishap on the way home, South African Airways wanted to charge me £200 for being 6.75 Kg overweight. I called my friend back (they were already out of the car park) to take some things away. The carrier bag she took had a lot less that £200 worth of stuff in it. She is keeping some things and sending the rest surface mail. It will take six weeks to arrive but will cost significantly less than £200. Anyway, these are photos of things that did make it to chez nous.

I think these rubber stamps are made from forma foam which you heat up and then impress objects. The butterflies are hair slides but I want to use the wings on dolls. The tiny doll was purchased at the sea side, in Kalk Bay.



Willow and I collect and share serviettes to use in collages.



The Guniea Fowl is South Africa's national bird. This one has a bobbing head.



This is some African fabric. A lot of the fabric I bought had large designs so I think I shall use them to make bags.




Willow's local shopping centre has a second hand book shop. New books are expensive in South Africa. These were very reasonable. I purchased each of them on a different visit to the shop. They are from the seventies and I think they are American. They cost about £2.00 each.



This was my second trip to South Africa. On my first visit, Willow gave me a copy of the book below. A couple of my art teachers have wanted a copy and I have not been able to find them on the Internet. We arranged to visit the author so I could get a couple of copies. I hadn't been able to find them on the Net because she is distributing them her self. Luckily I found a couple of copies in Kalk Bay. It is a lovely book of illustrations of Cape Town. A good inspiration for a mixed media artist.

May 15th - Last day South Africa

Willow has a lovely studio and a very large collection of dolls. I took several photos of them; here are just a few.

May 14th - Penultimate Day in South Africa

I am home now, it is a glorious day here in Blighty and I am sitting outside, taking the opportunity to add the rest of my photos to my blog.

We went to a butterfly farm just down the road from Willow's house. It was a photographic expedition, she has become the owner of a very good Canon digital camera and wanted to try it out, and of course the Blythe Dolls accompanied us because they wanted to show off.

If you like these images of the gnome and fairies and would like to use them, please feel free. Click on them to see a larger size.





There were two coach loads of children visiting the Butterfly farm. They were excitedly looking for things because they had worksheets to fill in. One of them told us with glee that if you upset a Marmoset it would pee on you.



I'm quite pleased with this photograph of the moth, the moth is clear whilst the background is out of focus.



I don't remember if the butterfly was really this colour, I think it was more vibrant in real life.



I wouldn't mind one of these snakes in my garden.



There were two Meerkats outside. One was always on guard. I watched a few "Meerkat Manor" programs on the BBC and I reckon these two must have been knackered. They take it in turns to be on guard and they would hardly have got a rest.





This paper butterfly was in the restuarant, it was at least four feet across.



We had lunch in a very nice country restaurant which has a craft shop attached, and this warning before you enter.

Books I Read

I read quite a few books whilst on holiday, it was a very restful tiime. I can recommend all the books.

Last Rituals - Yrsa Sigurdardottir
Whispers of the Dead - Simon Beckett
Ritual - Mo Hayder
The Death Maze - Ariana Franklin
When Will There be Good News? - Kate Atkinson
The Ignorance of Blood: Javier Falcon - Robert Wilson
Big Stone Gap - Adriana Trigiani
Child 44 - Tom Rob Smith

May 10th - Day 9 in South Africa

This Guinea Fowl (and a couple of others) were on the wall of Tranquility Guest House when we left. The Guinea Fowl is the national bird of South Africa.



We went shopping in Kalk bay before returning to Stellenbosch.


View Larger Map

kalk bay is full of art, antique, craft and second hand shops. I love it!

May 9th - Day 8 in South Africa

Clicking on any of the images in this post will let you see a larger and more detailed version.

We went to Boulders Beach to see African Penguins in their natural habitat.





The penguins got really close to her.















This was an interesting direction sign just outside the restaurant where we had lunch.



Views from my Balcony



The image below was taken with my Pentax camera on a tripod. I swept it to the right for 60 seconds and then back to the left for another 60 seconds.