Wren, the Sleepy Little Mouse

Here's Wren, I finished her a couple of days ago using some new baby lllama wool that I ordered. She has an incredibly soft feel.  I think my favorite wool for the outer coat has to be baby llama for it's natural colors and silky feel. Baby alpaca runs a close second.
Little Wren's ebay auction will start this Tuesday at 6:45 pm PST and will be a five day auction ending on Sunday, April 11. Her reserve price will be $135.00 and her Buy IT Now will be $224.00
Thanks for looking and as in the previous post, Happy Easter!

More New Pics of Wilson, the Baby Bunny

It's Spring here in the desert. But not for long! We've got snow predicted for this Wednesday below 3000 feet and I live at almost 4000 feet. So I thought I'd get some pics of my little bunny with some of the wildflowers in my yard.

Timothy's Dutch Shoe

 I just finished this little bunny this morning. He's a Netherland Dwarf Rabbit. It seemed only fitting that he should have his own Dutch wooden shoe yo rest in. Timothy stands at 7 inches tall, ears included. He is scheduled to go up for auction on eBay Sunday at 6:45 pm.  He has a reserve price of $135,00 and a Buy It Now of $224.00.

 I hope you like him.

Jean-Luc, the Ship Rat ~ a Bonvivant Gentleman of Fortune

I just finished Jean-Luc yesterday afternoon and took some quick photos of him today. This little rat was aquite a bit of work. His entire costume was hand sewn, including his wool tri-corner hat.  It was really interesting doing some research on pirate costuming. The Gentlemen of Fortune website was a real storehouse of information. I don't think I'd ever heard of slop pants, bucket boots or justacorps ever before. I never realized exactly what went into making those cool pirate coats. The pattern that I found on the internet was pretty involved.  There was a lot of readjustment to get it rat -proportioned. They tend to be thicker in the waist than a human.  Pictured below is the pattern that I found. You can see just how tiny the waist was.

Jean-Luc's eBay auction will begin Sunday, February 7 at 6:45 pm PST. 

His reserve price will be set at $165.00 and his Buy It Now will be $295.00

Mr. Peeps, Snuggles & Cherry

Snuggles  ~ 6 inches long

Cherry ~ 4 inches tall

Here it is Sunday, again and time for my next eBay auctions.  Cherry, Mr. Peeps and Snuggles all have the same reserve price of $135.00 and start tonight at 6:45 pm PST.  They also all share the same charity, Old Dog Haven. Sarvey Wildlife Care Center will be for next week.  I did a few things differently with these little guys. Cherry has wool flocked feet. It was kind of fun trying to figure out just how to give her the little white hairs that mice have on the tops of their feet. I first tried putting some merino in the chopper. I ended up with a nice ball of wool. I then used my scissors and cut the wool into tiny bits. that seemed to work better. I applied the wool to the still wet clay after I had sculpted the feet and hands. I really like how they turned out.  they look almost real. 

Mr. Peeps ~ 3 1/2 iches tall

Little Timothy Bigelow ~ Another Mousie

Well, it seems like I'm on a mouse kick. Here's another little guy I finished this morning. He just seemed to match this porcelain teacup that I had.  Hi9s little rose even matches the roses painted on the cup. His auction also starts tonight at 6:45 pm PST.  Plus, he has a reserve of $135.00.  I thought that I'd put him on tonight instead of next week. It's really getting close to Valentine's day when you consider the one week listing and the shipping time. Boy this year is flying by!

Black & White ~ Bretta & Heika

I finished these little ones a few days ago and they will start on eBay tonight @ 6:45 PM PST.  I kind of went with a Southern German theme for their names as Heika is a Swabian-Hall piglet and has a Bavarian sugar cookie. She also has a folk-style ribbon rose headband like the Bavarian dancers wear.  Since Bretta is also colored black and white, I decided to give her a German name also. They each have reserve price of $135.00.  I hope you like them both. 

Gabriel

Here's my latest little one. I named him Gabriel. His wings were needle felted then hand-dyed. Gabriel's 7 day auction started on eBay last night at 6:45PM PDT.

When I was making him, it reminded me of a church Christmas pageant that I was once in. It was a tradition at St. John's Lutheran church in Anchor, Illinois to have the pageant on Christmas eve. It was also a tradition with my family to open presents after church. The church pageant was always a very exciting event for the Andreae kids. But this year was even more exciting. I was going to be an angel and my sister was to play Mary.

That night we ate our bowls of chili and quickly dressed to go to church. So after the 30 minute ride through the slushy snain (rain & snow) we arrived at our beautiful little brick church. My sister and I headed down stairs to get dressed. Valerie was beautiful in her Mary costume. Being the smallest angel my costume seemed to overtake me. I had to tie the belt extra high to keep my gown from dragging. Plus I had to walk very gingerly or else my halo would fall off. When we were ready, we lined up to go up the stairs and into our assigned pew. It was the larger angels first and me in the rear. That was the way we were also to file onto the stage and the opposite upon leaving.

I sat in the pew watching my sister as she knelt before the manger. Joseph was kneeling behind her. The light from manger cast a warm beautiful glow upon them. It was now the angels turn to stand behind the holy family. As we filed up on the stage, I noticed Joseph was looking kind of green. Then as we were standing behind, Joseph bent over and threw up in the manger. You can well imagine the smell as it hit the source of the beautiful light, a 150 watt trouble lamp. My poor sister had to kneel there for the rest of the evening. Luckily for us angels we got to go back to our pew. But I led them astray into the wrong pew. The pastor's wife had to redirect us. As I sat down, the chili took hold. I let out the loudest fart ever. It seemed to echo through out the whole church. It was hard not to laugh. As I sat there trying to hold back the giggles, my halo fell off. I bent down to pick it up. And guess what? Another frog had escaped and the whole row of angels were all cracking up as we sang "Angels we have heard on high". Proving once again my Mom's favotite saying. "You can dress them up. But you can't take them to town,"

A Spotted Owl & Woodland Mouse

I listed these two last Sunday and they sold within an hour of listing.

I just finished a new piece and wll get pictures soon. It's of a Eskimo and a harp seal. I was surprised when I got him to stand the first time with no adjustments. He's in a bending over position looking down at the seal.

At present I'm working on a St. Andrew Beach Mouse inspired by a photo I saw in Utne Reader by National Geographic photographer, Joel Sartore. They are really cute little guys. They're usually very pale with a light tan top and white underneath. These little mice are probably one of the most endangered small mammals.

Also, I'm working on a sewn mohair elephant. There's kind of a funny story behind this one. I found this gray mohair jacket at the thrift store. I immediately thought this wouls be great for making bears and elephants. The tag in the jacket read "teddy bear fabric". The fiber was loomed at Shelton Looms. Well, I didn't find the tags until after I ripped the jacket apart. The jacket was worth more money than the fiber. Live and learn. It's really a nice dense mohair and will make some lovely teddies and friends.

I'm Having a Sale of Sorts

This week I'm starting all of my felties at $9.95 with no reserve! There have been quite a few people who have expressed interest in my work. But they could not afford it. Now those buyers have a chance at winning one of my pieces. Who knows, you could win one of my felties for well under the $100 0r more dollars that my work usually go for. The auctions are set to private just in case the item is purchased for a gift.

Included in this set of auctions is a little mousie on a wooden spool. He was inspired by the mouse in Beatrix Potter's tale, "The Tailor of Gloucester". I have seen others use this image without giving her credit. This is just my gentle reminder to myself and others on eBay to give credit where credit is due. Since the economy has taken a real hit, I've noticed a lot of artists are only doing what they know will sell. Consequently, there are some very similar items and items that are taken from other's imaginations. I'm not too sure that competition in the marketplace helps creativity. My opinion is that when things are tight, people take fewer chances. In effect, it ends up being like a dog chasing its tail. The fewer choices there are, the less interest and less purchases. The one good thing is it helps to hone your technique when your up against some other very talented artists. So when the economy picks up, there will be some really innovative highly skilled works out there. In the meanwhile , I'll try to expand my works with new styles and techniques while sticking to my tried and trues.

I hope you all like my latest works. Mention this blog if your the winner of one of my items and you'll receive a coupon towards free shipping on your next purchase. Please click here to view my auctions.

Thanks, Robin

Pim and his Crawdaddy

Skip Fall. I think Winter has arrived. It's about 50 degrees Farenheight and the sun isn't down yet. Brrr. I don't think I'm ready for it this year. Since I last wrote, I made it to Michaels's. I bought some PrismaColor Art Markers and had to try them out. I shaded the crawfish with them. They're a lot of fun. I plan on buying a whole set when I'm in town next. I just finished the little raccoon and his crayfish this morning. Photos were a bit difficult because I had to take them indoors. The wind was too strong to get many outdoor shots. I have some trouble getting the lighting the way I want it in the indoor ones. But I think they turned out ok. What do you think?







Here's how I do indoor pics. I use a home made light box for my pics. It's constructed of a 16 inch cube box with 3 sides cut open. one side open and interfacing glued around it to filter the light. I use two flexible gooseneck lamps with daylight bulbs. I use poster board for the backdrops. It's worked out pretty good. But I'd like to invest in some other lights and a dettachable flash.








Click Here to view my auctions.

Honey Boo Bear

Here's my latest piece. She's weighted with steel shot and has Apoxy Sculpt claws. Her costume was needle felted and hand sewn and is removable. Her little pumpkin is hollow and was completely needle felted. I hope you enjoy her. She was quite a bit of work and took me longer than I expected. Her fur was hand mixed from several different types of wool. Her auction starts tonight at 6:45 PM PDT.

Honey's Reserve price is $145.00 and her Buy it Now price is $275.00

Nuno Felting & Two New Works.

Sorry, I've been kind of avoiding posting in my blog. My internet connection has been extremely slow. it's been like slogging through deep mud just to try to get anything done. I've checked for viruses, worms and adware and nothing has come up. I thought it might be a Vista update. But restoring to last week did nothing. It may be my server. But enough of this boring stuff.

I finished two pieces and have them on eBay now. I tried a new technique that I learned about on Chrissy P's blog, "The Felted Chicken". It's called nuno felting. Nuno felting is a wet felting technique that involes wet felting over a sheer piece of fabric. Chrissy is in the process fof making a very awesome jellyfish using this technique. I can hardly wait to see it finished.

Nuno felting is so much fun! You get to play in water and you get to slam things against the counter. How cool is that? I've also been going crazy dyeing my wool with Koolaid. (Thanks again, Chrissy for inspiring me) I just love art! You get to play and you end up with a really neat thing.


So what was it that I nuno felted? Some fall leaves (dyed with Koolaid) for my squirrel and the leaf for the little mousie's pumpkin and her fairy wings. So here are my latest two. They both end on Tuesday night at 6:45 PM PDT. The reserve price for each is $145.00.

A Little Hula Pig and a New Charity

Anuenue ~ Little Rainbow

Starting bid $9.95

Reserve Price $125.00

Buy It Now $195.00

Please click here to bid or Buy It Now

(auction starts tonight @ 6:45 PM PST & will not be viewable until then)

Last week, I read about a little orphaned foal who is in desperate need of help. The post directed me to this sight, http://www.dreamchaserpmu.org/index.htm. After reading reading about this poor little guy and the fate that awaited him and his mother, I couldn't stop from crying and knew I must do something to help. Dreamchaser PMU Rescue and Rehabilitation is now one of my regular charities.

I was also reminded of something that I had heard of in passing, but it never registered until I could put face to it. PMU (pregnant mare urine) horses and their foals are regularly sent to slaughter. They are often sold and shipped off to Europe & Japan where horses are slaughtered for meat. The poor mares are kept pregnant and in stalls where they are tied both front and back for 6 months. Their resulting foals are very often sold off to feedlots as are the mares who do not impregnate readily. Fortunately, this practice is waning because of a 2004 study linking estrogen hormone replacement with cancer and heart disease. But this also means that these horses are now being dumped into a market where there are already hundreds of horses looking for caring homes. The people of Dreamchaser and other rescues like them have the very difficult task of finding these poor animals homes where they will at last know kindness from the hands of humans.

So now you're probably asking "Why a pig and why is it in a hula skirt?". Years ago insulin was derived from pig hormones. Now it is synthetically produced and pigs need not be slaughtered so that people may live. If we can replace pig insulin with a synthetic, why not do the same with horse estrogen? So the little piggy is in a hula skirt because she's been invited to a luau where pork isn't on the menu. 20% from her sale will be donated to help "Orphan" at Dreamchaser PMU Rescue and Rehabilitation.

Good luck bidding!

Food! Plus Duncan and his Doughnut.

Happy July 4th----almost. Here in Jo'burg the town is having a picnic in the park below my house and at night the locals will light up their "safe and sane" fireworks in the ball field. Later, after the fire department has left, they blow off the insane ones. They're fun to watch. But a bit scary. I'll be out all night with the water hose at the ready. One my favorite things about the holidays is the food! And food is one of my favorite things to felt. Here's a few examples of what I've done. I hope you enjoy them.

Also, I'd like to introduce you to Duncan. He's a cute little mousie who dreams of tubing down a river of chocolate milk on his doughnut he's available for adoption now and is currently on eBay until Wednesdy at 6:45 pm PST.

Click here to view his auction