Playing Catch Up. (What Else Is New?)

Wow, have I ever dropped the ball with this blog of late! Of good intentions--and wonderful posts written solely in my head but never transferred to keyboard and, hence, Cyberland--I have had plenty. But life has a way of intervening.

No use dithering about with excuses or trying to hark back to what I intended to share last week or the week before that. It's probably best I cast organization to the four winds and just jump in with this and that. After all, the best way to beat a writer's block, so they say, is simply to write. So, without further ado... 

I've been making--and selling!--more poodles. Two of these went out the door the same day I listed them in the shop. This gal is still available:

www.etsy.com/listing/467607506/kitsch-fifties-style-spring-green-toilet

And I had a custom order, too, this past week:

This poodle represented a challenge because I've never done a black one before and wasn't sure how on earth I was going to make the nose and eyes stand out. The darkest one I've made before is this brown one, and I had to compromise by using google eyes instead of my signature eyelash eyes, something that works but doesn't quite please me:

www.etsy.com/listing/449070942/kitsch-fifties-style-chocolate-brown

So I did a bit of experimenting. I took the plain black eyes...

Running low on these vintage supplies! I'm on the lookout for more.

....which I typically perk up with painted-on highlights, like this:

But this time, I spray-painted the basic eyes, both front and back, with silver first, and painted the centers black, leaving a silver rim. Then I did the usual highlights, and afterward, sealed the deal with clear nail polish:

Voila!

Coming up with a nose that would stand out against the black yarn was the next hurdle. I usually use a small black pompom, but that was definitely not going to fly. I thought about using pink or red, but nixed that plan as icky-looking. Since I had white paint out from doing the eyes, I played around with giving a black pompom a light, light touch of white using a nearly dry brush. This made a flat, silvery grey/black appearance and worked nicely. I was quite pleased with the end result. Now I need not shy away from the darker hues. I love it when I have a brainstorm!

Okay, enough with the poodles.

One other thing I managed, finally, at long last to FINISH since I last posted, is that goofy gravel art cat picture I started so many months ago. (You can follow that ridiculous saga in these back posts if you're a glutton for punishment:  

http://sheertrashroadshow.blogspot.com/2016/04/she-thought-it-was-ordinary-blog-post.html

http://sheertrashroadshow.blogspot.com/2016/09/three-bs-and-finished-project.html

The original idea and a good beginning....

The final result, many experiments and revisions later.

A bit of close-up detail.

This has taken a deal of un-doing and re-doing. Suffice it to say, I don't plan to attempt any gravel art revival projects again any time soon! I'll be listing it in the shop later today, hopefully. And if anyone wants to gripe about the price, all I can say is, go and make one of your own and see how much time and work it is, and then get back to me!

Okay, signing off for now and hoping I will not procrastinate for  three weeks before scrambling to post again. Thanks for hanging in there!