THE TALE OF TWO ELVES

This tale starts with my sister Maggie.  Those of you who know Maggie and visit her blog Off My Rocker know that one of the things Maggie does is make dolls. Not so long ago I helped her pack up her craft rooms and she gave me a number of doll parts and nearly completed dolls that she had for one reason or another decided not to finish. Among the gargantuan heap of miscellaneous doll parts were two that I assume were meant to be elves.

Once I brought them home I pretty much forgot about them. I’d tossed them on a pile of things I’d been gathering to donate to the thrift store because they were too large to fit in any of my regular storage containers and there they lay. Naked, although one was wearing a brown stocking cap, with no hands or feet and their faces with only hints of needle sculpting.  Now that pile of crap donations for the thrift store was blocking the door to the closet where I store my Christmas gift bags and wrap so I had to move it aside and there they were lying in the pile of discards looking right at home there. Neither of them was “speaking” to me as to what they were to become and for a moment I was tempted to slit a seam or two and salvage the fiberfill and forget about them. I was really close to doing just that but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. One of the reasons I’d brought them home in the first place is I can’t stand to see anything with a head get discarded. Yes, I know, it’s silly but what can I say? It is what it is.

After the crazy days leading up to Christmas were behind me and the big to-do with friends and family was a thing of the past I had some time to relax. I also had time to clean up the mess I’d made with all of the sewing and gift making and while putting things away I noticed the two elves again and boy was I surprised when they spoke to me. Well, not literally of course but I could finally see what they wanted to be and by golly, I was going to give them a chance, and faces and clothes and maybe even some personality if it was the last thing I did. The last thing that is before cleaning up my mess because that is number one of the list of goals I have set for myself as part of my self-improvement for the New Year. Number two is drink more water so you can see I’m really serious about these goals.

I've always loved shoes like these.

So, here they are the two newest elves in Santa’s work shop. The one wearing red and green is Jingles and the other one is Loomis.

They both stand approximately 15 inches tall and are made from unbleached muslin with faces that are needle sculpted and colored in with pencils. This is the first time I’ve made a doll that I’ve used pencil instead of paint and I really like the way it turned out.

I jokingly mentioned goals earlier I have made some goals that I wish to work on this year. I don’t make resolutions because I just don’t have that kind of commitment but I do have goals I would like to see come about. How about you? Do you look at the new year before you and think of it as an empty journal to fill? Do you make resolutions or do you set goals of things you wish to accomplish or do differently? I know that many people start out doing something major like stop smoking or start a new diet or exercise program. The goals I’ve set are nothing major but small things like get a few paintings done this year. I would also like to finish some of the projects that I’ve started and this year I want to start working on my Christmas cards and gifts early enough that I’m finished with everything months before Christmas to avoid the stress of trying to get everything done at the last possible moment.

So here’s to a brand new year to make with it what we can and hopefully we will come out of it at the other end as someone who has achieved what we’ve set out to do. Now I must go and make a birthday card for my daughter. It's her birthday today and here I am waiting until the last moment to make her card. That is so me. Is there a chance I'll ever change? Naw, it's too late for me to really make that big of a change.

As always, thanks for stopping by.