Happy Easter from the New Guys and Crazyhoundstore

Something in the Air

 Earlier this week I mentioned about some new designs I was working on... 

On the right, Black and White "Eric" was inspired by Harvey and the Rabbit advert that was on TV last year

And the Grey number, "Eardley" well I wanted to make a dog with BIG EARS and this is what came out. I am also really happy with the new body shape..

And this little guy, who is 50 Years old this year, with a repaired and re-stuffed neck, but minus his tail, probably has a lot to answer for as an inspiration for all my animal crafts.. Thank you Candy. 

Enjoy the holidays everyone.

April Flight - bird soft sculpture

Surrounded by lovely birds in these parts, I seem to have become addicted to sketching them, and making little models based on the little chaps that hop about the garden. Thank you Mr Crazyhound for taking this lovely photo. The real things - they wake us up at the moment as they chirp as soon as the sun is up. Once again this little bird was inspired by Abby Glassenberg's designs that give such a good base for your own designs. 

I am off from these parts for a few weeks, heading south, me and the dogs and our trusty (or is that rusty??) old car hoping to get inspiration from the markets, villages and country of France and England.  I am looking forward to getting my paints and pencils out and doing something different. At the moment I am rediscovering the work of someone who inspired me before - Philippe Charles-Jacquet . An artist inspired by boats and the sea, and magical landscapes - and he uses paints that you find in your local DIY store to achieve some wonderful effects.        

Guide to the Best Sock Monster material, Loppis calamity and the Pappa Bear chair

The Best kind of socks for my kind of creatures...... piling up here for this weeks work. I love the texture and feel of them. Now where shall I start... and who shall I start on?

ALAS.. Poor  fragile tea cups!

I took a trip to the local Loppis or flea market this Sunday and came across 4 beautiful Chinese tea cups. A friend told me she was looking for some, so I snapped them up as soon as I saw them. I took them to the desk to buy and looked for Mrs Loppis. Alas, Mrs Loppis  was sick and her husband was standing in for the day so she could rest...  

 It was bitterly cold in the stable block converted into a shop, so cold you could see your breath in front of your face, and our noses were red..  Mr Loppis gazed at the cups for a moment before grabbing some stout, brown paper and a bag to put the paper think cups and saucers into.  It was just a second later when we heard a gentle "tck" sound as one of the cups broke in two.. then silence. Poor Mr Loppis, all he could say was "one of them has broken".... and.. "do you want the rest?" . Big hands touched the surviving china as if it too was going to break, and the rest made it into the paper and bag.  So... now we have three cups and four saucers. oh well.     

And now my labour for the next couple of weeks, a Pappa Armchair, or at least it seems like a Swedish copy of the same classic. So far I have unleashed mountains of dusty foam and lots and lots of ginger coir stuffing as it gets stripped down. Keep you posted on the new chair as it emerges.    

Little Black Dog

The Black dog......
I read a thoughtful book this summer - Mr Chartwell by Rebecca Hunt. If such a thing is possible, it gave a positive take on depression and manic depression and the relationship between the person and their "pet" called depression.  Put the serious angle away for a moment and if you get the chance to read it, and you own or have owned a dog... her descriptions of Mr Chartwell's mannerisms are wonderful, spot on. You can almost smell the dog as you read about him.. wonderful.

Anyway, that good book inspired me to finish this long planned Black Dog sort of door stop creature. I used boiled black felt, wool felt, large tin can, fibre padding and cat litter to finish the job. I used wool felt to cover over the stitching and it worked quite well. I am quite happy with the finished dude, but think there is more work to do on his neck next time around.

 He sits proudly in front of our newly stacked winter wood, and so I think he has to be called Edward.. Woodyard as he looks way to lighthearted to be called Mr Chartwell.

Tweet Tweet - Inspiration from the birds

Some people say in an off hand way to dismiss something " Aw ! That's for the birds !" meaning something stupid. Well, this week I have been inspired by all things birdie and thing them the most resourceful of animals.
I am not sure what has happened with the local bird food chain, but this year we have hundreds and hundreds of sparrows, chirping and cheeping all over the place. So many in fact that our lilac tree was covered...

Zoom in  and you will see just how many are perching in that tree. So many in fact, that about 20 choose to dive down the woodburner chimney into the living room before exiting stage left into the garden. The old cat thought it was Christmas, but is thankfully too old and blind to catch any. I am now a dab hand at closing all blinds quickly to black out confusing light and open the garden door, before opening the glass stove door to allow the adventurous chap/chapette to fly out to safety.   

    And this led me to look into bird scultpures, and get inspired by Ann Wood in New York and Abigail Brown in London, and getting guidance from "The Artful Bird" by Abigail Patner Glassenberg.... Ta dar.... Here is my little tweeter. I am particularly pleased with his legs.