FIBER!!!

No, not eating it......spinning it!  I am finally getting around to spinning the Leah's first shearing.  Since Rachel and Leah (we did not name them) are going to have to get their hairs cut soon, I thought (well, darling hubby thought) I had better get stuck in to doing something with the first batch!  I washed a bunch of Leah (the white) and have been carding it and spinning it.  I can't wait until I have a full skein!

Some of the locks are 10" long!

All picked and ready to card.....just like a cloud!

Almost a whole spool.

My Baines upright spinning wheel from New Zealand.

The poor wool is full of vegetation.  I may have to give up and take it to Arizona Fiber Mill for cleaning.  It is spinning up real nice and fine, though!

Leah's First Haircut

Leah's First Fleece

Leah

Rachel 

More past projects

Sound of Music

Before/After

I bought 2 of these fun shabby chic chairs from my favorite Antique Strip Mall, but sadly, had to reupholster them to fit into the Von Trapp house for Sound of Music.  I also did a sofa and 2 other chairs for the show.  Nick Mozak, our designer from Chicago painted the wood, and I just kept on stapling.

I made 2 cute pillow to go on the sofa.....

Hay carpet

Kim mostly made this hay carpet thingy that went inside a hay cart.  She spent DAYS tying string and yarn to bird netting.  It was worth it in the end, as it has already been in two shows!  Doesn't it look like fluffy straw?

 I made this Prie-Dieu (a prayer kneeler) ALL BY MYSELF!  I am trying to work on my Prop Carpenter skills.  Sadly, it was cut from the show for needing to be placed in an awkward spot on the set that everyone was running into with their Nun Costumes!!  

Thanksgiving Lefse & Chocolate Covered Cherries

For Thanksgiivng, we went to Gramma's in Pahrump, Nevada.  We made over 200 chocolate covered cherries.  My Mom's recipes for both the cherries and the lefse have been used nearly EVERY YEAR for the past 50 or so!!!

Fondant of powdered sugar and Eagle Brand Milk

Dipped in any kind of melted chocolate

I felt like Lucille Ball with all that candy!

We had two lefse griddles going to make this traditional Norwegian  food that we always have around the holidays.  Spread with butter and sprinkled with sugar is my favorite way to eat it!

Arizona Craft Rave

Nickela & I had a table at the Arizona Craft Rave this year. Nikki taught how to make the cute butterfly necklaces, and I taught making charms and bobby pins with cabochons and fun beads and paper decoupage.  We had a blast!

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

There are lots of fun props in Seven Brides!  I made 6 fake axes that men have to dance with, a fake stretched animal hide.  (When asked what animal, the scene shop boys thought I should say "Nawga"!)

Future Fake Axes

I also resolved myself to researching an making some snow shoes!  I got a bit obsessed.  They are a nice touch on the trapping cabin in the winter!  I dare say, they look pretty real....but I wouldn't test them against any polar bears!

Catching Up....

Sad to say, I just worked hours on a new post....only to discover it vaporized!  But in doing that post,I also discovered that I need to learn a bunch more about formatting because that was what took me so long!  I would just get the page to look right while I was creating it, and then I would preview it and it would look way different!!!  So here goes with a second try.... 

I have been working on all sorts of props and crafts lately.  I am going back into Dropbox, to see what is on my Camera Uploads:

Food Props!

Kim (my AWESOME intern) & I did a whole bunch of fake chicken for Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. We made molds of actual real fried chicken!  We tried molds of plaster and of Silicone Rubber.  Both worked good, only for plaster, you have to do a two-part mold, and the chicken gets a bit gross....be sure and do both parts in the same day!  (Freezing the cooked chicken is the best idea, too)

     Once the molds were done, we coated them with Holden's Casting Latex to form a rubbery skin.  Once it cured, we poured Smooth-On's FlexFoamIt 5.  Because we also put a bit of baby powder in the mold before the latex, the chicken came out looking like it was all floured and ready for the fryer!  

     Next came some sprays of Honey Stain from Design Mater Paints and a darker brown.  The finish chicken is in Seven Brides, I will try and get photos of the Finger Lickin' Good Final Product!

Joseph Throne

The scene shop recycled a 2x4 clunky chair for Joseph (and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat) to make a throne.  They added the curves, I added the Barbie heads, claw feet and paint. (With Kim's help, of course.)  We also made the feather fans.  (This time, my assistant Minnie helped!)

I am going to publish these now, in hopes of NOT losing it to the CLOUD!