Category: WIP

owl work

October 12, 2010
by annwood

owl work

I’m working on several new owls including one made from an edwardian skirt (on the left above), a large black owl made from  a victorian jacket and a little grey owl  with green velvet horns and shoe button eyes.

owl work

I’m still  going through my little scraps and making one of a kind birds, I’ve just added the first two bundled up birds of the season to  the the shop and will be adding more regularly.

bundled birds

I had a conversation with Suzie Monday ( thanks very much Suzie) over the summer and you can find the resulting article in the September October issue of Cloth Paper Scissors.

cloth paper scissors

sewing pattern for a realistic crow

get the pattern

scraps

September 14, 2010
by annwood

I’ve been making some birds from my littlest scraps, stuff I’m at the end of or favorite little pieces I’ve been saving forever.
scraps 9/14

I’ve just added these two to the shop and will continue to add one or two little birds everyday.

scrap birds

There will be a larger update (birds and sweethearts) later in the week and if you’d like to be notified when the new things are available please join the mailing list.

And something new in progress.

paper mache ship

I’m working on new ships,  bats, boats, ballerinas, owls and  lots of other things  – more  photos tomorrow.

change

July 22, 2010
by annwood

spaceI’m  in the midst of a major getting rid of. I’ve been wanting to make changes here for a while but  couldn’t see new possibilities until I started to clear stuff out. It’s taking much longer than I thought it would -I’m still very much in  the purge  stage – have been for weeks  – it’s kind of wonderful and kind of painful, no regrets though.  I’ll post more as the situation evolves.

And a peek behind the curtain:

peek behind the curtainMore coming soon, also, there will be  new things in the shop next week – please join the mailing list if you would like to be notified when they are available.

*Update:  I’m not going to update the shop until next week, the first week in August, but I’ve just added a couple campers.

camper7

dark owl progress

June 27, 2010
by annwood

dark owl

I was  sitting by a window working on an owl on Sunday- a new dark owl ( made from a variety of 19th century garments and the backing of an old quilt) and I heard an unmistakable sound outside, the clippity clop of a horse going by. I almost didn’t look because it’s never happened before and I thought I was imagining it.

clippity clop

I love horses and grew up with a big Shetland pony named Ginger.

ginger1969That’s me and my stylish father and Ginger in 1970. We were building bird houses. I was 4 and I  remember the day distinctly.  Ginger was an interesting character – he had very definite ideas about things. He lives on a beautiful farm for old horses now.

spider work and a suggestion for your evening

May 10, 2010
by annwood

spider work

spider heads

I think the headless bodies are kind of  creepy – a band of mindless marauders.

** And also-  this is so up my alley – maybe yours too- tonight on PBS: “Into the Deep: America, Whaling & the World”

“A fantastic sea adventure, a cautionary economic and environmental tale, and a mythic saga of man and nature, INTO THE DEEP: AMERICA, WHALING & THE WORLD will premiere on the PBS series AMERICAN EXPERIENCE on Monday, May 10, 2010 at 9PM.”

boxes

March 4, 2010
by annwood

Everything I make starts in a box and then lives there until it’s done. The boxes are  for organization – keeping the many little bits for many little projects together and they are also a thinking tool  and  most importantly  a way to start, it is very easy to put things in a box.

owlbox3

I love Twyla Tharp’s book, The Creative Habit. Here’s a little of what she has to say about boxes:

“The box makes me feel organized, that I have my act together even when I don’t know where I’m going yet. It also represents a commitment. The simple act of writing a project name on a box means that I’ve started work”

birdbox2

I have different sorts of boxes for different sorts of projects. You could also  make your own box or use a basket – project bags are great too.

snow

February 25, 2010
by annwood

One of the first really old things I bought  for making things was a purple silk bodice that was in wretched condition. The silk itself was mostly unusable-  it disintegrates when you touch it .

purple bodice

a sewing pattern for a dastardly owl

 

I was originally interested in the buttons, the fantastic buttons,  flinty piercing eyes, they inspired my first owl,  but when I began to take it apart I found a variety of tiny prints and lovely indigo ,  hidden and preserved in the foundation.  They ‘re mostly gone now – used in owl ears and beaks and spiders but yesterday I found one more piece of my favorite print  inside a cuff. I think it’s  enough for a beak for the fellow in the background  and maybe a spider too.

 interfacing

It is snowing like nobody’s business in Park Slope.

parkslopesnow

botanical experiments

January 21, 2010
by annwood

botanical1

And progress on a paper mache ship.

confoundNews:

* I’m way behind on email ( that’s not exactly news..) Getting a couple projects out the door and then I can devote some serious time to responding.

* I’m working towards a shop update  sometime next week ( the  week beginning 2/1) as well as a couple ebay auctions to benefit Haiti. You can get updates here or through my mailing list or twitter.