Monday, January 9, 2012

Resolutions already being tested ...

Well, we are little more than a week into 2012 and one resolution/hope has been shattered and one has started pretty well.

The shattered one, hospital/Doctor visits.  Part of this one is good the other part is sad.  Sad first, as I type this my mother in law lies in a hospice bed unconscious and unresponsive.  In the last 6 years she's coped with lung cancer, broken hip, broken vertebrae, untold numbers of flu's and other maladies.  At Thanksgiving she had a small stroke, which at first did not seem to have done much damage but she has been loosing ground health wise ever since.  It is hard on us all to watch this happen.  I think the worst part, for me, is watching my husband cope with all that an ill or dying parent can bring with it.  His brother and sister both live about 3,000 miles away (one on the West Coast and one in England) so as far as caring for his mother he is pretty much on his own (save what the kids and I can do).  The happier part of the medical sagas of my clan - my daughter's post operative bandages came off late last week!  She's down to a small custom fitted splint that just protects the pins that are sticking out of her finger from getting bumped, wiggled or pulled. She was so happy to be able to wash her hands and even her own hair again she squealed in delight in the doctors office! I will admit to being simultaneously intrigued and repulsed by the site of the pins.  She will happily take the splint off at any opportunity to show off the pins.  I think she is enjoying watching peoples reactions.  Those reactions are wide ranging - from "aw how COOL!" to clasping a hand to their mouths trying not to be sick.  But she gets the pins out on the 26th and is thrilled that she will have the full use of her hand soon.

The other resolution that is going well - late last fall I started toying around with (no pun intended) making steampunk softie dolls.  The taller of the 3 dolls in the first photo is a nearly finished example.  But, over the winter holidays I started playing around with a variation on that doll/sewing project.  Using plastic bottle caps as a base (these 2 have Gatorade bottle caps as their bases) I've been experimenting with making what I'm calling "Steampunk Stumpies."  They are a cross between a softie doll and a pin cushion, with a steampunk theme. These are the "in progress" dolls.  They are still waiting for some accessories.  He is called Albert vonPompompom, she doesn't have a name yet.  He will be getting a monocle and a watch chain.  I'm not sure what steampunky accessories she will be getting, maybe a top hat & goggles, maybe something completely different, who knows?

The theme of the stumpie dolls could be anything,, in fact I've been looking at netsuke carvings (similar scale) for inspiration for a variation on this series of dolls. 

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