Sketch book time!

Sometimes I have to stop and draw something in order to know how it will come together. As if my hand movements on the paper help me to see?

So these are sketches of the rat fursuit head I am working on, with a different shaped nose than the last time. Although the drawing below does admittedly look like a pair of pants! Oops!

This top view sketch shows what I'm aiming for, so I plan to cover thin sheet foam in fleece and add shading. This may match the rat's ears! 

I have got my dummy head out again!

Dorset Sea food, and Big Cats!

Saturday saw Dorset Sea Food Festival cancelled, so ther was nothing for it but to cover a friend in duct tape, as one does!

You need a duct tape dummy, to make a well fitting fursuit, as worn by yours truly in this fun picture!

We must have so many pictures taken of us that we will never see - I hand out Artwey leaflets in return for our poses! I even got kissed, and there are always people who would like a hug!

And now you know why I altered those fine waders!

Spirit of the Sea again!

I am getting ready to exhibit with Artwey this weekend at  Dorset Sea Food Festival

I have been given an enormous pair of waders ... so long i have to turn the tops down to pull them up!

And I have been busy altering them, too - what could i be doing with these then? Any ideas?

Big Cats in Weymouth - Spirit of the Sea 2011 ...

The tiger returned to Weymouth yet again, and this time THE CAT was ready for him!



It was certainly a lovely day for a Harbour-side festival!



Until some one pointed out all that water, to the Cat! YIKES!



Most of the public were very taken with our furry visitors, and the felines must have posted for hundreds of photographs!



And there was time for a few lovely Cat-cuddles too!


What did you do at the weekend? XXX

more cat head WIP ...

and so to make the pattern for furring the cat head ...



interesting shapes appear when I work this way ...



and the blue foam shape starts to look like a creature ...



sometimes the wrong creature - is this a bunny?



those ARE cat's ears!



and that's a little pink cat's nose!



creating the eyes, cutting the shapes for irises from painted acetate ...



and into the head they go!



eye can see you!

Cat's Cat Suit - the head! WIP

does a cat's head appear?



nore of a fox, that muzzle is much too long!



I started to shorten the muzzle, bit by bit, and added more foam to shape the skull ...



i made fabric and fur ears, worked more ont he shape of things like the eye holes and the muzzle ...



then today I got the glue gun out, and burned myself rather a lot!


(the thermostat may have broken on my gun!)

The Nature of the Beast!

making myself into a Cat ... well, its happening!



I do need a head and a tail, but I already feel rather like puss in boots!



I have better get some more work done, it's nearly time for Spirit-of-the-Sea, again ... but no more lobster costuming, for me ...

why the big paws?

all the better to wave hello!


Little-Cat costume takes shape ...

fur and feathery greens!

today I buried my hands in super soft fur ...



and i spent a long time cutting shapes into this for and a fluffy white one ...



also did some green things, eating this lovely fresh lettuce for out tea, harvested under the watchful eye of our chickens ...


the children picked some of our gooseberries, and removed some of the fallen-too-soon apples from the lawn...

Tiger in Radipole Woods!

Really enjoyed making this video! Thanks to Tiger-Tan and my lovely girls!

And I went to London, this week!

and I took these furry balls with me - but more about those in a second!



First, here is a hunk i managed to get a cuddle with, at Rainbow Productions ! And then i had a nice lunch with Simon Faulkes ...

And those balls? I added some eye lids, and now the tiger can sleep - I think he looks really sweet! I took my copic markers and sat on a bench on Wimbledon Common. It was nice to see the tiger again after all this time!



and the new 'asleep' eyes seem to be very effective!



Then, it was time for the tiger to wake up and play - and not a Womble in sight!

working with my body ...

my recently created duct-tape body is to help me make a suit that fits me! I use it to create one half of a pattern, then my costume will be perfectly symmetrical...



I have got my pins, some scissors, a marker pen and some old, partly faded curtains which will form the actual pattern ...



now I just need to take my time over it!

and so we said goodbye to our tiger ....

here brought to life by my good friend ....

Have fun, tiger !

Here are some ................................Tiger Hands!

But why the Big Paws? .....

The Last Post - of 2010!

And it's a tiger post! This time she got a lovely fluffy neck, what a throat ...



The neck is made from four pieces of striped fur, and four of the long white polar fur. Matching stripes is like a fluffy jigsaw!



Then our tiger got some teeth - no more gummy smile ...



Teddy bear makers often create pulled-toes, and here I have created - pulled teeth! Not the fangs, they are cones of foam covered in PVC, but the little teeth all in a row ...



Just want to say Fang you very much for reading my blog this year, HAPPY NEW YEAR! cat XXX