another peg

Managed to find time, using another vintage peg, to create an automaton! As the handle is turned the figure goes up and down - he's supposed to be a swimmer. Not sure whether to add paint or just leave alone.

dolls and books

A couple of weeks ago I managed to find some vintage wooden pegs at a flea market.
Have just got round to making one up as a peg doll. The arms are jointed using vintage buttons and hand-made string. The wooden heart covers a hole but thinking about it now I could have left it and called this a 'broken-hearted' doll.

The reason it's taken a couple of weeks to whittle this is because I've been busy publishing again!
This time I've gone all ebook and have put a children's book into the kindle store on Amazon. It only went live yesterday but already has begun to sell. Its the first in what I intend to be a series that can stand alone as fiction books or be used in a classroom to spark an interest and enthusiasm for grammar and punctuation! Please feel free to check it out;

https://www.amazon.co.uk/P-U-nC-S-Saviours-punctuation-John-Fidler-ebook/dp/B01FPLZK8K/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1463412374&sr=8-2&keywords=john+fidler

faffing

Have been prattling around with wire, fabric, needle, thread and bits of wood - came up with this. Very folky arty type thing, supposed to be some sort of an angel!

back at school - yay!

Managed to put our 'Tudor' houses on display - they were only completed on the final day of last term! Partnered them up with our model of the Globe to portray a small section of Shakespeare's London! It looks quite impressive in the flesh - each house stands around 25cm tall. 
(And I seem to be able to email myself pics again!)

The children made peg doll characters to populate the streets.

sculpture

Yesterday our y4s had a Tudor Day and came costumed accordingly. They took part in a variety of activities, one of which was to do a 'stump' doll version of themselves. A peg, pipecleaner, felt and their skill were all that were needed to end up with mini-me's!

Y3s are sculpting Ancient Greek warriors and have now added mod-roc to their armatures. I think I can hear the strains of 'Zorba' starting up somewhere behind this one!

toys

Y1's theme for this term is toys. Today, using simple shapes they had a go at drawing some traditional ones.

They also added captions.

'polish' figures

A couple of faux, ceramic 'polish pottery' type figures. The one 'sitting' on the edge is a simple slab figure whilst the one with attached limbs has a hollow body and a large wooden bead for a head. The hair is hand-made string, that I've had for ages, and the fixings include vintage buttons.

Stop press : the ceramic poppies that we made in school have so far raised over €500 for the Royal British Legion.

wednesdoodle

'bot 'n doll

 

 

A5, ink & pencil on paper.

meet Mlle Bobine

Here's the first thing I've made from the vintage French spools - Mademoiselle Bobine (Bob-een). Quite pleased with how she turned out. She stands around 18cm tall and has been painted in acrylics. Her arms are moveable and held on with vintage buttons. She sports a jaunty and chiq felt neckerchief. Wasn't sure about the base - I did toy with the idea of decoupaging words like 'metro' and 'Paris' on but decided to leave it plain. Might list her in my Folksy shop - will keep you updated.

 

 

 

peg doll

Arabella Peggotty is a refined young lady. She is confident and poised. It wasn't always thus - she had a lowly start in life, but through persistence and a winning personality has managed to overcome all the obstacles life has thrown at her. She is now looking to broaden her horizons further - you'll find her in my Folksy shop (button on the right) patiently waiting for the right person to come along.

She stands around 13cm tall and is made from a wooden peg, a lollipop stick and a carved wooden bead. Her joints are secured by thread and vintage Fench nacre buttons.

doll

Meet Abigail Spooner

From very humble beginnings, Abigail has grown up into a feisty, quirky young lady. She has very individual tastes and strong ideas about an eclectic range of things. She cares nothing for fashion trends and prefers odd, mis-matched outfits. She has a particular liking for bright red shoes.

She stands around 13cm tall and has moveable limbs. She's made from a small, carved wooden spoon, parts of a peg, lollipop stick, paint, thread, vintage buttons and string.

kokeshi

In enterprise club we've stoppped making bookmarks for the moment and have gone on to fridge magnets. Here are some I knocked up quickly - each from a couple of thin ply shapes, some patterned paper and paint. They haven't had the magnets stuck on yet. They're about 7cm long.

bookmarks

Have been playing around with an idea for some wooden bookmarks - I've christened them 'page palz'. Oversize craft sticks, wooden beads and acrylic paint, sealed with mod podge.

The idea was to make and sell these through our 'Enterprise Club'at school- but I think they'll be a little too fiddly and tricky for the children to make. We've come up with a simpler idea using flat wooden shapes - I'll post some pics when they're done.

Obviously they can be painted in any colourway and can be made to represent a whole host of different characters.

When not being used as bookmarks they could easily be out on display as a sort of 'stick doll' figure.

Would love to know what you think of these and whether or not they could sell.

peg dolls

As part of their 19th century studies, the children made peg doll characters. They were each given a peg and a page of hints/tips as to what might make good arms, how to do hair etc. The figures that returned were fantastic. They were all different. Clothing had been made from fabric scraps, paper or even just painted on. Many had obviously enjoyed the parental touch but that is very much a positive - interacting, helping with their childs homework can only be a good thing. I love the big, baggy shorts on the footy player !

poseable jake

Have been playing around with improvements to the 'jake' figures. Joints made with elastic cord secured by buttons allows for a fantastic range of holdable poses as can be seen from the pics. Please note that this figure was one I put together out of spare pieces just to try out the concept. He stands around 10cm (4") when stood up straight!

I Would really welcome any comments.

peg 2

Have made another unique, naive piece of folk art - Peg 2. She 'wears' a slightly battered and faded heart (possibly too many unrequited loves & missed opportunities). Could you be the one to make her life complete and give her the tenderness she deserves - or perhaps you know someone who would! An ideal valentine keepsake for the one you love.

She is jointed using red embroidery thread and vintage, hand-made French nacre buttons.

Update - she's now listed in my Etsy shop should you care to peruse. Click on the shoplink.

naked pegs

Have been whittling again! A trio of peggy's, not yet painted or embellished. Have a few ideas going round in my little head about a different style of paint job - ie. not like previous ones where they 'represented' footy players etc (see previous posts). The actual design has also been tweaked slightly (can you spot the difference?). Might be after Crimble before they get done though.

littl' black dress

Just made another peg doll figure - this time dressed in a little black felt number. Not sure how to make it stand independently, other than the ubiquitous wooden stand - posed it on the edge of a glass for now.

peg doll kit

Have just finished creating a peg doll kit - one with movable limbs. I intend to list this in my Etsy shop soon.

I've 'posed' the pieces next to what it started out as. It's designed to be fixed together using string (or wool etc.) and painted or dressed according to personal taste.

Would love to know what folk think about it.

Jake in boxer shorts!

Just listed in my Etsy shop - an energetic and flexible Jake doing his early morning exercises!