new dollhouse project

I've had an idea that had been on the back burner for almost 2 years and finally I am acting on it. The idea is to create a dollhouse environment combining my little drawings along with miniatures, then photograph the scenes to develop a picture storybook. And if all goes as planned some stop motion animation too!

I have no idea how this will turn out but I am excited to have a project that will be purely experimental and just for me.

I searched for dollhouses on Craigslist hoping to find a used one. But there wasn't anything that fit what I had in mind. I'm still on the lookout for old dollhouse furniture that is 1/12 scale, so if you have some you don't want let me know!

After much searching I decided on this house from HomeDepot:

It said it on the package that it was easy to put together but I needed help... Maggie decided she would lend a paw!

Here it is all together!

and here's the inside:

I would like to figure out how to install electric so that I can add little lights. First I need to figure out how involved that is. But I'm ready to give a shot!

Working on putting the house together brought back many happy dollhouse memories and crafty projects of making miniature things. I forgot how much I love miniatures!

I remember my Barbie Dream House that I got when I was about 6. My Dad put it together which took hours and hours. I was so excited! I created my own fireplace for that house using a Jello box and covering it in tiny pebbles ( it was 1980 - stone fireplaces were all the rage). That Barbie Dream House inspired a lot of crafts!

About the same time we had a neighbor who had an old dollhouse that she wanted refurbished. My mom volunteered me and I worked away wallpapering, redoing the floors and having a blast!

Here's to my new project and for exploring creative ideas just for fun!

Saturday Evening Post

A couple months ago I created an illustration for the Saturday Evening Post. It arrived today! Here's my illustration of Charles Osgood's poem about Father's Day. The poem is about how he was honored as The Father of the Year while his wife is really doing all the work. I am sure many mothers can relate and I had a good laugh reading it!

This piece was created with his photo and photos of his wife and their children. I thought since it was such a personal piece that I would send the original artwork to him so he could have it.

I wrapped the artwork up in polka dotted paper and wrote a gushy note to Charles Osgood (and I am a HUGE fan and LOVE The Sunday Morning Show) then shipped the artwork to my art director at The Saturday Evening Post. Then they forwarded it onto him.

Hopefully he got it and fingers crossed he liked how it turned out! It was such a fun piece to create and a career goal to be in The Saturday Evening Post!

illustration friday: impatience

Here's my submission for this weeks' illustration friday theme of "impatience"



This was a fun piece to work on! Have a great weekend everyone!

city hall show

Yesterday I went with my friend Martha to take a look at my show at City Hall. I hadn't seen everything hung up so it was exciting! I was nervous how everything would look, but it looked good! yay!

My artwork is on the 3rd floor Mayor's Gallery and also in a hallway on the 2nd floor too 35 artworks total. I took a few photos, here they are! (click to enlarge images)

outside city hall...

Mayor's Gallery 3rd floor

more Mayor's Gallery 3rd floor

wearing my City Hall visitors pass

new artwork on etsy

I added 5 new Sitting Pretty Poppets® and 4 new Sketches to my Etsy shop! Preview below!

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade claudinehellmuth.etsy.com

i've been busy....

Adding new items to my Etsy Shop. I just finished these little ladies.....

(click image to enlarge)
I am now calling them Sitting Pretty Poppets®, ("metal sitting people" just didn't roll of the tongue nicely). Thanks to the gals at The Switchboards for helping me come up with the new name! That message board is a lifesaver!

I also added a few of my cigar box collages to the Etsy Shop too. Click here to check it out.

just finished...

I just finished up these 3 sitting ladies using this month's Scrap in Style TV kit. Loved all the papers that came in that set. The zebra ribbon is my fav!


(click image to enlarge)

PS. Anyone watching On The Lot? I am liking it!!

illustration friday: snap

Here's my submission for Illustration Friday's theme of "snap"

(click image to enlarge)

I have been busy working away on artwork for my line of cards with The Greeting Place.

I have made 17 new pieces of art in approx 20 days! wow!! That is a lot for me!! I am not usually that fast of a worker, but it had to get done and it did and I am so excited about working with them on this card line.

Anyway here's another shoe shopper that I created for the line. I think it works for the IF theme with the quote:

"Mildred always prided herself on being a snappy dresser"

home and art show

I made it home last night after a wonderful last day at the workshop. It took us 5 hours to drive home because we got stuck in traffic. ugh! But we did stop to eat at Sushi Thai one last time before leaving so I could have those Thai Donuts again! Yay!

Today Paul and I drove down to Tampa to see my work that was in an invite only show by Katherine Gibson who is a private art dealer. Every once in awhile she converts her house into a gallery show for her clients, so they can see the art in a home setting. It was so much fun to see my work grouped in with other artists and displayed in such a lovely setting. It was a breath of fresh air and I am so glad I took the time to go.

In the morning I had worked myself into a quite a state: Toby had an eye infection and needed running to the vet, I have a huge stack of emails that piled up while I was away teaching, and some reproductions I had made of of my work did not turn out good (I'm blaming the mercury retrograde). So I was feeling flustered, overwhelmed and out of sorts. I am so glad that I took the time to go to the show because I feel so much better, more centered and ready to face the world again.

Here are some photos from the show!













one of my 3-d cigar box artworks on a nightstand






















metal sitting Poppets® on a window ledge....






















more metal sitting Poppets® on a window ledge....






















An assortment of 3-d cigar box collages, a sitting lady and a Poppet® doll....






















And on our way there we were driving behind this ... we thought it was hilarious the Mini on top of that giant Hummer.

Paul and I got Love Me If You Dare, in from Netflix, so I am going to snuggle down and watch it. I can get back to catching up and dealing with the real world tomorrow, for now I am going to relax and try not to feel stressed out or overwhelmed.

nighty night!

EDITED 10pm: Only two stars for Love Me if You Dare. It wasn't at all the Amelie style movie I thought it would be. It was odd and disturbing. Oh well!

illustration friday: crash

Here's my submission for Illustration Friday's theme of "crash"


(click image to enlarge)
When I first read the theme, I thought right away of our new kitten Stanley and how he keeps knocking things off shelves in the middle of the night and it wakes us up with a big crash! Even while I was working on this piece Stanely was wrecking havoc in my studio! He's a naughty kitten, but I love him so much it just makes me smile when he makes a mess!

new book

My good friend Lesley Riley's new book is out! Yay! And I have a little piece of art in it too.
Here's the cover of her new book:















(click the cover to go to amazon.com)

And the piece of art I made that is on page 45! I had so much fun working on this piece for her. That's a photo of my mom, combined with fabric, paper and rudimentary embroidery. Yet another reminder that I want to play with fabric and sewing more. Now where to find the time!

where did the day go?

Wow today flew by! I spent most of it finishing up commission orders so they could be sent out tomorrow to make it to their new owners in time for Valentine's Day. Then I spent 2 1/2 hours packing everything up! Yipes! The thing that took the longest were these metal sitting figures that I have made for a show in Tampa. Here's a photo!















Aren't they cute!? Well it took me a full hour to pack them. I could not find a box the right size so they wouldn't get squished. I would open a new box thinking it was the right size then place them in and find out it was too small.

You'd think being an artist I would have a good concept of spatial relationships. Well I don't. I can never tell what size box I will need until I get the box all set up and then place the item in there.

Meanwhile I must have gone through 10 boxes finding the right one. It was a nightmare. I could have driven to Tampa in the time it took to get them all packed. Oh well they are ready to go now.

Now I am worn out.

But good news! We got yard of the Month this month for our neighborhood. Boy are we proud!!

And sweet Leigh painted a lovely portrait of Toby and posted it on her blog. Thanks sweetie!!

EDITED: Thanks for all the nice comments on the sitting ladies! They are featured in my new beeswax DVD which will be coming out SOON! Directions on how to make them will be in there. I'll keep you posted when the DVD comes out :) I'm also considering selling them from my web site or maybe opening an Etsy store. hmmm!

illustration friday: sprout

Here's my submission for Illustration Friday's theme of "sprout"



(click image to enlarge)
When I first read the theme I thought immediately of Brussels Sprouts and how much I HATE them. So I decided to reverse that and do an illo of me as a little girl (I used an actual photo of me at age 2 or 3) enjoying Brussels Sprouts! My mom should get a big kick out of this one. I still do not like to eat my veggies and I am a Vegetarian! Go figure!

illustration friday: red

Here's my submission for Illustration Friday's theme of "red"

(click image to enlarge)
When I read the theme, I thought, oh yay! I love red!
This is a piece I created a little while ago, but it's still one of my favs. I am rushing to get ready to leave town, so no time to make a new piece, maybe I can work on one while I am demoing at CHA. If I come up with anything new, I'll post it :)

illustration friday: 80's

Here's my submission for Illustration Friday's theme of "80's"

















(click image to enlarge)
I'm a little late with this piece, usually I like to get the IF's done by Saturday at the latest, but this piece gave me a bit of trouble so I had to wrestle with a little bit. But I think it came out OK in the end.

When I read the IF theme of 80's first I thought, ewww, 1980's but then I thought of a spunky lady in her 80's and what would she do that might surprise people. So I imagined a woman driving her sporty little car in the city with her doggie. Ironically this photo is of my grandma who never learned to drive. So here she is driving now!

illustration friday: buzz

Here's my submission for Illustration Friday's theme of "buzz"






















(click image to enlarge)
When I first read the theme I thought immediately of gossip and what better place to gossip than the beauty parlor!

P.S. there's that turquoise paint again!

illustration friday: peace

Here's my submission for Illustration Friday's theme of "peace"






















(click image to enlarge)

I wanted to go with something other than the usual images of peace, so I imagined a woman who has been at work all day, enjoying some peace and quiet with a good book.

Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!

a little something

Here's a little onsie that I arted up for a book called 101 Baby Tees. We weren't allowed to use buttons or beads or anything that could fall off. So I went with a little stitching and rudimentary embroidery. Working on this reminded me that I want to experiment with more sewing in my work.


















Anyone know of any easy embroidery books so I can learn a few stitches? Or maybe I should take a class. Wonder where they do those sorts of classes? Now to find the time!

illustration friday: invention

Here's my submission for Illustration Friday's theme of "invention"




















(click the image to enlarge)

I didn't have time to create new art with the holiday and lots of work deadlines. So I am posting a work from one of my podcast challenges. This piece was created in 20 minutes with a theme revealed to me right before I begin the artwork. It's really hard to try to create something in just 20 minutes, but fun too!

If you'd like to listen to how this piece was created, click here now!
Or use the player below:

powered by ODEO

illustration friday: thanksgiving

Here's my submission for Illustration Friday's theme of "thanksgiving"

(click image to enlarge)

This woman has been cooking a Thanksgiving turkey and she is giving thanks that it is almost over and soon she can relax and have a drink!

Hope everyone has a great holiday! Will there be a new illo friday topic next week or do they usually skip holiday weeks?