George

This is George, a little wren (or sparrow) I made as a commission.  That's him sitting on the back of Mossy the Moose in the second picture.  I love him because he's got a little tilt to him, and he was very well received!

Rusty

Still going with the wrens!  This is Rusty (Ruuuuusty the Snowmaaaan!)  - no, Rusty the wren, with his little brown chequered stripe to the wings.  In the meantime, Sid (second from the left in the last picture) has found a home!

Norman

Today's 'wren'.  What do you think - plover chick, maybe?

Little Red Riding Hood

Second in my series of supposed 'wrens' is this one!  I have called her Little Red Riding Hood.  She is sort of robin coloured, but not in the right places, so I'm not really sure what she is.

Exciting news in the meantime.  Henry has found a home, as have Gerald and Tulip, and just yesterday somebody came into the Art & Craft Centre and took Marmaduke away with them!  Very, very happy!

Sid

When I took Murphy (Murphy the wren) into the Art & Craft Centre last week, I had one lady buy him and another put an order in for one!  That, along with some positive comments online, made me think that I should make some more.  They are one of those things that take a while to make, and don't sell for very much (they are £12 each), but on the other hand, at least that's something, and they are very good for using up mohair scraps - which I have tons and tons of!

So, this is my wren-making week, except that - because of the different colour fabrics - they don't all look like wrens.  This, for example, is Sidney, made out of the remnants of what was a very expensive antique German mohair.  It's quite a scruffy, distressed-looking fabric with lots of bald patches (highly prized in teddy bears!) so he looks a bit of a scrapper.  He even looked like he was going to take on the cat in one photo.  But perhaps more a sparrow than a wren?

Wren

Just at the point where I ought to be working hard, making things for up-and-coming shows, I'm struggling to concentrate on anything!  I have ordered myself a copy of The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp, recommended by Ann Wood, to see if I can find a more productive way of working.  It's a difficult one.  I have experimented before with ideas to speed up the bear-making process, but found that working fast - whilst it might mean being 'more productive' in a literal sense - completely sapped me of any creative spirit, which ultimately was bad for business.  Perhaps instead, I should be focusing on becoming more efficient at sorting through ideas - discarding the rubbish and putting the good ones into practice.

Anyway, I have managed to turn something out: this little wren.  You can see the progression of the pattern in the first picture (the one on the left fell into a cup of coffee, hence the unusual markings).  I am using scraps of mohair, with a little gingham cotton to create the wing stripes, and the final version has turned out rather hairier than I'd hoped!  

The feet are made from florists wire, bent into a rough paperclip formation.  Any more elaborate shape seems too bulky for such a tiny bird.  They can be unbent - which does worry me slightly - but I can't see a way around it, without adding bulk.  I figure that if I sell them at shows, I can supply boxes to ensure people get them home safely.  And since they are made from scraps, I won't be charging much for them.  

Hopefully, I can get some more of these made this week.