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!

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.