Like so many people, I don’t feel I accomplished as much this year as I’d hoped, but as I look back on my makes this year, I am pretty satisfied. I brought a spot of joy to some people in my life with my humble gifts, and I had fun in the process.
The wire bird was made back in January 2020, and it was a somewhat spontaneous make that opened my eyes to wire sculpture in general. Of course, my version has a lot of flaws, but I feel more confident in trying something more complicated with wire in the future. I was so glad to be able to find a variety of wire to work with here in Korea. The idea came from one of my favorite sculpture artists, Zack Mclaughlin at Paper and Wood, and you can read about it in my post here.
In February 2020, I finished a precious koala with the biggest, fluffiest ears, to give him a true kawaii cuteness. This sweet guy was with me until I shipped him off to my youngest niece as one of her Christmas gifts this year. My wonderful trips to Australia were my inspiration to make this figure.
Back in April, I sent my mom the purple Easter basket trimmed with tiny purple violets. It was such fun to make, as it was done entirely freehand with no pattern, and mini objects are so cute. The mini egg inside was done with a pattern that I found on Pinterest, and I did a bit of random embroidery with tiny beads on it.
The tractor is a figure somewhat different than I normally make. One of my dearest friends loves a soccer team of that name, so when I came across the pattern, it was a must-do. The figure was a bit fiddly, since it has many separate parts to sew together, and I had to stuff each part with pre-cut foam pieces, and not simple fiberfill. The most fun I had with this one was to make the wheels, which have a clever tread pattern. The tractor is now in its home in Sydney, Australia.
Finally, Ava the Mermaid has found her home with my oldest niece in San Diego. This brilliant pattern allows Ava to change from mermaid to little girl, and there is the potential to add more clothes to her wardrobe and change her hair (made from turquoise kid mohair and silk thread). The rest of the mermaid was made using my favorite cotton amigurumi yarn, Phildar Coton 3.
I am on the verge of finishing my lovely Cheshire Cat figure; I really wanted to get him done before the end of the year, but it wasn’t to be. I will update soon about this little figure. Meantime, I will leave you with a brilliant winter sunrise, seen from my front balcony. In the distance, you can see the meadow where we play, and there’s a very light dusting of snow. Temperatures have dropped quite a bit this week.
The Frill Seeker 