Bat Faux Foilage

In May of 2023, I made some Faux Foilage for bats to play in for Relief Crafters of America.  It was sent to Bat Conservation and Rescue of Virginia.

" Bat Conservation & Rescue of Virginia was created to raise awareness of white-nose syndrome and its devastating impact on North American bats. Bat Conservation & Rescue of Virginia strives to conserve native bat species in Virginia and beyond by engaging, empowering, and educating people of all ages and abilities to ensure the future of Virginia’s bats and preserve their habitats.

The group wanted something without wires.  So, I did a sketch of what I was thinking

I drew out some leaves onto polar fleece and cut them out.

Pinching the leaves, I sewed them onto a long curved strip of polar fleece.

     

This is what it looked like, but I decided it needed more, so I made a few "magnolias"

It was madeso it could be tied onto poles for the garlands to be hung.  The final measures on the 3 garlands were between 5 and 6 feet

 I gave it a wash and mailed it out.

Bird feeders, revisited

In Nov of 2020, I was so moved by the story of Rocky the Owl, that I reached out to Ravensbeard Wildlife Center and made them some bird feeders, mostly owls.

Sister Scrunchion!

 My pal Petrina Bromley recently both adopted a dog and has a new TV show ( Son of a Critch)  She is playing a nun.  She commissioned me to make a nun costume for Scrunchion, her pup.

Here is a clip of her in the show.

So, I started with 2 navy t-shirts for a 3-6 month old child and a pair of navy shoelaces.  Using a sweater of Scrunchion's, I figured out about how much smaller to make t-shirt 1.  

 

 Then, I shortened the sleeves and ran a drawstring in the bottoms. This was a cut in half shoelace. I used a old white T-shirt for the neckline, which I hand sewed in.

  Yes, I used a water bottle as a mannequin!

 I made a mock up of the habit.  This was eventually t-shirt 2

Look how cute she is!!!

And here is the Social Media post!

Thank you again, Petrina, for the challenge!  I LOVE ANIMALS!!!!

Bird feeder puppets

.

This month, I worked on painted birds for Raven Ridge Wildlife Center.  The project was thru Relief Crafters of America.  I was very excited to figure out the project, so I made my first tutorial.

One thing that I realized is that the beak might need to be a bit more opened.  If so, please take a small triangle nick at the bottom.  Also, a slightly more liquid acrylic is better than a thick one for the base layer.

This is a quick video of the final project with the research. Socks were donated by Bratenders.