Welcome, Little Peanuts!

Just finished this piece for a friend of mine. She had twin boys, and their nursery is all decked out in elephants (...only with their trunks UP--that's good luck, she says.)
PS: I hope you're not checking my blog, Vanessa! You don't get this until Thursday.

If you know me, you know I love making EPIC blog posts showing my creative process! Enjoy.....


Here's the basic sketch I settled on. I got really frustrated just sketching new layouts, so I cut out each of the elements I wanted to work with & taped them into new positions on the page until I was happy with it all.


My collection of wool roving. I wish they'd sell more colors. (This is 100% wool, basically right off the sheep...cleaned & dyed.)


This is where it all starts! Poking the wool with that barbed needle forms it into sturdy shapes. ( Similar idea to dreadlocks?) I poked my fingertips way too many times doing this >:~o


Connecting shapes together....


...creates a basic elephant.


Next day! Here's my Mama elephant.


Seeing how they will look inside their frame. I've added more colors of wool & beads for eyes.


Sculpting little peanuts from polymer clay! I originally wanted to use real peanuts, but couldn't find any for sale with shells. ???


Placing all the elements together.


Starting to cut my banner.


Gluing down letters. (Not fun!)


The finished banner.


Cut baby names. Should I leave them in the negative or back them with another color?


Gluing foam-core and cardboard to the backs of those hearts so they'll have a tiny bit of dimension.


The finished piece! (Sadly, I made the sculpt too thick to fit behind the frame's glass. Oh well, skip the glass. Just the frame.)


A close up.


Close up of the Airedale!


.....and now I get to clean up my messy desk.

Hope you enjoyed the process!
~Paula P.