Continuing Crafting Christmas

Some more of the presents Marina and I crafted this year. I had a baby sketching theme going this year. These pictures were sketched for two of my cousins. I've been asked how long it takes me to do a sketch. These are almost the size I sketched (slightly smaller). I have trouble determining that because half of my sketching time is shutting the sketchbook and walking away in frustration when a drawing isn't going the way I want it to. I spend a lot of time on little things once I get the overall sketch. So I might spend a half hour just trying to get the shape of an eye correct, or fiddling with the shading on the nose. I made the mistake in the sketch below of starting the pattern on the shirt. Once you start working on a shirt pattern, it becomes a slippery slope into madness.

This second picture was tricky. I couldn't find a picture I liked of the two children together (the perpetual parents' dilemma), so I did the sketching equivalent of photoshopping, starting with the baby in front and then sketching her brother in slightly behind her. It was the eve of Christmas eve when I was working on this picture, so I opted to leave out more than hint of their clothing, especially since most of Adrian's shirt was hidden by his daddy's arm. When I finished, I told my husband to take the sketch from me. He didn't listen, so I spent another half hour alternately penciling and then dabbing with the eraser, trying to get the boy nose and eyes to my liking. Looking at it now, I would still like to do more, but the gift has been given. (Maybe if I visit them, I could bring along my sketching tools...)



Marina was hard pressed to finish her knitted gifts. I already told her that it was OK if mine became a birthday/Christmas/Mother's Day gift, but still she was knitting her fingers off trying to finish gifts for her brother and sister. For Sierra, she made a two piece dress for the American Girl doll. She was working from a pattern, but had to make some fitting alterations. She lengthened the skirt and added the flare. On the top, she added the button strip in the back. The top can be worn in either direction, with buttons to the front or back.

I didn't even know she was making the dragon for Chase. She managed to do that very secretly.



Add in all the baking and chocolate dipping we did, I guess we were pretty productive this year. No wonder I wore myself down and ended up sick. There is something to be said for doing Christmas crafts earlier so that you don't get overwhelmed as the day draws near. I think I'll make a resolution to start my crafts earlier for the new year.

Maybe January.