wedding cake prop

Posted on December 26, 2013 by Salley Mavor

UPDATE: Felt Wee Folk: New Adventures was published in 2015. The following post was written in 2013.

I’ve recently finished making a group of wedding couples for the new edition of Felt Wee Folk (2015 pub date). While I was working on them, I imagined that the dolls would be photographed on a cake, lined up on tiered layers. As a prop, the cake didn’t have to be real, but I wanted it to look realistic. My friend Terry McKee provided technical assistance and moral support as we spent 2 afternoons in my kitchen working the problem. Terry and I have teamed up on a number of projects, including a real wedding cake and a baby quilt.

We quickly found out that the sharp edges of the Styrofoam cake forms tear through the fondant, so we changed our approach. We padded the sharp edge with fondant and abandoned the by-the-book instructions that called for draping the cake over the top and sides with one piece of fondant. We decided that a top and collar would work better, since we would be able to cover any seams with frosting later.

Here’s Terry rolling out the fondant collar. It took most of the afternoon to cover both tiers and the base.

I lined up the dolls to see if they would all fit. After Terry went home, I spent the rest of the afternoon decorating the cake with pieces of fondant that I cut out with leaf and moon shaped cookie cutters.

On day 2 we resumed work on the cake. Terry put her piping skills to work as she applied frosting around the edges.

I piped out some squiggles on top and voila, a wedding cake! Terry was a big help and it’s always more fun to work together as we tackle these new and unfamiliar projects. The cake should last a bit, being just sugar and styrofoam. I’m not sure how long I’ll keep it after we photograph the scene.

Rob and I set up the cake in the light box, with a silk curtain behind and took photographs for the book. Autographed copies of Felt Wee Folk: New Adventures with extra goodies are available in my Shop.

UPDATE: In the years since the book was published, I’m made several custom wedding cake toppers for friends and family, which are in the archives.

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another scene from Felt Wee Folk 2

Posted on December 10, 2013 by Salley Mavor

With the cold of winter upon us, it’s been easy to get into the spirit of my next scene for the 2nd edition of Felt Wee Folk, which will be published in 2015. The set-up includes a snowy hillside and an icy pond made of paraffin. I built the hill with chicken wire and wood. Then, I covered it with old-fashioned fluffy “snow” fabric that drapes in a convincing snow-like manner. I sprinkled on a product called Buffalo Snow Flurries, which looks like plastic bag material chewed up into really small pieces. It falls and glitters like snow, but feels nasty and gets over everything. I added old fake pine trees that my husband’s family had and some real bayberry branches that look like miniature trees.

We’ve moved the photography operation into my studio and used a light box for the first time. With flood lights shining on the outside of its white walls, a softly lit space is created inside. Rob set up his computer on my ironing board and monitored the shots.

The dolls in the scene are skiing, skating, sledding, tobogganing and making a snow man. Even Jack Frost makes an appearance!

8000 views of Rabbitat film

Posted on November 12, 2013 by Salley Mavor

I am happy to say that the RABBITAT film has been viewed over 8000 times! Find links to blog posts about the process of making my piece, Rabbitat here. A great big thank you to filmmakers Daniel Cojanu and Elise Hugus from UnderCurrent Productions for encapsulating my work in such an engaging way for 7 minutes. For those of you who haven’t yet seen the film or want to look at it again, here it is:

Ireland 2013 (misc.)

Posted on November 11, 2013 by Salley Mavor

This is a selection of photos from our recent trip to Ireland that didn’t necessarily fit into one of the previous categories. They are taken on the streets of Galway, out in the countryside and in pubs and shops in various towns and villages.

Ireland 2013 (windows)

Posted on October 25, 2013 by Salley Mavor

Ireland 2013 (castles, graves, ruins, etc.)

Posted on October 19, 2013 by Salley Mavor

Ireland is full of ancient structures and buildings. So, along with all of the green, there are a lot of gray stones to take pictures of.

Ireland 2013 (landscapes)

Posted on October 13, 2013 by Salley Mavor

It’s true, Ireland is the emerald isle. Lush green moss, ivy, ferns and grass are everywhere!

photo shoot in the studio

Posted on October 10, 2013 by Salley Mavor

A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of meeting photographer Dan Cutrona. He was sent over to my studio by Cape Cod Magazine, which will have an article about my work in March 2014. I’m not sure which issue, but I’ll announce it this blog and Facebook. Dan knows how to put you at ease and we had a great time trying out different ways of showing me at work. I dressed a little nicer than usual and even wore jewelry and lip gloss. Rob took these pictures while Dan was setting up the lights and clicking away on his camera.For the occasion, I borrowed my Self Portrait from its semi-permanent home at the Woods Hole Public Library and hung it on the wall above my work table. Other than that, I didn’t rearrange or clean up my studio, since I wanted it to be showed in its naturally cluttered state. When the magazine issue comes out, I’ll announce it (hopefully with a link) on this blog.

Ireland 2013 (street scenes)

Posted on October 7, 2013 by Salley Mavor

We had lunch in a different town every day, but the pub lunch was basically the same– delicious pureed vegetable soup and brown bread! Here are some of the towns we visited in Ireland. I can’t remember all of their names, but they’re located in the central western area. It was so refreshing to travel around without seeing a single strip mall or bill board.