Disney Vinylmation Process/signing May 21st!

Welcome to my Giant Toy Post!
I'm excited to announce....

The 9″ Pirates of the Caribbean inspired
Vinylmation Release & Signing
Saturday, May 21, 2011
2pm – 5pm

D Street, Downtown Disney® District, Disneyland® Resort
Miss Mindy, Javier Soto and Scott Tolleson

will be on hand for a special appearance and signing of their custom Vinylmation™ figures themed to Pirates of the Caribbean. more info to come on the Vinylmation site!

and on the Disneyland site

I hope you'll join me in unveiling this little original Vinylmation -entitled 'Cutie Pirate'

My pal Brandy Trigueros was kind enough to take some stellar shots of the little lass...

Thank you Brandola!
As you can see, she LOVES her bubble gum- and is in mid-blow- ;)

I've had a lot of people ask me about my process lately,
and where my ideas come from...
I honestly adore circus motifs- and when I was asked to do my take on 'the Pirates of the Carribean'- I rolled with my love for color, and bizarro-fun girliness to the extreme. Who said stripes and dots don't mix? Pleather? you bet. You should see her Pirate ship.
She maybe cute, this little firecracker...but she's one tough cookie!
(More stories on how she got that peg-leg later..;)
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OK Toys... Lets get going!
My first Toy was 'Dink' made by Mindstyle toys
This little vinyl beauty sure was a sell out!

also on my 'toy plate of the past'.. was this 'Custom Stitch',
which was shown all over the world....( one of my favorites)

Kokeshi Dolls also became a part of the Miss Mindy steady diet of Toy making....
From Gallery Subtext, to The Japanese American museum in Los Angeles.
entitled: 'Chicken Boyfriend'


Commissions have always been a sweet treat, because you never know what form you

may be painting next. (Keeps you nimble!)

______________________
PROCESS

How do you begin?

I'm always finding out about new ways to modify

and create..but this time around, here's how she came to be:

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Blank. - better get to work....sketch a tad on it-

These suckers get oily, so I scrub my down really well...

Little bathtime and dry- & she's ready to go

Better look at my sketch and modify..Chop Chop!
Off goes the nose and foot. sorry pal.

Next up--Magic Sculpt till my hearts content- I sanded the figure to give it some grit -and
then added my shapes...Poofy sleeves, little bird, peg leg -
bubble, new arm to hold gum wrapper...etc.
( next time I'll get a clear bubble! - not enough time to figure that out- this time around)

Wet sanding takes forever! used about 10 different #'s of grit to smooth her out...

Once sandings done-- It's time to prime.

And paint...(finally)

Figure 3D elements

She's coming along..Trying to make it look the concept sketch as much as possible..

Then, the box last minute..Painted white and gloss on flat black,

Cutie Pirate approved of her new home...

Her Mother is so Proud..

I hope you enjoyed seeing my process for this particular toy...
She now has her own personality and story- and is ready for her big Disney Debut.

Hope to see you Saturday!

-mm

Anniversary Time....

Ready to celebrate with me?
----------Then come in our little round door....
pretty yourself up....

& I'll force you to look at some pics of Rick and I as kiddos....

And show you our mushroom house after we got it "wedding ready" - (workin' on it still..;)

and a couple shots of the 'before'---- whew! (midway..mind you---yap!)

Now I can talk your ear off about a special time...
2 years ago today.... we had a hobbitland wedding--

Fairies and elves, Centaurs and gnomes, beasts & belly dancers..even the sun and moon attended our wedding at the same time. Married at heart for 11 years, we wanted this to a be a celebration of life for all - and not just about us solely. Indeed...to give some hearty cheer to our friends and family too... a proper Hobbit Bash, witha keg of brew, meat pies, cheese- and of course...Rick's favorite, movie theatre popcorn all around.

Rick and I are two completely different artists that found common ground in our passion to create against all odds,- and stay true to our own visions. To inspire one another...even when you feel like you want to give up or become something that's 'steady' forever....Nope. It's there. the drive to create with our own two hands is our blessing and our curse. Always learning new ways to create whats in our wild minds is a journey in itself. It's hard to relay the feelings you can go through as an artist- day to day....To go beyond the 'survive' of it all and find something that can drive you into happiness and madness at the same time.

I thank you for taking the time to read about such a special day in my life. We worked so hard to make it what it was - and for the rest of our lives, because you never know how long you're going to be here. I've been finding that out -all to well- the last few years...

Take the time to enjoy your friends. sit- and don't check you phone for an hour--or a day. Real life is out there- not just in cyber space- and I have to remind myself to stop. and feel- and just look.

I wish us all calmness and passion all at once... to stop and notice the little things - and then dance for hours on end.

*Thank you so much to our friends and family who attended our wedding 2 years ago - and to those up in the sky who could only BE- in spirit. I'll be posting a link to some of our wedding pictures HERE later today...Bear with me- it's only been two years... ;)

Much Love, Miss (Mrs.) Mindy
( sorry guys- too hard to change my artsy name to Mrs. Mindy - makes me sounds way too sophisticated.-- ;)