geez Louise!!...my options are endless !!  I have amassed  this.... shall we say  'collection' of assorted  fabrics from every imaginable venue......yard sales, second (and third ) hand shops, anonymous donors (and some actually willing to admit  they've had these clothes since 19-- something or other)  ...the challenge here is to actually find that specific piece my brain has pictured (from God only knows what) and try to piece it together for Santas glorious, one of a kind, original coat .....hhhhhmmmmm......where oh where.....well, to start, I look up lots and lots (and then even more) info that I can find on the various Regions Artists' interpretations of the Era that I've got swimming (most likely the 'back stroke')  around somewhere inside my head...from this info I try to determine what types of weave would have been used in clothing and how they would have used trims and buttons or pockets.....if he's going to be a country man or woodsy or Victorian......sooooooooo many options.....when I decide the fabric....then the trim (!) ... should I use fur or fringe or some kind of ribbon ???.......you can see this process alone could take me days...depending on my frame of mind ( I know~ scary right) I have actually ( sheesh...took me 3 tries to spell that stupid little word...."Fingers Unite") put a whole coat together and then the next day just rip it all apart just to start all over.......it has to feel  just right or the rest of him just won't fit together. Most often I've got this one idea and by the time my design is shaping up it has totally changed from what I had thought of and morphed into a completely different style
( and that alone tickles me to pieces.....'i ' after 'e' but not before 'c'....??)
FYI: Santa is wearing his 'Union Suit' under all of this ~ some fabrics tend to get a bit itchy you know
I have also been known (amoungst other things that shall remain nameless...) to find one small accessory and build his entire wardrobe design around it....that's alot of fun !
On my numerous ( I don't do math) trips to these great thrift and second hand shops you can find me just touching
 (see !!) all the ( and I mean ALL)  clothing to see if will work for one thing or the other...... I've had some very sweet sales women comment ; " oh, boy now you've got your winter coats all ready for the winter ",  only to tell them sheepishly that I am planning on ripping these perfectly good specimens of the fashion world  to bits and pieces (!) and I can never really tell what they are thinking as I walk out the door......
The next challenge is to get my hesitant sewing machine to cooperate with my plans ........I really do believe there is some  little gremlin in there sabotaging  my many attempts and then bragging about it to his pals over a beer......really...AND  swearing at it really does help....anyway......as you can see I have this love/hate thing going on with my machine.....maybe it could just be that my fingers don't listen to one thing my brain is doing....( I know ~ but I can't afford a therapist)  I cut up these bits and pieces and make them into this tiny coat based on my years and years of fashion design (hehe ...I have sewn my own clothes since I was a kid thinking I would be famous one day) I need to have several 'fittings' for him so it all lays just so.....I always hand sew everything and only glue stuff when it is just gets impossible to get a needle in some places. It is really important to me that my designs look 'natural' and 'life like' and I take great pride when I achieve that for each Santa !

http://www.etsy.com/shop/NonnasSantas  = this is my shop

my mom would be sooo proud I actually remembered what she taught me  AND  it resembles  what I intended it to !!  Yay !
knitting these cuties has definitely burned some of my brain cells 
( a shame too, since I have so little left)
yet another example of what I thought (silly me) would be a 'simple task'.......HAHAAAAAAAA!!
( the knitting God's giggle !)  you would have to actually be there and witness my so called 'talent' in action.....I tend to read aloud (very loud.... thinking someone will have the answer and then tell me !) OVER AND OVER....that seems to help the instructions seep into the functioning part of my brain....it works .....on occasion. and then...."OOOHHHHHH"...you can actually see the light go on inside my head, really.   so taadaaa!!  we have little tiny stockings for Santa to carry with him, you know, just in case someone fell asleep and forgot to leave theirs out.....it could happen ~ the one that is not like the others, (ok now that song is in stuck in my head)....that one is inside out waiting to be sewn....I must have run off and of course forgot was I was doing so I started another project....OH (!) now I remember...I've started another head ! aaahaa!!  it all evens up in the end ....when it counts.

http://www.etsy.com/people/alane123?ref=si_pr    = this is my shop

again and again and again..........over and over and over  ....santas' face gets mashed, smooshed,  poked, pulled ....it is a never ending process till he ends up in the oven ( they are warned ahead of time)
having his eyes 'speak' to me is the key here....and it will take me days ....working on one eye tends to get the other one moved around if I'm not careful, which is exactly what happened here.  so far all my Santas have had facial features that make you walk up to them as if you just missed something very important they said just for you (!) and you want to lean in a bit closer to catch it again......capturing that is not as easy as one would think ~  and they are not all the same.....some of them I want looking down as if to read his book of names or just off to the side so I'm constantly planning ahead ....very challenging for a person such as myself ........(I tend to fly by the seat of my pants)   ...( and WHERE  did that saying ever come from)  *  I am that person ( there may be 6 of us around somewhere)  who believes  instructions are to be referenced.................... only when there are left over pieces ~
You can find me analyzing (strange) peoples' faces....the way their eyelids droop, (compared to mine), the nose, the bags under the eyes (compared to mine)  the wrinkles around the mouth  ( compared to mine)......it is remarkable how many different shapes we humans come in ( !)  so in the end I realize that there is no wrong way to shape an eye or lips ( and most times they aren't even level with each side  ~ the real ones not my santas cause my 'OCD' gets the best of me/them  in the end )  ......our skin all droops and sags around our bones....it just depends on ones lifestyle and ancestry.......of course I  usually just  end up looking  in the mirror at my own skins poor Nordic heritage ~ it's a rapid  avalanche from the age of 16 (freckled skin has no longevity whatsoever ~)
I have tried a few of the  sculpting clay that are available but my favorite one to work detail with is the Super Sculpey, you do have to soften it abit before you work with it but the results are so worth it ! the detail you can achieve is just wonderful ! 
**If you ever what the truth about how you really look just ask any 7 year old....but make sure you have a designated driver first......

http://www.etsy.com/people/alane123?ref=si_pr   = this is my shop 

Santa in waiting......I had to work on a body design since starting....using a cone shape just wasn't "right"....sort of cheating  and he really needed legs (how would I get his boots on...). They are much happier with this ! (and more cooperative, too)
but this involves more clothes and time but in the end I feel better knowing he's got 'the goods'. Each time I'm creating a new Santa they seem to get 'upgraded', each one getting tweaked just a bit so he's more and more of a character you want to be with . I never want to hurt their feelings by short changing them and skipping parts.....( yes, I know .....they can't feel but this is how I think and so far they've been happy)

http://www.etsy.com/people/alane123?ref=si_pr  = this is my shop

ta da !!! (music please...)
I do as much research as I can for my Santa designs and realized (boink !)  that  these little beauties were way too expensive to include in my work sooooooooooo......in all my (so called) wisdom I decided (yes...) to MAKE IT MYSELF!
HA ! (yet again...)  found this wonderful lady demonstrating this long forgotten (maybe for good reason) craft and was willing to sacrifice her time and family member to video this process so random  idealists (me) could try it for oneself and realize exactly why there is this valued price tag on such a product........but after lots of  oh, lets just say....unprintable word choices, I actually made what seems to resemble a Vintage German Feather Tree (! ) 

see ! my first attempt at an original "German Feather Tree"

this involves tiny feathers, (really) very sticky tape (you know you are in trouble when 'they' recommend WD-40 to remove said tape residue)

http://www.etsy.com/people/alane123?ref=si_pr  =  this is my shop

because......I can make stuff: my world of stuff

because......I can make stuff: my world of stuff: look at me! .....kind of what I'm trying to do here....I tend to make alot ( and why is 'alot' not one word) of things and then try to figur...

my world of stuff

look at me! .....kind of what I'm trying to do here....I tend to make alot ( and why is 'alot' not one word) of things and then try to figure out what to do with it all, if one is nice well then I  make more(!) and often things up with price tags on it  and I try to make some cash. I would give it all away but I need supplies .....and that usually involves some type of store purchase, they get nervous when I wander around just touching things......... I need to touch...... my fingers work my brain most times....(?)
my latest most joyous is my sculpted Santas......I am currently driving myself crazy trying to make each and every item I use for each design, ie; hand punching a 3" tin lantern...sure looks easy...ha !! but once I start it I hate to give up so.....I try it all....but end up with some wonderful creations that just make me smile like a 6 year old !!
 I am so not good at this blogging thing either, so this might just be quite a challenge to get all my 'stuff' on here.....( I do try not to call my kids for help....they just laugh anyway)  nonnassantas@gmail.com
http://www.etsy.com/people/alane123?ref=si_pr  = this is my shop ~ please stop and visit my stuff