Leaning legs?????

So - I have made two sets of legs now and they both lean forward at a distinct angle. I have sewn one from the lengthwise grain and one from the crosswise grain. I'm not sure why they are doing this. Any ideas? I don't really want to make this a ski-jumping doll. Oh - and laughing at the very, very fat foot is okay, the doll was retaining water. I stuffed it so hard the darn thing split. VBG.

Something's missing

Ya know, unless I want to make the ears into wings I suppose I really, really should go back and sew up a head!

but they would make nice wings!

Out of hiding

Ummm... the doll is coming out of hiding, not me! Remember this one? The crash test daughter doll? My daughter wants me to finish her so she can have it. I never did anything with it because I didn't like how high the eyes were - there's no forehead on this girl! I have to figure out how to make a top for her - this is just the band from the bottom of the skirt - I had made it and then shortened it. I am so clueless when it comes to pattern drafting for clothing, sigh. I really really need a class on how to do this.

Finally - the pics of Celyn

She's been done for a while - just hadn't taken her photo. I sold the dresser I had been using to sit the light tent on and I haven't found a new home for it yet. Guess the ironing board will have to do! So .. without further ado ... my Celyn .. from Sherry Goshon's pattern ...

Posted by judi at 4:14 PM | Comments (18)

OMG - is this creepy or what?

ha ha ha - she has eyes in the back of her head! I made a new face on the flip side of the one i did yesterday.

Here's the new face ... I think this one might be closer to what I want - i just need to make her look a bit less surprised and add a couple more layers of shading. Getting there tho'!

Posted by judi at 8:23 PM | Comments (8)

Off with her head!

I can be really hard on myself some days. I decided that her features were too big and I'd make a new face/head. I don't like the new one either, lol. I think I need to lower the features a bit. Or something. One thing that's good is that only the hands show so my worry about matching skin fabrics isn't coming into play. I can make a ton of these heads until I get one I'm happy with. As you can see she is mostly dressed now too - just needs some embellishing. Bad thing is that the doll doesn't stand anymore - i think the weight of the clothes has tipped her too far forward. So that means I have to figure out how to saw some of the heel off the shoe. This ought to be interesting!

High heels

I don't know what I did to Celyn but she needed 1/2 inch heels in order to stand on her own. I knew that I'd never be able to sculpt them so I came up with another one of my strange ideas. I cut an old plastic thread spool to size, then ground it to the right angle, well, actually my husband did. He's really good about dropping things and helping me out. Since I took this picture, I've covered them in black paper and glued them to her feet - tried to fill the cracks in with paper clay but i don't know how that will work. I'll let her dry overnight and then see what's what. I might end up having to use Aves Epoxie Sculpt to smooth out the join; then I'll add another layer of paper and paint the shoes again. We'll see. But I'm stoked that she stands by herself - there's no armature in here! Another great Sherry pattern!

First face in 11 months ...

I think this is the first face I've done this year. Or close to it. Seems to be shaping up - I can see some dimension in there. But - boy - I forgot how much I suck at eyelashes, lol. I could totally tear this apart - as in critiquing it - but I won't. I'll be kind to myself for once.

The fluff factor

I'm still working on Sherry's Celyn, slowly but surely. I had to restuff the hands because I wasn't happy with them. Patti Culea taught me to use pipe cleaners from the tobacco shop instead of chenille stems because their wires are much stronger. But sometimes they just don't have that fluff factor I need and I hate trying to add tiny bits of stuffing to little fingers if I don't have to. Here's what I'm talking about ... the hand on your left has pipe cleaners and the hand on the right has 15mm chenille stems - the fluffiest I can find locally.

and here's the bits ....

and here she is stuffed but before her spa treatment ...

her body shape is very similar to my Stone Cold Troll and the hubs wanted to know if that's what I was making, lol. Ai yi yi.

Posted by judi at 5:03 PM | Comments (5)

It's a d .. d... d.. doll .. sshhhh

I absolutely adore Sherry Goshon's cloth dolls and I just HAD to buy her latest pattern, Celyn ... today I got her sewn and turned ... the big question is whether I will sit and stuff her tonight or sit and knit. I have a feeling knitting will win because I'm up to the heel on this sock and I want to get it turned! This is a big girl and she's going to take a while to stuff! I think Celyn might be the first doll I've made this year! EEKS.

P.S. You need to go to Doll Street and see the latest 'hard' doll that Sherry has made (and is teaching) .. it's absolutely gorgeous and unlike any other doll you'll have seen before!

Dolls make the world go round

.. or something like that .. the Internet sure has let us cross borders without passports or visas or even being there physically ... I got an email from Elena in Romania that she had found my free Blume pattern and had made this doll ... isn't she awesome? I love her costume!

I'm going to have to design another free pattern soon - seeing what people make is just too much fun and sooooo gratifying!

Leg bolts

I sure hope this works! I took the legs from a porcelain doll and filled them with steel shot - then I took tin foil and squished it into a leg extension shape and covered it with apoxie sculpt. I'll find out in the morning if it works. If it seems strong enough I will do the other leg. I also completely redid the colors of the clock box - you can't really see it in the background - but I really enjoyed doing it and I'll probably be adding more to it.

the photo sucks - too lazy to take it to the light box and the flash reflected off everything - ah well

Posted by judi at 6:38 PM | Comments (5)

Another beautiful mermaid

I wanted to share a mermaid made by Kat Tyni from my mermaid pattern, Ruby of the Sea. Isn't she just the most gorgeous thing? She changed the arms and sculpted her fingers. I should add the arm pattern from my Northern Mermaid pattern to the Ruby pattern, she has separate fingers. I get a real thrill seeing what people make from my patterns! Thanks, Kat!

A lovely little porcelain doll

I found this lovely little doll at the thrift store for $5. I just loved the expression on her face. I really don't need any more of these things but you know how that goes.

If you would like to see what I have done with her then continue reading ....

yep .. I'm at it again ...

oh, my
you have to admit she looks good bald!

I shopped victoriously ...

yep - bought this on eBay. It's signed by the artist, Ivy Wylde, and dated 1996. She's about 13" tall. I love the face cab - I think it's an original sculpt. Does anyone have a clue if this is a pattern? I would love to trace this out and make one myself. I am also thinking of giving her a hand to hold her moon - it looks a bit unfinished to me. Why would I change someone else's piece? I don't know. I didn't buy it from the artist and I can't find any info on her. Not that it matters. Anyhow - I think it's really neat. All hand painted. I was surprised at how dull/matte the colors were compared to the photo on eBay. The seller must have hit the autofix button. But I love it anyway!

P.S. I just heard from the seller that this piece is from her aunt's estate. She said her aunt was a world class pack rat and she doesn't know where half of her things came from. "This doll came out of a box full of odd dolls. Presents she received? Things she purchased on a whim? Who knows. She died at almost 100."

Posted by judi at 2:37 PM | Comments (19)

This and that and Kate's Blume

I haven't been down to the studio for a couple of days now. Had a lot of running around to do - had to take the dogs to the groomer - and just lost time somewhere. I do have something I want to teach you though. I have a horrible time attaching hangers to dolls and things and I came up with something that works really well for me. It has to do with wire and buttons. As soon as I have some time I'll take photos and write it up. Maybe Saturday. Tomorrow is going to be heavy duty computer time unfortunately. I have been really bad and haven't put anything into the accounting program for two weeks. It's going to take me forever, sigh.

The doll is made by my friend Kate Erbach for a blog swap. She used my free pattern Blume. I think she's adorable! I think the doll's pretty cute too .

More mermaids - but they're Canuuks !

Just have to share two mermaids that Vee and Maggie made ... they are too cute hanging out on their ice floe together! Vee's mermaid is called Arora and she is on the left and in the single photo. You can see more photos of Arora at Vee's blog. l I don't know what Maggie named hers. I get a huge kick out of seeing what people do with my patterns! These Canadian mermaids rock!

Moving right along

I have to say right off the bat that there is nothing much original about this piece other than the pattern. I was inspired last year by all the artists who were making dolls with 'something' under their skirts. I can think of Natalie, Sherry, Stephanie, and Karen right off the bat. I have been wanting to do something along that line for a while now. I made a pattern from the duct tape body - not as hard as I thought - then transferred it to freezer paper. Sewed it up and promptly cut half of it off - the torso was too long. She needs some adjustment and I really don't know how to create a bustline just by darting. The boobs look funny, LOL. But that's okay - it's just a first draft. Here's my tip of the day: Use arms or other body parts from your boneyard to get an idea of proportion before you draft new body pieces. I didn't know how long I wanted my arms so I stuck a couple of spares on to see the length. Also stick a head on it - even if the size is wrong - I did that and once the head was on she had no neck left. As you can tell I'm not a scientific designer, LOL. It's kind of trial and error for me!

Duct tape dummy

I read somewhere about making a body shape using cardboard and then draping it with muslin to make a pattern. I think it was Arley Berryhill who was talking about it. I tried it but got a bit carried away with the duct tape. I have no idea how to do the next step - it was bad enough doing this. Although I did enjoy the process and had a lot of laughs. It's just not pretty,she's kind of chunky wouldn't you say? Notice how much room I give myself to work in ... NOT...and yes, the jar will be part of the doll ...

A broken ankle

Those of you who have been with me for a while might remember that in 2003 I took a class in Color and Design at the University and made a fabulous cloth doll for the final assignment. She is an adaption of Pam Grose's Basic Woman and is named The Last of the Faeries. I had posed her so she was a bit bent over with osteoporosis. Probably not my best idea as she's always had a bit of a problem with leaning. She's traveled a bit for art shows and this month she got knocked over while we were decorating the house. Well, she has a huge problem now ...
Her ankles have folded. I imagine the stuffing has compressed from the weight or something. The bad news is this doll is gessoed and painted; she's stiff as a board. I don't think there is a way to take it apart and fix it without leaving big holes in the bottom of her foot or something. Plus I actually used Aves Apoxie Sculpt to stick the one foot to the base. Like I said - she ended up with some real balance problems after a while. I did manage to stick a rod up one leg and it helped for a while. It's such a shame. This is my absolute best doll; my pride and joy. Look how far off balance she is - that's a good inch of foam under the one foot. I'm very sad. She's down in my studio now waiting for me to figure out what to do with her. Any ideas?

The Protector of Easter Candy

My friend Jacque came out with a darling little pattern called Angel of Stress/Protector of Chocolate. A lovely little female creature whose skirt is meant to be a holder of chocolate kisses (the Hershey type). My version came out a bit different ... is that a surprise?

I could not get the clay to do what I wanted and when I made this little block head it made me think of the monoliths on Easter Island ... ergo the Protector of Easter Candy.

Snail pincushion

No wonder it has been slow going! I've been working on a snail! Okay - go ahead and groan.

This is from an upcoming pattern by Jacque Uetz and will be offered through Dollmaker's Journey and ClothDollPatterns soon. I'm just thrilled with how she turned out. Jacque uses molds for her patterns but you know me - I hate clay! So instead I covered a button with stuffing and fabric and drew a face on.

Posted by judi at 3:33 PM | Comments (18)

A doll's colorful journey ends

I have been participating in a round robin for over a year now. It's been nice because we haven't had huge time constraints on how long we could keep each piece. That way we could work on them when inspiration hit rather than when a deadline hit! My doll came back to me a couple of weeks ago and I'm just thrilled with the results. We called the round robin A Doll's Colorful Journey because we had to pick a color theme. I picked white, cream, ivory, and gold. Here is how the piece went out into the world:

Here is what came home:


First Judi A. added legs, then Sherry gave her arms and sleeves, Natalie did her face, Jan added hair, Mary O. gave her an applique for a top, Fran gave her a skirt, and Pammy gave her flowers. I couldn't have worked with a more talented bunch of artists - this is a beautiful piece of art!

Look what I got !!! - Part 2

For someone who hadn't traded dolls in years I'm catching up! This is a mermaid pincushion I received from Patti LaValley in exchange for one of my mermaid business card holders. I think she's too sweet to stick pins in though!

As for me ... I made another plushie, this one is a healing plushie instead of a sick one! It's a commission for a friend so I can't post photos right now. I have to make another spotty plushie though so keep tuned!

Look what I got !!!

Oh my gosh - take a look at this beauty - she came in the mail today from Kate Erbach. We traded dolls. I think I got the better end of that deal! This is the first swap I've done in years and I couldn't be happier. She is named The Queen of Hearts. She's stolen mine, that's for sure! Thanks, Kate - you're the best!!!!

You should see the paper doll she sent me also - it's a hoot! I'll take a photo and try to post it tomorrow. Kate is a multi-talented artist and I'm so glad I've met her through the net!

The Charmed One is finished

I've been on a roll this week! I feel like I'm making up for lost time when all the relatives were here. It was like I was held hostage or something, LOL. I added some color to the tips of the Charmed One's hair to give it some depth and then I made her charm bracelet. I have about 20 charms on there, as I was in two hand made charm exchanges. I'm getting geared up for another one too although I don't know if I'll be able to add all of those to this bracelet. I love this gal so much she's up in the living room - not too many of my dolls make it there!

Here's the bracelet, although it's hard to see some of the charms ... click on the photo to see them up close and personal.

Posted by judi at 9:38 AM | Comments (10)

The feminine Yoda

I was outside spraying her face with sealer when I realized that she looked like she was wearing a robe. Then I thought that she looked like a feminine version of Yoda. To make matters worse, I also thought that I probably need to make a proper 'hairdressing' cape for my dolls so they aren't suffering the further indignities of plastic bags or washcloths. Yeah, I'm weird, we all know that, LOL.

An awesome eyeglass holder

I am so pleased with this new eyeglass caddy! I am always leaving my eyeglasses in odd places - so we'll see if I actually use this or not. The whole torso is the eyeglass holder - you make it out of cardboard - it is even bowed like a proper eyeglass caddy. Love the colors - I used three different checked fabrics and accented everything with orange and lime green. Funny thing is - those bloomers? They were in the 'brights' drawer - already sewn up - the size was right - all I had to do was add the orange cuffs to them. Never throw anything away, LOL. A really odd combination but it works. I left the tassel on her head completely intact because I might hang her from a shelf, don't know yet. I think I am going to name her Marigold. Another project done! Whoo hoo!

It's a Sherry Goshon pattern!

Flat faced

I am working on two of Sherry Goshon's patterns. They both have flat faces, gulp. My nemesis. These are really hard for me because I can't seem to get nice noses. But, hey, check this out ... I tried to copy the face diagram pretty faithfully and then did my own version of shading. I got a bit carried away with the tear ducts, but it's not half bad! YAY! Now I feel confident enough to tackle the face for the Charmed One. Phew.

Have you noticed I'm getting over my bald doll phobia? I actually took her photo without a wig on! How about that!

A little bit of a diva

Celeste turned out to be a bit of a diva. She was very particular about what she wanted to wear - which turned out to be nothing. No sleeves, no shrug. What can you do? I was lucky she let me give her a hat. Which turned out great, by the way. Celeste is going to live with my friend Kate but I think she might have to wait until after doll club to leave home. Oh - she was made from my Stump Sisters pattern.

Charmed .. I'm sure ...

This is the beginning of a charm bracelet holder. Sherry Goshon designed her and is teaching her in an online class. This part is made of canvas - and glued to an Altoid Box. Those things on her are rubber bands - holding the body to the box until it's dry. It's a great shape and we are going to paint, stencil, and who knows what on her body. I have to say that turning a canvas body right side out was quite interesting - I think I built new muscles! I've since gessoed her and I'm waiting anxiously until the next lesson is posted!

I'm happy now

I'm much happier with this face. This is the fourth head I made before I was happy. It ended up being that I was making the features too big for the head so I downsized some and it worked out better. I can live with this!!! Phew.

If at first ...

If at first you don't succeed then cover it with cloth! I screwed up needle sculpting a head and tried to pick the stitches out. Yeah, right. All I did was make holes in the fabric. So I thought I'd try covering with cloth. It was fun to do but she looks like she doesn't have a nose, LOL. This is the second head I've made trying to get a good one for my project. I'll try again tomorrow!

Twins!

Check this out ... the one on the left is the face I made as I demo'ed face sculpting and painting in the class down on the Kenai. I'm amazed at how alike they are - I actually followed my own instructions, LOL. Sweet!!!!

What's she up to now ????

Here's a glimpse of some of the pieces parts I am going to be using for my next doll. Part cloth - part assemblage??? We have a wooden base, the middle of a steamer basket, some wires from a power supply, a couple of dowels, and some rigid wrap. I have to go do some dumpster diving in an electrical/construction supply dumpster for some more things - or else it's off to the plumbing supply house for me!

What northern mermaids wear

This is Anuuk. She is an Alaskan mermaid, living in the cold depths of the Bering Sea. She is a beautiful creature but she doesn't seem to thrill the sailors as much as her tropical cousins do. Might have something to do with the kuspuk and sea mittens that she wears to help ward off the chill. This is her best kuspuk - it has a wolf fur ruff and fox fur accents.

I think this is my favorite mermaid so far! She was inspired by a comic drawn by Chad Carpenter of Tundra Comics. You can see the comic strip here.

Antique Reproduction Cloth Doll is DONE!

Sally Ann is finally finished! On one of my lists we were talking about our stashes and how if you throw something out you will soon need it. I knew I had bought some doll shoes years ago but couldn't remember seeing them lately. I thought I had traded them and I was going to be disappointed. But, aha, there they were in a box with straw hats and baskets. Yay! They are just the thing for this little girl.

Rivkah will be offering this doll as an on-line class soon although I don't know exactly when or where. You'll learn a new method of jointing, a new face painting method, and probably a few more things. If you're like me you'll fall in love with the Genesis paints. Thanks for letting me test this, Rivkah!

The little repro head is done

Here is the finished head. I used Texture Magic and a comb to create the hair - it didn't come out as neatly as I hoped. I was trying to recreate the look of the molded vinyl hair. You can also see that when the iron-on face was stuffed the paint seems to have that crackle look to it. Which might be a good thing for an antique repro. Now to attach it to the body and get her dressed!

Genesis Heat Set Oils

This is the face for the doll I'm testing for Rivkah. It's going to be interesting - the head is 3 or 4 parts and you (obviously) paint the face first. I didn't draw the face - it's an iron-on. This was my first time working with the Genesis paints and I really like them - fabulous consistency. I don't think that this is the best surface for them though. I'd like to try them on some type of sealed cotton. Just have to figure out what the best thing to seal them with is. I'd rather stay away from gesso if I can help it. Guess I'll ask my good friend Judy who is a decorative painter - she knows ALL about Genesis. She's the one who told me how to use them to do this face - to use glass for a palette and a metal palette knife because plastics will leach the oils out of the paint. She also told me to use Mona Lisa Odorless Thinner and it worked great to make the paint flow better. I certainly do see some experiments in my future!

What in the world is that?

First off, the head does not belong to the body, ha ha ha. I had sewn it up from the batik I used on Ingrid but it was way too blue/green to use for her face. So I took it to doll club on Monday for UFO and worked on it for fun. Because Gretchen, a new doll maker, was watching me as I worked, I sculpted the sides (flares?) of the nose as well as what I usually do. Kind of a mini-sculpting lesson. I really like it and I think I might just have to do that from now on. She still needs eyelashes and maybe a mole or two. I might have to make a body for her - or I can send her to Shashi and SHE can make a body for her. Just kidding. Anyhow, I'm testing a pattern for Rivkah in Israel and that's what the big body is for. You won't believe what this will be when it's done - it is so not my normal style. I'm having fun trying something new. Keep tuned for progress reports.

Third version of the stump doll

I know I said the next thing would be the baby doll but communication between Alaska and Israel takes a couple of days. Rivkah gets up when I go to bed so it takes a while for our letters to catch up to each other. You know how that goes. So in the meantime I started to paint the prototype for the Stump Sisters. This was the plain muslin doll I made as my final test. I painted her in sunset colors (with acrylics) then glued crumpled white tissue paper over her whole body. After that I sponged on two colors of Lumiere paint and some Pearl Ex Interference Gold. Dabbed a bit of black glitter paint on also. She really shines - which is pretty hard to capture with the camera. I'm not sure where she will go from here. I'm thinking of giving her some skirts that have been dipped in Paverpol and then painted. We'll see.

Ingrid is done!

Finally done! If it wasn't for drying time I could have had her finished yesterday. I sprayed her face with Craftgard. I took step by step photos of drawing/coloring her face so that will be in this pattern too. It's amazing how different the two girls look - the faces were stuffed differently and the eye shapes make one alert and one rather sleepy.

The hat is a fake, LOL. It's an illusion of a hat - don't you just love it! Next posting I'll tell you how I made the hat. The big piece of lace she's standing on isn't attached to the doll - it's just a 'prop'. I have yards and yards of this lace. Bought an entire 'bolt' when a fabric store went out of business. The two girls will be shipped down to Soldotna next week. Phew. Now to think of something new to make!

What a difference color makes!

I am nearly done with the next stump doll. I want to send two versions off as samples - so folks can see what can be done with one pattern. Plus it will help the students decide what they want to do. This one has a body made of batik - all one material - except for the flesh shoulder/neck area. Lots more embellishing to do still. Not to mention face and hair. Oh, don't ask what's stuck on her head -

Black and white and finally done

I don't know who this girl is who keeps hanging around but she's getting on my nerves. I found this doll hidden under my bed this morning - did she think I'd start another one before Emmeline was done? Not likely. Thanks to Kelly for her suggestion of the parasol, it was the perfect touch. For those of you who took my Headdress class - add a scrunchie between two wraps of the turban and it will look like a big hat. At least I think it does. It looks better in person.

I kept her 'makeup' colors quite pale so she didn't overwhelm the rest of the color scheme. Her eyes are grey and her lips a pale pink. She has shading in a light lavender and her cheeks are rose pink. If that girl tries to steal this doll she's going to be very, very sorry.

..the further adventures of Goldilocks

... while Goldy was waiting around for another doll to appear she wandered into the doll maker's bedroom. She found two bears in there.

One was a needlefelted bear from Tonya in Serbia. It was soooo small. The other bear was a teddy made from sheared beaver fur. This bear was very confused, it didn't know what he was. Was he a bear or was he a beaver? If he was a beaver was he a he or a she? The bear engaged Goldy in a long conversation about flora and fauna and when she left he was watching Victor/Victoria. That bear was sooooo weird. Then Goldy found the doll maker's workroom and sitting on a table was this doll. It was black and white and not quite done.
Hmmmm, thought Goldy, the first doll was just white, this second doll is black and white, what would the next one be? She decided to stay for a few more days to see if something with a bit more color appeared. Goldy made her way back to the main room in time to see the doll maker closing the door to the oven. "Is that dinner?" she asked. "Oh yes", said the doll maker, "we're having Gretel tonight".

... to be continued (again) .... or not ....

Goldilocks and the 3 Dolls

Goldilocks is back in town. She was walking through the Forest of New Ideas when she came upon a doll maker. The doll maker lived in a lovely little gingerbread house and she invited Goldy in. She said she had to make a doll to teach to brand new doll-makers, so she thought she would make a stump doll. The first doll was just two pattern pieces and was toooo skinny, so the doll maker added more pieces. The second doll was toooo fat. Goldy thought she might be an opera singer. The doll maker cackled and told Goldy that their arms came from the boneyard and Goldy became afraid.

But Goldy wanted a doll so she waited around. After a while a third doll appeared, and this doll was just right. Except it was pretty plain. Goldy wasn't too thrilled about that. She figured she'd better hang out for a few days and see what happens with it. She even offered to cook some porridge for dinner but the doll maker said something about having a Hansel, whatever that is.


... to be continued ... (or not) ...

The mermaids are back ...

I really love the big hair - I think this mermaid is from Texas .. down around Corpus Christi. This mermaid was made for a private swap - my partner and I are going to swap mermaids. She makes mermaid pincushions and I do love pincushions. I also love this seaweed looking fabric. I have lots of it left too.


I tried coloring my 'pearls' with alcohol inks - the white just stood out so much - it works nicely. I have no idea what the 'pearls' are made of - some type of plastic I imagine.

I wanted to say thank you to everyone who has bought the mermaid pattern - I appreciate it and I sure hope to see photos of them in the future.

Stone Cold Troll #2 - The One That Got Away

I got the second Stone Cold Troll finished today. Thanks to Tia Linda for inspiring this one - she came up with the idea of 'the one that got away". I have the directions all written up, I will offer this as a pattern by the end of next week (hopefully). He's fun but there's lots to learn, for instance, my special stone paint job for his skin, how to use Paverpol, and a fun treatment for the base to make it look like stone. I'll also teach you to alter a bra and make the club. Phew.

When I first sculpted his face I had given him a smirk. Should have left it - he looks entirely too sweet now, LOL. Hope you like him!

OH DEAR .... I *just* realized I forgot to give him his goatee ... guess he's NOT done! sigh.

The artsy bra - for the one that got away

So this is the bra for my troll to drag behind him. Cute, eh? I'm nearly finished covering it with the fake fur. Did you know that the training bra section of the store has padded, underwired bras? EEKS. My training bras (if I can remember that far back) were just a piece of stretchy white material. This thing started out bright orange with lime green lace trim. My, how times have changed!

Ruby: A mermaid of another color

When I was at the trade show one of the girls in our doll club mentioned that we didn't have any black dolls on display. She liked the mermaids and would have bought one if I had made a dark skinned mermaid. I have never really thought about that before but she was right - most of my dolls are light skinned. So I decided to make her a mermaid.


HA - she might not get it because it's another one I fell in love with. These things are going to take over my house! I'll have a school of them. Thank goodness no one said we didn't have any MALE dolls, LOL. I'm not ready to tackle a merman.

Fabric Art: Muse Doll Wall Hanging

I recently joined a group called FAT .. Fabric Art Traders .. I think I'll fit in well there for a variety of reasons, LOL. One of the trades they were working on was a Fabric Art Muse. The pattern was designed by JoAnn Bradley. I thought I could get one done in time to trade but I missed the cutoff. Here she is anyway ...

I used a tiger print doesuede for the outside of the quiltlet and a cotton for the lining. I free motion embroidered over the whole thing. I used a combination of straight lines (for when the ideas come easily) and loops and curves (for when they don't).

She is for sale at my Etsyshop along with four of the mermaids.

A Women's Affair: Doll club booth

This weekend my doll club had a booth at a trade show that was marketed towards women's needs and interests. We had dolls for sale and lots just for display. The sales to each other were great but dismal to the public, LOL. BUT our goal was to generate interest in the dolls and I think we were successful in that. We offered a free class (to be held soon) and had 39 women sign up for it. Now we have to come up with the class, LOL. We thought up the idea on Friday as we were setting up and then brainstormed it today. I think we're going to have them make a Bendi type doll and then wrap it with fibers. Use face stamps that they can color in. Something we can do in 4 hours and have a finished product. Three of us will teach and we'll probably do two sessions. If we have 10 show up out of the 39 we'll be happy. It was a good weekend!

This cloth mermaid's a keeper!

I checked the fishing regs and the bag limit on mermaids is one! So this one's mine! Whoo hoo! She's a beauty - an older mermaid who is stuck back in the, what .. 70's? 80s? She's a real kick, what with her pink hair and her forehead shell. (The mermaid version of body art.) I've got a nice little fish tank set up in my studio ... as soon as the water gets up to temperature she'll feel right at home!

I obviously gave up on the flat faces and went back to sculpted profile faces. I added sleeves too, I really like the look! This is the head I'll use for the pattern; which is nearly written up. Just have to figure out how to describe the needle sculpting and make some diagrams.

Turning teeny tiny fingers (over and over and over)

I have no idea why I wanted to do this .. it wasted a lot of my time today. I thought I'd make articulated fingers for the mermaid. I knew I shouldn't have tried the material I've been making the mermaids out of because it's kind of coarse and the arms were hard to turn when they were tubes. It was impossible with fingers. Then I tried some Kona cotton - which is supposed to be a good quality fabric. Nope - couldn't turn them either - but did manage to blow through the side seams of the fingers. Finally I found a piece of Pimatex - this is really awesome fabric - smooth as a .. well, baby's butt???? So I was able to turn them. BUT it wasn't fun - my smallest turning tube barely fit and the rod just wasn't small enough for them to work together. I tried using the eye end of a needle, that worked but what worked even better were my needle-nosed hemostats. These things are so pointy and sharp they usually poke holes in everything. But I was able to get them in the fingers, grab the end, and turn them. Okay - so now they are turned - what to wire them with? I used pipe cleaners but they barely fit - actually didn't fit in one finger after your crimp the ends over. I might try this again - but with a knit - and I think I will make the fingers longer so they look more elegant. These are ugly hands. But hey - the fingers are barely half an inch!

Mutating mermaids multiply

Yeah, yeah, yeah .. it's an awful alliteration. So sue me, ha ha. What’s the latest changes? I made the arms a bit skinnier and I made the face rounder. I like the rounder face but I’m not sure what happened to one of the arms. It’s really wrinkly. It’s stuffed pretty firm too. Maybe she needs long sleeves, ha ha. Isn’t that terrible!

Here’s a group shot – I think I might make one more. I don’t know – they are getting pretty addicting. I was asked if I was going to make this into a pattern. Maybe – we’ll see. I’m kind of afraid to after all the comments over on Doll Street about how some doll maker’s patterns are so unprofessional looking. I was thinking of going to the University and seeing if someone there could turn my hand drawn patterns into something nice looking. I’ve tried using the computer myself but I’m not very good at it. But that’s a worry for another week!

Another change to the mermaid pattern

Oh my gosh, I'm pulling a Kai! I'm taking photos before the dreaded glue is dry, LOL. I thought about Jacque's suggestion and I decided that the girls should hold seashells. I found a package of tiny shells at (sshhhh) Wal*Mart - just the perfect size for these little ones. I extended her tail one inch and it makes a big difference - I really like it. I also completely changed the arm pattern - I made them longer, turned them into tubes instead of mitts, and wired them. I think I like this pose better also.

These little faces are killing me though - I'm having a really hard time getting a nice face when it's only an inch or so long. Hopefully someone will like them though. I do but then again they are all my babies. Oh - they can all hold business cards or name cards too. Here's the group shot:

Introducing the Mermaid business card holder

Yesterday I made a prototype of a mermaid that I am going to make a bunch of for sale at the Women's Show, a trade show here in Fairbanks. Our doll club has a booth courtesy of the show's owner (who is a doll club member). I want to make something quick and easy that I can sell inexpensively (around $35-$40). So this first photo is the prototype. I changed the tail before I made the first 'real one'. I also shared this photo with one of my online groups and received a couple of fun comments.

So per Linda's suggestion, the mermaid is now a business card holder, LOL. I'm not happy with her though. I can see where a couple of changes needs to be made. I think she's stubby. Now that can be cute but I most likely will elongate the very bottom of her tail a bit, about an inch or so.

I am using Natalie's method of painting faces, more or less, no paint but I am making iron-ons for the faces. I see that I have to move the nose down on this face - it's up by her eyes instead of down by her mouth. No wonder something looked 'off'. The whole head is just 1 1/2 inches - that's tiny to me. I have to come up with something quick and easy for hair too. This poking the mohair in took too long and it just looks too messy. If you think I'm whining .. you're right! Everyone's allowed to pick their own work apart if they want to, LOL.

I did some free motion embroidery on the fins and I really like it. I've made two of these now - I didn't take photos of the other one because it is so ugly it makes me think of a guy in very bad makeup. I am going to have to pop the head off and make another one. But I'm having fun and keeping busy so that's all good!

Another headdress for the class

I don't know where you draw the line between hats and headdresses .. this one seems more of a hat to me although it is not removable. It doesn't have a brim either, and it's not really a cloche, so maybe it can be a headdress. I have one more headdress to design and then this is done. I am itching to start on a new/old idea I have for a connected woman!

Mini-class for doll head dresses

I am working on my class instructions for the mini-class I'm teaching over at Doll Street. The class starts March 1st . You can see the ad and/or sign up now if you like. It's only $10 and I'll teach you various alternatives to hair. If you've read my blog for a while you know I hate hair. Here is one of the styles I will be teaching ...

The Troll for the Breast Cancer Fundraiser is done !

I have finally completed this project. The Stone Cold Troll was a blast to make. I had a whole lot of fun figuring out the paint technique to make him stonelike. I had never worked with greasy fleece before either so that was a kick too. I like hair like this - you don't have to worry about styling it! This I can handle. I think when I make the next one I am going to 'borrow' Tia Linda's idea and make him the 'One that Got Away'. With a club in one hand and trailing a bra behind him from the other hand. Sounds like a hoot to me!

I have more photos .. just click on the continue reading link.

You click on the photos to enlarge them. Remember you can click on the photo again once it shows up in a separate window if you want to see more detail.

Mossy Oak

Okay - so it's not really camouflage - but it is real moss. I couldn't decide if he should have clothes or not and I was sticking the moss on the base when it dawned on me that the moss could be the clothes too. At first I just gave him his, uh, loincloth but then I thought I'd try for some chest hair. Don't ask why. It looked silly and turned into his chest strap instead. Kind of a Tarzan look.

His hair is unwashed wool fleece. I didn't realize it was unwashed until I was half way through sewing it on. My hands were nicely moisturized. I think I might add another lock or two in the front. I find it really helps to take photos to critique your own work.

I'm really loving this guy!

Pretzel head is done

Don't work on projects when you are dieting ... strange things happen.

Here is the clock before she got hacked to bits .... She's an Iowa girl ... Sherry Goshon found her at a yard sale and sent her my way last spring. She's a long way from home!

Now here she is today ... all gussied up ... she has a very odd head piece ... I think it's a pretzel, LOL.

Switching gears : Back to the clock doll

I had to put the troll aside for now as I have to finish this piece to put it in the gallery. Our club does a show each February at a local art gallery and we have to have our pieces submitted this coming weekend. So I finished up the pants today and wefted the hair. Now all I have to do is make her a headpiece, attach the head to the box, attach the legs, and stick the clock in it. I should have it done tomorrow. Wefting the hair was fun. I used silk waste and eyelash yarn. I've taken photos of each step so I can teach this online or make it into a CD if there's interest. This clock's costume is way more complicated than the one I did for the magazine. This is another piece that I set aside for months because I got frustrated with it.

Stone cold troll

I worked on his skin tone today and although I'm happy with the base color I'm not too happy with the 'cracks' I tried to paint on him. I think this will have to be reworked a bit. He's looking cool though.

It's time to pop him in the oven to heat set this first layer of paint. I hope his eyes don't melt!

Posted by judi at 1:54 PM | Comments (9)

A Breast Cancer Fundraiser

I've finally got back to working on this guy. This is my contribution to an Art Bra fundraiser. He's due to the organizers of the show in March so I have to get him done. Let me tell you a bit about him ...

He is my own pattern and I made him hunchbacked and with oversized hands and feet. He has a really strange head but I like it. His eyes are those plastic animal eyes with big hooded eyelids. I love how his feet came out - they are big and only have four toes. Now that I see him in the photos I might have to move his legs down - his thighs are up around his waist, LOL. I am planning on painting his body a couple of shades of grey. I have an idea in my head and we'll see if I can get it out through my hands!

You might not realize it but he is holding a bra. Since this is an art bra fundraiser he has to have one and he told me in no uncertain terms that he wasn't going to wear one! I don't think the gallery will have any other bra-toting trolls! I have plans for the bra too but they are only half baked at this point. Quite obviously his base is too small too - will have to get another one. Or maybe not.

Oh - off the subject for a moment - I noticed with the Flickr photo hosting that when you click on a photo to enlarge it , it doesn't show the biggest photo. If you click on the photo a second time (in the new window) it will enlarge once more. Strange.

He has a name .. the first person who can guess what it is will win a little prize! It's actually more of a title than a name. Leave me a comment with your guess.

Beginners rock!

Tonight was the last session of the beginner doll class I am (was?) teaching down at the quilt shop. Two weeks ago at the end of class my ladies had their doll bodies sewn and we were working on stuffing them. Tonight we were supposed to joint the dolls and work on faces. Unfortunately life intervenes and only one of the ladies had body parts ready to joint. Thank goodness she did or I wouldn't have had a body to demo with. We used watercolor pencils and prismacolor pencils for the faces, didn't they come out great! I think they did fantastic for their first time! I think they were all really pleased with their babies! We had a lot of fun and I'm really proud of how their dolls are coming along!

Dressed in the Empire fashion

See the little bit of lace around her neck? A stand alone collar? Maybe a fabric necklace? My friend Karen gave it to me - it's a bit of hand-dyed lace trim and I developed the entire color scheme around it. According to my fashion history book this dress style was worn in the Regency/Empire era - about the late 1700/early 1800s. Except with little puffed sleeves. Ummm - and maybe not the train. The color is wrong too. Their dresses were usually white to represent purity and what they believed was worn in antiquity. But, by golly, I got the waistline right!!! They also wore turbans with these dresses - whoo hoo - finally - my turbans are fashionably correct! Of course I'd use one regardless of that fact; after all, I am hairstyle-impaired. But anyhow ... meet Josephine.

Oh - this is the tall, slim body from the Lost and Found post. It is a Patti Culea pattern - from her Valandrial class.

A wee bit sad...

I bought these beautiful girls on eBay and the seller told me that his daughter took very good care of them. So what I am going to do with them? Probably cut them up into little pieces and make something else out of them - like a clock. So knowing these were loved makes me feel a little bit bad that I'm going to mutilate them. But not bad enough not to do it!

No more empty space!

No, it's not between my ears! Since I sold the original Whisper I have had a big empty space on my wall. But it's empty no more! Although I still have to make something for her to hold in her left hand I'm saying she's done! I came up with a really unique headdress that, for once, I'm not telling how I made, LOL. The headdress is really special because the purple sequin trim was bought for me by Shashi when she went to India last summer, and the part of her headress with the beautiful fall colors was made from a gift from Natalie. How do you like her 'tassel'? I think it's cool. I was afraid that it would bounce against the wall once she was hung up but, nope, it hangs freely. I'm really happy with her.

The basic pattern was from a class that Barbara Willis came up here and taught a couple of years ago. I changed the angle of one of her arms but the rest of it is hers. The face is a cloth over clay, it is the face that I sculpted in her class. I think this is the first time that I've used that face since the class. We learned how to make a flexible mold so that was nice.

Much more svelte!

I have sewn another torso and I am much happier with her now. I used a nice batik that had a much higher thread count than the previous fabric so there wasn't as much stretch. I triple-checked to make sure the slight stretch was going lengthwise. I did not use my freezer paper pattern either - I drew around the original pattern template. So, all in all this made a big difference in the shape, as you can see. I had to take her corset in about half an inch at center back - it looks great now.

Disassembly

So I had her nearly complete - skirt was sewn on, arms attached, head glued on, and I had beaded her corset and had it pinned on when I decided her torso was too wide. This is the result. I think it was due to a couple of reasons. One - because I traced the pattern onto freezer paper and then cut outside the line, I made the pattern bigger by millimeters. Two - I used a low thread count fabric and stuffed the heck out of it. It must have had more stretch than I anticipated. I know the grain was going vertically because I double checked it. These factors made for a thick torso and she just looked terrible. So now I have to go back into the stash and find something else. Do you ever do this?

Lost and found

I had bought some clear plastic totes the other day so I could get my yarn out of hat boxes and into something where I could see what I have. Imagine my surprise when I found these two in the last hat box under a skirt I was altering (a year or two ago) for a friend of mine. They are at least three years old! I wonder why one doll had 3 legs sewn up!!!

It's torture!

I PROMISE not to tell anyone what you got them for Xmas!!! Please .. let me go .... AARRGH ... my head, my head .......

Candlestick Challenge

Earlier this year my club issued a challenge to make a piece incorporating a wooden candlestick. I posted photos of mine earlier this year. We had our holiday get together last night and we were supposed to bring our candlesticks. Unfortunately only 7 of us showed up and only 3 of us brought the candlesticks. I forgot my camera too. So I talked my friend Karen into trading dolls for a month, LOL. I just love this little girl - her face is a commercial mold and it came out really pretty!

Posted by judi at 11:54 AM | Comments (6)

A little bit froggy

I've had this piece sitting around for a couple of years - never finished it - the head wasn't sewn on and she didn't have any clothes on. So while the turkey was in the oven I finished her up so I could take her to the craft show this weekend. The fabric for the skirt and sleeves is totally wild - it's a multi color metallic and it's incredibly thready (hairy?). The fabric actually matches her body color really well - but it makes her hair look dull now. This is an adaption of a Lynne Butcher pattern - it has a totally different head. The head was designed by a gal down in Anchorage - Karen Smith. She came up and taught one weekend and this is what we made. She taught us to stuff the head so hard we had to practically hammer the needle through it to sculpt. Not my style but this head is smooth and beautiful. I think she needs false eyelashes again - she had some but lost them somewhere along the line.

Oh .. and I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!!

Posted by judi at 7:09 PM | Comments (10)

It's party time!

The girls had themselves a little party last night to celebrate being finished. They thought they were the Village People by the looks of things.


This is my very favorite ...


My next favorite one ...

The copper one ...

I will try to get better photos when I am able to hang them up - they don't look the same when they are lying down. I was going to sell these for $45 but now I think it might have to be a bit more, LOL.

More Christmas Ornaments

I'm working on three more of the Christmas Ornaments that Jacque Uetz wrote up in Doll Crafter magazine. This one is mainly purple/blue/green. I used some awesome glittery silk flowers for the bodice and all the way down the front. I will use the leaves to make wings with. Still needs a face and hair .. I'll probably do all the faces at once.

Here are the next two ... one is burgandy and gold and I think it will be really pretty when it's done. The other is brown/gold and I used so much eyelash that I think she is going to do the flamenco!! Big sleeves!!!

Teapot Hats

I got my hats made! These are for the Holiday Teapot Swap at my FabricDollArt group. These were fun. I got to try a couple of new things. On the velvet hat I ironed designs onto the fabric using a stamp. On one of the blue hats I used my new crystal embellisher tool (it's like a soldering iron with special tips). Wasn't it nice of my Crash Test Daughter to pose for these pictures? One day I might even finish her!!!

	Hats I created for the 2006 Holiday Teapot Swap Sponsored by Sherry Goshon

Got 'er done !!

I finished the Christmas Ornament doll yesterday. I like the new wings. Here's how I made them. I cut out the paper from the old burned wings - leaving the wire paper-covered. Then I glued on some sheer silver fabric that has glittered snowflakes on it. Let dry overnight under some heavy books (ummm, the wings were between sheets of wax paper, of course). Then I painted the edges of the wings with 14K Gold - Delta Gleam paint. Painted the inside with Blue/Green Lumiere paint. It nearly matches the fabric for her outfit. I'm pretty pleased with this. I'll probably take it to the craft show and try to sell it. Not sure what to ask for it though. She's 13" long. Suggestions, anyone?

A bit further along

She's quite a bit further along now. For a Christmas Ornament she's an odd color. But then again - I do have a whole slew of purple decorations so I guess any color goes now a days. Hard to tell but there is copper ribbon ruched down the middle of her 'legs'. I don't know if I want to give her hair or use the apoxy sculpt like the directions call for. We will see!

Here's a tip: Look at the bottom piece - just above the tassel - see the vertical piece of yarn? If you make a vertical loop on something - then do your horizontal wrapping (or criss-cross) you can loop a tassel or other object on instead of sewing it on to the body.

Work in progress

I have to start pushing myself to get some stuff ready for the holiday craft show I'm doing with my friend Shirley at the end of November. I made some mini-magnets yesterday and found a tin lid to display them on this morning. I tried to take a photo but the crystal microbeads looked funny from the flash. I'll have to take a photo of them in natural light. Anyhow - this is the beginning of an ornament that Jacque Uetz writes about in Doll Crafter/Costuming's December issue. First time I've even done a wrapped armature. I've covered the face with cloth since this picture was taken. It is supposed to dry overnight so the face mold adheres to the armature. Grrrr - I hate when I have to wait!!!

The Mummy

So what do you do when it's nearly Halloween and you don't feel like doing hair and clothing? Why, you costume your little one as The Mummy. Using wool roving, of all things! My husband said only the eyes are supposed to show but I couldn't bear to cover her face!!

Making samples

I love teaching but I really don't like making samples, LOL. I have a class in a week and a half and I am just now getting this done. I have to take it in to the store tomorrow so I know what I'll be doing tonight - hair and face. I'm not going to worry about clothes as another of my friends is going to teach that and she will use my body for the sample. Well, my doll body, that is. I'll probably just drape something filmy on her and call it a robe. This is from the latest Patti Culea book - Cloth Doll Couture. I used Judy Ward's invisible jointing method - I like how it looks.
It's amazing how the camera shows every little lump and bump from stuffing.

Getting closer!!!

My troll is getting closer to the picture in my head! I'm on Body #2 , which I will keep. This is leg #4 which needs the foot flattened a tiny bit and then it's a keeper. Check out head #1 - he has eyes in the top of his head, LOL. Really have to fix him up! I have to drop the nose some and work on the forehead a bit. He's really little too - only about 12". But it's fun to do ...

Sew, stuff, and repeat

I am working on a new design for a troll. I picture a fat, humpbacked little dude. I'm pretty new to designing so this is going to take me a while, LOL. Here's what I've got so far ...

The first body was 2 pieces and it didn't give me a good fat tummy so I did a four piece pattern instead. Now it's too short but nice and fat. The leg is still too skinny too - even though I made it fatter than the first one. I think the leg needs to be fatter and shorter. What do you think? I want the arm to be totally exaggerated so I think it will be okay. I have the head drawn up but I haven't sewn it yet - I want to get the body right first. I wish there was an easier way to do this but I guess it just takes practice.

Round robin traveler

First off ... FRAN ... DON'T LOOK ...

Okay, now that that's out of the way ... this is the second piece I've received in the current round robin. After I freaked out Judi A. with the work I did last month I figured I'd better do something more normal this month.

This is how she came to me from Pammy. Isn't the face divine? It's Fran's sculpt and her first face mold for sale. I had to order one of the molds after I saw it in person. Anyhow, she attached the torso to the top of the box with apoxie sculpt. Pammy had added the hair and the pink headband and scarf ribbon.

I decided that since this is a traveling doll she should have a trunk. So I took all the hardware off and gave the box a base coat of gesso. Then I gave it a coat of pink followed by a dry brushed coat of Jacquard's Halo Pink/Gold Lumiere (what a mouthful!). Lot's of travel 'stickers' were added as well as paper cut to look like bands going around the trunk. I've put one coat of varnish on it and now I'm trying to decide whether I should antique it or maybe do a peeling paint technique. What do you think?

These were kind of sorta my inspiration .. these are the trunks that my family used when we sailed to America on the Queen Mary in 1963.