Almost there

Thanks Sherri and Allie for your kind words about this doll. Sorry Allie--I have a thing about sleeves so she got them. Demure??? Look where those flowers landed! LOL Not sure if I will give her a banner with something like "Joy" or "Welcome" , have her hold a heart with words like "Imagine" "Dream" hanging from it or leave her as is. May also add a beaded tassel to the bottom. Needs something. But other than that, she is done and ready to hang. I have decided she will be a gift to a very special person.

No more dolls until I clean my studio. I am hosting a doll class at the end of May. I am making progress--you can see most of the floor and part of the countertop.

Using my Head--one of them

I wanted to see how one of the clay heads actually gets attached to a doll etc. so I decided to work with Sherry Goshon's Blossom Pattern which I purchased with the Chantal mold. I used a woven for the body though the pattern called for doe suede and skipped the bust sculpting. I also decided to make her a wall doll so left off the legs. She is still a work in progress--needs sleeves and embellishments--I plan to sew lots of flower sequins on her overskirt. Her hat is the one Noira didn't like reworked. Her hair is wool roving I curled. I got this at a quilt show and the colors are wonderful. Hope to finish her tomorrow. The skirt fabric and overskirt "trim" is leftover from the 2006 Hoffman Challenge.

Push Mold Faces

A few weeks ago on the FOCD list, there was a discussion about achieving different faces from a pushmold. I was very intrigued by this discussion and since I had purchased Chantel by Sherry Goshon over a year ago I thought this would be a good time to try it. I have done small push molds and used them for cabachons but this was my first try with cloth over. In last month's doll club meeting, Maria showed us how to modify a face from a push mold. She made one from the Chantel mold and by the time she was done, you would NEVER know it was from the mold. She gave it a smile and teeth! So, here is mine. The first pic is the "raw" faces--the one on the left is the modified face covered in fabric and one coat of gesso. The face on the right is untouched raw clay from the mold. The second pic is the faces colored. The left orignal mold is just covered with fabric and colored, the right is gessoed then colored and it is the modified face. Still very much alike but there is some difference.

Art Bra Ladies Quilt

Well, the quilt is in the process of being constructed by the most talented and capable Allison Aller (http://alliesinstitches.blogspot.com ) One of her quilts won the Crazy Quilt division of the $100,000 Challenge. Check out her blog to see the progress. The quilt will make it's debut at the Walnut Street Gallery in Perkasie, Pa on May 6th. I for one can't wait! (I know--I mentioned this before. Can you tell I am excited?) Once the quilt makes a few showings, it will be donated to a Breast Cancer treatment facility yet to be named. BIG Kudos go to Barbara Blankenship who organized this quilt. She also organized last years which is hanging at the Joe Arrington Cancer Center in Lubbock Texas. For pictures of the blocks from this year's quilt and last years, go to http://www.flickr.com/groups/artbraladies and http://www.flickr.com/photos/artbraproject . You can also see my two blocks for this year's quilt in an earlier post.
PS My doll Dances with Butterflies came in third in the National Dance Week Challenge. Don't know who won yet, but I really loved the little girls at the bar. SOOOOO Cute! Will post a link to the wining dolls when I know it.

Doll from my Pattern!

I am soooo excited! I received my first pic of a doll made from one of my patterns. This doll is from my Dream Girls pattern and made by Kaaren Lynch who did a STUPENDIS job! The colors are beautiful and I love the face! The pompoms on the top tier of her skirt are a great touch. Thanks soo much for sharing Kaaren!

And thanks too to all of you who have taken the time to email me or post a message about my dolls and embroidery. You are all too kind!

I Can't Believe it's been two weeks!

Where does the time go???? I can't believe it's been two weeks since my last post. In my defense one word--taxes! I did get some stitching in though. Made a few more scissor fobs for my EGA's Merchandising table at the Metro Regional Seminar which is April 27-29, 2008 at HAMILTON PARK HOTEL AND CONFERENCE CENTER, FLORHAM PARK, NJ.

I also attended a meeting of the Mt. Vernon doll club. What a super friendly and talented group of ladies! I delivered Oprah and my friend Linda from Garden State Doll Artisans who made the trip with me also donated a doll for the cause. There were 4 dolls donated that day--all of them just wonderful. Delores, despite her sore foot (stepped on a needle which broke off in her foot OOOUCH!) showed us how to make moccasins. I sort of threw together a doll to bring to the meeting to learn this on. She is adapted from a new pattern I am working on and I wanted to try a new pose--kneeling so I cut the leg at the knee and made it in two sections. Still needs work, but the execution and the knees worked well. Since I made her from off-white polished cotton, I had to give her some color and since I did her face while at the meeting, I though this would be harder than it was. I just painted around her eyes and mouth before doing the needle sculpting. I used watered down acrylics paint and more or less stained the fabric rather than actually painting it. I probably could have stopped at two coats but somehow I got blood above her eyebrow so 3 did the trick. She's OK, but I should have used a soft chamois for her dress--I used a knitted suede which has the right look but the fringe isn't all that stable. I also used crochet cotton for the hair which I think is too heavy. I still need to mount her on a final piece of wood so I can glue down the fringe on the "rug" I wove from worsted wool. She is about 8" tall in her kneeling position. I gave her fringed boots instead of moccasins, but the process was pretty much the same. Good thing her dress hides her body because I didn't make any adjustments to it for her position so her butt sort of sticks out! Enough wining!

Linda and I also took advantage of the nice weather and went to the Lancaster Quilt show Saturday. Seeing those quilts displayed--I wish I had the patience! I also got to see my dear friend Victoria Adams Brown from Ribbonsmyth (http://www.ribbonsmyth.com) --she of the Art Bra Calendar fame not to mention her two books on Silk Ribbon Embroidery. I am sooo impressed with her talent and energy not to mention how nice a person she is. The Art Bra Collection is going to debut at the Walnut Street Gallery, 319 W. Walnut St, Perkasie, Pa opening Sunday, May 6th. Some of the Gallery artists made pieces such as jewelry using the bras as inspiration. There will also be a poster available--all to raise money for Breast Cancer. To see the bras, visit http://www.wtww.org

Enough for now--this post is long enough. Also don't forget to vote for your favorite doll in the National Dance Week Cloth Doll challenge at http://thedollnet.com/dance/

Busy is as Busy does!

Busy I have been! I am rearranging furniture. I am finally getting rid of my step-sons twin beds. I bought a new bed for the guest bedroom and before it gets here, I am rearranging furniture and painting. I did however get in a small doll. It has polymer clay hands, feet, and head from a press mold though I did modify the face per a lesson provided by a VERY talented member of our doll club. I was asked to make something to contain the green egg in the basket--long story!--by a member of my EGA. Our EGA logo is a tomato pincushion, so I went from there. She hasn't seen it yet--I did warn her I may go overboard and I think I did

I am also saying good-bye to a doll I made as a test for my Lady Ragalia pattern. Her head was used in the face painting tutorial. Her apron is sheer metallic organza with fusible appliques cut from a coordinating fabric. The fusible didn't hold too good on the organza, so I also zig-zagged the edges with metallic thread. (This technique would also work great for One Kiss's overskirt!) I love the paisley print in her dress. The colors are so rich and of course there is lots of metallic gold in it! I also like her shoes. Got the idea for the two tone from another member of our doll club and found that exceptional trim at a quilt show. She is going to auctioned for a good cause--an American Cancer Society fundraiser. Will post more info when I have it.