OH, I promised to post a picture of the doll commissioned as a gift for the man who won the Nobel Prize once I had it all done. And now I can say the man's name since he has already received the surprise. His name is Oliver Smitheyes. And here is what the real man looks like.

Here are the two flower girls made from a Kate Erbach pattern called Etta Mae. The one on the right is my sunflower girl and the one on the left is a daffodil girl made by a friend of mine. We rubberstamped daffodils onto the fabric, large ones on the body fabric and small ones on the petal fabric. We added knee seams to the daffodil so that she could sit prettily.
The daffodil doll is a gift to her sister. I think this is her first 'artsy' type doll. She did a great job don't you think?

This has been such a busy two (no three!) months for me. I am almost done with the nobel doc doll. I have been having a hard time making a mold of the chocolate nobel prize medalion for him to hold. And I can't seem to find glasses that will work for his face. The doll glasses are too small and people glasses are too large.

I made his sweater using a sweater that belonged to the real nobel prize recipient. I did not have a pattern but drew one out on freezer paper and then ironed it to the original sweater. Then stitched around each piece so that it would not come unraveled when I cut it out.

I think it came out very nicely although it does not come off or on very easily.

I may have to try this for some of my other dolls using sweaters bought at a thrift store.

Beats trying to knit them from scratch!

Editing

Well, I decided that I needed to "edit" the doctor. I did not like the painted wrinkles on his cheeks and decided that I needed to sculpt them. More paper clay and paint and wa-la.

Now to decide if his hair needs to be shorter.

A little more blush on his cheeks ( even though realistically he wouldn't have rosy cheeks), a sweater and a clay version of the Nobel Prize medalion around his neck and he will be all done.

Oh, and I have to work on his fingernails.

Today I hosted the Christmas party for my UFDC Doll club. I had the house all decorated and cleaned last night until 1:00 in the morning. I guess that is actually 'today' and not "last night".

I have a few more decorations to put around before our annual Christmas Party and I will be done. At least in the decorating department. I still have 10 dolls to make for a commission I have which I am behind on, three Kings crowns to make before Wednesday for a living drive through Christmas nativity at my church. We have FIVE live scenes complete with huge backdrops, actors, spot lights, narration. I think you can see part of it at the website.

www.cadurham.org

I helped to paint the backdrops and make costumes. But the poor wise men head coverings needed help this year. I'm thinking of using the bottom half of a gourd as a base for a couple.

Oh.. and then there are the Christmas gifts to make. And I have one more Christmas craft show to do this weekend. OK... I'm going to veg out on the sofa and watch tv until I fall asleep.

Nobel Prizes

Today I am trying to finish up a doll I was commisioned to make for a man who won the Nobel Prize.

He is almost done. His head is soft sculpted and then I sculpted his eyes, eyelids and wrinkles with paper clay. His body and head is made of the knit fabric we use to make the cabbies with. I have tons from when I used to make those.

I used the armature and clothes that came with the original doll which was given to the Doctor 20 years ago. The fabric had deteriorated. I need to get my husband to push the arm joints in a little better before I add the second arm. Then he needs his sweater altered.

At first I thought I would try and make him look as much like the real man as possible but then, realizing that he really liked the original which was very whimsical I decided to compromise and go with a more whimsical/realistic look. I don't have a picture of the original doll. oh well.

I try to make all my gourds have an area where the real gourd shows through. Otherwise, what makes it look any different than a plastic piece? I am working on a larg Santa that I think is coming along really nicely. Here are two pics of him so far.

I am going to leave his coat as the original gourd part. I haven't decided about his hat. And I am hoping to do a little kitten and puppy in the back.

I just finished doing two shows in Raleigh, NC. One was the Carolina Christmas Show at the convention Center and the other was the Christmas Carousel at the fairgrounds in Raleigh.

I played hammered dulcimer and sold my gourd art at both.

I have one more show to do in Durham before Christmas. The gourds that do not get sold will be Christmas gifts.

Here are a few of the gourds I made for ornaments. They are larger than you would think most ornaments are but they look great on a tree. They are around 7" tall.

WOO HOO!
I can't believe it! I entered four things in the NC state fair and I won four 1st place ribbons!
I had to look on line because I have not been able to go. I found everything but one of the categories I entered. But a friend went and saw that one and told me I had a first place.
She and I will go tomorrow.
I thought the gourd lady might get a ribbon and maybe the card. But yipee!!! everything won.
Maybe I should not ever enter again as what can top that?
I will take my camera tomorrow and get pictures of some of the great stuff there. I saw some categories that I didn't know about while I was searching for the winners. There is a painted fabric category that I wish I had known about. I will be sure to check out the entries for that category this year.

I decided to lightly stain my gourd mother and child. I would have rather put crackles in them but did not have time before having to take them to the fair. I always seem to be doing things at the last minute.

I lightly antiqued her face, clothes, body and hands as well as the baby's shell casing. It is all more subdued. And I made a simple base from paper clay.

The State Fair

The State Fair will soon be here. I have always wanted to put something in the competition at the fair. This year I have sent in my registration for 4 items. A rubber stamped 'special folds' card, a gourd ornament, a sculpted doll and a miscellaneus gourd item.

My misc. gourd item has turned out to be a fantasy creation.

I have to take all the items to the fair grounds by Saturday and I have worked two days on this one piece - well... and the card as well.

The card was made using a method that I designed after seeing one similar in a store. When you take it out of the envelop it is flat. You have to open the watering can and all the flowers become three dimensional. I made an envie to match.

The gourd ornie was one I made which is similar to others I have made over the years. I really enjoy making these and have made a few Santas, some Dolly Dingles, Snowmen, and this cat.

The doll I am sending is one I made at a workshop at John C Campbell Folk School under the direction of Akira Blount. It has a paper clay head over sculpted cloth. The body is cloth. The baby is all soft sculpted. Since someone has already bought this set of dolls I am considering sending something else as I am afraid something might happen to them.

Last, the fantasy gourd creation is made from one gourd. I added arms with a wire armature and paper clay leaves on her head. Her baby is made from a little gourd. The body of both the baby and the mother are crackled but it is hard to see that in the picture. I may have to antique both just a little.

Little Baby going Bye Bye

This little dolly is less than 8 inches long. I created the pattern using an antique lithograph doll. The original is very large. This one came out quite nicely and has a new mommy that it is going home to.

Getting Things Done

I have finally had a chance to sit down and finish some projects that have been on the table waiting around. I finally finished and dressed the little Baseball head doll that a friend of mine started almost 20 years. I 'reborned' it by adding more stuffing, add soft sculpting and painting the face. Giving more details to the fingers and finally hair and dressing. I think she came out rather cute.

I have a few more projects that need finishing as well. Hopefully I will get those done.

I just checked out Anniebeez blog and she has some beautiful dolls she has made.

I love looking at other people's creations. I get so inspired.

I have been directing our church's Vacation Bible School all week and every day I come home so tired but wanting to work on a doll myself. I have a few that need to be finished and go to new homes and I don't even have the energy to do that.

I worked all last week on the costume for the Bible School Assembly Program. It is a huge Squid. It turned out almost 7" tall. His name is Ralph and the kids love him. All but one, who is terribly afraid of anything in a costume after having the wits scared out of her last Halloween.

Maybe soon I will be able to post more dolls.

Annie Beez Folk Art: Drawing for doll goodies

Annie Beez Folk Art: Drawing for doll goodies

I have been longing to make a new doll. I have so many I want to do but still can't work on any. I have almost finished the helper doll for my doll club to take to UFDC convention for the auction. I love Dolly Dingle and this is my second one from a vintage pattern. I decided to make her like Little Red Riding Hood from a vintage postcard that had Dolly Dingle cutouts with Grandmother and the Wolf. I hate to see her go. But I can't keep them all.

I have been busy. I am also a musician and one of the projects I am working on is a CD for musicians to learn old time tunes. I am having to sell some of my dolls in order to fund the project so if you are interested in any of my dolls email me.

I made my first doll quilts. They were not too difficult and I learned a lot. The next ones will be better. I am posting a picture of one of the quilts hanging on the back of a bench with my little Izzanah Walker style doll.
I am hoping to start a dolls for sale folder at my picturetrail site. Be sure and check it out.
www.picturetrail.com/pollywoggle

My Challenge doll. She represents the Seasons of Change. She is holding her little dolly and her first pair of high heel shoes. She has lovely painted toenails and fingernails. I had wanted to give her ear rings but forgot. I guess it's too late now as she is off to be a model tomorrow.

Doll Challenge

I got another nice surprise in my email box Friday morning. The prescence of a doll I made for a challenge has been requested by the magazine. I am assuming that means she may be moving up through the ranks. But at least they wanted a closer look. I enjoyed making her and she is a pattern from a nice doll lady who is on at least one of the doll making groups I am a member of.

Now I can tell.

Now it is ok for me to tell that the last doll I made, the Paper clay and cloth Griener repro, was for a swap. My Swap partner made me the most beautiful needle felted doll. As soon as I get her picture I am going to post it.

I was able to take both swap dolls ( because I had not shipped mine out yet) to my doll club and everyone just loved them both. That was my very first doll swap and I think I got the best swap partner!

You can the dolls at the blog of the swap host Vivian Neroni.

http://vivs-whimsy.blogspot.com/

I have finally finished my little Greiner repro dolly. I love her. I patterned her dress after one I had seen in a picture. Her little pearls are plastic but I don't mind because they still look pretty on her.
She is a doll that I made for a swap. I hope my swap partner likes her. She is antiqued on her head just a little and some people may not like the slightly grungy look. But it is only enough to make her look older. I did not age her outfit as i think the fabric looks older anyway. I will send instructions for aging the fabric so she can do that if she wants to. The lace is all vintage cotton lace as well.

This is Dolly Dingle. She and her little dolly are two of the creations I made representing vintage dolls of the past. Dolly has been adopted and she took her little raggedy with her.

To see more of my dolls you can check out my picture trail or my website. I will soon be updating my website with a page dedicated to dolls for sale.

I've been so busy redecorating my sewing and craft room that I have not had time to dedicate to learning about blogging. Technology keeps changing and I must be getting too old to care about keeping up with it. I have spent three weeks cleaning, painting, organizing, throwing out and giving away. I still have more than I need. I hope to be able to share my crafting space with friends and young people so that they can have fun in my fun space too.

I usually have a Christmas Craft night once a week for four to five weeks in a row before Christmas. Friends come over and we make something for Christmas decorating or gifts. I could not do it last year because my daughter was getting married and I was too busy. But also there was no room! Now, if I can just keep it clean until the end of the year I can start it back up again.

I have not figured out how to add pictures here yet. So, if you are interested in seeing pictures of my craft room or my dolls, feel free to check out my picture trail or my website.
www.picturetrail.com/pollywoggle
www.cindyribet.com

I love being creative. I create music, art, dolls, poetry, websites, messes, clothes. The one thing I hate to create is FOOD. I do not like to cook. It takes way too much time away from the fun ways to be creative.

At this time I spend most of my time creating dolls. I love to restore dolls but this past year I spent most of my time making reproductions of antique and vintage cloth dolls. You can see them at my picturetrail and my website.

In the Beginning

Welcome

This is my first post to Polywoggle Lane.

I plan to add pictures of my dolls and current projects in the future.

Right now I am working on getting my sewing and craft room cleaned out. I will be adding pictures of that along as well.