Christmas is coming

I have just finished making Christmas ornaments for a friends Doll Shop Christmas tree.

I wasn't sure what to make for him. I wanted it to be as original as possible and sort of doll related. So I ended up desiging dancing ladies. They are made of muslin and handpainted. I am pleased with the way they turned out. They were easy to design and make and I am already thinking of other designs using this same technique.

This one to the left is of course NOT a dancing lady. This is a cat I made using an antique book holder I had as an inspiration. I purchased two book ends at an antique store and they have a cat sitting and reading a book. But the cat is basically dressed and looks like this. I think it has a vintage look to it. I want to make more and maybe do a pug dog and a rabbit similar.

Here are the ladies. They are not vintage looking at all but more modern.

They each have a jingle bell in one hand. The ones shown here were not all finished so some of the jingle bells had not be added. I like the lady with the glasses. I used acrylic paint on them and then dimensional paint for the embelishing. The metalic gold adds a nice Christmasy touch.

Lots of Stuff

That's what happens when I do not post for a long time. Lots of things happen.

I put 8 items in the State Fair competition and won 7 ribbons. A blue for my Santa gourd, snow man gourd and partridge gourd, all of which are in the archives in the blog. Two red ribbons, one for a rubber stamped card which i already sent away to someone and i can't even remember who. And one for a little Christmas elf ornament i made. Then a white ribbon for my black cloth doll Lacey which is also in the archives.

Since then I have crocheted a sweet little dolly made from a pattern by Beth Webber whose blog is 'By hook and by hand'. I will have to post a link to her site. She has made the cutest little puppy dogs and has those patterns free as well.

She has been given away today to my sweet neighbor who is in her late 80's and is still crocheting blankets and prayer scarves.

And now I am finishing up some Christmas ornaments for a friend's doll shop. I am hoping to get them to him in the next couple of days as it is getting close to Christmas and I am falling way behind schedule.

I designed three dancing ladies which I made in cloth and then painted. They will all have a bell in their hand. I then got on a roll and made an antique looking cat and sewed a snowman but can't find it to paint it. I have too much junk laying around and things get lost a lot.

I still have to put hangers on them and find that snow man and paint it. I am making four each of the ladies and maybe a few more of the cat and snowman. All the ladies will have a jingle bell in their hand.

I am working a little at a time on two dolls that I should have done two months ago. But it seems everything takes way too long lately.