Words for December:
                                 Hurrying. Baking. Merry making.
                                 Crafting. Dreaming. Secretly Scheming.
                                Reminiscing. Scurrying. Sometimes Worrying. 
                                Singing. Sharing.  Loving.  Caring. 
                                Christmas

Have a very Merry Christmas!

These are Christmas ornaments I received in an ornament swap.  They came all the way from Australia.  I just love them!

It is December.  I do not post as often as I would like.  I have been having fun at the Christmas Crafting parties that I have here at my house once a week.  And although I've only finished one doll, I've been slowly working on a few. 
My granddaughter's birthday is this week and we had her birthday party at my house today.  I worked for hours on a doll for her that she can dress and style the hair and learn to make clothes for.  I used a Vogue pattern and it was not what i really had in mind.  But the doll is pretty anyway.
First, the pattern called for gathers under the chin.

Here you can see the gathers.  Her face is pretty. I just wish the head pattern had been different.  The body was fatter than I wanted and I decided AFTER I had attached the head to make the body smaller.  I made a dart in the back by stitching it by hand toward the outside.  And then I pushed the dart to the inside and ladder stitched it into the body.  WHEW!   But then I still was not happy so I opened a side seam and pulled out stuffing and took up both side seams by hand.  The fatter body probably would have been fine with the large head.  But that is not what i wanted.

I altered some baby clothes and old doll clothes to make outfits for the doll as well.

I shortened the dress and apron that you see here.  OH.. her hair is made from hair wefts that I got from a beauty supply store.  I sewed them in circles around her head starting from the bottom.  I tried to get them close enough where my granddaughter could style it any way she wanted.  I'll have to buy more and add a couple of rows another day.  the doll has a LOT of hair.

It got me in the mood to do another.  Maybe I'll finish some others first.

Beautiful Fall

I can't believe that it is October already.  The leaves are just starting to turn here.  I can't wait until the colors get vivid and the leaves start to fall.  I have my granddaughters to take outside and play in the crisp air and warm colors.
I finally finished the dolls I had talked about in May.   The sculpted face doll was painted a long time ago but I just recently tweaked it and like it much better.

I think she turned out really cute.  But I am not enamored with her so she is on ebay right now waiting to go to a new home.
I have also started my Christmas Crafting Party Night at my home.  I have a few ladies who come over and we make Christmas Ornaments or small gifts.  Below is a picture of the first kind of ornaments we made.  Little Mittens and Ribbon Candy.  I got both patterns off my newest favorite website....   Better Homes and Gardens.   Did you know that you can find on the website for free the same things that are in the magazine for a price?

We have started some OKRA Santa Clauses and I will post their pictures later.  They take longer as we have to sculpt the paperclay faces.  Some of the ladies did not think they would be able to do the faces but they did a wonderful job.



Last Day in May

Today is the last day in May.  I had wanted to finish my two little dollies before tomorrow.  I have one done and I acquired a wig for the other yesterday while visiting with my doll restorer friend Dr. Re'.  (www.drresdollclinic.com)
I chose a dark braided wig.  I thought it looked really good on her.   But then I saw an advertisement for the movie Pollyanna.   I have always loved that movie and have wanted to make a Pollyanna doll with every costume that is shown on the movie.  Wouldnt that be cool.  And I realized that my little doll resembles Pollyanna.  But if I turn her into that character I would not want to sell her (which is my original goal) and I would have to change her dark wig to a light one.   hmmmm..   before I do that I need to play around with her face on photoshop to see if I want to change anything.   I love photoshop.

Before May is Gone

May is almost over.  I was hoping to get two dolls finished that I had started a long time ago.  I'm getting closer and that is a comfort.  So here I can show off my progress. 
I have finished the little monster doll using the face I made from one of Susie McMahon's molds.  I don't know what to name her but she has found a curiousity and I think I will call her the "Finder of Most Curious Things."

She has found a broken egg gourd.  And inside are the dried contents. (which by the way.. really were I found inside when I broke it open.)  Sort 'loofa' like.  It was not what I had intended for her.  And maybe I will go back to the original plan.  But the little gourd is kind of cool and she wanted to keep it.

She had to have a tail so I gave her one that bends.

It has a layered felt tip that I clipped and then twisted to get this effect.

It helps her keep her balance and gives her something to hold on to when she is just a little bored.  It's also good for wiping dirty faces.






I have also been working on a doll that has a face I made using a mold from a kit I purchased on line at a shop called Sisers and DAughters.  I made a paper clay face using the mold and then sculpted more paper clay over that to make it more original.
I covered it with knit fabric and then stuffed that.   I attached it to a body made using a pattern from the same kit.  I attached the limbs using Judy Ward's method.  And I attached the head with Judy's method so that her head turns in all directions.  She needs a wig and I hate to use purchased wigs but I may have to if I want to finish her soon.  I do have some mohair and some pieces of alpaca skins that I can turn into a wig.  She has green eyes so I will have to choose a color that goes well with that.

This is her before I finished.   Her body is muslin and I painted it when I painted her knit face. I gessoed the face but I do not like muslin bodies that have been gessoed.  They are too stiff and the fabric tears too easily.

I am pleased with how these dolls have turned out.  I have to decide what era and how I want this doll dressed.  I am partial to little girl dresses and pantaloons that match.  But I like to use lots of colors and matching trims.   More later.

New small Projects

Having two new little grand babies and one young grand daughter I have found a new little craft project that is both fulfilling and useful.  It is making little felt hairclippies.  I use the small metal hair clippies that 'snap' onto hair. I cover them with felt.  The bottom metal piece that bends to make it  'snap' is left out by clipping a small hole in the bottom piece of felt.  I blanket stitch around the two  pieces of felt to inclose the clip.  And then I embelish the clip by making something cute that I sew to the top of the  clippie.  They hold in the hair much better with the felt on them and they are just adorable in the babies hair.  I have a friend who is in her 30's who wears them and they are really beautiful in her hair.

Although the picture is a little blurry you can still get the idea of how I put the felt on the clip.

This one is really blurry.  I am not a good photographer.  But I am blanket stitching the two sides together.

Here my sweet little model is wearing two different felt flower clippies in her hair. 
I have also been adding silk flowers and bows to hair bands for older girls (including me).  They are so simple and very rewarding to be able to give them away to the young ladies at my church.

Helper Doll

I realized that I had not posted a picture of the Helper doll for UFDC when she was finished.  So here she is.

She will put up as a raffle item at the UFDC convention. She has no shoes... but she has two dresses and two bonnets.  And something else... I forgot already what I added. I hope she brings in a lot of money for the UFDC.

Pieces of April

Do you remember that song from the 70's.. "I've got pieces of April"?
Well... my pieces of April (other than the pictures of my granddaughter) are my new dolls.  I am so glad to have had the time to come to a place where I can finally post some pictures.  I am almost finished with my little "Wild Thing" doll.  I made the face using a mold created by Susie McMahon.  It is her brain child and I think they are adorable.
http://www.susiemcmahondolls.blogspot.com/
Here she is...

She still needs a few little details.  But I wanted to share her.  Now that I have a new photo edting software I can.   If you have not tried GIMP take a look at it. Freeware you download from the internet.
I have another doll in the works that is getting close to being photoed.   I might even get some pics of her in the raw.

Doin' Dolls

Yea!!  I get to work on dolls again.  Keeping a little baby every day takes lots of my hours away that I would normally get to be creative in any way I chose.  But now I have to be creative on how to get a baby to quit sucking up all the dirty things off the floor as she crawls over them.  Or how to be creative gettting a baby to take a nap when she THINKS she wants to stay up and play.
Well... I had a good motivator in that I am making the helper doll for one of my UFDC clubs to send to the national convention this year.  She is all done. Now for the thing that I am the worst (or the best?) at procrastinating over.... the underwear.  The lady even has dresses.  But no underwear.

I really like the way her face turned out.  She has a pensive look.  I might turn her the corners of her mouth up just a little but maybe not.  Her dress is one from my Lilly Grace collection and I am in the process of adding some lace and frills to the dress and bonnet.  I will have another dress and a shawl for her before she is done.  But oh the underwear!

Her hair is made by sculpting ooey, gooey, gluey thread onto her head.

I'll post a finished picture of her when she is done with her unders and shawl.

I finally finished the cat. I have always wanted to dress her. But seems she has an attitude about covering up her tail. So she ended up with a boa and a peacock feather fan. What do you think?

I have had fun working on finishing up some projects. I have a long way to go but I do feel like I am accomplishing something.

I finished the little felt doll and she has gone to a new home. The antique style doll is almost ready to go to a new home.

I thought I'd add a nice photo of the tree in my front yard all covered with snow. I don't know what it is about snow, but it makes me feel all warm. hmmmm......