Whatcha' think? These two girls were made using blank muslim bendable starter dolls. You know, the ones no one uses because they are so plain. Well, I suppose some people must use them or they wouldn't sell them. Anyway, I've never used them. But I had purchased a couple at a craft/antique store and ended up using them as demos for face painting. Then I got into it and painted their bodies and the underwear.
The red head has felt hair and the blonde has baby yarn.
They were fun to make and pretty easy. Now if I could just find more! I can't find any more with the 'baseball' heads and the full straight unseamed legs! I'll have to take a trip to Tennessee and see if I can find anymore where I got these.

I love blogs. But I seen to always be to busy to work on mine. A long time ago I realized that I had way more things to do than I really should be doing. But it has been too hard to let any of them go. I enjoy all the things I do. But lately my health and my household have been suffering. I read recently that this 'thing' I'm going through can actually be a good thing as it causes one to review and renew their priorities and then cut out the things that could be causing stress and difficulties.
I have two children that are expecting children of their own. YEA!!!! Plus, I have a step grandson and a new step grand daughter. By Halloween of this year I will have 4 grandchildren where I only before had one. OH... this 'thing' I am going through is called the "change of life". Or, menopause and it is no fun at all.
All this said... I am going to have to make some changes in my life and rethink my priorities. It is hard for my brain to process too many things at once and I find myself loosing things, forgetting things and unable to process thoughts that before were simple. The few things that are not difficult anymore are making dolls, playing music, and taking care of the house and yard. Those things give me so much pleasure,,,, oh... and being with my family and doing 'grandma' things. So for those of you who follow my posts I just thought I would put a note in about what's going on with me. Expect more blogging, that's easy stuff.

My Newest Sweety

A few weeks ago I hosted a workshop with Judi Ward. We did the "Design Your Own Cloth Doll" workshop. Each of us made a cloth doll from a pattern we derived from a vinyl doll that Judi had taken apart. The dolls did not look just like the vinyl dolls. The object was to end up with a pattern that could be tweaked to create different dolls and it be our own.
My doll ended up with arms too long and a very skinny body.
But I finished her anyway and she turned out very lovely. I love her face and her long, lean, willowy look.
When blogspot decides to allow me to post a picture I will.

Looking back, looking forward

I had a great time before Christmas making ornaments to give away. I found some vintage handmade ornaments in a thrift store and bought them hoping to be able to reproduce them. I was. They came out really cute.

the little people were made with piped cleaners which I then wrapped with a chenile-like yarn for the pants and white glittery yarn for the sweater. All parts of the pipe cleaner are covered even the feet and hands. I later made some with black feet which looked more like shoes than the red pictured here. I later used fleece for the clothes on the little people and it was adoramous! i will have to make more and take pictures as the ones i have made are all gone.

The Raggedy Ann was made with an old fashioned clothes pin as was the soldier.

I also saw a little santa ornament made from a round ball covered with fabric for the body and a little muslin head with a fabric hat and mohair beard. I made some of those and they came out really nicely. But alas, they too are all gone.
I am ready to begin work on more dolls. I have lots of things that need to be finished. I have dolls that i need to repair for other people and that are my own which I have wanted to repair and then sell. So I am looking forward to this new year with lots of new things to do.
The last year began with me frantically working on a doll commision and I am happy that this year is my own to start out the way I would like.

I hope to post pictures of more of th ornaments and the doll workings soon.

Stay tuned.
Happy New Year!!!!

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.

This is taking forever

I really did not think it would take this long to make this costume. Things keep getting in the way. And then, I got sick. But... I'm closer. I am hoping to finish it tomorrow and put it on ebay.

I decided to let the person who wins the ebay listing decide which kind of tail they want. A feather boa (which is pictured) or a velvet one like the rest of the costume. I made a gourd treat container. It is so cool. it looks like the moon. And i made a moon medalion to hand on a necklace. the medalion is made from a gourd as well.

I made two face masks from paper mache but both broke. So I am going to try just doing a cloth one. I had planned on mitten paws attached but like the hands showing better so I am going to make paw mittens that can be removed.
I love this background that i got off the internet. I think the beads are too big on the necklace. Any suggestions?