Catching up on news

The last 2 weekends have been very busy. We have a doll show here in Adelaide that attracts collectors and doll lovers from all over the country. Our doll club had a display table, which we are lucky enough to have every year at this show. As you can see we have a wonderful array of dolls made by our talented artists. I am always very unorganised and at the last minute decide what I can actually take for display, I always think my dolls are somehow different and simple compared to the wonderful beaded and textile rich art dolls our members make. Well, at the show, a lovely lady who had previously purchased one of my Santa dolls, fell in love with a simple little doll I had brought along even though her cardigan was unfinished (I made it from a sock!) Well long story short, I bought a needle and some tiny buttons, borrowed some thread and finished the cardi - and sold the doll! You never know what appeals to people, she was such a plain little doll, but this lady really wanted her. I know she has gone to a good home with lots of friends.


















Today is my mother's 85th birthday. One of our traditional Latvian treats is Piragi, a small pastry with bacon and onion filling. They are delicious and it is the one recipe I have from my mother. She loves them so I made some and had her over for lunch on Sunday to celebrate her birthday.


















And finally, I am working on a new doll pattern. I have an idea how I would like this doll to look. I am really moving towards much simpler bodies and dolls that are vintage look. I just wish I had more time to do all the things I want to do........

Finally something to write about!

I would love to have the time to post messages every day on this site, but I just can't make the time. A bit like exercise.......I know I should do it, I know I can do it, but I don't allow the time to do it. Anyway, there is no point in having a blog if nothing is happening worth blogging about. I really want to load up photos when I have some thing to say, because that's what I love to see on other people's blogs (I do have time to read other people's blogs by the way)! So, a few weeks ago when I said I had been evacuated from my previous studio to a smaller space, I thought you might be curious about my work space. Well here are the pictures to show what has become of my studio!




In the first 2 photos you can see there was 1 big room, which had a combustion wood heater and big windows that looked onto the back yard and there was a second small room where I stored all my fabrics and doll making stuff - including tools, doll stands and clays. I even had a desk to sculpt in that room. As you can see this makes for a wonderful home office space also!!!!




Now my new studio room has one small window that looks onto the side lane of the house.(When I look up I can see blue sky and tall gum trees swaying in the breeze)
And I must say Thank God for IKEA! It took me about 2 weeks of 12 hour days sorting my 'doll stuff' into keepers and dump its........It was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. I did take a heap of 'items' to our doll club meeting, and bless the girls, I sold a heap of good stuff that was of use to other doll makers. Trust me I took a heap of give away items too and that was a good feeling to get rid of a big percentage of it.





Of course, this is not a good representation of the new studio. I was sorting through a lot of my previous body parts to start a new design, so there is a bit of mess. But as you can see there is a lot of storage in that small space and it is all organised and reasonably neat, once all the cupboard doors are shut. I actually like the room, I used to have my sewing table in there before my doll making took off, and I just have to get used to the new organisation of stuff. If it gets out of control, I can shut the door and no-one will know the mess I am in! What do you think?