Well I tried

I have decided (with a heavy heart) that I am going to take a long break from doll making and , so too my blog.  This has not been an easy decision.  But circumstances have forced me to realise the truth, which is that I just will not have the time to make dolls to sell/ put into competitions/ create patterns or just for fun.  I am basically going to be working pretty much full time in our carpentry business.  I know that I cannot be 'thinking about dolls' when I need to concentrate on 'office admin'.  We are at a transition stage in the business and there is a lot of  planning and development that needs to take place from now on.  I don't mind using my brain, and as far a my creativity - well, I can knit, quilt or do some embroidery.  Dolls do take a lot of time to make.  You cannot make a doll in a day - well not the sort of dolls I make.  I find it hard enough now to get on a roll and I hate the thought having UFO's.  I so wanted to finish this one but, by the time I think about the type of beading and costuming and colour and fabric choices, it will be forever in the making.  So I am stepping away from dolls and blog land for a while.  Knowing me, that will be about a week before I get itchy to do something.  It just seems, with the work load I have at the moment, dolls will have to be last on the list. So I will leave the site open, but it may be a while before I add anything - I think!
Till the next time.................
Sandy  :-)

The Unsold Sweethearts

These are the two little dolls, that did not sell at the show.  You can clearly see the difference in the mask faces, even though they are from the same mold.

The doll on the left has a mask made from buckram under the cotton lycra, you can see the original process I used here.

The other mask is paperclay over the original head and you can see it here.

The doll in blue has a much softer look for an all cloth doll. 

She looks a little worried or shy to me, which is good because it does give her character. 

So these girls can stay with me a while, I may sell them, when I decide to set up ebay or etsy.  We'll see.

So the show is over

Yes, the Hahndorf show has been and gone.  There is the merchant side of my personality, which likes the buzz of setting up and manning the sales stall.  But, I always end up with a tension headache, because no matter how early I start to prepare, I am always up at 2am still planning and packing and checking items.  Then I can't sleep because I need to be up bright and early..............well you know I am not a morning person at the best of times........
Sooooo.......I get to the show and fumble around and fall over myself trying to settle in - and the crowds, that have been lined up at the door, swarm in and start perusing.  Well, as it happened, I had only just got my doll on the table and a wonderful lady, who is a collector of ooak dolls, saw my little red head girl (I sort of named her Mary Jane - but not properly) and she said "yes, I'll take her, she's lovely". 

Now as you may remember I had 5 dolls to finish.  I can't believe I forgot to take a finished picture of Titania!  The last picture I took was of her in her panniers - but I kept adding finishing touches to her, and in the end - I never took a final picture!  Someone I know must have taken a pic so I will ask around.  The lady who won Oberon and Titania  in the raffle is going to contact me in the future, so I may get a pic.

I did finish the other 2 dolls that made up the Cloth Doll Club sign - I had the 'S' and 'h' to do, so here is the 'h'
and the finished sign with all the doll letters that other members made are in this picture.............

 It is a fun concept and the costuming ideas that doll makers come up with are astounding.  These are all the same doll pattern - with adjustments ( except for the 'o' faces and the 2 'l's).  It shows how much fun you can have with dressing cloth dolls.

And the final 2 dolls were the little sweethearts (my name for them) - which I did manage to finish - with the help of one of the traders (I'll post her details and tell you her trading name when I find it) - I needed hair to finish the second doll.  So I actually had 3 dolls on the trading table - the little red head, a blond dolly and a dark haired girl.  Tomorrow I'll upload the photos of those 2.
 I can show you the WIP of the blond girl..........................

Still unpacking and restoring order to my 'Studio', which now has curtains