So very sad

For the last two days we have had terrible news reports about loss of life and complete townships from fires in Victoria. It brings home the importance of life and loved ones. These tragedies make you realise just how fortunate our quiet lives are and how people pull together to help those who have lost so much.

Something new - but it's a secret......

I have had the inspiration to make a doll. I will just show some progress photos for now, because I don't want to jinx this. She is paperclay over cloth, which is different to the Darwi clay I have used in the past. After adding clay,I painted the legs, arms and head. I find I do enjoy this method. Making dolls is like a process of elimination. You start to make something and if you don't like it, it just takes ages to do. It seems this is why I get stuck all the time and have so many UFO's. When you enjoy the process, you just do the step by step and before you know it the doll has come together. So this is what I have learned......find the thing you really enjoy doing and do lots of it. Each time you do it, it gets easier and you then develop your own style. I feel like I am so near, yet so far. I have lots more to do to find what my dolls really want to be. What a revelation!

Where have I been????????

I have not posted anything for ages. It's not that I haven't been doing anything......I have actually been extremely busy. Of course Xmas took up a few weeks of socialising, family and travel to the country. We visit the South East where DH's sister lives and aside from all the drinking and eating we visited this gigantic tree which is a feature of the South East. The core has been burnt out, but the tree is still alive and it is the biggest and one of the oldest trees there. It is beautiful country with so much bird life. The old swamps have dried up, but it is still wonderful to see.



And just before Xmas I made 3 quilts as gifts for family. That was a monumental task. I was so busy doing them, I didn't take photos of them at the time. I must make records of my finished projects......



And I had to finish a Santa for my son Nathan. I am only just getting back into routine now and January is nearly over! Haven't even had a moment to get out my Susie McMahon dolls that are half finished.




I have the newsletter for the Cloth Doll group to do now so the next 3 days will be busy and I have to do the Tax for my DH's business - someone has to earn the money..........

Susie McMahon was here!

The wonderful doll maker/artist Susie McMahon was here for a workshop this week. She was teaching Moxie, this sweet little fairy. She brought some of her other dolls to show us and you can view some more on her website
here
There were 12 ladies in the class and Susie was so wonderful, showing each one of us how to create with paperclay and fabric. I sculpted a head and attempted to also make the mask face doll Moxie, consequently neither doll were finished in 2 days! So I will post photos in a couple of days.............

Quilt show, Newsletter, dolls..................

These are the pictures from the South Australian Quilt show. We had a themed display of "Fairies in the Garden". The two red head dolls are mine. There are some fantastic dolls that have so much work in them. Take a close look....


So, here is a tiny santa that I have made. I have just spent 3 days working on the doll club newsletter and wanted to make a Santa pin doll for the Xmas meeting.
I am still trying to work out how to do a link to the pattern. Will get there soon.

Next week Susie McMahonSusie McMahon will be coming to Adelaide and I will be doing her workshop. I was a keen supporter to have her come here, but when I saw the doll she was teaching I was disappointed - I have my own style and I didn't want to make a doll that would look like someone elses - like the Anke Daanen doll. But gradually, after some thinking I know I will learn heaps and I am sure she is a great teacher. So I will do the doll and see how it turns out. In life you need to try new things or life would be very boring.

Sidetracked again...........

I have been doing 10 things at once at the moment.


Having joined the quilter's guild, I am in the process of finishing 3 quilts started more than 18 months ago.
This is just one that is in pieces, yet to be joined.






I have also had fun working on a doll with a friend who needed some confidence with covering a paperclay mask with cloth on a
"Barbara Willis doll".
This pattern is called Eau de Parfum and she is very sweet. The pictures are of her progress, Ruth has made her jacket from the most beautiful fabric and there are lots of finishing touches to make the doll perfect. Her hair is not actually attached in this photo and it needs styling - I will try to get a photo of her finished.


















And I have a new Brother! Well it is not a person Brother, but a sewing machine Brother. My DH heard me cursing as I was struggling to quilt one of my projects and he tagged along to the shop and put the money down for a new machine! Well now he expects me to use it for everything so I dilligently started on one of my Santa's. The pics are of the crazy patch coat in progress and the "machine embroidery" all over the coat. It was a breeze to do with my Brother, so I am going to be very busy sewing..............

Another attempt to make something

So this is Francie. She has fought me all the way with her clothing. I know how I want her to be dressed, but for some reason, every dress I make her doesnt't fit or just looks wrong. So far I have made 3 dresses. Here she is with a petticoat on, but she will wear a pinafore so she doesn't need bloomers, a slip and a dress and a pinafore. I ended up making a cute blouse top to go under the pinafore, just the skirt needs to be the right length and not too full. She is going to have to wait now because I have been working on this for days and I am sick of it.
Next project..............

I did finish the doll..........

Yes, I have finally finished the Ankie Daanen doll. It was not that there was so much to do to finish her, just the excitement had worn off a bit. She is really a "Dutch Touch" style doll.
The only difference is those ladies in Spain have 2 weeks to make their dolls! Ankie provided a kit with the body pattern and costuming ideas. Most of us purchased an outfit that Ankie had pre-made so we could finish our dolls. I think most of the ladies would have finished theirs - but all of them were from interstate or New Zealand, so I have not had any contact with them to see the finished dolls.
I have decided to call her Niva - I am not sure why, but that is who she is.I do like her - but I don't love her...... As a doll maker/artist you do develop the techniques you like to use. So - I would change a few things - the body would be different and I am going to experiment more with clothing - I also prefer to fully paint the dolls features, this doll is varnished straight onto the natural colour of the clay.


Now just a bit of back tracking..........




In the last post I had a picture of my interpretation of Miss Mint.
She is a storybook charecter illustrated by Wayne Anderson and you can see more pictures here...







Miss Mint won a First Place in the Adelaide Doll and Bear Convention. I have one picture of her in progress here.














I am so excited about the bee. I made a bee!
After looking at pictures on the net of bees
I discovered they are hairy all over!
Of course it is not hairs as such
- but all the same I love my hairy bee...
what do you think?

Ankie Daanen came to Adelaide

What a week it was last week. I am exhausted. But very very happy. The wonderful Ankie Daanen actually came to Adelaide (who ever comes to Adelaide?) for our inaugural Doll Convention. I was so excited, I took these dolls in to show her what I managed to make just from her books ("Costuming the Doll" and "Make Dolls with Ankie Daanen")






She has such a sweet nature and is so modest. There were 10 of us in the class and we all worked very hard to finish our dolls in 2 days (it is usually a 4 day workshop) - so it was impossible! But what a wonderful experience and so much was achieved in such a small space of time. View my picturetrail site for the workshop pics. I will upload a photo of my finished doll and if the other ladies post them I will show those. The Doll Convention itself was 5 days of workshops, lectures, there was an antique doll auction and dinner with a fun auction. Lunch, breakfast, trading stalls on the Saturday and Sunday and a doll competition for porcelain, cloth, other media dolls and teddy bears as well. I won a First Place ribbon for my Miss mint!
There were so many other entries and I really didn't take many good pics
but when I have more time I will upload them. I must go and finish my doll now.....

Always working - just not on dolls...........

I seem to be very busy every day and I would love to just get up and go into my "Studio" and work on dolls. But I am so not a morning person. I get up have breakfast,shower,read the paper(always do the Sudoko), do household chores and by that time it is 11am. Then I usually have some book work to do for our home business, then it's lunch time............no wonder I never get anything finished, my time management is terrible. Anyway, among the many projects I have on the go, here are a couple of pictures of air dry clay added to cloth. I love that with the clay you can slice off bits you don't want, sand it smooth as silk, remodel what doesn't look right and add or remove any bits you're not happy with. This doll is patiently waiting for her sculpting to be finished and her peronality to be revealed. I 'm not sure who she is yet, in similar circumstances last year, I created my award winning doll Marionetta.