A strange thing is happening to me.........

I have not made a doll in months.  I have been working 8 hour days, my routine after work is cook dinner, do chores, sit down in front of the TV, turn on my laptop and search blogs, or play cards or put that away and do some knitting.  Well, then I get bored with knitting.  I just need something that will give me quick results.  Our generation of instant gratification.......

So in my travels searching the net, I stumbled across this web site  http://gingermelondolls.blogspot.com/

I always check back on older posts, just to see the threads and any other interesting things on the site.

So I found these cute little animals........

And I was so taken with how cute and small they were.

I wanted to make one.  Just a small teddy (I have made quite a few teddy bears in the past.  Enough to know, I like to make small ones, hand sewn from mohair - not that synthetic stuff.

Well I was able to buy an e-pattern and now I

will have to make the time to sew up a little creature.

But can you see what is going on here......?

I can't leave crafting alone.

I need to try new things, keep my hands busy and do something (while I am sitting in front of the TV)

Now, I know many of you would say why do you plonk yourself in front of that thing anyway?

Well, for those who have not heard this before, I like it!  TV is my friend.  It talks incessantly, but if I don't need to hear it, I can press mute and just look at the pictures.  A lot of people would say there is a lot of rubbish on TV.  Believe me I agree.  But I am selective, and if there really is nothing that interests me I turn it off - that is as long as my DH is already asleep!  But I have always felt a little guilty, just sitting there, not doing anything and watching stuff.  So to feel like I am actually not being lazy, I find some sort of craft to occupy my hands - and my brain.

Amazing what the brain can do, absorb TV shows while working out how to create craft as well as controlling heartbeat, breathing, blinking and digesting coffee and chocolate!

So thankyou to Gingermelondolls and.......

Thankyou to all you bloggers out there who make, and do, and share your work.  Know that at some stage, someone, somewhere will be inspired by your work and it will keep some idle hands busy, and bring some joy from the achievement of being able to say "I made this" - while watching 'Inspector Rex'!

Do you see the resmeblence?

Patti Culea's Maudlin Maddie

My first doll, not my last

I thought I would show you my very first doll.  I was so excited when I made her.  If you know your dolls, you may be able to recognise who the designer was.  But I must say, if I was the designer I would either be horrified as to how my doll was interpreted, or possibly be stifling hysterical laughter.  This is not a pretty doll.  She looks like she has varicose veins in her arms, and her legs are twisted in a strange position.  She has a lace neckband - to cover the awful stitches attaching her head to her body - she sort of ended up with no neck!  She has fantastic wired fingers - that was what made me want to create this doll in the first place.  As for her costume, I chose to make it from velvet, which tended to disintegrate  as I sewed it.  At the time, I had just started to sew, but my skills were more limited than my enthusiasm.  Her socks were an innovation, I wanted them to look crocheted, not knowing how to crochet that well - I cut up a doily.  I'm not sure if the shoes are meant to look like slippers, but they do.

When I first saw the pattern for this doll in Australian Dolls Bears and Collectables  I didn't start to make it for about 6 weeks.  I scrutinised the pattern, went and bought fabric for the body,  the nylon curly hair, the stuffing.  I had to go to the city to buy the coloured pencils and find the pens to draw the face.  I would lie in bed at night, planning how I would start to make the doll. Then, I spent a whole day - and half and evening making her.  When she was finally made, I was so pleased with myself.  And I started to plan my next project.  I made a lot of dolls in that first year.  Each doll I made improved as I gained the skills in drawing the faces, making the bodies and wiring the hands.

I can make a reasonable doll now, but I would like to do better.  I won't have time to make one for a while, but we will see what will be. 

But tell me............who do you think designed this doll?

Living with a cat

A while back a friend forwarded me this little clip.  As we are both cat  owners  er... slaves I found this to be a very familiar scenario in our house.  Not quite though, Tiffany has not mastered the baseball bat yet!

Tiffany's birthday is around the end of July, she will be 15 years old

That's 105 in cat years!

She looks pretty good for 105!

The Little Girl Giant

I found this amazing clip a couple of years ago.  When I first discovered it, it took me a few moments to register what I was actually seeing. 




How wonderful are these people who travel around with these enormous puppets.  The puppeteers work furiously.  You can google other clips of this unbelievable art.



Here is a link with more information.......


I must give credit to Melisa Matkin   http://thecoppermouse.blogspot.com/  it was her blog where I first saw this.

Fascinated with Beatniks!

I've just worked out how to embed videos into my blog so let's have some fun........
I love these ads with the beatniks.

Check out the Larry Digman Trio – so 1960’s
It is a silly commercial for Insurance – forget that.  I have always been fascinated with the style of Beatniks!





So cute - I really 'dig'  Larry Digman.....................

Remember Maynard Krebs?

So French

And the eternally gorgeous Audrey....

It's Winter, so I knit

I am in love with knitting again.  In my early 20's (which were the 1980's) knitting was all the rage.
Crazy, loud, bright knitted jumpers were everywhere.
Here in Australia, a young designer called Jenny Kee was making a name for herself.

She designed fantastic colourful unique creations, and I so wanted to own one of her designs.

But, back then, her designs were a little out of my reach.
A jumper I was in love with was a little over $400 about 2 weeks of my husbands wages!
So being the innovative type I was, without a pattern - just heaps of pictures from magazines - I copied her design.  Yes, I did it.  I just bought lots of coloured balls of wool, drew up graphs and knitted every chance I got.  It took me nearly 12 months to make but I did it.  And it was quite good too..........

Here is Natali modelling it.  It is a little tight on me now, but back then I wore it with pride.  Being the fashionista I was, many people asked about the jumper, I always gave credit to Jenny Kee, unfortunately, in the circles I moved - hardly anyone knew who Jenny Kee was!  I actually can't believe I did this without the pattern.  I don't think I could do it today.  Well, I guess I could...........I just need to get some wool.
I have not had any good quality wool for some time.  I have inherited lots of bits and I have been knitting squares for blankets to donate to the local Animal Welfare League.  Knitting for charity is a good thing, and without a big project to think about, you can do small stuff and it is helping someone else.  It is also helping my mother who has been a little depressed and so I had the brainwave idea that she could put the squares together if I knitted them up.  She can still crochet beautifully - at 84 - and I dislike crochet.  I love the clik clak of the knitting neeles and the variety of designs you can get with knitting.  Crochet always looks like crochet dc or treble - boring.
But I need to get some lovely wool to knit for myself.  I just did a search for the Yarnbarn in Rostrevor and the website doesn't work and the local business listing is missing.  Has it closed down?  I really liked that wool shop, there are not many here in Adelaide, and that had the nicest ambiance - if you know what I mean.

Here is something I found while surfing.  It is a youtube ad, but the concept is quite interesting. 



How cute was that?  The kettle on the stove was the best.

So, I am now returning to knitting - my first love.
Let's see what I can come up with this time round.
It is going to be hard to top the Jenny Kee jumper - don't you think?

Taking a break.....for a while..........

Hello to you, all my followers and anyone who has stumbled onto this site.
I have not been around for a while.  Dolls have been packed away since the doll show in April.

As many of you may know, I work every day.  Making a doll is very labour intensive.  All the planning, thinking and eventually, making - takes time.  I don't seem to have that time now, so I apologise, but dolls will be few and far between from now on. 
I am wondering whether to delete this blog, I know I would be disappointed to visit a dollmakers site and find nothing is happening.  No new pictures to look at, no insight into techniques or materials.  This is what I meant this blog to be.  And it was for a while.  I hope it has been interesting and enjoyable. 
I have made many new friends through this blog, and it seems there a  lot of people who just pop in to see what is in the works at the moment.  The truth is, there is nothing, and there will not be for a while.
So I am not sure what to do.  I rarely have time to visit other blogs now.  I am not miserable about this, it is just that things change and what I was doing a few years ago is nothing like what I am doing now.  And in a short time, who knows things will turn around and I will be able to craft again.
Crafting filled a void in my life 10 years ago.  I had sold my beauty salon business and was a stay at home mother.  My boys were still in school and my husband was happy to come home to coffee and home made cake, with dinner on the stove.   I am such an old fashioned girl ;-)  The one thing I was not so keen on, was cleaning the house all day every day!  I needed something else to occupy my time so I had an excuse as to why I didn't have time to scrub the bathroom and clean the oven!  It was then I discovered teddy bear making, dolls and quilts - in that order.  So I started exploring all these new skills, and making a whole new set of friends and being really busy doing craft.
So this leads me to touch on a subject mentioned briefly back here.  As you can see, I made these terrible little wool dolls.

And a very basic felt doll.  This was a commission from the South Australian Film Corp.
Yes!  These dolls I made were commissioned for a movie!  The idea was, that the dolls were to be made by a character in the movie - she is a crafter, who is not very skilled!  I was very happy to be involved in this project - however - there is a slight problem..................I do not know if my dolls were used in the movie!
Why?  Why don't I just go and see the movie? 
Well my friends, the movie is "Snowtown". 
For those of you unaware of this story, it is a controversial film made about the murder of several people here in Adelaide, only a few years ago.  It is a very tragic and sad story, and I am sure if you are curious you will find information on the internet about the circumstances and outcome.  It is not a happy movie, and due to the graphic content I am not sure I will be able to see if my dolls play a part in the story.  You may have heard on the news, it has been recently shown in Cannes.  Here is a promotional link - but  be warned, the story is of cruelty and murder and these were real people who suffered - and you will not see my dolls in the trailer!
"Snowtown the Movie"

So I have a dilemma.  I am not sure if my dolls even made it into the movie.  If anyone has seen it, let me know.  I am led to beleive the movie is a good portrayal of the psychological motivation and influence one person can have over another.  But please do not rush out to see it just to tell me my dolls are there.  I will be able to get the DVD and fast forward to check it out.  And I can wait for that.  I just wanted to share with you, that my dolls made it to a movie!  How good is that?

Weddings

Yes I just watched the royal wedding, and so did my husband.  Every single step.  I was curious about the dress, and just having had my own version of a royal wedding I wanted to compare notes.  I think we stacked up pretty good.  Natali's dress was gorgeous and Kate's dress was perfect for her.  Weddings are lovely.  And royal weddings are a curiosity.  I have a soft spot for William too.  He was born in June just a few months after my first son Nathan.   Harry was born around the same time as Brad, so both boys are similar in age to mine. 

I think the loss of Diana was the saddest thing for those boys.

And I am a royalist at heart.

I have always favoured the Queen.

When I was in Kindergarten, we had a photo on the wall of the Queen

It was this one..........

I thought she was special.  She looked special.  She looked like she would look after us. (I was a child of war refugees in Australia).  And she looked like a mum - actually my friends mum across the street!  (I think it was the hair style - not much else.)  I loved singing God save the Queen at assembly.  I saw a documentary about her on TV.  She had corgis, and they went to Balmoral castle for the summer.  There was Charles and Princess Anne, young Prince Andrew and even little PrinceEdward who must have been only about 2 years old at that time ( I don't remember the year).  Even though she was the Queen, she had a family and did family things, not just governing a country from a big throne.  I still think the Queen is wonderful.  I am sure she thinks some of the antics of her family are most embarrasing, but doesn't every family have problems? I like having a Queen.  I'm not too keen on Charles, but I like William and Kate.  I wish them all the best.  I hope the love they feel today lasts them their lifetime.  I hope the world doesn't become too much of a mess before they come to power.  And I hope we will still have a King in the future.  Because I like the idea of someone in a little country on the other side of the globe having some say in how we govern ourselves - because Australia was populated by those british convicts anyway!  It doesn't make sense, but it has been like this all these years, why change it - if it ain't broke - don't fix it!  Long live the Queen...............

why I have been so busy......