A computer whiz I am not

Well I have been trying to add a new pic to the top of my page, but html savvy I am not, so it will have to wait. I need to spend a lot more time on my blogging, which is at the moment almost impossible, so I will only do what I can...
I am very pleased about the doll I made especially for Australian Dolls, Bears and Collectibles magazine. Her name is Colleen and she is featured on the front cover... I have been published!

Back and starting over.

Well they say a change is as good as a holiday, so I am making changes - not entirely by my own choice!
Oh, it has been so long since I have posted. Sorry to those of you who have dropped in and seen nothing happening here. The truth is ....... nothing is happening! Since coming home from my whirlwind tour - 1 month........ many hotel rooms -
I have not had the clearness of mind to do anything apart from basic housewife and home office duties. I have been dreaming of making dolls. The problem has been my DH has decided he needed my working space for our office and I had to pack up all my stuff and relocate to a VERY SMALL ROOM! I have accumulated so much stuff I am at a loss as to what to do. There are 6 tubs of fabrics in the shed that I have to find room for! Consequently, I have been very distracted and unsettled since coming home. I did do a Barbara Willis class in June. I will post those pics as soon as I can. I hope to blog a bit more frequently. I have a lot of catching up to do. Here are some photos of the wonderful places we visited. I am so glad I took a lot of photos, for the memories...........

One month in Europe!

My husband and I.............(the Queen always says that and I think it is rather nice!) My husband and I are taking a month off work and travelling to Europe with friends. No.1 son will run the business and No.2 son will run the house. They are such good kids, I have no doubt all will be well. So 10 days in Italy i.e. Rome, Cinque Terre and Venice. 3 nights in Prague. 3 nights in Latvia (the homeland). 3 nights in Paris, 3 nights in London, 3 nights in Aberdeen, 1 night in Hong Kong.

This is a picture of Portofino. Since seeing the John Malkovich movie "Beyond the Clouds"
I have so wanted to go to the little village in the film. It is actually Portofino and I am obsessed. I can't wait to go there. So in two days I will be jetting off for a month.
Consequently, I have not had time to do any doll making or quilting. when I come back I will be doing a Barbara Willis class - she is visiting Adelaide and we will be making the "Forget me not fairy", which will get me in creative mood when I get back. Hopefully I am inspired and have artistic inspiration from travelling!


Keep well, I'll be back soon........
Sandy :-)

I'm still here......

Finally I can show you Colleen. She is a doll I have created for Australian Dolls Bears and Collectibles magazine. This year has been so busy for me right from January. I was contacted by Shirley Dougan who is a contributor to the magazine, and she asked me to submit a pattern suitable for the readers. Well I had to actually make something that would be appropriate for doll makers who may have limited experience and in making the doll I did try to keep it simple. I must say this is the type of doll that comes together so easily for me. She is pretty, has paperclay over cloth, and is painted. I realise that these are all the things I enjoy doing when I am making a doll, so she had been a breakthrough doll for me. The only thing is that right now, when I am in a creative head space, I am too busy doing office work for my contractor DH and planning our overseas trip (for which we leave on the 2nd May!) and there is no time to create dolls!








There has been a lot happening in the past month and I have pics to post, I just have not had time to sit at the computer and upload them. Hopefully I can get some done before we go away. There is always so much to do.....

Some pictures of my pattern dolls

Actually Impossible Princess is not a pattern, but I made her a couple of years ago and she is a mask face doll that I can make into a pattern.

Is a fox a doll?

Here is my fox. He/she is life size. I was asked by a friend to help make an animal for a puppet theatre play that a local school puts on every year. I love a challenge, but I stress so much. Of course there was no pattern and I had to blow up a photocopy of a photo to the size I needed. I then had to create the pattern and decide on how to make the fox stand without falling over when picked up and put down by the players. I took these pics before I did the final stitching up, you can still see the pin in the ear. I have to say I am very pleased with how my fox turned out. I think the director will like it. The play is in June so I will be attending opening night to see my fox perform. By the way the play is 'The Secret Garden' and my friend Lois has made a red robin, a black bird, rabbit and a lamb. She is amazing, there is no way I could make the things she does. The fox was quite enough for now...

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.............