Well, I did make one thing

Here is a picture of little Elenor who is holding a dolly I made as a special present for her.  This dolly is not an original design by me, she is Lizzie by Karlene Atkins of katkins.  I had to reduce her size, she would have been bigger than Elenor!
At the moment I am knitting - my Winter craft - this is a pattern I found on the net
Mr. Bean style Teddy
Nathan has always loved Mr. Bean and we both think his teddy is the best, so I think I will be making a few of these.....one for me, one for Nathan, one for my sister, one for my cousin, one for my friend................

A quick way to make a quilt!

While surfing the net I discovered a new kind of puzzle.  Give it a try and see what you think.  At the bottom of the page you can go to other pages of puzzles to do.  Good brain exercise - and some interesting quilts!

Quilt puzzle

The Mystery of the Little Clock

It was this time last year that I was travelling all
over Europe.

While on our last stop in London, I happened to find a lovely little shop selling Royal Doulton with a  30 % off sale!  Now, I was very disappointed that I did not buy a Louis XIII clock when touring the Palace of Versailles.  So I really wanted a little clock and this one would do as reminder of my travels.  ( The truth is I still want that Louis clock, and I am going to have to go back to France to get it) - but I digress - I bought this little clock and was so pleased with myself.

So I have had this clock in the wall unit, and not really realised it is keeping time, but not the right time!  So, I will have to wind it forward........... but I looked and I looked and I could not find a winder or anything that kept it going!  I looked into the bottom of the clock and there was no way you could set it through the little holes in the bottom....  I asked my husband and he looked at me blankly - I thought men knew everything!

Then a while ago, a friend visited me to do some quilting, and when I told her my problem, she just smiled and said   " Oh, I worked in a jewellery shop, I know how to fix it " and with that she popped the front face out with her fingernail and adjusted the time and popped it back into its little resting place!  What about that !

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

Finally - Continuum

So here I am, in my new room, with 5 projects that I am committed to by April 10th!    These are:-  Titania, the partner for Oberon ( a pattern by Suzette Rugolo)  - seen here.   I made Oberon several years ago as a competition entry.  He won first place.  He is rather small - being of the fairy realm....    Suzette created Titania (the fairy) as a complementary pattern and I had always intended to make her. Well, with the Hahndorf Doll Show so close, our cloth doll club will have a display table with a sales table and a raffle.  So, I decided to donate Oberon and Titania for the raffle - BUT Titania was not made ...............so here I am madly trying to put together doll project 1.Titania is dressed in full 18th century panniers, underskirt, dress jacket etc..............................So tell me  - does this look like an 'S'??

The Idea is that the club will have a sign that is made up of dolls marking out the letters of the words for the 'Cloth Dolls Club'  So I have an 'S' and an 'h' to do...........  The doll is not the problem, it is all the costuming and adornments to make it look interesting! Dolls 2 and 3!

And lastly, my little sweethearts.  Remember I started these back here,  then got all caught up in my new doll making frenzy here.  Well that poor doll is waiting, partly dressed and at the moment,  these 2 little girls take priority and are numbers 4 & 5.

It will be a miracle if I get all this done in just over 2 weeks, but I will try.  I do really like my craft, and if I don't have time to do it I go a bit crazy and cranky.  My new room is good, and spacious, it's just at the front of the house and we live on a fairly busy main road, so the traffic noise is something I have to get used to. When I have a moment, and I tidy it up, I will take a picture of how I have settled in to the new room.

It's all good

Well, I had to move again!!!

 I actually don't know what to say............. For the last two days I have been in total disarray!  After my last post, where I had discovered that a tidy workspace was one of the things to keep me motivated..........my DH decided it was a good idea for me to move into the vacant room that Brad left behind - so...................
from my cramped tiny studio, that I have only been in for a few months.......

From this space .........

To this space................ 

and moving all my stuff..............................

The room is painted and waiting for curtains

Somehow, now I have so much room, I don't know how to make it look lived in!!  There is a wide open space along one wall, which IF I do workshops, I could set up a group table (small group that is), but to be quite honest, this is the last thing I needed in the middle of a creative surge I have had going.  No wonder I run out of steam and lose my motivation.  All this white furniture and neatness it too much for me.  So I now I have to get busy and make a mess so that I can feel settled - but I don't feel like it now  :-( 

I'm tired!

I can't work like this...

I have come to realise something about my work style.  When my desk/studio is a mess - I can't work.  I need to clean my desk and start fresh frequently when I am working on a project.  It's like I can't think straight when my desk is not straight.   This doll is really taking me through a process of learning - what I need to do and what I like to do.  I had a huge dilemma when it came to how I was going to dress her.  I feel like I need a step by step pattern to make a doll.  But, the reality is, it is so much easier not thinking or trying to find a suitable pattern.  This doll will have her clothing stitched on and so her clothing can be quite fitted.  To do this, the easiest way is to get paper towel, wrap it to the body part,  I trim in darts or draw the shape (e.g. underarm shape) and then stitch up the paper pattern.  Drape it on the doll and make adjustments, it is so much easier than trying to find a pattern part that will fit the body.  In the past, I have made dolls with a mind to explain the process, scribble down each step, so that I don't forget it for next time.  Well blow that idea!!  No wonder I can't make a doll to please myself, I'm thinking about an imaginary doll maker while I'm still thinking it through!  That's like an author anticipating what the reader expects the story to be, when it's not even written yet!  Amazing - I could not put my finger on why I was so blocked creatively!  What a revelation!

    

So here is the desk a little tidier.  You can see the paper pattern for the gathered skirt on the desk under the doll.  I think she is a little too lithe, the challenge was to make her features elongated, and it was good to try it, but I think a little more muscle would be nice, but she is very elegant - I think.

Blog friends

The internet has opened up a whole new world to me, and I guess for those of you reading this, it is the same.  I have only a couple of close friends - lots of aquaintences through my craft - but my close friends,  they don't make dolls, knit, or sew - they work full time, with only the weekend free to catch up and 'do lunch' or dinner.  So to make friendships, far reaching friendships, with people who are interested in what you do and understand crafting, is new to me.  Jules  who's blog is  Adventures in Thread sent me a gift this week.

It is the sweetest hand felted teddy in a silk pouch.

Jules lives in the UK and she does beautiful embroidery - something I cannot do.   
She has made a few cloth dolls, and you must visit her blog, her dolls are great!

What I love is that she made this herself and decided to send it to me. 

  Having come all the way from the UK - which is in a cold snap at the moment - I knew I had to protect teddy's delicate coat from our harsh Australian summer sun!

Of all my dolls, Aliyah is the one who most wanted to look after the new addition.

I just love this little guy, he is so soft and has the sweetest face.

Thank you Jules.