Using My Head

We may be visiting a cousin of my Husband's today--weather permitting. She just had her first grand-daughter (second GC) and I made a doll for her as a gift. I used the head I did when teaching the Conn class and my Lady Ragalia pattern. I also used fabrics and trims I had on hand--some I wouldn't normally use such as the fringe on her apron. Her dress is Hoffman Challenge fabric from 2005, her legs are a Hoffman Coordinate from this year, the tiny pompom trim on her shoes, her apron stripes and pantaloons are scraps from Citronella (another Ragalia doll and one of my favs), her hair is two yarns I bought awhile ago from the clearance bin. All of the ribbons and trims were given to me or purchased at flea markets. I dyed them with Dynaflow. I originally had intended to make her with lots of reds but I have NONE in my stash! Hmmm. All in all, I think she will be well received. Now on to the mermaids for that class.

Here is a pic of Citronella. I never did get a pic of her alone. Brought her to a class for show and tell right after I finished her and she sold. Here is a pic too of Sweet Pea. I sold her even before she was actually completed. I made her after I got the book Beaded Garden and just had to do all those beaded flowers. She is my favorite and I never did get a pic of her finished either--I added another layer of lime green lace to the sleeves and legs of the jumpsuit under the sheer embroidered ruffle.

Finished and Finished!

Well I finished HP and the Deathly Hallows. It took me longer than expected because a purse insisted I make it so I had to alternate between the book and the purse. I call it my Paper Doll Purse. The dolls are from a stamp of a paper doll. The faces - well - I sketched the face (first face), scanned it, then manipulated it--took each half and made a whole face. Amazing how different they look! This gave me two different faces. I printed them out on white cotton and made them as you would a covered button but used a piece of plastic instead. I dressed the girls in lots of glitter, sequins, and beads all pretty much the same but different. I twisted the cord using 4 different yarns. There is also a chain so I can wear it as a shoulder bag. For the picture, it has the new HP book inside--fit perfectly! Now I just need to add purse charms.

Scrapping

After doing the cover of the scrapbook for the wedding, I thought I would make a scrapbook of my dolls. First, I bought a book I liked that took 8.5 x 11" pages. This book is covered with hand-made paper with leaf skeletons. I used a stamp to make the paper doll, embossing powders to give her body texture, a polymer clay mold for the head, velvet leaves for her bodice, fabric strips and trim for her skirt. The saying in the ribbon is "From the seeds of my" and is embossed craft foam treated with pearlex powders and dimensional paints. The word "Imagination" at the bottom is polymer clay. The sunflower behind her head is a stamp done on sheer fabric covered with pink, orange and yellow tissue paper, painted with Lummiere Halo Pink Gold paint, then sprinkled with Halo Blue embossing powder. The stamp was done in gold then cut out and highlighted with gold dimensional paint.Of course the first pages are of "The Secret Garden". I used scraps of the fabrics, the words are from the challenge pages that had the fabrics pictured and I shrunk a scan of the original sketch I did. The photos are on a background of a piece of the challenge fabric. I still have to make a title/intro page. Just not sure what dolls I will be adding. I sure did have fun though!

The Secret Garden - Done and ready for shipping

She is done. Completely. Unequivocally. I am SURE! Now to find a box... Thanks all for your kind words, support and suggestions. They were definitely helpful.

Secret Garden Update

BIG BIG thanks to those who made wonderful suggestions on her wink and pose. Cindy Ribet altered her face in Photoshop to show what a lowered brow and thinner eye would do and it was the perfect expression! I slept on it and last night at 3 am I got up and made a zipper stitch tuck in her closed eyelid. This pulled the eyebrow down, added a little dimension to the eyelid, and also pulled the corner of the mouth a little more. I really like the results. May add a bit more shading on the lines to add more depth to the wrinkles and fullness to the cheek. Thanks too to Bonnie about the head tilt. Now I deciding whether to add a tie on the hat to under her chin. She will let me know when I give it a test drive. Here is the pic from Cindy and following is the altered head. Thanks again for the suggestions.

Hoffman Challenge Doll

Surprise Surprise! I have been mulling on this doll since last year that when I finally did put her together, she went rather easily. I still have a few finishing touches--rings and a few more butterflies fluttering like on her hat, but I am pleased with the results. I drew the original sketch last year right after I saw the challenge fabric. Here are some pics--overall, her "garden", and a close-up of her face. Not sure I am that happy with her expression but my Husband likes it. I don't think I pulled off the wink. I took pics of lots of people winking--guess it really didn't help!

I'm back

Thank you Judi, Natalie, Allie, Debra, Marjorie, and Diane for your kind words. Debra, the entire pattern including color pictures is in the magazine, Doll Crafter and Custuming, September, 2007. Thanks too to all those who wrote me off blog.

I have been offline since last Wednesday when I came down with a severe stomach virus that landed me in the hospital for part of the day. I am finally feeling almost normal again. Amazing how debilitating this turned out to be--not to mention throwing me off schedule for my Hoffman Challenge Doll!!!! Good thing I had the face made before I got sick. Of course, though that is no guarentee I will use it!

Today I worked on a paper/fabric project to get my juices flowing again. I promised to make an album using a wedding invite for a friend to give as a gift. I found this hand-made paper covered scrap book and she liked the idea. Here is the finished project. Color is a bit off. I had a hard time coming up with a design for this invititation--rather unusual. At least it is done for the wedding. I did square it up after I saw this pic and I didn't cut the heads off--that is how the invite was printed. I used techniques new to me--embossing powders to give texture to velum, adhering tissue paper to fabric (hearts), puff paint and dimensional paint. I really admire artists like Beryl Taylor. She does such amazing things with paper, fabric, and paint. I started this in pastel, but the invite has dark ink and it really didn't work. Hope she likes it.