Postal fun....

ooooh, sometimes the postman brings some treasures....

This was a gift from bloggy buddy Beedeebabee.....  you can probably tell by her nom de plume (well, I call it a nom de plume because I love that phrase) .... that she does ...wait for it .........beading!

Along with a beautiful pin that she made ....

which I probably won't wear, but will keep
inside glass to keep it pristine......


she sent me goodies for my own beading stash.

Some bits of felt to use for more Dotee faces..... and, it is really nice felt.  Even the wrappings are useful....I may have to make more Dotees so that I can use some of the tulle..... and, a beautiful piece of lace to use with my little pin cushions.  I am dithering on which fabrics to use with it ...and, afraid to cut it.... but, ... honest I will...........soon...

Thanks so much Beedee..... what a fun day that was!


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One more time with the Dotees...

.... and, then, I'll spare you any more photos of them... honest.  Although I think they are pretty cute myself....

When I sent the photo of them in the muffin pan to my sister, the first thing she said was .... they could be a choir ... and the little extra one could be the director ..... and, so.......

'...... "ahem, ahem"....  ...... tap, tap tap...... "girls ...  girls, pay attention please !" .....

 "Ladeeez and Gentlemen ...   .... the first ever public singing appearance of the Dotee Divas !!"

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"Don't worry ....I'm sure they'll wake up any second now"............

A Baker's Dozen ... done!

... not muffins or cookies..but little Dotee Dolls.   They look like pretty little cupcakes to me ..   with icing and sprinkles ... or is it sparkles? ...

Originally I was joking about perhaps making a dozen...but, then... because I love to bake ... in my head (of course) it became a baker's dozen.  And, why not?  They are so much fun to do and so colourful and cheerful .. it's been a great few weeks of choosing the perfect fabrics and beads.

The first one or two were definitely a bit awkward ...well, maybe it was me who was a bit awkward.  Only because I didn't really know what the heck I was doing...but, I figured it out and sailed along with them soon after that.

And, here they all are....

click to see them closer...


I had this great idea (well, I think it's pretty cute anyway) for a photo of them in the muffin pan.. for blog fodder... so had to get busy and remake two of them that I had let fly the coop too early.

I borrowed Miko back from my neighbour just for the photo shoot so didn't have to re-make her ...

The second Roxanne is missing a little heart necklace as I couldn't find a second in my stash of stuff.... but, she is just as cute as ever.

So, now we have a dozen..

plus Astrid... (and, doesn't she just look so smug with her very own paper case)...

 ..   as an art installation on the coffee table ....


Thanks to Dot Christian for creating Dotee Dolls.... and, for the inspiration to do some fun little stitching projects  ...

.. still playing with dolls....

... and, here are the new ones since I last posted the pink brocade one...

This one is a bit of unusual coloured, almost tie dyed, fabric.  I gave her turquoise, shorter, curly hair.. and named her Aurora.
                                                     

I didn't know how this fabric would look once made up, but I like it.  It has a more geometric look to it, but once the face and beading was added... it's great.  She is Olivia.

                                                   

















Then, in my stash, I found a bit of fabric with flowers on it...which I used over the Easter weekend... made things feel quite spring or summery.... hence her name.... Summer.

A piece of beautiful turquoise and brilliant lime green.  Another of the Hoffman fabrics ... please meet River.

Then, the Ice Princess arrived.  A piece of very thin flowery fabric with some odd dark areas on it.  (so thin I lined it) I did manage to find a beautiful icy blue area large enough to  make a body.  It has some factory machine stitch embroidery on it... which I placed in the centre so I could use it for the beading.  Only silvery beads on there ...  I've been mulling over some Nordic type names........... how about .... Astrid? .....

Here's the back...another area of the fabric and look how totally different it is.  I gave her a unique bead from the 'collection' .... blue with silvery coloured circles on it ..with some almost ... coppery colouration here and there ... all the rest are silver or blue... icy......... mmmmm.............



















I have a little plan for them all when I get to the end of the project.                                              
There will have to be 3 more than the original plan  ... because I got too eager and sent 3 away already... hahahaha....oh, well, .... what's 3 more when I already have so many babies? .....

Why did I give them hair? ....

.................but, ....I like playing with their hair...........and they like it too..... look at those smiles.....

......see..........??

oh, alright .......

I'll have to admit...I like playing too......... with the beads.... and, they do seem pretty happy with all of it ...so I guess it's okay.........

 ....   carry on playing then.........

Eight Dotee babies...

...but, the last one left home the same day she was completed.  As a matter of fact..I had to work diligently to get her done.. she was a gift for somebody's birthday..
A friend who does origami with me.  I wish she had mentioned her special day a few sooner than she did... but, at least I got it done the following day.

She noticed the pink brocade when I was showing her my little collection of dollies... said she would like one made with that.  I wasn't really going to bother trying to make one with it initially.  It was just sitting there on top of the pile of possible fabrics I wanted to use.. ... you know how brocade is... erm...well, it is for me anyway...but, I remembered to leave plenty of seam allowance and it worked out okay.  I trimmed it closer later... leaving it a bit wider at the closure. Whew...

Click to see her closer and see the pretty beads and pearls ...

I put on some pearls and gave her one of the special silver beads we bought for some silvery papered origami ornaments.  We only found one small strand so we use them sparingly.



















She loves her; says she will carry her around for the better part of the day .. and is trying to decide on a name ...  so, for now... I call her Miko... we'll see if it sticks.

So, there were eight ..for about half an hour. .. but, now we are back to seven..  lucky number 7 again...

Here she is ...ready to leave home...

Little Miko... sorry, she is slightly out of focus... but I had already delivered her before I looked at the photo on the computer ...darn it... she looks so cute in her comfy papers......

Surprise!

Two more ... hahahhahahhahahhaha........wheeeeeee.....I'm losing it!  And, don't even ask what I'm going to do with them all!  I haven't a clue.....yet.

The purple one I made a few days ago..but, wanted to add some little bugle beads on the long strokes in the Pansy type flower...and, re-take the pics...I only had two on there and didn't really like the look of it.  I'm naming her Pansy ...of course.

Click on them to see some of the beads ... it will get you closer ...

They are both made from fabrics I received years ago from the Hoffman Challenge when Madame Pompadour took fourth place.  They sent me a pile of lovely stuff...

This one is still called "little girl" .... I'm thinking of names for her ... the fabric has a fall look to it... with some gold on the edges of the leaves... so I went with gold and green beads.

We now have septuplets.... they look like a bunch of Easter Eggs sitting on the table....

Dotee quintuplets

Did any of you notice there were 5 "danglies" in the photo last time?  No? ... Well, there were.

That means there were 5 Dotees to take pics of.. and here is the fifth...

I know, I know .....   I've gone crazy with them...but, they are such fun!  They come together quite easily (with the exception of the 'dangly'..   I still need to figure out a better system) and it is a great way to pass an hour especially at night before going to bed.  No computer screen glare depleting what little Melatonin my body possesses.  Actually I don't think I have any at all .. I never feel sleepy at night at all.  My eyes don't always want to do fine work ...but, my body never wants to sleep.

Then, in the morning... it won't wake up either.  I worked night shift for too many years back in the day I guess......

Roxy (short for Roxanne) ...  
As my sister says ...they all look like babies in their 'blankies'.  Yes, indeed they do.  All so serene and sleeping ... or, maybe they're smug and sleeping .... little buggers.... just teasing me cuz I can't sleep ..........  hmmmm...........

Dotee Dolls ... the beading .....

One of the most fun parts of a Dotee is the beading.  Well, it is for me anyway.  I love making the "danglies" and the hangers.  It's fun to arrange the lovely colours to complement the dolly.

Over the past few months a friend and I have been doing a lot of origami ornaments.. she saw some of mine before Christmas and wanted to learn how to fold and assemble...I was thrilled to have somebody to play with..so we spent many an enjoyable hour doing those.  Now, I'm making some in Easter colours...for my Easter Tree.  They have a little gold thread to hang them....with beads on it to complement the colours of the papers of the ornaments.

 I seemed to acquire lots of colours and sizes ..but, you can never have too many beads, right?  They are even fun just to look at and run your fingers through.
Last week, with my 50% off coupon at Michael's, I got this.

A whole container with thousands of seed beads...   whopping total ....  $19.49.  I bought a fairly large string of them at the bead store for $7.00 a month ago...  ...but..... they were all the same colour.  So, if I bought only 3 strings of beads in different colours... I would already have spent $21... what a bargain.

It is a good idea to scrutinize every aspect of it very carefully though...and to make sure how to open each of the containers so as not to spill out any ...(or plenty!) of the seed beads.  Trust me on this.  You turn the carousel on it's side and jiggle and shake it back and forth gently to make sure all the beads are settled into their various compartments.. BEFORE opening the lid.   And, then, when you close the lid... make sure it is done properly and is securely fastened.  See that little crevice in the photo below? (on the red beads) ... a lot of tiny beads can fall out of that opening!  And ... they did!  'Til I figured it out.  Much blue air ensued after the first careless closing.  I failed to realize that the lids fit just so, and must accommodate the corner tabs inside the lid properly, before trying to close the snap tabs on the outside of the lid.   And beads must not be on those little dividers either ..or the lid doesn't close properly.  It's a good system and it works ..if you pay attention.  Just sayin'......... if you buy one .... make certain you have it figured out ... please...

 Then, get a glass of wine and do some beading...oh, just a minute ...I'm empty... hang on I'll go for a refill.... .................  .........................  ......................

Don't you love my clutter?  It's the way I work.  Everything within easy reach ... and as I know you are aware ..all of a sudden, all of it is all over the place.  Soon I'm working in a pretty small space ... like ..  about 8 X 8 ....inches, that is!

Works for me.

It's still kinda organized....  (the ex-dental assistant) ..hahhaha....

....   and don't think I don't use every single tool on that mat either.  They are indispensable.  Every single one of them.


Of course, there is doubt, consternation and downright curiosity from various onlookers....

Well, of course, not everybody is interested in beading.....

Each to his own ........

Dotee Dolls..... a quartet...

So far I've not heard them singing or anything ....but, there are four of them, so they could if they wanted to.  Unfortunately, I can't help them... I don't. Sing that is.  Can't carry a note in a bucket.

The new girl is Sunny.  My sister think she looks like her.  hahahah...I think they all look pretty similar... maybe she meant looks like "hers"... oh, yeh, that's probably it.

Please meet Sunny

I even found a little yellow flower to put in her hair ... along with some orange and pink beads..

A quartet of dollies...

I've taken to calling them the Dotee Divas........ or, the DDs for short....

Dotee Dolls .... ad infinitum.....

hahahhaha.... they're everywhere now!  the birds have tried to carry them off ..or at least carry them around.  Looks like storks delivering babies.  Yikes!  Please, no!!

                                                           


















The third is a little redhead.... with blues, reds and some lovely pale green beads ...

So, now ...we have triplets!

All looking so content and almost cosy and sleepy.... perfect.....

.... and, soon we'll have a quartet..... as a matter of fact, she's already in the works.  I hope she can sing because I sure as heck can't ....

Who was it that mentioned I was mad ..or that this could be come an addiction?  ...well, of course, all of you were correct..... I am and it has....... oh, well......it could be worse.

Dotee Dolls

My second Dotee .. or Ditto Dotee as I call her....

A piece of pretty blue embroidered light weight fabric .. lightweight enough that I could have/should have backed it with another piece of lightweight something ...   I'll get it down pat by about the 4th or 5th...I'm sure of it.  And,... still a learning curve.. remind myself to leave more of a seam allowance on the third Dotee body.  I seem to stitch only about 1/8" from the edge no matter what I am stitching.

Probably from the bear making days...always trying not to waste any expensive mohair fabric.  With the cheap little bits of fabric I use for these...and I do seem to have a lot of it around from the doll making days... it is no big deal.  Just cut them out larger and leave a good seam allowance.

I was merrily stitching away when, all of a sudden,  realized that I had totally forgotten to leave enough room to turn it right side out!  acckkk!!  Look at this...only about 1/2 an inch left.
hah!  can't fool me.  I have turned teensy weeny fingers on dolls.  I have the tools and the expertise for this!!

An array of haemostats ... that'll do the trick.

Grabbed it deep down near the dangly tail piece...pulled carefully through the opening...then, teased the face disc though the tiny space as well... being careful not to pull it away from the fabric... and phew  ...  done and all still intact.













Then, stuffing through that little opening was no problemo ...done that before with little bears as well... but the fabric was fraying like nobody's business.  That was a problem.  I ended up stitching the hanger to a piece of twill and tucked it into the seam and stitched the fabric onto that at the seam.  Works like a charm.  But...next time.... bigger seam allowance so I don't have to wrestle with anything.  And, somehow, remember to stop stitching before I leave too small an opening for turning it right side out!

The colours in the first few are all out of whack due to the camera setting....I wasn't paying attention.  As you can see it even has the "sparkle" effect turned on.... sheeeesh........ oh, well...

here is one that is the proper colours.... a lovely soft blue with pinks..... and, hair.  My sweetie liked the "hair" on the first one and I have managed to find some yarn of appropriate colours to use for hair on all three (yes there are already triplets!) ....as a matter fact ..now I've begun a fourth.... and, she too, will have hair.  Must be my signature.....

and, I got fancy with her beads and used some pearls.... Maggi, you know where the small ones and the tear drop one are from......

Please meet Dotee Pearl .....