Doll

some of the fabrics I’m using for the brides-

The pintucks at the bottom of the pantaloons are from an antique shirt (bodice) front. I only had one side of a front of the bodice- makes you wonder! The lace is added seperately.

The over-dresses are made of lace pieces- this one was the bottom of a petticoat, I think-

This one is pieced together from some fancy cuffs- I also have a collar that matches, but I didn’t need that much-

and this last bit was something out of an old friends dsess-up trunk. I have no idea what it was originally-

I’m feeling kind of sad- the second of my kiddos has left the nest. Julian is off to Minnesota, college at Macalester. With Eleanor in Cape Town, South Africa this year, my family seems very spread about on the planet.

So I’ll post some nature pics-

This is a seedpod on the mimosa tree (albizia julibrissin) in the backyard.

I have a collection of potted orchids. I really don’t worry about them too much and in general I’m not great at keeping them alive. I thought I had killed this one last year when all it’s “leaves” (?) fell off. It has come back to life though

and look- buds!

One more atc- from Hil at Spirits Dancing in Australia. Isn’t it wonderful- It’s a computer bug!

This is my desk today-

It is piled with reference books, dolls, fabric and lace. The brides are coming along. The challenge with them is to make myself use some of the beautiful antique and vintage textiles and lace I collect- after all, this is what I am suppose to be collecting it for! The 3 ladies have their pantaloons, petticoats and their underdresses. I am now working on the over-dresses of lace.

The groom costuming is also moving along. I found (on my bookshelf) this book by Susan Sirkis. It has historical fashion drawings and patterns for dolls. I was able to modify one of her frock coat patterns to fit my groom- so helpful to have a starting place. I found the sewing instuctions hard to follow though and gave up trying to follow them.

Here is a fantastic and fun site- it is the Chomick and Meder Cafe Press Shop.

I hit the mail jackpot on Monday! An atc from the other side of the world, Fiona of Leap-of Faith lives in New Zealand and sent me this-

Jess in Ireland sent me these-

I don’t think she has a blog, but you can see more of her work here. All these atc’s came with hand made envelopes to keep them in. So intiguing!

I made more over the weekend.

you can see the rest at my flickr gallery. I still have lots to trade if you’re interested.

I got 2 other great packages from trades of atc’s, but from people who don’t make them so I traded for other stuff- probably cheating I guess, but I’m not going to worry about rules…

Thanks so much Cathy for my box of antique beads, lace, ribbon, fur scraps, vintage buttons and glitter. The package could inspire a story- it is so evocative of an earlier fashion and life. Also thank you Michelle, for more fiber goodies- great textures- yum.

My ATC trades are trickling in- this is so much fun! Much better then chain letters, which I sometimes tried when I was a kid and was always disappointed. I’ve gotten 3 so far-

2 cloth collages from Hanna in Sweden and a minature painting from Emily in Pennsylvania. Aren’t they wonderful! I am trying to figure out a good way to display them. I think this album by Fiona at leap-of-faith is a great idea.

I made this one today as a “sketch” for a larger piece I’m working on-

lads-

and lasses-

I got tagged by Hilda at Planeta Hilda. I have to admit that I was pleased to be tagged, but it’s not really something I want to participate in. Suffice it to say, as a middle-aged, ADD artist, I have plenty of idiosyncracies!

Great news for me- I am going to have some dolls in a fiber arts show at the Handworks Gallery in Acton, MA. The show is opening on October 8. Also, I will have some of my dolls there after the show. Because I will have the dolls in the gallery, I will be taking the prices off my website or repost them to match the gallery price.

Art Doll Quarterly has a great article/interview with Scott Radke, one of my favorite artists. It is the Autumn 2005 issue.

A new sketch book and some topiary emroideries-

this one is another atc-

a pile of dolls- now they have faces.

Favorite tool of the day-

I’ve never used these before- they’re great for sanding little doll parts!

and, I have a very good friend who knows how to make me so happy on my birthday!

I thought this bride and groom project was going to be easy. I used one of my patterns that had worked before, shrunk it in the copy machine and did just a few adjustments… I am now on my fourth prototype, trying to get things right. I’ll have a whole wedding party at this rate!

When I get frustrated or my hands start to really hurt, I play with the applique. Emboldened by the ATC’s, I tried something a little bigger-

Some ATC tutorials- from Judi at Art Dolls.

And Hil at Spirits Dancing pointed me toward this one.

I have more if you are interested in trading. The ones that aren’t available have a name in the description area.