Doll

I’ve been working away at some dolls and also my studio. I am see some progress in getting the studio feeling right. Here are a few peaks-

When I decided to move my studio downstairs, I knew I wanted to do this-

I think of this as my internet connections altar and I posted a fully annotated version here on Flickr. These are all things that I have bought, traded, or been given, from people that I have “met” through the internet. Some of them I have also met in real life. It is a tangible display of the richness that the craft blog world has brought into my life. Sorry- gushing!

This is the pin-up board over my desk-

So many goodies, including a sweet little monster by Elsita. Yep, right next to one of my Peewee toys.

Today, I hung my ornament dolls from my display shelf. They are now flying over my desk.

And, some ladies in progress. I thought I’d get one of these finished today but instead got distracted by the organizing/puttering.

The first (of many, I hope) meet-up was this morning. It was fantastic!

There were 6 of us. Liz, Louise, Betsy, Kerry, Crystal, and me. It was exactly what I’d hoped for- we yakked away about google stats, changes at Etsy, shows in the area, blogging and Twittering… the kind of talk that has a very limited audience in my life.  And after 1 1/2 hours of talking, we all trooped down to the Goodwill and did some thrift store shopping.  It was so much fun! Next meet-up, Feb. 10. Everyone is welcome. If you feel funny about coming into a group of people who know each other, email me and we can have a pre-meet-up meet-up or just get acquainted by email.

And, the first doll of 2010. How apt is it that it is a baby? This little one was all ready to be appliqued- all the pieces cut out and pinned on, but I never got to it before Christmas.

We had an afternoon of buttons at doll club yesterday. I learned so much! One thing I learned was about old celluloid button and how they deteriorate and damage other buttons in their vicinity. I saw examples of what a deteriorating button looks like. I came home and went through all my buttons again. I have now separated out the bad buttons and will decide if I can bring myself to just throw them away. An afternoon of button talk couldn’t have come at a better time for me- since I’d just organized all of mine.

Thanks for all the advise about having my quilt done- I stopped at a local quilt shop yesterday and got the names of several people to call. I’m excited about it!

I actually spent a little time on a doll today. I want to finish my December, before changing to Christmas present mode, dolls. There are a few cut out and even 3 that are stuffed and ready to finish. It would be so easy to leave them and get started on something new but then they haunt me. I know I will feel better if I finish them up.

*Update* photos of those BAD buttons-

the celluloids-

I hope this is clear enough. I will also post them to flickr, where you can look at them very big. Do you see all the little cracks? They get bigger and bigger and then the buttons crumble.

the metals-

Funny thing is, I was looking for this kind of green corrosion when I was making this robot.

I understand that both of these types of deterioration are “contagious” and affected buttons should be removed from the rest of your collection.

I’m working on the quilt- see resolutions here.

The quilt has a Japanese motif. I gave Peter several choices for what kind of quilt he’d like- the only 2 I can remember are wool or choosing fabrics from my collection of Japanese cloths. I have a lot of Japanese cloth. Some of it come from my Mom’s collection, some I have collected over the years. There are the fabrics for gift wrapping and loosely woven fabric “towels”. (I know they have official Japanese names, but I don’t know what they are.) There was a roll of cotton fabric that my Mom bought on one of her visits to Japan.

Peter picked out what he liked and I added some other fabrics (with his approval) for color and connecting. We worked on arranging them on the floor of the attic. Then he left and I got to work on other things… all fall. I think the hardest part of making the quilt is me getting started on it!

I am not set up to work on something this scale. I am making a full size quilt- approx 6ft x 7ft.  I was okay with the center panel- I made myself enough studio floor space that I could look at it. But this morning, when I need to expand out from the center, I spread out on my bed. That green in the upper right-hand corner is my blanket and not part of the quilt.

The one fabric that Peter choose that is not Japanese is that circle fish fabric. It is a batik that my Mom bought for me when I was in High School- so probably 1970 or so? I loved it so much that I never made anything out of it. I hung it on the wall for a while in college. I think I might finally be getting over that craziness of not using my favorite things- seems silly now.

The top is now finished. I am very nervous about the next step. I am considering having someone else do the quilting because I am worried about making a big mess of it. And, frankly, I don’t think I’d enjoy doing it. I know I don’t want to hand quilt, so I’m talking about machine quilting. Any thoughts on this?

I am coming to love January. Consciously. In the same way that many people loved September when they were kids. It is the beginning of new things, a time to contemplate the hopes for the year ahead, think about the year past. For me it is also a time to clean up the mess in my studio from the (minimum) 6 weeks of madness that always seems to precede Christmas.

I am sorting through piles, putting things in their places or finding a new place for them. This involves collecting all the pattern pieces that seem to be scattered everywhere and getting them back into their folder and file drawer. Sorting through fabric that is everywhere into- too small to keep, the right size for applique decorations, big enough to cut a doll part out of. Also the very important”what-was-I-thinking, I’ve-got-to-get rid-of-this” pile and the”how-could-I-have-forgotten-this-treasure” pile. Putting the various threads back into their drawers- embroidery floss, sewing machine threads, embroidery wools. It so inspiring to go through and touch all my materials.

I have been working on the buttons. When I moved my studio, I knew I had a button problem. They were everywhere and what happened was there were the buttons I used and the buttons I’d forgotten about. I have buttons from my mom, from friends, from Yard Sales, from all the clothes I disassemble. Way too many. It has been fun and relaxing to sort through them all. My goal is to end up with one drawer. Everything together. I now have a big bag of buttons that need a new home. As I sort through the buttons, I keep asking myself, would I ever use this? On Anything? The good ones engender visions of dolls with coats and sweaters, earrings, shoes, hats. And there are the good ones that I  love just for their color, design or how they feel in my hand. You see why I am having so much fun?

I am also refolding all the cotton fabrics that somehow spilled out of their bins during December. It makes me wish I had twice as many hours in my day to work with all these beautiful colors, patterns, and memories.

btw- I was never one of those kids that loved September. There might have been a day or two at the beginning of each school year when I hoped that some magic would make the year a good one. It never happened and I grew up and discovered that life isn’t school- Thank God! Label that as confessions of a creative, ADD, artistic, school failure.

More January planning! (I love this kind of cotton ball snow)

The next Tiny World class will be Saturday, Feb. 27  in Arlington, MA. Most of the info-

Make your own Tiny World! Saturday, February 27, 10am to 4pm at my house. (Boston area) $60 includes everything but the teacup- you can bring your own. Limited to 8 people. More info.

Email me at mimik@pobox.com to sign up or if you have questions.

What is that expression- “start as you mean to go on”- that is it, right? So the first thing to work on is my biggest goal- making more real life connections. I am inviting Boston area crafty business people to meet-up with me in Davis Square. The first meet-up will be Wednesday, Jan. 13 at Starbucks at 10am. If you can’t make it but would like to be notified about future meet-ups, send me an email (mimik(at)pobox.com). At some point I will start a google group or Facebook page or something. I need to come up with a catchy name- any ideas?

We had our first cardinal at the bird feeder- so pretty in the snow!

I’m going to write some goals for 2010. Not “resolutions” which somehow seem about personal discipline, but more like hopes. I skipped doing a list of goals last January and find that I am disappointed- it is fun to reread what was on my mind a year ago.

Yeah, well… Every year at this time, I have the same goal. Get my studio back into work mode. Right now, bits of every Christmas project I worked on litter the studio. Not to mention bits of all the other work I did in November and December. Now is the time to find the floor again!

And, realistically, I need to start with a resolution after all. I promised Peter a quilt, on his birthday, last April. Got to get working on that.

Onto the goals!

-Write up more patterns to sell. Give more away- free tutorials and patterns. Or maybe just more giveaways.

-that ties in to improving my comfort level with Photoshop and InDesign.

-Get rid of stuff- I’ve been saying that since we cleared out my parents’ house 5 years ago now? Here is an example of the kind of thing I really should just throw away, but…

I mean, how funny are they? Just the legs! These are from the edges of my Spoonflower fabric. Ideas anyone?

-Open a new Etsy shop to help with the clear out- supplies and vintage stuff.

-teach more classes. I’d love to do some travel teaching but am not so sure how to make that happen. For now, the dining room table teaching is working very well for me.

-do a major blog redesign. I have been thinking about that for a LONG time, but it is one of those things that is very easy to put off.

-get to a place where my studio feels like home again. That includes getting things more organized, going through the unopened boxes, finishing hanging art up. I want to do a photo/video open studio.

-And my biggest goal- Spend more real life social time with people who are trying to figure out this art/craft/internet business and life thing. Start a coffee shop meet-up to make that happen. I am so tired of trying to talk to people who have never heard of Etsy or read a blog. Too much explaining and no communicating- you know what I mean?

I might add some more to this list in the next few days. I am getting excited about this new year.

I bought myself one little present this Holiday season. A wise little owl to watch over my desk. I found him at Crystal‘s booth at the Bazaar Bizarre in December. I absolutely could not walk away from the table without him- it was funny really. I love him- Thanks, Crystal!

HooT!  Happy New Year Everybody!