The first of the ladies is finished. This batch will be the Ladies of Summer, so all pastel and flowery.
I didn’t win a Softie Award, but you can see the winners here. I was thrilled to be a finalist and proud of myself for entering at all. It is not really in my nature to participate in competitions- I think I have an inborn aversion. Congratulations to the winners and all of us!
I finished one more before the shop update- Hurray! This guy is a little different- a totally modern type.
I had some problem figuring out how to do the chest hair. I stitched it in. It seemed okay. I went on to do the moustache and chin hair. Hmmm, now the chest hair looked less than perfect. Snip, snip, embroidery removed and new hair (done in feather stitch) looking much better!
Wispy facial hair, bead necklace, ponytail-
Side-view-
close-up of his hair in back-
He will join the others in my shop update later today- 3pm edt.
Here are the 5 fellows that I will be posting on Etsy on Tuesday-
Once I had them all lined up, it seemed right to keep going. Add in the guys with the suits-
And hey! Lets get out all the men dolls that I have around!
The “Big Men” are about 16 inches tall. The tattooed man design is about 23 inches tall. I say “about” because they are all a little different.
The update details again- My Etsy shop on Tuesday at 3pm edt. The tattooed guys will be $125 plus shipping.
If I said I would send you an email when they were available and you haven’t gotten one, I am really sorry. I don’t have a good system for saving those requests and as a result, I am sure that I’ve missed people. Email me if you have any questions- mimik(at)pobox.com. I’ve never done one of these announced updates before and it all feels very weird!
The Etsy shop update will be Tuesday afternoon- 3pm edt. I will post a group photo later today or tomorrow- I have to get to work on that! I had fun making this man mosaic on Flickr yesterday.
Old style bathing suit. I believe these suits were knitted of wool. Now that makes ya think!
I have really been enjoying doing the man faces. I never felt confident drawing mens faces until I started doing all these guys. I would try to draw a man but usually I thought the faces looked feminine. But, practice, practice! I get better!
I put 2 more (different) photos of this doll in my Flickr photostream.
Today is the last day to enter the 2nd Annual Softie Awards. I entered this year- I had to. They had a category for Embroidery!
I am hoping to have 6 done by Monday and then post them all on Etsy. Here they are, in progress, this morning.
I got one finished today-
I thought I’d ruined him with the acrylic wash, but I love how he turned out.
Vintage bias tape, rick rack and snap belt-
Back view-
I finished him at about 5:30 pm and then took him outside to photograph. The light was just right and I got lots of photos that I really liked- not the usual situation- hurray!
I didn’t realize how funny the pointing finger looked until I was working on the photos!
I love this toile. Before dyeing, it is brown on cream. I had originally rejected it because of the scale and the brown print. Now I think it’s perfect!
Check out this vintage Doll Man comic- so funny!
starting now. Getting going on these has not been a smooth process. First, I misplaced some of the toile that I’d bought especially… well I did finally find it. Isn’t it great? The Hawaiian theme?
And I’ve been having trouble dyeing flesh tones that I like- I am no expert with the dyes. As a result, it is difficult to reproduce colors that I’ve been satisfied with before. (Reminder to self- take more notes!) Also, all the scrap toiles I’ve been using take the dye differently. Arg. I have a crafting mantra- limit your variables… that’s the problem here- too many variables.
So- here is the first to be finished- on the left. I looked and thought and brought him to show off at doll club, but his skin was just too, too pink for me. I HAD to change it, but was afraid I’d ruin him… in the end, I knew I had to do something. I mixed up a wash of Burnt Umber acrylic paint and brushed it over him to tone down the color. Thank Goodness, he survived the operation! Phew! So, now we present Mr. Tattoo Man #1 in the next series!
I’m not sure you can even tell from the photos, but trust me, it’s better.
I sewed up 4 dolls. One, I managed to spill ink on- ink that does not come out … I told you I was having a rocky time with these. I have another one finished which I will post later. One more that I decided needed a color wash. We will see if he survives his treatment.
My plan is that when I have 5 or so finished, I will put them into my Etsy shop in a bunch. I will post and notify people who have written to me, when that will happen.
Dolls in progress-
and the first flower pictures of the year-
hellebore-
and crocus-
In my head and on the patterns, I’ve been calling this doll design “round bottom lady” which doesn’t sound quite nice when I post them… so then I have to come up with some other name and it never seems quite right. Anyway, not important.
Next! A Nature Guardian angel. I love these colors-
Some day I will find the photograph of my Mom in the caftan she made out of this crewel fabric- circa 1975.
Printed wool sweater and floral wire wings-
some side views-
and the back-
and here is the original sketch-
