Flower lady is #50!

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This is my fiftieth doll of 2008- A goal has been reached!

When I totalled up all my sales from 2007, I figured out that I had sold 50 dolls. My goal for 2008 became- make at least 50 dolls and I’ve made it! From now on, everything I make will feel like the next level. Here are all the dolls from this year, so far.

This past Saturday, I went on an expedition up to Concord, NH for the Concord Arts Market. It was so much fun! My friend Katy organized it. Jessica and Lucie– buddies from Boston Handmade– were showing their work. I was on the jury to choose the vendors and it was so much fun to see the work in person. And, I finally got to meet Susan from Artstream! It was a great day!

tropical lady and some linkage

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I am working on some ladies-

I’ve put 6 together- the cutting and sewing phase. Or maybe I should call it the inside-out phase- all the parts of making them that I do before I turn them right-side-out. Hmm, I like that!  They will trickle out as I figure out who they are.

One done-

She is a tropical lady.

Hopefully, this one is next-

Did you see the enormous and beautiful mushroom that my son found in our neighborhood?

I found this interview of Sharon Schamber on Craft Sanity completely absorbing. The way she talked about creativity and ideas truely resonated with me. I love podcast interviews with artists where they talk about how they work, how they think, when and where they get their ideas. I end up participating in the conversation in my head! It helps me think about and make words for what I do too.

he was suppose to be a pirate

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but he turned out to be more of a biker dude. That happens sometimes. Well, actually a lot. I start out making one thing and it turns into something else. I’m not one to have it all planned out before I start.

I made him a vest- red paisley from a Liberty shirt that had belonged to my Dad. I made his head tie out of it too. The vest just wasn’t working so I ended up using the fancy paisley side for the inside. Now there is a surprise inside.

I like his blue hair.

the guy thing

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I’ve always thought of myself as an artist with girl appeal. When I used to do pottery, my work was painted with images of women and children, mostly mirroring what was going on in my life. There would be open studios at the building I worked in and when couples came in, I would see the man’s eyes glaze over. When I started making dolls, it was pretty much the same. Probably even more so. After all, what is more girly then dolls? Then I started noticing a change. It started out with the robots… then the tikis, and now the tattooed men. When I started showing them in my booth, I would notice that men would come over to get a closer look. Even if they weren’t with a woman. Wow! Big changes!

Now that I am in my show season- pretty minimal by most artists’ schedule- 3 during the fall months, I’m thinking about making dolls especially to encourage a wider audience to look at my work. So, I finally finished up 2 tattooed guys for the market last weekend.

I had them hanging on my folding screen. The funniest thing- I saw a number of kids walk up to look at them, stare for a minute and then pose- mimicing the tattooed men. I loved it!

Anyway, I will be making a few more of these but they will probably be reserved for the shows I’ll be doing- October 12 and Dec. 13 and 14.

more tiny world pincushions

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I got a few done for the market. And more not quite done- housing futures…

A snowy hilltop.

That tiny snowman was fun to make. And here is the back-

I call this one Big Flowers- inspired by my amazing sunflower crop this year.

and the back-

This one, with a white house, sold.

I will be doing an Etsy update tomorrow (Tuesday 9/23) around 3 EST. I will list the 2 pincushions and 2 girl dolls. Also, some more magnet sets. Sorry, no tattoo men right now.

market report

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mine, not all that bad news over on those other kinds of blogs.

The weather was perfect, I met some wonderful people, loads of positive feedback from visitors and other venders, and I sold some stuff.

Here is my booth on Saturday morning when I was at the end of the row and my booth was open on 2 sides-

The second day I tried out a slightly different set-up when I was in mid-row and only open in front-

I guess it doesn’t look that different but little changes and tweaking are part of the fun. I LOVE my banner! I think it made the whole booth look better. Another big excitement- I got it all figured out to take credit cards. WooHoo! The Big Time!

I gave away enough of my Moo cards that I just placed another order. That’s a good sign. I always dread the tizzy I get into when prepping for an event like this, but once I’m there, I am reminded how great it can be. I will be back in the South End on Sunday, October 12.

girl in red dress

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some dolls fight me all the way. This is one of them.

She’s had several different outfits. And, different legs. The thing is, I really liked her head- the face, hair, expression… I just had such a hard time getting the rest of her to work for me. Something wouldn’t look right so I’d go work on another doll. This one was what got all the rest of them finished!

In the end, I’ve made her something fairly simple and that works the best. Isn’t it always the way!

This is the last of the girls for now. I am spending this week getting ready for the Market this coming weekend. I am trying to finish all the half finished projects in my studio right now. I need to get my banner ready to hang and tag everything. All that little stuff takes so much time. I won’t be showing anymore finished pieces until next week.