progress?

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I just went back to Feb. 13 to read my first post…

So it has been about 6 weeks and this will be an update.

–Agnes is done and she sits in a childs rocking chair in the room where I’m sewing these days.

–Haze is finished and has gone to Kansas City. She is on her way home now.

-The 2 Woman’s Home companion dolls are still both undressed… well actually, one has a hat and middy, and shoes and socks painted on, but no pants, the other is naked.

-The cranky looking kid? No progess.

-2 out of the 3 gourd dolls have bodies. The third one’s body is started- I’ve got the arms/hands made and turned and the fabris for the rest is dyed.

-Deare girl… well, I finally repainted her shoes blue… today! She needs a petticoat and then she is done. I need to photograph her, get the pattern together and send the paperwork off to Ike.

-I’ve got 30 new finished bugs and 15 more that need legs.

-3 of my dolls now have finished stands… always the last and least fun part of showing a doll.

It is very hard for me to change gears, going from the dolls to the bugs and back. It always take some regrouping time, cleaning up from one type of work, sorting and putting things away. I spent most of today cleaning up my attic room… it wasn’t too cold. Lots of mess left over from the various projects since Christmas time.

Now I really have to get back to work on some dolls!

the results are in…

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I got an email from Linda Smith who was in charge of the competition at the Kansas City Doll Fair. She wrote to tell me that-
“Number 87 received a score of 98 points out of 100, and received a Blue Ribbon.

Number 88 received a score of 97 points out of 100, and received a Blue Ribbon.

Number 289 received a score of 94 points out of 100, and received a Blue Ribbon.”

I am not sure which doll is 87 or 88 ( I sent Haze and the Edwardian Gentleman ), but 289 is Jane, the gourd head doll. I was most nervous about sending Jane, because I think she was in a category with many mixed-media and polymer dolls. After my experience last year, I was surprised and very pleased with the scores. I can’t wait to see the written evaluation.

I had an idea that last year, the person who was judging did not have a clear idea of what I was trying to achieve with my doll. This year I tried to be very clear… assumed I needed to explain. I sent 3 dolls because I thought it would be helpful to see different dolls that shared my style. I wrote about what the inspiration was and also pointed out technical details- like the one-seam hands and the removeable clothing. When I get the dolls back, I will post pictures, what I wrote and the critique.

This is the REAL reason I thought it was worth sending dolls again this year- I met Sherry Goshon at the Textile Tarts summer picnic/meeting which took place right after WOW last year. I showed her pictures of my work. When I showed her the picture of Esther, she recognised her… Said she’d seen the doll in Kansas City and had really liked it! Yes Mimi, people are really seeing the dolls that leave my house! I needed to hear that- sometimes, when one doesn’t attend the show it feels like the dolls are going out into a great black hole.

Daphne

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This doll is going off to a new home and I had to give her a name. She has been sitting on the piano, looking at me as I eat every meal… and I’ve been thinking about it. She is now Daphne.

spring!

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It must be spring- this crocus was blooming in front of the house yesterday.

On Saturday we went to Logee’s for some tropical air and a reminder that flowers will be blooming eventually. There is lots of color inspiration there.

new card, new bugs

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Here are some of my new bug pins showing off the new colors of their legs! They are sitting on the new cards I am making to display them on/ pin them to. I am making these to have some new colors and a good selection, just in case…

Yesterday, after my trip into Boston,I got off the T in Harvard Square and walked over to CAC to check up on the bugs. I brought them 20 pins at the end of February. None have sold yet – bummer. Maybe they will be a spring item… hmmm. I thought they were very nicely displayed though, and everyone at the gallery is very nice. I hope this works out.

Museum of Afro American History

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I went to the doll show at The Afro American History Museum in Boston. I was disappointed. The show was very small… there were only 2 cases- took about 20 minutes to really study the whole exhibit. If I hadn’t met my friend for lunch, it wouldn’t have been worth the trip to see the dolls. I am glad I saw the Museum though, interesting exhibits, and I picked up a brochure that had some old photos of children, all dressed up.

reference pictures

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This is a photo gallery with pictures of dolls that inspire me. I’ve collected these photos from eBay and other web sources -like auction sights and postings to the various mailing lists I read. The most interesting dolls are the ones that have been undressed and the construction is clear from the picture.