Artist's Trading Blocks

This has been a great summer class.  I have learned lots of new techniques and am just amazed and stunned at the talented people taking the class.  All of the dolls are fabulous and so very original.

Here are my Artist trading blocks from the Artful Gathering's class - The Imaginariam: Anthologies of an Art Doll.  They are made from wood and chunky enough to stand on their own. One of the techniques I just love is making stacks of beads on a headpin and adding them to doll and even the chunky ATB's.
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 I also purchased this lovely doll from my instructor Mary Jane Chadbourne's Etsy shop.  The Butterfly Queen was from the series she completed last year and provided the inspiration for the current class.

3 dolls done

I finished my last doll from the 3 doll kit - Party Girl..  There are also 2 chunky ATCs made of wood for me to work on next. This is a great class.  It's so nice to work at your own pace.  Since there are so many taking the class new pictures of the fabulous dolls and ATCs are posted every day.  The class runs through August 26th and I will be watching the videos many, many more times before the class ends.  Thank you Artful Gathering 2014 and Mary Jane Chadbourne you both are fabulous.  I will be taking more classes next year!

Here are the 3 dolls:

Party Girl, Garden Goddess and Funky Geisha

My first On Line Retreat

This summer I'm attending my very first online art retreat from July 16 through August 26, 2014.  Artful Gatherings http://atozinnia.org/ has the greatest classes. The one that got my attention was The Imaginarium: Anthologies of an Art Doll with Mary Jane Chadbourne.  There are 138 people taking the class and every day the number goes up.  It's really difficult to keep up with email but they are organized by subject so that really helps.
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I have watched all the lessons several times and have completed 2 out of my 3 dolls.  I also have 2 chunky ATCs made from wood to work on as well.  This is a great way to take a class I will definitely do it again. I also got to buy some cool are supplies and had tons of fun shopping for the class. 

Here is the kit I purchased with the class:

My Garden doll

 My Japanese doll

Gifts for me

While I was out shopping I ran across this amazing glass angel and baby doll with one glove.  I knew they would be just perfect for my tree of handmade ornaments this year.





I also had to do a wing repair on the angel that guards my studio.

Pin cushion doll

When I was out and about today I stopped by the antique store in town.  Once in a while I find something that I just have to have.  Well today I found this really sweet pin cushion girl.  I don't think anyone ever used her as a pin cushion.  She now has a new home in my studio hanging from the ceiling.  She has silver painted hair which looks original - I thought this was a bit odd.

Doll going to Texas

This doll and one of my hand dyed doilies are on there way to Texas to my art friend Chaska.  She just happens to be teaching an Icon doll class right now.  Stop by her blog http://www.artalchemystudio.com/ and check out her lovely art.

Faith

This one is a keeper.  An old body with head attached from Germany.  I added the arms and covered up the hole in her head with a piece of handkerchief.  She is dressed in the same torn hanky has part of an old rosary for a hanger and a part of a rosary around her neck.  She will be watching over my studio to remind me to always have faith.

One angel left

I went to pick up the left over Christmas angels and earrings at Stifel and Capra http://www.stifelandcapra.com/ in Falls Church, Virginia. The good news is there was only one angel ornament left (it will be going to a new home on Sunday) and 3 pairs of earrings. So the angels were a hit again this year.

While I was visiting with Theresa http://stifelandcapra.blogspot.com/ she showed me these very cool wooden blocks - I got first pick and decided that 12 would be a good number to start with. They look like they may be some kind of game pieces.

I looked up the names on the blocks and this is what I found out.   They are Japanese and here are the meanings:
OKAME - female 1/2 of a traditional Japanese theater mask
TAI - red good luck fish
NEKO - good luck cat
TSURU - crane
KEITO - flower
MASU - square wooden box used to measure rice
TONBO - dragonfly
USAGI - rabbit
HATO - couldn't find this must be a bird of sorts
NINGYO - mermaid, fish-like creature from Japanese folklore

Angels

I made some angel ornaments out of antique body parts and tin cans this year. I also experimented with frozen charlotte earrings. I used old rosary beads for the hangers. They are at my friend Theresa's store Stifel and Capra http://www.stifelandcapra.com/ in Falls Church, Virginia, looking for new homes for the holidays. Check out Theresa's blog at http://stifelandcapra.blogspot.com/ to find out all the great events at the store for the holidays.

Dolls again

I'm working on some new dolls using small Christmas tins that had coco in them. This poor doll in the photo is on my design board and the air is drying and cracking the old plastic.

Earrings in design stage

I am designing earrings using frozen charlotte dolls. I'm even using body parts - can you guess what part is in the picture with the fish? Is this too werid?

Frozen Charlotte earrings

I have a few tiny frozen charlotte's that I'm turning into earrings. Here is my first experimental pair.

Doll class update

This is what I have so far. It's done except the head is not really attached and I always seem to add more stuff.

I never think that something new is going to be hard. I have to say that I've been struggling with the doll class. First the boots and gloves were way to small (my seams were too big). I saved the boots but will need to make new gloves. When I sewed the doll the belt got sewed to the crotch which prevented me from turning it. I ended up with a hole in the crotch and one arm where the stitches pulled out - because now I'm barley leaving a seam allowance. The slit I used to turn the doll was about 4 inches long. I had a terrible time turning the legs and arms. Stuffing went OK. I made a doll about 10 years ago and still had a set of tubs and rods used for turning - I would not have been able to turn the arms and legs with out this tool.

The class challenged me to try something new. The first time through is always a learning experience. I have two more heads and I feel sure that I will have an easier time finishing them.

Thanks to Chaska Peacock http://www.artalchemystudio.com/ and Georgina Diaz http://lloronaarts.blogspot.com/ for hosting the class. I can't wait to see the other dolls!

Doll heads - Just baked!

Here are my three doll heads. I just took them out of the oven to cool off. I still need to hang some things from their horns. This was first lesson in the online Steampunk Doll class. I think I'm going to use the purple one for the class.

Dream doll

I took the dream doll to Stifel and Capra tonight http://www.stifelandcapra.com/index.php I noticed one of my dolls had sold so I took this one in to place on the empty hook. Everyone was setting up yummy tables of food for the First Friday celebration! Now if it would only stop raining we could all get some much needed sunshine to improve our cloudy moods!

Eights

The plan is to use these blocks of wood as doll bodies. I guess I'm not quite done with the dolls yet.