Sorry - It's Been a While.

My last post was on my birthday.  I can't believe 4 months have gone by that quickly.  So what have I been up to?  Well, not much dolly making I'm afraid. 

Some of you may be aware I'm leaving this wonderful green island and moving back to the mainland to be closer to my family.  In particular my mum, as dad passed away last year. During this time I have done a mini make over, sold the house and now packing ..... and packing ...... and packing .......  I haven't even started my tiny "studio". 

I'll be flying back to Sydney 4th December to look for a new house up in the Blue Mountains - something with character and a bit of age.  I'm not a modernist and would call my decorating style "ecclectic clutter".  The cottage we currently have is a lovely 1836 convict brick Georgian home, and unfortunately Sydney doesn't have many of these still around, so I'll be looking at Victorian age timber cottages - still gorgeous.

So as I don't have any dolly making photos to post I thought I'd give you all a look at a few photos of the house I'll be leaving, and hopefully in the next couple of weeks be able to share with you photos of my new home.

Suki's Off to England

This little sweetie is Suki, the Yorkshire Terrier, who's mum lives in England. She's been made into a brooch so that Suki's mum can wear her/take her wherever she goes.

Works In Progress

I'm working on two dolls at the moment ......... a small doll approx 8" high (his legs aren't on yet) which will have a horse pull toy ...........

and my version of a Pennsylvania Rag Doll (which I came across in the Maida site).  The Rag Doll is huge - I've used about 400gm of a block of paperclay just on the head and boy is she heavy!! 

I've Had Puppies

Well sort of .................. I've finished painting 3 more Pugs and a pair of Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. 

Ruth has been kind enough to pose with them, allowing them to sit all over her - she does look a little uncomfortable. They are listed on Etsy and I will also be making and taking orders for more types of dogs, cats, whatever people can think of. 

Ruth with her Pug

Well, here they are! Ruth with her Pug. I'm going to keep these two for my own collection as I made a bit of an oops when sealing Ruth's face with a slight smear between her eye brows. And as Pug is my first attempt at making this style of dog Ruth and he can stay together. I do plan to make more Pugs, and Cavaliers and Cats and just about anything that will look cute in a doll's hands, and all will be handpainted, original pieces............... so please watch this space.

Pug Phase 1

Well, here's the line drawing and first go at watercolouring for the Pug I plan to turn into tiny little stuffed toys for Izannahs. I scanned the images in and I can see I need deeper shadows for the tail where it meets the Pug's bottom and the rear foot.

My first watercolour attempt was too heavy, and I'm too embarrassed by the result to show you - My darling thinks it looks fine so I think I'll use that one to practice some crackle medium and if it comes out OK I'll show you. In the meantime, what do you think so far?

Why Not A Little Doggy Painting?

I can't believe it's been so long since my last post. Easter gone and now Mother's Day. I have been dolly making, but it's been a slow process I'm afraid. I'm making a bear to go with my Izzy style doll but having trouble getting small enough bear joints ...... so I thought I'd do a little portrait of my Cavalier Mr Darcy (every woman needs a Mr Darcy in their lives at some time).

My darling husband took these amazing shots of Darcy, making me wonder why can't I do that when photographing my dolls! Isn't he just the cutest??? What you can't see are his de-stuffed, eyeless or headless toys.

I thought a lovely watercolour but on what?? ...... fabric, canvas, ivorine. I'll keep you posted ...... regularly ........ promise.

In the meantime, to warm up my rusty portrait painting fingers I thought I'd try my hand at making small Pug dog cushions (approx 2 to 3" in size) to go with other Izzys for the future - I'm going to watercolour these onto fabric and then slightly age them.

I have no plans this weekend - the first since returning from Sydney just after Easter, so I plan to use it to paint the Pugs. I'll say a little prayer to the camera fairies that the photos look as great as Mr D.

Milly with her Doll

Well, this is my little angel for the ADO challenge all finished. I thoroughly enjoyed making her - especially her little 3 inch doll. I used a Japanese kimino remnant for Milly's dress and I'm pleased with the way the two tone colouring worked out. Little doll is all paperclay with arms and legs attached with fine beading wire so that they allow her to sit. I've listed her on Ebay along with dolls from some of the other talented ADO artists.
Click here to see how she looks http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Handmade-OOAK-Cloth-and-Paperclay-Doll-Milly-ADO-Doll_W0QQitemZ190380487504QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_Dolls?hash=item2c538fb350

She's an Angel In The Making

When finished she's going to be my contribution for the ADO Angels challenge. I've made her hair out of paperclay so I'm hoping it paints up well. I've put a hole through her hair for either a ribbon or halo - not sure yet.

My Little Leprechaun

I'd like to introduce you to Roisin, who is a Leprechaun and is just under 7 inches. Roisin is gaelic for Little Rose. She may look cute and innocent, but like all Leprechaun's she is an imp at heart and behind her serene smile and bright blue eyes hides a mischievous heart. I've made her little high chair out of twigs found in the garden and her rug from fabrics I've been hoarding.

Suzie McMahonn's Moxie Pattern

All of you who know and love Susie McMahon's work will be familiar with a lovely pattern she created called Moxie. Over a year ago at one of Susie's monthly doll groups I used Susie's pattern to create these two sisters. As you can see Susie's patterns are so easy and well created you can let your imagination run wild. The older of the two girls has been dressed with an old piece of chiffon type of fabric, which I have added a small amount of embroidery across the bodice. I've left the hem rough and un-hemmed. Her head has been covered in a cap made from a vintage piece of lace and her feet have socks and shoes. Her shoes are made from soft felt hand sewn from a pattern Susie has and her socks are made of fine finger gauze (perfect for little dolls). The younger sister at the front also has a vintage piece of lace around her hair - her hair is made of wool roving. She is wearing shorts made from soft cotton and a cardigan. This was made for another doll, but I thought it looked great on her as it's slightly big and looks like a hand-me-down. She is bare foot. Both are sitting astride a wooden rocking horse). I have tried to represent them of a time when during the depression kids wore well worn clothes and hand-me-downs, and the pleasures of even riding an old rocking horse were special and felt like riding the real thing.

Finished Izannah Walker Dolls

Well, it's been a while since my last post, so I'm looking forward to getting back to sharing with you what I'm doing and in turn spending wonderful hours catching up on what you've all been creating. This is just a quick post (as I need to get ready for work (rats!), but these are the two finished Izannahs I started last year. I'm tossing up a few names at the moment (don't want to name them something they won't be happy with!). They look quite content reclining in their cane chair. Hope you like them.