Who says you can't work on 10 or more dolls at the same time?

I went ahead and made bodies for all those heads now I'm padding them up, costuming, painting, wigging, and all that good stuff. Its almost Christmas and Wow! it will soon be 2012. So if the earth doesn't flip over, throwing us all out into the universe. We can pay taxes and get on with doll making!!!!!!!!!!! I think I should try to sell some of these. I'm running out of room. I hate this part. Marketing sucks. I've had an Esty account for a year now so I guess I should get with it. So guess what my new year resolutions are? Heres some photos of the dolls in various stages.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!

Doll done "Feather" and Canning, Freezing and Drying!

Well I can't believe its been almost 2 months since I have been back to blog. I 've worked on dolls but spent a lot of time in my garden and canning all I could. Our blackberries produced about about a 150 pounds. Absolutely incredible! I made lots of juice, jelly, syrup, pie filling and a lot went into the freezer. I decided since groceries are getting higher in the store that I would can and freeze all I could. Our apricot tree produced a bumper crop so they made jam and pie filling. Our little garden plums made about 5 pints of yummy jam. I was able to buy local corn and it went in the freezer too. My daughter and son inlaw bought a Ball Canning book for my birthday. Thank You! Since I was retired I bought a large pressure cooker, a nice ball canner, and a steam juicer, only to kill myself canning everything in site. Because of that new canning book I found all sorts of goodies to can. Pickled Pumpkin anyone? Yum! I want to can some more! Sweet Heart sliced apples-oh boy, my husband loves them so I made about 18 pints. Oh, I almost forgot, bought some Italian prune plums in Redding and canned some with Brandy. My friend has an apple orchard and since worms and birds ate ours she gave me Romes and Wolf apples. Canned and dried all of those. Since we had so much squash I made about 40 pints of Zucchini Christmas Relish. The last thing on my list is to make wine jelly. My mother used to make it when I was a kid and made it just for Thanksgiving and Christmas. The Internet found a recipe for me and I have Morgan David blackberry wine, so thats next! Which makes me remember that my friend Besty had elderberry's which she helped me pick and about 2 days later after making 3 gallons of juice. The out come is jelly and juice.

That's not all but guess I will tell you a little bit about the doll. The below photo shows his unpainted head. His name is Feather, he is 17" tall. His costume is fleece with faux fur trims at his head, wrists, hips, legs and tail. Vintage orange leather makes his top, belt, leg and wrist ties. He carries a brown leather bag holding small flowers and grass. Small stones decorate his legs, wrists and tail bands. He was fun to make. He would also like to tell you how happy he is and hello!

And while I'm at it. Doll Collector Magazine put my other time traveler doll in the October issue. It was a big thrill as well as a big surprise especially when its your birthday and reading the new issue you come upon your own doll. Thank You to Doll Collector Magazine.

Heads, Fun and Clones

Eight heads and two body starts. I decided I just wanted to practice doing heads. Check out the photo. I've started painting a second head so I could get the feel of where this doll might be taking me. Just practicing and letting go is really fun. The only problem is the time just slips away to fast. Sometimes I think it would be nice to not need sleep but feel good. Think of all the things you could do and get done! Right now I would like to clone myself. One clone to can, one to shear goats, one to garden, one to cook, one do the books, one to do errands and clean and, and, and. Well I have to go change the water in the garden and see if my lids sealed on the relish.

Doll Collector Magazine Sept 2011 Steam Punk!

Steam Punk Amanda was put into the the Doll Collector magazine issue September 2011. This is my first try at submitting a doll in the theme section. Thank you Doll Collector! It is so exciting to see a doll I made in print. Whats even better you have a dead line. I haven't had a deadline to meet in a long time. Its something I quit doing about two years ago with my miniature paintings on gemstones. They were making me crazy but I was working full time too. The pressure just got to be to much and I just couldn't do it anymore. I do hope to start again someday but I will definitely have better guidelines for myself and the collectors. I literally painted and sold those paintings for over 30 years! Well, back to doll making. So, if you are a doll maker you have to give this a try. The next theme is Fairytale Figures and the deadline is September 1. I don't think I will be able to make a doll for this one. I'm still finishing up some details on the studio and I have a couple of new head sculpts that need bodies etc. Check out your magazines and look for some interesting deadlines you might like to meet.

Summer Garden

Gardening, so much work! Nothing is ready to eat yet. I take that back. We have eaten onions, radishes, collard greens and swiss chard. Zucchini and crookneck are my favorites but they are just getting started. In Modoc with our late spring again, a cooler summer, fall is soon approaching. The pumpkins and winter squash are not going to make it unless we have a nice warm long fall. That doesn't happen to often. My blackberry vines are loaded. Yum! Blackberry juice, jelly, cobblers, syrup, and pie-oh my! So much for my diet. What diet? I love watching things grow. Next year I want to plant more flowers. Its so nice to have fresh cut flowers in the house. They are a natural happy high. I guess most of the work is in the spring and minor weed pulling thru the season. I need the exercise and fresh air. It also helps me stay motivated and refreshed when I go back in to work on my dolls.

Me and Pink?

Well so much for my faithful blogging but I have so many good excuses. The best one is we remodeled my studio. I have worked in an old trailer for years so it really needed some work. My sweet husband put in two large windows and a small one and new flooring. The mega job was actually finding a place to put all my life time storage (pack rat stuff) somewhere so the job could get done. Part of my job was to decide on a color and paint. I never thought I would see the day when I would choose "PINK" but I couldn't get it out of my head. I like it. There is still work to do like moulding and more paint touch ups but my stuff is moved back in and now I can get back to work. Organization is an on going job so I try to work on it as I work on my dolls or the dolls never happen. Back to the Studio- there is two rooms; one small and one medium with a door between. The smaller for sculpting and painting the other for the more dirty work like armatures, sewing, drilling, sawing etc. I love the windows! Major depression breakers. I feel so much better sitting in front of them even if I can't see out. So guess that means I have to trim that creeping virginia or virginia creeper, what ever its called. The remodeling will continue to need adjustments etc but the major work is done. Yeah!!!! As for the pink it is a soothing relaxing color and pink goes with dolls, don't you think!

Time Passenger

Wow! Its March 18, 2011. My lovely daughter Sharina says I need to be blogging everyday. I know that there should be no excuses but my mother had to be in the hospital for a week I've been running for all her needs. My other side line is goats; one beautiful Nubian milk goat, several cute Pygmies and a whole bunch of beautiful color angoras. Its kidding season and I have 3 moms left to kid. I did finish one doll. Yip-eee ! So see I am doing okay! Just not blogging. So, here is a couple of photos of my new doll; Time Passenger. I want to go with her the next time she goes anywhere! We have had 6 months of severe cold, snow, rain, hail, frost, freezing, and terrible wind!!!!!!!!!!!! Back to the doll. She is 14 1/2" tall with the stand. Her hand made costume is made from duponi silk, leather, vintage lace and actual watch parts. I would wear her necklace! I don't know how anyone gets those old watches apart but with a small hammer and ity bitty tools and a few hours the feat was accomplished. Her striped olive green and black leggings are velour. Her cane is wire wrapped accented with swarovski crystals. Her hat, shoes and body parts are polymer clay. She has a cloth body over a wire armature. Well, its time to go feed all our creatures and just to top my day off the sun just came out but the cold, cold, cold wind is trying to blow us to oregon. I will try to get a couple of goat photos in here to.

"Insulted Companions"

After I went to bed last night I swear I heard the Lion Mouse and Pawme fighting with Blue Dino. They all wanted to be the only companion to Blue Fur Haired Carnival Girl but there was nothing they could do because they couldn't all be on the stand at one time. Besides, Dino said, he matched and they didn't. Lion Mouse said he had fur hair too! Dino said, you don't have anything blue on you and besides, you look more like a hippie! And who wears orange boots anyway? Wait, wait!, listen to me, I have silver sparkle white fur, pink fur hair and really big, big blue eyes and blue fingernails! So why can't I be the companion, says Pawme? Well, Dino says, your eyes are too big and you probably can't even shut them! Well, how do you know I can't, says Pawme?

I finally got out of bed to make all three dolls shut up. I told Lion Mouse he was very much in style and very cute and he didn't need to be a companion to anyone. At almost 7" someone would be proud to have him alone in their home. I told Pawme she was beautiful and it didn't matter if she could shut her eyes or not. She would never miss a thing and with her beautiful pink hair she would never get lost. Being that you are only 6 1/2" tall you could stand by someones jewelry box and keep it safe everyday. I promised all of them that I would try to find good homes for them but in the mean time they are all going to be put in clear plastic bags to keep the evil dust man from suffocating them. The End.

"CARNIVAL"

It feels great to finish a piece and now I can get another one started. This is my second sculpt of an animal. The Dino was a challenge so the next one should be easier. The armature is everything! From the bottom of the stand to the top of hat is 11". The dolls outfit is all leather. Always use leather needles and a good thimble. You probably knew that. My fingers were sore for a long time. More details will be on my web page when my wonderful daughter gets some time to put it up - after I get the photos to her of course. I will post two other companions which I thought might work with this doll but the Dino worked out better especially since I had this teal blue thing going on. Its getting late so they will have to be posted later. I'm pooped.

Dino Drawing and Armature.

Time moves so quickly. I meant to have my drawing of the dino companion up by now. So here is a couple of photos of the drawing and the armature. I actually have the doll done now and I named the whole mini display; "Carnival." I will get it posted after I get some photos. You will be able to see how much I changed my dino from a scientific look to a happy friendlly little blue guy. I went to my daughters house in San Jose for a week to visit. It was like summer compared to Modoc. We had a great visit. Sharina taught me some techniques making wire wrapped jewelry so I can make some fancy new crowns for my dolls. I was also treated to barbecue ribs , sweet corn cake, artichokes and collard greens. It was so-ooooooo good! Our son in law; Sean can make a great barbecue. I think my favorite is his baby back ribs or maybe blue cheese burgers or maybe the salmon, no its definitely the ribs now! Yummy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

New doll

This is a new doll for Jan. 2011. She is almost done now but I have to add the accessories which I love to do. I'm also working on several options for her companion. Finishing the base comes after the dolls are done so I know what color scheme to use. Turquoise faux fair was used for her hair. Her outfit is all leather which really makes my fingers sore-I sew by hand, so I finally went shopping at one of my favorite stores in Klamath Falls, Oregon and bought needles and a thimble.
Jo Ann Fabrics is the place! I can not leave the store without more fabric and Christmas sale goodies. My husband says why don't you become a online supplier? Yes, I know, he keeps building shelves and cabinets for me. Our son says; mom, you won't live long enough to use all that stuff. Confession; Yes, I know I'm a hoarder-pack rat, but I enjoy every minute of it! When I die all of it is going to your sister !! Wait til she reads this. Ha! Well back to the subject. I will put up photos of my sketch, armature etc. for the companion creature or doll in the next few days. Its getting late and time to feed the creatures and then off to my studio.

Beyond Freezing!!!!!!

Getting up in the morning here is so hard this time of year. I look out the windows and crawl back into bed but can't sleep anymore so I get up and head to the kitchen to fix a hot cup of tea. The only thing I have to say is that it is absolutely beautiful! I don't know how our creatures can live out there. They do not come out of their little sheds and huts until they hear us open the door. Then all caos breaks loose seeing who can be the loudest. Theres 3 " to 4 " of ice to break in the tubs that don't have heaters. They don't make gloves warm enough, I've spent a small fortune trying to find a pair that is. The whole time I'm feeding all the goats, lamas, and now a donkey I'm thinking; I'm going to move to where its warmer, lets sell this place, lets sell the animals. Well, I've been saying this for over 30 years! Well, I guess I have to focus on the good things. Like clear air, space, family, good friends, a warm home, good food, good health, new goat babies coming soon and its beautiful even if its below O. (P.S. don't look for correct spelling or grammar here. My major was art not english! Ha!)