Thursday, October 24, 2013

Cloth Marrotte and Merabella Mermaid

         A Marrotte is a jester scepter, or basically a head on a stick. Several in a vase make a great display!
        A Cloth Marrotte is simply a cloth head on a stick. But these are not so simple. These are whimsical, detailed faces with ornate head dresses to finish them off. Tradition holds that whoever had the Marrotte must entertain with a story or song, then pass the Marrotte on to the next person. This is a great family and party game.

        The Cloth Marrotte begins on Doll Street October 25th.  I hope to see you in class!
        Merabella Mermaid is a beautiful cloth doll with lots of bead work to embellish her bodice and waist as well as her tail. Details include needle sculpting a pretty face and torso, articulated fingers and her wild hair as well as detailing her face with color. Detailed beading instructions are also part of the online workshop.
       Merabella Mermaid begins November 15th at Joggles. Come and play with me!

Monday, October 7, 2013

Hey Doll Face



     Does creating doll faces befuddle you? I'll be teaching one of my most popular workshops at Doll Street beginning November 8 and it's called "Hey Doll Face." 

     This workshop focuses on facial anatomy for precise feature location, needle sculpting a pretty face and then coloring that face with pens and pencils - no paint! An added bonus is how to wig a doll and add real hair lashes and brows. 

     Additional techniques include sewing and stuffing the head well, and how to complete a cloth over cloth finish so there is no visible center seam on the face. 

     This is a fun class full of tips and techniques and I hope you'll join me!



Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Slim Sadie

   Meet Slim Sadie and her clown friend. The adorable clown was designed and made by Jody Miller.  They were at the Guilded Lilies Doll Artist Guild meeting in September and posed together for a photo. 
   Sadie was designed by me and made with Fast 2 Fuse and heavy interfacing to make her sturdy yet 1/4th inch thin. Her limbs are jointed with jeweled brads. Her face was completed with colored pencils and ink pens.
   Sadie was created along with a journal to travel for more than a year spending a month at a time in a different dollmaker's home. Sadie will visit places with each dollmaker and have her photo taken while out and about. Each dollmaker will add photos and comments regarding what Sadie has been up to in the journal and add something to the doll itself. When Sadie returns home she'll be fully clothed and have a journal full of adventures.  
   The round robin is hosted by Doll Street, an on line doll club and is based on the story of Flat Stanley, a 1964 children's book written by Jeff Brown. In the story Stanley gets flattened by a bulletin board but learns he can now slide under locked doors and can even be mailed.