WIP Friendship Doll

    I've started a piece mostly of my own design. She began with the shape from a free pattern by Jill Mass that you can get at Dollmaker's Journey here. Mine will be about 7 inches with fabrics in a crazy quilt fashion. So far I've added some lace and tulle with a sheer fabric touched with tiny gold dots and I've begun adding beadwork. Maybe I'll add some embroidery later. I'm making this up as I go. She will be stitched to a backing with embroidery stitches and stuffed. I also hope to dangle some larger beads from the bottom. As I am creating I keep getting new ideas so who knows where the embellishing will take me.

This may take me forever, but I need to make 4 for some special friends.

Buttons!!!

I found that I never published this back in May of 2021.

   I used to do button crafts for craft shows. Necklaces, critters with a string of button legs and my favorite button crafts were pins with a collage of buttons and lace with a few beads for embellishments. 

  Even when I began to make dolls I still sold pins with buttons because they were fun to make.  So I ordered pounds of buttons in all sorts of colors.  Then I sorted them by color, putting the buttons in divided embroidery floss boxes dividing shades in to separate compartments.  So I have pounds and pounds of buttons!  But since I love Victorian things I made and sold pins with white buttons the most.

   My white buttons were first divided by buttons with holes and buttons with shanks, which are the little loops on the back so you can't see the thread from the front of the button.  Then I had to divide the buttons by shades of white -- bright white, pail white, shiny white, dull and flat white and then there's the cream buttons that fade into yellow.  Recently I've divided my white buttons even further. Since most buttons came in bulk matching buttons weren't typically together. So, I grouped buttons that match.  Each group went into a little baggie,  whether there were only 2 that matched or a larger bag held 50, and then there were also unmatched buttons.  My favorite bag is for the antique buttons, buttons made of shells and the unusual ones.  I'll be saving that bag to only pull from on special projects.  

Folding Fabric

 

        That lovely lady sitting in the center of the room is me in "Studio A" of my studio set.  I say set as I have a main room and two small bedrooms.  I moved up to the first floor because I struggle with stairs.  The main room, which I just call the studio once was our living room.  Long story short, we never really used that room.  "Studio A" is what I call part two of my studio.  I finally got almost all the white / clear drawers to line the perimeter.  The drawers hold tons of things, bits and bobs, hair for dolls and polymer clay, and assorted glue products, to name a few.   "Studio B" is the bedroom next door and the walls and closet are full and a little bit over flowing.  I've got loads of yarn, possibly for doll hair.  I hope so, I don't knit or crochet.  I have bins full of chenille stems, pompoms, fabric yoyo's, porcelain doll busts with matching hands, and many projects to make more things to sell at the craft shows I used to travel.

        And then there's fabric.  F-A-B-R-I-C.  If you've ever been to a sewing store and needed to get a pattern out of the gigantic metal cabinets then you can picture two full sized pattern cabinets in my studio and picture them both completely full of fabric.  Plus a row full of floor to ceiling fabric drawers.

       So I've decided to share the wealth.  I am folding every piece of fabric I own.  If it's more than a half a yard I cut it into pieces.  As I fold each piece of fabric I decide if it brings me joy.  If yes, I place it in a white plastic drawer, sorted by color, of course.  If how ever that piece of fabric does not tickle my happy bone it gets put into a box.  The goal is to pack boxes full of fabrics and trims, and other fun things like butterflies (they make great faerie wings!).  The boxes will then be shipped to friends far away and hopefully my doll club would like to receive my treasure boxes.  Then the rest will go to Good Will.  

               My goal is to get rid of one pattern cabinet and at least one set of floor to ceiling white / clear drawers, which don't fit into studio A.  You may be able to see it behind me at the right in the pic above.  I'm stuck right now.  I'm folding blue fabric.  Blue is my favorite color.  When I shop E-Quilter.com, my package always seems to have more blue fabric in it than I remember purchasing.  So most blue fabric gives my joy.  I may have to go through the blue fabric twice!  LOL!!!  I tried to tell myself that after a laundry basket full of blue fabric already folded... well, sort of... that I had folded half of the blue fabric.  Then I found another floor to ceiling stack of drawers full of blue.  Sigh.  

        Let me know if you want a box.  I will assort pieces / colors, add ribbons and trims, bits and bobs and surprises.  The cost to you is the shipping.  It's a free gift, given with love by someone who wants to make the studio functional and far less crowded.

Goodies

       A while back Doll Street had a swap of filling a gallon zip bag with sewing / doll making supplies. Five of us participated, so we each made five bags, getting five in return.  I never got around to sorting the supplies so I could put them away properly. So now is as good a time as any.  This is what my table looks like right now.
      There was some mix up when switching bags around and I only got bags from three people, two of which included two bags from the same participant so I didn't get as much variety but I got more of the same fabric and trim which could prove helpful on a larger doll.   The fabrics vary from earthy batiks to delightful designs that include metallic gold.  I love fabrics with gold so hope I find a project for them soon.  Fabrics with metallic designs seem to have more class than plain fabrics, at least to me.  
       Also on the table are two thick fabric based feathers with embossed leaf details and with color splashes and glitter all in blues and purples.  I have no idea what I will use them for since they are about seven inches long, but I'll know when the right project comes along.  There is a lot of flat lace, mostly about one and a half to two inches wide and I can see those getting used in the fabric book I started a while back.  I put all the existing pages and supplies in a canvas bag and it's around here somewhere, probably on the wall of UFO's.  Fortunately it's not a big wall.  

       There was a two inch tomato pincushion, and I believe that you can't have too many of them.  Pin cushions can be at the work table to insert into a doll pattern, beside the iron to remove the pins with plastic heads so they don't melt while pressing a hot iron over them, beside the sewing machine so I can remove pins one by one as I sew so that I don't break a needle, and with projects that get carried to the family room so I can work on projects and watch Netflix with the family. There's also a need for a pin cushion that may travel to a friends house or a meeting where I can sit and create and still be involved in whatever conversation may be going on. 

Patti Culea's Fabric Book

       I found little bits and bobs like beads, sequins and tiny plastic stars that can be glued on a project which would also be good for my fabric book.  The book started out as Patti Culea's fabric book design and I completed several of her page designs from her patterns while sitting with my friend Jody Miller, who was working on the same pages with me.  As is Jody's style, she worked on more pages at home and completed her Culea Fabric book in no time flat with her personal taste in fabrics and faces and finished her a book that totally reflected her style.  As is my style, I dove right in and accidently did a page upside down.  I worked so hard on beading it that I've decided to include it anyway and to start reshaping more pages so I can have an assortment of shaped pages throughout the book.  I may even design a new cover that would be a little bit larger to cover the assorted shapes.
       So, with all these wonderful goodies I have several projects in mind and would love to dive into them immediately BUT I have a project that I promised months ago that comes first.  As soon as I can clear off my work table I can get back to it.  

Tears

      

       "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

       Revelation 21:4 NIV

      This morning while reading my email this was my daily verse sent by "Bible.com."  I don't often post about my beliefs but this is of complete hope and faith.  I enjoy reading the daily verse and this one hit home.  May it bless your day as well!

Kittie

        I finally sat down and created something and she is SO cute!  Meet Kittie, a pin cushion for a swap with my on line doll club Doll Street.  

       I knew I'd be stuck sitting down for at least a day and a half because I was going to get another steroid injection in my back, so I gathered what I needed and set it all beside my chair the night before my procedure.  I figured machine sewing felt would make turning things right side out a challenge, especially the tail and the tiny pointed ears so using tiny stitches I hand sewed the felt kittie. I'm happy that the stitches are so small you have to look for them.  I used the blanket stitch to border the cushion with the same pink Pearle Cotton that I used for stitching her facial features and then I made the tassels out of the Pearle Cotton and sewed them on.  I also added a little stacked beadwork at the base of the blanket stitches.

       I'm feeling much better now that the steroids have kicked in.  I'm off to the post office to mail this package off for the swap and looking forward to seeing photos of all the pin cushions as well as receiving one for me.  

       It's been a while since I had a hand sewing project and I guess I had forgotten how much I enjoy hand sewing. I love this adorable little Kittie so much I just might make another one for myself!  

Zentangles

     

         I've been sitting in a chair a lot as if there is nothing else to do.  It's not warm enough outside for me to garden and I've been having enough back and sciatica pain that I've resorted to using a walker almost all the time for the last week. Well, sometimes I can step away from it in the kitchen. Anywhoo, I've looked for easy things to do.  My last two posts showed that I've been drawing faces.  I thought they looked pretty good at the time but now I'm seeing lots of areas to improve on.  That sort of turned me off for drawing faces right now.  I seem to toss my hands up pretty easily these days. Then a few days ago I got out my Zentangle supplies.

       A purist Zentangle creator will insist all you need is a small permanent black pen and a 3 by 3 card. I'm not a purist. I have a small canvas bag full of Zentangle supplies. It includes Micron pens in assorted sizes, a couple pencils including a .5 mechanical pencil which has a small eraser, an extra soft eraser, and a tortillon which is French for "a rolled up piece of paper" and we typically call it a stump blender. A bunch of Zentangle books teaching how to create a variety of designs of course make it a heavy bag. Oh, and don't forget paper. I have a sketch book, and a "Bristol Smooth" notebook, but I prefer "Artist Tiles." The tiles are stiff and come in squares of 3 and 6 inches and I used the 6 inch squares clipped to a small clipboard for the ones I'm showing here.

       If you don't recognize the term "Zentangle" I will explain. It is simply glorified doodling. I remember doodling in high school waiting for other kids to finish their tests. But Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas decided that putting multiple doodling designs together was very relaxing and that's where the Zen comes in. The "Tangles" are the doodles themselves. So she labeled them "Zentangles" and has made a fortune writing books teaching technics and teaching classes where she certified other people to teach the "glorified doodles." I must say my hat is off to them. They came up with a brilliant product and reminder that we should all find time to relax and sit and doodle now and then. 15 minutes doing Zentangles will no doubt reduce your stress and maybe even lower your blood pressure a bit.

       So, now that you know what this is all about I will tell you that 15 minutes is not enough for me.  I spent hours and hours drawing the tiny designs in pencil then again in ink and then I erased the pencil marks. Then I took a 2B pencil and added shading. I had to wash the graphite off the part of my hand that slides over the page a few times as I worked.  I used my extra soft eraser to clean up messy and graphite smeared edges of the tile and then I used my mechanical pencil eraser to clean up small areas and called the piece done.  It's usually not really done because I typically think of another tiny detail to add a couple more times. So, I hope you like my Zentangles. 

       Oh, and a final thought: should wish to join the world of us who tangle all you need is a permanent pen and a piece of paper. You can find everything you need for free on line, but the books on Amazon are great, too. Watch out.  It's addicting!