New Easter Peg Doll

I came up with a new design for my peg dolls, just in time for Easter.  Meet the Easter gnome, who loves Easter so much she dresses up like the Easter bunny.
I needle felted the nest and eggs from roving and I have been trying out new embroidery stitches.  Recently, I went to the library and checked out about 10 books on embroidery and crewel.  Generally, what I found is there is a short basic set of stitches with a lot of variations to make them look different. 

 

 

Lastly, here is a photo of one of my lovebug peg dolls.  The heart felt is from an experiment with alcohol inks. 

Wool Felt Doll

I have finals to grade (homestretch), but I wanted to do a quick post on a felt doll I made as a gift before I completely forgot.  I bought the pattern from Gingermelon's etsy shop.  The doll is made from the pocket pixie pattern.  This is the 2nd pattern I have bought, and it is just as adorable as the first.

Except for the embroidered face, she is 100% wool felt.  The pretty glittery multicolored wool yarn I bought at Artfest 2012--sorry I don't remember the vender's name.  The hair is needle felted on, and I really liked how easy it was and how well it turned out.  I'm waiting to see how it holds up with gentle toddler play.

My Little Boos from GingerMelon's Pattern

I made these two cute little Boo's from a pattern I purchased from Gingermelon's etsy shop.  The kids love them and are asking for more.  I know I could have probably created something similar, but with a to-do list taller than me, I decided to take a break from creating my own patterns.  I have admired Shelly's dolls and creatures since first seeing them in in Stuffed magazine, so I thought it was fitting to support her creativity and give mine a break by purchasing her pattern.  Her instructions were clear and the end results speak for themselves.

I used 100% wool felt.  The only change I made was to create the eyes with felt and embroidery floss instead of using safety eyes.  I love how the arms move a bit--I will have to use the same technique on some of my other projects.

 

Cloth Dolls

I actually finished these gals in June, but then had thoughts to send them to Prims Magazine or Stuffed to see if I could get published.  I've had a hard time letting go of these dolls, though, and the thought of them sitting in storage at the publisher's wasn't so appealing.  I'm still undecided whether to send them in.

So their bodies are made with muslin and other cotton cloth and their hair is made with wool yarn (except for the sparklies).  I hand painted their faces, a method I rather liked.  I feel like I have more control over their features than if I had embroidered them.  Let me know what you think.

The Batman Doll is Ready for Action

I finally finished Batman.  Actually, he's been mostly done for quite awhile, but he still needed a cape, which my son was adamant in reminding me about on a regular basis.  So here he is, with removable Batarangs and a utility pocket for his rope.  My son is quite happy with him.

Here are some things I learned from the process:

The paint really does stiffen the fabric, so if you want less of that, use more GAC  (or something equivalent), which thins the paint rather than weakening it.  Since this toy is for a boy, the stiffness and durability of the paint is a plus as the doll will be easier to clean and will stand up a little better to rough use.  He is still squishably soft.

Tacky glue seems to be holding up with the utility belt, quite well.  I generally sew everything down, but glue was more practical in this case.

All in all, I felt this was a success.  My daughter, of course, wants a Batman doll, too.  Gotta love siblings :)  Maybe Wonder Woman . . .

PS, if you want to view the Batman doll before paint, click on the post link here.

Batman Doll

So my son informed me a couple of weeks ago that he felt like I was making all these dolls for my daughter and he wanted a doll too. Keeping in mind that he has a very expensive Bamboletta doll he never plays with (no worries, Bamboletta lovers, my daughter has appropriated him), as well as an elf doll I made for him that he ignores, I wasn't exactly jumping for the opportunity to make him one. However, he was very specific in wanting a Batman doll and gave me all sorts of details for how the doll was to look. I figured if he was that interested in the planning that he might actually appreciate the end result, especially since Batman is his current favorite superhero. Really, how different is a doll from an action figure, with the exception of scale (which is why I tend to chuckle when people are adamant about not letting/encouraging their boys to play with "dolls").

 

I went ahead a drew out a pattern and received the nod of approval. Here is the doll prior to adding the details.  I'm mid-way through painting and I still need to make the cape and utility belt (with removable batarangs, of course).

Let's hope the excitement stays and this doll doesn't suffer the same fate as the last few.

Want to see the finished doll?  Check out the blog post here: 

Artfest 2012!

I just got back from Artfest 2012, an art retreat coordinated by Teesha and Tracey Moore   (visit Teesha's site at teeshamoore.com).  I have wanted to attend for years (eight to be exact) and the timing or money situation has always been wrong).  This year I decided, with some encouragement from my husband, that I just needed to make this work.  So I did, and I'm incredibly thankful I had the opportunity to do so.  It was an amazing experience being surrounded by supportive, creative people.  The instructors were fabulous and since I made the point of taking classes that focused on different techniques, I came away from them with a new set of strategies for making art.

These paintings are the result of my class with Mindy Lacefield, who was so sweet and inspiring.  Everyone in class, no matter what skill level they were at, came out of the class with wonderful art.  She is one of those rare teachers who truly pulls out the best in her students.

I'm really happy with how my paintings turned out, and I plan on playing more with the techniques I learned.  And the color--who would have thought I would love using florescent colors so much. 

As I have time, I will post my work from the other classes as well, so stay tuned.

DIY Magic Wand

So here is another gift I made for my daughter for her birthday. Sorry the pictures aren't the best. The most time consuming part was painting the wood dowel; the rest was easy. I knotted the ribbon in the middle, then separated into three different sections. I sewed over the ribbon while attaching the two pieces of felt together (leaving a space free to insert the dowel). Then I stuffed the star with fiberfill and used fabric glue to attach it to the dowel. So far the glue is holding. On the dowel, since I used a coat of glitter paint, I went over it again with acrylic medium to make sure the glitter doesn't travel off the wand.