Noel & Elle Dee and the Tree

Marv took this picture just before we headed out to the Disney Toon Studios party...of course Elle Dee had to get in the picture!

Batting Santa Ornament

This is the ornament I made for my doll club Holiday party. We always have an ornament exchange. I used the scrap face and basic instructions from Country In the City's Scrap Santa pattern. (You can find it here: http://clothdollpatterns.com/patterns2/id83.htm ) I varied a bit from the instructions but I am very happy with how it came out.

Jusaburo!

I was very fotunate to get to the Japan Expo on December 2nd and see the puppets/dolls made by master Jusaburo Tsujimura. I also was able to see him perform an excerpt from a traditional Japanese puppet play. Here are some photo's Marv took with his camera phone.

Victorian Tassel Ornament Tutorial

I made these tassel ladies as a gift and several people asked me for a tutorial, so here we go....

Supplies:

Paverpol (available at lisasheaven.com) order it before freezing temps hit your area as the product cannot freeze during shipment or it will be ruined.

Beaded Tassels: I got mine at Cost Plus World Market, but many Christmas stores, Bombay Company and other places have inexpensive tassels.

A scrap paper face: I have a picture of one here you can copy (I own the original Victorian piece it came from)

Fabric for draping: I used chiffon with glitter dots on it.

Trims: Wired ribbon, trim, Christmas themed embellishments, silk flowers etc.

Plastic garbage bags and plastic ties.

Start by covering your work surface with plastic..I used the garbage bags. The Paverpol will not stick to it. Arrange your tassel on the plastic.

Cut a small rectangular piece of fabric...think of it as a "scarf" for your doll. I used several different sizes but about 8 inches long by 3" wide seemed to work best.

Dip you fabric in the paverpol and use your fingers to wipe it off. You can use gloves or not.

Arrange the wet paverpol around the top of your tassel. Make sure you keep the top hanging loop of the tassel free so it can still hang.

I arranged my fabric under the tassel and then brought the ends of the fabric forward, around the tassel and "wrapped" it.

You will need to arrange the ends of your wet fabric in a "pose"...maybe your scarf is being windblown and the ends stick out, maybe its wrapped with the ends tucked under...use you imagination and play with it. You have about 15 minutes to pose it...maybe longer. I find the wet paverpol is easier to work with after it has started to dry.

Remember to leave a space to tuck your head in the scarf area...I forgot to take a picture before I put the head in!

If you need to cinch the scarf, use a plastic tie...this will not stick to the paverpol. I left mine on the table to dry over night and then hung them up to dry the 2nd day...I found it took 2 days for them to be completely dry.

Once the paverpol is dry it is time to add your face. I used a face glued on a bottle cap. These are available at scrapbooking shops or on-line. You can also just use heavy cardboard to glue your face on to...then cut it out and glue it into the pavepol "hood" you have made.

Now you get to embellish to your heart's content! I used wired tinsel trim and white iridescent silk flowers.

Once you are done...hang her on your tree!

Have fun making your own Tassel Ladies!

Halloween

Marv went to Australia for 3 weeks and took the digital camera so I have been without it during the Halloween season...he got back last weekend and now I can take some photos to share the decorations this year..BTW he had a fabulous trip and brought back some wonderful pics and video! While he was gone I took a doll class one weekend and my mom came out a different weekend...we had a blast!!!

Here's Elle Dee in her Darth Vader Costume!



Who's There?

The Bride Doll Grave Yard!

Pumpkins!

Almost every year a friend of ours hosts a pumpkin carving party (Hi Gillian!). Every year we think the pumpkins can't get any better...but they do!

My Pumpkin is the smiling face one. Note the "Tell No Tales" that projects from behind the pirate pumpkin... carved by Jesse.
Nicole did Chewbacca!

Marv did the Wolf!

Quilt Show & Doll Exhibit

Here are some photos from the doll exhibit that the Valey of the Dolls doll club in LA did. We had fun and we also raised money for our club by selling pin dolls and pattern booklets.

Birdcage Dollhouse

I have a new project! Marv found this for me at Z-Gallery. It is a 6 story bird cage that I will be turning into a dollhouse. This should keep me busy for a while!!

Shoes!

I have been taking and on-line class with Jean Bernard on using leather paints and other fun things to do a shoe make-over. I used a little pair of victorian baby shoes I had that were in terrible condition.


















Here is the little design doodle I did before I started.

Paverpol Pins Finished

I finally finished these pins up for the quilt show next week. The knit fabric really held a lot of Paverpol and dryed more "plasticky" then I would have liked...so I basically used them as a collage base....worked out pretty well.

Paverpol Pin Dolls

I need to make some pin dolls for a club fund raiser...so I had an idea to get out the Paverpol again and play around. I have had these commercially made faces for ages...so I thought it was time to use them. The fabric has been painted with paverpol and draped around the face...its still wet so stay tuned to see how they come out!