Wolfmanor Wisdom and Whimsies

Doll Retreat 2012!!

2012-01-17T07:20:00.001-08:00

Here is my WIP doll from this year's Sisters of the Cloth doll retreat. The teacher this year was Brenda Gehl. The class name was "Gratitude" and the objective was to understand how the face and hands are part of the costume and theme of the doll and really belong more to the "costume" then to the body. I probably spent the majority of the class time just working on those two things...particularily the hands.

I had hoped the class would focus more on the rest of costuming, but as usual with classes...you never really have enough time to get to the costume. I worked very late Saturday night after the teacher, and most of my club, and gone to bed to get the costume worked out on my own and she is really just pinned here. As each doll was different we got to invent our own costumes to match our doll. There were no clothing patterns. Each person's doll turned out great.

We each had to come to class with our doll bodies already made and we could use any pattern we wanted. I chose to make Arley Berryhill's Le Femme pattern. I am very pleased with how she turned out!

Brenda uses paperclay on top of the cloth to sculpt the features instead of needlesculpting. I really liked that and hadn't tried it before.

I have more work to do, but my doll is going in the right direction.

Of course...the most fun of the yearly Retreat is really my fellow doll makers and time spent gossiping, sipping wine and staying up way too late...oh...and the snickerdoodles...ummm, ummm, good!

A new home...finally!

2012-01-05T07:17:00.001-08:00

It has taken me over a year to find the perfect house...I have probably looked at hundreds of houses! But finally the right one appeared. Marv and I moved in on December 13th. Things are still in boxes but at least we have all our belongings in one place now!

Doll Retreat with Christine Shively

2011-02-13T11:51:00.000-08:00

This year's retreat featured a class by Christine Shively to make her "Elizabeth I" doll. I need to collect more pics of the dolls themselves but here are a few of us having fun!

The "official" class doll by Christine.

A student version in progress (I don't remember whose doll this was!)

Smiling doll club members Michelle and Kelley.

Christine Shively...Christine had the most wonderful jewelry all weekend!

Me at work on my doll. Looks like my doll has a hand up crying for help..LOL.

Another of Christine's wonderful dolls.

Moved

2011-02-13T11:37:00.000-08:00

You may have noticed that I am behind on my posts...Marv and I moved in December and we now live in Orange County. We are in Irvine and loving it! Right now we are enthralled with new restaurants, new shopping malls and beautiful clear skies! I will try to get some posts up including info on the January Doll Retreat.

New Glass Purchase

2010-08-16T14:52:00.000-07:00

While at Comic Con I made the rounds of the local antique shops and came home with these two wonderful examples of the Belmont pattern of early american pressed glass.

Comic Con Doll Exhibit

2010-08-16T14:21:00.000-07:00

My doll (above) was in the doll exhibit at Comic Con in San Deigo this year. The exhibit was arranged by the IOLCC doll club in San Diego. Herea re some pics that Patti Culea took of the
show and shared with me:

The are the Harry Potter dolls (above) made by Wendy Whittemore.

Shelf Doll

2010-06-27T16:48:00.000-07:00

Marv and I spent the day in Ventura and spotted this wonderful shelf doll....huge...and amazing..just thought I'd share! She is a full size mannequin and I think she is made by Catherine's Collectables.

The Fat Lady Sings!

2010-06-05T20:53:00.001-07:00

Yep..she is done!

The Fat Lady continued

2010-05-30T10:15:00.001-07:00

I spent some time this weekend working on "Brandy".....

Now you know where she gets her name!

Trim chaos! I can only create surrounded by complete chaos!!

I love my pin cushion/ trash bag. Sandy Rogers made these for everyone at doll retreat this year for the Sisters of the Cloth doll club.

Barb Schoenoff Class

2010-05-28T19:06:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics of my "Fat Lady" from the circus. I had a fabulous time and Barb is a great teacher!! I haven't finished all the trims yet...I hope to get that done over this long weekend. I'll post more pics as I go.I used 5 different fabrics...the body color and 4 others. I have some close ups below where you can see the patterns. I need to reposition her head so she looks up when she is draped over her chair!

She will have jet black hair which reallys ets off her eyes...I love her fat little face!!

Back from Australia!

2010-04-21T16:29:00.000-07:00

We just got back from a great 3 week trip to Port Douglas, Brisbane and Melbourne. We had a wonderful time and made a lot of new friends. I'll post more pictures once we get them downloaded! This one was taken at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary.

Jan 2010 Doll Retreat

2010-01-31T11:19:00.001-08:00

This year's retreat teacher was Cyndi Mahlstadt and the doll was her "Annie" doll. We all had a wonderful time!

Here is me with my doll

Here are the step by step photos I took during the construction process!

The wire armature

The basic face after needle sculpting

With the eyes in

The armature wrapped in batting..note the feet are apoxie clay.

Testing out the hands and head

The torso cover is now on.

The finished, painted head.

The body wrapped in fabric strips

More fabric wrapping

The sweater vest and hair are on

Vest embellishment

Shoes are done!

Final doll!

Group photos

Christmas decorations

2010-01-31T10:53:00.000-08:00

A few pictures of the house decorated for Christmas.

My Favoarite ornament...and old Radko fountain.

Elle Dee with her Christmas collar:

The Bride Doll shelf

Winter Wedding Doll

2009-12-04T01:06:00.000-08:00

My paverpol winter wedding doll is finished! And its only 1:00 in the morning!!

Christmas projects

2009-11-28T10:22:00.000-08:00

I am playing with Paverpol again. This year I have a couple of ornaments to make for doll club and a wedding doll challenge.
I started with white lace and "arranged" a wedding dress from the wet paverpol'd lace. You can see the face and veil at the top...I haven't started them yet.

I started 2 tassel dolls also as ornaments for the gift exchange. You can search this blog under the paverpol tag for a tutorial I did 2 years ago making these ornaments.

Steampunk Costume

2009-10-30T15:58:00.001-07:00

Ready for Halloween!

My Chocolate B-day Tea

2009-10-23T17:44:00.000-07:00

Here are just a few photos from the Chocolate tea at the Langham Huntington Hotel in Pasadena.

TARDIS CAKE!

2009-10-19T17:40:00.000-07:00

For my 50th B-day my husband surprised me with my very own TARDIS....edible no less.

Blizzcon Memories

2009-08-28T17:45:00.000-07:00

Here are a few photos from Blizzcon this year. I had a great time.

Here is a pic of me at the Ozzy Osbourne Concert that closed out the show.

Ozzy at the mic!

My N00B marine was one of the winners of the Blizzard employee art contest...we really got into this urban vinyl art movement and there were lots of fabulous entries!

Me pointing to my winning N00b!

New Fairy Doll

2009-08-04T11:38:00.000-07:00

This past weekend my doll club had a mini-retreat and we all worked on the same doll pattern...Grapevine Girls by Alison Marano. Here is my fairy I made with her pattern...I changed the hands as I didn't have time to let the paper clay dry. The wings are made out of liquid sculpy and wire.

Making Needle Felted Dogs

2009-07-06T08:11:00.001-07:00

The Valley Doll club made needle felted dogs at our meeting on Sunday. I made a pink one to go with my pink haired Dolfie...she still needs her face painted...I am behind on that...but hey...now she has a dog...what's more important?

The pics are a little dark but I think you can get the idea.

The other dogs are vintage chenille.

Pink cuteness!

Puppy love!!

Doll Retreat With Adele Sciortino

2009-07-06T07:37:00.000-07:00

These pics are from the January Retreat with Sisters of the Cloth...I am just getting around to unloading pics from an old camera card!

The Retreat was Viva La Carnival. We used a Carnival theme for the whole retreat...which was out in Temecula as usual.

I made name tags for the retreat using purchased Mardi Gras beads with blank white medallions. I then scanned some mask fabric and used photoshop to print the names. I cut them out and glued them on the medallions.

This is the mask fabric.

Here are some of the almost finished dolls!

This is my Cat!

Trip to Turkey

2009-05-29T11:46:00.001-07:00

I just got back from a 10 day trip to Turkey. It was such an awesome trip...I took over 500 photos...here are just few of them to share!

Shopping at the Grand Bazaar!

Buy, buy, buy!!!

Mom

Wedding clothes

Bread

Vendor

The Hagia Sophia

The Blue Mosque

Me & Mom

Ephesus!!

Capadoccia

The Rock Churches

Frescos

Tea while shopping in Ankara

Spices for sale

Me buying shoes for dolls!

Wendy Froud Class- Last day

2009-03-09T07:50:00.000-07:00

Today was painting and costuming...take a look at the finished dolls!

Here is the fairy Toby made.

Wendy, Toby & me with my creation.

This is the creature that Wendy made in class!

The final doll at home.

Wendy Froud Class - Day 2

2009-03-08T07:54:00.000-07:00

Once we finished our heads, the next step was hands and feet!

Wendy demos placing "bones" in the armature.

Next is wrapping and sewing up the body.

Now he is ready for painting and costuming!

Wendy Froud Sculpting Class

2009-03-06T20:48:00.001-08:00

I am taking a 3 day class with Wendy Froud and her son Toby. Today was the first day of class and we started with a guided meditation to try to find our fairy guide and then we began sculpting. Here are two progress photos of the doll so far:

Here is the beginning of the face...we used fimo clay.

Below is the final face..ready to bake...

And the winner is....

2009-02-24T15:44:00.000-08:00

One of the fun things about my job as a Production Exec is getting to brag about my team! This weekend we won the Visual Effects Society award for Best Pre-Rendered Visuals in a Video Game (World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King).

Pictured: Phillip Hillenbrand (Producer) & Me

Below is Jeff Chamberlain (Director) & Phillip

The group shot at the VES awards.

Happy 17th Wedding Anniversary!

2008-12-05T16:36:00.001-08:00

Nov 16th!

Wrath of the Lich King

2008-11-14T15:45:00.001-08:00

I work for the Cinematics Dept of Blizzard Entertainment and our newest game release for World of Warcraft came out this week. About 160 of us were at Fry's Electronics in Anaheim autographing for the fans of the game who stood in line for hours and hours to be the first to buy it. Here are some fun photos!

Here is the link to the Cinematic!

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/wrath/intro.xml

Marv found this interesting display at the Fry's near our house...a friend of mine calls it "Tink Warcarft"! LOL!!! I worked on both of these so its sort of fun to see them both together!

Tinker Bell is out on DVD!

2008-11-02T17:21:00.000-08:00

Hi: Here is a plug for the newest movie I worked on! I was the Associate Producer on this movie and it is a really cute film! Variety even liked it...and that's saying something! LOL. Check it out at a store near you!

Class with Barbara Willis

2008-08-11T21:04:00.001-07:00

I have been delinquent in posting these pics from my class with Barbara in June. This was her "perfume" class...what a blast!

This is the class doll that Barbara did.
Here is Barb helping us with our faces.
Here is my face (Barb helped fix it! LOL)
Here is my finished face...it now has the cloth over the clay and the colored pencil and marker touches.

Here is my base body and a shot of the face. You can see the black and cream coat is now in place. I haven't finshed her yet..its on my to do list!

TGIF Newsletter for Friday 7/25/08

2008-07-27T23:16:00.000-07:00

Hi: My regular Friday newsletter usually goes out via the yahoo group...but yahoo had a problem and the group is not sending out any messages...they are working on it but its been over a week and its not fixed yet. So...here is the latest info for you!

I am home from Comic Con...the annual trek to San Diego for a weekend of too many people jammed into a giant convention center! But I wouldn't miss it...tons of fun!! There is enough visual inspiration for dolls and all kinds of art to keep any artist busy for months! Due to that trip I did not list anything new on the site this week. However I don't think last week's newsletter actually made it out...so here is that info:

Newest Items:

SHERRY GOSHON: I have Sherry's Watercolor Faces CD ready for you all. This is an updating of an older workbook Sherry had self published 2 years ago. This new and updated version is in pdf format and has been completely edited by Kate Erbach. And since it is in pdf there are tons of color photos now. If you have been wanting to learn how to color your doll faces using watercolor pencils..this is the CD for you.
http://clothdollpatterns.com/id72.htm

MARILYN JENSEN: Marilyn's Springtime Design line has a 16" doll pattern in it that I had not carried before. As Marilyn and I were discussing how her Dawn and Penny patterns sell so well...she suggested I bring this pattern in for you all to try. Its got a real "dolly" look to it and she is so cute! Check her out here:
http://clothdollpatterns.com/id72.htm

Reorders in stock:

Dirty Crow Inn/ Two Dancing Crows: The 1892 pattern and MJ and her Sewing Machine are back in stock! MJ is one of my favorite patterns...I love her old fashioned singer style sewing machine!
http://clothdollpatterns.com/patterns2/id79.htm

Karlene Atkins: The Holly pattern and the truffle face stamp are back in stock!http://clothdollpatterns.com/Patterns1/id60.htm

Soft In The Head: All the mice and crows are back in-stock..including Night School and Trinket! Are you getting ready for Halloween already???http://clothdollpatterns.com/patterns6/id48.htm

Patti Culea: Radical Rachel is back in stock!http://clothdollpatterns.com/patterns2/id36.htm

Jaque Uetz: Annies...lots of them...all of her older Annie patterns are now in stock again! I put them all on their own page so they are easier to find..I love these dolls!http://clothdollpatterns.com/patterns6/id57.htm

Pin Doll Booklet: The pin doll booklet published by my doll club is now back in stock...you will find it at the very bottom of the new items section. Back orders are shipping this weekend.http://clothdollpatterns.com/id72.htm

The New Items section was updated last week and I moved a lot of patterns out of it, into their respective homes. I try to do this regularly but had not kept it up since we started getting so many new patterns. Whenever I do this I always get a lot of questions about where a pattern went...if you know you saw it there and now I've moved it...just email me and I can help you find it!

Have a great weekend.
Thanks for shopping with me!
-Noel Wolfman
http://www.clothdollpatterns.com

Life is hard...make something soft...like a sewing machine!

Doll Club Face Book Project Tutorial

2008-06-29T21:17:00.001-07:00

If you belong to a doll club, here is a great project for your group. You can use it as a fund raiser or gift...even if its a gift to yourself!

In my club we have a tradition that the outgoing President makes a little gift for each member of the club. I just retired as President and this was my gift project.

This is a "face book" its meant as a practice book for drawing faces or to practice coloring faces for cloth dolls. This tutorial will show you how I made them...though there are probably many ways to do it and I am sure you can improve on this!

I started by making the covers. I used blue poly felt cut to 4" x 11".

Next I took our Doll Club Logo (Created by elinor peace baily!) and used the computer to size it and add the words "Face Book" below the logo. I then printed 4 logos per page using my ink jet printer and the special print-on-fabric pack that is available at JoAnns.

I then cut out the logos using a square template . I also made yoyos and inserted them into the corner, under the logo fabric before I stitched the logos to the cover. After they were sewn I added a button trim on top the yoyo.

Next I cut "pages" out of face fabric. I used woven cotton but you could use knit as well. I used pinking shears for the edges. The pages are the same size as the cover..4 x 11 but the pinking makes them small enough to fit inside. Once you get them all cut out....time for the next step:

I used face stamps to give us a starting place when practicing. The stamps are only on the first two pages...after that its up to the doll maker to create her own faces!

I used a stamp by Karlene Atkins because I liked the clear backing...you can see through the stamp to get perfect positioning. I also got a perfect impression every time! Wow!

You can also get stamps from Barbara Willis, Barb Keeling and Patti Culea!

I used versamagic chalk ink in the "gingerbread" color to approximate a brown pigma pen.

Once you have your pages completed you center them inside the cover and sew down the middle to bind them. I then pressed them (using a pressing cloth so as not to melt the felt).

Here they are...all finished ready to hand out at the club meeting! I hope you have fun making your own Face Book!

Valley Doll Club Tea & Fringe Challenge

2008-06-17T18:59:00.001-07:00

The Valley of the Dolls club had our annual tea...tons of food! We also had a challenge to use some fun fringe one of our members found...people got very creative with it!

Flowers!

2008-04-18T08:46:00.000-07:00

My garden here at Wolfmanor is at its best in Spring so I snapped a few pics this morning!

Roses and roses and more roses!

Azalas in the shade

The hill side facing down...you can see the potting shed in the back ground

The Birds of Paradise and the succulents are doing great!

Glendale California Quilt Show Doll Exhibit

2008-04-04T08:21:00.000-07:00

Here are pics from the quilt show. Both doll clubs I belong to in the Los Angeles area exhibited. Betty Zarate was in charge of the show and did a fabulous job!

Chinatown

2008-03-29T20:24:00.000-07:00

We spent a great day in Chinatown today...in downtown LA. We started with Dim Sum at 10am and then went across town to the FIDM Academy Nominated Films costume exhibit...wow..as usual! Then back to Chinatown for shopping and more food...yum! I got some more of the little lanterns like the one in the photos of my chinese themed doll in the previous post. They are so cute and only $1.50...plus they actually light up..love it!

Here are photos of me & hubby...we got a new camera so we had to try it out.

Year of the Dragon

2008-03-10T21:57:00.001-07:00

Well...its taken months but here is my newest doll. She is from a class my doll club took with Arley Berryhill called Lady Peacock. The class was in October of 2007 (on my Birthday, in fact)but I just didn't have all the right accessories I wanted for her. My mom was going to China on business so I gave her a mission...find me 30 doll sized red tassels!! She did!!! I found the Chinese Lantern here in LA in China Town..it really lights up! The Dragon on her shoulders is made of rope and I found it at a Harvest Festival. I had to get her ready as she is headed to the Glendale Quilt show soon!!

Elle Dee Bunny!

2008-03-09T20:49:00.001-07:00

The Easter Decorations Are Up!

2008-03-09T14:48:00.000-07:00

The Egg Tree

The Bride Dolls!

Vintage Needle Case

2008-02-16T17:37:00.000-08:00

Hi: I found this wonderful little girl needle case at an antique shop down in Temecula, California when my doll club was having our Doll retreat there. Some of my fellow doll makers asked me to scan it so they could make one...I thought you all might like it too!

It is posted in the free pattern section on my site:

http://www.clothdollpatterns.com/id75.htm

Making Valentines

2008-02-10T07:52:00.000-08:00

I am no expert but I do love my new Baby Lock Embellisher!!

Here is how I made these...
For some of them I used yarn. I carefully laid out my shape and needle felted the yarn into the felt square by slowly following the yarn to mke a heart shape.

Once the outline of the heart was finished I filled it in with more yarn. I them "sandwiched" a piece of batting between two felt squares and blanket stitched the edges in a colored thread to match the heart!

I also cut out heart or butterfly shapes from fabric. You can use preprinted fabric that has hearts or butterflies on it or just cut the hearts out of any fabric like making construction paper hearts when we were kids! I slowley punched the heart onto the felt backing. I tacked it in a few places first so it would keep its shape.

Have fun!!

Doll Retreat

2008-02-02T13:06:00.001-08:00

Every year my doll club goes to Temecula for 3 days of doll making and good times! This year Leslie Molen was our teacher.

My doll is the blue one.

Hubby's Book

2008-01-11T22:05:00.000-08:00

I am very excited for my hubby. His book: HOMELAND, THE ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL, has just won the National Jewish Council Book Award in the category of Children and Young Adult Literature. Homeland details 3,500 years of Jewish history, from the time of Abraham to the year 2007. It has won a number of other prestegious awards as well. It is beautifully illustrated by Mario Ruiz. You can find it at Amazon!!

http://www.amazon.com/Homeland-Illustrated-History-State-Israel/dp/0977150704/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200118343&sr=1-2

New Embellisher Machine

2008-01-06T22:29:00.000-08:00

I got the Baby Lock embellisher machine for Christmas and spent a little time this evening playing with it. I made a little pin cushion...I used the machine to needle felt the yarn heart onto solid black felt and added a button for fun.

Christmas Decorations

2008-01-06T18:31:00.001-08:00

The Christmas Tree this year!

Displays and dolls!

This clock is new, but the Pink Santa below is 50 years old this year!

The Crazy wrapping area!!

Noel & Elle Dee and the Tree

2007-12-09T19:00:00.000-08:00

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

2007-12-09T18:55:00.000-08:00

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!

2007-12-07T14:54:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-19T06:51:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-01T07:29:00.000-07:00

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!

2007-10-31T08:44:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-18T06:51:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-23T10:46:00.000-07:00

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!

2007-09-09T10:14:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-02T10:18:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-24T21:20:00.000-07:00

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!

2007-08-16T18:41:00.000-07:00

I have been tagged for the NICE MATTERS award by Karen Mallory! Here are the 5 blogs I am passing it on to:
http://sherrygoshon.blogspot.com/
http://jeanbernardv.blogspot.com/
http://www.meomsblog.blogspot.com/
http://www.jacqueuetz.blogspot.com/
http://grasshoppasart.blogspot.com/

What a nice way to get the word out about our blogs! Each of these 5 people should nominate five more people too!

-Noel

Paverpol Lady is Done!

2007-08-14T20:52:00.000-07:00

She is done! I decided on a winter theme and used mica flakes and tinsel to finish her off. I love vintage Christmas decorations and all the new "vintage style" decorations they have now. I can't wait to put her in with my snow babies!

I started this little lady doll last month...you can see her beginnings in the earlier posts on this blog (or under the word "paverpol")

Shopping Spree

2007-08-08T08:00:00.000-07:00

While in San Diego I hit a few of my favorite antique shops. I only do this once a year, so I try to make it count..LOL. There have been some years where the car was so full on the way back home that we had to really plan on how to pack it...but this year was smaller...I had less time to shop due to our packed schedule at the convention. But...you know me...I still did a good job of shopping!!!

This was my big purchase. She is a Simon Halbig on a Handwerck body. I don't have any pierced ear dolls in my collection of German bisques so I was pleased to find her at the reasonable price of $230.00

I love vintage doll clothes!

Some Eskimo dolls I found..I thought of Judi in Alaska when I bought these!

I have a hard time resisting vintage stuffed animals....this little rabbit is adorable in person. The doll is a papermache doll from Mexico.

Here is a group of 1930's to 40's composition dolls. I think the most expensive one in the group was $40.00. I really like the compos so I try to pick them up whenever I find them at a good price. There is also a tiny all bisque doll at the top.

Getting ready for Halloween. I like the black and orange painted vintage glass. It goes great with vintage style Halloween decorations. I thought the black and white gloves might be part of my Christmas decorations this year.

Vintage patterns and doll glasses

Vintage Paper...these came from the Comic Con vendor hall. There is a dealer there who specializes in vintage paper products. The packets are French pharmacy labels..$10 a packet...a very good price if you collect vintage papers. There are also 3 doll faces and a couple of powder box labels.

Vintage photos and prints....I love these. I have no idea what I am going to do with them however!

Dragon Day

2007-08-04T21:42:00.000-07:00

I have been working on this little guy all day. I make these from time to time...they are pretty easy to do. This one was made very quickly to test out a new technique on the wings using dyed napkins and tissue paper. Very fun.

Here he is after I have spray painted him all white.

This is tape over a wire armature with foil wings.

Comic Con - Trip Report

2007-07-30T16:19:00.000-07:00

My view of this convention is definitely skewed towards the dolls, shopping and the general craziness that goes on. I don't go to the panels or the giant media presentations. I do walk the entire convention floor at least one day...this year it was Friday. I also get out and do lots of shopping in the San Diego area...but that will be a different post.

Comic Con has just continued to grow...this is my 17th year there. My husband, Marv, has been there since its third year so this is 35 years for him. We noticed that it has become even more media driven this year, with the Studios having huge booths to promote their movies. But the book publishers were there too and had bigger booths then before.

There were a lot of free give-aways and a lot of con only toys that you could only buy there...a boon for collectors and ebay! No doubt you will be able to find every give away or special item on ebay today!

I did manage to get the free Harry Potter book bag that Scholastic was giving out at their booth. A friend of mine got in early and snagged one for me. Thanks Scott! I also got an advance reading copy of the new Naomi Novik "Temeraire" book "Empire of Ivory" from the Del Rey booth. This is the 4th book in the series...I was so thrilled to get it! If you are not familiar with the series I highly recommend it. Just imagine the Napoleonic War but with Dragons..its cool!

I also got to see wonderful dolls and Patti Culea and I went through the art show together. There is just so much to see there! I was thrilled to see Dawn Schiler's Odd Fae figures up close and personal and then just down from her Wendy Froud had her fairy figures. Robert Tonner also had a booth of his new comic and movie related dolls. I nearly bought the Harry Potter set..its amazing. He also had an Aquaman doll riding a huge sea horse...so cool!!!! And the fabulous goth dolls, "Begoths" were there too with some new releases.

DC Comics is coming out with new figures of the "New Teen Titans", which my husband co-created with George Perez. The sculpts for these action figures are amazing...some of the most detailed sculptural work I have ever seen for action figures.

Another huge part of the fun is getting to see old friends. Marv and I were able to have breakfasts and dinners with East Coast friends in between business meetings.

And the whole event was capped off nicely with Marv winning the Scribe Award in the category of "Best Novel - adapted" for his novelization of the "Superman Returns" movie.

San Diego Comic Con

2007-07-30T08:33:00.000-07:00

I'm back home after 4 days at the convention. My feet are killing me!!! I had a great time and will write more later...here is the picture I promised in my weekly newsletter of Patti Culea and me taken at the booth for The Golden Compass movie.

Getting Published part 2

2007-07-30T08:21:00.000-07:00

Here is the scan from Art Doll Quarterly of my doll Tribal Madonna. This is my version of Anne Hesse's Spirit Walker doll. She also has a seated version of this doll called Garden Party. I really enjoyed the beading on this doll face...and I don't generally bead!

This picture is from the Summer 2007 edition of Art Doll Quarterly and was submitted by the IOLCC in San Diego from their Dimensions in Doll Making exhibit last year during the San Diego Quilt Show. Its a great magazine and a great doll exhibit!

Getting Published

2007-07-26T16:16:00.001-07:00

I am so excited that a doll I made while in a class with Anne Hesse was published in Art Doll Quarterly! I'll have to scan that page in..but until then..here is a pic of me and Anne together at the class. We are holding our dolls..though we haven't added the arms yet!

Segways!

2007-07-17T11:39:00.000-07:00

Okay...not doll related but fun! Marv and I went up to Santa Barbara for the day and took a tour on segways. They are quite easy to ride once you get the hang of it. The tour lasted 3 hours so we were pretty comfortable on them by the end! Santa Barbara is just beautiful and we had perfect weather!

Elle Dee

2007-07-13T20:42:00.000-07:00

" Why no, Mom...I am not eating silk flowers that fell on the floor under your desk"

Paverpol Lady gets a head!

2007-07-12T20:37:00.000-07:00

I added a head to the little paverpol lady.
I was going to paint the face but was playing with my victorian scrap stash and decided to give her a paper face instead. I think this face is a bit small for the scale of the doll, but you can get the idea.

Next comes the embellishing but it may be a few days before I have time for that. I think she is coming along nicely!

I also spray painted the entire doll white.

I started with a foil ball, then covered it with airdry clay. Once that was dry I added a paverpol soaked papertowel head wrap.

Playing with Paverpol

2007-07-08T17:02:00.001-07:00

So many people are interested in learning about Paverpol that I took a bunch of photos at a play day at my house.

We made little ladies out of paper towels and water bottles!

They will be spray painted later.

Liz dips paper towels in the paverpol.

Little water bottles from Costco.

Finishing Valentine Doll

2007-07-08T16:46:00.000-07:00

In January Sherry Goshon taught her "Peace" doll at my doll club's retreat. We had so much fun! My doll was
close to being finished but needed a headdress and a few finishing touches. I had a craft day at my house this weekend and pulled out the Paverpol and finished her up!

Back on the Witch

2007-07-05T21:24:00.000-07:00

I have been sketching clothes for the witch. I decided to go ahead and start the underclothes.

I used a stretch ribbed knit to make three tubes;

One for the body and 2 for the arms.

I plan to do a bodice over this with lacings...probably in black.

She will also have an Elizabethan collar.

I wrapped a green feather boa around her head for fun. I haven't figured out her hair yet and will probably wait until last to do it along with her witches hat.

Egyptian Dancer Doll in Progress

2007-07-02T20:39:00.000-07:00

This is a class I took from Christine Shively. This is my version of her Collage Doll pattern. I sort of took it off in my own direction! LOL. I used the crackle glaze with a turquoise undercoat and a red clay color overcoat. Christine and I consulted about a face and decided not to do a classic "Christine" face. If I do one at all it will be a flat Egyptian art style face.

All her clothes are paper, except the nipple shield and snake bracelet (which is a ring I re-purposed). It was quite fun to do...you get to sort of make it up as you go along...just my type of thing for sure! As I got started on the paper embellishments I sort of veered off into Art Deco shapes.

Face Is Painted and Bird House is Decopagued

2007-07-02T20:08:00.000-07:00

I finished painting the face for the witch. I started with the Kereeditse mold from Sherry Goshon...this is one of my favorite molds....though I have to say I ended up resculpting the nose due to the air dry clay cracking....so don't blame that on Sherry! LOL.

The Witch continues...

2007-06-30T22:34:00.001-07:00

A few more pictures of the Witch:

A Witch in Progress

2007-06-30T22:08:00.000-07:00

I have started working on a Halloween Witch. I saw a picture of some wonderful witches on another blog and it gave me the idea to get started using the wooden artists mannequins. I had trouble finding a base I liked so I went with a bird house from Michael's mounted on a candlestick and spray painted black.