A Doll Experiment

A few months ago on Etsy I asked for help on creating a cloth toy pattern for a demon. I can easily experiment with yarn with crochet, if I mess it up or I don't like it, I pull on the string and the mess is undone. However, with cloth I've always been frustrated with patterns and what seems to be a limited amount of creativity available with them. Patterns, in general, disagree with me. But one very nice etsyer pointed me in the direction of Patti Medaris Culea (http://www.pmcdesigns.com/) and Susanna Oroyan.

Both of these women have authored several books regarding the creation and design of cloth dolls. I remember I experimented with cloth dolls when I was younger, but I didn't like my doll. It was floppy and without personality. At the time I didn't understand why I couldn't get the result I wanted. The answer is my total lack of imagination when it came to fabric.

Both Culea and Oroyan do a breathtaking job of directing you on how to make a doll and make it your own. I thank both of them for this, because I finally have a good excuse to not only buy fabric, but use it.

The first doll I made is from Culea's book Cloth Doll Making, found on page 22. I didn't paint my doll liek Culea did, but instead I added wings and a dress I crocheted. I understand I still have a quite a ways to go with making dolls, but I am really pleased with my first one. She's 18 inches long, which is bigger than I thought she would be. I made the mistake of sewing her arms and then trimming the fabric (muslin) too close to the seam, which made parts of her arms "blow out" while I stuffed them. I stopped that by hand sewing them closed, which is not the most attractive way of fix a doll. The other option was to remake the arm, but I wasn't willing to start over when I had such momentum behind me.

I drew her face using Culea's instructions, and was pleasantly suprised with my end result. Since finishing this doll I've invested in fabric pen and experimented with more face drawing. I made a silly pincushion, and I'll post that soon.

I also found my very first favorite crafting blog. It's by doll artist Mimi Kirchner, and I've been pulling a lot of inspiration from her blog (http://mimikirchner.com/blog/). Her blog is so easy to read because she takes pictures of her creative process and describes what she does. She also has an etsy store: mck254.etsy.com.

All right, I have to go be productive by cleaning my house or something....

Night Sky

You grow up believing they are immortal
Lit beacons in the sky
Stars that shine for a millenia
But not all stars are there
It is only their bright afterimage
That lives/lingers on

People linger in memory
When their body has failed
Degenerates
Turns to dust
These towers of immortality
So tall
When you are young and must look up at their aged faces

Still die
Still die
Still die

They remain with you only
As stars in your night sky
Immortality as brightness
As you knew when they were alive

Rosalee’s Lesson

Rosalee is a curious and micheivious horse. Her father and mother always tell her time and again to wear her warm coat when it's cold, and to stay out ofthe neighbors business. Now, she doesn't like to be cold, so she is very good about wearing her warm
coat, however she is simply far too curious not to listen in on her neighbors conversations.

One day while Rosalee walked home she heard the neighbor boy, Thomas, tell his friends how he thought Rosalee smelled funny. Hearing this irked her so much that she stopped right in her tracks and walked up to the boys, her nostrils flaring with anger.

"So you think I stink, do you?" She stared at Thomaswith the angriest face she could muster.

Thomas blused and refused to make eye contact withher. "Umm, I didn't say that Rosalee. Why don't you mind your own business?"

Remembering what her parents had told her, time andagain, Rosalee bit her lip for loss of words. Her feelings were hurt because these boys thought she smelled funny, but it was rude of her to butt-in on their private conversation.

"I'm sorry. I just don't think it's very nice of you to tell other horses that I don't smell good. That hurts my feelings Thomas." She turned to leave them to their rude conversation when Billy, a friend of Thomas's, giggled.

Billy said, "Rosalee, Thomas only says things like that because he likes you. He doesn't think you're stinky! I catch him staring at you all the time!"

Thomas yelled, "Do not! I think Rosalee is a mean and nosy, girly horse!"

The other boys looked and him and laughed. Then Rosalee realized why she was so hurt about what Thomas said, she kind of liked him too! She
blushed and looked at the other boy horse, his cheeksred, and his hooves stomping the dirt.

Grinning she couldn't stop herself from saying, "I like him too!" and then she turned and ran home as fast as she could. Once she got home, her heart thumpingand butterfly's in her belly, she found her mom.

"What is is sweetheart? You look like you've been running a race," her mom leaned down and kissed herforehead.

"Mom! Mom! I learned my lesson today! I shouldn't listen to other's conversations because what they're saying may not really be what they mean! Thomas called me stinky, and it was because he likes me!"

Rosalee's mother looked at her sideways, "Well, yes, that is always possible. It's also polite to respect others privacy."

"That too, mom! Now I'm going to go tell the girls Thomas eats dirt!" Rosalee grabbed a cupcake from table and raced to her friends house to tell her that Thomas eats dirt.

By the way, Thomas does not eat dirt, and Rosalee smells perfectly fine. It's just when little boys and girls like each other, they're not very good at using their words.

So, in the end, Rosalee's lesson is to keep your eyes and ears open, but never let them know you're listening!

This story was written for Samantha Leigh from Etsy and all rights are reserved.

I'll be posting other stories for my animals soon, stay tuned!

My Creative High

Okay, so in order to boost my sales at Etsy, which by the way are none existent, I'm starting to trade with other sellers. My first trade was with Samanthaleigh, and I made her one-year-old daugher, Amara, a pink horse.

I have to tell you I had the most fun making this creation. Whenever I start making something new it takes me forever to think of how I want it to look, the colors, etc. But, this time I knew I had to kick into action and just do it. I had made a horse before for my nephew, but that one subsequently became "Duck Horse" because my husband said it looked more like a duck than a horse. So, I was all the more determined to make a horse, and not a creature that resembled something else. The above picture is Rosalee, and I screamed through her creation in less than two weeks.

I have to say that I suprised myself and I'm so excited for Amara to get her. Rosalee is 100% cotton yarn with polyfill and beanies in her feet, so she can stand and sit and whatnot.

I'm working on a dragon now...but that is going to be a much slower process. I need to get started on the bear I'll trade with Nycole, but I'm thinking of the design and pattern...and since I make up the pattern as I go it may take a little time. A coworker of mine wants a panda...so I'm working on it folks!

2/15/2006

I realized earlier today that my voice was heard on three Salt Lake City stations today. I started off doing traffic on X-96, then I went to KUER to man the board and read PSA's and whatnot, then I ended the day doing traffic on KSOP, the Cowboy. I'm extremely tired, it's been a 6 am to 7 pm day, but thought I would share this thought.

Ah, yes, and to top the day off it snowed like crazy in SLC, creating accidents that closed I-15 NB and a serious pain in the ass for me when I got to Metro this afternoon. I wanted to be a tad lazy and take a rest. The ironic thing is that we live in Utah, people, where it snows every year. This, however, does not mean that the folks here can get behind the wheel and drive without running into each other. They all want to go fast, get where they're going... SLOW DOWN PEOPLE! I get to go home soon, that will be nice.

Signing off.

All right, I just set up this blog so my two awesome friends can keep up on me like I've been keeping up on them. Yup. I'm at work, so I can't say much. However, do check out my etsy store at www.PoetsHeadCreations.etsy.com, I have my crocheted toys for sell there. Plus, you can check out other peoples crafts, and a lot of them are impressive.