Fun in Kentucky.

Annie Hesse, creator of Annie Dolls (be sure to visit her gallery pages), has alerted me to yet another fantastic opportunity to commune with other doll artists. In September she is co-ordinating a conference with a series of workshops with international instructors in Kentucky called, delightfully Magic, Mischief and Mayhem. Be sure to scroll down to see photos of the variations of the beautiful dolls that will be taught.

Point Me in the Direction of Albuquerque

Thank Yvonne for the heads up about Creations in Fiber happening in Albuquerque, NM , May 28th to June 1st, 2009. Lots of great classes with some master doll makers, including Jean Bernard and Sherry Goshon teaching the pictured doll. The theme for the conference is "Musicals". Lots of very cool doll and costuming possibilities there. Challenges too of course.

Last time I went to Albuquerque from Los Angeles we took the train. Sleeping car, meals included. It's a great way to travel if you have a lot of luggage (or dolls).

Sugar Donkey

I like the work of relatively new doll maker Sugar Donkey Dolls. She is working in cloth and polymer clay also. She posts lots of WIP photos that are interesting, and the finished dolls, dark or light, are very sweet.

Wood sculpture

Today, April 24th is Arbor Day.

Not a doll maker, but a figurative sculptor in wood - I have enjoyed browsing around the website of artist Stefanie Rocknak. Her work-in-progress pictures are very interesting, seeing the figure emerge.

Vintage Pop

Working closely with 1960's pop art designer Alexander Girard, was doll maker Marilyn Neuhart. Her vintage plush pillow dolls feature screen printing and hand embroideries. They are very bright and vivid. Visuals of Girard's work are on show here. He also designed colorful graphically painted wooden dolls.

Bambole Designs

Michelle Munzone is an accomplished Australian doll artist living in my old home town of Sydney. In addition to her website, she also has a blog. She offers lots of online classes and workshops, and sells doll patterns to share the love and fun. I especially like some of her recent creations, a series of Zodiac dolls (12 of them, naturally) in mixed media/spirit doll style. I'm a sucker for beading and text in surface detail.

Taraluna

More for Earth Day...

Taraluna presents fair trade, organic and green toys and gifts. They present a couple of lines of soft dolls made from hemp and/or organic cottons, some stuffed with soft filler made from recycled plastic (I'd like to take a look at that for my own doll work). Lots of color and fun too. They also have wooden toys, plush critters and soft hand puppets.

I chose the picture of the sling momma in honor of my friend Heather, who just had a new baby boy.

Earth Day Giveaway

Here's an Earth Day giveaway. Hurry tomorrow April 22 is the last day to enter by email to win a Hairy Xeko Pal plush doll. Aww he's cute.

Anicetta

Anita Stoklosa, called Anicetta, makes beautiful and highly detailed custom clothing for Tonner and Barbie sized fashion dolls. She also makes gorgeous beaded tiny shoes and jewelry. Doll collecting is alive and well in Poland.

Ties That Bind

This project to benefit Ovarian Cancer research came to my attention today. A slightly different kind of collaborative project. The gorgeous doll that resulted will be raffled.

Antique bears

I found the cutest site - a Teddy Bear Museum. Here are some pictures of sweet faced teddy's, and their historical context, including a copy of the original Teddy Roosevelt cartoon that started it all. Plus links and a forum.

Here is an online store that specializes in Antique Teddy Bears. I mention Lucky Bears Limited here both as a place to browse and investigate the old teddies, but also because under the Encyclopedia tab there is a lot of really useful information about caring for them to preserve their value and beauty. I like the idea of freezing out bug larvae.

Monsterosity

Here's a Japanese doll maker making monsters from vinyl and cloth with reflective tape and faux fur trims. Lots of fun. Oh and they're having a sort of "make an offer" type of sale right now.

Kewpie Anniversary

Kewpie Dolls are 100 years old in 2009.

The creator Rose O'Neill led an interesting life, as an illustrator and feminist, including studying sculpture with August Rodin.

Needle Felted Characters

I have so much admiration for Kay Petal's ability to create uncanny portraits of real people with needle felting. Remarkable and very cute too.

I like New York in June, How About You?

Volks are having a Doll Party in New York in June! Yippee.

It really is astonishing to me that the Volks USA Dollfie showroom is only about 10 or 12 miles from my door, and I still have not been there. These are truly amazing, customizable dolls.

Enchanted exhibit

One of my earliest posts to this blog was about the Enchanted Dolls of Marina Bychkova. I mentioned that she had an upcoming exhibit. Well...it's open and ongoing at Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum in Milwaukee, WI until June 7th.

Dolls as artful muse

Kate Church creates beautiful, nay magnificent, dolls and figures. In addition to her OOAK works, what she calls "sculptural puppetry", she creates licensed figures for Cirque du Soleil. Her website has gorgeous photography. She also has a blog and a growing interest in art ceramics.

Happy Easter

Here are some Easter Bunnies I have recently noticed on Etsy.

Sweet Poppy Cat has added an Upcycled Recycled Sweater Bunny to her collection of plush cats.

Veruca Dolls Land's Chubby Pink Rabbit is entirely hand sewn.

The Porcelain Egg Shaped Bunny offered by Creation Cottage is adorable, plus they have some other bunnies and sweet spring offerings as well.

Golden Needle Creations has some miniature Lop Eared cashmere Bunnies in a basket.

Sara at Devout Dolls has a bunch of Bunny costumes for Blythe dolls that look very cute.

Cute is also the word to describe Kokeshi doll maker Beladonna's wood Easter Bunny.

Bear Creek Design offers a needle felted Bunny Rabbit, as does Kindred Spirits 12, although both are very different bunnies in character and look.

Finally Sillyboodilly has a sweet, stuffed and quilted Bebe the Bunny with hand embroidered eyes.

Enjoy!

Cynjon Noah - tornado survivor

Yikes, sorry I've neglected this blog for a couple of days! But I hope to make it up to you by featuring the work of a wonderful mixed media and doll artist, Cynjon Noah. It is worth visiting his Etsy Store also for a look at the breadth of his interests.

He has just posted on the Egads blog, a call for submissions for his upcoming zine which will feature art dolls. More info from him cynjon_noah@yahoo.com .

Doll Farm

OMG can you cope with the level of cuteness of these gorgeous plush art dolls. Entirely hand sewn by artist Heather Louise. Yet more than cute too - they also have a thought provoking edge.

Sky Girls

Textile and quilt artist Barbara Zuazua is one of this month's featured artists on the Dharma Trading Company website. She has an Etsy store where she sells beautiful cloth dolls which showcase her altered and dyed textiles including vintage embroideries. They also have detailed stories and whimsically sweet personalities.

Happy Birthday Jackie

Ok it's a little silly, but I'm a fan. April 7th is Jackie Chan's birthday. (Also Francis Ford Coppola).

Here's a recent review of a vinyl action figure of a very poseable Jackie Chan. (Looks like a useful review site to browse.)

Here's a handmade "Wax Doll" of him... some might call this a candle...

He has some fan clubs including this kid's fan club. Check out the buddy bear.

Russian dolls in Vogue

Russian Vogue has a feature about designer Matroyshka dolls. Can't read a word of it, but check out the glossy pics.

I followed the link there from Jeanne's Sew Many Things...Sew Little Time blog. Some very cool cloth and mixed media dolls there.

Frankensoque Creatures

Here's a fun Etsy store - Hardyharhar makes completely cool OOAK monsters and critters out of repurposed and recycled clothing with other found objects incorporated, that she calls either Scrap Monsters or Frankensoques. In her profile she says that she specializes in memorial items made from your loved ones effects. Her creatures have personalities big time, and descriptive monikers. And belly buttons.

Carved Wood and a village to visit.

Erika Catellani is a Swiss doll maker who works in wood, carving and painting adorable children from maple. Their clothes are adorable too.

Many of Erika's dolls are available from Little Princess Frocks, an interesting online store that is an outlet for many collectible doll makers, as well as assorted antique and vintage dolls and accessories. Be sure to click on the Village link, and visit some of the locations there. Fun stuff.

Presidential Papers

Dover Publications is offering a "President Obama Paper Dolls" book to augment the earlier pre-election publication of "Obama Paper Dolls".

Dover puts out a lot of art books, including many with public domain images that can be used in collage and mixed media. They put out a monthly newletter which includes downloadable freebies and samples. Scroll down the page to reach the Free Dover Sampler with Paper Dolls link.

Cool Karma

Karma Veranda has a brand new blog, already with inspiring words, but her flikr page of very cool spirit style, mixed media and needle felted art dolls is even more so. Stay tuned ....

Yum!

Unbelievable detail, cuteness and the incredible illusion of reality. This blog dedicated to miniature food makers is just really, really fun. And amazing. And tons of links.