All Things Small

All Things Small is a maker of highly detailed miniature plants and flowers for doll houses and other miniature uses. They are so pretty and fresh looking. I especially love the potting station. The material used for most of these plants is rice paper. Also available from the simple and clearly organized website are kits, tools and accessories.

The sizes for each flower pot or basket are in the descriptions. Once again, I wish miniaturists would include something standard like a coin for visual reference in their photos. But you can't have everything.

Haunted Dollhouse

Here is a Flikr set of an interesting miniature doll house. The Blogess isn't usually about dolls, but this is a cool thing to examine. Can't show a photo, but do follow the link.

Wee Peeple

Kendra Niagra's website, Wee Peeple Dolls, is huge and fun, and her cloth dolls and animal totems are beautiful. Clearly she has a delightful sense of humor. But seriously, the website goes on and on. Just keep scrolling. And there are stories too.

I especially enjoyed exploring her recycled materials tutorials.

Contest to win Supplies

This might seem a little odd for a doll post, but the products are wonderful. I'm on the ScraPerfect design team and of course I use the Best Glue Ever, Embellie Gellie, Perfect Crafting Pouch and Perfect Cleaning Cloth in my scrapbooking and paper crafting.

But they are also fantastically useful for doll making. The Best Glue Ever is great for fabrics, as well as putting beads or rhinestone embellishments on to surfaces. The Embellie Gellie is a tool that I use for lifting and placing small items, as well as  holding small items down while I alter them. The Perfect Crafting Pouch prepares all kinds of surfaces - including fabrics! - for clean and crisp stamping or printing, AND is a fantastic mold release for polymer clay in silicon and other molds. The Perfect Cleaning Cloth is anti static and removes Pouch residue and cleans your spectacles beautifully.

HOW TO WIN? Go to Facebook.com/ScraPerfect and post a response on the thread that says: 

WANT TO WIN A PRIZE??? Just tell us where you heard about this contest for ScraPerfect Products.  We'd also like to hear questions or comments about our Magically Perfect Craft Products...Where's you first heard about them? What do you love about them? How you use them most?....

THE PRIZE: The Best Glue Ever, Embellie Gellie, Perfect Crafting Pouch and 2 Perfect Cleaning Cloths. 

Contest Details: Contest ends November 15, 2011. Winner will be drawn at random form the Facebook posts. Paid shipping to the US, as well as Israel & Brazil where we have DT members. (If winner is from another country, they may choose to pay shipping or forfeit the package.)

There are also TWO online articles:

Cool Techniques & Tools for Papercrafting

Courtesy of ScraPerfect Products
Create a card and learn how to instantly dry pigment without heat, archieve inkjet printing on vellum, apply glitter to acetate with no static cling, and more!

How to Scrapbook Using Homemade Adhesive Dots
Courtesy of ScraPerfect ProductsNeed tiny adhesive dots ones for beads or micro-gems, long ones for fiber, or giant ones for making flowers? Read how to make them any size or shape, save oodles of money, and be "green". 

More info and ideas at the ScraPerfect blog.

Lucille

Lucille Ball would have been 100 today. Google Search is marking the event with a vintage tv that shows clips from "I Love Lucy" on the search engine home page.

Mattel has been making beautiful portrait dolls of Lucy, sometimes with Ricky, sometimes with Ethel, since 1997. Here is a fan site with a list of the entire line. I didn't realize it was so many. As portrait dolls, they are very nice because they really do capture her face and her expressions and the costumes are splendidly detailed renditions of the tv show garments. We have a couple ourselves.

Franklin Mint released a beautiful 16 inch vinyl portrait of Lucy in 2002 to celebrate 50 years of Lucy on television. This doll had a bunch of wardrobe accessories including a trunk. Check collectors' sites for sales or auctions of that one.

Effanbee made a collectible Lucy doll in 1985, but in my opinion the face and hair looks more like Ginger Rogers than Lucy.

Finally, here are some Kelly dolls styled as Lucy.

Danger ahead

If you knit at all you will love Rebecca Danger's critters. She sells knitting patterns and sewing patterns that you can download instantly for cute animals and monsters too. Be sure to visit the FAQ tab for useful links to how-to videos and other helpful info. Now all you have to do is choose really cute yarn to end up with really cute stuffed toys.
Oh - want to try before you buy? Under the shop tab, she has some free patterns.

Upcoming Doll Classes in NM & NY

Marlaine Verhelst - Taking Care of the Chicken

Received from Ankie Daanen:


***********************************


Hello, Dear Dollfriends.
 
I like to let you know news about upcoming dollclasses.
You might be interrested!!
 
MEET ´THE DUTCH TOUCH´.
Marlaine Verhelst and Ankie Daanen will come to Albuquerque, NM!!!
In a five day class Marlaine will teach hand sculpting into airdrying stone clay, based on human forms and proportions
and painting the piece with watercolor.
Ankie will teach inspiring lessons in clothing and finishing the doll in a personal way.
All students will go home with a finished piece!
 
DATES: Monday October 15th through Friday October 19th, 2012.
PLACE: Sandia Courtyard Hotel & Convention Center, Albuquerque, NM.
Roomrates are $59,- for two persons, incl. breakfast / excl. taxes.
The total fee for the five day class will be $ 875,-, payable in three terms.
Kit fee will be $25,-, payable the first class day.
For more info on this class you can get in touch with Ankie: ankiedaanen@hotmail.com
 
ONE OPENING in the ´DUTCH TOUCH CLASS´ in Rye Brook, NY!!
DATES: October 25 through October 29, 2011.
For more info on this classyou can get in touch with our host Barbi Kantor - Goldenberg: dollart29@aol.com,
or with Ankie: ankiedaanen@hotmail.com
 
TWO DAY CLASS IN WESTCHESTER, NY, MOUNT VERNON:
Ankie will teach a two day class : how to make a ´doll out of the box´.
You will learn how to sculpt a fantasy dollhead and hands from air-drying clay.
How to make a body, how to paint and finish the doll and how to decorate a box-on-wheels and finish the complete project.
 
DATES: November 1st through November 2nd, 2011.
For info on this class you can get in touch with Gwen Jackson: mamagdolls@msn.com
Gwen has extra bedrooms for students.
 
NOTICE: Find out all about classes Marlaine and Ankie teach in August during the NIADA convention in Denver.
www.NIADA.org
 

by Ankie Daanen

*******************************************************
I've been to Albuquerque. The old town is pretty, there are nice Mexican food restaurants especially and there is lots of art to see in the region.


Please contact Ankie directly for more information. These are all wonderful opportunities to work with masters of the doll making arts.

Filigree Fantastic

I never ceased to be amazed and inspired the creativity in the world. I have just found the adorable and whimsical site for The Filigree, a Fairy Tale Newspaper. The site features information about the paper, gorgeous fantasy animals and anthro figures ("filigreetures") made using polymer clays over armatures and repurposed silk fabrics for the skin textures, Art Dolls and the most gorgeous Paper Dolls.

The paper dolls are a big feature of the Etsy store. The whole concept and brand is most intriguing.

Gather at the Old Farmhouse with Junker Jane

Junker Jane's Monster on Etsy

I was explaining my slow progress on my Aesthetic Preferences Profile quiz on my MMM blog. I mention shabby chic/prim as a major style look. Here's the group blog of an Etsy team, Old Farmhouse Gathering, that make many beautiful prim and american folk style things for the home including beautiful dolls.

For anyone interested in running down a sweet rabbit hole the artisans button on that page takes you to a plethora of links to their blogs and shops. There delectable foodstuffs, traditional recipes, shaker furniture makers and of course dolls, like Prims Gone Wild, Angelbug Prims, and Night Owl Studios.

I think Junker Jane may be my current favorite, though. These go beyond the typical prim rag doll, to be prim rag monsters. Her work has an unmistakable look, lots of assymetry, lots of layering. Even though she appropriates elements of the prim aesthetic like aging, distressing and raggedy edges, you never think you are looking at an antique. They feel both aged and contemporary.

The Junker Jane website is also nicely organized. Her photography is exemplary.

Harry Potter all gone

As it happens most (but not all) of these dolls are sold out, but they sure are fun to look at. We have Tonner's Hermione and Ron at the Yule Ball, and they are truly beautiful detailed dolls.

Win a Kokeshi

...courtesy of the Craft and Folk Art Museum store in Los Angeles. In conjunction with the current exhibition at the Japanese American National Museum, you can win a sweet kokeshi by artist, Kathy Yoshihara, by going to this blog post article and commenting before July 19th - so hurry along.

A world of teddies

Here's an online show of artful teddy bears. You can vote for your favorites but only for 3 days, July 15-17! There are some adorables amongst the miniatures and the full size.

Lego art

Ok this is just highly amusing to me. There are tons of ads on the site but scroll down for the famous album covers recreated in legos. Beatles predominate, but there are some others too.

International Art Doll Registry

Here is a community site for doll artists, the International Art Doll Registry. At this site there members can access tutorials, get critiques and help, and participate in challenges - but most of all show their dolls to the world with links to their sales sites. The annual membership is a reasonable $39.00, and there are also annual contests.

The next associated learning opportunity will be a Polymer Clay Sculpting Seminar hosted by Deb Wood. This will be in Minnesota August 17-21, 2011. Details from Deb directly.

Ric Rac Softies

Here's Jodie of Ric Rac's tutorial for making a personalized plushie doll. A quick browse around her blog finds other soft dolls, whimsical stuffed miniatures made by reducing patterns, and a general fondness for clean shapes,  pretty felt colors and a sharp eye for retro influenced design. I like it.

Vote for your Bu

Bu's are little droplet shaped vinyl figures. Joining the trend started by Kid Robot and Munny figures, various artists have transformed these blank canvases into art dolls and other decorative things with paint and mixed media. You can vote for your favorite until June 30th.

Figurative artists' call

The Pacific Art League in Palo Alto, CA has a call out for participants in a juried show "Figures and Faces" in the main gallery. They are looking for all media other than film and video. The deadline for jpeg submissions is July 5th for the exhibition in August. Fees apply which look commensurate with other similar shows, and there are also prizes.  The works must be for sale.

John Frame exhibit

Showing until June 20 at Huntington Library in Pasadena, CA is "Three Fragments of a Lost Tale" - figurative sculptures and carved wooden and mixed media puppet/dolls by artist John Frame. At the website is an 8 minute film of the artist at work including some stop motion segments. The scale of the figures is tiny, so the sculpting is even more remarkable especially jointed fingers. He sews costumes and incorporates metal armatures and acrylic/glass eyes.

Also interesting are segments showing John Frame gathering natural materials and using mud and dirt to color and stain wood for the figures and scenic elements.

Incredibly beautiful and thought provoking.

Big Book Big Mannequins

Writer, doll maker and illustrator Sylvia Ion is offering a couple of downloadable PDF How-to books through her Class Concious Big Books. I'm seeing one that is for a life size paper mannequin and another for a child size display stand. Both are built over existing forms, and I can see how the techniques could apply to all kinds of large scale sculptural work. How intriguing. The PDF's are part of a larger ongoing book project, something of a magnum opus for Sylvia, compiling all her life size doll work.

Kickstarter project

Mauricio Baiocchi is in the process of creating a beautiful independent film using puppets and miniatures. He needs what in the film world is a microscopic amount of money to complete the work.

Kickstarter is a "crowd funding" website. Individuals pledge to contribute any amount they can or want, to all kinds of projects and ideas. Some project organizers offer different rewards for different levels of contribution. Your credit card/paypal account is charged only after the deadline specified.

The catch is that unless the project receives pledges for the entire amount requested by the deadline specified, your card will not be charged. It's an all or nothing deal.

Please visit the site and watch the video trailer. I think you'll be as charmed as I was. He's getting there, and he has 37 days to go.