Free the Girls

Want to help end human trafficking and get rid of some old bras at the same time?

OK it's not exactly dolls, but it is textiles.


Here's all the info from Free The Girls - with a nice double meaning.

Thanks, Lucretia for the heads up.

Doll and Teddy Bear Convention upcoming

Susan and Terry Quinlan are creating an Artist Doll and Teddy Bear Convention. The event will be held May 12-14, 2011 at the Ramada in Philiadelphia, PA. The convention will honor doll artist and NIADA co-founder Helen Bullard and bear creator Beverly Matteson Port. The sooner you register, the more you will save.

Susan and Terry run the beautiful Doll and Teddy Bear Museum & Library in Santa Barbara. Susan is passionate about promoting dolls and bears as fine art.

Beautiful Patterns

Textile artist Kathie Briggs has posted some lovely new cloth doll patterns for sale on her blog. Both blog and website are worth perusing for the beautiful quilt art.

Call for Submissions

If you live in the San Francisco Bay area, here is an opportunity to submit your work to an art gallery. ArcStudios and Gallery is creating a Dolls and Dollhouses themed exhibit to run December through January.

"Artists are invited to liberally interpret their concept of ‘dolls’ and ‘dollhouses,’ and bring to life a creature or world from your wildest imaginings".

But hurry - the deadline to apply is October 31, 2010.

Indiana

Here's the vibrant blog of Indy Cloth Dollmakers, a doll club in Indiana. There are felt and cloth items, mixed media, challenge results and lots of pretty pictures of the members' work. It seems like they welcome travelling visitors.

New ADO about awesomeness

Our new Art Dolls Only website is up and it is beautiful. Aside the opportunity to browse and delight in the scrumptious artistry, the site itself is also exemplary in its design and layout. Very clear and easy to navigate, easy for collectors to find ways to purchase. Brava to the organizers. I love the featured artist and new member spotlights. Dolls by Constance Dillon pictured.

New Artistic Figures Blog

Cyndy Sieving, wonderful doll and fiber artist and creator of the Artistic Figures in Cloth Convention, has started a beautiful new blog where she intends to profile other wonderful doll artists with in depth interviews and photo essays. The first featured artist is Liz Siebold, member of the Guilded Lilies club. I urge followers here to visit and follow that blog too.

Barbie disaster here!

Doll friends I need help!
We have a 1970's European issue Busy Hands Barbie Equestrienne and last night while checking to see how her head was attached, I accidentally popped the head right off. It attached with the little double ended plastic "mushroom" shaped thing - which came out of the neck.
Now her head just won't go back on and not wiggle and flop.
My daughter, who bought the doll with her own money at the Barbie convention here in LA a couple of years ago, is devastated and I'm persona non gratis.
Does anyone one know an expert Barbie doll doctor who could help me? I'm going to haunt some of the forums and see what I can learn too.

Happy Fourth of July

Here are some patriotic themed dolls on offer at Etsy.

People are making nice outfits for your American Girl dolls to wear to your celebration, including Betsy Style and Doll Closet.

Blythe will also be well dressed at your summer barbeque by Rozrank.

There are some nice prim dolls ready to celebrate, including 1897 House's Olde Liberty Anne.

Raggedy Ann collectors won't be disappointed. I like this one from Wandering Whimsies.

There are some teddy bears and other critters bedecked in old glory including a grungy prim bear from Harmon's Country Crafts and a Bear by Sandi.

I like the artistry in Cat and Fiddle Folk's Fire Kracken Kit Kat.

Usagi Rabbit, maker of crisply finished hand sewn plushies, has a Red, White and Blue Wool Rabbit.

The only thing in Hophopjingleboo's shop is a this Little Liberty Girl vintage redux. But she is rather nice. I hope to see more.

There is no shortage of scrumptious themed miniature food for your dolls to enjoy on their holiday. Sarah Maloney's Dollhouse Kitchen (pictured), Humming Bird Miniatures, and Crown Jewel Miniatures can all cater my doll's party anytime they like.

Finally, there are plenty of small animal offerings, but I just like this paper clay Cheshire(?) Americat on a star from The Snippets.

Treasures

Here is a delightful, doll heavy Etsy treasure Weird Cute by Juliani. I found it on the front page (awesome!) A couple of familiar shops there too.

Realism in Cloth

My friend Sandra sent me a link to this person's site. There are no words other than "thanks!". Go to Lisa Lichtenfels' site - you won't be sorry. You won't want to believe it - but these are cloth figures over batting, felt and wire armatures. Be sure to check out the Techniques tab. Look for some celebrity portraits in the galleries too.

Paper Doll Children

I've been making paper dolls, and it is great fun. Here's another site that has paper doll packages for sale, for play. At Lily and Thistle MiniMe you can have dolls made to resemble your kids. The clothing for them is really sweet and pretty. I especially like the line inspired by characters from literature. The prices seem very reasonable to me too.
Paper dolls are an old fashioned but still charming toy. Did you know that the genesis of Barbie came from Ruth Handler noticing how her young daughter and her friends loved playing with the fashions on their grown up character paper dolls?

The Party Never Dies

Oh yeah. Adorable cute. Cool concept. Anime and Harajuku influence on the aesthetic. Monster High Dolls are set to come out in August, but my 10 yo daughter has already seen some at that big chain toy store and she is in love. Very poseable. Very cute litte accessories and pets. Fun mini-vids introduce the characters on the home site. If my daughter's reaction is anything to go by, Mattel has created something to replace My Scene dolls that will blow the memories of Bratz away on the breeze.
Is it just me, or are mass market commercial manufacturers appropriating more and more visual motifs and style elements from handmade indie crafts, including art doll makers? Yeah, it's not just me. It's something I've been watching increasingly for at least a year. (Another case in point - Littlest Pet Shop plush toys.) Although in fairness, it's not just toys. I'm seeing it in things like hang tags on mass produced garments, made to look as if they were hand stamped with rough edges.

Bargain Books

Interweave is holding their annual blow out sale of hurt books at bargain prices. These include many tomes of interest to doll makers including Ray Slater's "Cloth Dolls for Textile Artists", and a number of other technique and theory books.

Oddities

One of the really cool things about UK felt and doll artist Anthropomorphica, is the number of work-in-progress shots on the blog. There are doll starts shown that are basically their wire armature and their head, yet they have a wonderful vitality. The words are poetic and the photography exemplary. These gorgeous jointed polymer or paper clay and mixed media dolls have an odd whimsy, like Bette Davis woken up suddenly and carrying the ghost of her dream into the daylight. Go look, then tell me if you don't see what I mean.

Wild Art

I've been browsing around at text dense site Wild Art Dolls, where there are "fabulous and zany" pin dolls, fashion doll redux, paper doll info and Aisling's free patterns. But the big draw is the interviews with a bunch of doll and fiber artists. There are also some informative tutorials, and links to art doll books on Amazon. Pop goes my wish list.

Seminar in July

Deb Wood, maker of the Enchanted Heart figurative sculptures, is offering a Fairy Sculpting and Costuming Seminar in Omaha, July 14-18. The details are on her blog, where you can also dive in to beautiful pictures of her astonishing and lifelike polymer clay figure sculpts. Scroll down for a selection of free helpful tips and tutes.

Jenny's Paper Dolls

Here is Jenny's Paper Doll News blog. This is a great resource for anyone interested in paper dolls as an art form, with links to OPDAG and some nice publications (see picture), as well as event news, such as the OPDAG Convention in July.
I've only recently started exploring paper dolls myself. Stay tuned for a link soon to my downloadable free paper doll designs.

Cart full of Stuffies

Here are a pair of artists whose work I just really love. I first saw one of their dolls in an Etsy treasury, and followed back to their store, and then their blog (free stuff!- scroll down and look for the tutes on the right) and beautifully designed website.
I love the sweetness in the painted faces, the muted yet clear colors, the charming shapes, the wistful feeling in the expressions. They also have a fine finished quality - finesse, delicacy. So many superlatives, so little time.

Harem6

Sometimes words can get in the way.

Sometimes art needs no translation.

Click on the little face to the bottom right. The word that comes up is "papusi".

There are more words too, on the blog.