Button bracelets at the Wild Bee

Wild Bee Button Bracelets


When I started my blog a couple of months ago, my goal was to post something at least once a week. I'm falling behind, but with good reason, since I have been working on a very special commission and the deadline to deliver it is critical. I have now finished the piece and will post photos in the next day or so.

In the meantime, I have received a photo from a member of the Wild Bee fiber arts group of the button bracelets that we made at the March meeting and I thought you might like to see how much fun we had making our one-of-a kind bracelets! I'm continuing to play with my buttons as time permits.

"Hands on Houston" HCCC Project Jumping-Jack Paper Dolls

TAODA (Texas Assoc. of Original Doll Artists) has been invited to present a project for the "Hands on Houston" event at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft on Saturday, August 7th, where we will teach a doll craft to children of all ages. The project chosen for this year will be a jumping-jack paper doll based on my cloth jumping-jacks. The paper jumping-jack will have a base of white poster board over which colorful papers and trims will be glued. Templates for the base doll and its clothes were presented at the April TAODA meeting. Volunteers will cut out sets of these pieces and package them ready for participants to glue on the clothes and face, and decorate with stickers, pom-poms and other trims of their choosing. TAODA volunteers will assist with punching the pieces, adding the brads and stringing to complete the paper doll. The public is invited and there is no charge.

My current project is working on dolls and kits for my UFDC Convention workshop in Chicago, July 18-23. The workshop is titled, "Peppermint Annie," and is scheduled for Wednesday morning, July 21. I've based my 4-1/2" doll on Raggedy Ann, but with a bit of a twist. : )

I plan to prepare about 30 kits with the pieces presewn and ready to stuff so that the participants will be able to complete their doll in the 3-hour class. This amounts to quite a bit of preparation work, but it is fun. In addition to the kits I plan to also make 10 or so finished dolls to put in my booth in the ODACA and UFDC sales rooms.

"Peppermint Annie" Workshop Doll

Thanks for stopping by. I would love to hear your comments.

Enjoy your day.

Joyce

Dachshund Dandy Relisted

I have the new information from Kim regarding the relisted "Dachshund Dandy", original OOAK doll by Kim Baxley. Remember that part of the proceeds will go to benefit the Dachshund Rescue group. The new, relisted number is:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120546533700&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT#ht_2102wt_977

I hope you'll make a bid if you can. It's for a good cause!

Enjoy your day!

Joyce

Happy Easter!

Easter Bunny Jumping-jack is hopping with glee as he delivers his colored eggs!

Happy Easter everyone! I hope you'll be able to spend this beautiful weekend with those who make you happy. Spring has come to the Texas Gulf Coast and the Bluebonnets and Indian Paintbrushes are popping up along the roadsides and the pecan trees are breaking out in their beautiful bright green leaves! What a beautiful time of the year this is!

On a not-so-happy-note, it's tax time again, but I am happy to say I have just completed my tax preparations! I hope all of you are finishing up this annual trial as well and are enjoying that joyous feeling of relief to have it done for another year. I tell myself that I must do a better job of keeping track of everything, but each year I find myself once again going through piles of receipts and paperwork to get it all in a reasonable shape to deliver to the accountant. Guess I'm just a creature of habit! : )

Now I'm going to take time to straighten up and clean my studio as it's a mess! Then I will be able to start a new commission piece that I'm excited about. It will be a birthday gift for a husband's milestone 65th birthday and his wife has given me lots of neat suggestions for little details that are personal to him. This is always fun and I enjoy researching the internet and finding ways to incorporate these scaled down items with the doll. I'll share photos later after he has received his personalized birthday gift.

I'm also continuing to find time to work with my buttons and have completed a sizeable inventory of bracelets so far. I decopaged fabric prints of the heads of period ladies onto large buttons to use as focal points on some of the bracelets as shown in the photo. I was pondering how I could display the bracelets in my sales booth when my husband came up with the suggestion of using a piece of 2" PVC pipe cut however long I want it. It's perfect for just slipping the bracelets on and it can either stand or lay on the table. For travel to shows, I'll just pack the bracelets on the pieces of pipe. : )

I've heard from Kim Baxley that the eBay auction for "Dachshund Dandy" sadly did not meet the reserve, so she will be relisting it and will let me know the particulars so that I can share them with you. Watch for details.

I'm off to do some studio cleaning! Have a wonderful weekend!

Joyce

Correction of eBay Number

Kim and I just noticed that when you click on the eBay number I gave you a closed page comes up.....not the page for "Dachshund Dandy." I see that I had a typo that may be directing us to the wrong page, so let me try to correct that and get you to the right auction page.

The number should read: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.d11?ViewItem&item=120546533700&ssPageName=STRK:MESCX:IT#ht_2102wt_1141

I hope this will correct the problem and you will be able to view her neat little doll.

Joyce

Kim's Doll

Kim's Custom Doll by Me

"Dachshund Dandy" by Kim Baxley

Today I have shipped the custom doll I created for Kim Baxley, my very talented web designer, artist, animal lover and Dachshund Rescuer. Kim has seen a photo of the doll so I don't think she will mind if I share it with you here.

I want to also commend Kim who....did I mention she is also a cloth doll artist?.... has created and put up for auction the delightful, one-of-a-kind, "Dachshund Dandy," currently on Ebay at

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.d11?ViewItems&tiem=120546533700&ssPageName=STRK:MESCX:IT#ht_2102wt_1141

Kim plans to donate 50% of the proceeds for her doll to Dachshund Rescue. The other 50% will go toward the care and feeding of her own 5 Dachshunds and 1 Australian Shepherd! I hope you will take a look and perhaps make a bid. Information about the Rescue group is also provided there. Hurry, you only have 9 days left to bid on this adorable little doxie!

Enjoy your day!

Joyce

Bluebonnet Bebe Doll Show Display

Addy's Sewing Room

Happy 1st Day of Spring! It looks like the last cold front of winter is heading this way today and then, hopefully, we will move into spring here on the Texas coast.

I want to share with you a photo I received from my friend, Rhnee Hicks, who was gifted with a custom doll made by me a few years ago from her sister, Renita. Rhnee is an expert seamstress and teaches sewing. She especially loves to work with young girls to teach them the important skill of sewing. She is also a member of UFDC and works diligently with the Junior Collector Program to get young girls interested in collecting dolls.

This past weekend the UFDC doll club, Bluebonnet Bebes, held their annual doll show in Houston. Rhnee put together a delightful display for the show called, "Addy's Sewing Room," and sent a photo to show me how she had incorporated her custom doll in the scene (on the left) to represent the "teacher." I'm just delighted and thought you might enjoy seeing her display also.

Enjoy the day!

Joyce

Name That Tune!

Send in the Clowns

My Funny Valentine

Among the things I have been working on this week are two dolls for the 2010 TAODA challenge, "Name That Tune." The challenge is to take a favorite song or piece of music and create a doll. Since galleries are especially interested in shows that can be hung on the wall, TAODA members are asked to consider wall hanging dolls in addition to standing ones as we create our new dolls.

My selections aren't necessarily my "favorite" songs, but were selected based on some dolls and doll parts I had on hand. The deadline for the challenge is the March TAODA meeting this Saturday and I am running out of time! The first doll was quite honestly inspired by a large Valentine box of chocolates from my husband. A few years back I had made some small "Altoid Sweetheart" dolls using heart shaped Altoid boxes for the torsos and adding a head, arms and legs. I happened to have an extra set of finished head, arms and legs on hand, so I decided to use them along with a red satin heart box for the torso and some Valentine trims from my stash. I attached the doll to the lid from the box of chocolates, added a hanging cord to the back and named her, "My Funny Valentine"!

A second entry for the challenge I call, "Send in the Clowns." I have two colorful Cirque du Soleil type white face clowns that I created last year and that no one had seen. I changed the accessories to some I liked better and sewed a plastic ring on the back of each doll so that they can hang together on the wall. I have included photos of the two "Name That Tune" challenge dolls above. The clowns are on stands in the photo and I will include these with the dolls if/when purchased.

I'm also working on a commission piece this week that is just about finished. It is for my excellent web designer, Kim Baxley. Kim is a very talented lady who is an artist and a cloth doll maker among her other creative endeavors. More importantly, she and her husband rescue Dachshunds that have been abused and/or abandoned. Kim recently completed a Dachshund doll that she plans to auction on Ebay and donate a portion of the proceeds to the Kentucky Dachshund Rescue Program. The piece I am working on will honor Kim's efforts in the rescue of these little doxies. I'll post a photo after Kim has received her doll.

I'm also continuing to enjoy working with my buttons as time allows. I want to try making some different things with them including necklaces and earrings, etc. My husband has just confessed to me that another 17 lbs. of vintage buttons are on the way from another winning bid on Ebay! I won't complain, though, as the cost is very reasonable and he promises....once again....that there won't be any more bidding on buttons. : ) I'm finding them to be very interesting and beautiful and fun to play with......and who knows what antique treasures I might find!

Enjoy your day!

Joyce