Gone soft for dolls ♥

 

 This is kind of a long post with lots of pictures (I like pictures) and links about kind of smallish creatures...... ;)

I want to share this other soft spot of mine, my other desire, a possible challenge ? something I really want to give a serious go a little more at some stage. I started the odd project over the years and some of those are still waiting patiently (as if they have a choice ? - see pics of them below-) to be finished .... if I ever will, because by the time I make some time for them I have other ideas about them already. Now, with having the school holiday kids program in my Art studio for the last 2 weeks, I had been looking for something "simple" to do myself and I made up some super simple calico shapes and stuffed them and started painting little faces. The first two born the other day, I gave wings and they became little angels

 

(a little like my Matryoshka dolls I did a few years ago)

  

the last one is a free little spirit and I really dig her!

 

But seriously, I have been admiring very special dolls for quite a while now. I would love to make some of these really really GR8 and amazingly beautiful dolls. I am in love with the out-of-this-world-oh-so-super-gorgeousilistic dolls by Nefer Kane  

and the tender, fine faces by Paulette Goodreau

   

 but also the grungier folky-arty cloth dolls by some dollmakers like Gritty Jane, and the Steampunky ones by Paula Nerhus and there are so many more. 

Tim Burton - dollmaker extraordinaire

  Of course I understand that it takes time and practise and YEARS of improvement, just like painting and sketching and everything else for that matter.  So .... one day .... I guess when my days have 48 hours and my weeks have 21 days and I will be immortal hehe......but before all that, I WILL make some more "simple" dolls for sure

♥

cloth doll wip 1

same doll wip 2

face start

face done ?

not happy with the nose, but ah well

want to finish her regardless

see where she ended up, stuck in a pot with legs up and all ?

this one is even an earlier one, kinda creepy actually....

♥

Sharing Mosaics -2-

A couple more mosaics from up North,
I really should be trying some myself
maybe from all the plates that broke recently...

Mermaid Amigurumi

Mermaids are everywhere !

I have been thinking about doing a little Amigurumi again lately,

I see so many nice ones around,

so I thought of looking for a mermaid pattern.

There are some free patterns available on-line

and some that are for sale for a small fee.
Here are a few pics with links to the proper owners/places.
When I have made one, I will post here of course.

and look ! I even found a (knitting) pattern for a mermaidtail for a Barbie Doll

for those of you that have little girls that want to play Mermaids too.

Needle felted Mermaid

Here's a needle felted mermaid I made a while ago

I found her again and I realized I have to do one like this again soon

Dry-needle-felting is great fun !

(stay focussed or you'll poke your fingers...believe me, I know...)

-I used New Zealand Merino wool-

Here' a youtube tutorial for sculptural needle felting

Red Work

An in-between-project...

A Birthday present:

It's a recycled journal I bought and I made a journalcover of pieced fabrics

with a little portrait on cotton on top.

It's for a friend who had her Birthday when I was away

and she likes patchwork, stitching and quilting.

Bunny Sisters

These little Stuffies, I made for a swap at atcsforall.com

They are 100 % handmade coffee-stained-cotton, filled with anti-allergic fibrefill

and they are flying to the host as we speak

3 for the swap, one for the host

:-)

Brown Paper Booklet #1

I already have too many unfinished projects, too many ideas floating inside my head and definitely too little time, so of course I thought I'll sqeeze in this little project that has been nagging me for a while ever since I saw it at this blog by the very creative iHanna

-Painted brown wrapping paper (both sides) ripped into pages and making it into little booklets-

and the kids LOOOOOVE to do it too!!!

Gift for a friend

A Spiral notebook with recycled paper

for a Friend

she likes craft, dogs, cats, houses and is a dear friend

I hope she likes this too.

Amigurumi sidetrack

A dear friend of mine gave birth to a baby girl (a fellow Aquarius chicky yeah!) She really likes the Amigurumi animals, but does not know how to crochet. So I thought I'll give it a try.

I have crocheted before, but never made an Amigurumi before. I made this Giraffe, what do you think ? Like all things handmade and precious, it takes quite a bit of time.I used Merino babywool, very nice and soft, but maybe I should use cotton next time. I'll do some more Amigurumi's for sure and with my thing for froggies, I would love to do a Frog Prince of course, just for myself to keep...one day, I've got paintings to finish first too.

Christmas Houses

These are some fabric houses I made, the roofs come off

and they can be used as little containers for some Christmas trinkets; little gifts or cookies.

The small ones I made instead of Christmas cards two years ago,

the big ones I filled with home baked cookies as a present.

They give me that Christmas feeling

and

I want to make more of those now that I found the photos again.