It's finally out! Jane Davies newest book "Adventures in Mixed Media" was well worth the wait. I just got it and am loving each and every page!
I feel very honored to have two of my mixed media dolls "Fly" and "Time" appear in this book.
I hope to be offering Workshops with Mixed Media figures similar to these in the near future. Too many ideas, too little time to get it all together!
It's only been a month since I first came up with the idea of making Alien and Skeleton dolls. To get to this point has to be a speed record for me, but then again this is pretty much all I have focused on in the past month. I am still waiting for parts to dry before I finish loading the kiln. I hope to fire in a few days, but then this project will be put on hold for awhile. After firing the next step will be to make patterns for the cloth bodies. While I can't continue on these dolls right now, there will at least be parts available to work with when time allows. 
Lots of molds have been made and are somewhat dry now. Thank goodness it's winter and I can stand them on the heating vents to hasten the drying process! I am now starting to pour parts, then the pouring spouts and seams will be removed. As the parts dry I will refine them further and once dry they will go into the kiln. I'll start making the body and clothing patterns after the firing process as the final parts will shrink considerably from the original sculpted pieces. I believe the dolls will end up being the size of a standard fashion doll of about 15". The Aliens and Skeletons will have the same bodies aside from the Aliens having longer arms.
I am giving serious consideration to making these dolls (choice of Alien or Skeleton doll) available as an online class. Clay parts and paper patterns would be mailed and a password given to view online videos. Sound like something that would interest you? I'd love to hear some feed back!
About 2 weeks ago I came up with an idea for an Alien and a Skeleton doll. At that time I started to sculpt the original pieces out of clay and then made master plaster molds of them. Now that the molds are dry I am able to cast them in slip (liquid clay), make a few changes, refine them and production molds can be made from those pieces. I'll make many so that I can pour lots of pieces without having to wait for the molds to dry before I can start casting again. After pouring the production molds, waiting for the clay to set up, removing the parts from the molds, seams and pouring spouts can be removed and a final smoothing and refining of the parts is done. I'll have to wait for those parts to dry and then the parts will be put in a kiln and fired. Only after all that can I start actually working on the doll body. Phew, Makes me tired just thinking about all the steps!
This is how I have always made dolls, it's a very labor and time intensive method of working. From concept to completion it takes months for me to complete the first doll. I have chosen to work in this medium for doll making as it is a time tested, stable medium ... I like that.
I suppose it was bound to happen sooner or later .... Twenty plus years of doll making just doesn't go away. I'm thinking (if time permits) I might make a slight temporary detour from Art Journaling to make some Alien Dolls ... and/or skeleton dolls. Who knows, if there is interest, it might lead into a Workshop ....
I just had to share these photos with everyone. These fabulous needle felted figures are made by Lana Socia of Howell, Michigan. Her business name is "Raven Oaks" and she is the new owner of my former shop out at the Michigan Renaissance Festival.
Not only does Lana create the most amazing work , she is a delightful and lovely person and is a member of the "Black Sheep Weavers Fiber Guild" based out of Hartland, Michigan. Unfortunately, she doesn't have a website or a blog at this time. 
She has such a wonderful variety of merchandise, from the beautiful felted flower pins (above) to small area rugs (shown below) and of course her many different and cleverly crafted figures.
Along with her beautifully executed wool felt pieces she does rug hooking, makes hand dyed wool (seeing her delicious dyed wools sure makes me want to take up knitting), and she also offers supplies and classes.
Please stop by and check out her work (and her new shop!) when you attend the Michigan Renaissance Festival. I wish her all the best with her new venture and hope it brings her as much joy and as many fond memories for the future as it has for me.
I finally got around to making a few new doll parts! I now have legs and a small doll head available. I also have made some more of the very popular hands and other "parts" that I have been out of for awhile. I have other pieces in mind, but unfortunately they won't be available for several months yet. These are in my ETSY shop now and will later be available on my website also.
Registration has begun for "The Butterfly Book" workshop at the Art Center of Battle Creek Michigan. The workshop will be Saturday, October 16th, 2010. Class size is very limited, so register soon!
... I was a fantasy doll maker, but those days are over. I know I will never make them again. Even though I was so very passionate about making them for so many years, I have spent most of the day destroying many of the last remaining parts and molds. All my own painstakingly sculpted designs ... all the molds I labored over years ago. As hard as it is, it's time to move on, make more space for new work and supplies and focus on my current passions. Here is a link to a few photos of those many figures I have made over the years. 
I have spent months doing what seems like nothing but making fairies. A few breaks in between just to keep my sanity. Admittedly, the first thousand or so were lots of fun, but after making these for 17 years, the thrill has somewhat faded. For a few years I have been truly passionate about Art Journaling, but find there isn't enough time to pursue it as deeply as I'd like. I have too many other interests and something has to give. After much thought and trepidation (and slumping sales due to the economy)
I have uploaded many photos of these Elfins before, but just had to show yet another. I just love this color. Check out the little fairy earring ... almost makes me want to get my ears pierced so that I can wear it. Photos enlarge to show detail.
Elfin on pedestal - SOLD
Elfin on the base is 18" tall and the Elfin in the pod is 12" tall including the antenna. All photos enlarge to show detail. As you can see, today my favorite color is orange.
Hard at work making stock for the Renaissance Festival. It starts August 22nd, so I will have no life until it's all over on October 4th. I enjoy it, bit it is an amazing amount of work. All the photos above enlarge to show detail. Including the antenna these figures are 12" tall.
Just having a bit of fun with mermaid and doll photos. I thought they looked rather interesting all put together. Photo enlarges to show detail.
Geez! How could I forget?!? The earrings are my favorite part of making any doll and I forgot to include of photo of that! Each of these figures has long pointy ears and most all of them have 2 piercings in one of their ears. This one has a brass bell and a flying bug of some sort dangling from the smallest pearls I have ever seen.
Sometimes plans can get REALLY delayed. I started these a few months ago. In fact if you scroll down all the way to April 12th you can see where I first started constructing the paper mache cones for these figures. Between not having the proper doll parts and other projects that came up needing priority over these, they were put on hold. I plan (or at least I hope) to make at least 4 more of these wall mounted pieces before going off onto yet another project. From tip to tip (including antennas) they are each 29" tall and will be available at our shop at the Michigan Renaissance Festival. Both these photos enlarge to show more detail.
I have put together 3 of these little books I have been working on. They go together quickly and easily (as I had hoped) I did however take them a step further and edged all the pages (which took a surprising amount of time) and did some beading on the front. The beading was done on the ends of the waxed linen cording that holds the pages in place. This is not required, but I just love adding
Oh yes, I am having far too much fun. I just love this stage of a project. Working out all the details and see how it all plays out is the best part of any creation. This idea has been brewing in my head (and in several working sketch books) for well over a year now. Seems like so many of the things I do take a long time to actually materialize. Especially when it involves clay parts. The reason for this is that the original has to be sculpted of clay, a plaster mold made (time for that to dry), parts poured from slip (liquid clay), time for those to set up, removed from the mold, dried to a leather hard stage, refined, dried, smoothed out and refined further, fired (and I only fire with a full kiln, so that takes quite a bit of time) and then I finally have the clay parts to work with.
These are the clay parts for the body of a butterfly book I am planning for workshops. I hope they work out, it's kind of hard to tell at this point. This clay piece will act as the spine of the book. The oval flat area is for a vintage face to be applied and a pluck of maraboa feather will be added for hair. They are 5" long as taken out of the molds. They will shrink up a little after drying and firing. I hope to fire within the week and have photos of the finished book to share. 
