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!
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 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!
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
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. 
I just can't seem to make these Steam Punk styled princesses fast enough for the festival. I am not complaining of course, that's wonderful, I just wish I had thought to start them earlier in the season. I have so many ideas for the Elfins in the Steam Punk style. After Festival and some other commitments I believe I will start exploring the possibilities. In the mean time I shall start pulling out the metal wheels, cogs, copper tubing and other various metals to incorporate into the pieces. My head is already spinning with ideas. I'm thinking of some pretty wild contraptions that the Elfins will actually be riding on.
Well, I must admit I am pretty excited about these little mermaids. I am very pleased with the way they turned out. And I just love these glass beads. Absolutely the perfect greenish blue color .... they look like the essence of seawater captured in glass. I will make a up a few more of these for festival this weekend and then I hope to start on some of the baby mermaids. I am having far too much fun with this. This mermaid is 3/4" wide and 3" tall.
I am working hard on making a few doll necklaces for the Renaissance Festival beginning this weekend. I still have a lot of last minute details to take care of, but am hoping I can also make up a few mermaid pieces. I have some out right delicious elements to work in with the mermaids so I can't wait to begin work on those. I am hoping I'll have a chance to put one of them in my ETSY shop today.
Fortunately I found the necessary parts to make more of the birdcages as shown in a previous post. So, I have been busy making quite a few of the Elfins with birdcages in different colors. Now I am now on to something a bit different. Still working on the Elfins, but have given several of them dresses which I have never done before and painted the faces differently. I feel they have a real "Steampunk" quality to them, which I am rather pleased with. I realized that I have
several large bins full (yes, ridiculous quantities) of antique lace and trims. I really should be using it. I also have hugh amounts of antique buttons and I won't even begin to mention the amount of beads I have. Another one of those things I sort of forgot I had. I want to start using this stuff as this is why I have it. These figures will be available at the Michigan Renaissance Festival this season. All photos enlarge to see more detail.
Just finished up several of these infant faces. they are a bit smaller than the adult faces I made awhile back. Seems to me I made some larger ones of this face also, but I can't find them. So, either I am losing my mind or it's time to do a bit of cleanup and organizing... or a bit of both. I have also put it on the web site and listed in my ETSY shop. A far cry from an impressive selection right now, but it is a start. I am
I have been working on a few Elfin Scribes. I am having trouble getting good photos of them, but that is always the case. I wish I could just cram them in the scanner as 
I do the books. Those always come out good. I really have to work on my photography skills. If I were wealthy I would just take everything to the photographer and have him/her handle it ... in my next life I suppose. These two Elfins are my first Scribes. I have been planning on making them for quite some time, so I was very happy to get to them now. I am planning on making some of the Elfin Kings next as those were quite popular last season at Festival. I have several bases made up already for 
I have been busy making Moths. they are a new addition to the Bug Collection that I have been wanting to expand on. I have really been drawn to this color lately and the hint of red with the lime color is just too wonderful. I have decided not to make too many of these in lime, as I have found this color is not to be very popular with most people. I can't understand that though. Who wouldn't just love this color?
I was REALLY beginning to lose my patience with these darn collage figures that I have been working on forever. I am working on 4 large ones that are giving me all sorts of construction problems. Admittedly, I am getting very frustrated with them. I have however, come up with a small (8" X 12") collage figure that I am quite pleased with so far. Still needs a bit of work and some experimentation, but it's getting there. I think I would like to add some more collage work to the body. These will be "The Bug Collection - for Serious Bug Collector" and will replace the old Bug Collection.
I finished up a few Elfin Kings and am quite pleased with them. Unfortunately, this is the only good photo I have of only one of them and this one already sold. I have a few more in different colors, but they are out at Festival. I will try to remember to take the camera out and photograph them first thing Friday morning. This is the last weekend of festival. I'm actually quite tired and am glad to see it come to an end for this season.
While I rather liked the over all shape of the first collage mermaid, it was too difficult to turn inside out and was all around just uncooperative (mermaids are sometimes like that). I started experimenting with different shapes and finally found one that was easy to handle and looked good as well. The pinkish colored mermaid has a nice shape, which I might just change a wee little bit, but in over all I am pleased with this one.
