Published!

Last December I sent Pearl, my New England Mermaid, into Art Doll Quarterly in response to their call for mermaid dolls and to my delight she made the cut! She can be seen on page 69. It is very exciting to see your doll in a magazine. When I get her back, I will photograph her with the magazine but for now here is a picture of her along with a picture of the magazine

A Pair of Puffins

Almost 5 inches

Just 4 inches

Jewel: Fairy Queen of Joy

I just completed (almost completed) my third Fairy Queen. Her name is Jewel. My other two Fairies are holding things in their hands, Jewel is not, so perhaps she isn't really finished.

In the photo, her dress and hair seem to be distinctively different shades of blue, but actually the turquoise hair is almost the same as her dress which is photographing blue rather than turquoise.

As with the other two fairies, she has a needle-felted head, arms, and upper torso. Her gown is designed over a styrofoam cone. All three fairies' gowns are made from craft felt which I just learned is made in the USA of eco-fi polyester made from recycled post-consumer plastic bottles! Pays to read the labels!

Nefertiti                                         Jewel                                            Uno
Fairy Queen of Strength                  Fairy Queen of Joy                    Fairy Queen of Truth
 

March of the Fairy Queens

Pacifica: A Mermaid of the Pacific Ocean

Here is my second mermaid- Pacifica.  I used my same pattern as Pearl (Atlantic Mermaid). Pacifica has a needle felted head with a Styrofoam armature, a stuffed fabric torso and tail and needle felted arms. Her torso has a needle felted overlay. Her hair is hand-spun dyed wool with a metallic thread interwoven. Her headpiece is painted lace. The fabric of her tail has a fish tessellation on it.
Here she is:

Shell in her Hand

Water Droplets on her Tail

Pacifica
Pacific Ocean Mermaid

Pearl
Atlantic Ocean Mermaid

I did change the cut of the top of her tail and added side flukes to Pacifica but otherwise they are the same pattern.
I like to put these wall dolls on interior doors as well as walls. Very inviting.

I have now made 6 wall dolls. Four are elf creatures and two mermaids. The weird thing is all their names start with the letter P which was not  initially planned, but now I seem committed.  They are: Periwinkle, Pansy, Pebbles, Paper Crane and Pearl all named after whatever they are holding in their hands. Pacifica is holding a pearl just like Pearl, so to distinguish between the two she is called Pacifica because of her golden sunny color scheme  in contrast to Pearl's cold blue. I have plans for one more mermaid from the Arctic Ocean. She would naturally be called Polar. It just never ends! At least the mermaids are pretty creatures unlike my little dwarves!

Tolkien Dwarf #3: Oin

The last of my trio of dwarves inspired by the writing of Tolkien is now complete. This little fellow is called Oin. He is the tallest of the three, just measuring a bit below 10 inches. He is also the oldest of the three, sporting quite a mane of white hair and a long curled beard.  Because of the white hair, I gave him a bit of color in his outfit. I really like his fur boots with the silver buckles.  And I must say I am impressed with the battle axe he is carrying. As with the other two dwarves, his body is 100% solid needle felted wool with wired arms, fingers and legs. His cape and his weapon are both removable, but all his other clothes are permanently sewed to his body.

 One, Two, and Three!

Now I need to work on something a bit more attractive!

Tolkien Dwarf #2: Gloin

Second figure finished- maybe. I might add a sword or small axe to his left hand or I might not. I'm going to let him be for a while. I find that I need to leave a piece for a while, then look at it again with fresh eyes to decide if it is actually finished or needs improvements.
Anyway, here he is.

 The biggest challenge with little Gloin was his shield. It is needle felted with the addition of the sterling silver chains and the small plastic center cap. The center cap helps it keep its shape and gives him something to grasp. I reinforced his arm with a metal hook that the cap loops onto inside his hand. That way it can be removed but won't be constantly falling off every time he is moved. 


His jacket is machine embroidered wool fabric. His boots are wonderful but unfortunately do not photograph well. They are fur- very fashion forward for a dwarf. He also has glass eyes-piercing blue ones.

Two down, one to go!

 I certainly don't want to give the impression that I can make these figures in one day! Ha! Not even close! I know there will be three figures because I made the three heads first. The heads took me nearly a day each, but they do define the characters so as I am making them I am also thinking of who this character will be. Once I had the heads made, then I made three bodies and attached the three heads to the bodies (unclothed). Finally time to have the fun of  creating clothes and accessories. It takes me about a day, sometimes two, to clothe and accessorize the figures. So it is a slow process, but lots of fun.

Tolkien Dwarf #1: Dwalin

Finally finished my first Tolkien inspired dwarf. He certainly looks ready for any adventure. He is a solid needle felt. I did wire his legs, arms and fingers for movement but otherwise he is solid wool all the way through. He stands just shy of 9 inches tall. His jacket is made of felt that I embellished with embroidery stitching and trim. His eyes are glass. He carries his axe which is also needle felted wool attached to a small stick that I varnished to seal it. He is anxiously awaiting the arrival of his two compatriots.