Bottle Doll #8

A friend gave me the Long Neck giraffe bottle last month. I have many other bottles waiting in line to become whomever they are destined to be, but I decided to start with the last and work my way back.This time instead of using fabric, I decided to try needle felting to see if I liked the result. I do like it, but I think I will also continue to use fabric as well in the future. Nice to be able to have the option depending on how the spirit moves me.

Princess Peyton

I just completed my 8th wall doll. Not a mermaid this time, but a princess! I wanted to try making a crown- hence the royalty. Anyone that knows me is aware of my aversion to beading. I really do not like doing it and as a result do not do it well. But I wanted to make a crown. So to avoid the wire and beads often use in crowns, I made mine out of lace with a few bead embellishments. I am really happy with the results.
Step 1: Find a piece of lace that can be cut and fitted to the doll's head. I used an old dresser scarf, fussy cut it and sewed it into the shape of a crown. Dry fit it to the doll.
Step 2: Roll a piece of cardboard into a tube that matches the circumference of the doll's head. Cover the cardboard with tape (wide packing tape works well) so the crown will not stick to the cardboard during the drying process.
Step 3: Soak the crown in Fabric Stiffener- I used Paverpol and let it dry on the cardboard tube. I let mine dry overnight, but I have read that you can use the microwave to speed up the process. You can shape the crown a bit during the drying process.
Step 4: When dry the crown will be very firm. Slide it off the cardboard form and embellish to your heart's content. You can paint it, bead it....whatever! I wanted mine to look like lace so I left it pretty plain, just added the beads at the edge for a bit of color, but the next time I think I will paint it a metallic color. Just a different approach.

May I introduce Princess Peyton!

The names of my wall dolls always start with the letter P and Princess Peyton is no exception. She is named in honor of my only grand daughter- Peyton Marianne.  The color scheme is olive green and salmon pink. The bows on her shoes are photographing more orange than they really are. Her scepter is a wooden dowel painted metallic gold with a small Christmas ornament on top. If you take the attachment off the ornament, the dowel slides right inside a perfect fit.
Her hair is braided black yarn. She has a needle felted head and arms with a stuffed torso and legs. She is approximately 24 inches from the very tip of her crown to the bottom of her toes. I am very pleased with her.

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 #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.

Nefertiti: Fairy Queen of Strength

Love the back- curved wings

Textitle Tart Ornament 2012

Today I am going to make the ornament that I need for our holiday party. The Tart's decided to make ornaments this year at our June pot-luck gathering. I have had months to do this but as usual I am now just a short two weeks away from the event and I haven't even started it yet. How does that happen? 

Fortunately, I have two ideas dancing around in my head. I think I can create an angel or fairy from this small mesh cornucopia. That will be my first attempt. If that bombs, I will needle felt some more polar bears and string them to a festive ribbon maybe add a bell or two.... 

I'm hoping the fairy/angel will work out. I was thinking of using Sally Mavor's dolls as inspiration for the design or if that doesn't work I will probably needle felt in a Waldorf style. It always amazes me how my initial idea seems to transform during construction to produce a surprise in the end.

Vintage Spirit #8: Witch's Brew

Here is my latest commissioned piece- a witch! Last month I was given this bottle with instructions to make whatever I wanted. Of course, with the Frog Syrup label it screamed witch! So here she is looking very intently at the unfortunate frog in her hand. I wonder what she is thinking?

I will be giving this piece to another doll artist on Saturday and I must say I am a bit nervous. I really hope she likes it. Personally I love it- but that's certainly no guarantee that anyone else will think the same. When she gave me the bottle it already had the Frog Syrup Brew label on it but she also gave me a second label to use in case I couldn't relate or didn't like the frog one. How could I not like it? I was born on Halloween for goodness sake!
I think my favorite part of this doll is the skirt. It is a vintage handkerchief folded to highlight the lace edges. I think it falls over the bottle beautifully and adds a touch of Victorian charm. She also sports a painted lace collar and cuff, a felt inner vest and a black jacket. There is a small bat on the back of the jacket. The frog is needle felted with green bead eyes. The witch's hair is also needle felted wool roving and she has a small wart on her chin although it really can not be seen as it is blocked by the frog in these photos. Let me know what you think!

Pebbles

I made it!! I finished my third needle-felted wall doll for the  Hampton Art Walk with a week and 1/2 to spare! Now that's what I call timing! This one I call Pebbles because she is holding two pebbles in her hand (not very original naming I must admit). Trying for variety between each of these three elves, this one's skin is pure white wool. She has color in her eyes and lips but that's about it.  Her pantaloon's are made from left over fabric that I used on my bathroom curtains. I just redid that bathroom this past summer so the material was new and still in my head when I started costuming. The pebbles are from Hampton Beach. I collect beach stones, varnish them, and display them. Mostly they're granite- very pretty I think, especially when varnished as this brings out the colors. Anyway- may I present Pebbles!

Cupcake: Vintage Spirit # 7

I finished Cupcake and I must admit she is one of my favorites! It was a bit strange working on this "girly girl" doll all bows and frills after just finishing Roberta who is very tailored. From one extreme to another- that's what working on art dolls is all about I guess. Keeps things interesting.

Cupcake

Cupcake's bottle was a gift from a teacher on my team. The lace petticoat came from a Textile Tart meeting along with the blue rick-a-rack. Her hair is yarn; a pale blue fun yarn- very wispy and a bit curly. Her face is needle sculpted with a cloth overlay as is the case for all my Vintage Spirit dolls. 

Accessories

I've come to the realization that I will not make my goal of completing three dolls this week. I will however finish two- Roberta: The Huntress is already done and I am currently working on "Cupcake". I made her accessories last night. They are needle felted. Her hat is over-the-top as is the case with all the Vintage Spirits. I cut down a dosage cup that came with a bottle of cold medicine  and covered it with striped fabric for the cupcake cup. The frosting top is all wool with beads to represent the sprinkles.

A lovely cupcake hat!

Then I made her tray of cupcakes. The tray is the top of a plastic container that held straight pins. I was sitting at my sewing table trying to figure out how to construct a tray when there it was right in front of me.  The three little cupcakes are about 1/2 inch high, the entire tray is only 2 1/4 inches long.

Cupcake Anyone?

Roberta - The Huntress: Vintage Spirit #6

Vintage Spirits

Spring vacation week just started- wonderful! Usually I spend the entire April vacation week cleaning out my flower garden but this year I have very little left to clean out because of the extremely warm weather we have been having this spring I was able to start working outside weeks ago. That means I have lots of extra time this week to work on new dolls! Yeah!

I have been given three bottles from three different friends that I am determined to turn into three distinct characters this week. Since I have already made the heads (a very time consuming process for me)  I may actually reach this goal by the end of my vacation. The first bottle I have had since the winter- cobalt blue -I thought I was going to use this one last February but made Birdie instead using a green bottle. I received it from a fellow Textile Tart doll maker.  I removed the label from this bottle replacing it with a vintage label that reminds me of France. I am going to create Marie Antoinette from this bottle.  The second bottle I just received two weeks ago from another Textile Tart. She thought I would like it because of the deer head that is attached to it. She was right- I love this bottle! I am going to make a huntress. And finally, a friend from school gave me the other cobalt blue bottle with the Cupcake label. What a great theme! I will use vintage fabric and jewelry pieces on these dolls so they can truly become Vintage Spirits #6, 7, and 8.

I will try to blog the creations a bit as I go along. I prepared the bottle necks by attaching wooden dowels. I used a longer dowel on the shorter bottle to raise the doll up a bit more. Then I sewed the torsos. They have not been stuffed yet nor have the breasts been sculpted. I just placed the heads on top- I won't actually sew them on until the body costuming is completely finished. Setting them up this way at the beginning helps me visualize possible costuming before I start designing.

Marie Antoinette, The Huntress, and Cupcake

Easter Egg?

A week ago I decided to needle felt something for Easter. First I thought of making a rabbit- perhaps Peter Rabbit in his blue jacket? Then I thought of something less involved- how about some Easter eggs? In the end I did make an EGG! Humpty Dumpty!

My Humpty Dumpty is almost 6 inches from the top of his noggin to the bottom of his shoes. The entire piece measures about 14 inches. Humpty can be removed from the wall. Humpty has internal wires in his hands, arms and feet. He wears his traditional tailed suit jacket, white collared shirt and royal blue trousers. His black shoes include spats. He sits on a flagstone wall which is also needle felted however the inner core of the wall is styrofoam.

I am really pleased with this piece. I researched illustrations of Humpty Dumpty that appeared in early editions of Mother Goose books when designing my version of the icon. I gave him a true egg shaped head/body but tried for a gentle face. The poor fellow does not yet know what life has in store for him!