They All Have Names

Florence

I finally had a chance to not only take close-up pictures of the art dolls I made in Hally Levesque's"Romantic Rosabella" class in Session 1 of Artful Gathering, but to name them as well.

Lena

A Delightful Time With Romantic Art Dolls

I've had a delightful time the past few weeks making the dolls for Hally Levesque's"Romantic Rosabella" class in Session 1 of Artful Gathering.  I was only going to make 2 dolls but could not decide which color I wanted the base to be so I ended up choosing seven different colors from solid color fabric my sister had given me.

I figured at least one or two of the dolls would come out nicely and was pleasantly surprised when they all did. Even though the dolls are all similar looking they all ended up having their own little personalities. To no surprise most are "Diva's" or at least they think they are.

I had been saving some of the beautiful hand dyed and batted alpaca fibers my sister had given me over the last two years and was thrilled I would be able to utilize some of it here. Her alpaca roving batts worked beautifully in creating my dolls long, braided hair. If you would like to see more of my sister's alpaca fibers she sells her alpaca fiber products in her Rock Garden Alpaca's Etsy shop here.

Each of the dolls is handmade with hand sculpted paper clay faces, arms, and bonnets. Each has handmade silk ribbon flowers as well as painted flowers down the front of the dolls dress. Handmade silk ribbon flowers are also used for their bouquets and to decorate their bonnets. Each doll also has lace and tulle gathered overskirts in the back which combined with the silk ribbon flowers makes the doll very romantic and very elegant looking.

My Mixed Media Tutu Dress Canvas Pictures Adventure

I have so many different crafting interests that when I find a craft project I want to try I rarely make more than two or three items.

That was until took a couple of Artful Gathering mixed media classes. I fell in love with mixed media and, as a result, have been making some ( make that many) different types of mixed media craft items from tutu canvases to tiny houses, to fairy houses, to seasonal and holiday collage pictures. For the last three months I've been totally absorbed in my mixed media projects and have loved every minute of it.

I started this adventure with the 3 mixed media tutu dress canvas picture projects that I made from Debby Anderson's "A Romantic Journey On Canvas" at Artful Gathering.

I knew before taking this class that I would love it so as I was going along I anticipated making more than the number of projects required for the course. After sculpting the tutu for the class I decided to sculpt a few extra's in various sizes. I love giving handmade gifts so making a few extra tutu's was the smart thing to do.

I ended up making five additional tutu's - which resulted in five other mixed media tutu dress canvas pictures being made.

Three of the additional tutu pictures I made are shown in the picture at the beginning of this post and above.

The tutu picture shown above is on an 8" by 8" by 3/4" canvas.

The tutu picture shown above is on a 5" by 7" by 3/4" canvas.

The tutu picture shown above is on a 6" by 6" by 3/4" canvas.

The remaining two aren't quite done so I can't show you those as of yet.  You'll just have to stay tuned for those when they're finished in the next few months.

My Romantic Journey On Canvas Corseted Tutu and Wedding Dress Class Projects

I've spent the last two weeks in crafting bliss working on my projects from Debby Anderson's "A Romantic Journey On Canvas" at Artful Gathering and couldn't be happier. I may have found a new passion - something I absolutely love.

I can hear you all saying - what a surprise, Linda! You've found a new passion. When it comes to crafting is there anything you've ever tried that you haven't absolutely loved? Probably not.

Well, it is true that I absolutely love to craft and love everything I've learned through my online classes, but when it comes to passion - well, that's a little different. I have a passion for the Victorian era - especially the dresses, for doll making, for genealogy, for floral design, and for history. To all this I would have to add mixed media. I absolutely LOVE mixed media.

My husband doesn't love it as mixed media utilizes lots of different types of supplies so my living room is an absolute mess. You can't even see any of the furniture in there. It's all covered with arts & crafts supplies of one sort or another - all needed for the mixed media projects I've been working on for my online classes.

I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Debby's class.  Debby Anderson is an unbelievably talented and inspiring jewelry designer and artist.  Her online class was fabulous.  Her video's were very easy to follow and she explained everything she was doing beautifully.  I couldn't be more pleased with her class.  If you've wanted to try creating mixed media canvas collage dress form projects Debby's class is a MUST TAKE.

There are 3 projects in  Debby Anderson's "A Romantic Journey On Canvas" mixed media online class: one to create a corseted tutu, one to create a wedding gown, and one to create a mixed media angel collage.  So far, I've made two corseted canvas's - one on 12" x 12" canvas and one on an 8" x 10" canvas.  I've also created a wedding gown on an 11" x 14" canvas.

Here's my first corseted tutu on a 12" by 12" canvas:

I Finished My Regency Dolls With Paperclay and Painted Faces - Meet Emily and Esther

I finally finished the Regency Era  paperclay and painted faces dolls that I was making based upon the Bonnets and Beaus: A Regency Doll Project online class that I've been taking during the first session of Artful Gathering.

The online class was taught by Hally Levesque who is an exceptional art doll artist, photographer and a bit of a history buff. Not only are her video's easy to follow and beautifully taught but they are sprinkled with historical tidbits of life with Jane Austen - which I loved.   Now why would that be? Hmmm.... History tidbits for a history buff....... Hmmm....

Since I never do anything in moderation I, of course, couldn't just make one doll. I had to make two.

I was looking forward to taking this class as it would be the first time I would be sculpting the dolls faces, hands, and feet out of paperclay and then painting them with acrylic paints. Acrylic painting of any sort is not my strongest skill - so I knew this would be very challenging. At the very least it was going to be interesting if not comical.

I had no problem with the costumes and cloth body. Sculpting the heads and legs was a bit of a challenge but I finally got the knack of it after experimenting a few times. Sculpting the fingers was much harder than I had anticipated and I ended up not liking mine. They looked like Frankenstein hands so I changed them into more of a solid hand.

Painting the faces was a real challenge. I just couldn't get them the way I would have liked them to be. Suffice to say, acrylic painting of doll faces is still not by strongest suit.

They say practice makes perfect so, who knows. Perhaps it's a skill I can master over time. Right now I wouldn't hold my breath.

Instead of using mohair for their hair I decided to use my sister's alpaca fiber from her Rock Garden Alpacas Farm. I used Zinnia's beautiful fiber for the doll in the white outfit and Ivy's fiber for the doll in the dark brown and black outfit. I LOVE working with the alpaca fiber. It makes fantastic doll hair.

All in all I was satisfied with the way my dolls came out and decided to name them Emily and Esther. Emily is the doll in the white outfit and Esther is the doll in the dark brown and black outfit. Here's their stories:

A Regency Period Outfit - What Will This Doll Look Like? Hmmm...

Hmmm... a regency period dress - what will this doll look like?

I thought you'd like a little tease from my Bonnets and Beaus: A Regency Doll Project online class that I'm taking during the first session of Artful Gathering.  

The online class is being taught by Hally Levesque who is an exceptional art doll artist, photographer and a bit of a history buff. Not only are her video's easy to follow and beautifully taught but they are sprinkled with historical tidbits of life with Jane Austen - which I love.

As you know I love history and dolls so this is right up my alley.

Since I never do anything in moderation I, of course, couldn't just make one doll. I'm making two. It's a lot of work as these dolls are made out of cloth and paperclay, but I'm thoroughly enjoying Hally's class.

I hoping to paint the dolls tomorrow. Wish me luck.

My Victorian Paper-Clay Bird Dolls

I should have known better than to ever let the "dollies" mingle with the trio of "birdies" I was making for my Artful Gathering "Briley The Birdie" class with Colleen Moody. The "dollies" convinced the "birdies" they should be different than "Briley."

So, despite my best efforts to get them to conform my trio of "birdies" decided to be rebellious and be the class radicals. They decided they didn't want to be cream colored. They  wanted to be sponge painted. They insisted on it and then they had all the "dollies" urge me to sponge paint them.

There were just too many "dollies" clamoring for this that I had to acquiesce. Now I know you all know I hate to give in to the "dollies" demands but with the trio of "birdies" and all the "dollies" clamoring I was sorely outnumbered.

I thought if I gave in to the trio of "birdies" on this they'd calm down and let me create them the way I wanted to. Au contraire!  Each one had already developed a personality of their own and therefore a style they thought was best for them. Who was I to argue? I was just their creator. So, once again, I acquiesced.

One thought she was a Queen and wanted to be treated like one. I named her Queen Annabell but I refused to bow and curtsy to her.

Another decided she wanted to be Bohemian. I named her Natasha.

And, the third decided she wanted to be Funky. I named her Phebe.

Right now when I look at them all together they look like little "biddies" conspiring to me.  Of course, I see bogey men everyone when it comes to my "dollies" and their demands.  And, since the "birdies" have developed such a close relationship with the rest of the "dollies" who knows what they'll be demanding next.

I'll just have to wait and see.  For sure, I'm not going to wait on them.  I might serve them afternoon tea, but that's it.

Perhaps I'll be surprised and they'll be delightful.  Perhaps they'll be nice, well-mannered, and a delight to be around.  Perhaps their charm will rub off on the rest of the "dollies."  Perhaps.......

What A Surprise! My Crazy Quilt Purse Is Definitely VERY Victorian!

What is it they say?  "A little rain never hurt anyone!"  Well, that's true as far as I'm concerned as a little rain today allowed me extra time to finish my crazy quilt purse.

If you've been following along with the posts on my Linda's Blog you know that I've been taking my very first online class with Pat Winter on Artful Gathering. The class is called Crazy Quilting 101 and I have LOVED every minute of the class. Pat is such a fantastic teacher. I only wish I had taken one of her classes years ago.

My head is filled with all sorts of ideas for crazy quilting creations that I can make and, maybe, give as Xmas presents this year. Who knows! My head is spinning.

What I do know is that I LOVE crazy quilting and may have found a new passion.  And, that passion is very much up my Victorian passions alley.

Does that mean I'm giving up of dolls, Victorian fashions, silk florals, history and everything else I LOVE. Of course not! It just means I'm going to find a way to combine everything I love. That means I may be creating crazy quilting things related to Victorian dolls or florals.  Maybe a little genealogy? You never know.

I ended up lining and finishing with some addition iron-on interfacing added to the lining material as well.  So, both the lining pieces and the front and back pieces ended up with iron-on interfacing on them.  The front actually ended up with two iron-on interface pieces.

I'm also thinking that I'm going to sew two large snaps to the inside top of my purse to hold the top closed. That way no one can just reach in and steal my belongings. Not that I'd put anything in it worthy of stealing! Well, chapstick maybe!

I'm really pleased with the way my purse came out. Definitely looks Victorian which is certainly right up my alley. I may just have to keep my beautiful blue purse. I'm such a bad sister!