Hello!

Yesterday morning on my way to the shop Olde Mill Eclective, the sun was shining and it was quite balmy at 52 degrees.  It looked and felt like spring except for the semi- and leafless trees, and piles of brown leaves on the ground.  I had to remind myself that it is December.  I don't mind the mild weather but i had to slay a stink bug the night before last.  I've kind of had enough of them this year.  Be gone!  I need a break. Which means we need some cold weather and snow.  Which we won't be getting for Christmas.

The Krankies Holiday Craft Fair was very good.  I won't have to live in a box quite yet.  Thank goodness for the credit card reader.  Whoever came up with that, I hope he/she is living it up.  That little program made my weekend.  It took me almost two days to recover and I still picked up a bug. I have one more show this year.  It's a late one but I'll take it.

At the Krankies show, there were a few people who thought some of my work too creepy.  They obviously haven't been web surfing because my items are quite tame compared to other creations out there.  I didn't fret, I just told myself that they weren't my audience and I smiled for the next person.  I received many compliments on my work.  People who had bought things as gifts last year, came back with reports that the items were well received.  New people who looked at my table from across the room, walked over and just smiled.  There were people who took time to look and began to laugh.  Those who looked at my work, walked away and came back to smile and laugh some more.  Both males and females did this.  And the best compliment of all was from a woman who said she loved how I had a variety of things but could tell they were all my creations.  She pointed out how each face, even the needle felted ones, had their own personality.  I was on a cloud.  Talk about a creative ego boost.  Exactly what I needed.  It's one thing when family and friends tell you your work is great but when you have fans and total strangers love it and the way I think, that is just so awesome.  A great feeling to wrap up the end of the year.

Now, I have a boat load of ideas from all over the place.  But first, I must blitz the apartment and studio.  I can't find a darn thing.  There's stuff on the floor of my studio and I've created a path.  The room isn't even that big.  Yikes!  It needs to be done, so I'll start this week.  Through the sniffles.  A little bit at a time.

Artist of the Month

I am featured Artist of the Month at Olde Mill Eclective at the Bethania Mill Shops. Yay me! If you're in Bethania, NC, stop by and see my setup. It will be up until the end of October. There are other lovely shops in the mill and Muddy Creek Cafe is right next door. Yummy food and local beers. There's parking in the back, and if that's crowded, there's parking at the Bethania Visitor's Center across the street.

Olde Mill Eclective

in the 

Bethania Mill Shops

5455 Bethania Rd

Winston-Salem, NC 27100

336.813.3774

We are also on Facebook. www.facebook.com/oldemilleclective

Be sure to support your local businesses, shops, and artists this holiday season. Thanks!

Quinlan Doll & Teddy Bear Convention

I hadn't been to a doll convention in years but this year I participated in the Quinlan Doll & Teddy Bear Convention, Show & Sale in Essington, Pennsylvania. It was wonderful. If you are interested in dolls or bears or both, this is the place you should be next year. The talent was astounding. I did have a table of my dolls set up and have ideas swirling in my head for next year. It will be bigger and better. I saw an old friend there, met new friends, got lots of business information, networked, and had a lot of fun.

Here I am with the kids.

A view of my whole table. It turned out better than I'd hoped.

This is a needle felted bear by artist Stevi T of Alpaca Encounters. www.stevit.etsy.com

And this is her pirate Steampunk rat.

There were many panel discussions and this one was on How to Find, Create and Encourage New Collectors. The panel included Agnes Intellicato, Christine, Donna Nielsen, Debbie Weimert, Cindy McGuire, and Amy Thornton.

Christine Shively-Benjamin also gave a talk for someone who couldn't make it. It was called, Dolls in the Smithsonian's Museum of the American Indian.

Me and Christine. We've been friends for a very long time.

Lillian Alberti, Diane Troutman, and me.

Some of the wonderful people I met at one of the yummy meals.

Mark Dennis. Love his work. He won two awards the last night.

Here's Christine again. She's a lovely lady and avid collector. I'm going to have to do this in two parts.

Brunson Elementary School

Last week I went to speak to 5th graders at Brunson Elementary School. I showed many dolls and spoke about my creative process. They loved it. My dolls and me. I had a lot of fun and have been invited back.

I started with some cloth dolls I had made, went into polymer, and then needle felting. I'm working on a small project for them to do.

Marley Batsheva and her Amazing Bat Circus

I finally got the last piece done for my show. It's Marley Batsheva, named by two friends, and her bat circus. I had fun making the bats. They are needle felted over a wire armature, with felt wings and beads for eyes. Marley loves her bats. Here's her story:

Coming from a family of performers, artists, and writers, Marley decided to continue the tradition. She has created her own bat circus. She's not too fond of fleas. Bats are more petable.

Forgot to take the pin out of this bat. Oops! He's been skewered. They still need some practice, don't you think?

And look what I found at the craft store. I was looking for something else when I spotted these two beauties. The last two. I'm on the hunt for more but I believe I've missed the boat. Get it? Dracula was on a boat.... Anyhoo, I can't wait to paint and decorate them and see what dollie goes inside. My voodoo doll pins are too big. Drats! It doesn't matter. I'm creative.

I'm supposed to be taking it easy this week. A self imposed break of sorts before I get back into the creative swing of things. I will probably continue to rearrange things and get projects in order on my craft bookcase. See which dolls in progress I want to finish and get everything together to get started on new ones. Now, I've got the holidays to think about. I'm also thinking about a different background for my blog. Not satisfied with this one.

I have a lot on my creative plate for the rest on this month and year. I'm so excited, I can't wait to clue you in on some things. I will be doing more needle felted pieces and throw myself into some polymer clay. I can get back to my applique and finish off a quilt or two. My Etsy shop needs a lot of work, so that's on the list too. 

Have a great day!

October 1

Hello October! I'm so glad you're here and you brought way cooler temperatures with you. Thanks. The trees are starting to turn colors, I love that. I had to write my first blog of October today, well, tonight. I'm so tired. Got my dollies into the gallery yesterday and I felt a little sad. Hopefully they will find wonderful people to adopt them and they will spend their time in wonderful homes. My apartment is quiet. Yes, they were having a party, sometimes without me, but they're gone.

I'm pooped. My brain is still foggy and my eyes are doing weird things. They don't want to cooperate at all and just want to close. I've started cleaning and straightening my apartment and art room, just so I can mess up again. The holidays are coming you know. I will take the next week to take it easy, catch up on sleep. Then I will become a creative juggernaut and kick butt these next three months. Here are some of my Witch Voodoo Doll Pins, Miss Siliendra the fortune teller, and Marley Batsheva.

Miss Siliendra. She started out as a he, like in pirate but had other ideas and became a fortune teller. Sometimes they just take over in what they want to become.

Witch Voodoo Doll Pins. I knew I had tiny brooms for them but could I find them? Nooooo. So I sent them on their way to the gallery and one sold today. Of course as soon as I started cleaning up, I found the brooms. The next batch will have them.

The is Marley Batsheva, a Ghostie Girl. I still have to make her bats and will be able to turn her into the gallery on Monday. She loves bats so much, she's started her own bat circus.

I would like to welcome Jennifer OK to the party of www.musingisfree.blogspot.com.

Next Ghostie Girl and a Skull head

Now I'm working on getting things finished while dealing with Stink Bugs. Hate it when they fly. The sound is creepy. Anyway, I've been chugging along and here's my next Ghostie Girl. I don't have a name for her yet. That's not good. Maybe once I have her face on, it'll come to me.

This little lady will have a black over skirt, bustle, and black trim on her bodice and bottoms of sleeves. Her boots will have black beads for buttons. She will be training her bat circus.

From my voodoo doll pin pattern, I used green fabric and two buttons for eyes to make these little witch pins. If it weren't for the striped legs, they'd look like little green men from space.

This is my skellie skull. I already had a wet felted oval and added to it with leftover wool. Not wasting anything. You can barely see eye sockets. He has now been covered with white and that was interesting too because I had to hide the under colors. When I look at him now, the under color barely shows through which is good. After all, he is deceased and moldy. Stay tuned for more pics.

More Works in Progress

I was trying to do better with posting here on my blog but other things have taken priority. Like finishing items for my upcoming, first one woman show. It isn't like a doll or craft show, which is what I have to continue to tell myself because I was driving myself crazy. I don't need a hundred pieces because I won't be manning a table. My artwork will be on display the whole month of October. I'm working on not making myself nuts with worry about this. It's supposed to be fun. I'm working on getting back to it being fun.

Enter the mom unit. She asked me about the artwork I'd been working on, once I told her that sent her into a tizzy. She said to just concentrate on finishing the dolls that are in process and almost done. That if I have time, then I can do the other things I wanted to have in the show. It made sense. Why didn't I think of it? Another brain is always good to have around. In a skull.

Anyway, I'm back on track. I will have my witch doll pins ready, another Ghostie Girl, four Moli Dolls (they're the new ones with the stripe legs) and one more head on a stick (candle holder). That still sounds like a lot but when I focus, it'll get done. Thanks mom.

Here are some Moli Dolls and the arms that needed to be attached. They now are and I've chosen black, lime green and red tulle for their skirts.

The one in the pantaloons is a Ghostie Girl.

This pumpkin trio is going to be a wall hanging. Whether I get it done for the show or not is another story but I will get it done.

This one is my bouquet of skulls.

This is my garden of skulls. Two of the worms may have hats on. I do think on a large scale.

I also have to continue to pat myself on the back for all of my accomplishments. I've worked very hard to get to this point in having a one woman show in my career. I've been able to work on new designs and try new techniques. It's all good. After all, Rome wasn't built in a day? I will post pics of finished dollies as soon as I can.

I'd like to welcome Tiffany O'Brien to the party. Didn't see a link but thanks Tiffany for joining.

Ghostie Girl Beatrix

Oh my gosh! I was looking over my blog and I didn't post a pic of Beatrix. I posted her toys and cotton candy but not her finished. Good grief! Well, here she is.

Beatrix had fun at the Bat Festival. She had bat fritters, and bat juice and she didn't throw up when she got on the Bat Cup ride or the Bat Coaster. She won two plushies, and was able to get some creepy cotton candy with spider bits before heading home.

The squid is made of felt with pipe cleaners in his legs for posing. His face is embroidered. You can see the bats in her skirt.

The bat is also made of felt and is quite regal with his pendant and ribbon ends. The cotton candy is needle felted and the spiders are small buttons. Gotta love Halloween stuff at the store. You can find so much. These buttons were from last year. I can't wait to see what they have for this year.

Beatrix also has yellow star buttons on her shoe straps. You can barely see the yellow.

And her official bat hat is made of felt with a bat button on the front. The expression on her face shows that she is bat tired. I am so sorry Beatrix and crew for forgetting to post you. See everybody real soon.

More in Progress

I've decided to try and get a lot of doll bodies done this month and dress them all next month. Stuffing and attaching limbs can be a bit tedious, dressing them is fun. I'm going to try it. Here are more bodies in the works.

I like my little voodoo doll pins so much that I decided to enlarge the pattern to make a larger doll. I don't have a copier in my apartment so I measured the original pattern. The distance between the top of the head to the waist, the top of hips to toes and made a new, bigger pattern.

This is what I came up with after using some of my yummy stripe fabric for their legs. I'll stuff them tomorrow. I did find a problem after altering the body pattern as I was cutting them out and had to readjust the leg pattern. If it works out after stuffing, I'll just adjust the leg part. If it doesn't work out, I'll have to redo the body.

This is my fourth Ghostie Girl. As of right now she doesn't have a name. She will have bats. Not in her belfry but all over. They are pets. I'm on the lookout for a small wicker birdcage. The craft stores have their fall stuff out now and guess where I'll be. Also will be on the lookout for coupons.

Another Wandi Goth doll. I finally stuffed her head and attached it and limbs. That other long arm with the pointed finger belongs to the above Ghostie Girl.