Yes It's December!

And I'm late. What else is new? Right? But at least I'm here. I am grateful I have been given another day and hopefully, another month. November is in the books. As I wipe my forehead and roll my eyes. Treading water and not sinking. That's a good thing. I've got a week before my first December show, so I may not post as much as I'd like but I'll give it a shot. The cold is history and I will just have to work through the pain of my thumb. It is feeling better and motion is improving but I've got to get going. I have good news.

SOLD!
She's going to a new home in Michigan. I'm sad and happy at the same time. Maybe this is a good sign that I will do well the rest of the month.

Here's my work table at the moment. The balls are forms for ornaments. Aliens, monsters, shrunken heads, and such. You know... the usual holiday fare.

I better get going. I've also got to put some words to paper while watching zombies on the telly.

Las Amigas Fall Art Show & Sale

Mid last week, a friend emailed me asking if I wanted to participate in her groups art show that was coming up. They were having their last meeting and she thought of me and that I might want to go in with them. Of course I said yes even though it was at the last minute. It was at a home, that was gorgeous. I love it when people take a nothing house and turn it into something special. The weather held out, I met some really nice ladies and have been invited to their next show. I also sold some things.

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.

Latest Winter Wandi

I started this little gal last year and finally got her done this year. Most of this batch of Wandi dolls didn't have names, so she just gets a number. I did crochet her hat and shawl and she turned out better than expected. She will be wrapped up with several others and on their way to a local shop for the winter season. It feels good to get something done.

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.

A Lot of Work in Progress

All righty then. I had a wonderful birthday month, having celebrated all month, saw some cool people and other amazing things. Now it's back to work. Creative work that is. That's the only kind right? And I'm sure you're ready to see some more work from me. So here we go!

Wandi Mermaids are in the works. I now have their eyes painted and will make their bikini tops. Then I will bead the heck on them. I can't wait to get their hair on. I'll take a pic of the beads when I open them. They are so yummy.

More voodoo doll pin minions. I do feel like a mad scientist at times.

These gals have bodies made of tea dyed fabric. That's about as good as I can get with the dyeing. It can be messy, dyeing, and I'm not that coordinated to do it on a large scale. I do appreciate and admire those who do it well.

These ladies are new. Same pattern as the first voodoo doll pins but are dressed in black and white because they will be my Goth voodoo doll pins. All of them will have red hearts and more paint. I have to give them hair and the Goth ones will have beads.

The remaining pics are the backgrounds of future postcards. The 2 above will be sea like. And the other 2 will be abstract in design.

Back to Work

Creative work that is. Now I'm working like crazy to catch. That's what happens when you go away for fun. So here are two little ladies that I finally finished.

These are my Wandi Heart Dolls. I never thought I would do dolls with heart shapes and I think they were supposed to be for Valentine's Day but didn't make it. I think I'll stick with Halloween. But they turned out quite nicely and hearts are forever.

Wandi Mermaids

Hello dearies. I've gone from the beach into the sea. Finally, I cut out and sewed some mermaids. No longer will I be doing more than four of these Wandi dolls at a time. This group will be the first to be excessively beaded. I don't know if I like the tail or not at the moment, but we'll see how I feel about it after they're stuffed.

This is wonderful upholstery trim that I use for hair. Love the stuff and I get it when and where I can find it. I know exactly how many heads I can dress with one yard. The bits that fall off are collected for my mom and her projects.

I like purple a lot these days, along with the stripes. I'm still working on a design for the dolls that will wear those beautiful stripes.

The blue is pretty cool too. Very sea like.

Some of these fabrics you've seen before. They will be goth voodoo doll pins. That is a mouthful, but that's what they're going to be. They'll be cut out this week. Probably nine of them. I like combinations of three.

Wandi Beach Gals

I am cruising right along. Sort of. I'm still a little bit behind. Oh, that thing called life. When it throws bottles at you you just have to duck. I finished these little beauties I started a while ago. Some time ago, I can't even remember when. Say hello to them. They are having fun on a beach somewhere.

Their tote bags contain a towel, flip flops, and sunglasses. The books and magazines are hiding inside. That's the illusion I want to give.

This is Beryl.

Say hello to Bette.

Bonnie is really cute.

Brie is ready to enjoy the sand.

I made their flip flops out of craft foam and ribbon. They were fun to do.