selling cloth dolls

I was going through floppy disk pictures today.Yep my first digital camera had floppy disks.It was a good camera still is.I just have a smaller nikon that I use more.
I took a lot of pictures with the sony.the floppies hold lots of memories of the cloth dolls I have made since 2002.That is when I took my first class with Susan Fosnot.I knew nothing of oil painting cloth dolls but,after seeing a Columbian doll, I knew I wanted to make the old style dolls.There are many doll makers I admire. Izannah Walker,Helen Pringle and Emma Adams just to name 3.The columbian won my heart and try as I might I never quite capture the look.It took me a few years to realize the only dolls I can paint are Judy J dolls and that is ok with me.
I think about Emma Adams and her doll making. i try to imagine how it was back then.What kinds of paints did they use. What did she think when her doll was chosen to travel the world?She must have been thrilled.I have never seen a Columbian in person but I save every picture I ever see online.




The dolls I paint take a lot of time. The pattern I use is one I have worked on for 20 years. Over the years it has developed into what i want in a cloth doll.
I am sharing all this because I wonder if other doll makers have as hard a time selling their dolls as I do.
The pictures I was looking at today are of some I have sold.I really wish I had not sold them but what they say about wishes and horses is ture. I know I will have to sell more to make room but it will be hard.These have been sold

computer/picasa pictures /good will finds make over

Oh my goodness but when this computer does not do what I want it to do--- it ruins my whole day.
Picasa has not been working right for a while so today we tried to uninstall and reinstall the program. Well it did not work! Major frustrations.Finally I got it.I have no idea how I did it but I did.When I stumble around on here long enough it seems things work out.I can not blog without the pictures.



I have wanted one of those great domes you see in all the decorating magazines.I checked the prices at hobby lobby and they were $50.00Not in my budget so I made my own.
At the local goodwill I found a glass bowl about the right shape.I then went looking for a knob.
Marbles were to small.All over Hobby Lobby I walked until A-Ha!there it was the perfect size.I have no idea what they are meant to be.Round knobs with letters on them so I picked the letter J and glued it to the bottom of the bowl.I have my glass dome for the cake plate I made out of an old milk glass vase and a plate.


I also found some great doll caps,a big bag of tatting and a bag of sewing things which included several pairs of small scissors.

ironing /another doll quilt?grandson update

Do you remember ironing as a child?I do.We ironed everything except underwear and towels.We ironed the pillow cases and sheets,dad's T-shirts.You name it we ironed it.Boy did I ever hate to iron. I still do not iron a lot but this morning I was ironing some cloth napkins and it brought back memories of my childhood. How the clothes smelled after being hung on the line to dry. I miss that. How the clothes froze stiff as boards but were just right when they came in to iron. We did not have to sprinkle them,just rolled them up put them in the basket for the next days ironing. I still have the pop bottle with the sprinkle top in my vintage stuff.Does that make me vintage?Yep it does.Times do change.
Because I have been so concerned about Mason and how he is doing after surgery I needed a distraction.I worked on another doll quilt. I still need to do the hand work. It was good to have something to take my mind off the waiting. He was to go home from the hospital yesterday but I have not heard how that went.I know they were very busy so I did not call.

surgery and new doll quilt

Today was a bit stressful.Our oldest grandson has had 3 surgeries since late Tues. night.He has an abscess in his intestines. He is better today. Thank God. I woke in the night knowing he was in trouble. I have had these kinds of knowings before. Praying Gods will be done is all I could do and god is listening. He had the 3rd surgery last night. He is better today but still not out of the woods.
I needed to do something with my time today that did not involve a lot of thinking to it. The little quilt was left overs from the other doll quilt.
Tonight I will stitch the binding.
The little doll i was working on is done and the quilt goes with her.
Her name is Johanna and was a lot of fun to make.

judy the dachshund

This week I am caring for a friends dachshund. What a sweet thing she is. Always close by. I have to be careful not to step on her. Our cat does not mind her. Our Shelties do not mind her. I helped find this dog for my friends sister. A long story. Anyway the friends sister went over seas and had to leave Judy behind. Because I helped find the the litter of puppies for my friends sister----- the sister named her after me.
Just thought I'd share. .

cloth doll challenge

She got her face tonight. The picture I have of the Presbyterian doll is not a very good picture.I did the best I could with it as my inspiration.The pres. doll has a kind of piggy nose. The original doll makers were really good doll makers but not so good with painting the noses on the dolls. I tried to stay true to the style.
Oil painting a cloth dolls face is the best part of making a cloth doll. IMO. Well it is for me.
However trying to make a new doll look like an old doll is just not something I can do.In fact oil painting ANY cloth doll to look like someone elses doll is just NOT something I can do. All my dolls turn out to look like the only thing I can paint and that is Judith Ann dolls. Here she is and I did have fun painting her even if she looks nothing like the picture.
As soon as she is dry i will post the finished picture for now here is her face.I did add the pink eye dots after I took her picture. This pattern was fun to do and I thank Lucinda for making the pattern.

Spring in Iowa

The ice on the Iowa river is breaking up. I thought I'd share this picture.
I hear, from my mom, the robins are in southern Iowa. I have not seen them myself. For me seeing the robins is a sure sign of spring.
The seeds are in at the grocery store* another sign *.Thunburgia, colimbine and melody spinich seed packets came home with me. It is time to plant the flower seeds in the greenhouse. The spinich will go in the ground as soon as the last frost warning is over. Melody is a really good variety one we plant every year.Nothing better than fresh spinich.
Today we will cut some branches off the trees to force buds.

a good valentines day

Our day was good.Sydney and I went to Chung gardens for lunch. If you are ever in Iowa Falls Iowa make sure to stop. It is the best Chinese restaurant you will ever eat in.After a trip to buy a movie for movie night with popcorn and soda we stopped at the bead store. Sydney and the owner Amy made a bracelet and necklace. I love making memories with the grands.

Presbyterian doll challenge

She really coming along. the doll,dress and bloomers are done.
The pres dolls have that deer in the headlights kind of face. After all this work I'm not sure I want that on this doll. We shall see.
She is made from feed sack fabric and after she was sewn and stuffed i found two holes. I stitched them over. It gives her a worn look I love. She is gessoed and sanded. On to the face painting.

mum flower cuttings

These were a couple of forced mum plants that did not sell at the flower shop spring of 2008. I brought them home and planted them outside in a planter.I forgot about them until late fall when they bloomed. It was really late in the fall with freeze warnings so I cut off the blooms and brought them in.They have been in the vase on the window ledge ever since. There are no roots I can see but they have stayed green and now there is a tiny flower.Mother nature is so wonderful.

challenge cloth doll

The vintage cloth doll makers yahoo group has a cloth doll challenge going on.
The pattern was made by cinders one of the groups members.It is a wonderful pattern.
Normally I do not make others patterns. This one is a real joy to do. She is made from vintage feed sack fabric and wool fabric for her
stockings.Tomorrow I will work on her clothes and gesso and base coat her head.
Challenges are something that the vintage cloth doll makers group does often and it is wonderful to see the talent in the group.

think spring

Today was a good day to work a little in the greenhouse.This space is not very big only 9'x18'.
In the winter it is my special space. I wish I was really good with word to express how the space makes me feel. Today i did some geranium cuttings. Geraniums are very tough. Last fall I pulled them up and threw them into a flat. They have been there all winter. No water, no soil just laying there waiting for me to do something with them. The cuttings will lay for a day or 2 so the ends can harden off then I will dip them in rooting powder and put them into flats of soil. The plats that have roots will be planted in pots,a little fertilizer, watered in and they will soon have flowers.Spring will be here one day soon. (I hope)
Without last years flooding I pray.

I found my Anthurium was blooming so i brought it in to the living room to enjoy. The leaves need to be polished.

what a mess

Our church is having its annual turkey dinner.We were asked to cook a turkey.Well they had several turkeys left with no one to cook them so we volunteered to cook 2 turkeys.
All was fine--- so we thought. Both turkeys fit in the oven side by side in 2 separate pans. The oven bags instructions say to cook the turkeys in a 2 inch deep roasting pan.We did that for one the other was in a deeper roasting pan. The instructions are to start the turkey cooking at 250 degrees at 11:00p.m. and cook all night.I checked at 3:30 a.m. and they were done. I did not turn on a light---- just checked the turkey.Well I should have turned on the light because the turkey had over flowed the pans and there was such a mess.picture shows Dh was down cleaning under the stove.
Dh got up and took the turkeys to the church at 7:00 a.m.I got up to find we were not going to church but we were on our hands and knees so I hope that counts for something.
I am thankful there was a throw rug in front of the stove. Turkey fat is the worst. I washed the rug 3 times.
Next year we will bake pies.

a correction

My mom and i were talking about who I was making the noodles for.She asked me if I remembered who taught me to make noodles. I thought I did but I was mistaken. It was not my grandma Clark it was my grandpa Clark.Well in a round about way.He taught my mom and she taught me.
The story goes like this. Jess Clark,at 14, was not happy when his mother remarried so he struck out on his own.He became a cowboy. Actually he became the cook for the cowboys. According to my mom he told her the noodles were tough and he had to figure out how to make them tender.
His secret was baking powder. So that is the rest of the noodle story.
There was much more to my grandpa than most knew. He bought a livery stable in Lawton Ok. when he and grandma were young. He owned the only hearse for many miles. His hearse carried Geronimo to his grave. Grandma said that Geronimo's wife wanted to kill his horse because he died but the soldiers would not allow it. I so wish I had been closer to them when I was young. There are so many questions to ask.

home made chicken and noodles/a mystery

Did you ever wonder about how things are developed? I do. Like today when i was making noodles.
I have made them for as long as I have been married.
My children never ate a purchased noodle.

My mom taught me and her mom taught her.
So who started the whole thing? Who was it that thought *oh* well today I'll take an egg and mix it with ground grain and make something called a noodle?
I am making noodles, again today, for a group of 24. I made them yesterday too.
A friend of mine is head of the local Horizons group and is stuck with cooking for 48 people, for 9 weeks. 24 on Wed. night and 24 on Thurs. night so i volunteered to help her out this week.
My recipe is different than most as I do not add liquid.It is just eggs,flour and baking powder.
The secret to my good noodles is L.B.Jamison's soup base and a nice fat chicken.
This is not a diet food, nor a low fat food, but let me tell you it is one of the best meals you will ever have. My friends look forward to domino night when i make chicken and noodles.
Now think about all the things we eat.It is really amazing what people think up.

little quilt top

Well it is together.There are people who enjoy making quilts.I have decided i am not one of them. It is because of the end results I *will* persevere.
I will not give up I will finish this doll quilt and i will do more little quilts. They are not going to get the best of me. Math is not something I excel in and quilt making involves a lot of math.
All the exact measuring and cutting is so time consuming I find it tedious.
Sitting at the sewing machine and stitching is a joy but the cutting just plain gives me a back ache.
Here is my first doll quilt.There will be more i am determined. Hopefully tomorrow i can get the back and binding on it. It is not as bright as the picture appears.