Oil painting a cloth doll face

Over on the yahoo group list I started I have posted a tutorial on face painting.
I use oil paints and for the tutorial I used a canvas page instead of a doll.It was easier to take pictures of a flat page.
I am doing it in stages.Adding each week.
There are 2 weeks posted so far. Here is the beginning and the end.There are lots of in between pictures posted on the yahoo list.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/theclassicclothdolls/?yguid=158461135
I will also be doing a face of color.
I truly love oil painting cloth dolls. The more I do the more I learn.
Have a great weekend.
j

Free cel phones ! Why???

I got this e-mail today and as far as I can tell if you live in the right state and are on welfare you can get a FREE phone and FREE minutes.
WHY?
I pay for my phone.There is no place that says a phone is a necessity.IF there is a medical need one can have a phone that only dials 911.
The more I read news the more I think middle class America needs to wake up and vote in Nov. to change what is happening to our country.
There should be no free ride. Each should carry his or her own weight.
Enough said read for your self and then click on the link.j

Free Cell Phones !
 This is true.  Here in San Antonio the ads are incessant !   O has got to

GO ! I had a former employee call me earlier today inquiring about a job, and

at the end of the conversation he gave me his phone number.  I asked the
former employee if this was a new cell phone number, and he told me yes,
this was his "Obama phone."  I asked him what an "Obama phone" was, and he
went on to say that welfare recipients are now eligible to receive (1) a
FREE new cell phone, and (2) approximately 70 FREE minutes of air time every
month. I was a little skeptical, so I Googled it, and lo and behold, he was

telling the truth.  TAXPAYER MONEY IS BEING REDISTRIBUTED TO WELFARE
RECIPIENTS FOR FREE CELL PHONES.  Enough is enough, the ship is sinking, and
it's sinking fast.  The age-old concepts of God, family, and hard work have
flown out the window, and are being replaced with "Hope and Change", "Change
we can believe in", and "Why should I work for it, when I can get it for
free?" You can click on the link below to read more about the "Obama Phone".just

have a barf bag ready.   https://www.safelinkwireless.com/EnrollmentPublic/Home.aspx

copy right issues

Over on the quilt site someone posted a site on line that tells it like it is. Read at your leisure.
It is very informative and in normal language I could understand with back up court cases.j
http://www.tabberone.com/Trademarks/trademarks.shtml

Hgtv find your style.

Find your style, take this quiz.

http://my.hgtv.com/style-finder/stylefinder.esi?nl=HGIdeas_v400_HT-StyleQ

They tell me this is mine "Your style is Rustic Charm"

"Country, handmade and cozy, featuring one-of-a-kind finds. Carefree mix of the new and old. Lived-in look. Country and Rustic describe my home."

They are sort of right. I do have hand made, one of a kind finds but do have some cottage looking pieces not so much rustic.

Little town parades

There is nothing like small town Iowa parades.
The main thing of course is the CANDY that they throw.Just ask Cam. He will tell you.
Take a look at this pile. They also throw tablets,key chains and bouncy balls.
Making memories.
judy

clouds, and update

Update after I posted.
After the beautiful clouds we had a bad storm.Lots of thunder/lighting and small hail.We were in a tornado warning for about an hour until 10:30 p.m.




The clouds were strange--beautiful but strange looking this evening. A series of 4. Clouds moving fast. Pictures taken in a few minutes.
The last picture was in the east the others in the western sky. The clouds looked like cotton balls.j

dressed black doll

Her name is Mylene Joi

A few weeks ago I shared pictures of 3 black dolls I painted.I finally dressed one and I love her so.
The capelet was done from an inspiration picture you can find on this site. First page about 3 down.
http://www.carmeldollshop.com/category/clothing/earlyclothing.htm

She is dressed in a printed feed/flour sack I have saved for years.
I designed a new dress using this old dress picture, as my inspiration.The inspiration dress does not have a center opening but I like the way it looked so I put an opening in the dress.

I designed a different dress pattern than I usually use for the MJ dolls.The bodice/sleeve is one piece and I like it very much.
It has probably been done before but I placed the pattern piece on 2 folds.4 layers of fabric folded into a sq..Front/back of the bodice and the tops of the sleeves are each on a fold.The front seam is then cut after it is all cut out.Leaves the top in one piece.
I lined the bodice with muslin.
I have never had a pattern with a top like this so I think I am very clever,---- but like I said someone else has done this before I am sure.


I love old buttons and wanted the dress to have buttons and button holes.I had forgotten how much I enjoy using my button hole attachment.
The week is going fast again.I hope you all are having a good week.j

sewing room

Back around 1976 I had a greenhouse /flower shop attached to our home. Mr.T built it so it was well built.We knew at some point we would turn the greenhouse into a family room and we did.
This room is between the main house and the garage.It is one story and 4 steps down from the main house.
Fast forward to empty nest time.All the children and the foster children are grown and on their own.
It was still a family room but only Mr.T used it for watching tv.

Over the years we have had doors to separate the area from the area where the dogs live.We have taken down walls and put them back. We have taken out a large landing and put in spiral steps.
This spring we put back the wall because of the pet hair.Lets face it when you have pets you have pet hair.
No matter how often you sweep there is still that hair. Shelties are very hairy!!
I do not want pet hair on my fabric----so up went a new wall.
I love the way they(the dogs) can look through the glass and see me while I work.
I happened( after all I love to repurpose) to have windows to fit the top of the wall to allow light into the dog space.

After the floods of 1998 I moved my sewing from the basement upstairs.Trying many places.

That just does not work for me.I can not stand to have fabric and everything it takes to make dolls and quilts in my dining room, extra bedroom or computer room.
I need my things to be where they are supposed to be.When I sew I make a mess and need that mess until I am done with the project.

I took back the greenhouse/family room for my own again.I started back in Feb.
The tv is still there and the recliner in one small area.Mr.T can go there when he wants to watch his programs(nascar)
I will be able to do my sewing during the day and leave it to do other things and go back to it.

I made an ironing table today.Using an old table cloth of my MIL to cover the batting and board.









We hung an extra kitchen cupboard Mr.T. did not need for his work shop.I took off the doors and will paint it and the wall behind at some point.

As you can see the cupboard base is now the base for the ironing table.I have a sewing machine,in a cabinet, to fill in that space

Some where on line I saw the idea to use a baby crib as a cutting table. I had dolls in this one for years.It is not a full size crib.A 2x4 piece of plywood works perfect for the top. Mr.T. added blocks of wood to make both ends the same height. It has storage and the cutting rulers stand up in between the rails


I have wanted to move this cupboard from the living room for a long time and finally found the perfect place.

You can see my old girl,Penny, laying by the door looking in.
There is still a lot to do but we are making progress.

If you are feeling sorry for Mr.T. I gave him the back bedroom for his stuff!Computer, books ,papers all the things he likes to PILE.

He is great at building and fixing,the man can do anything, but any flat surface is fair game for him to pile things on.
Good thing is I can shut both doors to that bedroom ---no more piles of stuff.
The weeks are flying by.Over half the year is gone. I am thankful for each day.
I hope you all have a great week.
j.

Block of the month.

I have signed up for a 10 month block of the month over on the painted quilt blog. Go visit Kaaren.Looks like fun.j
http://thepaintedquilt.blogspot.com/

garden produce

We visited our community garden spot last night.Mr. T. has been there several times in the last week taking care of the quake grass.We have our first little cucumber,onions and a very few radishes. The cucumber vine is one that grows little cucumbers for pickles.
I would love to make some refrigerator pickles.
The sugar snap peas are ready to pick here at the home garden.The green beans will be ready for the first picking by the end of this week at the community garden spot.
The other people at the community garden had deer come in and eat their green beans and the beet tops.We had a fence up since day one.The others have put up fence now. It is interesting to see how others garden.
j

4th rained out

The 2nd day of the weekend was rained out.We had a beautiful Sat. night to watch the do wops in the park.Here they are singing a song to one of the crowd.

For mostly old guys -----What a bunch of great voices.They sang acappella all the songs from 50-60's

To top it off they sang my favorite song"lean on me"

The fire works was moved to tonight.

The crowd was not as big as usual.



The week will be all messed up now that Mr. T was off today.

Have a great week.j

Flag

Prairie Flower Farm offered this picture for our use.it says it all.
Have a happy Independence Day.j

p.s.We are rained out but it is ok.

New Yahoo group

I have started a new group.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/theclassicclothdolls/?yguid=158461135

I will be sharing some of the ways I make my dolls.
I uploaded pictures of the Alabama type doll i made.
j