I'm Published!!!

Merry Christmas to everyone.
This has been a wonderful Christmas that I shared with my family. I hope everyone reading also had a wonderful Christmas.  This holiday was especially special because I received a complementary copy of PRIMs Magazine with my dolls published, Momma', Millie and Michele. I love how Stampington and Company posed the dolls for their photo shoot and am grateful that they chose to publish my dolls. Please if you can, buy a copy and take a look at them. For now, this PRIMs edition will be a part of my living room table decorations.

You'll Never Know Until You Try

Hello blog readers. It has been several weeks since I have posted but I have been busy, artistically busy since my last post. Have you ever wanted to venture out into trying other mediums but your fear of not being good at you stopped you from trying?  Well, two of the exciting things that I have done since my last post was to attend "Art Is You 2015" in Stamford, CT and the other was attending a Workshop in Manhattan, NY at the Ripley- Grier Studio. In Stamford I had the pleasure of staying days and three nights around some very talented artists and art instructors. In Manhattan I spent one gorgeous day with a group of  nice artsy women and very creative instructor. It was great to learn how to work in different mediums. This was my first time making a mixed media portrait, sculpting with polymer clay and painting with oil paints. Challenge yourself and try working in a medium you've never worked in before. You may find that you're delightfully surprised with the outcome! Here are pictures of the wonderful things I made during and after their class.

Jiggly Jointed Doll Class at Art Is You, Instructor: Doreen Gay-Kassel

Paint Primer on Primitive at Art Is You, Stamford, Connecticut.  Instructor: Karen O'Brien

Dear Little Deer at Art Is You, Stamford, Connecticut. Instructor: Colleen Colquhoun

Jiggly Ornaments:Workshop with Instructor Doreen Gay-Kassel at the Ripley-Grier Studio.

 After applying oil paints:

Mini Me Doll Challenge

This year's Day With Dolls challenge was to make a small doll that resembled yourself at any stage of your life past or present. I used Susan Fosnot's Effie pattern. After the doll challenge I decided to redo the doll with a different hairstyle. I really like how she turned out. By the way, in the lower left corner of the first picture is a picture of me at 9 months old, that I used as a model for my doll.  

Thank you Susan for creating such a lovely pattern. 

 

You're A What?

Yes, I am a hooker. A rug hooker that is.

My family hates that joke, but no matter how many times it is said in the company of other rug hookers, it still makes us laugh. I have only been rug hooking since 2014. Thus far I have done about five rugs and two are close to completion. Now to get around to whip stitching the edge.  Hopefully I will get all five completed before the end of this year. I have had  the pleasure of taking a few rug hooking classes with the beautiful and talented Loretta Scena. Take a look at the rugs I have hooked so far. And to all my fellow rug hookers out there...... "Happy Hooking!"

This is the first rug that I hooked. It is designed by Loretta Scena 

Mr. Iggy was a free pattern offered in Rug Hooking Magazine

I tweaked Mr. Iggy and hooked rug I call Mr.Snowman missing eyes but I'll sew on buttons for that.

This is my youngest son's frog

I hooked this frog, inspired by a frog picture I had seen on the internet. In addition to that, my youngest son has been a frog lover for years. He has been asking me for a frog since he was in elementary school. I always managed to distract him from realizing that every year I had a different reason for not getting him one, I am not a frog fan. Anyway, He is now in his second year of college and mommy always keeps her promises. This will eventually be a pillow that Iw ill give to him once completed. I told him I would give him a frog, I just never specified real or otherwise, smile.

Goldilocks and The Three Bears

Goodnight all. After adding the final finishing touches a couple of hours ago (rusty buttons and rusty bell, thanks Aunt Connie), I'm all done.  I decided to use the brown eyed doll head that I made and decided to save the green eyed doll head for another project. Tomorrow i'll get this pretty little darlings packed and on her way to a review/consideration.
How many of you have a Playlist that you listen to when you craft? I do.
I usually set my MP 3 player on and pop on big head phones so keep me in the "zone." I listen to different genres of music  for different crafts. For example, when I make clay dolls I listen to classical music, for cloth dolls any music with an up tempo mostly R&B, when rug hooking it's R&B and Jazz and when quilting it's almost always gospel music. Sometimes I'll put 3 or 4 songs on repeat until I complete a project. It's the vibe of the songs that push me to keep going when I'd prefer to just put it down and procrastinate one day more.  Below is the playlist for Goldilocks and the Three Bears along with the completed doll/bear pictures. Peace, blessings and have a good night.

Goldie's Playlist:

John Mayer- Xo

Michael Buble  - Everything

Beyonce- Get Me Bodied

Tank- You're My Star

A Walk Down Memory Lane

“The doll making journey begins decades before you even know it, by 
gathering a lifetime of seemingly unrelated skills, which one day collide, causing complete and total harmony!” 
― Gayle Wray

Good night blog friends. I received an email a few days ago from a fellow doll club member (thank you Kathy M.). She forwarded pictures of dolls that were made by some of the past/present members of our doll club, L.I. Cloth Doll Links. It brought happy memories and also some sadness as so many of our members have either passed away, relocated, picked up other hobbies or due to age and or illness are no longer able to make dolls. As a young and inexperienced doll member I was so honored to have known these ladies before they retired or took a hiatus from doll making. I recalled my first doll.  In truth, my very first doll looked like an over sized stuffed potato with arms, legs and a head, but you wouldn't know it the way the doll club members made such a big, encouraging, "to do" of it.  They always offered kind critiques while also encouraging me to continue along my doll making journey. lol.  The ballerina doll was probably the third doll that I made.  I was pleased that it actually looked more like a doll.  I took a 2-3 year hiatus from doll making but started again in 2012 as a way to resolve the grief I was feeling when my mother passed in 2012. That year I made only one doll, The Mad Hatter.  In 2013 I only completed three dolls. By 2014 I had gotten my "Doljo"  back and began doll making more regularly. I can see how much I have improved along the way and hope to grow in this craft even more. It is true, in order to get better at something one must continue to keep working at it. 

These are dolls that I made for the doll club's annual charity for children in a Eastern Long Island Shelter.

This is a jar fairy that I made some years ago.

Fast forward to 2012 to my first published doll, The Mad Hatter. He was published in the Autumn 2012 issue of PRIMs magazine.

A doll I made from a Sherry Goshon pattern. I named the doll "Molly." She was gifted to a special young lady friend of my one of my son's.

Hope you enjoyed looking at the pictures of  my first dolls. Happy doll making to you all!

What I am working on now.

Good night dear readers. I have not been feeling the best the past two days but last night managed to put some finishing touches on a new dolly's dress. I originally had in mind to make my rendition of Goldilocks and the three bears. I am still trying to figure out what I will do with the bears. I have created three basic patterns for the bears but am still in the deciding phase as far as that goes. In the meantime, I will continue to work on the doll. I have begun to get into the habit of making two doll heads/faces when making cloth dolls.  I have also sometimes made extra body parts (legs and arms) as you never know what can happen when drawing a doll face or what will happen in the process of turning some of the smaller dolls once the sewing is finished. I have also had painting mishaps, like the time I spilled paint all over the finished, painted shoe of a doll.
For this doll I used a pattern of one of my most favorite pattern makers, Sherry Goshen. I hope to one day meet her in person as her books, patterns and dolls have really inspired me to make and create dolls and to try my hand at pattern making as well. I will post progress pictures and of course the finished doll.

Great News!

Happy Sunday! I wanted to share some great news that I received via email. My artwork "Momma', Millie and Michele" will be featured in an article in an upcoming issue of Prims! I am so excited and cannot wait to see them staged, photographed and published. Please stay tuned for update of which issue the dolls will be in. This means so much to me as my grandmother passed in 2004 and my mom passed in 2012. I have always wanted to do something artistically to commemorate them as well as the love/bond we shared.  I miss them and will always be grateful for the love and lessons they imparted to me during this life journey. 

Finally Getting Started

Hello everyone. Welcome to my blog. Today is my first blog entry, finally. I hope that through my blog I can share my art journey with you in writings, photos and as I progress, video clips.  I am a registered nurse by profession and an artist by inspiration. I work with the following mediums: cloth, fiber, clay, paints and music. I look forward to sharing my creations and thoughts on my creations with you. Have a fabulous Friday!