General Brock on display

Our Ottawa Doll Club, All Dolled Up, had another display of our 1812 dolls at the Goulbourn Museum. The General made the local paper! How exciting!

He'll be part of my show at the Library and Archives Ottawa Valley Crafts and Collectibles Show July 13, 2013 Won't you come by and say Hello?

Barbara Willis is teaching in Ottawa

Upcoming Classes

Register now for this class!

Barbara Willis workshop – “Juliette”

Barbara Willis is author of Cloth Doll Artistry Design and Costuming Techniques for Flat and Fully Sculpted Figures, has been creating dolls and teaching nationally and internationally for over 30 years. She has been associated with the quilting industry, fibre guilds, embroidery guilds and clubs, International Quilt Market, The Knitting and Stitching Show (UK) doll clubs, and workshop events for all of her career. She has been featured and published in many magazines including Sew Beautiful, Cloth Dolls and Animals, Dolls Bears and Collectibles, Better Homes and Gardens, Dolls and many others over her career.

Barbara Willis workshop – “Juliette”

April 21 and 22nd, 2012

Fee, including kit: $300 –  Please contact Edwina to register by March 11th, 2012

Juliette is a lovely doll with a unique construction.  She stands approximately 17" tall and has a soft sculpted face formed from knit fabric.  Her torso is skinned in knit fabric to match the face fabric and her breasts are implanted beneath the knit skin to create a delicate décolletage.  The lower part of the body is constructed of 2 stiff fabric panels open from the bottom and to allow the skirt to open up to hold her weight and to stand.  She sits on a weighted bag with half shoes poking out the bottom of the skirt.

Students will lean full facial soft sculpting and coloration,   simple wired hands, unique body construction as described, costume techniques to include the use of a smocking pleater to create the lovely pleated ruffle used at the bottom of her skirt.

Wordless Wednesday

Marlaine Verhelst coming to Ottawa October 2012

Me and Facebook are now friends

So I decided to join the 21st Century. I joined Facebook. I've been thinking about it for ages and finally got around to doing it. My son has coached me through the basics, especially when I saw the ENORMOUS amount of email landing in my mailbox from Facebook. Settings have been adjusted.

I'm looking forward to connecting with people in a whole new way. I'm still trying to work out how to post video, but all in good time, my friends, all in good time. What's that about old dogs and new tricks?

Now to figure out the links for it...

Pattern update

Tilly now has clothes to wear and the pattern has been drafted. Now for some instructions. Friday is always devoted to dolls, so off I go!

Not Carved In Stone

Today is also the day to list some things in my Etsy store. I am getting better at doing that, too. Check it out later today.

Leslie Baily coming to town

All Dolled Up, our Ottawa doll club, had Leslie Bailey, polymer artist, coming to town. She'll be here March 26 and 27 to teach us how to make her Woodland Elf. All are welcome to register. Send me an email to get details, or check the blog.

New doll

A new doll is underway! I have scaled her to be a child doll, to fit with my Annabella pattern. Our doll club, All Dolled Up, is having an 1812 challenge, to celebrate the upcoming anniversary of the war of 1812. We decided the dolls should match in scale, so we needed a child doll.

I gave this one a youthful face. Freckles help that along! I designed the pattern to be either a boy or girl, 10-12 years old. I used woven cotton, I mostly work in this fabric. It could be made in a stretch fabric, though what size it would become, I'm not sure. Perhaps a good idea if one wanted a plumper figure.

The face is coloured using gel pens, pencils and powdered make up. She'll be dressed in the same style as my 1812 class. that's a short gown and petticoat. Today is my day to work on her and get her dressed. The body parts are all pinned, though i expect I'll pose her to be working in some way.

Don't forget - this month, if you leave a comment, you will be entered in the draw for a FREE class!