Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!  Joy and peaceful holidays to all of our members, and to all of our readers and followers who keep up with our little blog.

Christmas is about so much more than presents, but thoughtful gifts are such a fun part of the season.  Above is the 'before' picture of the presents in the gift exchange during our club's yearly Christmas party.  And below is the 'after' picture, after we opened them all!

We found ribbons and lace, fabric and supplies, books and patterns, vintage dolls and handmade needlebooks.  Everyone put so much care into the presents they brought, and we all left very happy with what we received in return.

Being a party, we obviously had delicious food, too.  However, the photographer was much too busy snacking, and got no pictures at all of the feast.  Happy Holidays, everybody!

2011 Show and Sale, part 2

So, we are continuing our tour around the display table at our 9th Annual Show and Sale.  In the center of the picture are two dolls from last year's White-on-White or Black-on-Black Challenge.

Lady Gaga by Mary McNeely and
Percival Poulet by Julie Gausvik

Next, seated on the leafy vine (sculpted from wire and Apoxie Sculpt), is the original GwynnEllen doll that Leslie taught in the fall of 2010.  The lady in blue with the pink headdress is Gabby's Night Out, created by Nita from a Jill Maas pattern.  Martha made the green and peach doll seated on the wooden box -- the green body fabric is a polka-dot print, and each dot is covered with concentric circles of beads!

dolls by Leslie, Nita, and Martha

Continuing around the corner, we find another nativity set by Sandy.  The polymer faces are set in silver spoons, and the robes are made of painted, embellished Tyvek.

Nativity, original design by Sandy Wildman

Next are two dolls by Katie Jones -- the tall one is a wrapped wire armature as taught by Ray Slater, and the other is from her class with Leta Benedict at AFIC last spring. The matroyshka doll is a collaboration between Leslie and her granddaughter Rebecca, and is the first doll Rebecca has made.

The very friendly-looking dog is a sleeve puppet (like a sock puppet, but different) with needle-felted eyes and features.  He was taught at another AFIC class, this one by Esther Bechler.

Brody by Andrea Baughman

The last dolls on the table are the smallest dolls in the display; 6-inch dolls designed to teach the basics of dollmaking to a beginner class.

Betsy, Bitty, and Betty by Andrea Baughman

From the smallest to the tallest -- at 4 feet tall, these members of Sandy's most recent nativity did not fit on the display table, and in fact, only three pieces would fit in her tiny Miata to travel to the show.  Sandy created an entire breast cancer nativity, complete with wise men and a camel.  The scene below depicts an angel bringing a new prosthetic breast to Mary.

And last but not least, our People's Choice table, with all nine of this year's challenge dolls.  The next post will have the results of the challenge judging.

Thanks again to everybody who came to our doll show.  It was a wonderful day, and we truly enjoyed the opportunity to share our love of art dolls with all of you.

2011 Show and Sale, part 1

We had an amazing turnout for our 9th Show and Sale this year!  We all agreed it was our biggest crowd ever.  Thank you so much to everybody who came, and to all of the dollmakers who worked so hard to put it all together.  Now let's look at some pictures...


Indy Cloth Dollmakers
 9th Annual Show and Sale 2011

We'll just start at this end and walk around the table.  On the corner are two very cute Allison Marano pixies by Nita Butler.

Gillie Gherkin and Ivy

Above them you'll see Nita's Sherry Goshen doll, and a GwynnEllen fairy made by Katie Jones.  Katie's Aquarius doll is in the foreground; her full-length view is in the next photo.

N'Ambessa by Andrea Baughman was started in Leta Benedict's Bastet class at AFIC last spring.  (Her name comes from the Ethiopian word for lioness.)  Next to her is Dande's Dance by Katie Jones.  And beyond her, in blue, is Katie's doll Aquarius the Water Bearer, from our Zodiac Challenge with the River City Guild last May.

A lion woman and a dandelion woman

Next is one of Sandy Wildman's nativities, from a pattern by Barbara Shoenoff.  This is the first of four nativities that Sandy brought to display this year.

Nativity by Sandy Wildman

Her second, smaller nativity is made of painted gourds -- you can see them to the right of the seahorse, made by Erin Fry.

Weighing the Possibilities by Julie Gausvik and Lorena by Leslie Wright

Leslie's original doll Lorena is seated on Ann Reddick's hand-pieced diamond quilt.  Leslie also brought a photo album of the Izannah Walker-style dolls she created for her antique doll club.

display table and Annie Hesse workshop dolls

We've walked around the first half of the display table so far.  We'll finish our tour in the next post!

P.S.  This is our 50th blog post -- I'm glad we have such a great event to share on such a momentous occasion!

TV interview with Katie and Martha

Indy Cloth Dollmakers: wishtv.com

This is the tv spot that two of our members did with Indy Style on Channel 8's morning show to promote our club and the doll show.  Great job, Martha and Katie!  (Also, a small hooray for your humble blogger who figured out how to embed things.)

Challenge dolls!

As promised...
Here all all nine entries in this year's Fassett Fabric Challenge, so named for the Kaffe Fassett 'Radiation' fabric that was chosen for the dolls to use.  We're not putting the dollmakers' names on them at this point, since we want them to remain anonymous until the People's Choice judging during our show and sale on November 19th.

Poppie

Fidel (rhymes with idle)

The Frustration of Challenge

Rosie the Raggedy

Greater-Crested Ruby-Throated Dream Chaser

Dream Chaser, close-up of her face

Ayanna

Gilda Gardenia

Radiate

Abigail Bubbles

Look for a poll at the top of the right sidebar.  We'll try an online People's Choice this year, too, in addition to the voting at the doll show.  This is the best turnout of challenge dolls we've ever had, and we are very proud of all our members who created something with this very challenging fabric!

Goodman Jeweler's featured artist of the month!

Just a reminder that our club is this month's featured artist at Robert Goodman Jewelers in quaint downtown Zionsville.

Dolls on the walls!
Dolls by Katie, Martha, and Julie G.

As you can see, we've got a lovely layout, with an excellent view of all the comings and goings.

Our dolls look very classy next to all the elegant jewelry on display.  Of course, Martha's dolls usually wear some pretty nice jewels, too.

We've even gotten into the holiday spirit.  Nita's little witch is just one of the beautiful dolls who will be on display and for sale until the end of October.

Busy month of October

The end of the year sees us picking up the pace, and finished dolls are trickling in as we prepare for our fabulous Show and Sale next month!  We had two dolls to share besides the Challenge dolls, which will get their own post very soon!

First is Andrea's, who brought her flower-themed doll Posie from last spring's Annie Hesse workshop.  As usual, her doll was made in a slightly smaller scale than the original pattern called for.  Her skirt is made of innumerable yards of ribbons and lace., and she has beaded elbows, too.

Posie, by Andrea  B., from a pattern by Annie Hesse

a closer view of her beaded face

Julie G. brought a new dollie, too.  She knit the Miranda pattern from Fiona MacDonald's book Babes in the Wool.

Miranda by Julie G., from a pattern by Fiona MacDonald

The textures on this doll are wonderful.  The different yarns are very touchable, and the button belt is playful and musically clink-y.  Her hair came complete with wild dye job, since it started life as a hair extension for big people.

Check back soon for pictures of all 9 (yes, 9!) of this year's challenge dolls!

September show and tell

So here's the stuff from our very fun September meeting -- show and tell is always the best!  Katie has once again brought a stunning, original, finished creation to share.  This one is a tassel doll named Gorgeous Greta.

The base of this doll is a beautiful antique tassel.  Her head, hands, and feet are sculpted by Katie from polymer clay, in scale to match the tassel.  Her hat and stole are real fur, darling, and she has a beaded purse to die for.

Also, check out her shoes!!!  These beaded sandals are just amazing. Please visit Katie's blog to see more in-progress pics.

Next up is Martha, who brought her finished doll from Leslie's GwynnEllen class last fall.  Her name is She Sells Seashells.  Martha has a small fondness for beads, so please note the beaded seaweed fringe, as well as the individual beads on her stockings -- very sparkly.

Martha also brought a few of the scarves she has been knitting in all her spare time.  It turns out that sock yarn is good for more than just socks.  Look for some of these scarves for sale at our November show.

And lastly, Andrea brought a sample of the little cloth doll she will be teaching next weekend as part of the State Museum's annual 'Stitch In Time' series of fiber art workshops.

Don't forget that our Fassett Fabric Challenge Dolls are due next month!

It's the end of August

On August 20th, the Indy Cloth Dollmakers participated in WAMM Fest, an outdoor art fair in Greenwood, Indiana.  Check out our tent!

The sky was grey, but the weather stayed warm and dry.  Katie, Nita, Julie, and Martha brought most of the dolls, and put in an absolute ton of work to make the day a success.  We met a lot of talented people, including some potential new dollmakers and at least one new teacher.

We also came away with lots of ideas about displaying our work at the next event.  We will definitely add some hanging displays from the roofline next year (look at all that extra space above the dolls!), and we would like a banner to go across the front of the tent.

Below you will see a photo collage that Erin sent.  She offered to send each picture separately, but it looked so good all together that I just left it as it is.  Also, you should go see Erin's new blog at http://littlelottohandmade.blogspot.com/!

If we met you at the festival, we would love to see you at our September meeting.  Click on the Meeting Topics tab at the top to see what we're doing, and the Club Info tab to find place and time.

No meeting in August -- going to the Art Fair!

Just a reminder -- we will NOT have a regular meeting this month.

Instead, we will have a tent at the

Wine, Art, Music, and Microbrew Festival

in Greenwood, Indiana

on Saturday, August 20th.

Click this link to learn more about WAMM Fest!

We will be one of about 50 artists, mostly local.

The art ranges from pottery and photography

to glasswork and jewelry to book binding and metalwork

and, of course, dolls!

And as the name says, there will also be wine

(from some very well known local wineries!), and food, and song.

The entire festival is a charitable fundraiser, so there is an admission fee of $10, but all the proceeds go to local charities.

Check out the map link here, with parking info: Craig Park in Greenwood

See you there!

July 2011 Show and Tell

We had some very nice show-and-tell dolls for our July meeting.  The showstopper was undoubtedly Katie's finished class doll from AFIC; her Vivian's Masquerade, started in Leta Benedict's class.  Katie's version is a little more colorful than the original, done in bright sky blue and apple green with touches of golden brown.  Her hat is made of polar fleece, and her mask is paperclay.



Vivian's Masquerade by Katie Jones

Martha brought a work-in-progress -- an embellished flat doll from a Loralie fabric panel.  She is adding beads all over, including tiny ones on the sleeves, and the effect is really sparkly and elegant.  Unfortunately, this particular fabric doesn't seem to be made anymore, but the designer's distinctive, feminine style shows in her other patterns, too.   Click on the "Loralie" link above to go to her shop!

Our last offering is a labor of love, for a video-gaming husband who had no childhood toys to share with his new baby.  Vault Boy is a mascot from the retro-futuristic world of Fallout.  Erin created this happy thumbs-up guy, complete with embroidered smile, from soft and huggable polar fleece. 

In other news, Erin and husband will look into making screenprinted t-shirts with our club logo for club members!  They are still working out details, but Erin will let us know when we can bring our own shirts to be printed, and how much it will cost.

Our official meeting topic was a discussion of doll joints, with examples of lots of different ways to make knees for our dolls (and hips, and shoulders, and wrists...).  

bead joints, tab joints, and button gusset joints by Andrea B.

We also discussed the continuing awesomeness of Susanna Oroyan's books, and how much we have learned from Judi Ward.  Here's a link to Judi's Invisible Jointing Video on YouTube.

Don't forget, there will be no regular August meeting.  We will be at the outdoor art fair WAMM Fest in Greenwood, instead!

Bea's Baby Shower!

We celebrated our newest honorary member -- Beatrice, daughter of our vice-president Erin -- at our June meeting with a tea party and baby shower.  Being only three months old, the guest of honor slept through part of the meeting...

and was not allowed to eat any of the cake...

but she did get lots of presents!

We also had a very relaxed ordinary meeting with show and tell and such.  Finished projects are trickling in, as Mary got her groovy tie-dye etui done

and Julie G. brought her finsished Annie Hesse doll, complete with arms sewn on and everything.

Ann Reddick brought her not-very-old antique shop find: two Palmer Cox Brownie dolls that were made in the 1990s.  The Brownies themselves were illustrated characters who appeared in stories and advertising from the late 1800s into the early 20th century.

And Andrea brought a sample of the doll she will be teaching at the State Museum in September.

We even managed to fit in some new business, between the tea and the crumpets.  Katie found us another outdoor art fair to participate in, since we were sad to learn that Irvington's Walk in the Park will not be held this summer.   We are applying to be one of the juried artists in the 3rd Annual Greenwood WAMMFest.  WAMM stands for Wine, Art, Music, and Microbrews, so a pretty fine time should be had by all.  That would happen in August, so make stuff to sell!