Sunday, December 25, 2011

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!

Monday, December 5, 2011

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.