Our day at Walk in the Park

We had a wonderful time at Walk in the Park -- it was NOT 98 degrees this year and it only rained for those couple of minutes (a brief but very exciting few minutes!).  People did buy some dolls, too, so our economy seems to be slowly returning to normal.

Here's our tent, complete with our club logo sign that Leslie rescued from her house flood two years ago.  I love our sign, but maybe we also need a banner to go across the front edge of the tent -- what do you think???

Of course, sales are only a part of why we do this art fair. We also get to talk to people about our club and our dolls, especially the classes we get to take.

For example, here's a doll from our Dancine class with Fran Parrigan Meehan, a Candlestick Diva by Arley Berryhill, and a Pop Up Puppet by Kathryn Walmsley, all made by our very own Julie G.

Here are some tassel dolls made by Katie and Jude in (and after) a class with Cyndi Mahlstadt.

And our 'display corner' has another Dancine, a Morris doll made by Andrea in a Barbara Schoenoff class, and Martha's Duchess doll made in Adele Sciortino's class, just to name a few.

All of the best pictures from the day are in the new slideshow over in the right hand sidebar - try it out!

Katie's new blog!

Our prodigiously productive member Katie has started her very own blog!  It is already gorgeous, with a great banner featuring some of her beautiful doll faces, so go check it out.

Needlefelting ladybugs!

At the July meeting, Katie taught our mini-workshop.  She made up kits for everybody that included two colors of wool roving (she over-dyed the red to get just the right shade) and a felting needle, as well as a pinback, beads for eyes, and some wire for antennae.

From these fluffy beginnings she walked us through the basics of needle-sculpting.  Fortunately, we did not need the first-aid supplies she brought, as we got through the class without puncturing anybody's fingers!  After an hour or so, our roving had been transformed to this:

Ladybugs!
While most of us were complete beginners, we did have an expert in our midst.  In honor of the class topic, Bonnie brought in a superb little needle-felted bear she had made.  Isn't he perfect?

July 2010 meeting

Attendance at our July meeting was still a little small this month, as many of our members are busy with summer activities.  But, those of us who were there had a wonderful time.  Show and Tell featured Julie G., who brought in her finished doll from the class with Leslie Molen at the Doll Gatherers GALA 2010 back in May.

The one-day class means she is a simple doll, but we all enjoyed her lace underskirt and the beautiful use of dyed lace on her head - it complimented her kimono fabric perfectly.  Nobody will ever know that she is wearing Fruit of the Loom briefs under that very proper and ladylike dress!

Nita also brought the Americana doll that she made for a Cloth Doll Artistry challenge.  This dollie is pictured in last month's Featured Artist bio of Nita, and she also talks about her inspiration on her own blog.

Next post -- Katie's lesson in needlefelting!