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!