About Me

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

HEALING DIVA



My second doll for Mais-Liis' healing doll class. She was so persnickity during the construction process, I decided she was a diva, demanding and opinionated. She has a mind of her own, and she wanted me to know it. I allowed her to have her way, which, in the end, is probably a positive thing, for as outrageous as she turned out, she has enough sass and brass to make a believer of any skeptic. She needs to be a take charge doll, as her recipient suffers from lupus.


I like the mask concept -- good because none of the faces I had on hand seemed to fit -- so I chose a sun ; it goes well with the fabric I actually picked for my third doll. I try to use glue sparingly, but it couldn't be avoided since there was no other way to apply the sun. It's a little too small, but I justified it as a mask which wouldn't cover the entire face. Well, it's on to stay, and Diva Dearie is stuck with it. By the way she bewailed the fact that my photos are truly terrible (hence you can't see how well the gold of the sun works with the other gold embellishments), but I drew the line at taking her to a professional portrait studio.

Next came the hair. I envisioned a feather headdress and crocheted a "wig" with feather yarn
(the color is Phoenix!). Diva Dearest said it looked like a bad coonskin cap and insisted I cut off the long braid which was to have doubled as a boa. Some compromise is good. Then she got into the stash I was auditioning for Doll #3 and had to have the gold trim I purchased in CA and was hoarding for a project with a decided Hispanic flair. After throwing a tantrum in my head, she prevailed. What to put the braid on? My thought was a poncho. She demanded a kimono.
Some compromise is good. I did pick the fabric; it's wool that I fulled (felted) from a thrift store skirt. The trim turned out to be stiff and very fragile, and hand stitching was not an option. I used glue, but it seems to exaggerate the stiffness. I wasn't able to machine stitch either , sigh, because DD was already wearing the fitted (showing off her tiny waist) garment I'd best describe as a hapi pullover with obi.

DD's dainty, reversible brass hands were flopping like flippers. I stabilized them by beading bracelets. Called for something around the neck. I thought beads from the bracelets could be stitched around the opening. Oh no, DD wants something grander, an Egyptian style collar, for goodness sakes. I think it's excessive, but she's the gal who's going to wear it. I think I was able to tone it down some using bugle beads the same color as the background.



The remaining dressings went easily and surprisingly without confrontation. The healing stones are nestled in silk satin inside a pouch I crocheted with gold elastic. I embellished it more heavily than I might have otherwise, but my hope was to counterbalance the top heaviness. The bow and eye bead got off center from the back of the obi. I couldn't correct it without ruining the trim -- and I certainly wasn't going to waste another inch of it! DD pooh-poohed the idea of a headband, but I convinced her some ornamentation was needed to interrupt the explosion of hair. I couldn't come up with a means of fastening hair sticks from which to dangle baubles. Instead I made a bead cluster with three gold leaves and a cloisonne butterfly charm. To complete Her Glitziness, I loosely wrapped her with 2 kinds of gold thread.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

FREEFORM ORNAMENT AUCTION!!!

Follow this link to the International Freeform Crochet and Knitting Guild's site for info on a silent auction of scrumbled ornaments which adorned the Tree of Life, Tree of Peace exhibition!
100% of the proceeds will be donated to Women to Women International!!! Cool stuff, great Cause!

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

HEALING DOLL #1, Harmony


This is my first completed healing doll made for Mais-Liis Peacock's current class at Joggles. This is Mais-Liis' harmony doll pattern which I made up in a batik. I wanted to go a little more "formal" with this doll because of the potential owner, so she lacks the woodsy nature of the sample doll. I cloaked my doll in a remnant of silk paisley, and I crocheted a turban with metallic copper and faux feather yarns. I then draped her with incredible novelty and hand painted fibers. For additional personalization I placed a ruby red crystal on the headpiece to represent the recipient's birthstone and added an elephant (which the future owner collects) as a good luck symbol. I also placed an evil eye bead on the rear of the turban to watch her back, so to speak.
My doll wears a sacred heart milagro over own, and after much consideration placed the special healing stones on the dolls tummy, giving her a pregnant look which I decided was appropriate since I think of my friend as a nurturer.
It also occurred to me that cloaking the stones would protect them from impure handling or curious fingers of grandchildren. This doll is not a toy! I have hidden other healing items inside the doll and even in her ruana, and each thing is there for a specific reason. I had purchased several pewter charms with words like faith, harmony, balance, courage, but have decided they would be aesthically and spiritually superfluous.

















Tuesday, November 06, 2007

CAT SACK - Lesson 1















My Joggles class is on Lesson 4. I am not quite finished with Lesson 1; I still have to make the "sandwich".
Then comes FME (free motion embroidery) on the machine, as I have opted to do no fusing. When that is done, I'm sure the basic front and back you see here will no longer be recognizable.

Saturday, November 03, 2007

HOW NICE FOR ME

I know zilch about Tarot cards other than finding them a little on the scary side, but I couldn't resist taking the test just for fun.


You are The Empress


Beauty, happiness, pleasure, success, luxury, dissipation.


The Empress is associated with Venus, the feminine planet, so it represents,
beauty, charm, pleasure, luxury, and delight. You may be good at home
decorating, art or anything to do with making things beautiful.


The Empress is a creator, be it creation of life, of romance, of art or business. While the Magician is the primal spark, the idea made real, and the High Priestess is the one who gives the idea a form, the Empress is the womb where it gestates and grows till it is ready to be born. This is why her symbol is Venus, goddess of beautiful things as well as love. Even so, the Empress is more Demeter, goddess of abundance, then sensual Venus. She is the giver of Earthly gifts, yet at the same time, she can, in anger withhold, as Demeter did when her daughter, Persephone, was kidnapped. In fury and grief, she kept the Earth barren till her child was returned to her.


What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.