TRANSFORMATIVE DOLLMAKING

The Transformative Dollmaking class with Pamela Hastings concluded this past week.  I only completed the first doll, but I have Pamela's thought-provoking lessons with wonderful patterns and ideas plus a class notebook  bulging with concepts and sketches for future dolls.  This amazing class encouraged further study and exploration with each chapter and much introspection.  So much more than how to make a doll!  I highly recommend it for anyone interested in healing dolls and creative therapy.

Above are freehand cut patterns for possible chakra dolls.  I kind of liked the way they looked together so I'm considering a future project in fabric or mixed media.  Another project I did for the class that is almost finished is a collage with a time theme (one of the things I get conflicted about is productive use of time). 

SO FAR SO GOOD!

I've been absorbing myself in Transformative Dollmaking, the Joggles class I'm taking from Pamela Hastings. Among other things, our first assignment called for us to make a paper doll that reflected our happy days and the not so good ones.  I complied with a two-sided doll based on a pattern she supplied.

To the right you see me tickled pink and tripping the light fantastic above my desk.   This was my first play with paper collage, so the educational experience was doublefold.  I have so much to learn.  Never mind that my foil wings bear glue smudges and fingerprints.
Never mind that my mylar stockings are wrinkled.  Never mind that my tissue paper arms were so tattered I had to cover them with lace.  I played.  After applying my acryllic facial foundation, I put on minimal makeup with a pen.  I styled my hair with petals from an old carnation corsage.  A little stick-on bling at my neck and a big heart do it for accessorizing my dowdy, somewhat old fashioned print dress.  I am happy today.

Below is my alter ego.  Thankfully I'm an optimist and born with a sense of humor that sustains me in difficult times, so even though I can be as witchy as the next gal, my anger is typically short lived.
Most of my bad days stem from frustration, impatience, discouragement, and fleeting resentments.  My depression is genrally controlled by medication, although I do occasionally have anxiety breakthrough.  My recent grief was the first time an emotion left me debilitated.  I would never have imagined  that creating a grouch could make me laught and have so much fun.

My beloved DH cringes whenever he sees me saving "stuff".  If you're reading this, you know what I'm talking about.  There are times he vocalizes that I hoard and belong on a certain TV show.  I will allow only that caching stash is sometimes problematic. I mention this only because I got to use some unlikely keepers in this project.  Like that corsage I mentioned?  From a commercial floral class about 20 years ago. 

Also unlikely are the wings.  I'm not sure why a witch would have wings unless she's fallen from grace.  Anyway they're tarnished.  Look closely.  That's embossed toilet paper I used to blot while I sprayed various inks and starbursts and saved from an earlier project.  It absorbs beautifully and randomly in color and stays strong; it worked fine with the gel medium I used.  And you know, I'm not sure why my happy side has wings.  Maybe  they  symbolize my resuming creative flight.

My inner imp is wearing a dyed coffee filter!  Yes, yes, last week I decided to experiment with some months old cold water dye solutions.  I dyed bleached and unbleached filters and learned the bleached come out a little brighter.  This particular one is unbleached and chosen to match the catalog cutout of "The Witch is In".  Do not ask why I owned a gold bandana with primitive hearts, as I have no clue.  But I love how the heart looks pierced by pins to cause me pain.  The arms are coffee filters given a multicolor treatment with the same dyes.  The dye bleed like watercolors on the filters; I just dropped the color randomly and watched it run and marble.  I did purchase paper for the legs.  I could not resist the filigree and spider webbing to sub for fishnet stockings.  My witchiness has a sleazy side as evidenced by those tarnished wings, and I suspect her presence by my computer is to lure me to a game of scrabble or spider solitaire, anything to keep me off productive task.

ANGELIC MAKEOVER

The before angel is below. You can see I've made her halo larger, added a butterfly hair ornament, a magic wand and lots more fibery stuff including tulle and hand dyed scrim.

PROSPERITY DOLL

As previously mentioned, January's project in Chaska Peacock's Creative Sparks group was to create a doll that would represent us and what prosperity meant to us individually. We were to make dolls from a technique Chaska taught us that involved wrapping a wire armature. She gave us two examples of her own, one with her picture for the face and the other with a mirror face. You can see other examples from the class on her website

I initially had major reservations about using my own likeness on this doll. I learned a tragic lesson in being careful what one prays for, and I've avoided petitioning for personal favors ever since. After some deliberation I decided I could make a doll that simply represented prosperity,

good fortune and things people usually wish for. If I clarified in my intent that none of my loved ones would suffer as a consequence of fulfillment, then generalized wishes would be okay. I was going to include names of those with whom I'd most want to share the luck inside a tubular fabric bead I would make. Wouldn't you know the doll exerted its own creative guidance and eliminated the dilemma altogether.

As the doll took shape I noticed masculine characteristics. Not only did my doll choose to be male, he chose to be magical, as in anything-is-possible magic. My doll morphed into a genie!

Unlimited wishes could be mine for the asking. Neverending stash came immediately to mind -- after world peace and abundance for all, of course. I could wish for the moon. Instead I opted for the world on a silver platter (that ought to cover about anything).

Here are the details. I painted my guy red and named him Red Genie. I wrapped his arms with size 8 perle cotton floss. I wanted him dressed in red, but I only had small pieces of silk from my CQ stash, so instead of one robe, he sports separates. The paisley fabric was only long enough to cover from high waist down, so I made a tube and gathered both ends. I deliberately put the seamline down the front and ruched it slightly to give the suggestion of harem pants. I made slippers with curlicue fronts from air dry clay and painted them gold. They just peek out at the bottom and purposely look off-balance because, hey!, he's tripped over Happy Cat, who facing front has his right hand raised to bring personal riches and facing back has left hand up to promote good business and many customers. I don't have a business or clients, just covering the bases. One never knows. An apron of claret hangs from the neck down and is bordered with a piece of woven ribbon that repeats around the neck. A leftover snippet of paisley made a sleeve and draws across the back to blouse over the gathered waistband. Two rectangles of red silk stitched together in the back with gold metallic make a shawl that covers the bare shoulder. The ends cross in front beneath the arms for an added detail. He has some wired beads around the neckline and a handmade Chinese knot with charms hangs as a pendant (found it at a local Chinese restaurant). I used French wired ribbon for a sash and simply twisted the ends at the side to make a fan shape. Red Genie's turban is a swirl of silk chiffon from one of my dye batches. Atop it is a miniature Christmas ornament that is "bejeweled" and shaped like a turban or oriental onion dome. My man's face is glued to a bottle cap glued to a flat filigree medaillon.

He is looking down in shock as his silver tray spills. The tray was cut from the foil vacuum seal from a coffee can; a piece of lace is the doily.

ABSTRACT FLYING ANGEL DOLLS

These dolls are the first of three types of angels we are making in Chaska (Mai-Liis) Peacock's online class. I worked on them at the same time, and they are for the most the same except for halos and embellishments.

Their faces are my first attempt using polymer clay for anything. I used some Sculpey III in beige. I didn't use a mold; I kneaded small balls and flattened them to round and oval shapes and used my finger to roll a concave back which I thought might better conform to the stuffed head. I did not try to sculpt this time around. I drew the faces with permanent markers and added a little blush. I wish I had taken the time to get better proportion. I'd like to try watercolor pencils or some other medium that would allow me to properly blend and create the illusion of contour on a flat surface. I'll work on more expressive faces as I continue learning to create dolls. I'll be dabbing little spots of glue around the faces to make the hair better conceal the sides of the face cabochons.

About the hair. The bright aqua is some kind of fibery yardage I bought as a remnant at Walmart. I had no idea what I'd use it for at the time; I only bought it because it looked interesting. It's sort of like a lightweight Pellon interfacing. It drapes, it crinkles, it's translucent. I came across it looking for something else, and I don't know why I even thought to use it for doll hair -- just one of those serendipitous moments when I decided I liked the way the stuff scrunched! Dare I say, it came to me out of the blue... The second angel has purple hair.

I first tried needlefelting some purple wool. It worked well, but to get a sculpted hair style I was afraid I might chew up the fabric too much. I settled instead for stitching on curly eyelash and feather yarns.

I had a wonderful time shopping at Michaels looking for potential halos. Infinite possibilities with lots of wired eyelash and bead garlands all sparkly and pretty for the holidays. Oh the ribbons!

I cannot wait to shop the after season sales! My turquoise haired angel has a halo made with

gold star garland (found in party supplies!) twisted with a multi colored glitter eyelash. Her purple haired companion has feathers for a halo. The feathers came as trim, glued and stitched to ribbon. I had first considered it as a substitute for the beaded fringe at the bottom of the doll, but the ribbon was too rigid to follow a curve even when clipped. It was next to impossible to try to sew by hand, yet I was set on having a feather halo. I ended up cutting individual feathers with parts of the ribbon (I couldn't pull the feathers out) and glued them in a way to frame the head. The meant the back of the angel's head wasn't pretty, and I couldn't stitch more yarn over it for hair. What I did was place a spoked wire "donut" from the jewelry findings section and placed a bejeweled button in the center.

I had such a good time making these angels. It was like having the best play date ever with my inner child.

CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON

My latest healing doll! He may appear fearsome, but if you recall the films, the Gillman was no monster, just a misunderstood biological anamoly who scared the living daylights out of Julia Adams' character along with all the teen girls in the audience back in the day. The Creature from the Black Lagoon movies have become cult classics in the genre of 50's B movie sci-fi. The Gill Man films have always been faves in my family, so when the need arose for a healing doll for my daughter, the Creature jumped first into my imagination. Hey, it was either him or a great white shark; she collects both. She has some surgery coming up, and I wanted to make something to cheer and heal. My choice was easy. I don't think Jaws could ever be considered benign, do you?

Truth be told, it was the fabric that brought on the idea. I found it while browsing a local fabric store in CA last month. As soon as I saw it I knew what it would be, and I started work on it that very evening. I cut the pattern freehand , a technique my mother taught me. The doll's head should not be as pointy as it turned out -- my mistake for leaving the turn opening at the top.

I sewed him by hand (next time I may try my mom's 40's era Singer, probably still works), not

the best thing for dolls, but I did try to reinforce in the curves. I covered the seam line with beads. He has seed beads to outline his mouth (I read that the actual creature costume had bright, bubble gum pink lips which for some reason gave the right effect when filmed in black and white) and olivine crystals for eyes. Of course I tucked a prayer and appropriate crystals,

purified and programmed for target healing and overall wellness inside the Creature. I think my daughter will be tickled when she receives her doll.

My thanks to Mai-Liis Peacock for introducing me to the joys of making and presenting healing dolls. I am already at work on the first project for her new angel class. Below is a peak at the fabric I will be using for the abstract flying angel (think Chagall!).

TWO NEW EXCITEMENTS

I'm back, relaxed and no longer mired in catch-up. If you'll recall I put previous group activities on pause and gave myself permission to quit as long as I needed to. I did manage to get in some creative time during my stay in CA. I knit. I started a doll. I made some floral arrangements. I got to do some sightseeing, pix of which you can find on my Flickr site .

Within 24 hours of my return I had signed up for another class. And maybe a day later I enrolled in another! I know, I know, your're already admonishing me for setting myself up to fall behind again. But understand, both teachers are wonderful instructors and the contents are such that I can work when and as I wish.

I have already gathered in supplies and started on Sharon B's Joggles course, Studio Journals: A Designer's Workhorse . I need this class -- desperately! Before I had a computer I kept art and craft ideas in manila folders. The ideas were magazine clippings or notes hastily scribbled on whatever was on hand while watching TV how-to's. On my lifelong quest toward organization I filed, sub categorized, made new files and labels and soon had a complete file cabinet filled with snippets of ideas now long forgotten. My current computer (#2) has two files with pix and notes for ideas I'd like to work with some day. One I called a visual journal and the other "Concepts".

Both are so long, they're taking forever to load and just as long to scroll down to find stuff. At the same time I've tried keeping journals for each interest one for CQ, one for knitting, beading, freeform crochet, embroidery -- the list goes on ad nauseum. Of course no journal was ever handy when I needed it, and if I travelled the idea of hauling these suitcase-filling journals was absurd. Like I mentioned, this class is a must .

In theory my artistic productivity could increase if I could just corral the ideas. If I could only wrangle them into one place... well, I'm already thinking two, a big one for studio use and development and a small one for thoughts on the go. Sharon told us to just start in the new book, get something on that first page. Mine happened to be a watercolor paper, so I dug out my watercolors to do a simple decorative wash and was aghast that I'd really forgotten techniques long ago learned. Since my overall premise is ideas out of sight are soon out of mind, I thought of lightbulbs to symbolize ideas. I soon got carried away and had makings for collages, stitchings and even dolls. Working the exercises from Lesson 1, I have more ideas in the development stage. So it's already happening;

creative concepts are replacing idle thoughts of a sedentary mind.

Speaking of dolls, I'm very excited about Mai-Liis's latest offering, the Angel Project. I took away so much more from her healing dolls class, I know I won't be disappointed in this one. There's still time to sign up for this very affordable course which is conducted via a closed Yahoo Group. I will shamefully admit that if you mention my name, I will receive a perk in the form of a squishy. That of course is not as important to me as learning ways to make dolls and embuing them with a spiritual essence or intent!

A VERY SPECIAL HEALING DOLL

This is the last of the three healing dolls from Mai-Liis Peacock's online class from Joggles. For me it is the most special because of what I experienced during her construction. It's very personal, so I'll share the story at the end in case you'd prefer to skip it.

Mai-Liis patterned this doll form to accomodate a fabric image of the Virgin of Guadalupe as a means of teaching us the image transfer process. Since I happened to have that particular fabric, I simply fused it to a background of similar color, then planned the rest of the doll. I loved the idea of following up with a Hispanic theme using bright, jubilant colors, opulant texture, and ornamental detail just shy of overkill , yet preserving the reverence and dignity of a traditional style. Neither Catholic or Hispanic, I in no way wanted to create a mockery, but I realized religious festivals throughout Latin America are celebretory, an occasion like the Day of the Dead is an excellent example. Still I would need to select the recipient carefully.

Actually I'm gifting this doll to two persons. I will give it to a friend who recently and unexpectedly lost her daughter to cancer and who herself has since been diagnosed with lymphoma. It is my wish that she will someday pass the doll on to Hope, her granddaughter, the little girl adopted from Guatemala by the deceased. In the detail here you can see two of the charms I selected as milagros. The angel represents Hope's mother. I hope my friend will take comfort from the Blessed Mother's posture of prayer and loving expression.


Some additional notes on this upper portion of the doll. The crown or halo is comprised of 3 shell sequins stitched with seed beads. I embroidered the roses with 2 mm silk ribbon and scattered more seed beads among them and using another for the jewel at her collar. I stitched a chain with gold thread to "attach" the charms. These charms were pewter. I used some really old and dried out Treasure Gold on the angel. I realized my entire collection of Treasure Gold colors was dried up. When my attempts at microwaving didn't work, I contacted the company and was told a few drops of Xylene (on which the products are based and available at hardware stores) should soften it up. The hope charm didn't fare as well with the Treasure Gold, so I painted it with the same gold Lumiere I used to seal the edges of Our Lady's veil, a piece of silk chiffon hand dyed in an earlier experiment with an acid dye. I then varnished the charms. The raw edge at the end of the fused fabric bothered me , too abrupt a change. The tri-colored ric-rac seemed to do the trick.





An essential healing stone for this doll was an undrilled chunk of obsidian purportedly mined at the location of the incident from which the story of Apache Tears evolved and is reputed to be a powerful agent to ease grief. A pouch was needed to hold one the larger stones and others collected for their healing and protective benefits. Hung over the pouch (made from velvet ribbon and stitched closed with decorative embroidery) are four additional symbols I deem essential to healing and living: love, courage, balance and faith. I used a strand of beads to girdle the figure and frame the pouch.

I made the cloak from silk velvet and used bright confetti fringe. Although this is a doll that particularly addresses grief, I wanted the overall effect to be light, not somber, and hopefully bring a smile to the beholder. I used Stef Francis silk floss for the simple chain stitching and help blend the multicolor of the background fabric and the fringe. I debated a closure for the cape, but opted to use none. Instead I just tacked it together at the neckline and let it hang from the doll's neck.

A remarkable thing occurred as the doll (whom I began thinking of as La Senora) neared completion. I became aware that the grief I was holding since the death of my own daughter two years ago was lifted. I can now talk about her without tears, and today, the anniversary of her passing, I will visit her grave for the first time since the funeral. I know that once I knew the purpose of the doll I was happy when I worked on her. I thought a lot about the grieving process and hoped the comfort I was starting to feel would be played forward through the doll.
I should also mention that when I purified the stones for this doll, I cleansed a piece of the same obsidian for myself. It sat next to me the entire time I fashioned the doll.


Here are my three dolls together, ready to go to their new homes. The Diva looks like she's inviting everyone to love life and celebrate diversity. December 26, 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.

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.

THE ICE BLOSSOM PRINCESS

The first thing you should know about Ice Blossom is that it is cold where she comes from. She is not having a bad hair day; she is wearing an fur hood (faux, to be PC), Arctic fox dyed to match her ensemble). She's not fat, I mean fluffy, she's bulked up in layers for the freezing climate! To Ice Blossom each snowflake is a unique and magical flower. She was made as a gift of friendship to teach her new owner to make bouquets in the wonderland of winter instead of pining for spring bloom.

Ice blossom was created for a holiday friendship doll exchange within the International Crazy Quilt Group. Guidelines stipulated she must be pieced and embellished CQ style with an emphasis on beading.

GETTING READY FOR SCHOOL

These are batiks I bought yesterday for Michelle Verbeek's Cat Sack, an online class at Joggles. The class is already on Lesson 2, so I'm eager to get started. The project is a quilted handbag and uses non-fused applique or layering and FME (free motion embroidery) in the technique. Here's hoping I'm not in over my head!

As if I wasn't fretting enough already, a supply list for another Joggles class came the other day. I signed on for Mai-Liis Peacock's Healing Art Doll session. I picked up a couple of batik fat quarters for this, as well.

Both supply lists called for batiks or handdyes. I was shocked to discover how few I had in my stash. I will address that problem forthwith!!!

SPIRIT OF FRIENDSHIP DOLL EXCHANGE

This pretty lady journeyed from Colorado to be with me. She was created by Leslie Ehrlich and has found a comfortable stance next to my computer and seems to want to keep an eye on me. Well , actually I'm not sure what her intent is. It's like she's totally absorbed in whatever I'm doing. Could it be she shares my eclectic taste? I've named her Delilah Delightful as she is an amiable companion. Or guardian -- I'm hoping she'll protect me and my technical lifeline from evils of the internet.

There is a site where you can see pix of Delilah's and Rose's friends gathered for a garden party. Crazy Quilters International (CQI) keeps a blog gallery. Labels appear on the left sidebar. While visiting the gallery do check eye candy entries and winners of a recent purse contest!

DERBY SPIRIT DOLL

Derby Fever is a malaise peculiar to Kentuckians in the spring when their immunity is at its lowest having just recovered from March Madness. The primary symptom of March Madness is the inability to talk about anything but basketball followed by compulsions to visit sports bars, pick favorites and party. Derby Fever has been around much longer so there has been more documentation of it. Visitors come from around the world to study the phenomenon only to succumb themselves. A month long whirlwind of associated events causes rapid spread of the delirium. Everyone can suddenly talk horses, pick favorites, know a bookie and party shamelessly. Folk remedies abound, and everybody has a secret recipe for Derby food and drink. At least one day at Churchill Downs is recommended as therapy.

Obviously I was feeling the onslaught of Derby Fever when I started making my spirit of friendship doll for CQI's exchange. I chose her fabrics to represent jockey silks (I later found this site online where you can create your own!). All the women wear derby hats to match their outfits. Although the roses the horses run for are red, my doll is wearing pink ones, so I named her Bluegrass Rose. Here is part of the message that accompanied her:

"May I present to you BLUEGRASS ROSE,your hopefully kindred spirit from Derbytown, USA. She can always pick a winner! I just know she'll love it there with you. It is her mission to bring you the warmth of friendship, and if you heed her powerful intuition, she will guide you to wise choices and good fortune."




Above is the front view of Rose. I suspect she's covering her face because she enjoyed one too many mint juleps! Here's the back, her hair a tad disheveled possibly for the same reason.

Below are more Derby related links:


Queen Elizabeth
Her Majesty
royal millinary

If you'd like to have my favorite version of a derby style pie, email me
kroushl@insightbb.com

P.S. I was out of town during this year's Kentucky Derby!