FUNKY GODDESS WALL DOLLS

This is another version of a wall doll I did a couple of years ago. These however have faces added, which werre painted with acrylics, pens & pencils then cut out and glued on. It's a great way to practice faces. If you don't like what you've done you can just toss it and move on....no ruining the whole doll. (Not that I ever do that hahaha). With the wonderful new glues available now (Grrip and Ultimate) it makes everything so easy. I also used the glue on the hanging bead strands. They are those strips you can buy which are already strung. Problem: the thread is one continuous piece. Solution: apply a thin line of the glue over the thread and fold the top half of the ribbon down over it. This encases the threads so you can cut anywhere, and they don't fall apart. The glues are nice and flexible and they don't discolor the fabric so they work just great. Anyway it was fun to do, and kept me busy whilst I churn up my next big project..whatever that might be. With all the canning, meat processing etc. it takes a lot of time...but I have to have something creative to do, so this was a perfect project.

Mini Funky Goddesses

These little babies are just a little over 5 inches....of course there's another 1-3 inches added with their wild hair and bead tails. Thought they would make neat little gifts, or tree ornaments.

ANOTHER SD&A COVER!

WooHoo... just received the new copy of Soft Dolls & Animals Holiday edition which I've been patienly awaiting, since the doll was returned last week. Happy to see I also have a suggestion on the Snippets page! Now I have to tell all my friends to be on the look out for it, although it probably won't be on news stands quite yet. They usually send out copies in advance to contributors....probably so we can tell all our friends to be on the look out for it.
I am really tickled. This makes the second cover this year....my Maiden Kissing the Frog was on the cover last summer. Don't think I'll ever get over being thrilled to see my work in print!
Now what can I get into..hmmmmm.

A FLOCK OF ANGELS

Trying to get ready for the holiday season and our annual Holiday Art Tour, I just finished making several more Tree Top Angels. Had a great time making them with different colors for dresses & wings. Plan to put a couple in my Etsy Store : LaurasArtShop.etsy.com
and sell a couple (hopefully..with the economy) at the Tour. I should also have my original Angel back from Soft Dolls soon, so will need to decide whether to Etsy or Tour her...decisions, decisions.

BIG HAIRY DEAL

Hair is an important finishing touch to dolls..I'll often go through a whole pile of different choices before selecting the one I want. Recently I decided to use some of the store bought mohair I had on hand. As the package states it's great for Santa beards, but I don't make many Santas so wanted to ad a little color to that pretty pure white. My solution was to make a mild solution of tan dye in a quart jar and dip wet hair into it. GREAT! It gave me a nice subtle color...not too dark,not too yellow, just a nice honey color. So I cut, styled and applied to the doll. BUT, I still wasn't all that happy. The hair needed some oomph! Perhaps if it had more waves...yes. She would look much better with more waves, but would look even better with fuller hair. So after curling, I added another layer of hair, needle felting it into the original hairdo and this is the result...which I am now happy with.
How I did it follows in case you'd like to try my experiment.

SOFT CURLS

Before I added another "layer" of hair, this is what the hair looked like after I curled the ends. I didn't take pictures of her original hair do, but take my word this was a big improvement. Pictures of the curling process follow.

CURLING THE HAIR

I had already applied the hair to the doll's head..glued & needle felted....I decided to playbeautician and wrapped plastic around her shoulders, damped the hair with a wet cloth, and rolled it with my new home made curlers, made of cut off straws, held in place with bobbi pins.
Since I liked the way it turned out, I decided to dye & roll more hair. This time I hooked 2 straws together, so I could roll the whole hank of hair without cutting it. Since I don't know what length I will want next time, I didn't want to pre-cut. After dipping in water, I rolled it tightly onto the straws...squeezing and twisting several times to make the curls secure. I put the straws in the window to sun dry, but the sun decided to hide, so low heat on the hair dryer did the job.