Well hello Dolly!

A picture tells a thousand words... so I won't ramble on too much today! Instead I shall show you some of the amazing polymer and cloth dolls that were on display yesterday at the ACDA "From cloth to clay" exhibition.

Get ready to be awed!!!

Above: Some of the "Frumpy Grumps" from a Club workshop with Jill Maas.

The full party of Grumps and their neighbours!

A general view from inside the exhibition room. I decorated an old washing line to create the white tree, from which polymer fairies hang. The fairies were made at a Club workshop with Conny Deylen.

How cute is this gorgeous girl? I believe she was made by our club member, Maureen, but please don't quote me on that!

If you read my last post you will be familiar with my Fairy challenge doll. Here are a few others...

Below is Helen's take on a Linda Misa doll named Emer. Helen hand-painted the dress - isn't it stunning?

A few posts back (here) I shared the process of creating Madame le Chat... that process still continues (giggle)!! Let's just say that my madame is a little bit shy and takes a while getting ready... yes, that sounds better than: "I couldn't work out how to make the costume and didn't want to rush her!"

Here is Marny's version of Madame... isn't she groovy? (Just between me and you, I think this feline dame likes the odd tipple... I could smell Brandy on her breath! Shhh!)

And this is Doreen's family of Le Chat's... aren't they adorable??? I fell in love instantly with the child cat, I could have easily cat-napped her and taken her home with me... but she would have missed her mum and dad too much (and Doreen, of course!!) Awwww... just look at her sweet face - can you blame me?!

Oh, and this is one of Doreen's incredible creations with cloth and polymer clay. The Gent is studying a captured fairy under a magnifying glass. Incredible! Doreen is an amazing artist, if you would like to check out more of her fantasy and figurative work, have a look at her website here.

Pictured above is the "Out of Africa" challenge dolls.

The "Under the Big Top" display. All but one of these clowns and acrobats are the designs of club member, Denise. One very talented lady!

The "Black & White... and one other colour" display:

Oh, and above is a pic of Sue's coral paradise... can you believe that Sue made this as a scratching post for her pet cats to play with?!! Lucky kitties! :-)

Now for the internationally-acclaimed work of Jenny Romano. Hold on to your jaw as it may well drop!

Here is Jenny with her award-winning fantasy piece - which took her two years to make! If you would like to see more of her fabulous work, she has a gallery here. All of the creations you see are made out of wool felt, and the detail and character in each piece is incredible.

I shall finish up by saying it was a truly beautiful day and I regret not taking pics of the venue to show you. I had so much fun and feel truly blessed and proud to be a part of such a wonderful club with such creative, generous, and inspiring members!

So is that enough piccies for you - or would you like me to do 'doll of the day' for the next few days? I don't want to bore you so you must be honest and let me know if you are interested.

Now I need to get on and start making a cot quilt for my SIL's niece. So back to the sewing machine for me - after I spend lots of time with my children having been away from them most of the weekend! :-)

Until next time - happy creating! :-)

ps. And you believed me when I said I wasn't going to ramble? he he he...

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Fairy challenge doll

I have been really busy today, packing bags with display props and dusting off my dolls, all in preparation for Sunday's doll exhibition. As I was fussing about I took these pics of my Fairy Challenge Doll...

This was a great challenge organised by the Australian Cloth Doll Association (ACDA) last year... whereby each person in the challenge (aka fairy godmothers) made up a doll and passed it around to four other Godmothers, to complete the outfit.

So first, we each made a doll, gave her a face and hair... and underwear. Then the next Godmother created a petticoat and corset. This was followed by an under dress and shoes by the second Godmother. And an overdress followed by the third. Finally, the fairy was blessed with wings by her fourth Godmother before being put on show for the big "reveal" and going back home with her Mum!

So this is my doll before she was sent on her journey:

And on her return...

Her hair got a little messed up from being passed around so often, so I gave her a hat and she's much happier. It's amazing what a hat can do for a bad hair day! :-)

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Bags of inspiration!

I love handbags!!

And I just know that I share this love with so many of you...So I thought I'd also share what I made last Summer from a pattern by Mum's Moment...

I came across this pattern at a craft show a couple of years ago. A customer at the show was wearing one and while I was goggling away, she opened it up to take out her purse... and it was then that I noticed how unusual the zipper was. A great big chunky zipper on a diagonal! Awesome!

So I asked the lady where she had purchased the pattern, and fortune had it that she had bought it from the very stallholder where we were both stood! So what happened next?

SOLD! To the very nosy lady (me!) with the boring handbag!!

Like the majority of crafters I speak to, I am usually attracted to patterns by the cover photo. Whether it be the colours, or fabrics, or the trims... I usually wind up creating something close to the original because it is those choices that I have already fallen in love with.

But it is amazing how many different looks you can get from one design... and that is something I've been working with this past year or so - adapting the patterns I already have and creating something quite different from the cover photo. Please don't get me wrong, I don't for one minute presume to think that my adaptations or fabric choices are any nicer than the original! I just wanted to highlight that I have to remind myself to think outside the box - as it opens the doors for creativity and inspiration. And that's what I wanted to share with you! :-)

The differences?

The original pattern looks like this

pattern cover photo for "Chic Shopping" by Mum's Moment

I decided not to piece or quilt my bag and instead opted for an "outdoors" fabric that I found in my local craft store. I would hazard a guess that it was intended for covering deckchairs and other outdoor soft furnishings. It was a thick material so I used a Jeans needle in my sewing machine.

I beaded certain areas around flowers on the fabric, and covered a button with the same material (also beaded). I lengthened the handles, and made a brooch by fussy-cutting two matching flowers from the fabric, and sticking them together with vilisofix.




The great thing about this fabric is that it didn't fray, but the downside was that the seams were a bit bulky. I certainly need to hone my skills with inserting zips as I had to fix up the zip area with a patch of fabric.

Fantastic free Buttercup bag pattern

If you are a bag-lover such as myself, then check out this beautiful free pattern named Buttercup, designed by Made by Rae. If you want to make it in a bigger size, see Rae's recent blog entry for the adaptions.

As if that isn't enough inspiration - check out Rae's flickr gallery here to see dozens of Buttercup bags made by other talented ladies.

Enjoy!

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Beautiful Giveaway!

If you love romance, embroidery and "prettiness" in all it's glory, then you will feel right at home in the land of elefantz. This is the home of Jenny and her inspiring designs and beautiful works.

Jenny is having a generous giveaway.... so go check it out before Sunday 3rd May! Not only that, but you will discover her BOM... which is also offered free to anyone who wishes to add a bit of romance and stitching into their lives... Perfection, if you ask me! :-)

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Pixie dust!

Hi!

My name is Smiler and I'm a little bookshelf pixie

(although I prefer sitting outdoors!)

My mum made me from a pattern by Allison Marano and I am a very happy girl!

I share mum's craft desk with her and

we smile at each other every day!

When she is asleep I sneak into her desk and eat-up some of her chocolate!

But Shhhh! She doesn't know... she thinks her hidey-hole is secret!

If you would like to meet me, I will be going with mum to the

ACDA Doll Exhibition on

Sunday 3 May

I will be easy enough to find... just follow your nose...

I smell like cocoa!!!!

Shhhh!!

Oh, and mum has been drawing again... she likes doing that!

She is so smitten with me (and who can blame her? he he he..) that she is thinking about making me a sister!

So I guess it won't be too long before I'll be sharing my - oops - I mean "mum's" chocolate!

It was nice meeting you!

Byeeee!!!!!

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