Baby

Well, this is a long overdue post, but here he is at last! I decided right before Christmas last year that my son needed a baby doll, which may or may not have been due to my looking at the amazing dolls of Lalinda, who you can find Facebook. Inspired by her beautiful creations, I created "Baby".

I kind of made up his body pattern as I went, but I feel like it turned out pretty well for my first try at a baby doll.

By far the most time consuming part of this doll was the hair. Every strand is individually stitched, and it takes hours! But I love the way it looks when it is finished.

Right now baby's only clothes are a diaper. I tried to make him more clothing and between being busy with Christmas and realizing that baby clothes don't really inspire me, they never got finished. My son doesn't seem to mind though, and is quite happy with just taking his diaper on and off.

I have to admit when I finally finished Baby and all his hair I wondered for a moment whether it was wise to actually hand him over to a very messy 14 month old child. But I decided he wouldn't do any good sitting on a shelf, and watching my son give him hugs, carry him around, and give him diaper changes has made up for occasionally having to scrub stains off his face. After all, I can always make another, right? Hahahaha.

Thanks again to the amazingly talented Janette for the pictures!

35. Ideal Comfort

The ideal outfit according to approx 15 year old me

I think I go through phases in life, times when I a super productive and crank out three stories and two dolls along with everything else in my life, and times when I just want to curl up on the couch with a good book and never get up again. Right now is one of the later times, so this blog may be a little slow. If you don't see me post for a while I'm probably dressed in a slightly more practical sweat suit, lying on my couch reading. In case you were wondering, the book will most likely be Inside Outside Upside Down, which does not qualify as the most exciting book by my standards, but thrills my son.

34. Through the Arch

Another post form the old sketchbook as I try and get back into blogging after the holidays. First, a few updates. Gigi made it to her new home where she appears to be well loved, and I am finishing up a baby doll for my son (hopefully pictures soon!) and I have another doll in planning stages. Not to mention three or four stories I'm in the midst of and a million other new years goals.

Which brings me to this sketch. This girl is wearing a typical example of what I thought was the ideal adventure outfit at the time, and she stands in a stone arch in the wall, ready for whatever lies ahead. It is that very quality that I think I admire so much in fantasy and hope to incorporate more in my own life. Heroes in stories (usually) face whatever lies ahead with courage, with a willingness to go out and do and experience whatever necessary to achieve their goals. Yes, sometimes they doubt themselves or complain endlessly (yes I mean you Harry Potter...) but in the end they do it, they don't just sit around at home and wait for whatever comes. They step through the arch and into the adventure.

So as a new year starts, what ways are you going to step through the arch?

32. and 33. Always Sketching

Time for another post from the old sketchbook! These two images were sketches I drew on a random sheet of paper and liked so much I cut them out and pasted them into my sketchbook to finish them. Thus the cutout lines. 

These pasted in sketches remind me of some advice that the scientist Henry Eyring gave his son. He said "You ought to find something that you love so much that when you don’t have to think about anything, that’s what you think about." Interestingly when I first went to college I thought I would major in Physics and Astronomy (Henry Eyring was a physicist) but even though I was somewhat interested in the subject, I spent all my free time drawing, sewing dolls, and thinking up stories. Not thinking about physics. In fact for about as long as I can remember I have been drawing, thinking up stories, and sewing dolls. So I switched my major to Costume Design, worked in the apparel industry, and now I'm finally back to sewing the occasional doll and writing stories. As long as my son continues to take long naps...

I'd love to hear what you think about!

Gigi - A Good Friend

So I have to admit, I used to read other doll maker's descriptions of their doll's personalities and demanding ways and laugh a little. Dolls are just dolls, they don't have personalities, let alone opinions, I thought smugly to myself. That was before I met Gigi.

When I started on Gigi's clothes, I found a silk skirt in my fabric bin that I thought would make a perfect dress for Gigi, twirly and colorful and fun. However, although Daphne, Gigi's little girl, loves twirly dresses and glittery things, she also likes Tae Kwon Do and climbing trees. Not great activities to do in silk, so I decided to make Gigi a more practical cotton play dress instead.

Fast forward a few hours and there I sat staring at a half sewn cotton dress, depressed. I think Gigi was actually frowning at this point. The dress was just wrong, and we both knew it. I gave up and pulled out the silk.

A few hours later Gigi was happy again, but although I was feeling better too, I knew the dress was just not practical. How will she climb trees in that? So, I decided to make her outfit a little more multi purpose.

By adding some practical cotton shorts!

When she realized how much easier it was to play outside in them, Gigi seemed to accept the shorts, and with her hair up out of her face she is ready for anything. Except shoes. I tried and tried to convince her, but she is a barefoot girl.

When I first heard from Daphne's mom that Gigi needed to have "Ariel" red hair and black eyes (They actually ended up a really dark brown, almost black), I was a little worried that I would like her, but she has been so much fun to create. She prompted me to improve a lot of my construction techniques to make her a fitting playmate for a little girl, and she helped me discover my new favorite yarn store in my quest for the perfect red hair. She reminded me that imagination is key to creativity, and about the importance of both real and imaginary friends. Basically she reminded me about the many things that come so naturally to children, but are often difficult as adults. So although we have never met in real life I have a great admiration for Daphne, who inspired all this. Her family is lucky to have such an amazing little girl, and hopefully she will enjoy many imaginative adventures with Gigi, in her shorts and her silk :)

*Special thanks to Janette for the amazing photos and for introducing me to Daphne and her family!

Sneak Peak of Gigi

Gigi is waiting for some clothes and getting excited for her home down South, which will hopefully be warmer and sunnier than here!

31. Midieval Costume Recreated

Fires roaring, a table bowing under the weight of a feast (featuring a boar's head, of course), and the music of the lute and viol, that is what I think of when I see this picture. And it gets me super excited for Thanksgiving and Christmas, times when I get a similar feeling of warm abundance. 

This sketch was actually inspired by a sketch from the awesome book Midieval Costume and How to Recreate It. I think it is one of my all time favorite historical costume books.

You can actually see the cloak I copied on the bottom right of the cover. And I just realized I based a later sketch off of the top right image as well... For some reason the sketches in here really inspired me. How about you? I'd love to hear what books/music/artists inspire your creative side.