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Belinda and BoBo, Original One-of-a-kind Folk Art Tabby Cat and Kitten Doll Figurine by Max Bailey

Belinda and BoBo, Original One-of-a-kind Folk Art Tabby Cat and Kitten Doll Figurine by Max BaileyEvery morning, Belinda bundles up her little baby boy, and takes him for a walk through the neighborhood. With the greatest pride, she shows him to her neighbors. She politely, and with much sincerity, asks for their opinions.

Belinda and BoBo, Original One-of-a-kind Folk Art Tabby Cat and Kitten Doll Figurine by Max Bailey“Is he not the most beautiful baby you have ever seen? Is he not more beautiful than the moon and all the stars in the heavens?” Belinda asks.

Belinda and BoBo, Original One-of-a-kind Folk Art Tabby Cat and Kitten Doll Figurine by Max Bailey“Surely he is,” they reply, and they nod and smile in agreement.

Belinda and BoBo, Original One-of-a-kind Folk Art Tabby Cat and Kitten Doll Figurine by Max Bailey“Does he not have the brightest little eyes and the cutest little whiskers?” she asks.

Belinda and BoBo, Original One-of-a-kind Folk Art Tabby Cat and Kitten Doll Figurine by Max Bailey”Oh yes indeed, Belinda,” they reply.

Belinda and BoBo, Original One-of-a-kind Folk Art Tabby Cat and Kitten Doll Figurine by Max Bailey“Does he not have the prettiest little pink nose?” she wants to know.

Belinda and BoBo, Original One-of-a-kind Folk Art Tabby Cat and Kitten Doll Figurine by Max Bailey“Beyond any doubt at all,” they answer.

Belinda and BoBo, Original One-of-a-kind Folk Art Tabby Cat and Kitten Doll Figurine by Max BaileyBoBo loves his morning walks. He basks in the sunshine, and in the compliments. If you look carefully, you might see his tiny smile. If you listen quietly, you might hear him purring.

Belinda and BoBo, Original One-of-a-kind Folk Art Tabby Cat and Kitten Doll Figurine by Max BaileyBelinda is a tabby and white cat, as is her kitten BoBo. They have yellow eyes with a touch of green. Belinda’s old-fashioned dress is soft yellow with a pattern of pale blue flowers. The blue collar and cuffs with lace edging, match her blue apron, which ties in a big bow at the back. Her white petticoats swirl in a pattern beneath the bottom of her skirt.

Belinda and BoBo, Original One-of-a-kind Folk Art Tabby Cat and Kitten Doll Figurine by Max Bailey

Belinda and BoBo, Original One-of-a-kind Folk Art Tabby Cat and Kitten Doll Figurine by Max BaileyBoBo is tucked into a sage green blanket decorated with the moon and stars. Only his head and one little white paw are showing.

Belinda and BoBo, Original One-of-a-kind Folk Art Tabby Cat and Kitten Doll Figurine by Max BaileyI hand sculpted Belinda and BoBo from paperclay, and used stiffened cotton thread for their whiskers. They are original one-of-a-kind works of art, meant for display only. No molds are ever used in my work. They are completely hand painted with acrylic paints, then signed and dated with matte varnish for protection and preservation.

Belinda and BoBo, Original One-of-a-kind Folk Art Tabby Cat and Kitten Doll Figurine by Max BaileyBelinda rests firmly on a turned wooden base, with a rustic wood grain, which has been sealed in golden oak. She stands 9 1/2 inches tall.

Belinda and BoBo, Original One-of-a-kind Folk Art Tabby Cat and Kitten Doll Figurine by Max BaileyUpdate: Belinda and BoBo have already been adopted. Thank you!

Belinda and BoBo, Original One-of-a-kind Folk Art Tabby Cat and Kitten Doll Figurine by Max BaileyBobo’s older sibling, Crybaby (above left) has also been adopted.

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Plodding along/hopping along?

My repair job is done, my next doll face it painted, and I have a few “Rabbit Dancescards to finish up. I still have more bunny and snow scene cards in my shop. Thanks for all the compliments on them 🙂

I am also refining a new doll pattern done in machine appliqué style like “Lovely Lucy“. There are three variations so far and I think they are going to be really cute. I can’t wait to get the first ones together. I hope they come off without needing too many, no, any adjustments to their patterns. I’ll give you one hint: they are of the animal variety. The possibilities are multiplying in my mind right now…

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Doll Surgery

I hope everyone is having a pleasant holiday weekend. I sneaked a little work time in yesterday and started on some doll surgery. I am glad to say the crack turned out to be a surface wound and not something deeper. I removed the papier mâché and the paperclay in the neck area using a battery-operated manicure gizmo, er, um…”power file” I found at Target. I got it as a cheapo alternative to a Dremel kit, which I still hope to have one day. It works just fine at chipping off the above aforementioned materials.

Once I got down to the fabric of the neck area, I sanded it smooth. I then reinforced it with acrylic molding paste, which is somewhat flexible, as opposed to the papier mâché and the paperclay, which are strong, but not flexible. I even repeated the procedure on a second doll-in-progress, just as a precaution. The dolls are still not meant to be poked, prodded, or picked at, but I’m hoping this will make the area where their cloth necks meet their papier mâché and paperclay heads a little more resilient under accidental pressure.

I also decided that my repaired doll is going to be given away and not sold. I know just the ninety-two year old doll-lover with whom she will be going to stay. In light of the fact that both my doll and my grandmother have suffered recent injuries, and that they are both, thankfully, on the mend, I think they will make a good match. I hope they will bring each other some good cheer.
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Spot

As I have said already, I have been fighting an infection and fatigue for some time now, and at the beginning of last week, I was quite exhausted. I had orders to fill, and did the best I could to get them together, packed safely and shipped out in a timely manner. Unfortunately, I received an email from a customer saying the doll I had sent her had a spot on it. I had seen what I thought was a brushstroke of blue on the back of the head that didn’t blend in well, and I had debated over whether it was disturbing. I decided it was not, but I felt very bad that it obviously was to my customer. I had been more concerned about packing the doll so she would be safe, and padding her skirt so it wouldn’t get wrinkled. It was just one detail of many and I felt I must have underestimated the importance of it.

I apologized and I offered to repaint the spot. I then looked at the photo I had previously taken of the doll to see what needed to be done. There was no spot on the photo I had taken after painting the doll, which indicated to me it was not paint. My mom did some investigating and found the bag the doll had been stored in had some blue print on it that, in all likelihood, had transferred to the doll. It was soluble with soap and water, which I thought was good news, since the spot should come right off. My customer had said she wanted the doll for a gift, if only it had not been for the spot. I told her it might come off and asked her, if she would not mind, to please try washing the spot off, and told her either way, I would still be happy to repaint it. I meant only to save her the inconvenience of returning the doll, but she became angry and told me the doll was coming back to me the next day. She didn’t want a repaint, and she didn’t want to clean the spot off. I apologized again and told her I would refund her money as soon as I received the doll, thinking for some reason she just decided she didn’t want the doll, regardless of the spot.

I was feeling terrible about the whole thing, thinking I must have really missed how disturbing the spot was because I was tired and not feeling well. I am normally very particular and detail-oriented, but I felt I must have slipped. The doll arrived back, and I saw the spot, 1/8 of an inch across, not solid, but a spotty blue-gray color. There was a note complaining about the postage too, saying I overcharged her. The postage included handling: the cost of the packing materials, tissue, bubble wrap, packing peanuts, but I didn’t bother explaining. I just refunded her money and her postage, both to and from.

I had sent the doll carefully wrapped in bubble wrap, with two thick layers over the head, and tissue to pad out the inside of the skirt.

The doll came back to me with the head wrapped in a diaper and some crumpled tissue, and the bubble wrap taped carelessly around the whole.

The handmade hang tag was bent in half, but the worst thing, and the thing I didn’t think initially to check…

was that her neck was cracked from ear to ear at the chin and some of the neck area was chipped as well. I don’t know if this was done before or after she asked me for a refund, but it made sense to us now why she didn’t want to send it to me for the spot to be repaired, and she certainly didn’t want to wipe the spot off. She had just wanted me to agree to the refund.
I wiped the spot right off with a sponge, but the neck damage will require re-sculpting and then repainting. I can do that, but it is hours of work. I don’t really make a profit on my dolls, considering the time it takes to make each one, often two weeks. I put them on our sites as a fun addition to our other artwork, to gain some web traffic, and because people seem to enjoy them. It has been a pleasant experience to share them so far. I can fix the damage. That doesn’t bother me nearly as much as the meanness. I am generally understanding, and I try very hard to do the right thing. It genuinely bothers me if I do something that ends up upsetting someone else. I do the best I can with everything I do, and most people appreciate that. I try to be fair even when others are not, and I try to be considerate even when others are not. There is no excuse for damaging my work. Even if the customer had accidentally cracked the doll, I’m sure I would have offered to work out an arrangement for repairing it for her.
Most people have been lovely and appreciative of the dolls they have received from us, and that is wonderful. I wish everyone could understand how much time and effort goes into each one. They are all handmade from start to finish. Our folk art dolls are not meant to be toys, or to mimic factory-made dolls. They are works of art, and they are meant to be treated as any other work of art, displayed and used for decoration, and treated with care. I have recently branched out into making some dolls that can be played with, and they are described this way. I wish I could carefully adopt each doll out to a loving home. I have never been a fan of selling original art, not just my own, but, and even more so, my studio-mates’ as well. Anyone who makes art will know how personal it is. It is not just “stuff” or merchandise, and really, no amount of money would make me want anyone who thinks of it that way to have it.