Tag: original-one-of-a-kind

Posted on by

I made it to the Etsy front page! Yay!

During the presidential debate last night, my “Goodnight Irene” doll made it onto the Etsy front page!! This is my first time on the front page, as far as I know. I was so excited! Thanks again, Elena, for putting me in your treasury, and thanks Etsy!

And this morning, my “Lovely Lucy” was included in this adorable “Dolls for all!” treasury by Fraisebijoux on Etsy. Thanks, Nicky!

These things really make my day. I really do appreciate it so much when people compliment my work in this way. I have hard days, like everyone does, and the kindness lifts me up. Many thanks!

Gosh…I’d better finish those Lucy dolls that are waiting for me! I’m so pleased that people like them 🙂
Posted on by

My Irene is on a treasury on Etsy

My “Goodnight Irene” doll is on a treasury called “You, Color Admirers” on Etsy. Thanks, Elena!

I’m prewashing my new fleece, along with some other fabric. It’s air drying on the porch right now. I’ve been making some more fleece slugs. My doll from yesterday is drying on my work table at the moment, and there is a lot of clutter to move from one surface to the next in order to do anything in there. That fleece is bulky and takes up a lot of space! So, I’m extra anxious to use it up.

I’m feeling a little overwhelmed by all my projects today. I like having a bunch going on at once, but that doesn’t mean my head doesn’t start spinning once in a while. I’m sure as soon as I see some more progress, I’ll feel better. On that note, I am off to sew.

Posted on by

Rainy Thursday

I woke up this morning with an idea that I had had before for a doll. I had put it off before, not knowing where it would fit in, as far as marketing it went. I still don’t know, but eBay has been frustrating lately anyway. So, I decided it didn’t matter if I made a doll I couldn’t include in any of the popular categories there. I wanted to do a more colorful, maybe 1920’s style doll in a more stylized way, as opposed to the antique/primitive style that is more popular on eBay. The primitive dolls tend to be more subdued in their colors, and earlier in their clothing styles. I’m thinking of something more along the lines of my cloth dolls and toys, but as an art doll, for display only. Instead of putting it off again, I decided to go ahead and give it a try. I don’t know where that will lead me. Right now, I am trying a little of everything.

I made some pineapple and cilantro pizza last night. It came out okay. It is much better with fresh cilantro. It’s pretty simple. Take any pizza dough (I used the pizza dough recipe from The Bread Lover’s Bread Machine Cookbook by Beth Hensperger), roll it out, and put it in a pan that’s been lightly coated with some olive oil and cornmeal. On top of it I added some olive oil, mozzarella cheese, cilantro, and pineapple slices (no tomato sauce). I baked mine for 13 minutes at 475, but you’d probably want to follow the directions for whatever pizza dough you use.

I’ve also been sewing up more fleece “Hug Me! Slugs” in different colors. I’ve got a couple of pinks, blues, greens, a yellow, a lavender, and an orange fleece, just to expand the choices. I’ve been amassing a pile of odd supplies lately. That way, I can get up in morning and make just about anything I want!
Posted on by

Fleece and priming the well

I bought a few quarter yard cuts of poly fleece over the weekend, to use for embellishment on some sock toys, but I woke up and thought, “What else can I make with that?” That seems to be common with people who sew. You buy fabric for a particular project, get it home, and immediately start to think of other uses for it.

I made this slug, of course…so cuddly and cute. I will probably keep doing this, making more and more. I’m tempted to make a pile. I know…I did say I was planning to paint. A couple of people have nudged me on this and I will. I will! 🙂 I took out my drawings and my reference materials. They are sitting on my work table right now.

I can’t say I might not push them aside, on and off, to sew though. I was thinking that Julia Cameron calls this sort of thing “priming the well”. You do simple, repetitive-type tasks that are meditative to unblock your creativity. I’ve recently begun rereading her book The Artist’s Way. In my case, it’s also called procrastination. Hah! I think I will try doing something on my paintings. I have a drawing I want to change a little. I’ll stick a toe in the water. What I don’t want to do is end up sitting for hours staring at my drawing, doing nothing, when I could be sewing and being productive. I want to get ready for the holiday season too.

I feel like I am on some sort of mad dash lately. I have a goal in mind. I think I see how to reach it and what I need to do. I feel like I did in high school when I was determined to get into “the best” schools. I got in. I’m not sure they were the best schools for me, but I did achieve my goal. Okay, well…I was eleventh on the waiting list for Harvard, which I withdrew to go to Yale….but c’mon, they make you choose one or the other in advance 😉 Anyway, I feel like that now, impatient and determined. I can even remember writing, ” I awake every morning with a sense of impatience,” in my college application essays.

I think it is important right now to “show up” and work on something each day, whatever that may turn out to be.