Ursula, Queen of the Trolls

The cloth doll group to which I belong, the Cloth-a-Dollics, had a challenge to make a doll with the theme "in the forest".  My mind immediately went to Arley Berryhill's "Troll Queen" doll.  I knew that I could turn her into a forest troll but Arley's pattern was not yet available!

What to do.  No problem I decided to forge ahead and use Arley's "Fairy Godmother" pattern and make adjustments.  I made the head using Akira Blount's technique.  The doll is fully wired and all cloth with lots and lots of fun beading.  Enjoy!

Her staff is made from aluminum foil wrapped in plaster cloth and painted.

Details on the from of her skirt

As of last week Arley now has a pattern for the troll queen!

Alice in Wonderland Teapot

In my previous post, I mentioned the "Alice in Wonderland" teapot that I made a year ago for a club challenge.  In the challenge we were given a fat quarter of brown printed fabric and the theme was to make a teapot.  I immediately thought of Alice in Wonderland and knew I would be using some of Karen Shifton's patterns for Alice and the Mad Hatter. 

The concept was mine: a teapot with Alice and friends on top.  Flowers and teacups. Somewhere nearby would be the Cheshire cat and the march hare of course.  The result was a lot of fun.  Here it is:  

 The brown fabric is in the middle of the teapot and forms the door for the march hare.

Wizard of Oz

A very special lady asked me to make her a tribute to the "Wizard of Oz" as a teapot ensemble similar to my "Alice in Wonderland" teapot.  I was happy to oblige and I am very pleased with the final result.

I started with the idea of the teapot: I wanted a green teapot with the yellow brick road and the field of poppies featured. I made the top of the teapot as the poppy field using my embellisher, crocheted and felted poppies and embroidery.  On the back of the teapot was Emerald city of course:

Toto is featured trying to enter the door of the emerald city.  Notice that the handle is the rainbow (made of felt).  You cannot see it in the picture but there is a metal door to enter the city and behind the door is the US postage stamp issued of "Dorothy and Toto". Dorothy's friends are all featured as is one member of the Lollipop Guild:  This is a pattern from the Cheswick Company.

Here are some closeups of the tin man, lion and scarecrow (all adaptations of patterns).  The teapot is my original idea and pattern as is Dorothy's house that fell on the wicked witch of the east.

Overall, the piece is full of colour and whimsy.  The flowers around the yellow brick road are all hand crocheted.  It was so much fun to make!

Go Figure II Show/Gift and Wishes

Well our cloth doll club's "Go Figure II" show just finished this past Sunday.  It was a great success.  We had a lot of positive comments about our art dolls.  A big thank you to all who participated and to all who visited!

Now I just finished helping with the set up for the next gallery show at the Coast Collective, the "Gift and Wishes" show.  This show features many artists that sell at the gallery with works including glass, pottery, art, jewellery, knitted items and of course my teddy bears.  The show will continue for two weeks (until Nov 10th) with the opening "meet the artists" this Saturday, November 2nd from 2-4pm.

Finally, as a tribute to Halloween, I am displaying some of my Halloween themed dolls, enjoy!  Have a fun, scary, safe halloween and enjoy the wee Trick or Treaters!

Ghost of Marie Antoniette

Glamour Witch

The Beast

He is searching for his Beauty

Wee Samantha is all ready for Trick or Treats

Little Kitty Witch Agatha with her familiar owl

Pirate Pete

Doll Show at the Coast Collective

The doll show at the Coast Collective in Victoria, BC opens tomorrow at noon.  Here is a peak at some of my Christmas dolls in the show:

Merri the Elf.

Close-up of his wee face.

Grumpy, the elf

Grumpy and Merri together (an Allison Marano design)

Party on Mrs Claus (inspired by Arley Berryhill)

Close-up of Mrs Claus face and funky hairdo

Go Figure II Doll Show is Almost Hear

I am happy to announce that 14 doll artists from the Cloth-a-Dollics doll club are having a show at the Coast Collective gallery here in Victoria, BC.  I hope that anyone in the area will visit the gallery and our show as it is sure to put a smile on your face!

On Saturday, October 19th all the artists involved in the show will be in attendance and there will be lots of good food to nibble on while you look at the dolls and paintings.

Pookie

Recently, I had a request to make "Pookie" the white bunny from the 1940's book by Ivy Wallace.  I had never heard of this little bunny so I looked him up on the web.  I found an image of the original book:

Pookie was so misunderstood at home as he was a white rabbit with blue eyes living in a family of brown rabbits with brown eyes.  On top of it all he has little "flimsy" wings that did not even allow him to fly.  So one day little Pookie set out to "find his fortune.  The book is for children aged 4-7 years old and tells of Pookie's adventures.  He learns to accept himself with the help and love of the woodcutter's daughter who takes him in and lets him sleep in her sewing basket.

Pookie was so much fun to design and make, with his blue pantaloons and little red shoes.  Here he is all finished:

Unfortunately, the book is not available except at a very high price.  I do hope someone publishes this children's story again.