I have an old beaded purse that must be from Betty's time. It belonged to my Grandmother. I love this purse and I keep it in my drawer. It's one of those sentimental things, you know.... anyhow I can't decide what fabric to make Betty's dress out of and it hit me that beading would look great. I will try to mimic the pattern of the sequins and beads on the purse.The hair is definitely going to be a challenge. The pattern says to use yarn. I'm not so partial to that idea. Hmmmm...... what to do, what to do......

It's time for a challenge.... I'll be participating in a traveling doll challenge where I'm sending a completely b l a n k doll off to another artist in this collaboration, and whom will give her a little TLC hopefully and a little bit of spice and things that are nice and and and... I am still not sure exactly what I will send as I most definitely have a few headless dolls and flattish things that look like they may never be anything but might find life through the mail....

Details about the challege are here. I'll post photos on my blog along the way. First mailing is on or before 2/1/10.

Dollb.com/.net has published pics today of their BJD in the making (earlier blogged about here), they're already at the "finding the default faceup phase" and I have to say that I like what I see! I haven't got any Lati yellow/PukiFee size dolls, but this dollb doll is really tempting! There's so many nice outfits to be found for this size too, I've regretted choosing the Lati White size more than once.



I don't see any striking resemblance between any of the Lati heads and the dollb head. The dollb head is coned towards the top, while the Lati head tops are wide, the dollb eyes are rounded on top, while most of the Lati eyes in general are either almond shaped (same curve on top and bottom of eye), or flat on top and round underneath. The dollb chin seems more angled, while the Latis have "drooping" cheeks so that the chin and the bottom of the cheeks are almost in line. Finally, the face area (eyebrows to chin tip) seems longer on the dollb head than on the Lati heads. Of course, the angles of the heads in the photos are not the same, but that's how I interpret what I see. Extra pics of the Coco head underneath, since that's the head mentioned in a comment:



Other than that, the New Year's weekend means three days off work, and I hope to use those to take pics and lots of pics (it's way too cold outside to take the kids sledding anyway). I've started decorating the dollhouse for the tinies, but it's come to a slight pause as I make my mind up whether to keep the tinies as kids or if they should become chibi versions of young adults. Somehow, I reckon the scale will work better that way, as Lundby is smaller than the BJD scale - but it will be a challenge in regards of outfits, especially shoes!, and also their facial expressions. The Brownies are getting new faces anyway, but somehow I fret changing the adorable factory faceup of my Lati White Belle..!

A rare Klumpe Napoleon character doll showed up in my Ebay alerts this morning.  Klumpe dolls, made of molded felt and averaging 11" tall, were produced in Barcelona, Spain beginning in 1952 until the early 1970s.  
This particular doll appears to be in excellent condition (the vendor reports only two tiny holes in the clothing) and strikes a dynamic pose.  Most importantly, he sports the original tags on both front and back.  The tag on the back indicates Napoleon was numbered 16-BB.  It will be interesting to see how much he sells for as Klumpe dolls have gained quite a following in recent years and the character dolls in excellent condition have brought as much as $200.

Collectors of these dolls often collect similar dolls produced by Roldan, also manufactured in Barcelona. Roldan dolls are usually a little smaller, averaging 9" tall, but Roldan accessories are often more intricate than those produced for Klumpe dolls.  More V-shaped eyebrows distinguish the Klumpe dolls from those made by Roldan although collectors should also be aware that these two flagship manufacturers were imitated by a dozen other Spanish toy producers including Layna and Nistis so positively identifying a genuine Klumpe or Roldan without labels could be challenging.

     

The Tikvah Pattern is available!

End of the year sale!
$5 off all e-patterns in my Etsy shop.
Each one is over 50 pages long with tons and tons of pictures.

Have you been thinking about making a beautiful doll ?
Please do!

Betty's HEAD is without a doubt the most interesting part of the vintage doll pattern I have been working on. The head is made of a butterfly-shaped "pillow" which constitutes the face, and a completely separate "head back" which is sewn on separately by hand. That way, the face is flat and can lie on Betty's shoulders, and the back of the head will be round.

Here you can see the face, with the back of the head pinned on. Half of her neck is dangling! (Don't pay no never mind to her unfinished face... I mirrored the template and traced it to the wrong side of the fabric with a felt marker before sewing... I am saving the best for last ^*^)

When the back of the head is all sewn and stuffed, a dowel goes into the body neck. (The body does have a normal neck with a front and a back.) Then the whole thing rests on that, and the back part of the neck is sewn in place at the seam.

This pattern is like nothing I have ever seen before and I am learning new techniques from it. My mind is already giving me ideas of ways I can use this technique!

If you would like to make a Betty Boop doll and join my challenge, I will be thrilled to have you. I am thoroughly enjoying it! A link to the pattern is available on the sidebar.

I finally began working on the Betty Boop Pattern, and I have one thing to say so far... she's got MAN HANDS! They are not the dainty little hands that I imagine Betty should have.

Remember Big Bird's imaginary friend, Alyosius Snuffleupagus? What an amazing fur coat he had! It looks like part ostrich feather strands, part something else. I think it would be incredible fur... if I could figure out exactly what it is and where to procure the "ingredients." Does anybody out there know?

If you want to know more about the Miss America system, click here: http://www.missamerica.org/.

It's been a while since I posted here and I'm debating on leaving this for my handmade things or putting in entries that are more personal about how I'm feeling...now sure what to do.

I still have been doing my handmade doll clothing and all the other good stuff but, have been getting more into photography also.

Still looking for a second job or full-time first job so that I can take care of myself and my dog. Separating from a spouse is hard, especially when you've traveled with them around the country in the military. You just don't have the opportunity to estabish yourself anywhere and build a career for yourself. It's a very hard job market too, so this is all very depressing.

Thankfully, in the meantime I have my dog that makes me smile...she just know's when I need to :D And I have a few close friends that give me inspiration, positive energy and truthfulness...which means more to me than I can express.