Land of The Lost!

:D I have to tell you what I've been doing these last few days since my last post! I changed my page here at blogger to the new available settings and couldnt find out how to get back, LOL. I honestly felt like I was locked out! hahaha.....sigh of exasperation! It was crazy, really. I tried today and no luck So I turned the computer off and went out for awhile to gather myself. Well I gave it a bit of thought and decided I would try it from the ground up. I googled blogger and then I went to blogger sign in and voila! here I am. Big Sigh of relief.......

Normally my page has a title at the upper left for me to sign on and this new page style does not. Nowhere on this new page is there a way to get to blogger sign in. If there is I'd like to know where, cause I definitely couldn't find it.

Ok, back to dolls. I had a small hold up on Mahdreen's face, I wasn't happy with the color of her skin. I decided to give her another coat of background color and now I'm back to square one. I don't mind really, that's what art and creation is all about. I also painted her ears which means they will stay in the form they are set in now. And I've repainted her lips a lighter shade, I'll have a detailed picture of them for you soon. I also may paint her arms and neck but haven't decided just yet. It's all so much fun to create as I go. My goal is to put at least one picture of progress on every other day so keep coming back. I also have a Farmers Market to get ready for so my time feels split most days.  But I just cant stay away from my dolls so Mahdreen wins this one :) You are beautiful my dear one.

I think that I will give Mahdreen some hair and see where that sends me. I need some inspiration for her face, her expression. I think a great head of hair just might do it! I have it picked out already I just need to attach it. I havent' tried felting hair just yet, I may try that.....we shall see :)

In the meantime I'll leave you with a few more pictures of her new face and also some more of my favorite things to work with.

Glad to be back.

Michelle

Creating a Uniquely YOU doll

Its a beautiful Sunday morning, well its early afternoon as I look at the clock. Where did my morning go? I have been lost in creating....I just love those periods of time where the clock just seems to stand still for you while you dream and create.

I've been working on Mahdreen and I thought I would show you a few steps while she's in the making. The little steps make the biggest difference. I began by drawing the pattern myself because I wanted her to take on a certain look. I've posted a pic of the initial drawings and a picture of what her hand has been modified into since Sophia took off with that original :) I chose to go with a 3 finger look on the other because she is a mythical creature, ahh the beautiful choices we have when we create.

I also wanted to pass on a few items that make my doll life easier. I love water color pencils for one, they really give you a chance to detail a dolls face and then make it so much more with just a touch of water. My favorite pencils right now are Faber Castell acquarelles. So many great colors available and so much you can do with them. I love to draw an initial line, take my detailer brush, dip it in a bit of water and blend. Give it a try on a bit of paper that you have lying around, play with it, get comfy and see what you come up with. You'll be amazed at the possibilities of color combinations and the qualities that watercolor pencils can give you. I love them and I cant say enough about them.

 These are a few of my favorite things!

 I so want to try my hand at Ink Pencils, I saw them at an art store during the holidays and almost bought a set, don't know why I didn't! I'll save that for another day tho :)

I also just purchased a hemostat that has a mini grip at the mouth end. I swear I was dreaming of this instrument just days before and then all of a sudden there it was. Really....I kept thinking to myself while I was stuffing, or trying to stuff Mahdreen's fingers, "I wish there was something that would grab a piece of stuffing and deposit it at the tip". I think I'm psychic because when I went to a doll class a week ago there it was. The perfect instrument of my dreams, exactly as I had dreamed it. I haven't had the chance to use it just yet but when I do....watch out doll fingers! cause I will not have the problems that I have had before! And if you've tried stuffing doll fingers you know what I mean..Of course there's turning them too but I have a remedy for that one also....sly smile on my face.

I'm posting a pic of Mahdreen in the make up stage-so to speak, she will have her ears painted and shaded also and her coloring will be played with a bit. But this is what steps are all about, creating, step by step. And knowing that each step is a move in a perfectly beautiful "you" direction. Because no one can create the way you do. No one can lend that distinctly "you" quality that you so lovingly do with every stitch and every brush stroke. With every creation that you hold in "your" hands you impart that uniquely you love into it. Create, Love and Harmonize, thats my thought for the day...

I'll be back soon with more steps and a handy hint or 2:) and more of Mahdreen's progress.

Michelle

A Reggae Day in Sedona AZ

Took a day trip to Sedona yesterday, we listened to Reggae music while we drove, it was a relaxing, blue sky day.

We took off early in the morning, drank Starbucks-salted caramel coffee and ate breakfast burritos! The drive to Sedona is so relaxing, wide open highway and amazing scenery, wow, you cant ask for more. Well, except some good driving music, so we decided on reggae :) peppered with great conversation.

We took in the sights and stopped at a few local shops. Some were great and some were so so. The center of town was too touristy and not like I thought Sedona would be, but we did find some fun little artsy places too. We bought a little here and there, some sage sticks, incense and 2 beautiful crosses that we just had to have.

All in all a great day and fun to be out and about in the blue skies and red rock mountains.

So on to creating......we ran across so many great ideas while we were there in Sedona. I've got lots of creative energy this morning that I'm eager to attend to so I'll post a few pics and get busy.

See you soon,

Michelle

Mixed Media Art doll workshop

Back from the Art Doll Workshop and I had a great time. They taught everyone how to make a "pin doll" tonight, so I have that to show you. And I also have some new pictures of Mahdreen :) I made eyes as I previously posted and I have put them in and added eyelids.

I gave her face a coat of gesso and let it dry then sanded it once and added another coat. I will sand one more time and then paint her features. I will also work on her hand addition, I'm excited to see what I can come up with. So far I'm loving what she is evolving into, I couldnt be happier.

I'll be brief for now...I'm tired, go figure :) I've been going non stop all day. Up at 8am, working on Mahdreen and then straight into gathering my misc. for the workshop. We meet next thurs and have decided on a Mermaid project. Looks like lots of funnn!

Be back tomorrow with more :)

Michelle

Mahdreens progress :)

I am moving right along with Mahdreen, my female Elf of wisdom. I have her body completely done but for one hand...I told you about Sophia confiscating it. Well I never did find it so I decided to add a half limb and I want to embellish her hand, well what would be her hand. My daughter Kristen saw her without the hand at the end and said "hey why dont you put something there besides a hand?" So I am.

She said remember the skecksies (sp?) from the Dark Crystal (one of our favorite movies, go figure !)? When they were eating they had these extensions made of some kind of metal that were really cool. I said "perfect"!

I havent decided exactly what that extension will look like but it will be really cool :).

In the meantime I've made some eyeballs out of clay, not my original idea, I got this one from Rivkah at Doll Makers Muse. I bought her pattern for her doll called Tikvah and there were many great ideas that can be incorporated. I did however devise a way to put in eyelids that came out great and were so easy to do. I will include this tip in the pattern of Mahdreen when she is done and the pattern is ready.

Well Im off to a new doll workshop in a nearby city. Cant wait to see whats new in the doll making world!.
I will post Mahdreen tonight when I get back, she is drying. For the time being I will show you what I've done with the eyes and also her face before the eyes were painted and inserted with eyelids. Oh I also gessoed her face and sanded it one time but not in this picture. She is looking great, I cant wait to show you what she looks like. My camera is also charging or I would post it now.

Oh well the element of surprise...

See you soon,

Michelle

A Cozy Basket for your Baubles

What a great day its been and a busy one at that. I posted my first "rag" product on Etsy and I'm really excited about the possibilities! I posted the beginnings of my basket previously and just last night I made the final stitches :) I love this basket! It was so much fun to make and I couldn't wait to put it in my shop. Please visit Rag Romance by clicking the Rag Romance Banner to the right. I will have more in my shop very soon.

As for my dolls, I am currently working on Mahdreen. She is the female Elder Elf that I began before I left Ohio. What an amazing, beautiful lady she will become. I'm really looking forward to dressing her and creating her face and will post the day to day progress so you can see whats going on with this enchanting woman:)

Mahdreen is a pattern that I have drawn myself and may be one of the first patterns that I put in my Etsy shop as well. I'm working on her forearm and hand at the moment....and funny but as I finished one hand and went to pick up the other....It was missing! SOPHIA!!! she's not admitting it but I think that she knows where Mahdreen's other hand is.

Well back to work!

Oh Happy Days,

Michelle

Rag Romance is Open For Business!

I have just finished creating my new business....."RAG ROMANCE" I know you'll love it as much as I do! It is everything that I've always known I've wanted and more. 

Rag Romance is the offspring of my love affair with fabric. I am always saving scraps of fabric and Im always looking for something else to make of them. I can remember doing this even as a child. My mother got me started with this habit so I have her to thank for it, Thank you Mom.

 I feel it may have come from her being raised during a time when fabric was not affordable for my grandparents. She was raised in what she referred to as a "holler" in the hills of Kentucky. She used to tell me stories about those times which I'll pass on in bits...its an interesting story.

For instance, the dresses that she wore to school were made out of feed sacks. She was raised on a farm, not the type of farm that comes to mind when you think of a farm but a very small, family sustaining farm. So the feed sacks were actually from the feed that was used to feed the animals, one cow, one pig, a few chickens and so on.

Scraps of fabric were life altering.

I could tell you stories about the sewing room that my mother worked out of as a grown woman....boxes and boxes of scrap fabric and she found uses believe me :)

So I came by my love for fabric genuinely, an apple off the same tree.

You can find my Etsy Shop at ArtRmOfChellev@etsy.com  Visit often, you never know what you'll find.

I will also post the beginnings of Mahdreen so that you can follow her progress. I have her body stuffed and am sewing her together tonight :) She's just beautiful and I cant wait to put her clothing together! She's the female Elder Elf that I began late last year and had to be put on hold due to the move here to Arizona. I am loving the unfolding of her personality. She is one of my self drawn patterns and may become a pattern open to purchase.

Romance is in the air..I can feel it. Talk to you soon,

Michelle