Counting down...

I still have to make a new backdrop for the show display, to get my "portable store" in order, and get everything inventoried and packed...but at least the dolls are finished, tagged, photographed, and ready to go.  I'm beat.  (Long story short, thyroid issues are making this a WHOLE lot harder than it has to be...suffice it to say the Energizer Bunny has nothing to worry about from me.)

The Zodiac Babies pattern was a wild hair (hare?) and it seems to have worked out.  I will make a few changes to later iterations of it, but I like their general proportions.  I had so much fun making their dolls and toys--crayons, a butterfly net, dolls & cats & frogs.  That's where I get to get silly and invent things.

For now...here's a really photo heavy post and my apologies in advance for not being attentive to the Blogosphere lately (or in the near future). 
Ciao, y'all.  :) 

Tuesday Morning.

Isn't there a store like that?  Oh well.  I seldom shop anywhere except for groceries or thrift, (or Hobby Lobby) so I'm ignorant of most retail.

However, THIS Tuesday morning, the Schultz and I had our walk up and around Ironwood Rd...and it made me imagine Ireland.  Cool, cloudy, and very humid for here because of last night's rain.  There are lots of ravens here, and four or five of them (they only flock in young "unmarried" groups) were squabbling over some dead lizard treasure one had found, perched at the top of a massive driveway arch.  Fun to watch, hilarious to hear.  I'm very fond of those ravens.

Yesterday my plans went south--literally--because I had a first time doll-club meeting in Phoenix.  Nice ladies, and I look forward to meeting with them in the future--if they'll maybe get their focus a little more on dolls and a little less on philanthropic blanket making.  I support philanthropy--we donate locally and often--but I drive down there for the doll talk!  Time will tell, I suppose.

Since I played all day yesterday, this Tuesday is all about catching up on bills and housework.  Maybe a little doll work later, because I still have hands to finish and all that dressing to do.  This weekend the hubs and I and Schultz went for a hike in the Mingus Mts., at over 7,000 feet.  I'll be happy when I get my thyroid meds leveled out so that kind of stuff doesn't lay me low for days.  So worth it, though.  Breathtaking beauty.

No progress on dolls since my last post, but here's a finished one you might not have seen.  She's from the same pattern as the Zodiac babies, but she totally refused to play their "baby" games.  I call her Katerina.  She doesn't speak English, but she's eloquent enough in her way. She seems to prefer the company of her own shadow to the company of the other dolls.

I hope your week is beautiful.

More Zodiac Babies

I posted these on a facebook group I belong to, and one of the dolls is consequently sold, but she'll go with me to the upcoming doll show, just because.

There are seven more of them, aside from these and the girl in the last post...one is waiting for her photos (and clothes, as are these) and the remainder are still in the painting and wigging stage, so they're not ready for photos.

They'll all get dressed at the same time, I guess.  Each will wear a sort of pinafore and long bloomers over the "body suit".  So, days and days of sewing in my future--along with fiddling with hair, and each of the dolls has her own doll or something to carry.  Only two and a half weeks til the show, and I have a new display backdrop to make.  We're almost to the stage where the husband has to step on one of my feet so I stop running around like an idiot. 

At any rate, maybe the seasonal direction is more clear with these girls...all four seasons are represented here... (and it's the wee Christmas girlie who is already adopted.)

Hope you're enjoying September as much as I am.

Counting down to another doll show...

But it doesn't feel like "just" another doll show, since it's my first one here in Arizona.  Feels like I'm starting over, and I'm nervous.  The long-tailed cat in a roomful of rocking chairs comes to mind.

My dolls are much better than they were in the days when I first began w/ doll shows, however, so I will trust that this condition is simply nerves about who I'll meet and will I like them.  I admit it's a mark of either bull-headedness or advancing age that my concern is no longer "will they like me?"  Haha! 

I recently designed a new line of dolls I call "Zodiac Babies" because I initially thought of them with seasonal or monthly-calendar colors/themes when I began.  That set of themes has stayed with some and been abandoned with others, but the direction was useful in its way.  I have only finished one of them right down to the clothes, but others are well on their way.

For now, I'll post a photo of the little girl inspired by our years in San Antonio, and I'll post others as I get them dressed.