Indiana Bound

This wee girlie is on her way to Indiana tomorrow. 

I don't often get to work with pink on a custom, so this one was a feminine treasure to dress.  The doll-mom wanted both a cloth and a straw bonnet, so that the straw one could later go with other dresses.  Reminded me how much fun they are to make!

Dear Diary

I registered for convention yesterday, and spent a while getting the lay of the land.  And goggling like a country cousin at that monster resort.  I mean, La Quinta is more our style, given the pets and the degree of income we're willing to allocate to a roof and clean sheets.

Still, there I was, huffing from my smart choice of taking the stairs.  The wisdom of this choice is debatable, but maybe by the end of convention, I won't huff so much.  Today will be moving in the Helper Doll, whose name is Ivy Jane Adams.  She's around 15" tall or so, her gown is old cotton and her cap is antique linen.  Old crochet lace on both.
 

I posted photos on FB of these last two...from now on, my online time might be less regular.

These are Pierrot and Billy the Kid. 

I am going to have so much fun this week...learning, teaching, and goggling at dolls.  Thank you, hubby, for talking me into the full monty on this deal.  Love you.

Photo shoot for Playing with Dolls.

I have been trying to record ideas for this stuff, as it is whirling around in my head too fast.  So photos pin the ideas down, and hold them til I can catch up.  Lots of the clothing was picked up on Ebay, doll shows, or thrift shops.  Little of what they're wearing is what they'll end up in, but it was fun to see what fit who.  Doing so gave me this riot of ideas, and I've got to mull it for a while. 
But the pictures were fun, so I thought I'd share.
Thanks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do you make custom dolls or art?

I don't, for the same reason a lot of artists don't...but found myself compromising this time.  The request was more for a type of doll, instead of "Make a doll of my granddaughter" or something...and since it was a type of doll I'd never tried to make, I was curious enough to give it a shot.

Hitty dolls are cute--everybody has a favorite and this is not mine, but she's cute and I wanted to try one this small.  She's 6.5" tall, and the request was to make this one resemble Hitty AND a prior doll I'd made and sold through my shop.  Not sure if I managed to do so, but she's finished and I'll list her today.

My husband just finished a custom order for a purse, which is the only kind of work he likes...he says if he's going to put in the man hours (human hours?) and expense to make a leather item, he likes to know it's for somebody who wants it rather than making stock he can only hope to sell.  Of course, he has to work this in around a day job, so I can see his point.  The purse was not only custom in its Hummingbird design but in the dimensions, so he had to create a brand new pattern to cut the leather out.  We like collaborating on projects like this...I draw up the design and he does all the rest.  :~)  I think it turned out pretty well...

When Juliet sold after six months or so of being listed on Etsy, all of a sudden I had three more people saying "Hey--I wanted this doll!  If the (layaway) sale falls through, let me know!"  Okay...cool.

So I promised to get back to them after the recent doll show, and let them know when I make any more Queen Anne-ish type dolls like her.  I like that idea, of making more of a certain type of doll because of requests, but I don't think I'll do any more specific custom requests.

So: Do you make custom dolls?  

If so, why?  

If not, why not?  

How about a requested type of doll 

rather than a specific customization?