Best Friend dolls

This little French Bulldog is best friends with a little girl doll.  In the early part of the 20th Century these dolls were known as ‘Topsy Turvy’ dolls and carried with them many stories - both good and bad.   I designed mine to be best friends to each other and the child with whom they found a home.  She’s crafted from 100% linen stuffed with virgin nonallergenic toy stuffing.  Her face is cast in Creative Paperclay from my original sculpture, then covered with 100% cotton stockinette before being coated and hand painted to bring her personality to life.  Her ears and the scruff of her neck are fashioned from felted vintage 100% wool.  Come back later this week to meet her best friend and see their fashionable outfits.

Becoming a doll faced girl

Here’s a doll face in stages of becoming a finished girl.  I begin with a doll head that I have sculpted from airdry clay.  Below you can see the silicon mould pulled from the original sculpture, a mask just out of the mold, and a stockinette covered mask ready to be gessoed and painted.  

I’ll write about my mould making process on another day.   These original moulds allow me to create multiple face masks from one sculpture.  I make a thin sheet of Creative Paperclay and press it into the mould, adding extra clay for reinforcing over the eyes, nose and mouth.  I allow the face mask to partially dry before I remove it from the mould.  At this point in the process I can make subtle changes to her features to distinguish one face mask from another.  I carefully set it aside to thoroughly dry after which I refine the mask, filling and sanding as needed.  The mask gets a liberal coating of PVA glue then I lay a square of white cotton stockinette on the bias over the nose. A stubby brush works well to tap the stockinette into the features working from the tip of the nose, inner corners of the eyes, nostrils and outward in a circular fashion, pulling the fabric edges to prevent wrinkles or unevenness.  Now she’s ready to be trimmed and attached to her rag doll body, then primed with gesso to prepare for final painting! 

Thrifting, upscaling and restyling

Finally!  The week away from my usual routine, scheduled months ago, is here. As I type I’m snuggled in a luxurious hotel suite, near a mountain range where raptors are migrating.  Really, for me this is the best! Early afternoon into sundown today will find me on a mountain promontory watching for raptors riding currents over the Appalachian range. 

I’m  always on the lookout for the beginning raw materials I can upscale into statement pieces for my wardrobe or home. In preparation for this trip I visited my favorite thrifts shops and made 3 great finds.  Here’s the inventory:  One oversized men’s plaid shirt, one 90’s-era blazer that was about 3 sizes too large but well constructed and fully lined in a soft, crushed taupe linen, and a cute ballet flat. 

After some time with the sewing machine and hand needles they’ve been restyled and updated.  I put casings slightly above my natural waist in the shirt and the blazer and pulled drawstrings through to ruche in the fullness.  A sporty elastic drawstring was chosen for the plaid shirt, and I rolled the too-long sleeves to make a shirt jacket. This will be perfect for cool spring weather.  For the linen jacket I inserted a light brown velvet ribbon for a drawstring then knotted it to hold the gathers and finish off the ends. For the too-long, too-full sleeves,I removed the button plackets at the cuffs and inserted an elastic casing making blousy, bracelet length sleeves. The ballet flats were adorned with bead clusters from a deconstructed necklace and pink velvet ankle laces were pulled through the casing loop at the heel.

TaDa! 

White Pizza

A weekend evening and as good excuse as any for pizza.  I made a bechamel sauce with fresh grated reggiano parmesano, garlic and nutmeg.  I topped a thin prebaked crust with a generous ladling of sauce, sprinkled steamed chopped spinach and another light grating of parmesano. After 10 minutes in a 400 degree oven, this is what we have for our pizzafest.

Backpack Style

We’re having an unseasonably warm day in western Pennsylvania and spring fever has struck!  Next week is a prime time for seabird and raptor migration and I can’t wait to be in the thick of it. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has ‘Birdcast’ which follows and predicts the migratory patterns of birds. For such an outing, a backpack is essential. A place for binoculars, camera, log and reference journals, snacks and water!h

I’m going to create a bespoke bag for this spring. The ideas are percolating; I’ve made a preliminary sketch of essential pockets and clips and straps and such, as well as pulled out some ephemera for inspiration. I know there will be painting and inking of the canvas and also some yummy butter-soft brown leather accents. Come back again and see it take shape. This is going to be great fun!

Simple pleasures

A shaken iced tea with the tiniest bit of sugar. It really is the simplest of things that can elevate the everyday to the sublime. I found my stainless steel shaker in a thrift shop in Maryland. It’s cap is perfectly domed to create froth and chill the tea with the addition of a few ice cubes. An simple beverage made into an event!

Something new

It’s been 5 years since I posted, and it’s time to begin again. This is an interesting chapter in life and there are many stories to tell. This blog has been a record of my life as a maker of things and lover of beauty, and will probably continue as such. I hope you’ll follow along and I welcome hearing from you, too. 

This winter I was invited to a party - a corporate affair asking for elegant and classic, light on the ‘sexy.’ I chose a vintage black lace knit St. John skirt suit with a teal silk camisole. What was needed was a bespoke accessory to tie the two solid colors with a bang! I created a clutch purse using layers of quilted canvas with inked floral drawings and an Egyptian Green Ultrasuede lining. An inherited brooch (my dad’s gift to Mom on their 1st born’s wedding day in 1971) was added as an accent. Here’s the finished purse: