Princessgene's Creative World

Doll Making

I got this book on cloth doll making and I got on a roll.  They take quite a bit of time to make and the hands are very difficult. Nevertheless I completely made 3 dolls and 1 is assembled. I just need to make the skirt, hair and shoes on the last doll. I'm not sure who will get the dolls. Only one is for a secret santa.

 

Close up photos of the three dolls are below.

 

I had a difficult time making the hair and I'm not too thrilled with any of the dolls' hair. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to make the hair with the last doll.

 

Secret Santa Gifts

Last year I made some gifts for a secret santa gift exchange and then never got around to posting them on here. It's hard to get in the habit of posting art related stuff on the internet. I'm either too busy working at a job to earn money or working on crafts to give away in swaps or as gifts. Another reason not to post is because I forgot to take pictures. Since I usually never keep the stuff I make, if I don't take pictures of it, I won't have anything to post here. But last year I did take pictures, I just never got around to posting it.

This is an ATC (Artist Trading Card) holder that I made for the Secret Santa Gift Exchange last year. It is made out of felt and beads and sewn with embroidery thread using the blanket stitch. The cat is pieced together from different felt pieces and beads trim the collar. There are also beads in the white background and the letters are formed using beads. This was an original design for the participant who liked cats. I got the idea from a felt book but didn't think any of the designs in the book would be of interest to the giftee, so I made this up. This is unusual for me. I usually have to have a pattern and instructions to make something. But I really liked how this turned out so I might make some more this year.

 

Here are some socks, mittens and hat that I knitted. Nothing special about these items. They were fast and simple to make up.

 

It's hard to see this picture. I'm a lousy photographer. This was for a mini gift exchange. Most just make ornaments. This is a felt applique carousel horse from a kit by Bucilla. These ornaments usually take quite a bit of time to stuff and sew the little pieces together. Normally the instructions require sequins to be sewn on for decoration. However, I decided to use seed beads to decorate the saddle, bridal and bow instead. I think the use of sequins make the item look cheap and tacky. I liked the look of just the beads but it definately took longer to make. I have lots of kits. Maybe I'll make more this year.

 

 

Collage Cards

I'm BAAAAAACK! My last post was in January and I just never had time to update my blog. In between moving across several states and starting a new job, I still managed to visit my creative world. I will be uploading many pieces of artwork and new stories within the next few months.

One art medium I would like to get back to someday are the Collage ATC's. I've uploaded several in my photo album, titled: Collage Cards. In the following cards I included drawn elements into the card. These were among the first collage cards I ever did. The backgrounds were painted with watercolor paint around the portrait that was drawn in colored pencil. Then I cut out various elements such as the clock and miller bottle and text and overlaid on scrapbook papers. I also incorporated rubber stamping of a clock. The edges were painted with a gold leaf pen.

 

The following ATC cards are my favorite. Perhaps they are my favorite because they include a photo of my daughter. So I suppose I am biased! These cards were also among my first ATC cards that I ever did. I really liked how these turned out and would like to make some new ones incorporating the same technique. These cards were a part of one of the first swaps I participated in which was the orange/black swap. These colors just happen to be among my favorites. In addition to my daughter's photo which I printed in black and white on orange paper, I rubber stamped designs and glued the elements around the figure in different layers of orange and black cardstock. The top of the card was varnished to a glossy finish. I sold a few of the cards I made like this, but kept three of the cards.

I have uploaded several other collaged cards into my photo gallery. Check it out. Tell me what you think.