Hope the Weatherman is WRONG!

My Going to Houston yard sale is this coming Saturday - and they're predicting "scattered thunder storms" from Wednesday to Saturday. I'm praying the storms will have played themselves out by Saturday. Groan!! I have a one car garage which is myshop/studio and no porch. AND - I just received another mega-donation from a neighbor. I'm living in a warehouse. I have enough clothing to outfit an army. I can see me having enough left-overs to do this again next month. But right now, I have to devise a Plan B.

Graduation

Today, my grandaughter graduates from college. It's been a long, difficult struggle for her and I'm so proud of her for hanging in there. Looking back, I can see she inherited a generous portion of her grandfather's stubborness. Balancing that is the creativity that bubbled up at a very early age, which I encouraged at every opportunity. She has her father's quick grasp of an idea and her mother's sense of orderliness. Obviously, this child was given the cream off the top of her gene pool. To this gift she added her own good work ethic and a bubbly personality that draws people to her like a magnet. So fare thee well, my precious child. I pray your future will be filled with abundant love, happiness and soul-satisfying work; that your children will make you as proud and happy as you have made us. Our love forever, Gram

Paper Dolls . . . again

I have an elderly neighbor who took a fall recently and is now in rehab, learning to walk again. I've not yet been to visit her and of course, feel very guilty about that. Knowing how utterly boring a long hospital stay can be, I decided to make her a creative care package and to deliver it in person. So, I'm making her a paper doll which I'll mount and make a stand for, plus a minimal wardrobe. She'll also get a set of water color pencils and a pair of scissors. I'll color the doll - maybe - but she gets to color and cut out the clothes. Hopefully, she'll enjoy it.

My Bucket List

I've added a couple of things to my bucket list. Hopefully, their achievment would be the result of my growth as an artist. First, I'd love, just once, to win "Best in Show" Almost any show would do. I've come close on several occaisions - but no cigar. Second, I'd LOVE to see one of my dolls on the cover of Art Doll Quarterly. That would be the thrill of a life time for me. I think these additions are fostered by the fact that in my "Golden Years" I've become very competitive whereas when I was younger, I was not at all competitive and couldn't care less who won. l

The mailing box

Of the three years I've entered a doll in the Gypsy Challenge contest/show, on two of those years, I got a badly damaged doll back.  Last year, in spite of considerable padding and a reinforced box, my doll came back to me with both legs broken in two places.

This year, I will have two dolls to mail and have been worrying about how I shall send both at the same time.  (-and save considerable money).  I found a Rubbermaid 45 gallon storage bin yesterday that looks like it will work.  It's deep enough that I can pad top and bottom as well as sides and all around each doll.  I would be devastated if Flynn were damaged because she belongs to my grand daughter. 

When is a doll not a doll?

Answer: when it is a mannequin.  I only had one doll that I really loved.  During the 40's, when everything was rationed, one of the major pattern companies offered this little mannequin doll for 99 cents.  It's arms were detachable and her feet had pegs on the bottoms that fit into a wooden base, allowing her to stand alone.  The dolls purpose was to encourage girls to learn to sew.

Sixty-plus years later, I'm still a klutz of a seamstress.  But I learned design!  Prior to the mannequin doll, I had movie star paper dolls whose wardrobes I expanded with wild designs and big boxes of crayons.

As an adult, I took a pattern making course, determined to design and make my own one-of-a-kind clothes.  After about a year, my husband couldn't stand it any more and ordered me to "PLEASE, just go BUY your clothes."  Since that time, my sewing has been confined to making simple costumes for my grand daughter.  Until I discovered ART Dolls.

Below, a photo taken about 1947 on Doll Day at our Bullhead City, Arizona school - third, fourth and fifth grade girls.   That's me, top row, second from right, under the X.  My younger sister - she of the magical sewing machine - is in the bottom row, center, over the X.



Details, Details . . . .

Another productive week - for the most part.   I've finished a hand, a dog and a falcon.  Need to finish doll no. 2's hands and ears.  Ears drive me crazy because I can almost never get them placed and sized exactly the same.  I've recruited my son as weapon maker and a friend who beads to help with the individual doll's accessories.  It is good to have creative friends.

My yard sale items are starting to pile up.  A neighbor who is a seamstress - and has sold her business - gave me a garbage bag full of clothing her clients never picked up - including two evening gowns!  I nearly dropped my teeth!  They immediately went on Craig's List because it's a given I'd not get even half their worth at a yard sale.

As an aside to the above, I discovered just 30 minutes ago, that my poodle, who must surely be half billy goat, has EATEN my list of yard sale items.  I know this because she left a piece of evidence in the middle of my bed.  Earlier today, I caught her eating the sticky price labels off of the pieces I've stored in the spare bedroom.