Scanning in old doll Photos...from the 1990's

Little Bunny Guy Smoking hand carved pipe( pipe made by my hubby),needle-sculpted and embroidered in cloth,vintage doll clothing,jointed,antique silk floss for whiskers
Grandfather Frost w/Sac and Sleigh-also just about 5-6 inches, needle-sculpted and embroidered in cloth, jointed, vintage fabrics(from our old curtains, growing up)
I know- not such great shots, but you can click to enlarge to see a little more. The lining is the lining that was on the red curtains, making up his outfit. (Mongolian Tibetan Goatskin for hair and beard and eyebrows)
Sophia. I always loved this doll. She was sold with a sleigh. Her clothing is from the same curtains, and an old, old comforter. Her hands are from the lining of the curtains;antique lace, of course, needle-sculpted and embroidered in cloth,holding a vintage 'flower',(wool hair).
More of Sophia. She loved to pose-well, actually, I had my dolls come to life for my children, all the time, giving them voices, etc-remember, mother playing w/dolls...:)
So sorry that my posting is taking a bit, but I have all these old pictures of dolls that I made and sold. They are one-of-a-kind, mostly needle sculpted in cloth...and I have been scanning in these photos, which are not all that great, and 'watermarking' them, so it's been taking a bit of time. I have a slew on my desktop, before they go into Adobe, and then to Flikr, or here on the blog. I thought that I'd just show a few. REMEMBER, these are  from the 1990's.

I've always been known to do things a little differently than what others are doing-kind of eclectic , like the antiques I sold, and occasionally still sell.When my kids were younger, I made a cloth, Russian Matryoshka doll for my middle daughter. She loved it in her crib or stroller... I even sold internationally. Not that I sold so many, but I stayed up that night that I had finished her, and felt,' this is it'. I'll make dolls. I always dabbled in many artistic venues, and felt that I'd hit a niche.

Well, after my largest doll was made, my son Serge, at 11lbs. 12 oz., I kind of had lots less time, with 3 young children. I had founded an international doll organization(RADA-Russian & American Dollmakers Assoc.,(and Friends),Inc.), that w/his birth didn't go much anywhere. Suddenly, super Mom was meeting her match. And it was called TIME. Of course, my kids , hubby, pets, and home won out. But, when your soul needs to create, and you don't , it can get a little frustrating.

So I started to do smaller things w/my time.I got out of the dolls, making them more sporadically. (Have done lots of vintage style decorations w/doll type figures also). I started to make one-of-a-kind magnets, and called them Magnetic Scrap Art. I would find unique vintage photos ,magnetize,laminate,and cut them out(it was the cutting that was different, as they weren't all square or rectangular.)I would then mount them on card stock and cellophane wrap them up all pretty, and would sell tons of them, because no one really had anything like that at the time.

This was the early- mid 90's. We'd go to Border's and they started to sell some magnets in their cafe. My kids would say that they stole my idea. I must say that I hadn't seen any 'til after I started making them. But, you know how it goes, things meet critical mass and a few people from different places, start having similar ideas that take off.

The Magnetic Scrap Art led to collage art, which I'd basically done my whole life. And since I'd always been a bit different from the crowd, it actually has been appreciated more in our present day collage/altered art world, that's so popular today. The more different, the better.

So please bear with the doll photos. Needle-sculpted in cloth was way cool at the time. I studied under Akira Blount and Elinor Peace Bailey, who were very hot at the time. Akira still continues to astound others w/her art, and Elinor's book, Mother Plays with Dolls, aided in my inspiration in the beginning. (Although I had made dolls when a child).

So, thank you for your patience. I promise more art and photos to come. I'm still working on about 8+ small canvases that I'm painting up. Gearing up toward some Spring shows, and an Etsy shop. I also have some workshops coming up in the collage art/3-D field at our local community college in April, May, and June.(Journals, wedding/Shower/Gift Toppers, and 3-D collage Art) .

The summer also holds a workshop of paper/fabric dolls/puppets/3-DArt for youngsters also through the community college program. The fall will bring hopefully, other art workshops, and Russian for Travelers. Sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself. Except that, I do have to plan ahead. I'm constantly organizing, and re-organizing in my notebooks/journals... And of course, I have a number of shows lined up, and will finally take my artwork to some local shops. Government, please stop spending what we do not have, and  economy, please hold out:) 

Come to the Kris Kringle Christmas Show! & Art Workshop at the Boonsboro Free Library

If you're in town, this weekend, 22 & 23 November, 2008 come to the Kris Kringle Christmas Show at Hagerstown Community College, in Hagerstown, Md. Sat & Sun 9-5. There are 230 vendors, a steady flow of of customers (around 10 thousand, I understand), and it's nice and spread out, with large aisles, free parking, entrance, and golf cart rides for those parking far away. All proceeds go to charity. This year it's Hospice, and a local church that will take care of 100 local families this winter.

SEE YOU AT THE SHOW!

Come try your hand at fun & fabulous Holiday /Gift Pins, and other Holiday/Gift Idea, that cost little, are personalized, fun to make, and preserve the environment. Heck- collage artists have always preserved the environment, utilizing vintage/antique papers , ephemera,baubles, and all interesting 'recyclables'. Give a fab presentation, and you've got great gift ideas to spur your creativity.

...That's 5-6:45 this Tues. , 25 Nov, 2008 at the Boonsboro Free Library in Boonsboro, Md. COME SEE OUR NEW and WONDERFUL LIBRARY- sit back, relax, and enjoy the nice company, music, and art ideas!!!