December Fun

In December, the Dames & Gent celebrate the season with short, very short, meeting, a luncheon & gift exchange, and a fun doll challenge. There was lots of food, lively conversation, surprise gifts, and of course, wonderful dolls to see.

Before we view The Challenge dolls, check out Laurie's holiday version of The Raven. She's just a vision of sugarplums & peppermints, isn't she?

The Challenge was decided in late spring and the pattern is called "The Gentleman." Such wonderful interpretations of this pattern!

There are still a few works in progress.
We enjoyed seeing some other things our friends have been making. Here's a new version of the Angela Jarecki fairy from our spring workshop.

And another completed Raven!

Many Thanks to Doreen for opening her home to TDD. Her graciousness was rewarded by the Doll Fairies, as she won the door prize. In December, it's always one of Jean's beautiful dolls. This one looks like her name could be Princess of Winter. It was a wonderful afternoon! More party pictures can be viewed at our Picasa Family Albums. See the link to the left.

November Meeting

As you know, our monthly meeting includes a short presentation by one of the members on some technique they use in doll making. Everyone always has something great to share & we really enjoy this part of the meeting.Pam shared this month, but first, let's enjoy some of her beautiful dolls.This was a Hoffman Challenge entry. The brown & green checks are actually hand-woven ribbon. There are many details on this doll.

These two are from Pam's flower fairy collection. One is dressed in her autumn finery and the other is ready for Christmas!Definately not a flower fairy, but just as colorful!Now, what do you suppose these little ones are whispering about? Think about it - what do all women love? SHOES!Pam shared her secret for making shoes from silk poinsietta petals or wide ribbon. It was a wonderful program. Thank you, Pam!

November Show & Tell

Welcome back to our November Show & Tell. In a previous post, I mentioned that Cindee Moyer's doll faces have a "signature look." I think our TDD dollmakers have their own unique, signature style, too! Shauna's signature is her clay sculptures. And check this out ~ her studio was shown in an article in this magazine. Congratulations, Shauna!Pat's sunny creatures make me think of summer on this cold November day!Guess what? They're made of paper bags! How cool is that?Vicky's dolls always look so sweet.
Doreen's Princess. Doreen's dolls always look like they're about to get into mischief :):)Maryne's doll - I think she's creating a "Sweet 'n Sassy Series!" We also had a Show & Tell Surprise: Daria got in the mood to clean out her stash & gave away some fabric and unfinished dolls. Be careful with that, Daria - when you sew (sow), you reap!And then we have Nemo. He needs to find his maker because I missed hearing who brought this adorable little fish!

November Club Meeting

Welcome back! It's time to get pictures up from our November meeting before December arrives. (Computer upgrades & the dailyness of life can really interfere with fun sometimes!) Naturally one of the features of November's Show & Tell were the finished Raven dolls.
They all turned out so beautifully.
It's fun to see the different interpretations of the same design. (hint: you'll be seeing this concept again in the December blog when we show the results of "The Gentleman" Challenge) There were many other non-Raven delights at Show & Tell, plus pictures of the program. Check back!

"The Raven" Workshop

It's good to be back online! We can finally show you some pictures from our October workshop with artist Cindee Moyer. She was a delightful teacher and everyone really enjoyed the 2-day workshop. We made her design, called "The Raven." Here is the flock. In these pictures, they were pretty much finished. Just a few details were left to be completed at home. The sign was made by the daughter of one of our club members, who was a great little assistant! The rest of us were wishing we had one :)

The doll was a fairly easy pattern. She sits atop a straw nest (no legs to sew & stuff) surrounded by black feathers, her tulle skirts fluffing out around her.

Cindee's dolls all have lovely, delicate features.Raven's head is wrapped in black trim topped with angelina fibers & a black "hackle plate" (a feathery embellishment shaped in a half circle, can be found at craft stores) & she has shoulder epaulets of feathers left over from the nest.She's holding a glittery mask & a copy of Poe's "The Raven" (what else?)

It's so fun to see many different renderings of the same pattern!

Click here to check out Cindee's website, see her wonderful dolls, or purchase patterns.