Tulsa Association of Doll Artists

5/08/2016

May Show & Tell

Happy May!

We have a few beauties to show from our May meeting.

Nark showed these antique Hickory Nut dolls from the Ozarks.

Sherry brought a beautiful quilted, piecework angel.

She said it reminds her of Sherrill, one of our very talented members who passed away recently.

Pam made the door prize - another of her pretty flower fairies, and it was won by Janis.

Check out the details; even her hat is made of flower petals.

That's all we had this month! See you in June.

4/18/2016

April Show & Tell

Wellll, what have our dames been up to? Show & Tell was a lit-tle sparse this month. We'll use this opportunity to share some TDD news instead of pictures.

We have several challenges going.

Kinky Boots Challenge: Inspired by the "Kinky Boots" play, we have challenged members to make at least one Kinky Boot by the May 4, 2016 meeting. Pam brought a beautiful pair of gams today. What a creative use of lace! Should inspire others to get their boots kinked.

Other challenges this year:

Spice - Web Challenge: Several members are doing the Spice Challenge by Jan Horrox. There is a free pattern on her web page. More at:

http://www.jhorrox.blogspot.com/

https://janhorrox.co.uk/

The Sports Doll Challenge: We will fill the Library Display, July 1-31, 2016. The theme is SPORTS!!! A doll inspired by sports, a book about Sports or sports figure. Due at the June 4, 2016 meeting or to Laura at the library by June 30,2016.

The Batik Fabric Challenge: The challenge is to create a doll using all Batik fabric by the September meeting. This is to coincide with the Tulsa State Fair contests so members may enter their creations in the Cloth Doll making Category.

We had two door prizes this month. This one was made by Kathy & won by Annie.

A pin doll was made by Andria & won by Kathy.

Coming up:
Unfortunately, Sherry Goshon & Jean Bernard have to reschedule the workshop they were going to do for us in July. As a club, we voted to go on with the set dates, choose a pattern by unanimous vote, and work on it together. The dates are July 22-24, 2016 and we'll be making Sherry's pattern "Paris." More details to come.

Join us for the next meeting, Wednesday, May 4 at noon (Hardesty Library).

3/05/2016

March Show & Tell

Today was our first quarterly Saturday meeting of the new year. It was good to see so many people, but we missed those who couldn't be with us today.

Beautiful doll by Laura, made from a Jan Horox pattern.

Jennepher's gymnast.

Nark's skater.

Annie's framed paper dolls.

The Karate Kid.

Doreen's judges.

Our dear Shirley finds it necessary to downsize her dollmaking hobby. She sent us some goodies to rummage thru and take home. Thank you, Shirley! We hope to see you soon!

12/06/2015

December Holiday Luncheon

Saturday, December 5, was our annual holiday luncheon & gift exchange. Pam opened her beautiful home to us. The halls were decked! The food was delish! The company was delightful! The gift exchange was great! And, extra special for us, our club matriarch, Jean, was able to join us.

Also - bonus fun! Sherrill L. sent 3 bins of fabric & trims for us to rummage through (sadly, she's closing her business). We want to thank her for thinking of us.

For the gift exchange, we ask those who want to participate to bring a doll or doll related item in a plain paper bag. We draw numbers and choose a bag. It's always such fun to see what's inside, pass it around for ooohing and aahhing, and discover who gave it.

And now on to the dolls....

Santa was the door prize, won by Carlyn. It was a lovely afternoon. Now on to the holidays, then after that, we'll be back in the swing of doll-making. 2016 is bringing a "sports doll challenge", a fabric challenge, and an amazing summer workshop. Stay tuned!

Welcome!

Welcome to our blog! We are a group of people who love to create beautiful, whimsical, personalities from fabric, fiber, found objects, sequins, jewels, and embellishments of all sorts. In addition, each of us explores other art mediums, such as quilting, beading, embroidery. Most of all, we love to get together and have fun -- while making art! New members are most welcome.

We meet the first Saturday of the month at Hardesty Library in Tulsa, OK. However, due to covid-19, we have switched to virtual meetings. Follow us on Facebook @TulsaDollArtists, for more information or email dollartists@gmail.com.

Scraps 'n Threads

Our monthly meetings are held the first Saturday of the month, 12:00 noon (previously at Hardesty Library, located just north of 91st St. off Memorial in Tulsa; meetins are now held online) We always have lots of fun, share good information, and have a great display of our members' creations. You're welcome to stop by & visit, but we hope you decide to stay and create with us!

UPCOMING EVENTS

Jan 4 - First meeting of the new year!

Every Saturday in Jan - ribbon-jointed doll workshop

9-4 at Hardesty Library. No cost for the class; just the pattern & materials. Contact us if interested.

Feb 1 - Regular meeting & class on making polymer clay eyes.

Mar 7 - Regular meeting.

Apr 4 - Regular meeting.

Apr 18 & 19 - teddy bear workshop. Contact us for info. CANCELED

*****Below is the schedule we had planned for the remainder of the year. Obviously, it was dramatically altered by covid-19. In-person meetings, the library & state fair displays are canceled. Follow us on Facebook for information about virtual meetings and classes.*******

May 2 - Regular meeting. Bring your dolls for the display case to this meeting or before. We'll be showcased at Hardesty Library this month.

Jun 6 - Annual business meeting & luncheon plus a Sculpting class.

July date tba.

Aug 1 - Regular meeting & special workshop.

Sep 5 - Regular meeting.

Sep - we're planning a soft cloth doll workshop. TBA

We'll have dolls on display at the Tulsa State Fair. Dates to be announced.

Oct 3 - Regular meeting.

Nov 7 - Regular meeting.

Dec 5 - Holiday luncheon.

How it All Began

A brief history of the Tulsa Dolling Dames begins with 3 people who met at an elinor peace bailey workshop in May of 1999, and decided to start a doll club. A very simple beginning, but it has turned into a delightful 10 years of fun, friendship, laughter and an on-going knowledge of the art of cloth doll making. To some, a cloth doll is a simple “rag” doll made of left overs, or a bright redhaired Raggedy Anne or even a Cabbage Patch Kid lookalike. But to a seamtress, several pieces of cloth can easily become an art doll.

Jean Martin, Rae Sook and Scampy Rainey started the club and spent the first few months meeting in the back room at the Quilter’s Nook shop, wondering how to ever get the word out about art dolls. Jean finally made a small poster showing pictures of cloth dolls and information about the club and hung it up by the front door of the shop for all to see. One day a visitor [Daria Cash] who had seen the sign, looked in and asked “Is this the doll club”? Well, yes it was! And so it began.

Through the years those few have turned into an active club with up to 30 members at times. Mostly local, northeastern Oklahoma, but has included members from Texas and Arkansas.

We have well-known teachers come for classes and have gone to many out of state classes. But the very first class was held in Jean’s sewing room with the original three members and two ladies from her Dallas club.....the teacher being Anne Marie Brombal. We went on to have Diane Little and Gladi Alred from Albuquerque at Jean's house, stopping on their way home from a doll conference in Kansas City. A few members attended, as well as two more ladies from Albq. and one from Florida, all on their way home. Quite a group, and the laughter never stopped. As our club grew, we had classes at the quilt shop, then the local sewing machine center, and now at the library. Our teachers have included Christine Shively, Mary Tressler, Barbara Willis, Adele Sciortino, Barbara Schoenoff, Patti Culea, Angela Jarecki, Cindee Moyer and Arley Berryhill to name a few.

But mostly we learn from each other, as our club has many talented members who are willing to share what they know. We’ve learned beading, embroidery, quilting, paper art, marionettes, polymer clay, and cloth-over face molds. Anything goes where art dolls are concerned.

Some of our local projects have included displays at the libraries, booths at the quilt shows, with the added attraction of a trunk full of the Hoffman dolls each time, also a newspaper article with pictures, exhibits at the state fair, as well as a Christmas tree decorated with many small cloth dolls and donated to one of our art museums, to be sold at their yearly Christmas tree exhibit. These have proven to be a good way to educate the public on what an art doll really is, as many people have never seen this type of doll made from cloth.

This is only a few of the many activities our club has taken part in, but it will give you an idea of how something small can turn into a wonderful, fun filled life, “playing with dolls”. ~Jean