Clara

Clara died many years ago in the great fire of the French Quarter. She continues to haunt the street of Burgundy to this day. She prefers to meander near the end of the street, at the edge of the Quarter, there are less people there and these days she has grown tired of frightening tourist and prefers to just wander and be alone.

The Great Monster Drop Off

We've just returned home from quite the power trip. My beautiful niece Kirby got married in Ohio Saturday and though we had neither the time nor money to get there for the celebration somehow we managed to make it. I call it a power trip as we were gone a total of 69 hours. 34 of those hours were spent driving..yikes. Lots of very uncomfortable snoozing.

To make the trip a little more interesting we devised The Great Monster Drop Off. My daughter NoraLeigh I'm proud to say is one of the most creative people I know. She loves to draw, paint and she loves polymer! She makes jewelry, check out her groovy earrings in her Etsy Shop BananaLouisiana
and she makes little monsters. We decided since her little creations are starting to get a bit over populated here at the Loopy House that we would share them with other travelers.

At each stop, be it potty or food, we dropped off a monster with a note. The note told the monsters name and any other pertinent information needed for it's new owner. We would give the monster a kiss and bid him/her farewell knowing he/she was embarking on an adventure all her/his own.

It's fun to imagine who found each monster, the look on their faces or thoughts when they discovered the lil fella, where they took him/her etc.... I personally would love to find monsters in my travels.

The notes left with the monsters were my business cards, oh how we would love it if any of the kind people who decided to take our monsters home and care for them would drop us a note here on my blog or perhaps in my Etsy shop and let us know where he/she has ended up.

We wonder just where our monsters are right now, we hope they are seeing new parts of the world and discovering new adventures!!

No Two Dolls Ever the Same

I'm often asked to recreate a piece I've sold. I always have my reservations about this as I really find it quite impossible to do. I certainly can recreate certain elements of a piece clothing, colors etc.... but each doll comes out with it's own personality no matter what I do.

I think this is a really unique thing about being an art doll artist. Just as no two people are ever alike such is the case of an art doll (if molds are not used of course)

I'm really considering making the decision to no longer accept an offer to recreate a sold piece. Of course it's flattering and let's face it who doesn't need the extra income of such a sale but I feel once a doll is made she will always be completely unique from any doll I make in the future.

This is a doll I recently was asked to recreate.

As you can see Melissa (the new doll) said "no, no, I don't want to be Colette (the second and original doll) I want to be Melissa" and so she is.

Do you recreate dolls from the past??

No you Didn't

No you didn't!!

That's what my husband said when I showed him my new hanging dead kid ornies.
After 10 years he still has no idea how weird I am:)

More Ornies

More Ornaments. I'm having a blast!!

Creepy Ornaments

Ornaments are fun! The holiday season is approaching and its time for ornaments!! Ornaments are fun to make because they are usually simpler projects that one can start and finish in a day or less. They are also great for those customers that aren't able to afford the more expensive pieces. Yeah for ornaments!!! I plan to do a number of series or groupings of them.

These creepy clowns were inspired by ADO's upcoming Mini Monthly Challenge - the theme being Clowns. The challenges over at ADO are always a great inspiration for me. I feel some of my best pieces of late came about through these challenges. You can see some of the other challenge pieces over at the ADO blog.

Two New Residents of 7717 St. Charles Ave.

Ahhh..the end of summer, a very very welcome notion here in the deep south. Though in reality we experience summer weather much through the end of September but indeed the end is near.

The wee little one has returned to school, 4th grade, my she is growing up so fast. We had some great fun this summer but it is time for me to return to full time doll making.

Please meet the newest, two dolls from the Residents of 7717 St. Charles Ave series.

You can read a little history of these dolls here



Betsy lived at 7717 St. Charles Ave. It was a lovely mid February afternoon and Betsy was reading a book on the spacious and breezy porch. She could hear the second line coming long before it arrived. It was after all Mardi Gras season and second lines with their brass bands and colorfully dressed attendants were very common. Betsy decided what the hell, she would join in. So she hoped off the porch and joined the procession, dancing and strolling to the Mardi Gras Mambo. It wasn't until the parade turned the corner onto Burthe street that Betsy stepped into a large pothole, fell and hit her head causing her instant death. Betsy is buried at in cemetery No. 1 at the corner of Washington and Prytania.


....and then there was Justine.


Justine lives at 7717 St. Charles Ave. It's a big house that was cut up into apartments a number of years ago. Her's was a a small but cozy efficiency. She took the street car down to the French Quarter to work at One Eyed Jacks. Justine was part of a burlesque group and she loved her job. One evening one of the showgirls had a bit much to drink and during the performance bumped into Justine pushing her off the 10ft stage, she died. Justine is buried at in cemetery No. 1 at the corner of Washington and Prytania.




Poor things.

Awards

Recently I received the same lovely award from two very wonderful people.

Nancey over at A Little Bit Wired

and Pattee at Odd Dolls

I craft in my house and yes sometimes it feels like magic so yes I guess I am a Domestic Witch.

Thanks ladies!!

Zoe

Mostly Zoe is a good girl. Shes not sure why she sometimes feels compelled to pull the legs off grasshoppers or kick the cat. Other than that though, mostly shes a good girl.

Zoe is another large size doll, measuring approx 14" tall. I've been playing with different sizes and expressions. She actually has a forehead, which most of my dolls have very little of. She has an entirely different armature than I've ever done before as well. Lots of wire inside her, making her very sturdy.

Feel like I'm always learning new things in this crazy world of art dolls:)

Monster Swap - Come Join Us

Is he green, brown or purple? Does he have warts or slime? How about his teeth are the sharp and pointy or big brown nubs? What does the monster under your bed look like?

Well if your a doll maker, pro or novice come join us a the Great Monster Swap. You can get all the details over at Zans Blog Wild at Heart Art

Basically you'll bring your monster into being and then swap with another great artists own personal monster. It's going to fun so don't miss out!!