Judy and Bethany and Jazz Fest

Judy

It's Jazz Fest time in New Orleans which brings lots of fantastic music, food and outings along with more guests. This year I'm blessed with the company of some very old friends from Michigan. It's so good for the soul to visit with people you've known for so long. We are having a wonderful time. Plus I so enjoy sharing my favorite city with people. I get to see it all over again through fresh eyes.

Going out to the Festival tomorrow for some sun, booty shaking, good food and all around fun. If you've ever been to the New Orleans Jazz Fest you are aware of the magic of the event. One of my very favorite things in life is getting lost in the groove of some funky live music and I plan to spend pretty much the entire day in that state of mind.

In all the commotion I've managed to make a couple of new dollies that I'd like to share with you.

Bethany

Edward

Edward wanted to go to wizardry school. He was quite certain he had natural talent, for instance sometimes when he got angry the wind would blow very hard.

Billy

Meet Billy

I don't make too many boys. Not sure why, I guess I never was really been around lil boys. I have a daughter and I had two sisters. I did have a little brother but when we were young he mostly just bugged me. (I do love him dearly as an adult I assure you:) Perhaps it's because boys wear boring clothes, no pretty frilly dresses.

I do like Billy's little outfit though and would much like one in my own size. You may recall a while back the argument between me and my sewing machine, well it seems my sewing machine was just old and has finally bit the dust. So I had to sew Billy's clothing entirely by hand. I do a lot of hand stitching anyway so it's nothing new but I can't say I've ever sewn an entire suit from hand, thank goodness it's only 6" in size:)

I must be getting old as the thought of hand sewing this outfit by hand 10 years ago....well I just wouldn't have had the patience. Now I find all those tiny little stitches to be quite relaxing and rewarding. To be honest it didn't take nearly as long as I would have thought. I think there was more fighting with my sewing machine than actual sewing. Every time I would get it out my blood pressure would go up in anticipation of the trouble that was about to ensue. I guess that explains why the hand sewing was so relaxing.

Anyway, I have another little boy I will be working on today. I will be hand stitching his clothing as well and I'm actually looking forward to it.

Dear Sewing Machine - RIP

New Dollies

I frequently get requests for small dolls. Perhaps from people populating their dollhouses as that is where dolls belong:)

The problem is I find small dolls to be harder to create than larger dolls. I have the utmost of respect for miniature artists. I honestly don't know how they create such tiny little things with such great precision.

My new dollies are a bit smaller and probably took me twice as long to create:)

Harper the Traveler

As some of you may know I'm involved in a collaborative project called the Traveling Doll Project. I did this last year and it was so much fun I decided to do it again. If ever as an artist you have the opportunity and most importantly time:) to do a collaborative project I would highly suggest you do so. I have learned so much about doll making and technique by being involved in these projects.

So this is Harper, my second doll that I've work on in the project. The first Delta Dawn, you can view here

Harper was first created by Nicole of MealyMonster who lives in Buffalo New York.

Nicole sent lil naked and pale Harper off to Cindy Sowers from Vermont and she got some make-up, hair, a fancy hat and a groovy chair.

I've given Harper a bit of a new hair do and fancy lil dress. I will be sending her off to Susie McMahon in Australia for her last leg of her travels.

I so love how each artist is inspired differently by each doll they receive and the progress and changes are so unexpected. I look forward to seeing what happens to Harper next.

Exposed

I've had a re-occurring dream most of my life.

I'm walking down the hall of the school I graduated from, Onsted High in rural Michigan. It's a crowded hallway with all my classmates going about their business. All is normal except for the fact that I am naked. I know my clothes are in my locker but for some reason on this day I cannot find my locker and I search for it frantically to no avail throughout the dream.

There is a reason for relaying this dream. This week I had the privilege of being featured on the Etsy blog in the Quit Your Day Job series.

As artists we expose ourselves through our art all the time but I found I had to gather a lot of courage to expose myself in the literal sense, such as an interview. You may not believe this but I'm actually quite a private person.

The comments, emails and response I've received have been nothing less than amazing, quite overwhelming and humbling. Customers, friends and strangers have written me and commented with words of encouragement and support, some that have brought me to tears. This I did not expect.

I know I am blessed to be part of such a wonderfully, supportive and creative community. So here I am friends, naked in the hallway but this time I don't feel so frantic about covering up and have learned that exposing myself is perhaps not such a horrible thing.

I wonder if next time I have that dream it might possibly have a different ending. I'll keep you updated:)