Things I'm Thankful for

Yes, my belly is full, too full in fact,  my house is warm and my family is safe and healthy.  I have a wonderfully supportive and quirky husband, a especially talented and beautiful daughter, basically a perfect  little family that I adore.    When you actually take the time to think of the things you can be thankful for it is really quite easy and fills you with a sense of calm and gratitude.

I have been blessed beyond these very simple yet valued things and am glad for the season to help remind me just how very blessed I have been.  I get to create art for a living!  Its not something I take for granted and can never fully express my gratitude to those who support and  appreciate what I do.   My work is absolutely an extension of who I am and for others to enjoy and acknowledge that is one of the greatest gifts I've been offered in life. 

I also want to share with you some work that is currently available in my shop.   These dolls are from  a  series I'm working on called The Orphans of New Orleans Past.  At 1432 Magazine Street there is an old building that once was St. Mary's Orphanage, operating in  the late 1800's.   Of course the orphanage is now closed and I believe the building abandoned.    When I drive by this building I can't help but wonder about the children that ended up there, who their parents were and under what circumstances a child ends up in an orphanage.   These dolls names, birth dates,  parents and addresses are inspired by historical periods in New Orleans history,  they are the children I imagine lived at 1432 Magazine Street.

Bridgette Millaudon

Bridgette Millaudon, Orphan of Uptown

born April 26, 1908
mother - debutante Celeste Millaudon
father - unnamed
last known address: 6008 St. Charles Ave. New Orleans, LA

Simone Lamothe

Simone Lamothe, Orphan of Storyville

born Sept 24, 1901
mother - Francis Lamothe
father - unknown
last known address: 345 Basin Street, New Orleans

Beatrice Hooper

Beatrice Hooper, Orphan of the Vieux Carre

born May 17, 1906
mother - albino performer Ceclia Hooper
father - fire eater Raymond Hooper
last known address: 675 Decatur Street

Celeste and Babette

 Babette

Celeste

Yet once again I find myself MIA from bloglandia.  Do you ever find yourself burning your candle at both ends?  I have felt this way since September and am so looking forward to a holiday break, where all I have to do is sit on the couch, eat my mother in laws fabulous food and have her wait on me.  She is the very best at that.    Until then I'll keep at it.   Celeste and Babette are a couple of the new gals I've been working on.

I have a couple of more gals in wardrobe:)  I'll post them here when they are properly dressed.

Hope everyone is enjoying the cooler weather and the upcoming holiday season!!

Holiday Ornaments

A short post to share some of the new holiday ornaments for your tree.  I hope you like them!

I'm Back

Hazel hates dolls, they creep her out.

Ha, I love the irony of Hazel's story!

So wow, I have been so busy and have so neglected my lil blog which is usually the case this time of year.   The Carnival of Saints and Souls Gallery show was a huge success.   The artists and their dollies were amazing as was expected.  You can see all of them here as well as my dolls from the show that are available online through the gallery link.

Today I wanted to share with you some of my very favorite suppliers on Etsy.   A great supplier is like your best friend, they make your life so much easier as an artist and though I really want all of their stuff for myself  I know that's not possible so I'm gonna share with you.

For the most amazing vintage laces and Victorian textiles scraps please check out Bonblu and dishvintage  I visit both of these shops almost daily to see what they have to offer and they continually have the most beautiful laces and trims that will make you drool.

While I don't use the glass eyes regularly when I did I found VintageVancouver for a great constant supply of antique glass blown German eyes.  She has all sizes and colors at a really great price and I can vouch....they are gorgeous!!!

Last but not least is my new and favorite supplier of Tibetan Lambswool.   I've always had trouble finding the perfect supplier of this must for my dolls.  FunwithTrollDolls has filled that need to a tee.   Her plates are gorgeous, wonderfully priced and she does custom dying on request.   Try her Teeswater wool.   Its so beautiful and really fun to work with.

Thanks so much to our dolly suppliers..without you we couldn't do what we do.   I hope you'll find some goodies in these wonderful shops....Oh, lest I forget all of these shops have amazing customer service which also a huge bonus.

Admitting my Computer Inadequacies

dpi, pdf files, image size, photoshop...ackkk, it all drives me crazy.  

So I threw in the towel and decided to let a new and very dear Internet friend of mine make me some new business cards and postcards.    I am so thrilled with my experience that I just must share with y'all.  Above is the front side of my new postcard....I love it!!

I met PhanieMarie on Etsy and we immediately hit it off, she is whacky, smart, cute and talented.   Once I took a peek at her work I realized she was going to be more than an Internet buddy, she was gonna be my new graphic design artist!

What a relief to just hand it all over to her and let her create and work.   She designed and ordered all the promotional stuff I need for my upcoming Carnival of Saints and Souls show  and I can not be more than delighted with what she has done for me.

Not only did she come up with an amazing design that I immediately fell in love with, she lead me in the right direction for professional printing and delivery.

If your a computer boob like myself these kind of things can drive one crazy!   Deciding to hand it off to a professional was the best decision I ever made!!

Please check out Phanies work in her Etsy shop   or her website  where she offers services of photo restoration and more.

Sneak Peek of Miss Lil Bo Sheep

I predict that I will do little posting on my blog during the month of September.  I'm working diligently to make new dolls for the holiday season as well as working on my collection for the Saints and Souls Gallery Show the 1st of October.

The line up is out and you can read all about it on the official blog.   Another amazing line-up of artists, definitely a dolly event you'll want to attend if possible.

This is a peek at my first finished doll for the show. 

Miss Lil Bo Sheep - Saint of the Unoriginal

Little Bo Sheep

Follow her and she will safely lead you down the path of mediocrity and commonplace.

Of course nobody sets out with hopes of following Miss Sheep, but her lure of a safe and easy passage is hard to resist.  Shes a beauty to look at but evil in nature.

New Dolls and My Fall Schedule

Josie

Josie hates returning to school after summer vacation. All her friends got bigger and shes not sure they remember her.

So excited and a bit nervous about my fall schedule.   Looking forward to making some Halloween dolls, who doesn't love the inspiration of the Hallowed Eve?  I also will be showing my work in the Saints and Souls show again at the Poets Gallery at the end of October.  Like their Fan Page on Facebook to get updates and images of the dolls for sale.  You can also purchase online if you find something you cannot live without.  There will be a gathering of amazing doll artists for the show, you won't want to miss this one, but more on that and some of the artists showing later.

I also, much to my dismay got my jury summons and schedule, every Tuesday and Thursday in the month of October I must report to the New Orleans courthouse to fulfill my civic duty.  Its kind of strange as I've always wanted to sit on a jury but it just could not have come at a worse time, but isn't that always the case. 

It'll all get done and fussing over it will not make it go away or any better, so I will take one day at a time.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy Josie and Lilith a couple of new dollies available in my shop.

Lilith

Lilith haunts tea parties. She met her demise eating crumpets and drinking tainted tea at her friend Gwendolyns summer tea party. She enjoys spending time with the little girls in their pretty party dresses but would like it if they knew she was there so she could show them her good manners and her excellent croquet abilities.

Back at It

Giselle

I love my summer vacations, seeing family and freinds and getting out of the New Orleans heat for a bit.  As  well I'm always eager to get home after about a week.  I start to get a little cranky when I'm away from my own bed and my dolly making stuff.

As usual I have come home with copious amounts of supplies that my family has gathered for me throughout the year.  I don't know where they find this stuff but my mother and sister are my favorite suppliers.  I came home with the most incredible and luxurious vintage laces and fabrics I could not wait to get my hands into and start creating.  

Giselle is my first Halloween doll of the season.  Her dress is made from a vintage netting that is by far my favorite type fabric and thanks to mom I have gobs of it!

So glad to see summer winding down.  Eager for a bit of cool weather and my fall routine of dolly making!

Loopy August Sale

Jeannie and other dolls on sale

As usual my summer postings are slim here on the loopy blog.  I've been busy with the little squid, we've been vacationing and having some summer fun.

Once a year, I like to offer some pieces at a tad bit lower prices for my customers and it is that time of year!   Click the link above to go to my shop and see the dollys that are waiting for new homes at a slightly lower than usual price.

I am currently on vacation in my birth state of Michigan.  Visiting family and enjoying the slightly, and I do mean slightly cooler weather.   My Michigan trips are also my shopping trips.  I have been scouring estate sales, garage sales for the perfect antique fabrics and trims for my dollys.  Something about rural Michigan, the vintage textiles are in abundance!!   As well my mother and my sister, both antique dealers save up their findings for me all year.   I cannot tell you how excited about the materials I have found.   I cannot wait to get home and get to work.   New/old materials are so inspiring!

I'm looking forward to fall and getting back to my doll making schedule.

I hope ya'll are having a wonderful summer!

Cassandra and Tessa

Tessa

Thanks so much for the nice comments on my last post!

I've been working on these new dollies with the painted eyes.   A couple of things motivated me to try something new.  Well, first I just like to push myself to use different materials and techniques and have recently found the time for a little exploration, which has been fun.  I also have been wanting to make some smaller pieces, that might be a bit more affordable to most.  The element I regularly use for eyes just doesn't really allow me to work smaller so I was needing to come up with something different.  Also, as all you doll makers know you end up with a lot of scraps and pieces of your favorite fabrics and textiles, too small to work with but too precious to throw out.

These smaller dolls are a way to get to use those bits and pieces I've had around as well as some hair scraps, again too little to use on my larger dolls but too much to just throw away.

The biggest misconception is that smaller is easier or faster...HA, no way.  It seems the smaller I work the harder it gets, those tiny hands are no walk in the park.  But I do like the dainty little things.  Next week I'll probably work on some of my regular loopy dolls but I'll definitely be revisiting these mini loopys soon.

Cassandra

Joelle

Joelle

No, I haven't lost my marbles:)  Just playing with some new ideas and looks for my dollies.

Joelle ponders if the joy of having the puppy is worth the sadness when he dies.

Faye

Faye

Strolling by the swamps edge Faye found some eggs. They were abandoned so she picked them up and planned to see them hatch. The problem is shes not sure if they are bird eggs or gator eggs and shes a little nervous for the big day.

Nathan

Recently I sat down to quickly make a small sheep as a tag along to another piece I'm working on.  I started creating and creating and eventually ended up with not a small sheep but Nathan the Billy Goat.  Wow, what fun to be lead away into something I had no idea was in my head or was waiting to be created.

Nathan

I have a special place in my heart for fantasy.  I read the entire series of The Chronicles of Narnia books at least three times as a tweenie.   I suspect Nathan comes from those memories of adventure, fantasy and letting my imagination run wild.  He makes me smile, and I hope he does the same for you!!

Some new Dolls and Summer Plans

May

As the summer months near and people are looking forward to getting outside, down here in the bayou I am preparing to hole up for the next three months in my cool, air conditioned home.  Perhaps its the combination of the stifling heat and effects of mid-life that makes it nearly unbearable to step outside.  It seems to get worse each year, to the point some days I believe I just may die from sweating too much.  I try to take it in stride, as I know many up north have been holed up for months themselves, hunkering down in the winter snow.  With the good comes the bad in most everything I suppose. 

I do look forward to spending time with NoraLeigh.  She plans to learn how to cook this summer.  She has really taking a liking to the culinary arts, which I also enjoy..so that should be fun and yummy.  My sister has just moved to a kind of commune in Mississippi, near by.  She has a lovely pond, peace and serenity on a secluded 20 acre plot.  Obviously we plan to spend a lot of time out there. 

With summer vacations and the busy-ness of being mommy dolly creations, as usual slows down.  I'll be creating and sharing whenever I can find the time, but no doubt it will not be as often as usual. 

So with that, I'd like to share some new pieces I've been working on.



Daphne and Deliah

The Gift of Motherhood

Clara and Baby Lanie

Boys and men are a rarity in my family.  The last three generations my family has been made up of primarily women so when I think of Mothers day I think of the mother daughter relationship.

I created Clara and baby Lanie with Mothers day and all that being a daughter and a mother means to me.  Motherhood is truly a gift.  Without it one can neverly fully  understand, appreciate or properly forgive her own mother.

I frequently have light bulb moments in motherhood as I'm screaming at my daughter or exasperated with her  mood swings, remembering my own mothers frustration and misunderstanding of me when I was a daughter at a similar age and she was a mother. 

With motherhood comes the most extreme emotions of love, fear, joy, anxiety, resentment, pride,  guilt, regret..the list goes on.  With motherhood comes every emotion that makes us human.  It truly is a gift.

My daughter NoraLeigh recently said to me, "mom, I'm afraid to have a child.  Afraid I won't raise her right"  my response to her was, "all you can do darling is do the best you can and love them as much as you can, and you'll be a wonderful mother".   The rest just plays out and that is what makes us not perfect but beautiful mothers.

Happy Mothers Day to all those perhaps not perfect by beautiful mothers out there!!

Caleb

Caleb

What?  Everyone has an accident from time to time.

Casey

Casey

Casey likes Easter well enough, she just hopes she cand find some dang eggs this year. Why does that bunny have to hide them so well, after all we're just kids?

Casey is the first of three girls I'm working on this week.

Inspirations

So often I hear the remarks that my dollies must be inspired by Tim Burton.  It's interesting to me as I am a fan of Tim Burtons work and do love his characters but I wouldn't call myself a huge fan.  I've seen most of his movies once, some maybe twice but that's it.

I think inspirations may trickle down and perhaps Tim Burton was a fan of whom I believe I'm most inspired by, Margaret Keane.  Keanes prints were iconic in my youth.  I had a number of them on my walls and remember laying on my pink chenille bedspread admiring the artists work and identifying with the images.  She was a master at capturing emotion and depth, most entirely through the eyes.

  Eleanor

I was feeling pretty excited recently when I created Eleanor.  One of the limitations I've been running into in creating my dolls is with their eyes.  The element I use lends toward a sideways look, so I have been feeling a bit trapped in that expression.  With Eleanor I decided to really play with the eyes and was delighted when I got her to look straight ahead, resembling even more a Keane painting.

Of course I'm not trying to copy Keane's work but am intrigued with the emotion she captures through her big eyes and try to do something similar in my medium.   I'm excited to play with this newly learned trick of mine and see what I can create, I feel likes it's opened a door of expressions I wouldn't have been able to achieve before.

Raven

 Raven

Why on earth did mother make her wear this silly dress to the party? How is she supposed to hunt for bugs and play football all covered in lace. Mothers are not always practical.

Happy weekend everyone!



Etsy and Buyer Privacy Concerns

Etsy, the site in which I currently sell my work is changing a lot.  The recently have recieved some bad press in regards to buyer privacy issues.   Making all buyers now searchable by user name or real name on the site.   They recently tried to combat this by making all feedback private and making it clear when you sign up that you have a choice in whether to display your real name or not on your user account.

I want my buyers to feel confident and secure in making a purchase from me.  If you in anyway do not feel comfortable with registering or creating an account on Etsy to make a purchase,   I ask that you please contact me through my blog or my facebook fanpage . 

Now, done with the yuckky stuff:)  Meet Melissa, shes looking for a new home...her current one is not the best.

Melissa

Helen and Rachel

Helen

Rachel

Both of these gals have sold but I thought I'de share them here on my blog anyway.   The girls tend to get a little jealous if they don't get equal air time.

Carnival 2011

Another Carnival season comes to a sad end.  The magic has been dispersed, the beads have been thrown and caught and the glitter and wigs have been put away for now.

Unfortunately I had to sit Mardi Gras day out this year, my RA keeping me on the couch.  No worries,  I 've learned to take pleasure in watching my family revel in the celebration and that brings warmth to my heart and a smile to my face.

I love that my daughter, NoraLeigh has taken after her mama and works weeks in advance on her costume and preperation for the magic of Mardi Gras day, so if I'm not there in body I know I'm there in spirit.  She is so creative and inspired, I like to think perhaps that is a bit of myself rubbing off on her.  She inspires me everyday.

So it's back to work for me, with a renewed inspriation and a touch of Mardi Gras magic to motivate me.

Marcy

 Marcy

Marcy wishes they would move back to the city, there is no one to play with out here in the boondocks.



Elsa

 Elsa

Elsa loves riding the carriages through the French Quarter but she does worry about the horses, they must get tired and how they manage to avoid the drunken sots on the street is a mystery.

Elsa is available in my online shop

The Progression of Art - Ugly to Pretty

 Somewhere along the way of this artistic journey I've been on my dolls got pretty. Of course pretty or ugly is completely subjective and this is my opinion.  I have no idea how or when this happened.  Truth is, it's been a progression I was completely unaware of.  Above is Virgina a current dolly and below is Bethany, a doll I created 2 years ago. 

Whats funny is when I made Bethany I never set out to make an ugly doll.  I was still fairly new at this art doll stuff and she is just what came out.  When I set out to make Virginia I didn't intend to make a pretty doll, again she is just what comes out these days.

 I'm very grateful and honored that people see something in what I am doing, even if my talent wasn't or isn't still yet honed. 

If I had any advice for a new and budding doll artist (or any artist for that matter) I would say that though your technical skills may not be what they will be in the future always create what is true in your heart.  Work to achieve what you want to say.  From my experience people will still be able to feel and appreciate that even if it's not yet the best you have to offer.  Art is a continuous, ever exciting journey that never ends.