The Magic Bean

Freebie Friday - Heart Warming Free patterns

Let's face it, all free doll patterns are heart warming.  But these are extra specially heart warming.  As Valentines day fast approaches, I thought I'd give you some ideas for free Valentines Day doll-related stuff for you to make for the special person in your life.  When it's hand made it really comes from the heart.

Cupid has his arrow pointed at you, click here for a free pattern.

And that arrow goes straight for the heart, click here for a cute heart doll pin pattern.

Click here for a simple Valentine cherub pattern from Karen Samuelson at Cloth Doll Connection.

Or how about a Valentine fairy?  (there seems to be a theme of cute chubby flying things going on here) Click here for the pattern.

For something a bit fishy, click here for a Valentine Merbaby.  I'm not sure how mermaids are specifically related to Valentines day, but there you go.

Sherry Goshon offers the Goddess of Love pattern, click here.

Heather Gailey gives us this free Jump Start my Heart Valentines pin, click here.

Karen Shifton gives us the Knave of Hearts pin doll here.

Although not strictly a doll, if you scroll down this page here you'll find a really cute vintage style heart nodder.

And if you fancy sending a cute Valentine of the more traditional paper variety check out these cute, free Vintage cards, here.

Now don't you just feel full of flurve......

When it rains it pours

And this week it seems to be raining magazines.  I got the latest Soft Dolls and Animals magazine and discovered that my doll, Water Lily is featured in the Inspirations section.

That brag collection is getting a little big, huh Mum?  Make more room on the coffee table!

One of those days

A few months ago I noticed that a magazine I read, Essentials would pay for tips submitted by readers.  So I whipped off an e-mail containing several tips from the lexicon I've inherited from my parents.  My mum and dad are kind of scary clever people who seem to know how to deal with just about everything, so there was a wealth of handed down knowledge to choose from.  I was mildly miffed when I failed to receive even an acknowledgement of the receipt of my e-mail from the publishers, so I sulked briefly about the lack of praise for my genius (or my parent's) and got on with making dolls. 

But I came home from work this morning to find a cheque with my name on it in the post.  Turns out Essentials published my tips and a little blurb and photo of moi in the February 2008 issue!

Just goes to show that you never know what will happen.  Today reminded my of this quotation:

I have always felt that the moment when you first wake up in the morning is the most wonderful of the twenty-four hours.  No matter how weary or dreary you may feel, you possess the certainty that...absolutely anything may happen.

Monica Baldwin

Guess it was just one of those days!

Oh and don't worry Mum, I've already bought you an extra copy for your brag collection.

Freebie Friday - Hey Gourd Looking!

I just got the book Making Gourd Dolls and Spirit Figures for Christmas.  It was not something I was really interested in before but after reading the book I find the traditional gourd shapes to be really inspiring.  Interested in giving gourds a go?  Here some info to get you started:

Click here for some general info on growing gourds and cleaning them.

Adele Sciortino has a fantastic newletter that reads like a magazine, click here to register and receive the PDF of the Fall 2007 issue which includes a great bit on making gourd dolls.

Click here for a cute free tutorial on how to make a gourd fairy.

Click here for a basic tutorial on how to make a painted gourd figure.

Click here for a tutorial on making a pin doll using gourd pieces.

Some people like Mimi Kirchner, use gourds as doll heads with cloth bodies, click here for a short tutorial on how to do this, plus a free rag doll pattern.  Just scroll down the page a bit to find it.

All that free doll stuff, doesn't that make you feel gourd?

When in doubt check the dust buster

Well, I fulfilled one of my life long ambitions on my Roman holiday:  I stuck my hand in the Mouth of Truth (a la Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck) and  came out with my digits intact.

I saw lots of really old cool stuff.

I ate a gelatto from the place where the pope gets his ice cream.  It was divine!  And I learned that they weren't above a good waffle cone in the Renaissance.

I even learned the secret for crossing the street in Rome - pretend that you don't care, saunter out into traffic with such self assurance that they wouldn't dare hit you.  If they smell the fear you are done for!  Either that, or cross with a bunch of nuns. 

By the end of my holiday I had the sorest feet and one heck of a crick in the neck.  Why did they have to make all the beautiful stuff so high up?

 

So now I'm home and back to my doll making.  I'd like to say 'with a vengeance', but I had  minor set back yesterday - I lost an important piece of fabric.  It doesn't look so important.  In fact you'd be forgiven for mistaking it for a scrap.

But it actually sits like this in the bodice.

See?  Important.  But I lost it.  And I only had that tiny piece left.  AND I bought the fabric in San Fransisco last year.I tore my sewing table apart.  I looked in drawers.  I took everything apart. I looked in impossible places.  I got myself in a dither.  Then my hubby came home. And calmly suggested that I look in the Dust Buster.  I wouldn't have vacuumed it up, I scoffed.  Himself took the hand vac apart and voila - my little piece of fabric.  I was torn between between being ecstatically happy that my bodice insert was saved and being really miffed that I had spent 2 hours looking for the sodding thing and Himself found it before he even took his coat off.  I settled for washing it in some Eucalan and giving my hubby a big smooch. 

Freebie Friday - Pin up Girls

I've been such a dutiful little blogger and written this a full week in advance so no one will be deprived of a Freebie Friday.  And why have I written this a full week in advance?  Because while you are reading this, I will be in Rome.  I can't wait to say, 'When in Rome...' and I'll actually be in Rome.  It's one of those things I've always wanted to do.  That and what Audrey Hepburn did in Roman Holiday.

Hope my hand doesn't get nibbled off.  I need that hand for doll making.

This week's free pattern round-up is for pin doll patterns.  So if you need a quick project or want to use up some scraps, why not try these free patterns:

I've always liked this pin doll from Patti La Valley, click here to see her Soul Mates pattern.

Jacque Uetz has this cute little bunny wabbit pin doll pattern here.

Ruth Prest designed this very cool stick pin doll. 

Judi Wellnitz designed this super cute name tag pin doll.

Name tag pin dolls are great for doll events or meeting up with a doll maker you have never met in person before.   Here is my name tag doll, created from a Patti Culea pattern that is sadly no longer available on the web.

If you feel like a pin doll with an aviary flavour, try Kerry Seymour's Firebird pin doll, click here.

Try Ute Vasina's Butterfly Pin doll for more winged fun, click here.

Here are a couple of cute dragon pins, the first from Lee Menconi-Steiger here.  And the second from Jennifer Carson, here.

Another cute one from Ruth Prest, click here to see her elephant head pin doll.

Here is a great way to practise heads, try Judy Skeel's Lucky Penny pin doll pattern here.

Ute Vasina offers Millie who will be a bit bent out of shape if you don't click here.  Ha, ha...

Keep it simple with this Annie head pin doll by Deanna Hogan, click here.

Let your pin doll blossom with this floral pin doll by Jevne Eilts.  Bloomin' marvellous.

There are several other free pin doll patterns featured in my previous posts, so click on the category on the right hand side of the blog entitled (ingeniously, I think) Free Doll Stuff on the Net and trawl through for even more pin dolls.

Ciao for now!  A parting that is both Italian and rhyming!

Freebie Friday - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

New Year's is traditionally the time for turning over a new leaf.  How about just taking the old leaf and making it into something new?  This Freebie Friday's round up of free patterns and tutorials is all about recycling - what is old is new again.

Click here to see how Amanda Gary makes dolls from recycling old t-shirts.  I received Akira Blount's doll making DVD for Christmas.  And hey, if it is good enough for Akira....

Click here to read a list of cool ideas for making dolls and their accessories out of various recycled materials.

If you are feeling a bit more ambitious, try these life-sized dolls made with old jeans and other recycled items.

Jeans have often shown up in projects of mine, I made the dress for Ute Vasina's Watchful Eye (below) out of a pair my my husband's worn out jeans (and the cardigan from a sweater my sister-in-law didn't want and the brooch from an old earring). 

Jeans not only make great doll clothes, but can be made into helpful aids around the sewing room.

Click here for instructions on how to make a wall organiser out of old jeans.

Click here for a free tutorial on making old jeans into a utility apron from Betz White. Sweet huh?

Betz has got a few more recycling tricks up her sleeve.  Literally - she uses old wool sweaters, felts them in the washing machine and uses them for all sorts of cute stuff.  See Betz's explanation of how to felt old sweaters here. 

Once you've got that technique mastered, try making a felted flower embellishment, or a fantastic felted bowl for your sewing accoutrement, or how about leaf and acorn embellishments for your dolls.

You could use up some old socks by making this Hobbit doll.  I often use old socks and nylons to make stockings for my dolls.

This doll I made for my sister-in-law from Patti Culea's pattern from the book Creative Cloth Doll Couture.  It has tights made of, um, tights.  So who cares if you blow a hole through yours, just use them for a doll.

So go forth - reduce, reuse and recycle.  Bask in your own green and eco friendly sense of tree-hugging goodness.  See, it is guilt-free doll making.  Doesn't that feel good?