The Magic Bean

Freebie Friday - Stickin' it to Ya

I came home after one of those days yesterday.  Work was rushed, I missed my train on the way to the doll club, I ate a lot of onions and forgot I didn't have any breath mints and I found a mysterious stain on my trouser leg.  Yup - one of those days.  Then realised that Freebie Friday is upon us.  And I hadn't even thought of a theme.  So I thought about pin cushions, 'cause I learned that Patti Culea is teaching this awesome sewing caddy doll at Rainbow Silks in October (see there is some logical flow to my thoughts).  Then I realised just how many free pin cushion patterns there are on the net.  Holy Pin Cushions Batman!  Here's just a few:

Of course there is my free pin cushion doll pattern, Pinelope, in case you missed it, click here.

A hedgehog pin cushion pattern here and a mouse one here.

Who needs diamonds?  How about a pin cushion ring? Here.

Cup of tea anyone?  Click here for a pin cushion cuppa pattern and a felted one here.

Or maybe a waffle cone?  Click here for an ice cream pin cushion. 

Or a handy dandy pin cushion with a place to store thine threads, here. Sorry, came over all Elizabethan there for a second.

Here's a refined one, dahling.

Here's one that is somewhat less refined.  You won't believe your eyes, click here. (don't worry, it's nothing rude).

This one would double up as a pin cushion and as a place for your doll to take a load off.

And here is a hugely long list of links to more free pin cushion patterns.  Cause if someone already done the work then why repeat it, I ask ya!

And I've only skimmed the surface.  I may have to do a follow-up Freebie Friday, maybe Free Pin Cushion Patterns: the Sequel.  You may need to bring popcorn to sustain you.  You've been warned...

I've been Sparkled....errr Tagged

Kai who really does seem to have a party in her head, has tagged me.  I've been sparkled!

So now to pass on some glittery accolades to some of the people I love to read about on their blogs.  As I was only recently tagged, I don't want to tag the same people 'cause that would just be a bit dull for you, dear reader.  The whole point here is to point my fearless readers towards some new reading material to fuel your feverish doll addicted minds!  So here's some blogs to visit:

Soren at Rivermade has got some very cool dolls going on.  I don't know her well, but we did have the same dream.  Weird, huh?  (Insert spooky sounds here).

Romona at Northbrook Designs who is a very talented doll maker, a fellow Canadian, and a thoroughly sweet person.

Angela Jarecki is a hugely talented doll maker.  I took a couple of online classes with Angela and I loved them.  Angela doesn't update her blog often but when she does....let's just say I have to wipe the drool off my keyboard and the look of envy off my face.

Here's a doll I made in my first class with Angela, still one of my favourites:

Speaking of Angela's classes, Natalie Hamade mentioned on her blog recently that she took a class called Windows with Angela  a while back and boy did her work turn out beautifully.  Oops, gotta wipe that drool again.  So Natalie has just got to be tagged.

Now that the tagging is done, here is a free sparkly doll pattern for you to enjoy from Doll Maker's of Glitter Town (no really, I didn't make that up, that's what they're called).  Just gotta spread that sparkle!

Freebie Friday - a Really Good Vintage

My doll club, Rainbow Dolls has decided to take on a challenge.  We are going with the theme 'A Really Good Vintage', incorporating vintage materials and/or styles into our dolls.  While doing some research for my doll I found some pretty great vintage free stuff - tutorials, ageing recipes and patterns. 

There are really so many directions that you could go in for this theme.  I started thinking about the history of dolls and found this nice little article with some great pictures, click here to check it out.

I also found this great article on historical doll clothes.  It has some great tips and and a fantastic chart that shows the fabric and pattern types used during different periods. Click here to see this great reference.

Besides the commercially produced dolls of the past you could also consider more traditional doll forms.  the rag doll for instance, click here to see a free pattern.

Other doll forms like the apple head dolls traditionally made in North America are another option.  Click here to visit the Apple Dolls site.  It has free tutorials on carving heads, making bodies and clothes, plus 4 videos to watch for free.

Primitives are another style option for this type of theme.  Prim Mart has a whole page of tutorials on everything from how to sculpt a nose to how to make pantaloons.  Click here to take your pick.  If you'd rather have a prim pattern, they've got those too, click here to see what they've got for free.  Also, check out my previous post on prim Patterns for free by clicking here.

If you wanted something a bit different why not turn to the 1940's.  Here's a great pattern for a doll and her clothes.

Travelling further back in time, here is a great vintage knitting pattern for a doll sweater from 1904.

If you don't have access to actual vintage materials but you want your fabrics to have that vintage feel you could age them.  The technique you use depends on the look you are after.  If you want a grungy look you could try coffee dying.  A lot of primitive doll makers swear by coffee dying, here is an article that explains the process in some detail.  Coffee gives the fabric an umber hue.  Tea dying will often give an orange hue to the fabric, although different teas will give you slightly different colours.  The Country Cupboard has a good little article on ageing fabric with tea as well as several links to other websites with similar articles, click here to see it.  If you want your fabric to look yellowed then try dying with onions, here is an article to tell you how to do it from Inkin' and Thinkin' .  If you are looking for a more faded, well worn look then bleaching the fabric is best, Martha Stewart shares how to achieve that vintage look here.

One of the the club members pointed out that 'vintage' can be a pretty broad term now a days.  What is vintage we wondered?  I saw a girl not long ago wearing what I use to wear in the 80's and when I exclaimed at this, she informed me it was 'vintage'. Already????  My mum warned me this would happen.  I'm really sorry I bought polyester shirts Mum.  And I can't tell you how sorry I am for those bell bottoms I wore in university.   

I Love You This Much

The lovely Romona awarded me this I Love You This Much Award and now I'm feeling warm and fuzzy.

A lot of people see these sorts of awards and wonder what 'tagging' someone is all about.  It's not like a game of tag. It's not bad to be 'it'.  In fact, it's good to be it.  It means that people who might not necessarily read your blog might find you from the link on someone else's blog.  It's like spreading sunshine....ahhhh....go on bask in it.

The rules are:

1. If you get tagged (and want to play along), write a post with links to blogs that you love,
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme.

So I'm spreading the sunshine to these blogs that I enjoy:

Kai who just makes me giggle.  Even though I've never met Kai in person, I just know she's fun.

Shashi who not only makes the most gorgeous dolls, but is a hugely positive and giving person.

Venus who has a very cool name for starters and is a majorly talented doll maker.

My friends Jenn and Kendra who are not a doll makers but two of my best friends.  They are both very creative people, but I think they have an unfair advantage with the whole blogging thing because they each have a baby.  So all they have to do is post a picture of their adorable babies and whammo - a great blog.  Unfair I think. 

So I'm going to 'borrow' someone else's babies.  This has got to be the funniest video ever.  So I'll pass it on to everyone who reads my blog, so you get a I Love You This Much Award of your own.  If there was such a thing as sunshine in video format this is it! 

Freebie Friday - Free Doll Making Videos

Sometimes the written word just won't do it and you need it from the horse's mouth, so to speak.  Here are some great videos to help you improve your doll making:

Antonette Cely gives this fantastic demo on how to alter doll arm patterns.  Wish I'd watched this ages ago. It is so helpful.

Here Judi Wellnitz shares how to turn a doll's fingers:

Here is another great video from Antonette Cely on colouring doll faces.  It is worth watching this video just to see her 'Malibu Stacey' look!

For those of us who can't necessarily get to doll conferences, here's a little peek at the NIADA conference:

Here's one idea for making wings for dolls:

Did you break out the popcorn?  Hey if this isn't an excuse to eat popcorn, I don't know what is. 

The Soul Whisperer

When you are at the end of your rope and you feel like you might finally lose your grip, something or someone suddenly whispers words of encouragement to your soul and you feel as if you've been given a little boost of whatever it was you needed to hang in there.  Those whispered words might have been courage, support, inspiration, or love, but they kept you going.  In my imagination, those words are whispered by a guardian of our souls - a Soul Whisperer.  And my latest doll is what I imagine this Soul Whisperer might look like.

I don't know where exactly I got the idea for the Soul Whisperer.  I think it may have started with the fantastic co-ordinated cottons that I bought from the Marsh Store, in Ilderton, Ontario, Canada.  I really loved the faces on the fabric and started collecting buttons and push-moulds with faces on them.

While pondering what to do with these yummy fabrics I remembered a dream that I had in high school at a time when I was particularly stressed.  I dreamed of a beautiful and extremely calm woman. Whenever she appeared I calmed down immediately.  The woman in my dream was a gorgeous black woman with long beautiful braids.  So immediately, I started to picture this doll with her face.  And the faces on the fabrics were the souls she was whispering to. 

I have never made a black doll before this or in fact, any doll that wasn't white.  When I mentioned the idea of this doll to a friend who is black she was very excited about the design.  However, another friend who is white said that I'd better be careful or I might offend someone - a reaction I wasn't expecting.  The idea behind the doll was not political. I just happened to picture the character as being black.  I am not black myself, true, but I am not blond and I've made blond dolls before. 

I think part of the reason that you see many more white dolls than black dolls is that the cloth doll world, and in fact, the craft world is still predominantly white.  And we tend to make dolls in our own image.  Very often people say that we make dolls that look like ourselves without realising it.  However, my friend's cautious reaction to making a doll that is black suggests another reason that we see far fewer black dolls.  Maybe we are afraid of offending people.  How very sad if that is the case.  We are missing out on so much beauty.

I hope when people look at this doll they see what I imagined - a beautiful woman (with extremely stylin' shoes) who just happens to be black. 

I am thinking of offering this doll as an online class so it will be interesting to see how people react to her.  Please let me know what you think. 

Freebie Friday - I Don't Wanna Grow Up

Sometimes I have difficulty believing that I am actually a grown-up.  I may have a husband, a career, a mortgage and health insurance, but I still feel like I'm really a kid wearing grown up clothes (except someone forgot to tell my feet to catch up with the rest of my body because I still wear kid's shoes).  Case in point - my mother in law bought me a magnifying glass for a table-top, thinking this might help me with things like beading.  I immediately thought it would be good for doing this:

Granted, enlarging your nostrils to that particular level of magnification is not dignified, but boy it's fun!

This may explain why as a grown-up I still play with dolls.  So this week I've collected some free patterns that do not challenge me artistically or stretch my technical skill set, but do make me want to clap my hands and giggle.  Get ready to play with these patterns.

Here is  a whole page of fun free patterns from Lotus who reads my blog (Hi Lotus! - waving madly) - there's an alien, an elf, a turtle and a wee flower pin cushion.

If the need to have a finger puppet show strikes you (as it does), make yourself some felt finger puppet monsters.  Click here for the free tutorial.

These mini dolls are so cute.  Click here to see the mini Wizard of Oz dolls and the wee key chains with kids in school uniform.

And this pattern from Shelley Hawkey totally cracks me up - not sure why....it's a stuffed ant doll, don't know, but it makes me giggle.  Click here to see the pattern.

This next pattern mostly makes me laugh cause it's a Wee for Free.  Insert maniacal and immature titter here.  And click here to see the object of our glee.

This next pattern is a much more nostalgic childhood thing.  Click here to see Loretta (you need to scroll down the page to get there).  Ahhhh...isn't she cute?

And for maximum silliness check out this sock elephant from Q.D. Patooties. 

Or how about Big Whoop, also from Q.D. Patooties, the most apathetic softie I have ever seen, click here.  Big Whoop reminds me of this poem:

Today

Today I will not live up to my potential.

Today I will not relate well to my peer group.

Today I will not relate well in class.

I will not volunteer one thing.

Today I will not strive to do better.

Today I will not achieve or adjust or grow enriched or get involved.

I will not put up my hand even if the teacher is wrong and I can prove it.

Today I might eat the eraser off my pencil.

I'll look at the clouds.

I'll be late.

I don't think I'll wash.

I need a rest.

Today, I will pretend I'm not a grown-up.  go on, you can too.  Just don't revert to eating paste.  That is just gross!

The Meeting Went Smooth as Silk

Rainbow Dolls latest meeting was held on Thursday January 31st, at Rainbow Silks.  I unfortunately, couldn't make the meeting but was given the full report by our own Mavis, pictured here with two of her dolls, created in a class with British designer Janet Clark (if I'm not mistaken).

The fantastic Jill treated everyone to her expertise in working with silk.

As you can see, Jill loves to use silk on her dolls and does so with great effect.

Having been absent, Mavis has authored this report of Jill's presentation. Read all about it:

Jill showed an impressive selection of silk fabrics, sourced from her world travels, which included Thailand. She described how silk can be made to drape crisply or in soft curves (using an interlining of domette or flannelette), and everyone had a hands-on opportunity to make a stitched rosette. These were made from a 6-inch circle of silk, gathered with a running stitch round the edge. The circle was then pinch-pleated all over, in a random way, to produce either a softly-gathered flower shape, or an intensely secured organic button.  The rosettes can be further embellished with beads and/or other decorations, as desired.

Here Stella shows off her silk rosette.

And Karon works away on her rosette.

Jill’s recommendations for handling silk:

1. It’s much easier to use than is generally expected.
2. Some loosely-woven silks should be avoided.
3. Diana’s wedding dress should have had weights in the hem, which would have removed all those terrible creases (!).
4. Look at curtain books for suggestions of how to do swags, tails and drapes.
5. See late 19^th century costumes, especially those designed by Charles Frederick Worth around the 1880s.

For those of us who didn't make the meeting, check out this video on how to handle silk:

Mavis re-made our notice board for display at Rainbow Silks and created some leaflets about our illustrious group. 

If you want more info on our club, you can e-mail me or join our Yahoo Group.

Stella also took votes for the theme for our upcoming challenge.  We are still collecting votes from the Yahoo Group members who were not present to vote in person.  All will be revealed in the fullness of time....

Our next meeting will be Thursday February 28th at 1:30pm at Rainbow Silks.  Chris will be giving a demo on dying fabric.  Don't know about you but I need all the help I can get! 

Freebie Friday - Just Hanging Out

I personally love hanging dolls - that is, dolls that hang from a wall, door knob etc.  Living in a glorified closet means that space is at a premium for me, so hanging dolls provide one more means of doll display.  This week's free pattern round-up is all hanging dolls.

I love this new Bon-bon Ornament designed by Edwina Sutherland, click here to get the free pattern.

Sherry Goshon designed this little doll as a Christmas ornament but personally I think she'd look cute hanging around at any time of year, click here for the pattern.

Arlene's Originals gives us this cute wreath inhabited by spring sprites, click here for the pattern.

I've linked to this wall angel doll before, designed by Marilyn Nicholson, but I love the Art Deco feel of the design so I'll give you the link again, in case you missed it the first time, click here.  And cause it's my blog and I'll double up if I wanna.

This little doll is hanging on for dear life, click here for a pin doll that is Swinging on a Star. Doesn't that just put you in mind of Bing Crosby in Going my Way?  Go on, hum along.

Mostly I keep my free doll pattern round-ups to the humanoid variety but these next hanging critters were so cute I couldn't help myself. Click here to see some hanging cats.  Call me crazy but I'm totally in love with this Flying Pig Hang-up Plushie and this little swan. And did you notice how nice a segue that song was?  From Swinging on a Star to animals.  Ah yes, I'm a blogging genius.

Hang loose, until next Friday!