Christmas Pajamas

Hi WorldVillage Friends:

I was listening to the radio last night while driving to see my granddaughter at college. They were discussing family traditions at this time of year.

I was surprised at how many families give their loved ones homemade or store bought pajamas on Christmas Eve. We always did that, too. I've made an awful lot of pajamas and nightgowns over the years. They are so much fun to make.

While listening to the show, a little 9 year old girl called in to tell of her family tradition of making and sharing goodies with her neighbors. The host asked her what she wanted for Christmas. I expected her to say a computer or iPod. Instead she said she wanted new pajamas because her old ones were too short.

Gift Wrap Ideas

Hi WorldVillage People:

I know most folks are busy getting ready for the gift giving season. It is always such a rush to get everything done in time that we forget to enjoy the moment.

I was just wrapping a few of my gifts so that I could get them off in the mail.
Of course, I ran out of wrapping paper before I was finished and I couldn't get to the store. I decided to use some creativity and find something suitable to wrap the rest of my gifts. This is some of the wrappings I used.

The Power of Art for Health

My 80-year-old mother makes cloth angels. She doesn't like them to be called dolls, because to her a "doll" is a toy, and these are most definitely not. They're absolutely incredible, handcrafted, collectible works of art.

She makes about one a day, on average. She doesn't have much else to do; she lives alone in the middle of nowhere, which is not the best situation, and which we're working on. She doesn't have email, doesn't like television, doesn't feel up to walking or getting out much.

So she makes angels.

I was up there last week. I had been concerned about reports that she seemed depressed, so I was surprised, pleasantly so, to find her sitting at the table, making angels, looking as happy as I've seen her in years.

She enjoys making angels. She feels productive. At 80, she can't do much, but she can make these exquisite sculptures.

She gives them away, or she did until a week ago. Just gives them to people she thinks need an angel. The fabric ladies at Wal-Mart. Her driver to her doctor's appointments. Patients at the physical therapy center. Senior citizens at the senior center in town.

She doesn't have a real objection to selling them; she would if she felt she could. But she's not good at selling.

And it's making the angels that makes her happy.

I offered to try to sell the angels. She was very thrilled, because "If I get $1 apiece for 20 angels, I can make 20 more angels!" Since they're mostly made from donated and saved materials (one is from my prom dress), that's true.
Of course, I'm not going to sell them for $1; I'd give them to nursing homes first.

And that would make her happy.

Because it's the making of the art that keeps her healthy and happy, not the selling of it.

Mixed Media ART

Because my interests are expanding all the time, I have decided to blog on a wider range of topics within the "ARTS" realm.

Unusual Art Dolls

Can you imagine going into the $2 store or similar and buying small porcelain dolls to dearm and deleg them and rip the clothes off?

Inspiration

One of the most asked questions of designers is "where do you get your insiration"?

A great designer

Hi everyone,
Today I want to talk about a wonderful doll designer who lives in New Zealand.

"Being creative at Christmas time"

Hi everyone,
Sorry I have not blogged for a while. Big changes have happened in my life and I have shifted from Australia to New Zealand.

Cloth Doll Making Explained

Today I have the final installment of the basics explained Enjoy!

Colours I love to use bright clear colours or black and white for the clothing on my dolls. That is my preference.

Fabrics and Tools of the Trade

There are many many different types of fabric you can use for the body of your doll. Every quilting shop has flesh coloured cottons in many many different shades of body colour and many different qualities. If you actually go into one of these shops and place these fabrics next to your skin…you will be amazed at how dark in tone your skin actually is! My PET HATE is people who use white fabric or undyed Calico ( muslin) for faces and body skin. It makes the doll look terrible and I just hate the look. Remember we come in lots of different colours from almost black to chocolate brown to a lighter brown with a yellowy tinge to beige and anything in between as well.

More Tips And Techniques for making cloth dolls

Here are more tips and techniques for people making their first cloth character dolls.

How To Get Started with Cloth Dolls

Let me help you get started making your own cloth dolls. I will help you find the best resources and fill you in on some of the techniques that you will need to know.

What are Cloth Dolls?

This blog is the start of something new for me as I have never blogged before.
I hope you enjoy what I have to say.

Making, designing and teaching cloth dolls has given me great joy over the last several years. Its a wonderful feeling to engage your creativity and to make something amazing from a few small pieces of fabric.