Make Way for the Queen

It's taken some time but I finally finished my Hang UR Imagination doll. At first I didn't have a clue as to what I wanted it to be, but as I continued to wrap the yarn around its head the idea hit that I wanted to honor the women that I saw selling things in the markets of Abijan and Bourke, Ivory Coast, West Africa. Now the outfit she is wearing is a little dressy for the market itself, but you get the idea of the regalness of the women who reign over their stalls like queens. I really enjoyed creating her and I think I just might do another one.

It's hard to believe that she started out as a clothes hanger and a block of wood.

A Day With Dolls

Youngest Dollmakers


I'm working on my imagination doll. It was so warm after the rain that the hair had to go up. I didn't have a clue about the doll, however afterwards she just started to evolve. will post her when finished.

You just have to love those long legs!

These dolls were Anne Hess designs done by Susan Ratti. I love the beaded faces.

So many dolls, too bad they weren't labeled to identify the makers.

Dolls on parade

Everybody's working and we're not even thinking about the indoor rain shower.

Creating an Imagination Doll

Neddle Knows Doll Club in the house- Debbie, Venus, Jean and Me

I had been looking forward to the doll workshop in Mt. Vernon with the 3D Doll Club’s Day with Dolls. This was going to be my first doll makers’ event and I was vibrating with excitement.
Well, for those of you who have been following my blog you know that life is full surprises. During the last week of July I found myself hospitalized again with an extremely low platelet count. A day after being admitted I had an extreme nosebleed that lasted for over 24 hours. Yes, I was frightened, but I was in the best possible place for this to happen. After receiving a dose of Retuxian, I was given 6 units of blood. All of the doctors and I agreed that I needed to have my spleen removed. The one thing I needed to know from my doctors was would I be able to be discharged on Friday, so that I could attend the workshop on Saturday. Needless to say I was happy to be out on Friday. Now, I had to hurry home to finish up my genie in the bottle doll.
Arrangements had been made and Tuesday was selected for surgery, everything went well. I’m on the mend and the ITP has been arrested.
It was great meeting up with Jean, Venus and Debbie. We hadn’t met officially in almost a year due to family commitments and illness. The Needle Knows Doll Club was in the house. I can’t remember when I had laughed so much and truly enjoyed myself as much as I did on Saturday. The host, 3D Doll club, did a wonderful job setting up everything for us. There were the magic purple bags that held all of our workshop supplies and the plentiful snack table. Three tables held the display of beautiful dolls and then there were the vendors in the auditorium. The workshops were great, but I really live to shop. Doll Makers Journey was present as were several local folks.

Dreaming of Genie

Sometime ago while widow shopping at Doll Makers Journey, I ran across a cute pattern of a genie in a bottle. The doll reminded me of the TV show I Dream of Jeannie with Barbara Eden and Larry Hageman.
I must admit that I am a visual learner and there are many times when I don’t fully read the directions, but are drawn to the picture or illustration instead. So the pattern arrives and I dive in only to go, ugh! I guess at the time my brain didn’t want to comprehend the directions. Well, I buried the pattern and moved on with life.
Along comes the announcement about a doll workshop (Day with Dolls) and I decided that I wanted to do the bottle doll. To be honest the directions were pretty clear cut and easy to follow. As I was putting the doll together I found myself adding little things to improve the overall out come of the doll and was very pleased with the results. I knew that I wanted to use fleece for the hair and also to give the illusion of smoke coming from the bottle as the genie made her appearance. The official title for the doll is Yes, Master.
While working on the doll, I suddenly found myself in the grips on ITP outbreak and wound up in the hospital for a week; more about this in another blog entry. I got discharged the day before the workshop so I didn’t get to put all the finishing touches I had planned for the doll, but I realized I can always make a new one and this doll would do just fine.