A while back I took an online class from Cindee Moyer, Equestrienne. I did really well on the horse (or should I say relatively), but I never did get around to doing the doll that goes with the horse. The flower dancer doll (Cyndi Mahlstadt style) goes perfectly on the horse. This was the doll that I created when the gals came over in August after EDAC that I mentioned in an earlier post. I've really enjoyed this method of making dolls and have created several of them since the conference. The doll in the center (largest one with the skinny legs) is the one I created in Cyndi's class at EDAC. The one on the right I started the day the gals were here for our doll "play day". The one on the left I tried something a little different and painted her eyes open instead of closed.


Here are some more images of the flower dancer dolls I've made, including the whole gang & close ups of some of them.

Sorry it took my so long to update my post - I haven't had a chance since right before I went to EDAC at the end of July - here is the update from that trip -
After much anticipation, we were off to the Enchanted Doll Artist Conference. Mother Nature was conspiring against us & we had a horrendous storm hit very early that morning with torrential rains and tremendous lightening. Luckily for us, though it was a fast moving storm and did not delay our flight. It was an adventure meeting up and getting to the airport. Happy travelers waiting flight out of DFW at the airport.

One of the first activities after arriving at the conference was the opening night festivities which consisted of a Gypsy Tea Party in honor of our head gypsy, Pamela Aramas. We were all asked to dress in our best gypsy finery. We did the best we could considering we had to pack everything in one suitcase. We laughed about looking more like aging hippies than gypsies.

The shirts we wore were drawings that I did and we got together before the conference and each of us painted her own shirt and added glitter and rhinestone embellishments. What fun!

Another thing planned for the opening night was making wish wands and exchanging them. Earlier in the day Lisa saw some shoes that she absolutely loved (they were so much Lisa's style of shoe) and commented on them to the wearer. When it came time to do the wands, Lisa thought she would wish for Maria Teresa's shoes. Later in the evening when Lisa & I were doing our make-it-take-its, Maria Teresa came up to LIsa with a bag and told her that her wish had been granted. Maria Teresa GAVE Lisa her shoes! It became much talked-about the conference. Here are the infamous shoes on their new owner.

Our first class was with Cyndi Mahlstadt, shown here with her Jesters, which she is teaching in an online class (details on her site). I'm going to take that one as well. I love Cyndi's whimsical style and her teaching format.

The 2-day class the three of us took was her tree doll, which used an Altoid tin. Here is my doll after the 2nd day of class on the right. Lisa's doll is on the left - she finished hers after she got home. I love the crown she did for her doll. Vicki's doll is under mine on the right. She also finished hers once she got home. I'll have to see if I can't get finished pictures of both of them to show - they all turned out great.

One of the really fun activities at the conference is the pin doll swap. You create the number of pin dolls you want to swap (up to 5), wrap them and then turn them in for swapping in a bag. Your bag is returned to you at the swap event with the same number of pin dolls from other people. I've participated both years and have a board in my studio with all the great pin dolls I've received. Here are the three of us with our pin swap dolls.

We left one night open so we could enjoy some of the local cuisine. We decided to go

to El Pinto which had been a working hacienda and had been converted into a restaurant. The food was devine and the ambience was fabulous! I wish I had thought to take more pictures while we were there.

The final night festivities include the banquet, which was our orginal

reason for creating our "doll" shirts. While I took many more pictures than are featured here, in respect to the conference and the artists of the dolls, I have not posted them. I'm sure you'll be seeing some of them on the EDAC site or in art doll publications. This conference is one of the most enjoyable ones I've ever attended and we are looking forward to going back in 2010!
I almost forgot - I commisioned one of my friends, Michael Champion to create our Galz & Dollz logo. He did it in black & white and I colored it for our t-shirt transfers. It was created from pictures I gave him of the three of us. I used the individual images to create business cards for each of us and for our luggage tags. Vicki made us aprons with the logo on it as well.

Sneak Peak

Here is a sneak peak of the two tote bags I drew to donate for the Opportunity Table for the Enchanted Doll Artist Conference that I'm attending later this month. The first tote is a beige tote with a pocket. I used Prismacolor Permanent Markers on this tote. The second tote I did (because I had so much fun doing the first one) is done on a white canvas tote with Tsukineko Fabrico Markers. Both totes have been protected with ScotchGuard.

These totes with either be raffled or be silent auction items to raise funds for the conference. Doll artists can carry lots of doll making supplies in these colorful totes adorned with doll faces.

One of the ways EDAC keeps the cost of their conference down is by auctioning the table centerpiece dolls that are donated by attendees. Last year Lisa & I both created one. This year the theme is Magic and I created a Wizard, collaborating with Vicki. I sculpted the face, hands, feet and "carved" staff and Vicki created the clothes. Once she did the clothes, she passed him back to me to give him hair and put him on his base.

Lisa & I started a tradition (though not required) last year when we exchanged handmade gifts prior to attending the Enchanted Doll Artist Convention. She made me a fabulous handmade book that I use to chronical my EDAC journey and I made her a traveling tool case.

This year our dear friend Vicki is joining us (for more fun!) and I made the three of us purses to carry. They have polymer clay faces with beading around the faces, done on rayon batik. We'll be able to carry our wallets, cell phones, room key & lipstick in these lightweight bags.

I got the idea to do us traveling sewing kits for our pins, needles, etc. I found some canvas fabric and drew the faces (just like I did the shoes) and colored them with Prismacolor markers. I then used heavy duty iron on interfacing and backed them with felt. I sewed bias binding around them & added ribbon to tie them.

I also found some great luggage tags at Michaels and personalized them for us with our images.

We are all very excited about attending the conference next month! More about it later.

My friend and fellow artist, Lisa Renner and I are attending the Enchanted Doll Artist Conference in Albuquerque this July. While this is the first time either of us have attended, there are several ways to participate in the festivities. One way is to create a doll to be used as a centerpiece for the banquet tables. The theme of this year's conference is the Other Side of the Mirror. The banquet table dolls are supposed to follow the theme and be no taller than 15 inches, so attendees can still visit across the table during the banquet. I have several of these lidded glass domes on pedestals. I knew I wanted to use one of those for my doll. I thought of doing a fairy, pressed up against the glass (the other side) or a doll inside gazing at herself in a mirror. Then it came to me - why not do the dome as a crystal ball, seeing into the other side of the mirror? I could do a fortune teller's head in the ball - voila! The perfect idea. I created the doll's head out of a mixture of Super Sculpey, Prosculpt and Cernit. Her details are painted with Genesis heat set paints. She has jump ring earrings, feather boa hair and a scarf with celestial images. Seed bead necklaces and some tarot card complete her ensemble. Hand-dyed fabrics represent the "smoke" at the bottom of the crystal ball. The pedestal and lid are painted and enhanced with Primary Elements.

I tried to get an image of the completed piece without the glare, but I couldn't eliminate it - just the nature of taking images through glass.

I did a little doll for myself to hang on my purse. The base of this doll is courtesy of my friend Candance. She bought a bunch of them years ago (apparently they had fruit bodies) and has been redoing them as fairies to sell. She gave me a couple and they have sat in my studio, naked and uncomplete for over a year. Going to the conference finally inspired me to work on the doll. She had a head & face, hair and the wrapped wire body with ball hands and feet. I tore off the hair and created a polymer clay jester's hat, collar and shoes with turned up cuffs. I added pieces of a feather for "hair" and hand-dyed ribbon with Primary Elements to fashion a costume for her. With her wire body, she is posable and will sit on the purse with her arm and leg wrapped around the handle.

I did similar dolls with the jester theme (only I had to make the whole doll as I didn't have any more premade bases) for the pin doll swap for the conference.