Dobell Festival

Hello Dollies Prizewinners

Somehow, I missed a Dollies blog post last month, but this March meeting had lots to celebrate....
Two of our members, Jackie and Margaret scooped the prize pool at the recent Newcastle Show. Congratulations to both of you - great promotion of doll making!

We are now getting ready for a special Hello Dollies Display with a "water" theme. at  the Dobell Festival of Art, Craft and Photography on  Friday 4 May to Sunday 6 May. Already many of the show and tell pieces have been inspired  by the theme.  

There was of course an array of other  beautiful work - dolls and textiles.... thanks everyone for your inspiring work. After a Dollies Saturday, I just want to go home and create something special...

The next Dollies meeting will be on 28 April - we will be making colourful fish for the display . Come along , have some fun, be inspired and create! Phone Anne's Glory Box for more details. 

Off with Her Head

The talented doll maker Ann Maullin introduced us to her technique of making detachable cloth  doll  heads . Congratulations to Ann who has started the new year in a new job, as well as developing her own "twist" on this technique.  We were all impressed and I, for one, bought some supplies on the way home to try this technique, using a needle sculpted head with a separate neck, fabric stiffener and an outer "skin" fabric. Thanks, Ann, for inspiring us once again and  for also showing us your needle sculpted bodies.
This  month's Show and Tell was again brilliant - thanks to all for sharing your creativity.

Hoping to see you all at the February meeting - with the creative Connie.
Wilma.

Needle Sculpting

The first Hello Dollies meeting for 2012 will be held on Saturday, 28 January. What an exciting strat to the year. The wonderful Ann Maullin will be  showing  us how to sculpt a face. Here is an example of Ann's beautiful work... so please bring a sculpting needle thread, and scissors for this special insight into needle sculpting. 

And Happy Chinese New Year to all ..
(If you are interested I have posted about  my family celebrations.)

Merry Christmas to Dollies Friends

Merry Christmas to all Hello Dollies friends ... Tomorrow ( 17 December)  will be the last "meeting" of the year - a  Christmas party and lots of goodies in the shop on sale! There will also  be a   wonderful gift swap with the theme of "Vintage". I wish I could be there to join in the festivities and fun. With another family commitment, all I can manage is to wish each of you  the very best for the festive season, and thank you all for another year of inspiration, friendship and support.
Happy Doll making during the holiday season!
Best wishes,
Wilma
PS I hope you like this video ... Steampunk Christmas?

November meeting - What's On?

Many of you know that I  joined  a group called Art Dolls Only. This is the most recent digital magazine  of the group. Here is a link to the ezine that I thought you would enjoy  

Hello Dollies meets on Saturday 26 November. At this meeting there will be a guest to discuss a great opportunity for members to exhibit their dolls in 2012. Hope you can make it to the meeting.

Nothing Ordinary in October

There was certainly nothing ordinary at our Hello Dollies meeting in October. The "show and tell" was extraordinary, with some members having attended recent workshops with Akira Blount and Sherrill Kahn.

The photo above is a beautiful art doll from Akira's workshop, with photos below of  some of the work produced in Sherrill's workshop.

There was of course a lot more - I am sorry I didn't get photos of everything - I got too engrossed in looking and listening to the stories behind the fantastic work. We had everything - from aprons made from overalls, Christmas banners, knitted scarves, colourful fabric bags, art brooches ... the list is all you can imagine ... as well as amazing art dolls, using many different techniques.

And a wonderful doll by West Australian doll maker, Linda Misa , added to the collection of one of our members.

Our techniques demonstration for the day was "walking through" the process of making a simple little doll's chair or throne. The possibilities are endless, so I am looking forward to seeing many creative interpretations of this. Please contact me  via the comments below if you would like the basic instructions I prepared for this meeting.

Congratulations to our wonderful beautiful Ann who shaved her head to raise much needed funds for the Cancer Council and their continuing cancer research. Ann thanks all Dollies friends who supported. her. We are so very proud of you, Ann, and think you are very brave. Not many of us would volunteer to do without our hair!

Ann also initiated a challenge to make a Christmas theme doll for the December meeting. The challenge is to create a Christmas doll from a pattern which originally was not Christmassy - hope to see many participating in this fun challenge.
And last but not least, Happy Birthday, Fay. Have a wonderful time with your family.