Happy New Decade

To all my friends and followers, thank you for all your support and encouragement during 2009.
May I wish you all a fabulous New Year and new decade with all good things.

Work In Progress

Here are some progress pictures of a doll I am working on. This doll is the subject of an instuction book I am working on that covers making an Izannah Walker style doll from sculpting and painting the head to making replica 1850's clothes. The book will be available as a hard copy or a downloadable pdf and it should be finished in a week or two.

Christmas '09

Well, it's all over for another year.......managed to feed the multitudes and we had a wonderful, sunny, happy day. Here are a few shots that I want to share. Forgot to take any of the feast, mind you! Under the tree....."before" and "after" (note the speedy unwrapper in the foreground!) Don't ask about the mud-smearing! Suffice it to say that it is a strange Antipodean Christmas custom. The little embroidered Superb Blue Wren (a native bird around here) was embroidered for me by my mother. It is all done with a single strand of embroidery thread in a painterly style......isn't he just wonderful? I might add that my mother will be eighty five in March! My sister, Linda, gave me a fabulous bear ornament that she made - it is a tiny white bear "riding" a green and red mohair bauble (a furble? a bearble?) Here is a fairly bad photo of it - will try to take a better one later.

Merry Christmas!

To all my friends and followers out there in blogland, have a happy and safe Christmas with your nearest and dearest and I wish you wonderful things only in 2010.

Thanks for all your support and comments during 2009......it's been a blast!

Secrets Revealed

I think I can share this with you now - the little girl that featured in my last post was made a a retirement gift for one of the long-standing members of staff at the school I work at. This is what she requested and I was thrilled to make it for her. Here is an incredibly bad photo of her unwrapping the gift at our end-of-year lunch (Yay! School's out for summer!) I think she was very happy!

The other picture is of some Christmassy Zozies ordered by a friend of mine in Melbourne (one for her and one for a friend) I think it is OK to post them here - she should have received them by now, except that there is some kind of postal workers strike happening so she might not have got them yet - if that's the case, sorry S. - the cat's out of the bag.

Minty Girl

I've just finished this sweet little girl in her mint-green dress. I used some glorious strawberry blonde Tibetan lamb that I had in my stash for her wig and I hand-smocked her cotton seersucker dress. I love to occasionally make a child doll like this. She is a commissioned piece. I still have a few more to get done in the next couple of weeks, so it will be nose to the grindstone to fit it all in along with the usual pre-Christmas mayhem!

New Dolls

As Christmas gets scarily close and so much yet to do before then, here are a couple of dolls I have recently finished. They are both Izannah Walker inspired dolls (Charlotte is the larger of the two and Arabella is the little one) and I will be offering them for sale in my Etsy store as soon as I get their underwear finished! The little mouse is "Naughty Mortie Sneaks A Peep" - a little piece I made for an ornament swap on ADO. I'm still working hard getting commission work done.......... Oh yes, I've also just taken up the violin. Had two lessons. Loving it!

Debb's Prize

Here is what I made for Debb as winner of my recent celebratory (100 posts) giveaway. This little doll is called "Brightstar" - for obvious reasons. She is a scaled down version of my Zoziedolls - just 6.5 inches tall (8" to top of star). So Debb this little doll is on its way to you! I love giving stuff away.........see another opportunity looming with a '200 Followers' milestone approaching!

I have quite a number of commissions to get finished in the next month, so I'm going to be busy. I may not get much of a chance to keep this blog up to date, but I will try.

Bob Picks A Winner!

I asked my husband, Bob, to draw the winner of my "100 Post Giveaway". Here are a few pics of the very scientifically conducted draw (bits of paper in a bowl) and the name he drew was Debb. So Debb, your prize of a little doll made by me will be in the mail soon (still putting some finishing touches on it). I will post a picture here before I send it.

I have at last bit the bullet and put together a proper (albeit very simple) website. I was a bit daunted by the cost of professionally-designed sites, so I did my own using Homestead's templates. I am still building it, but I am pretty happy with the result so far. (http://www.susiemcmahon.homestead.com/)

New "Izannah" Doll

Here is my most recently-completed doll made in the style of an Izannah Walker doll - "Esther". I had an interstate visitor last weekend who liked this doll and bought it on the spot - I had to rush to finish dressing her before the buyer left Tasmania.

Thanks to all who have responded with a comment on my 100th post - I will be drawing the winner this weekend, so there is still time to enter if you want to. Just go to the previous post and leave a comment - you'll go into the draw.

Here it is, Folks!

Well, here it is.....my hundredth post on this blog! I started blogging in April 2008 with a great deal of trepidation, being a bit of a techno-klutz. It took very little time to figure it all out......and now I am up to posting for the hundredth time. As promised, I will be holding a draw to celebrate this milestone. All you need to do to be in the draw to win a little handmade something made by me, just leave a comment below and I will add your name. If you don't mind doing it, you can also leave an email contact, but I understand if you don't wish to do this - you will still go into the draw.

So to celebrate post no 100, I have a real mixed bag, a miscellany, a melange of eclectica here today.

Firstly, we visited a friend who rescues orphaned wildlife and hand-rears them to be returned back to the bush. Sadly, he says our Tassie Devil numbers are so depleted (from devil facial tumour disease) that he thinks these will be the last devils he rears. The other animal is a wallaby, which should have been weaned by now, but still returns twice a day for his sucky-bottle of 'Wambaroo', which is a special formula for marsupials.

Secondly, I was the lucky winner of Cynthia's birthday giveaway (http://www.thefairiesnest.blogspot.com/) - this little sweetie is what arrived in the post a couple of days ago. Go and have a look at her fabulous fabric creations.

Thirdly, here are some panels I painted to go beside the door of the new computer lab that has been installed in the Art Department of the high school I work at - the kids like them - a bit more interesting than blank chipboard!

And lastly, this head is a new Izannah Walker-style doll that I am working on. I hope to get it finished this week, but it's not looking good for time.....we'll see!

A thousand thanks to all my followers and visitors who have left great comments - you have all made this such a blast! I'll draw the winner of the giveaway on November 1st.

Number 99, Folks!

Yes, this is it..........the penultimate post before my 100 posts giveaway! I will post details next time about what you need to do to be in the draw.

Meanwhile, I have completed this little bust for the ArtDollsOnly monthly challenge for September - theme - 'Clowns'. I just got it finished in time - the challenge ends today. You might be able to see the finished pieces made by ADO members on the blog (www.artdollsonly.blogspot.com)

More Baby Shots

Here are a few more shots of the portrait baby - with bonnet off - to show her too-cute wispy baby hair.

In The Pink!

Here is the completed portrait baby commission - dressed in pink at the request of the customer. I'm fairly happy with how she turned out. The little bear was made by my sister, Jan, for my birthday (no..........this baby doesn't get to keep it!)

This is post no. 97 - 100th post giveaway coming up very sooooooon!

Portrait Baby Work In Progress

Here is the portrait baby I have been working on - at last it is coming together - a few more days should see it finished.

Serafina Completed!

Here is "Serafina" - I think I have finished her. I added some bells around her dress, a bag with some witchy goodies in it and a tiny jar containing something essential to a certain spell. So there you have it - my first ever Halloween doll!

This is post no. 95, (I think)

Di Arnold

I first met Di Arnold when she was a student in one of my Adult Education basic dollmaking classes a number of years ago. To say that she has 'taken the baton and run with it' is something of an understatement.

She has become a very fine dollmaker and I am proud to have played a small part in maybe setting her upon that path.

Di's dolls are quirky, witty and her use of colour is intuitive and always spot on. She has more patience and tenacity than almost anyone I know when it comes to her dolls. The attention to detail is exemplified in the two tiny puppet figures with the Pierrot - astonishing - best appreciated 'in the flesh'. Her 'secret weapon' is her husband, Gerald, who makes her armatures and anything else that requires the use of 'blokey' tools and stuff - they really are a team.

Now she has been invited to exhibit her work in the Tasart Exhibition (26th Sept - 18th Oct) at the Burnie Regional Art Gallery (on Tasmania's northwest coast)

Apologies for the picture quality, but here are a few of the dolls she will be exhibiting.

Go Di! (www.diarnolddolls.blogspot.com)

I've also popped in a picture of some dolls made by Linda Searle - another fab dollmaker who occasonally lurks in my studio (http://www.lindasearledolls.blogspot.com/) Hers are the two cloth Kewpie dolls at the top of the post (uploaded the photos backwards - again!)

Serafina completed

Here is my Halloween doll all finished (apart from a little tweaking here and there). As you can see, her 'familiar' is back to being a rodent.

'Serafina' is around 19" tall (48 cms) and the mouse is about 1" (2.5 cms)

New ADO Treasury

My 'Moxie pattern has been featured in a new Etsy treasury - Thanks Abi! If you have never had a look at Etsy - you should! So much cool hand-made stuff.

BTW, if you are interested in my 100th post giveaway - this is number 92 ;)