Ebbie has a ways to go but he's coming along, oh yes he is!

I must admit, I planned on having this little boy finished well before now but life sometimes sends unexpected adventures our way, so dear Ebbie has been on the back burner.

Although he is still in the early stages I do believe his features are starting to pop out slowly but surely creating such a fun and adorable personality.

I am thinking this lil guy is going to be a super fun hand full! What ya think?

We had a beautiful Thanksgiving here full of love, laughter, and smiles! I so pray all of you did as well. Isn't life a wondrous miracle???

Here's a few quick pics of the tree going up.

Oh yes yes, we love a messy country old fashioned tree here!

Sending a ton of love and holiday wishes your way!

Little touches truly make a wonderful difference...

I am happy as a crab to put a tremendous amount of time and work into my dolls and I do so with much happiness and smiles but It does not end there though, nope it does not. What am I talking about? Why, I am talking about the little things of course! Little yes, but they can make oh such a large difference, don't you agree?

Let me explain, I have been a doll collector for just about most of my life. I have always appreciated the amazing talent and skills that go into each and every creation that I excitedly purchased. After "blissing" through the initial excitement of the doll itself I would then move onto the little things. The COA for example, it was always such a huge treat when it was a well thought out and crafted one. Ones with art, color, or best of all a picture of the doll. The material it was printed on, the quality of the print. All those things were such an extra treat and smile. I hope that I am making sense lol.

Okay let me explain a little further. I purchased a doll in the past that was a very nice doll indeed but with it came a sadly thrown together COA. Now like I said, I have collected dolls most of my life so I am happy to say this doll was not purchased from anyone here in blog land and I will not say how long ago it was purchased but I was so sad to see that the "little things" were very much neglected. The COA was printed on standard computer paper which wrinkles and tears easily so when I got it, it was very much rumpled. Worse then that. majority of it was faded, had lines al through it, and missing ink spots all over. The printer it was printed on was extremely low on ink and it was printed and sent out that way anyhow. How super sad to put work into a doll and then just let the rest slide. If this doll lasts for years to come and can be passed on to the next generation of doll collectors it will do so without any documentation as the paper will no doubt not make it through. This is heart breaking to me. This was not a cheap doll and was purchased for over 200.00. It just baffles me.

Please believe I am not saying this to nit pick but to rather stress to all the doll artists out there that your work is so worth adding the little things to. Think of the love and time you put into your art. Think of all the smiles your creations will create as they pass hand to hand. Don't you want those people to always know who is sending those smiles their way? I so encourage everyone to always keep this in mind. You are worth it, yes you are!

So, what do I do? What I do is pretty simple to tell you true, but I make sure I do it with time, thought, and quality put into it. First off I use card stock or better. This makes sure that it has strength to hold up. Next I ALWAYS make sure my printer has plenty of ink and I always print on the highest quality level allowed, last after my COA is printed it is then slid into a heavy duty plastic sleeve that fits it perfectly. Yanno, kind of like the kind that rare baseball cards are slid into. Now I have a COA that will last as long as my creation will last (with popper care ofcourse lol).

Now for what goes on my COAs...First I make sure to have my logo printed in color up top, next is stating that its a COA, after that a full color photo of my creation, below that the name and edition number, and in finishing I list myself as the artist and hand sign each and every COA. It is then slid into it's plastic sleeve. Easy as 123 but will hopefully be a special touch that collectors will appreciate for years to come.

I do not end my "little things" there though. Nope, there needs to be more fun! I also do a hang tag that is tied onto my dolls wrist with ribbon. On the front you will see my logo printed in color and under that will be the dolls name. Open up the inside and you will see the logo of the doll line the creation comes frome and under that will be a short story of what the doll line is about as well as my signature. Turn the hang tag over and on the back you will see a picture of the dolls face with the dolls edition number underneath. It's close to being another COA all in itself.

I love adding these little touches!!!

So all in all, just something to think about and thinking is oh so good right??? LOL

Cough Cough Sputter Sputter, I have something to tell you...

Oh I really do have to admit this was not the picture I was hoping to post for you on this very early Tuesday morning. No indeed it was not.

Alas, my dear friends, I have caught the flu. My son was home all of last week sick and now the nasty little virus, that I do imagine in my mind looks much like the above picture, has decided to park it's nasty little self my system for a bit.

I am happy to say I am feeling a bit better though and am in high hopes to be back in the game before the end of this week.

While I have not worked on my Christmas boy during this icky spell, I have been able to tinker on my laptop which gave me a chance to create the new graphic for my Funkie Punkie line.

What is a Funkie Punkie? Oh I am excited to tell you! My Funkie Punkie line will consist of 1980's inspired dolls. How groovy can ya get? Hmm groovy, perhaps that word is dating a bit back before the 80's? Anyhow, you will see anything inspired from the funkie and fantastic long hair bands to the bright and colorful punk movement. I can so see a Boy George inspired doll popping out of this line, oh yes sireeeeeeeeeee! The possibilities are going to be endless and having grown up in the 80's, well lets just say this line will be special to my heart and a true treat for me to create!

I will tell you a little secret, the very first doll from this line is being created for a loved one and lets just say keep the word head banger in mind! Are you as excited as I am?

Sending my love, warmest wishes, and a non-contagious achooooooooooo your way!

Questions, questions, questions, and Answers!

I love getting emails from you and I've had a lot of emails over this last year asking me how I make my dolls. I've been asked what supplies I use, what my steps to making a doll are, how long it takes etc. I've also been asked if I sell my patterns, teach classes, or give sculpting lessons. I thought it would be nice to answer all these questions via a blog post even though I have already answered back through email.

I guess I'll start with some of the supplies I use. I use a ton of various supplies and mediums so I am just going to list the ones I use every time I sculpt and are a MUST have for me.

1. Piecemakers 5 inch sculpting needles...I have used this brand for years and LOVE them!

2. Cluster stuff...I started using this for my heads while experimenting and it is fabulous to sculpt. It's a bit of a pain to stuff until you hit a groove but I will not use anything else for my heads. For my bodies I use any good quality polyfill type stuffing.

3. Stuffing fork...awesome for stuffing fingers and hard to reach places.

4. Derwent water color pencils.

5. Curved needles...Fantastic for sculpting noses and I will not use anything else.

6. Mettler thread...all I will use for sewing my bodies.

7. Coats and Clark carpet thread...the only thread I use for sculpting.

8. Prismacolor portrait pencil set.

9. Acrylic paints, diff brands.

10. Gesso...I use clear, black, and white.

11. Fabric...I use windsor comfort, doe suede, craft velour, and muslin.

                               

So what steps go into making a Ree doll? Well first comes the pattern. This is a lot of trial and error and can really get nutty at times. Once I finally get the pattern how I want it, I am ready to start making a doll. The pattern gets put onto fabric, cut out, then the sewing begins. I normally sew the head first. After that I stuff it. Next I start the sculpting process. Once I get the features the way I want them I paint the eyes, eyebrows, and mouth. Next comes the shading and details. Once I am done with all that I then do the hair. The head and hair always take me the longest and I am very tedious when it comes to those processes. I then sit the head aside and sew up the body. Stuffing comes next and then I start the sculpting process on the body. Once that is done shading and detailing come next. I then either sew an outfit for the doll or I put a cute store bought outfit on. The whole process takes me approx. 13-15 hours per doll. Start to finish I am the only one who touches the dolls but once I have my hired help next year it will change things a bit allowing me to create more dolls each week. My help will just be sewing and stuffing bodies, as I will always do the artistic work on all of my creations, but this will be a tremendous help and will really help me meet my demand. I am really excited.

Will I be teaching classes or selling my patterns? Right now I am having a hard enough time just keeping up with my sculpting so I do not think I will be doing either of these things anytime soon. I am not sure they will even be in my future but I always keep an open mind. I do try and post tips and such via here and my website though and I am always happy to help with questions if I can. I have tutorials on my website as well. There are FANTASTIC classes listed on CDA website http://clothdolls.ning.com/ as well as The Doll Net website http://www.thedollnet.com/. I have taken classes from both these sights over this past year, and let me tell you, you will not regret it. They are fabulous! If you are looking into making dolls or even if you are like me and have made dolls for a while these classes are a must and so fun.

I guess that just about covers the fun for now. As always it's been a true blessing sharing my doll making with you!

Que Tae or what? You tell me!

UPDATE: Que has sold!

Oh what fun I had with this darling girl. She is such a cutie or should I say Que Tae? Needless to say I am extremely please with how she turned out. I am just as tickled about her outfit.

I've had a lot of requests come in for straight weighted arms and weighted bottoms so I decided to give both a go on this darling and oh how fun she is to pose! She also has my standard jointed head.

Que loves to watch cartoons, eat rice crispy treats, and loves to color. She does NOT stay in the lines but we love it that way.

Que is availble on my website http://tipsyteacup.com/For%20Sale.htm