Doll-A-Day 337: A Doll of My Own Making: Huckleberry Fuzzy

  Happy New Year's Eve! Today is the last day daily post of Doll-A-Day. It was a commitment I made at the end of last year. I was inspired by Dawn Smith's (Crazyquilter) Photostream on Flickr. She posted 365 days of her childhood doll Sara, a Nancy Ann Storybook doll. She has since done another year of Sara, and years of mini American Girls, etc. The difference with Dawn's 'year' was, it was all Sara, or all mini American Girls, plus it was only one picture a day. My idea was to do a different doll every day. My other idea, originally, was to only do one picture. That would have been a lot less time consuming! But I've been into photography for a long time. (I even worked as a staff photographer for a local paper for a while.) It has been a long time though, since I really did anything with my photography. Once I started taking pictures of the dolls I found myself getting artistic, and liking too many of the pictures to choose just one. Then of course, I felt the need to explain something, or talk about the doll or it's history. I started doing 'theme weeks'. Those posts got pretty long sometimes. But I really enjoyed the theme weeks. (I think my favourites were Red Heads Week and Oscar Week. They took a long time to do, but I'm pretty proud of them.) I enjoyed the writing, which is something else I used to do a lot,even considered doing for a living, but haven't done much with for a long time. I even learned some things myself from the research I did for the posts. I'm now a lot more knowledgeable than I was about a lot of things. I'll still do a theme week here and there, just because I enjoy them. But posting everyday, with all those pictures, did take a long time. I'm sure my family will be glad I'm giving up the every day posting, and I know I won't feel so pressured. During the year they often complained about the time it took, but when I offered to quit Ken called me a quitter and said I must go on. I hated to quit anyway when I had made the commitment. When I say I'm going to do something I don't go back on it. 
  I did miss a few days. You'll notice this is only Day 337, when there are 365 days in a year. There were a few days that life preempted and there just wasn't time to do a doll. There was also a lapse for a sad reason: I lost my Dad in May. I wasn't sure I would be able to go back to posting when that happened, or if I could, how long it would take. I also wondered when it would be appropriate to go back to posting. In the end, it helped give me something else to occupy my mind, which I needed. 
  As for the dolls I posted this year, some of them have left me by now. I let go of some that helped pay the gas bills or buy Christmas presents this year. There are those that I would never get rid of, but sometimes it becomes necessary to cull the crowd anyway! I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about! I may weed out a lot of other dolls in the coming year.It's just too crowded around here. But most of the ones I did a post on were dolls I really liked and don't want to get rid of.
  Now that the year is over, I'm going to be spending a lot of time doing some house overhaul. I'm going to be doing some painting, papering, carpet laying, floor tiling,and wall paneling.(I'm finally going to get that bead board paneling for the bathrooms and entryway.) I will still fit in posts though. I have plans for posts on homemade doll furniture,stain removal, and reviews of books with doll main characters.
  For our last regular Doll-A-Day I'm sharing with you a doll I made that I am fairly proud of. I always thought of him as a Huckleberry Finn type, but everybody seems to think he's based on my son Fuzzy!

Fuzz in 2011, about the same time I made the doll.

We'll call him Huckleberry Fuzzy.

He's made of solid polymer clay with no joints, so he can't change his pose.

Some people think I actually used Fuzzy's hair for Huckleberry. I didn't, but it's just about the same colour.

I have no idea what the spot on the chair seat is...and Huckleberry insists he doesn't either!

Sorry about the rabbit hair on the side of the house here. It sits very near the rabbit cage and Jerome sheds! I really need to wear my glasses when taking pictures!

He would be about 4 or 5 inches tall if he were standing.

I can't remember which chair I modeled him in, but he was made to have one foot on the chair rung. This one works, but he'd look better in a rocking chair like the one I used yesterday. As you can see, his leg has been broken at the knee. He was dropped repeatedly, and finally it took it's toll.

He's singing I think.

He should have a harmonica in his hand. I plan to make him one.

I like the way his teeth turned out...

...and his feet. His hands aren't too bad.

See you quite often in the coming year. You're not rid of me!

Doll-A-Day 336: A Doll of My Own Making: School Girl

  Today's doll is another I made. She's this polymer clay little girl.

She's missing her right shoe, but I'll get to that in a minute.

 She's sitting, so it's hard to say exactly, but she'd be under 4" tall if she were standing.

Ivy said she looks like Ann Estelle. I agree, if Ann Estelle were uglier.It wasn't intentional though. (The likeness nor the ugliness!)

She's strung, so her arms, legs, and head are poseable.

She was made to sit at a school desk with a pencil in her hand, thus the pose. I just don't have a school desk for her yet!

That right hand is made to hold a pencil. I just need to make her one. She was modeled holding a piece of wire.

She has some problems. For one, her right shoe broke and won't stay on. When I was getting ready to take her picture her shoe fell off twice. The second time around it must have gotten sucked into a black hole, because I can't find it anywhere! Ken and Fuzzy both helped me look. It's just gone.

I used wire to form her legs and feet. You can see the edge of the wire in her foot here. The socks only come to the tops of her feet, because if they were on her foot too, her shoes would have to be so big that her feet would look huge.

It's a shame too, because I was actually quite proud of her little Mary Jane shoes. The sole on the one that fell off was particularly good.

I made her to sit with her feet crossed, which they do quite well.She can sit other ways too though.

Or not sit...

I also made her sailor dress,including the little gold ring that holds her sailor collar.

There was a bit of gluing involved in making that collar. It's pretty hard to find fabrics with prints that small anyway,and it would have been impossible to have found the right print to make the collar I wanted. So, I cut the selvage edge and glued  it.

I also made her glasses. They have lenses in them.

She could definitely do with a better face though.

I don't like her face very much. Please keep in mind that I haven't made many polymer clay dolls.

Her teeth are actually three dimensional. I was pleased with the way they turned out. I changed her lip colour several times though. I'm still not pleased with it, but nothing I tried looked right.
  Tomorrow is the last Doll-A-Day. I'll be posting less often, but I'll still be a frequent poster.Check us out tomorrow to see the last doll of the year!

Doll-A-Day 335: Two Dolls of My Own Making:Mimi and Maisie

  Today we welcome our newest follower Ms. Leo of I-Luv-Dolls. I have read Ms. Leo's blog many times. It may in fact have been Ms. Leo's blog where I read that Walmart had those awesome 1/6 scale trash cans. Thanks for joining us Ms. Leo!
  Today's doll is two again.They are two little dolls that I made myself. With only three more daily doll posts I wanted to finish up with some dolls that I made.These two are sisters named Maisie and Mimi.

They're sisters, obviously.One of my favourite things about them is their teeth!

You can see how tiny they are. That is a real quarter.
Mimi is the older, taller sister.

Her footie pajamas have a 'trap door' with painted 'buttons' in the back.

 Mimi's hair has tiny braids. They took a bit of patience and some glasses!

It's a bad picture, but I thought her gentle eyes came out quite well.

Maisie is the younger, smaller sister. She has her teddy bear with her.

Like all the dolls I have made of this type, Mimi and Maisie have little thumbs. Their bodies are felt covered wire and their heads are wooden beads.

He is a separate doll and can be taken out of her arms.

I have shown Mama and Papa Doll in two previous Doll-A-Day posts. They are the parents of these two little girls.

I had Mama and both girls for sale, and they were all bought by the same lady. She then requested Papa to go with them. Papa was just about my favourite doll I've ever made, and I so wish I had been able to keep him.If he hadn't been a special order for the lady who had already bought the other dolls and was waiting for him to be made so they could all be sent, I would have made another 'Papa' and kept this guy! Mimi and Maisie,(Especially Maisie! Shhh!) are two of my other favourites that I was very sorry to see go. You can see other dolls I made that I have sold Here. It's a web page that Ken never got around to really getting going for me. The pictures are there though.
  My son Fuzzy is very talented and could make loads of things that would sell. But he says he doesn't like to sell things he has made. (Although he gives them away. He's made several things for me.) I understand what he means. When you make something, it's sort of like your 'child': you want to keep it and make sure it's treated right! Also, when you make something,you make it to your own specifications as to what's 'good'. So, if it turns out well, obviously you're going to think it's wonderful and want to keep it! (Although, alot of time things don't turn out the way you want them to.)
  See you tomorrow for another doll of my own making.