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 14: A Doll of My Own Making:Tiny Red Haired Girl

  Today I thought I'd do a doll I made. The reasons are: because I already have the pictures taken , and...why not?! So here she is.

This picture is actually way bigger than life size.

  I made this little (and I DO mean 'little') lady little over a year ago. She was for a customer who had already bought some dolls from me.

See? She measures just about an inch tall.

She ordered 5 or 6 more dolls, all different: a ballerina, a fairy, a boy,a pink princess,and one of my 1 inch tall dolls. I specially made all the dolls to fit her specifications.Unfortunately, the lady then had a bunch of problems and kept putting off payment. Then I just didn't hear from her again. Almost a year later, which was last fall, she contacted me to see if she could still buy them. I said sure and we set a date for payment, but again, she put it off a couple of times.Then I never heard from her again. So her dolls went up for sale at the fall miniature show and the October doll show. They're still here as yet, but I'll be putting them for sale online soon.

  She has a wire armature so her legs and arms can, in theory, be bent. But they are so tiny, it will take some effort.She can sit down too, again, in theory. It works, but her tiny dress makes her pop up again since she doesn't weigh enough to hold it down. If you glued her dress to her bottom in a sitting position, she would stay sat down.

  She has red mohair hair with a red bow in in.

Her dress is made of a cotton blend fabric.

Her shoes are red satin. Her head is wooden and painted and sealed with non yellowing glaze.
  See you tomorrow!