In a new direction

It has been hectic at my place, sometimes it seems we run on overdrive. My boys are on holidays and I just needed to slow down. So far out of the 2 weeks someone has been sick each day and heading into the 3rd week looks like it isn't going to be much different.

So, a slower pace was needed for them and myself. Instead, after some very generous encouragement, I have made a new style of doll that I absolutely love, with the arms swinging down and the feet shaped slightly differently. I am still tweaking the design. This is Curly Sue, my first try. She is holding her Shroompers!

And this is Meilah. I changed her leg and body size and so she worked out at 17".

I so enjoyed working on her I decided she also needed a funky headband.

 So here is me sending up many prayers for wellness in my sick family home. Particularly for me, so I can take care of those that depend on me.

A tale of 2 yarns

I wanted to show you the different ways I put the boys hair on. This is Malachi and Hunter, they are custom orders for 2 different Mama's.

As you can see Malachi's hair sewn down. The reason for this is the thickness of the handspun wool that I used, making it almost impossible to hook the hair through a crochet cap. Hunter's hair (on the right) is hooked through, the yarn is much thinner than Malachi's. Hooking the hair through a cap takes forever! But not as much as this little guy, Bailey.

Bailey's hair took me about 4 hours. I had to sew each strand of hair individually and it looks fantastic all spiked up like that and is so lovely to touch but way too much work to replicate.

And since there is way too many boy on the page, I thought I would include a girl :)

Em x

'Hoping to get to 1000' giveaway

Welcome to my 'Hoping to get to 1000" giveaway!

I have finally reached 900 fans on FB and to celebrate I am having a giveaway! This competition is open to all fans of my facebook page and followers of this blog. The winner will get to customise their very own 9" Little Jem in time for Christmas!

If you would like to enter please leave me a comment below, 1 per family please. The winner will be drawn on the 15th July, 2011 at 9pm Australian EST.

Good luck everyone!

Em x

The tales of many...

There are many things in my life, many boys, many dolls, many highs and many lows.
This month I had way too many custom dolls to create and it took a lot of time away from my children. We spent the day together yesterday as a family, a rarity in itself, at a fantastic park nearby. I got some great shots of the boys before we left.

My sister is heading away soon, she is going to live on a bus in Bellingen with her 3 children and her husband. Some would call it madness but it suits them perfectly. They are all very excited to be leaving over the next 2 weeks but we will miss them greatly.

The sun was very very bright in the kids eyes

.. and since I cannot seem to get through the day without doing anything doll related, I made Georgie Berry in the evening after they were all in bed.

New logo for Jem Of Mine

I love Ruby Ruby Designs and so I contacted Bec to get a logo done since my old one was.. well not so good.
I love what she has come up with and cannot wait to get cards and things printed up with the new design.
I had 2 styles done, one with a tagline and one without:

Now if I could just figure out how to set up my blog properly I could actually put this on top :)

Jackets and pearls

I had a custom doll to do and the order was for a jacket and corduroy skirt. This is my 2nd jacket that I have done and am happy with how it came out. I especially love the pearl button on the jacket and her wonderful mary janes!

It is cold today.

It is Sunday in my part of the world. 7:18am in fact. This May has been very cold which is unusual for Australia. Trying to sew tiny stitches to create a doll is proving difficult. I have had recommendations to do the washing up to warm up my fingers, fingerless gloves may be the way to go instead. I think I may have to take a trip to the shops today to find some quickly.

These are 2 of the dolls I have finished this week. They just need underwear and shoes and will be on their way.

First post on my new blog...

Hi! Welcome to my Blog about my dolls, my 3 boys and my VERY chaotic life.

Some background information is in order, I think. I used to work in the corporate IT world until children came calling. After going back to full time work with the first, part time work with the second and refusing to go back with the third I found myself needing to be active as baby brain seemed to have invaded and never quite left.

The dolls came about as a creative outlet, a way of hanging out with my children while remaining active. And it seems my dolls are well liked in Dolly land and I would not have hoped for more.

I love creating the dolls, the feel of them as they take shape. Taking wool roving and stuffing it into tubular gauze to get a kind of oval shape and then turning that into a head.

I have to say the stuffing of body parts is very therapeutic in times of chaos that reign at my house.

The horde is calling out for dinner so I will leave you with a picture of Huck Finn, one of my latest dolls.

Em x