A new adaptation of my Dream Star pattern. My daughter, who made the face, says she should be called a Star Fish Doll.

I didn't like the eyelashes on Miss Tick, so I fixed her.

It's not so much that I haven't been making, it's that I haven't been keeping a very good record or making posts. As you see in the last post I did finish a doll over several days, with all the steps that entails. Here's what else I've been doing. I've been painting doll faces, and repairing some problems... Beading dolls... Finishing a commission... which includes yesterday making a bunch of charms from polymer clay. Today I'll be gilding and ageing these charms to be old gold, and adding the beads and wire to make some of them into the final touches for the commission. Also I'll be adding her hair. She will be delivered this afternoon. Then it's back to Miss Tick and Elphaba. The other things I've been doing are making lots of posts on my other Doll blog, and our taxes.

My most recent Dream Star doll, on it's way to Etsy.

I am thrilled to announce that the two dolls I entered in the Denver Doll Artisans Art Nouveau doll contest have both come home with Blue First Place Ribbons for general artistry. I'm very happy to have been recognized and really enjoyed making dolls to a theme. These were inspired by the designs of Erte. It is very encouraging, especially as at this time I am working on two commissions, a contribution to a group exhibition and the Hoffmann Challenge for this year. I'm not putting these on to Etsy just now, but I will entertain purchase inquiries if you want to email me - dezignarob@gmail.com

Miss Tick doll head with her face up painted - I used Caran Dache water color crayons, a little bit of Rose Art colored pencils and an ultra fine point Sharpie. She'll be sealed tomorrow.

I have commenced the work on my Miss Tick doll for the Doll Street Dreamers Discworld challenge. She has an aluminum foil core with Premo polymer clay over, like all the bead head dolls, and glass beads as eyes. I have found that being patient and doing several bakings creates the best results. I bake the ball, with the ridge first. (The ridge is to prevent the fabric head and hair from sliding backwards.) The second firing is the the nose, cheeks, mouth and chin, while the third firing cures the eyes and eyebrows, which you see whiter in these photos. The next step tomorrow will be to paint the shading, skin details, eyebrows and makeup her, and then after a day for the paint to fully dry I will seal her with Future Floor Wax for a gentle sheen. I'm so happy to have learnt about using acetone to smooth the polymer clay. I makes a nice difference, when I compare this doll to one of my earlier dolls that is still at home.

I'm just going to have let go of my own intransigence, and accept that I missed yesterday, darn it. One could say that I made memories, spending the whole day reading a great book to my daughter. But that is not really the point of Thing-a-day is it? So today I have something much more tangible - a working drawing with costume design for a doll that I am about to start for the Doll Street Dreamers group challenge on Disc World characters. I am doing Miss Tick, a mentoring witch.

I'm behind in posting. What I did on Tuesday was write, which was a good thing to do. And my daughter spent some time involved in Art Miles Mural Project at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, so she was the artistic creator for that day. The TED organization, of the wonderfula lecture series, was holding some sort of conference and had an outing there too.

I finished the second doll - a day later than I wanted to because now I'll have to overnight them to Denver - but this is the first contest I have entered so I really want to do it. A tiny glimpse of her. I'll post full pictures when they come back from the event.

One year ago, inspired by Thing-a-day , I created this blog and started my crafting and doll making in earnest. I have made and sold many Wish Dolls, Dream Star Dolls and Dream Dolls. I have made three Bead Head dolls, two of which are decorating new homes. Children are playing with my Either Way Dolls. I have learnt which type of craft fair works best, and raised my doll prices once. Plus I have given many gifts of things that I made to family and friends. Now Thing-a-day has begun again. I am eager to see where this one month of relatively disciplined fun will take me, since there is always something waiting to be made around here. Today I have been working to finish the second doll that I am entering in the Art Nouveau themed Denver Doll Contest . So today I am posting a taste of what one of the skirts looks like.