Mushroom Fairy
This fairy was a gift for a dear lady on the Medieval Renaissance Wedding Board
. (Yes my wedding was months ago, but I am still there becouse I like the ladies.)
We did a craft swap and I signed up for two. I made this fairy and another gift that hasn't gotten to it's new home yet so I can't post pics yet.
The fairy is from the same pattern as my wedding dolls, enlarged 150%. If she was standing she would be about 13 inches tall. the legs are adapted from Phyllis Robinsons Dawn pattern
(you may remember a doll dressed in black that was kneeling? she is here too.)
Picture of the finished doll on the mushroom

Picture of the fairy from the back. her wings are organza, the edges are burned with a soldering iron (this is also how it is "cut out" of the fabric.) There is light painting, and the center of the wing is beaded. You can also see the back of her crown.

Her sleeves and petal skirt (4 of each color) are made from chiffon and also have the burned edges.
The crown is made from wire and beads. it holds on to her head so nicly by itself that it didn't need to be attached in any way, so it is removeable.

The necklace is also made of the same wire and has a cross charm on it, it too isn't attached to the doll but is formed to fit on her quite nicely. (in case the new owner didn't like it, it could be removed easily)
The mushroom is the best part in my humble opinion.
It is made from a thread cone and Pelon Peltex 70. the most remarkable part is the underside as it looks like a real mushroom. this took the longest as it was mostly hand sewing and it is difficult fabric to sew through. The base is a round wooden plaque that I covered with paper clay to give it a rocky apperance. It hink it turned out quite nicely. I attached a small piece of elastic to go around one of the fairys ankles to hold her in place, though she does ballence on her own well.
The side of the mushroom

The underside of the mushroom (the most detailed part, looks good don't you think?)

She shipped well to her new home and looks absolutly wonerfull, she was meant to be there. Her owner loves her and I got the right colors! She was late as it took me quite a long time. Opps!

Links to some shots of the unfinished (bald, armless and undressed) doll so you can see her shape. Don't click if you are offended by nude dolls!
Front

Back

Countess Dragonessa Drackona of Dragonia
I entered into the Magick Dolls Yahoo group Purple Challenge.
I could only use the color purple in my entry. The line from Disney's clasic Sword in the Stone "Did I say no purple dragons" kept following me around. one night soon after the challenge was anounced I was drawing and a lady dragon poped out of the page. So after some fabric shopping, I drafted up a pattern. and then let it sit. I procrastinated so long that I actually sewed her up in only 3 days. not bad. She placed second in the Public voting, and 6th over all (there were several layers of judging.)Purple Challenge
Next is to make her a corset and her husband the Count Draco Drackona
She stands 19" tall

Her eyes are made out of glass pebbles, which were painted on the back.

What a figure she has!

Fun Photos
Some interesting photos taken recently.

I recently entered into a Craft Swap on the Med/Ren Wedding board. I am making two crafts. My first craft came to me on my birthday.
Zaha and his box.
the box is 5 3/4" wide by 9 1/2" long by 3" tall.
You will probably look at the dragon and the box and Zaha and say they don't look alike. but you must understand Zaha. His ia stubborn and manipulative dragon. He is out to rule the world. When I made him (he is the first of his "type") I made him in white fabric. I then gave him his little crest because he needed it. Then I sat there and asked him what color he wanted to be. I had a red/purple dragon, a blue/green dragon. a red/magenta dragon and a blue dragon. He says he wants to be Golden. Okay, I can do Golden. Yeah right, he turned out to be ORANGE! I dislike orange very much. but he was so happy he had tricked me. The he wanted his beard and mustache, and of course his fire like spine tuffs (Made of 3 colors of thread.) He thinks he is bigger than he is. and he has mastered mind control, I swear. Zaha has beat my alarm clock into submission, you never hear a peep out of it. He is next to my side of the bed.

Next is a picture of Appalala, the Buddhist River Dragon. He is a Vegetarian, with a very sweet disposition. My husband has adopted him so he has his honorary place next to his side of the bed. One night my husband took off his glasses, and being funny stuck them on Appalala. It looked so good. now Appalala is begging my husband to make him a pair of glasses (he said he would, just hasn't decide the styling yet.)

he last picture is of my drunken Privateer, that scoundrel Jasper Drake. He has had one too many mugs of grog. (okay the truth is he fell off the shelf, which is why there are lots of little papers all around him) Look at how the pleats of his coat are. My husband is jealous of that coat. I did make his brother a nice wool 18th century coat, lined with linen.

Unicorn
I was a pattern tester for Laurie Taylor's Unicorn pattern Lunaris. Apalala is from Her Purrvis pattern
You can see all 8 entries in the challenge here: Lunaris Challenge
Mine is # 1. The Winner was # 4 Starfire by Michelle. Second was #8, Third was #5.

This is my Unicorn.

I made a few changes to my unicorn.
1. She is made with micro fiber fleece? instead of craft velor. it has a very short pile fur, very soft.
2. Her horn is made out of a triangle of white cotton, using the selvage and tristed apon itself. (a really neat technique I came up with for my Dragon horns.)
3. Her nose is sculpted three-dimensionally, istead of straight across like the pattern calls for. The nose is sculpted in the same manner my dragon noses are. Look at all the challenge entries to see what I mean. She has a much better full frontal view.
4. She has wooden dowels in her legs. Which means her legs will always be able to hold her up. and also means you can break her bones, like I did.

My husband Owen has adopted her. she stands on top of our tv.
I am currently in the process of making some smaller horses.

Update. Unicorn now has a name. Shenandoah or Shanon. We won't tell her that she is named after a rigid airship that met an unfortunate end. (He likes Dirigibles, blimps, zeppelins, etc)

One Quilt at a Time
I curently have 4 of my dragons and a doll in the window display of a local quilt shop.
One Quilt at a Time
De & Abbey are a pair of sisters who run the shop, and they asked for me to bring my dragons to put in the window. so currently Crystal, Dinan and her mate and Zaha's brother are in the window.

The full window shot, sorry about the glare, Amanda, just isn't much of a photographer.

Crystal and Zaha's brother. (yes these are the first photos I have of him.)

Zaha's brother, currently known as fire-breather and his rider. The rider has a little sword and scabard that Owen made out of plastic.

Dinan's mate, also known as Owen's dragon. Dinan is hiding, but he is so cute curled up on his rock.

Dinan hidding in the flowers

More wedding dolls

A lovely black and white shot of the dolls, some of the detail shows up better in this picture. Notice that they are reversed from othe shots becouse this picture was taken before the ceremony by our photographer.

Another shot of the cake, again before ceremony and by our photographer.

Wedding cake topper dolls
I got married.
I am a cloth doll artist.
I needed a cake topper.
Soooo......
I made a pair of dolls to represent me and my husband.
The dolls are 8 3/4 inches tall. Small dolls but larger than your average cake toppers.
The pattern is my own, they are made to have very nice bums, and she has a nice chest, and he is all there. (my first ever atempt. and I am not showing the picture unless you ask.)
While their faces didn't turn out to be portriats of us, they do look rather good for such small dolls.

Their costumes are replicas of the outfits that we wore. down to the little wire circlet. Their outfits are made of silk, the bodies are cotton, hair is wool or mohair. I didn't have the time to finish his second layer or make him a hat. we used chopstics to set them in to the cake and only his shoes got a little frosting. I wasn't thrilled with them anyways.

In this picture below you can see us in our outfits to compare.

Zaha was there as well you can see him in the lower Right of the picture.

Civil War Lady
I made this doll about a year and a half ago. She is an adapted pattern, I used pieces from several patterns to creat her, even my own body design. She was made for a dear friend of mine who does Civil War Reenacting. The doll is over 18 inches tall, with fully jointed legs. She has an almost compleat wardrobe Including: Drawers (properly open), chemise, Corset (fully boned), Hoopskirt, Peticoat, Stockings, Fingerless Gloves, Bodice and Skirt, Slat Bonnet, knited shawl (I knitted it too), removable collar, and chatelaine with key and sciscors. I never finished the shoes. My Husband's brother made a wonderful wooden box for her to be protected in. I originaly had pictures of her being dressed in each layer so you could see them, but I lost the camera. adn I only took theis shot becouse we felt it would be embarising to undress her there, besides there are a lot of layers and they all close the way they should. This picture was taken at my wedding.

Wrist Dragon
I started this little dragon about a year ago. It is my own pattern. I made him in white and turned and stuffed most of him before setting him aside. I found him again when I moved. I was in the midst of wedding stuff with Full Day with the Flat Women coming up on July 20th. I decided to take a break from the monotony of wedding sewing and make a small dragon. I finished stuffing and sewed him up. I then painted him as he was all white. when dry I beaded his spine and assembled him. it was at this point that I realized he fit on my wrist perfectly. I wore him to Full day with Flat Women and then again to my wedding.

At my wedding:

Apalala
Apalala, the name of my dragon is from a story of a Buddhist River Dragon. To read the story go to Dragonorama's Story on Apalala
Apalala is 14" tall and 26" long, a comparable size to Magnus and Crystal.
I used only one fabric for Apalala. The green scale print was a solid green on reverse, so I used the 'Wrong Side' for the head, belly, wings, and spine. He is a very sweet and docile dragon.
I beaded him a crown and a necklace. Every Dragon likes Sparklies.

Apalala
This is Apalala, my version of Purrvis, The Garden Dragon by Laurie Taylor of The Magick Doll. Laurie Runs the Magick Doll Yahoo group The Magick Dolls
The Challenge was a pattern testing of Purrvis the Garden Dragon, Laurie's first pattern.
You can see all the entries on Laurie's Picturetrail site
The pattern is nor for sale at Doll Makers Ink

Patrick's Alien's Flying Saucer
After I had made the Alien I decided he needed a Flying Saucer. The space ship is made out of cotton with the top being of clear green vinyl. The top un buttons from the bottom so the bottom can be washed. the top also has zippers so that you can get the alien into the swiveling command chair. There is a lot of glow-in-the-dark dimensional fabric paint on the ship as every Flying Saucer should glow in the dark.
This was a gift for Patrick's 8th birthday. I may turn this into a pattern at some later date. (I think the Saucer needs more engineering, I made it up as I went.)

Patrick's Alien
When I went to visit my family in early March I took some of my dolls to show. My cousin Patrick really liked my dolls. He made some drawings and asked if I could make them. I said yes.
I came home with several pages of drawings and after selecting what I wanted to make, I began designing the Alien. The Alien is 11 inches tall with antennas, made of cotton with pom'poms on his antennas

ZAHA
This is Zaha, my latest dragon. He is 7 1/2" tall. He is made with an open mouth. The pattern for the body was made with cirves so that the tail is in its permanent "S" curve. He doesn't have any wire or plastic in him. He stands up on sheer force of stuffing. There is hemp cord in his wing veins and mohawk. His moustach, beard and spine fringe is made of three colors of thread (red, yellow, and orange). The thread is glued in place so it won't go anywhere.
Since he was the trial of my newest pattern, he was made all in white coton. Once I had him all swen up we started talking about color. He told me he wanted to be Gold. Yeah Right. He wanted to be ORANGE. I don't like orange! So he is here to teach me about dealing with orange.
The pattern for Zaha will be offered up to those who compleate the dragon challenge at Magik Dolls Yahoo group.The Magik Doll Yahoo Group

The dragons are addopted.
On christmas day I brought out the dragons from their hidding place under my bed with the other gifts I had. I set all 5 out on the table and offered them up for addoption. Owen got to choose first becouse I am biased. He chose the blue western dragon with wings. His dragon now gaurds his computer at work. Jenna (Owen's older sister) chose next. She addopted the gold dragon and Nessi for her and her boyfriend Art who was also visiting us at Christmas.
This left the two red dragons. Ryan (Owen's brother) chose the red-blue one and Lisa (Owen's youger sister) has the red-gold one. Eventually I will make one for me.
EDIT 5-2005
I have had several online requests for more information on making these beaded dragons. They are from the Feb/Mar 2004 issue of Beadwork magazine. You can buy a back issue at Beadwork

More beaded dragons
The dragons are made of two gauges of wire and beads. The first two dragons (red-blue and Nessi) were made using only the 28 gauge wire. Since the wire wasn't strong enough to hold them upright. I ended up making wo bodies and laying one on top of the other. On my next stop at the bead store I bought more wire this time 24 gauge. the instructions called for 26 gauge but there wasn't any at the store. I ended up using several types of beads in an attempt to make each dragon unique. After I had spent a bout a week making dragons, I was done with them.

Christmas dragons
Okay so these aren't soft sculpture, but they are still cute and need to be shared.
Several months ago, when I went to my doll meeting, I went into the bead store next door to the quilting shop that my doll group meets in. At the bead shop there was a little beaded chinese dragon. I wanted to make one but they were out of the magazine that the instructions came from. You can see what the original dragon was supposed to look like here: Beadwork Magazine
In October I finaly found a copy of the magazine and started making the dragons. the first one I made was the red and blue one. Then came the green and gold one who wanted to be a sea dragon, so it got three sets of flippers and a dorsal fin and the name Nessi. I took these two to my December doll meeting and showed them off. I them bought more beads and started making more. A blue one was made and it decided it wanted to be a western style of dragon, not chinese, so it got wings. Then came a gold one and the last one was red and gold. These dragons take about a day to make.

Dawn Challenge
I participated in another Online challenge through Phyllis Robinson's Cloth Doll Making Yahoo Group. The pattern was Phyllis' Dawn. Dawn is made with her clothing sewn as her body. The sleeves and skirt were added later. her clothing is a sheer black and I really liked the effect that sewing the black and the body fabric under it as one piece. The inspiration was from some vintage pin ups I had seen. The legs are all one peice but are seamed in such a way that the doll is kneeling. To see more of the entries from this challenge go to this link. Dawn Challenge
UPDATE 3-6-05 This doll was addopted by my Mom to give as a gift to a dear friend of hers.

Art doll
This is my first and only ART DOLL. She was made in the early part of 2004 I drew the outline on my fabric and then hand sewed her together. she is made in the pancake style. Her face is made from a clay mold. It is a cat face. Her hair is multi colored yard and was needled felted on, my first time needled felting hair on. I painted her body and added a skirt and streamers. I gave her to my sister for her wedding in August 2004.

Dragonlet 4
From the back