The 
MSAT MiniDoll list and Dana Burton at Dana of Miniature Art have been my guiding lights for learning yet another art form. I have several of her tutorials and dolls to get caught up on. Two other teachers that have nice miniature doll tutorials are Gisele and Cindy Howe. There are lots of others. One day I need to gather a list.
September 20, 2005
(My it's been way too long since I've worked on my site)
I love dressing little dolls...way under the 5 foot ones. As eggers, we use these tiny rubber babies sometimes to make fairies or dressed babies for the pram eggs. I think they're originally from Germany. After looking for them a considerable amount of time, I finally found a source for them at Eggciting Creations & Supplies. I ordered several sets for myself and other members. One member doesn't have much luck with dressing them, so handed them back to me to dress and wig. These are the results. I'm fairly pleased, although I will look harder for other materials to dress them with. I would not be able to dress these wee people, if it weren't for the teaching and eggspertise of egger, Barbara Tison, who passed away on February 21, 2005. She is author of egging books, A Part of Barb, A Part of Barb II, and Many Mini Dolls Transformed. She is missed.
We've all seen the cake decorating ballerina and perhaps have used this little plastic figure for a daughter's birthday cake. A member wanted a ballerina for her mum who was making a decorated egg for a friend and she liked the ballerina's. The member's mum will be here in the states in a few days from England, and I do hope she likes what I've made for her.
This is my first ever miniature doll, other than trying to create Fimo figures for my eggs. This was a kit from Dana, and she is called Ellie the Egger (that's what I really do...make decorated eggs). Wonders of all wonders, she took a prize at Dana's Same Mold Contest 2002 She won Most Realistic. You can see Dana's original on her site and other winners are at the above link. The chair is purchased and the doll was made from the kit, with the exception of the glasses, the nylons (made from my own nylon anklets), and the shoes are different, as is the egg. The wigging was a also a first for me, but I really like the way it turned out.
Another first for me was dressing a mannequin, and this was a kit from England by Hazel Dowd of Minis4all. She also won a small prize, but there weren't very many entries. Her hat is a piece of eggshell and is covered with a paint on suede that you steam over a tea kettle. The wigging on Eliza went a bit smoother the second time around.
August2, 2003 July 22, 2003 March, 2003
Carla Benham from England, and a Moderator of the MSATMiniDoll list, designed a contest where those that entered would be given the same fabrics, same viscose (hair), and same trims...lace and ribbon...to design a doll with. You could use any doll you wanted and it could be male, female, child, or character. A few dolls were provided by Carla for an extra fee, along with a pattern if it was needed. Entrants sent Carla a fee for the kit, and Carla sent a packet of materials in return. The entrant had to use the two pieces of silk that Carla sent, one patterened and one solid, and you had to use the viscose she provided. You could not dye the fabrics or the hair, but you could dye the laces and ribbons that came with the packet. There were some 65 entries, with 48 finishing, I believe. Those that wanted to, could send their entries to a doll museum in St. Louis, Missouri, to be on display. My "Piguine" is on the Intermediate page under Clayseed. I had a good time creating her. You can also see Piguine on her own page on my site.
I had an occassion and honor this past weekend to take a miniature doll class from Cindy Howe. BTW...Cindy has great tutorials on her site, so be sure to visit. Not much by way of classes comes to this area, so I was pleased as punch and had such a good time. Broke all three of Cindy's rules I think, but I have a nice doll that I really, really do like. The class got a little extended into Sunday as we didn't get done on Saturday. The class was held at Larrianne's Small Wonders, in Ventura, CA, and Cindy's doll was called Gertie. She was a bit frazzled after working all day in the kitchen preparing goodies for everyone. My "Gertie" (renamed Nana), will go quite nicely in my Gingerbread Shop as soon as it is done. For now she has a temporary home in a dome. Judy, a writer/editor for American Miniaturist, was also taking the class and unintentional or not, kept us all in stitches with her wit. She is also writing an article on Larrianne's shop. Will be anxious to receive my issue when it is ready. Since this page is getting a bit long, I'll put Gertie on her own page.
Finally my Pavan is finished! She is also a kit by Dana. It took a long time for me to get her done, mostly because of time constraints. There sure isn't a lot of that these days. She has eggshell wings with openings being made from a spider web pattern Fimo cane. It was challenging getting them in there. I hope you like her, I sure do. One day I must decide between eggs, miniature dolls, and minis. NOT! They all go together and keep me very happy, if frazzled a lot. Only XXX to go. Enjoy.
