December, 2003

December pictures

Minutes from meeting held December 13, 2003

Present: Marion Bolson, Sherry Staton, Mary Schade, Cheryl Netter, Darline Smith, Marge Daboll, Kestrel Frank, Bonnie Moreno, Kristina Simancik, and new member Audrey Wilvert.

Audrey joined the club today. Welcome Audrey. She brought some of her work for show and tell. A finished Leopold the lion doll and a partial Kokopelli.

Marion brought a doll head created by Elinor Peace Bailey.

Bonnie brought an angel she bought at a mall to show the use of an electrical wire armature. Bonnie also shared a watch she beaded. It was an inexpensive watch that now has a wonderful beaded band.

Christine Shivelys samples for her class were at the meeting. If enough people are interested, we would have her out for a class in late April.

We have booth at the Creative Festival, January 29-31. We will be allowed to sell small items, such as pins. If you want to work in the booth, email Marion in the next week. Creative Festival organizers need names of individuals working the booth. They will issue name tags.

Some people are not receiving email from the club. Please send a short response to the sender when you receive an email so they know you got them. Kestrel will set up a group for the doll club in the smart group so we can keep in touch easier. More will follow about how to sign up.

Next Meetings:
January meeting is January 17th. Cheryl will be the snack fairy. The program will be felting. Kestrel will also talk about dying with Kool Aid. Bring small head and hair fibers to work with. Also bring a list of the resources you use for material/supplies to share with the other members.

February meeting is February 21st. Marge will be the snack fairy. The program will be on joints and problems you have had with joints. Please bring material or samples you have concerning joints.

March meeting is March 27th. Please note the change.due to Doll fair in Kansas City the 17-21. Sherry will be the snack fairy. Bonnie will demo making a beaded bracelet.

Doll Fairs - Kansas City Doll Fair is March 17-21

Santa Fe Doll Fair is May 21-23

Albuquerque Doll Fair is June 25-27

To get on the mailing list from Virginia Robertson you need to call the Robertson Quilt & Doll Shop at 970-882-3389 in Dolores Colorado. Tell her the airport lady recommended her shop.

BAG SWAP:
The club will participate with the Mad Doll Makers in Lincoln Nebraska in a bag swap. Bring a bag full of goodies you would like used in a doll to the January meeting. The bags will be sent to the Mad Doll Makers. They in turn will send us bags. You will have until April to make a doll (any pattern) using the material in the bag you receive. You can add to the material. In April we will send the dolls to the Mad Doll Makers and we will receive back the dolls made from our material. Bonnie, Marge, Kestrel, Audrey and Sherry indicated they would like to participate. If you would like to participate, please email Marion so she can tell the other club how many bags to expect.

Bonnie suggested the club sponsor a web page where members can show case their dolls for sale. A sub committee was created with Kestrel, Bonnie and Audrey. They will work out the details and come back to the club.

Treasurers Report:
Current balance is $215. No expenditures to date.

We exchanged gifts and goodie bags..what fun!!!

The program for this meeting was creating faces. Marion did a good job on demonstrating. She had a hand out for us as well. Thanks for helping us Marion. What great faces were created today.

Mary Schade

November, 2003

November Show and Tell Pictures

Present: Linda Farrelly, Marion Bolson, Sherry Staton, Darline Smith, Mary Schade, Cheryl Netter, Bonnie Moreno.


Show and Tell:

Bonnie showed some fabric she made through the discharge process. She used sunlight gel on stamps. She made a scarf, hat and bag out of the fabric. Wonderful way to get new and unique fabric.

Bonnie also had a little purse made out of free lace which she had created.

Cheryl talked about the Boulder Hand Weavers Guild sale. She indicated that they had wonderful items. They also had lots of little pin dolls. Might be worth joining if you have some dolls to sell.

Sherry brought in a reborn doll. Very life like. It was held through out the meeting by one person or another.

Marion had her gypsy doll at the meeting. No wonder it won at the show. It was magnificent.

Cheryl brought in some little dolls she had painted using dynaflow paints. She was experimenting with the paint before she used it on a larger doll. She had lots of fun with the paints and the colors were great.

Sherry brought in little teddy bears that she had made. They ranged from 1 ½ inches to 5 inches. She used fuzzy felt.

Linda brought in some Angelina fiber that she was working with. She said you can get it at local hobby stores but for a greater variety in colors you need to go to Meinketoy.com. The fiber only sticks to itself. You can iron it to fuse the fibers together and create your own fabric.

Sherry also brought a Robert Raikers wooden jointed doll for all to see.



REMINDER - the next meeting will be December 13. This is a week early due to the holidays. We will have a pin or ornament exchange. Also will exchange a small bag of goodies. The bag should equal the quart size storage bag. Put in fun stuff to use in making dolls. Please bring a treat to share with others cookie, bread, candy.


Sue OGrady is moving to Omaha. We are sorry to see her go but wish her happiness and health.


The Kansas Doll Fair is March 17 21, 2004. Marion and Darline are planning on driving out to the fair. They could take 2 other people in their car. If you are interested in going with them, contact Marion.


Marion made up a sheet of upcoming fairs in our general area and potential teachers to bring in for a class. She asked everyone to indicate their preferences so we can plan for 2004. She will send this out in email as well.


The Mad Doll Club in Lincoln would like to do a bag swap with our club. A bag swap is when you put material in a bag that you would like used in a doll. The bags are sent to the other club. Those participating get a bag in return to make a doll from. The swap will probably occur in the Jan April time frame in which to send the bags, get a bag and make a doll. Marion needs to know how many people would like to participate so she can inform the Mad Doll Club.


We discussed whether to do a round robin or a challenge. Decided it would be better to continue the discussion at the next meeting.


Darline indicated there will be a craft fair at the clubhouse where we meet in Dec or January. They have asked us to participate. Darlene will let the members know as soon as the management gives her the details.


Marion brought some supplies she picked up at a new place called Sportsman Warehouse at 84th and I-25. She indicates it is a wonderful place for feathers, eyes, and hair. It is material fishermen use to make flies.


We watched half of a Jack Johnson video on sculpting an art doll.


See everyone on December 13.


-Mary Schade

October, 2003

October Show and Tell Pictures

The Denver Doll Artisans met in their new location at 120th and York at the Waterford Place club room. We all want to thank Darline for making this possible. I talked to the manager on Sunday and they were pleased with us and we can go back any time!!

We have two new members, Bonnie Moreno and Kristina Simancik. Welcome!! They came to us through the Metaphysical Fair which did not produce large sales for us, but brought us some sales, members and lots of contacts. We handed out 50 fliers to people who were interested in the club or the dolls. So we may still see more benefits from the fair at a later time.

Members in attendance: Linda, Sue, Mary W., Sherry, Cheryl, Mary S., Kestrel, Marge, Marion, Bonnie, Kristina and Elaine .

Show and tell:

Sue showed her Di McDonald she made in a class she went to in Baltimore. It was wonderful. I think she learned a lot. Sue also sold two elves at the Metaphysical Fair, well actually 3 since she made one for Darline also. Way to go Sue!

Mary Schade brought the giraffe she is making for the on-line class with Ruth Prest. She did the eyelashes with the fringe foot on her new sewing machine and they really came out well! It is a wonderful piece, Mary. Thanks for bringing it.

Mary Weiss brought a string doll she has been making. She is going to write up the pattern for us by the next meeting. Thanks, Mary! Also she went to the Colorado Doll And Bear Extravaganza and said it was a large and wonderful show that the she put us on the list for a booth for next year!! She said lots of people were selling dolls and there was a great competition with paid judges from out of state. She said they might be having it in September of next year, so mark your calendars. She also knows Theresa Van Gundy and I have included her website for miniature teddies.

Name of show: Colorado Doll and Bear Extravaganza

promoter: Pat Giroux

promoter contact info: 303-425-7333

sales dates: Oct 11 - 12

Location: Wembley Events Center, Commerce City, Co

show hours: 10 - 5 Sat., 11 - 4 Sun.

person submitting information: Theresa Van Gundy

comments: almost 100 exhibitors from all over the country

http://www.teddiesbytheresa.com/


Linda brought a notification from the Soft Dolls and Animals magazine that her Satyr will be in the next issue of the magazine!! Way to go Linda!! We are all excited for you! She also sold her Un-Namer doll at the Metaphysical Fair!! People love stories with the dolls. Anytime you can you should add a journal to the doll explaining the process you went through or come up with a story that touches peoples heart or soul. It really makes it a unique item that people cannot get at the discount stores.

Linda has also been in contact with a sculptor we met at the Metaphysical Fair and we may be able to have her come and give us some pointers.

Marge brought an internet pattern she printed out of a Japanese doll. The instructions are very detailed and there are lots of pictures. Here is the web site http://www.zephyr.dti.ne.jp/~runo/japan/

Runo has several other patterns and the website below shows ideas of how to use them and the links to the patterns. There is even a Santa. She also has pictures of dolls she did based on the Lord of the Rings.

http://www.zephyr.dti.ne.jp/~runo/eng/eindex.html

http://www.dab.hi-ho.ne.jp/runo/class/

Marge also bought a couple of elinor peace bailey books for us to look at. Marge would like to do a challenge doll based on one of the patterns. Marion will check with elinor and see if we all need to buy copies of the pattern for this in case the club wants to start this project. It might be easier to choose an on line pattern so we wont all have to buy a pattern.

Bonnie brought a lot of dolls, both hers and ones she has made from epbs patterns. The bag that she made from epbs pattern was wonderful. She also had a wizard that could change sizes, a baby doll with a face change on the underside of her bib and a Love Art Contest Doll that was a doll within a doll reaching out in love. She had a Celtic dragon you could tie into a celtic knot and LOTS of pictures. Thanks so much for sharing Bonnie. She also does hand dyed fabric and felting so we may need to see if we can talk her into teaching any of us these techniques. Thanks, Bonnie!!

Cheryl is doing some wonderful beading. She passed around a barrett she is working on. Very elegant. When Elaine arrived, Cheryl helped her with the peyote stitch she is trying to learn. Linda says that Elaine is just trying to develop her own unique stitch!! Elaine brought some of her hair wraps and pendulums. Beautiful work.

Kristina brought a doll she has been working on that she would like help with on the fingers. We found out that she is using one of JoAnn Pintos advanced doll patterns!! She is doing a great job. We are going to help her with fingers next meeting. She also told us about the Burning Man Experience. She is going to bring pictures next time. Here is the web site. http://www.burningman.com/ . Sounds like a really interesting experience!

Marion brought hand outs about epb classes and a couple of challenges. The Hoffman Challenge fabric is all butterfly wings this year and may inspire more people to make dolls.

Sherry brought a Patti Culea doll she is making and Marion stuffed a head for the doll to show how firm it should be. Sherry can get us squeeze bottles, glass bottles, and plastic jars for all kinds of needs. They are wonderful. Thanks, Sherry.

Kestrel brought several doll making books for everyone to look through. She tells us she has a library of 10,000 books! She sounds like a great person to have as a friend!! She also told us about Orrs beads on South Broadway in Denver. It could be field trip time!

Business meeting:

Linda would like to use her time in areas to help develop her fiber art, so she has asked that someone else take the minutes and run the meetings. Here is the list of tasks and the people who volunteered for them. If anyone would like to assist, we are always open to help and suggestions.

Chair Fairy: Marion Bolson
The Chair Fairy will chair the meetings and try to give the meetings structure while keeping the creative juices flowing. Any decisions will be brought up for vote so everyone gets a say in what we are planning. Please speak up if your needs are not being met or if you have suggestions for improving the club.

Scribe: Mary Schade with Sherry Staton as backup.
The Scribe will take notes at the meetings, will write up the notes and send them to Linda, the Web Mistress, for distribution and publishing on the web site.

Web Mistress: Linda Farrelly
Linda will continue to publish pictures, minutes and other information on the web page she has developed. Kestrel has offered us web space if ever Lindas sight becomes full. Thanks Kestrel.

Pot OGold: Marion Bolson

Basically the Treasurer. Dues are $15 year and we have $195 right now. Kristina and Elaine still owe dues but plan to pay at the next meeting. If anyone else wants to take care of the pot ogold, they are welcome, Marion has plenty to do.

Photo Op Fairy: Cheryl Netter with Marion Bolson as backup

Take pictures of the meetings and show and tell for the web page. We want to be able to look back as see how much we have grown over the years in numbers and in creativity.


Projects:
Three different projects for next year were discussed.

1.) Round Robin Each person makes a base doll of their choice and then it is sent to the next person for face, then cloths then accessories (as an example). The person who made the base doll will get her doll back at the end. Each person would have a month (until the next meeting) to do their part. If we work this through the whole club it could take over a year to get the dolls done! However, if we break the club into 4 person teams, we could have all the dolls done in 4 months. No standard pattern.

2.) Challenge We all start with the same doll pattern and come up with our own version of the doll. One way to make sure we get a multitude of variety would be to have a theme list to choose from. Say we do an epb doll. The list might be wizard, fairy, nurse, mother with 9 children, Egyptian Goddess, Celtic maid, etc. We have a certain time to finish the dolls, say 3 months. After they are done we take pictures and send to SD&A for publication.

3.) Bag exchange with the Mad Dollmakers of Lincon, NE Here is the idea from an email I received from one of the members, DeAnna Larson. ( Here is her web site. She does wonderful things with paper mache!) http://www.geocities.com/cattails_art/pm1.htm



1. choose a theme - some times we've used songs & stories - you & i discussed the mystic/spiritual theme, but if they don't like the idea we can change it. if you're group would like to come up with the theme that would be fine too, i'm flexible

2. everyone picks fabric/s, trims, dodads that theyd like used in their dolls, maybe a brief description of what the theme means to them, stuff it in a brown bag - with your name on it of course, you don't have to supply everything, just stuff that you think could work and would be nice.

3. send the packets to the other group. they pick the 'bag' they want to work on.

4. make the dolls using at least 1/2 of the bags contents and supplementing where necessary

5. send back to the original group, making sure that the bag or the new owners name is somewhere with or on the doll.

Not everyone would have to participate. At the next meeting Marion will ask who might want to be involved so we can let the other club know how many bags to expect. You can let Marion know if you have any other ideas about this doll swap such as a theme.

Program for the November Meeting:
Everyone voted they wanted to have a day where we all bring a doll/project we are working on that we need help with. So we will be doing it at the next meeting, November 15th. I will bring a small sewing machine in case we need one. Bring your beading, hand sewing, fingers to turn and stuffing issues. Marion will bring her Jack Johnson video since we have the wide screen TV in the club room. We can have it running while we work on our challenges. The Snack Fairy is Darline.

Program for the December Meeting:
We decided we would have two gift exchanges.

1.) A Pin or Ornament Hand made but it can be anything, doll, beading; anything to do with doll making and/or embellishing. Please bring wrapped or in a bag. I think we will number each bag and then have each person pull a number from a hat for their gift. In the white elephant exchanges I have been in, the person who pulls a number can take the numbered gift or one from someone who has already opened theirs. Then the person who has lost their gift gets the numbered gift. Whew!! We can talk about it at the next meeting in case anyone has a better idea or can explain it better. But be thinking about what you want to make.

2.) A White Elephant scrap bag Bring a quart size bag of items you have bought in the past for doll making/embellishing and then, several months later said to yourself, Why in the !@$$ did I buy that?. The premise here is that one womens cast offs are anothers treasures. We will exchange these also so we can circulate the stashes. Items can be fabric, lace, trims, buttons, beads, and so on.

We will probably have time left so we had talked about painting faces. Marion will show how she does hers and will bring some fabric and pencils paints and crayons to play with. Bring your own and if you have a face technique to share, please bring it also.

Meeting date is December 13th. We dont have a snack fairy, but maybe we could have a mini delectable potluck where each person brings a favorite cookie, sweet bread or candy they enjoy at Christmas. Doesnt have to be homemade. We can talk about this at the November meeting also.

Creative Festival:
Kevin has graciously given us permission to sell items at the Creative Festival in January! We will need display dolls to promote the club, but we can now also sell some items. Since he has gifted the booth to us, he asks that we not compete with the Treasures of the Gypsy booth. Pamela sells fabric, trims, doodads and patterns for making dolls, so I dont think we will have a problem with it.

October Program:
The program this time was armatures. Marge brought a few examples and a hand out. She uses electrical wire for some of her armatures. These have to be planned and put into the doll before stuffing. She also brought one of the white bead type of armatures. Looked like it might be a little much for the types of dolls we are making. She had purchased one of Ruth Prests patterns that had an armature and showed how the pattern explained the armature. She hadnt put it in yet and wasnt sure she was going to like it! Several people said that they go ahead and put wire in arms and legs of jointed dolls for just a little flexibility for expression. Linda brought a magazine article by Lisa Lichtenfels on armatures. Wonderful ideas. We all decided we had a lot more to learn about armatures!!

Marion wants to thank everyone who helped at the Metaphysical Fair. It was a very educational experience for all involved.

September 20, 2003

This months meeting was attended by Marion , Darline, Cheryl, Mary S., Margaret, Mary W., Sue, Sherry, Linda, and a new member, Elaine Elzia. We also had a visitor, Allison Atherton, who is a doll collector. Marion, Margaret and Sue brought many lovely dolls for show and tell. Allison brought some of her collection to show us, mostly antique porcelain dolls. Elaine brought some art and craft supplies that did not sell at her yard sale and invited us to bring home what we wanted. Thanks, Elaine! We also have a new member, Kestrel Frank, who was not able to attend this meeting.

Marion brought in the patches she designed for the club and a patch with each members name so we could embellish them. They are lovely, thanks Marion!

I forgot to write things down as they happened this time, so please feel free to correct any errors in my memory, and add anything that I have left out.

Due to tensions that were arising within the group, it was suggested that we vote more often and more formally as to our meeting subjects and extra activities. The members present decided that we should have 2 methods of tallying the results: for things that would require the spending of group funds we should have a quorum (2/3 of the membership) to pass, and for all other things a simple majority (51%) of members present. Marion later mentioned that she is working on a couple of projects that have never been voted on formally, and asked that we vote on them before she proceeds. Please respond within the next week with a yes or no vote to the following questions:

1) Do we want to host the booth at the Creative Festival in January? We were given the booth free of charge provided we share it with the other doll clubs in Colorado. Marion has been in contact with the other groups and they are very interested in this. Since no club money will be spent on this, a simple majority is all that is required to pass.

2) Do we want Marion to pursue having doll artists coming in for classes? She had planned to ask for dates that would work for the doll artists, then have them approved by the club. We would not sign a contract until we had filled the class to the number needed to make it a reasonable price. If we promote the classes at the Creative Festival, we could get more participation and make the classes less expensive for everyone. She is not sure as yet how the teachers work their bookings, but did not want to get tied into a contract where a few people would have to pay for a class because we could not fill it. So, I guess this breaks down to 2 questions:
a) do we want to pursue having doll artists come in to teach classes (simple majority required to pass), and
b) would we like club funds to be available to subsidize these classes ( quorum required to pass).

At the meeting, we voted to have a member give reminder calls or emails to group members, including a reminder for the host and snack fairy. Sherry volunteered for the job.

There will be a change in the meeting schedule. Margaret said she will not be able to do the shadow dying in October, she had not taken into consideration the change in the weather when she agreed to do it. So, instead, we will do the armatures in October, and have an empty meeting slot in November. 2 possible topics were suggested, pattern making and techniques for creative expression. If you have any suggestions, please email them to Linda and she will prepare a list of potential topics to vote on at the October meeting.

Since we have been growing, we need to find a larger place to meet, hopefully a free one. It would be nice also if it could be a permanent location. Marion and Darline are looking into a space, but we do not yet know if it will be available or free. If you know of anywhere we could meet for free or close to it that would be comfortable for 10-15 people, please let either myself or Marion know. We are outgrowing our members living rooms and need a place as soon as possible.

I have had some opportunities come my way this fall that I would love to pursue. If anyone would be willing to take over the tasks of running the meetings or taking down the minutes (or both) I would be grateful. It is simply a matter of time available. I am more than happy to continue maintaining the website and member list. Think it over and we can vote on it at the next meeting.

Thanks, and see you soon,
Linda Farrelly

P.S.- Voting results are as follows:

#1 - pass with 7 in favor, 6 abstentions

#2a - pass with 7 in favor, 6 abstentions

#2b - did not pass with 4 in favor, 2 opposed, 1 maybe, and 6 abstentions.

August 16, 2003

August Show and Tell Pictures

This months meeting was attended by Darline, Marion, Mary S., Sue, Sherry, Cheryl, Linda and a new member, Marge Daboll. Welcome, Marge!

Events:

Our visit from Ruth Prest will be on Monday, September 8th from 6-10pm and includes a spaghetti dinner. Cost for members is $5, non-members pay $7.50. Please pay Marion asap if you are coming and have not yet done so. We are supposed to show up with a blank pin doll ready to bead. Marion handed out a pattern and instructions for the pin doll at the meeting and has copies available for those who could not attend.

The Bead Renaissance will be at the Holiday Inn at I-25 and 120th Ave from Sept. 11-14. Class schedules are listed at www.rockybeads.org .

The Metaphysical Fair is getting closer, October 10, 11 and 12. Marion has a booth schedule. Please contact her if you can work the booth for a while. Also, please bring anything you made for the Fair to the September meeting so we can see what we have, and what we have all been up to.

We may have a free booth at the Creative Festival in January! Marion spoke to the organizer, and he said if we can get the other 2 local clubs to join us, we can have a booth fro free. So keep your calendars clear on the last weekend in January.

The Sepember 20th meeting has been moved to Margaret Murphy's house.

Projects:

Marion and Linda have been thinking about a club newsletter. They decided that since the website is going so well, there is no reason not to use that as our newsletter instead of duplicating a lot of work to bring it into print. So, we are issuing a call for entries. Anyone in the club who would like to write an article, review a book or product, announce a new or newly discovered shop or resource, or post a free pattern, etc., can submit it via email or floppy disc to Linda. She will update the site about twice a month, and will send out an email to members when new things are added.

Remember, there is a Members Website page just waiting to filled up with links! If you have a site with dolls, send me the URL and I will add it.

We have decided to do an ornament or pin exchange at our December meeting. Each of us will make a small ornament or pin for a white elephant exchange. Any details or questions can be resolved at the next meeting.

It was decided that we would do a club Round Robin doll. We will begin in January, with each person bringing a blank doll from 10-20 in height. We decided to not have a theme, leaving it open for each person to decide what to do. If we exchange dolls once a month, it will take until December to finish this project, but our dolls will have a little bit of everyone in it. If we break up into smaller working groups of 4 to 6 people we could be done much sooner, but your dolls will contain work from only those in your working group. Think about which you would prefer, and we can talk about it next meeting.

Show and Tell:

Marion brought in some poppet dolls and pin dolls she has been working on for the Fair. She also brought the pattern for the poppet dolls and a few other dolls and patterns, as well as some crystals for sale to include in dolls for the fair. Mary Schade brought in the doll she made from Margarets pattern, her very first finished doll. She is adorable! Way to go, Mary! Linda brought in her doll from Margarets pattern, as well, and some pin dolls she made for the Fair. She also brought in 2 dolls from the FOCD round robin project she is working on, one that she just finished dressing, and one that just arrived and she hadnt worked on yet. Marge brought in her version of American Gothic, for which she won a ribbon. They are quite a pair!

Demonstration:

Linda Farrelly shared her version of needle sculpting with the group. We used long doll needles and loosely stuffed round heads to practice on, although you could do this with any type of head, with different degrees of firmness. Basically, you either mark or visualize where the lines of the face are, such as: along the sides of the nose; above, below, and in the center of the mouth; and the eye line and brow. These are the lines you stitch along to form the parts of the face that recede. You also keep in mind the parts of the face that come forward, such as the nose and bridge of the nose, the lips themselves, the eyebrows, perhaps the chin or cheeks. These are brought forward by having the thread run behind them on their way from one of the lines to another. The thread forms a supportive web behind the stuffing that keeps the protruding forms forward, and the lines where the thread come in and out form the lines that recede and define the shape. It is hard to describe, but easy to do. There will be a page on the site with pictures in the next few weeks, keep your eye out for it.

If I have made any errors or omissions, please let me now asap so I can correct the minutes. It is a pleasure to see you all, as always. Looking forward to next time,

Linda Farrelly