The Readers are finished!

Here are the six dolls I made for Marilyn's book club.

Marilyn

Jocelyn

Karin

Ellen

Amy

Meg

Welcome Lola!

Aileen picked Lola and isn't she special! The rescue group says she is a Sheltie-Shih Tzu mix, but I think there's some Australian shepherd there - look at that coloring. She is full of energy and a really sweet dog.

Working on book club dolls

A friend asked me to make dolls for her book club - 6 of them - so that's what I'm working on...heads, arms, and legs...bodies soon!

Asterique

I finally finished Asterique.  I took an online class from. Angela Jarecki to learn how to make her.

Bichon Picnic

Every year, the Bichon rescue (http://www.delawarevalleybichonrescue.com/) where I got my wonderful dog, JP, has a picnic at the home of the woman who runs the organization and there are at least 70 Bichons and their owners who attend. Here is a group photo.

It's a lot of fun - Bichons are such an easy-going breed that it's a lot of fun to spend an afternoon with such a big group.  Of course, my dog spent his time under the food table, waiting for scraps to fall on the floor!

Asterique needs a head!

I signed up for an online class with Angela Jarecki to make a doll named Asterique and I got started, but have not been able to keep up, so poor Asterique only has a torso and legs!

So Asterique needs a head and arms. The arms are done, but the head is still in pieces - oh, dear! I guess I'd better get back to work!!!

A doll for Alexis

My friend Leah asked me to make a doll for Alexis, who made her first communion last weekend.  Leah gave me two photos of Alexis in her communion dress and I made a doll to look like Alexis.  Take a look.

The photos of Alexis:

The doll:

More about dolls

I haven't posted much about dolls lately, so I want to send you to a new blog created by my friend Elsa Mora.  This is her third blog! (I can't even keep up with one.)  It is going to be all about dolls and the first post was published today, so go take a look at the fabulous doll Elsita made.
http://elsita.typepad.com/dolls-have-feelings-too/

Shoes

OK, I have to admit it, I love shoes.  My artist friends introduced me to John Fluevog shoes and they are wonderful, stylish,  and comfortable. So I have managed to acquire a few pairs and here are the latest.  When you wear these shoes someone invariably notices and makes a comment!

All Fluevogs have something written on the bottom of the shoe.

Check them out at www.fluevog.com

The Addams Family

On Thursday we went to New York to see The Addams Family on Broadway. Although we love Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth, we were there to see my friend, Carolee Carmello.  I was the "boss" when Carolee was a Resident Assistant at SUNY Albany and have been so happy to watch her success.  We visited Carolee after the show and, as always, she was so gracious and happy to give us a backstage tour. This is quite a production with trap doors, puppetry, alligators under the bed - lots of stuff needed to be stored in the wings - a complex job for the stage manager to keep everything moving safely.

The show was thoroughly entertaining - lots of laughs and lots of fun.  I think it will play for a long time.  And of course Carolee was great - she undergoes a "personality change" at the end of the first act that is hilarious - ending up passed out on the dinner table!

So if you get a chance - go see the show!

It's been a while

So let me get you up to date on what I have been doing.  First - shoveling snow in February!

What a winter in Philadelphia!  I was used to this kind of snow when I lived in upstate NY, but not here.  We are lucky to have very good neighbors who helped clear the snow and to be able to work from home when we couldn't get out of the driveway. I must admit, it was beautiful.....

My niece came to paint our den.  It was great to have her here for a week and she did a great job.

And just recently I made two dolls for friends who are retiring.  Ooh ... I'm jealous - but only about a year and a half for me before I can make dolls and do blog posts full time.

This is Leah's doll.

And this is Aileen's doll.

Both dolls are made from patterns by Jill Maas, a great doll-maker from New Zealand. Check out her wonderful dolls: http://www.slightlyweatheredladies.com/

I am going to make a commitment to do a blog post once a week - see you next week!