Enid - in soft creams and greens

Just a quick post to introduce Enid, a tubby Nora doll dressed in the new 'The Botanist' fabric by Lewis and Irene.  Enid has a gentle face with a watchful expression, a guardian.

I have completely fallen in love with this range of fabrics and have just enough fabric to make one more doll in a different colour combination! As always, she is a softly stuffed girl made to my own pattern.  Her face is hand painted and hand embroidered and she has hand styled blond wool tops for hair. This blond is from Trimits and is the best I have found.  She has last years lavender & chamomile in her tummy and sports a hand embroidered lavender sachet around her shoulder.

All my girls have my herbs and dried flowers in their tummy and some have a polished stone, rose quartz being my favourite, or some other token that I have found or collected. They take a little of my Lancashire garden with them.

Tuesday Talent - Irina Che

 This is another of my Pinterest and livemaster.ru finds.  Her name is Irina Che, ИринаChe, and she makes  'Гномы' or gnomes.  She is Russian and comes from Sukhinichi in the Kaluga region and the attention to detail on her gnomes is just lovely.  Lots of textures, lots of different materials coming together to make super cute tiny gnomes.

If you peep at her pages on livemaster.ru she makes all kinds of wonderful furries from monkeys to rabbits and they are beautifully finished but I was drawn to her little dolls.  I like the fact that the designer wears glasses and all her gnomes are also bespectacled, its a good touch. Her work is polished and on such a small scale, if you look further down I have shown a one of her photos of a gnome next to an apple, so tiny.

I love looking at the Russian and Ukrainian doll makers, the costuming of their dolls is always so considered. Laces, buckles and pins, that attention to tiny detail. There is a definite styling, very varied but with a heritage. You start to notice the culture and also to enjoy the styles of other traditions.  I have recently 'discovered' Gail Wilson, along with other artists working in her vogue and then also the amazing dolls of Izannah Walker.  Much simpler lines but so, so elegant.  Oh so much to see and to learn about.

Sooo Tiny!

A Grand Day Out - World of Wedgwood

We have just had a great day at Barlaston in Stoke.  The World of Wedgewood was our destination for Becca to carry out some research for her MA.  The staff could not have been more friendly and answered all her questions, taking time from their work to explain and inspire.

I can honestly say I did not know what to expect but was thrilled with the visit.  The factory tour was amazing and we all found so much to see in the museum.  I completely fell in love with their hyper realistic forms, especially the selection of lobster serving bowls - as pictured right.  We even got to see the famous Portland Vase, as well as the experiments made to achieve that flawless finish.  I don't have an especial interest in crockery but Barlaston has so much more going on.  We spent the whole day and we all enjoyed it.  The most interesting experience was watching their talented artists hand paint the china, this is of particular interest to Becca and they were very generous with their time.

There is a lovely Dining Hall that served a great lunch with plenty of choice in smart surroundings. The Tea Shop is stunning, with an elegant setting but very expensive, you really pay for the experience.  Lots of shopping opportunities, which I must say didn't catch our interest,  Also chances to throw a pot or decorate a plate, again we didn't indulge but great if you want to have a go yourself.
Wedgwood have really got their ideas right with this attraction, it all works seamlessly and you don't feel it is full of gimmicks but has an interesting dignity.  I don't know that young children would get a lot out of it but for anyone interested in craft, a wonderful British industrial tradition or colour & pattern it is a really pleasant way to spend a day.

Please note, the photos are not mine they belong to Wedgwood, you could not take photos in the factory or museum.  Thank you Wedgwood.

Tuesday Talent - Svetlana Fadeeva

 This Ukrainian lady from the city of Khmelnytsky is Svetlana Fadeeva also selling as 'piece of heart'.  I find the ethereal quality of her cloth dolls to be quite enchanting.  There is a fragility there that is so appealing. You want to bring them in from the cold and look after them.

I particularly enjoy her palette, lots of her dolls have these cool tones and pale grace.  She uses roving and mohair so well and so freely for her hair.  I wish I was braver with my girls.

She has pages on livemaster.ru and you can locate her by 'Светлана Фадеева' and there find lots of her dolls and delicate embroidered insect brooches that she makes. She can also be found on Pinterest, where some of her older dolls are pinned as well as her current stock. Have a look for her, her dolls are so lovely I am sure you will enjoy.

A Grand Day Out - The 2016 BCTF at Harrogate

Had a lovely day in Harrogate at the Yorkshire Showground visiting the amazing BCTF for 2016.  Never been before and received a personal invite so took the opportunity to see this trade fair.

 Obviously I am not a buyer for a shop or gallery, which I had to reiterate to the lovely ladies and gentlemen I met, who were keen to do business.  However they still had time for me and I learnt alot from them both creatively and from the business side of things.  The range of work on show was breathtaking, I can't say I would have purchased from everyone but the talent there was superb.

Jillian Riley Designs

There was so much to see, over 500 artists represented that it took all day to get around and see everything I wanted to see.  There was alot of jewellery, in a myriad of forms and plenty of potters. Not alot of textiles and only a little wood but lots of unique ideas that were just great to admire.  It was good that you couldn't buy retail because you couldn't spend but frustrating also.  However I took lots of cards for work I admired and will visit their websites when gift buying beckons.

If you get the chance to go next year, everyone is friendly and once they realise you aren't a buyer everyone relaxes.  If you have any interest in British craft you will thoroughly enjoy it.  Its a three day event and Monday was quiet, very pleasant pop up coffee shop and very easy parking.  Just to note for anyone in the south there will be the first London BCTF on 11th to 13th September in Brick Lane - if its as good as Yorkshire it will be well worth it.

Katie Hopkins-Searle

Tuesday Talent - Pantovolo Textile Art

 A lady I much admire for her folk art dolls is Anouk de Groot of Pantovolo based in Edinburgh.  She has a BA in fine arts and I think this shows in her magical creatures and faey like ladies.

Anouk uses lots of antique fabrics and laces she hunts down in vintage fairs and markets.  She hand dyes much of her work and it is also hand stitched and embroidered. I like the clean lines of her painting and her stitches.  I also really enjoy the prim nature of her creations.  They feel like real folk art and full of secrets.

She had a presence on Pinterest and that is where I first found her but also has a thriving shop on Etsy under Pantovolo Textile Art.  There are lots of lovely things to look at and all at very reasonable prices for hand work. Have a look and enjoy someone a little different.

Ellen - in green ferns and grey

 This is Ellen, a tubby Nora doll that sports the wonderful new fabric from The Botanist range by Lewis and Irene.  As always she has a tea dyed calico body and a hand painted, hand embroidered face.  Her hair is hand styled wool tops from the Clover range of natural wool roving and is a pleasing brunette.

Her ensemble is finished with beads and ribbons and she has a hand embroidered lavender bag around her shoulders picking up the pattern in her underskirts.  I have started using machine made cord to finish the lavender bags as it gives a good texture to complement the ribbons.

To make machine made cord, take some perle 5 weight thread in a complimentary colour, around 5 strands, and twist them together.  Set you machine to wide zigzag and reduce your stitch length.  Place the thread under the presser foot with a tail that you can hold.  Start stitching and pulling the cord through the machine, twisting at the same time with your other hand.  I sounds complicated but it really isn't and you can get some really pretty results - just a change from shop bought ribbon.

Tuesday Talent - Natalia Mironova НАТАЛЬЯ МИРОНОВА

First off, sorry this Tuesday Talent is Wednesday Talent but a last minute order kept me at it until the early hours of this morning.  All done and in the post so a big sigh of relief.

So my lady this week is the very talented Natalia Mironova from Yaroslavl in Russia and she is 39 years old.  Honestly that is all I can find out about her!  You can find a lot more of her work at 'www.m.ok.ru' which seems to be some kind of social media site.  To find her you must use НАТАЛЬЯ МИРОНОВА on the site.  There are a few of her wonderful dolls on Pinterest and she is well worth checking our.

I think the dolls started out as Tilda dolls, Tilda is huge in Russia.  If you look at livemaster.ru you will find so many variations on the standard Tilda doll.  But Natalia's dolls are so much more than that.  They stand 46cm tall so are quite big girls and the attention to detail of her styling is amazing.  The costumes, the little bags and the shoes are stunning.  Overall I find them enchanting and I love the crazy hair and the bohemian clothes.  I really wish I knew how to make such fabulous shoes.  Have a peep at her and if anyone knows more about her I would love to hear it.

Ena,all in soft purple and spring green.

 This is Ena, she is one of my new Nora Dolls.  A tubby lady with a potent spirit and gently vitality. She stands just 14 inches tall and has a hand painted face with embroidered features.  Her hair is hand styled wool tops and she is wearing a new fabric by Lewis and Irene's Spring range 'The Botanist'.

The fabric in this range is beautiful and I have really enjoyed using it in this combination for Ena and in a reverse combination for her sister Ellen, who is nearly finished.  Each doll is styled to be all woman, warm and full with a protective spirit. Ena has lavender and camomile inside her tummy and sports a hand embroidered fern patterned lavender bag around her shoulders that reflects the details of her underskirts.

I love making these dolls.  They are real little totems, true earth mothers and have a protective spirit, such as you find in much folk art.  Each one when she is complete seems to be her own person which had little to do with me their maker.  It's like making someone their very own special Aunty to watch over them, I am very fond of these dolls.