Branwen The Crow Lady

Branwen actually means 'fair raven' but this Branwen is a crow lady, our crow lady who lives in the woods behind the house.  She has been around for years, never has a partner and chases all the other crows away but seems pretty friendly with out resident family of magpies.

Branwen the Crow Lady is 16 inches tall, which is much bigger than my tiny passerines and I am thinking of reducing the pattern but she seems pretty stately in her own way.  She is, as are all my birds, heavily hand embroidered both to the head and wings and she carries a lavender sachet of her dress fabric which features a hand embroidered motif.  I must scoop the neck of the dress to show off more of the embroidery which runs quite a way down her body.

Her dress is made from a wonderful fabric set by the English family firm Lewis and Irene and is from their Bluebell Wood fabric range.  Such a great quality and so good to work with.  As always she has multiple underskirts and matching knickers, her underskirts are finished with a tulle skirt for lift. The outfit is completed with coordinating tiny buttons and organza ribbon, the lavender sachet is carried on machine made cord.

The Bluebell Wood fabric has mushrooms, ransoms and hedgehogs which we find in our wood, as well as the ferns that fill my garden.  I loved making this first crow and I think she may be one of many they are so charming to work. I do hope you like her.

Tuesday Talent - SimpliJessi

 I am so pleased to share SimpliJessi with you, she is such a talented lady and makes the most lovely modern cloth dolls.  I think they are quite unique and even better she makes custom dolls from your photographs, they look fantastic.

Jessi is an interior designer come doll maker who originally hales from Michigan but now lives with her husband here in England on the banks of the River Crouch in Essex.  She has a really strong web presence so you get to see many of her dolls.  Her website, which is very attractive, is 'www.simplijessi.com', there is also an Etsy shop and a Pinterest presence.

I could not imagine a warmer gift than a collection of custom dolls for  newly weds or a young family, Jessi will even do the family pet. My favourite is definitely Schmoop the Superhero.  On the Etsy shop or website are lots of the custom orders to see along with prices.  There is even a rag doll boyfriend!  For the tiny person in your life she knits sweet little teddy bears and soft creatures.

Have a peep at her website it is a real treat.

Tuesday Talent - Emma Verner-Webb

 As you probably know I love birds and one of my favourite artists working at the moment is the maker Emma Verner-Webb also known as The Cotton Potter.  A doll maker of sorts, she is an English designer/maker of cloth bird sculptures based on the familiar garden birds of her home in Norfolk.

The works vary, she works with floral cottons, tweeds and sometime screen printed fabrics all to create meticulously detailed sculptures.  I have bought for myself and for friends and relatives and the birds arrive beautifully packaged in their own box with nesting material and a chocolate egg - wonderful.

She has a strong web presence both on Folksy and Etsy, with odd pins on Pinterest.  Sadly her blog is no longer posting but she has a Facebook page filled with all kinds of information.  Check out her web shops and be in for a treat of brightly coloured avian delights waiting for a home.

Her interesting and catchy business name arose as she started off studying ceramics before making ceramic inspired cotton products for her shops.  The birds came later and I am so glad they did.

The shops can be found at :

https://folksy.com/shops/TheCottonPotter

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TheCottonPotter

https://www.facebook.com/TheCottonPotter/

Edlyn Blue Tit in Yellow

Edlyn is another small bird doll, again like the wrens the stitching defines the patterning of the bird.  I have stitched straight onto blue Oakshott fabric without any paint details. I think this makes for a more elegant doll and I prefer the tiny size, she is only ten inches tall.

With the next blue tit doll I am going to drop the blue slightly on the breast to increase the yellow stitch presence and not scoop the dress so severely as it shows too much green chain stitch. I might even reduce the amount of green overall in favour of more yellow feather stitch, you really need to see the yellow of the breast.

I can laugh at myself because I know I cannot go for accuracy with these little birds, at the end of the day they are a bird in a dress, not at all realistic in form.  However I want the embroidery to be as real a representation of the bird as possible and I want the dress fabric to reflect the bird's plumage as much as possible.

I have to say I am enjoying all the embroidery on these little birds and their counted thread work lavender sachets.  

Tuesday Talent - Marianna Nardin

Marianna Nardin is the doll maker for Circus of Lost Dolls.  She is an Italian Fashion Designer living in London who creates these amazing dolls alongside her fashion work.

She trained in Venice before working as a fashion designer in Milan.  Her dolls are a combination of paper clay sculpting with fabric clothes and accessories.  They are always a little sad but the detail is fantastic.  I know her from a strong Pinterest presence but she also has a shop on Etsy, 'etsy.com/uk/shop/Circusoflostdolls' . The shop is lovely with some really interesting pieces of jewellery as well as her stunning dolls. Also check out her fashion shop on Etsy at Blackmirror Design for all kinds of steam punk inspired garments.

Her dolls are quite unique and reference her influences which include, Tim Burton and Edgar Allan Poe.  I hesitate to use the work Gothic but they have that Victorian melancholic feel to them, pale and sad.  For more Lost Dolls, there is an excellent article in Art Doll Quarterly for Winter 2015.

Morwenna Wren - in Fawn, Pink and Yellow

 Morwenna Wren is another commission, so thank you to Barbara for allowing me to share. She is not going far, just down the road to Leyland.  I was in a gallery show recently and have been amazed at the work that it has generated locally.  Being seen really makes a difference as no matter how I try my photos don't do the girls justice.

With all commissions I always send out fabric samples for the customer to choose from and a basic drawing of what they will be getting if a new design or with photos of the doll if an old pattern.  I like customers to choose their fabric, it makes the doll just for them.  This little lady had to be 'pretty', 'feminine' and 'birdy', hence the pretty 'A little bird told me' by Lewis and Irene. It's a lovely range of fabrics from last year that have little birds in various guises all over them. It comes in Tea - which I used here or Welsh Blue or Spring Yellow.

I have started sewing straight onto a coordinating fabric without painting and I am continuing to experiment with this method as I like the effect and you get a neater stitch than onto to painted fabric but will continue to do both methods.  So here is Morwenna, I hope you like her, plenty more birds coming up as I continue on my Robin marathon.  Have a great week and enjoy the sunshine.

Tuesday Talent - Itinerant Bizarrium

Hello and welcome to this weeks Tuesday Talent.  This doll maker is Penelope of Itinerant Bizarrium, a theatrical costume designer who now lives and works in Somerset. This lady had an exciting career, she trained & worked in the US before settling down in the Mendip Hills.

Her talent for and love of costume is apparent in her lovely hand painted dolls.  These characters are all inspired by an interest in 1920's and 1930's circus and travelling shows. My favourites are Leah and Nora, the conjoined twins and Madam Hellige Vartez, the bearded lady - so glamorous.

This doll maker has a strong web presence, with shops on both Etsy and Folksy and with a website to be found at 'www.itinerantbizarrium.com'.  Everthing is very coordinated and there is good social media coverage with a blog that works off the website, facebook, instagram and pinterest feeds.

Her work is wonderful and each doll has real personalitiy.  They are beautifully produced with attention paid to every detail and finished with interesting trims and accoutrements. Have a peep at the website and the Etsy shop for a collection of unique and remarkable dolls.

A Christmas Robin in July

This is another commission, Edith was quite happy for me to share. This little bird isn't going as far as Holland she is off to Farington Moss, a village about four miles away!

Well another Christmas robin and this time in winter white fir trees on scarlet, its a lovely fabric by Moda from the range Winterberry. As always with these little birds, she is heavily embroidered to give the feel of feathers, both on her head, breast and wings.  She has a piece of rose quartz at her heart for love and is stuffed with lavender and mint to take a little of Astley Village with her.  Her sachet is all lavender as requested and is embroidered fabric rather than a sampler, again as requested.  Machine made cord and organza ribbon with tiny buttons finish her outfit.

She is embroidered both sides of her body for a finer feel but she also has a brass ring on her back so that she can hang as well as sit quietly or top the Christmas tree.  There is a definite front and back to these dolls, as you would expect but the ring is easily removed with a quick snip of the scissors if not wanted.  She is number five of eleven ordered for Christmas this year, which is great because I really love making them, especially all the embroidery.  Thank you to Edith for being happy to share.

I think she is a right bonny lass

She has a ring to her back so she can hang as well

The sachet had to be embroidered fabric to match the underskirt

This lace is lovely, all the way from South Korea

Just a little gift to say thank you for the commission