Potfest in the Park, a grand day out in Penrith

What a day we have had up in Penrith at Hutton in the Forrest.  My daughter is in her last year of a ceramics degree course and is doing research for her dissertation on Figurative Ceramics.  So we have been to lots of fairs and shows looking at the most wonderful work.  Earlier in the month we went to Hatfield for Art in Clay, which was fantastic.  Try to to to the show but if you can't go to the show, Hatfield House is worth a visit. So is the show at Potfest in the Park, lively, friendly and just lovely.  

 We have been having unseasonal weather here in Lancashire, it was near 28 degrees today, which is not the usual soggy summer that we get.  So wandering around a ceramics festival in the dry in Cumbria was a surprise but forgetting the scorching sun it was so worth seeing some of the work on show.  I can't start to describe the talent we have in this country, it was a real pleasure.  If your about the North Lakes this weekend and fancy a different day out I can heartily recommend Potfest in the Park.  Next weekend, 1st to 3rd August is Potfest in the Pens in Penrith and I am told this is jolly good day too - no doubt I will find out on Friday.  Being a doll maker and liking the figure so much the two artists that I have included were my favourites but there was so much good work.

Christy Keeny

Sally Macdonnell

 

Evadne, Little Miss Pink

This young lady is in the Rhoda series of dolls, she stands 50 cm and has a nice slim profile, with, of course, a large bottom!  She is wearing Tilda fabric, it was a gift for my birthday and is a joy to use, such subtle colours.  Her underskirt and knickers are also Tilda fabric and her legs are a shabby chic linen I found on ebay, trimmed with a gentle pink gingham ribbon.  She has a little linen scarf to her neck and a crocheted pink hat.  Her hair is Trimmits natural wool roving and I just love the colour.  It is a proper candy floss colour and very sweet.   

 I am hoping to do some more Rhoda dolls in differing colours for my Folksy shop and for stock but I have been so busy with work for weddings I feel I have neglected my blog and my shop. I am not complaining, all work is welcome and I do so enjoy it.   I am about to start a series of fairy character dolls for a lady in France and I am going to try and do two of everything and see how that works out.  One for the order and one for the shop.  I still have dreams of going to a craft fair and having a stall but that hasn't happened yet.  I would be interested to know of any really good craft fair organisers people have used.  Some where in the north of England.  We have had the most glorious summer so far, as I write we are baking in a heat haze, luckily the trees to the back provide some shade but it is so hot.  We are definately not used to this in Lancashire, it isn't raining which is not normal, and hasn't rained for nearly a week, very uncanny.  Becca, who lives in jeans, at all times, is actually wearing shorts - I can see her legs, amazing. So sitting in my little cabin slowly baking I send you all my warmest thoughts and best wishes.

Tilda, a little tubby lady.

This little lady is Tilda, she stands twelve inches tall and is made from tea dyed calico.  Her dress is made from fragments of fabric I discovered whilst having a tidy up after a big order.  The new style of Rhoda and Connie dolls are selling well but I had the urge to make an older pattern and Tilda is what came about.  I have made a girl very similar in the past and I love the whimsical and nostalgic fabrics in soft duck egg blue and berries.  Her knickers and underskirt are my Aunty Irene's kitchen blind fabric, (which I had fun making). Her stripy legs and little heart are what is left from a shirt of my husband's and the fabric makes great legs.  He has a red stripe one that I am trying to persuade him is going at the collar and then I can lay claim!

I think her hair is a little dark but it sits well with the fabric and her stripy heart, I couldn't find the perfect match. I will keep looking out for a different shade of wool tops and maybe have a change. 
I have discovered a new range of wool tops, 'Trimits Natural Wool Roving' it sells at Hobbycraft of all places and comes in small amounts just right for doll hair and is really quite cheap.  The range is very good and it is lovely to use.  I think they do the best yellow blond I have seen and I find blond hard to find, it's always too yellow like a sunflower or too cream.  Having found the pattern I have the urge to make a few more like her and put them in my craft fair stock, all different fabrics but all with lovely stripy legs.  Hope you like her.

 

 

Orla, Florrie, Maeve, Livia and Polly Dolly Brooches

I have made so many of these little ladies just lately, all for a wedding of a lovley couple from Dumfries - a little bride and groom, five pink silk skirted bridesmaids and thirty six little girls in pink as favours for the ladies, Janine the blushing bride, gave them to her guests before the wedding to wear as corsages, she collects dolls and had a doll themed wedding. Great fun, so I thought I would make a few more for my Folksy shop. They are lovely and fiddly to make and I settled on using net as a underskirt to reduce the weight, they stand at just slightly over 11cm or 4.5inches with a little brooch back. They look great on denim and an aunt of mine wears hers on her summer fleece and it looks good.

I am thinking of trying out some more summery versions with summer dresses and short bolero jackets without the winter hat and with maybe a head scarf - I am still working on the idea and will post one as soon as I work it out.  I am refining the bride and groom and will definately post the happy couple when I've worked them out more to my liking.
I hope you like them and would love to hear more of your comments. All the best, Pook.

 

 

 

 

 

Alternative Spring Sampler

I am quite busy at the moment, which is great, mostly with wedding work and I have put many hours in lately. So I decided to have a day away from work and dolls to look around me. The trees are wonderful at the moment and the leaves are just about out, blossom is everywhere and the intensity of the greens is amazing. So I decided to make a little sampler that reflected what I was seeing, it isn't a traditional sampler I wanted to be inspired by my surroundings and not the stitches so I used only straight stitch.  Starting with this photograph by 'Roger' of a spring stream and aspens I painted, stippled & stamped a piece of quaker cloth, tore strips of handmade paper and collected fresh leaves to make a start.  I wanted to capture movement and the contrast of planes, the horizontal movement of the stream and the verticals of the trees but subtly.  I had just one afternoon, about three hours and this is what I made.  I really enjoyed myself, it was good to just let it go rather than the precision of pattern cutting and stitching neatly.  I must try to do this every couple of weeks it is good practice and helps your eye, it's also good fun and gives you a break from the day to day.  I just thought I would share, I hope you all like it.



 

Little Polly and Florrie

These two tiny girls have come about as a wedding request and I have had great fun developing them.  Shopping for tiny handbags has been very satisfying.  They are wanted for a wedding in December this year and at some point I have to develop a bride and groom and five silk skirted bridesmaids.  But these two are the start of this investigation.  They are 11 cm tall and have tiny buttoned coats, crocheted hats and handbags as accessories.  They are brooches and have brooch backs sewn onto the reverse.  They have a tiny felt mouth and beaded & embroidered eyes.  The couple concerned wanted brooches similar to the new pattern dolls but on faces so tiny I have had to compromise and beads provided the answer.  These two little ladies are made from the tiny fragments of Tilda fabric I had left from my stash and the wedding girls are going to be in soft pink and grey as are the wedding guests.  The bride wants the ladies to wear little dolls instead of flowers in their lapels.  I am busily hunting down various handbags of the appropriate size and as many different kinds of tiny pale pink button as I can find.  When you start looking it is amazing what is about - for tiny handbags I would recommend 'Jashasi' on ebay and for tiny buttons of all kinds and colours you can't beat 'saph1re' also on ebay.  Having made several more of these little girls I am going to use net as an underskirt to a single fabric skirt to reduce the bulky look and save time and I am going to play with the jacket to develop various styles.  But all in all I am very pleased with the overall result and it is very gratifying to work so small.  I hope you enjoy them.

 

Annie Sophia, a handmade rag doll

Still working with the same basic body pattern I wanted to try different hair styles and a different outfit.  I like her hair, plaits, buns and ponytails are all options to try and I quite like the skirt and little felt waistcoat.  She looks a little too fairytale and her skirt need to be much shorter.  I am going to try using net as an underskirt.  I have just acquired some offcuts of silk velvet and hope to continue to vary her costume but so busy at the moment - for which I am very grateful but doesn't leave a lot of time to explore.  This pattern is proving very popular and I am very grateful for your comments which are so helpful and supportive, thank you.