Sometimes when I’m working on a doll it takes a while for all the elements to come together to be a whole. Sometimes everything falls into place with little effort. This most recent spirit fi…
This week I've been working on fish and sticks .... The sticks are the message stick art dolls which were very popular, attracting so...
Spirit box tutorial with pictures is here! If you have followed my blog or posts on Facebook, you know that I don't like to stay with one art
Explore theworld of spirit dolls in witchcraft! Discover their historical roots, crafting techniques, and modern applications to enhance your magical practice.
Spirit Dolls A Representation of What Is Needed or Wanted By Maureen Murdock, LMFT Presented in “The Heroine’s Journey Workb...
Welcome to my first ever tutorial. Step by step photos show the process as Terpsichore appeared. Terpsichore was created in honor of my friend Brigit, who makes beautiful Spirit Dolls! (See her dolls here.) In Greek mythology, Terpsichore ‘delight in dancing’ is one of the nine Muses ruling over Ballet and Dramatic Chorus. This Spirit Doll was created to remind us to continue to dance through life, no matter what life brings us. No matter what we must do, we can allow the Grace of Dance to influence our thinking, to move through the challenges of life. Live links are included throughout this tutorial, so you can find the supplies you might need. Almost everything you see here can be substituted with items you may have on hand. You might find sticks from your own garden. Or use cotton scraps rather than the moss for her body bulk. Vintage jewelry, family heirlooms, pieces of this or that.... all can be included. Listen to YOUR MUSE! You may have some ideas of how you want your doll to look. But, when you listen to your Muse, you may find a whole new look you hadn't dreamed of. Before starting, I invite you to do a short meditation... Allow the Ancient Ones, the Grandmothers, the Sacred Spirits, and of course, YOUR MUSE to direct your creativity. You will be gently amazed at the blessings and healings that will come forth. So, let's get started.... After choosing two sticks, one a river washed branch from Yosemite Valley, the other a Cypress branch from Monterey Area. Both sticks are bound in an area that 'felt' right. Imagining where her head and arms will be and where her skirts will flow. Both sticks are bound together with artificial sinew. The sinew allows you to bind really tight, with very little wiggle room. A package of the sinew and where I buy it will follow further down the post. Here's my stash of twigs, branches, and Lacy Moss. A length of moss was chosen, the pulled apart to allow more bulk. The moss is wrapped around the joined sticks. (This is where you might use torn strips of cotton fabrics.) The amazing and wonderful thing about the moss is that it sticks to itself and can be molded almost like clay! The moss adheres to itself, and will be anchored later when you add her clothing. Next, it's time to audition faces. (You can find an array of these terracotta faces here.) The Spirit Doll faces usually call out to me, so I chose three to audition.... This is the one that felt 'right'.... A very long craft needle is threaded with the sinew to anchor on her face. Can you see how long the needle is? Notice how it is pushed through the density of the moss and through the holes made in the face. Take the sinew through the holes, from the front to the back. Then anchor by tying on the back side.... It will look something like this. Then you can add more moss to cover the sinew. Remember, the moss adheres to itself, so it makes it easy! See, you can barely see the sinew. Ah... time to audition the fabrics for her wardrobe! I liked the myriad of colors in this recycled silk scarf. Then I choose a coordinating thread (floss) from my ridiculous stash of vintage floss. A minimal amount of hand sewing will be needed. After cutting a length of fabric for her skirt, the long needle helps to make gathers. The gathered skirt is then joined around the approximate waist level. I first tie the threads, then with the long needle, stitch and anchor it by going back and forth through the moss. This is one of the places that really helps permanently hold the moss in place. Tying it off.... The loose gathering makes it easy to position the fulness where you want it. This, finally felt right. Time to audition more fabrics for her shawl. Found another upcycled scarf that felt right. The shawl is draped over her head and flows down both sides of her. But! don't sew it down quite yet! She needs a vest or blouse. It's good to have the shawl fabric picked out, to better choose a coordinating fabric. Also found a scrap of Designer Fabric sample that will work for her blouse. I get amazing samples of designer fabrics from a place called Fabmo. They upcycle loads and loads of amazing designer samples, making them available for us 'crafty' artists, and saving the fabrics from the landfill!! (See Fabmo here.) After cutting the fabric I decide to drape it across the front and make a few stitches to hold it in place. I'm not fond of using glue, although you can. The simplest sewing stitches work fine. the back side... Here you can see how I took advantage of the hem of the scarf, folding it over to create a doubled layer of flounce for the skirt. Time to audition some embellishment with these terracotta adornments... These 'adornments' are made with natural terracotta clay, stamped with Impress Me Stamps, and glazed with many layers of Stewart Gill Byzatinia paints. You can find lots of these adornments here. This one felt right.... Sinew was again my choice for creating a necklace... You can't see it here.... but I left a long strand on both sides, to be later used as the loop for hanging on a wall. This is a great place to use some beads or broken jewelry that have been just hanging out in your jewelry box. One of the very few places I use glue. Just a drop will insure the beads will stay put. Here is a picture of the sinew. Here is where I purchase it. It is truly amazing stuff! It is artificial... not an animal product. Made from waxed thread, but acts like leathery sinew. Using my long needle I pull both strands of the necklace sinew through, all the way to the back. Having left a long piece of sinew, it can be knotted to form a loop to hang her on a wall. I like the way she's looking... but my Muse says 'Don't stop now.' So, several purple leaves from a vintage corsage are auditioned. Less is more, in this case, so I didn't include the actual flower. Four of the purplish leaves felt right, so they were anchored on with a single bead and a bit of floss. The floss went through the bead, through the fabric, then back again, and tied off with a thick knot. I like the casualness of the threads hanging down. So, here she is... Feeling complete.
A hairstyle, that your doll wears, is such an important element shaping the whole character of a doll. It’s even more fun if you could change the hair depending on the doll’s costume or your mood! In either case, the big questions remain. How to attach doll hair? And how to make a wig for a doll? So
Feast your eyes on these strange beauties from Lithuanian dollmaker Dorote Zaukaite Villela. For more you can find her blog here and her etsy page here In the meantime let’s take a munch on a…
Since I had just finished my goddess dolls after being on the back burner for seven years I decided to see if there was any more information out there on them now. If you've been following along on my blog you know that I love goddess dolls and have been wanting to create some of my own since February 2009 when I bought several mixed media goddess doll bodies and which I finally finished in 2014 - Update To My Goddess Doll Adventure - After Seven Years They Finally Came Into Being. In February 2015 I updated some of the goddess information in an article on my Victorian Dolls, Victorian Traditions, The Victorian Era and Me Blog entitled The History Of Faceless Dolls - Updated February 2015 - Part VII - Goddess and Spirit Dolls. This time I wanted to see what information was available so you could create a goddess doll of your own. Here's what I found: How To Make A Spirit Doll PDF by Joanna Powell Colbert Joanna Powell Colbert who, according to her about page, is "an artist, author, teacher, and retreat leader who inspires and helps lovers of Mama Gaia to lead wholehearted, creative, and soulful lives" created a wonderful free "How To Make A Spirit Doll" PDF which can be downloaded here. If you would like to learn more about Joanna please visit her her Gaian Soul website. Lyn Belisle is an amazing artist, teacher and author who teaches several online classes, including ones at Artful Gathering, showing how to make goddess and spirit dolls. If you would like to read her Shards blog please click here. She also offers and amazing amount of free video's, like the ones shown below, on her Lyn Belisle YouTube channel showing some of her spirit doll workshops and the creations made. If you would like to learn more about Lyn's online classes, workshops, and dvd's please click here. The Healing and Tranformative Dolls website provides information on e-classes and e-books by art doll artists who create healing dolls such as: Barb Kobe, Pamela Hastings, Erika Cleveland, Joy A. Kirkwood, and Anne Reeder Heck. They also have a wonderful blog index that provides amazing pictures of healing dolls created by some astonishing healing doll artists as well as links to other information about them. Click here for the "The Art of Healing Dolls Healing Dolls and Healing Stories by Dollmaker Barb Kobe and Other Healing Dollmakers" blog. If you're looking for inspiration this is a great place to start. Gretchen Lima is an award winning art doll artist who teaches workshops on creating her healing and spirit dolls. Her Gretchen Lima website also offers a store gallery of her own spirit dolls for sale, information on her workshops, and kits and supplies for spirit doll making. Silver RavenWolf has a tutorial on her Silver RavenWolf blog entitled "How To Make A Spirit Doll — The Journey of Magickal Design" which shows you how to make the cloth spirit dolls shown above. Crafting a Magical Life: Manifesting Your Heart's Desire Through Creative Projects by Carol Holaday published in 2009 by Findhorn Press, Scotland is a book about magic, creativity, and finding your own creative process through the powers of your mind. According to Carol, "Whatever it is you want to create first begins with your thought. By investing your energy in your creation, you are giving life to your creation through a huge concentration of power born of that desire." Also, according to Carol, "Goddess dolls were created primarily for magical purposes, to honor the energy of the Goddess and to serve as a repository for that energy." In Chapter 11 Carol talks about her own Goddess doll adventures and provides instructions and a template for creating your own goddess doll, like the one shown in the picture above. If you love to crochet there is a free Goddess Doll pattern by Catriona Allen-Bryce on Ravelry for making the crocheted goddess doll shown above. There is a wonderful Spirit Doll tutorial by Chris Flynn on the Redwood Mountain Musings blog showing how to make the beautiful spirit doll in the picture above. Chris Flynn is an artist who make the most beautiful spirit dolls. She also offers the video, shown above, on her Chris FlynnYouTube Channel showing how her Sacred Sisters Spirit Dolls are made. If you want to make paper art doll goddesses Kimberly Crick has three printable templates for making paper goddess dolls, one of which is shown above, on her The Enchanted Gallery website. Click here for her instructions, templates and terms of use. Creativity-Portal has a how-to for making the spirit doll shown above. Click here for the Creative Spirit Doll Pattern by Violette. Marcia Acker-Missall, who is an artist and art teacher, has a pattern for sale on her The Potted Frog website to make the Spa Goddess shown in the picture above. Here's what Marcia had to say about her, "Spa Goddess was published in Belle Armoire magazine and by special invitation she was on display at Houston Market 2002 in the special exhibit “In Celebration of the Doll.” . Marcia also has a free Healing Goddess Pin Doll pattern on the Doll Street Dreamers website. I also found several books that include inspirational pictures of goddess dolls made by mixed media and textul artists as well as some instructions for making goddess dolls of your own. Art Dolls (Twenty to Make) and Wild Women: Stitched Art Brooches (Twenty to Make), both written by Sarah Lawrence include several references to goddess dolls. Art Faces in Clay: Dolls, Altered Art and More! (Design Originals) includes how-to's and inspiration for making goddess dolls using Maureen Carlson's designer push molds. Art Doll Adventures by Lisa Li Hertzi is a delightful book that explores art dolls and cultural traditions around the world. According to Lisa, "Making dolls with the help of culturl icons brings instant meaning into your work. Your creative flair is of the twenty-first century, but the ideas are primitive and musty with the smell of the eart and they are not just yours, they are everyone's. They are in our blood and they connect us." Lisa also has an Angel Goddess Doll pattern for sale on the Doll Street Dreamers website that makes 3 different versions of her angel goddess doll shown in the pictures above. Making Gourd Dolls & Spirit Figures by Ginger Summit is a wonderful book filled with pictures of beautiful gourd creations from 100 gourd artists as well as original projects to make gourd dolls and spirit figures of your own. Check out the Spirit of Spring, Spirit of Summer, Autumn Spirit In The Tree, and Spirit of Winter projects for projects to inspire you. Soul Mate Dolls by Noreen Crone-Findlay offers inspiration and instructions for making 3 dozen different healing dolls. According to the description, "The author shows you how to open doors to creativity, healing, and wholeness by making dolls that express their feelings, desires and ideas." No matter what type of goddess, spirit or healing doll you choose to make they all promote aspects of femininity, humanity, spirituality, compassion, humility, healing power, beauty, love, wisdom, peace, passion, truth, strength, intuition, fulfillment and empowerment. The goddess is seen embracing all aspects of life, all seasons, and all natural elements and goddess dolls represent all of her various aspects. Today's "goddess dolls" are there to share your hopes, dreams, and listen to your fears. They provide comfort and solace in your time of need. They provide you with the strength you need to face the challengers in your life and empower you to succeed. To release your own "inner goddess." They are lovingly made and given out of heartfelt love from one human being to another. They offer nothing more than love, compassion, understanding, and peace.
The first time I saw the work of Dulcie Sharp and the other artists of the Yarrenyty Arltere Art Centre, based in Alice Springs, was at the inaugural
It seems that every time I've tried to blog this week, something has come up and thwarted my attempts! In fact, I'm squeezing this post in as quick as I can before I leave to work on a hair appointment at a client's house! I am working on a new clay doll, who, right now looks like her name should be Miss Josephine - though that could change as she progresses. The photo at the bottom right shows her body parts, and behind her are four heads that will be made into hanging ornaments for a different project I'll be working on. Bottom left shows the attachment of her limbs. I kinda thought her arms looked too long, so I made a new pair, as seen in the top two pic's. Glancing through an art doll magazine, I came across an article on old fashioned Prim dolls, and decided to try and create my own version of the dolls of that period. The photo on the top left shows her with her bodice and sleeves attatched, and I'm debating whether or not to have an underskirt beneath the cream batiste layer that would peek out below the top skirt. She will of course let me know what she wants as I go along, because even when I do have a particular idea about how I want my dolls to look, they always seem to know exactly what they want to look like! Hope you have a great day!
A blog about art, stitching, textile art, dolls, mixed media hand made art and inspiring places and people
“I don’t know, sister, what I’m saying, nor do no man, if he don’t be praying. I know that love is the only answer and the tight-rope lover the only dancer. … —F…
I made you a present to celebrate it being almost a year since I started sharing my work online and as a thank you for all the amazing support, emails, reviews, and general loveliness I’ve ha…
Do you ever get this feeling, when you have a beautifully sculpted doll in your hands and you’re afraid to ruin it with paints? At the beginning of my doll making journey, I’ve been getting this a lot. It’s so frustrating when you can’t fulfill the image you have in mind. In this article, I’d like t
Hi, I'm back. The last two months have been very wet here in Brittany, with lots of storms and heavy rainfall but me and my place are quit...
After sculpting the doll face you’re happy with, there’s another hurdle to overcome - bringing it to life with painting. I see some doll makers and students of mine struggle with this. Painting could make your sculpture look livelier, more realistic. So how to achieve that? Today I want to share som
