Sunday, January 13, 2008

Summer Sweetheart



Now available in my shop! She is not a Lenci, I still have some practicing to do to get to that level, but she is very sweet. If I do say so myself! I think she can be a wonderful dollhouse inhabitant, or a sweet little friend to stick in your pocket. Or she can decorate a desk or nature table, as others of her compatriots now do!!

I have been having some dilemmas on the pricing front. If I priced these dolls so that my time was actually worth, well, something, they would be way to expensive for anyone to buy. Conundrum. I am working on ways to cut down on production time while keeping to my meticulous standards of quality, we will have to see how that works out.

The part of making these dolls that takes up the time is felting the body. It takes an astonishing amount of wool to make each one, and compacting it in layers and layers is time consuming. The really fun part is when the basic body shape is together, and I can start to individualize it. Extra layers are added on to make bumps and curves, the legs must be rounded out and the tummy plumped up. Then the face, for sure the most fun part. It is amazing how the dolls come to life once they have eyes. Actually, I usually try to leave the eyes until the very end, it is hard to stab the needle into it when it has eyes. (Just to clarify, for those of you who are unfamiliar with needle felting, it is a process in which barbed needles - often recycled from industrial felting machines - are poked and jabbed at the wool, causing it to felt).

Two of my dolls have so far headed off to new homes. I know that this one is looking forward to traveling too!

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3 Comments:

At January 14, 2008 at 4:42 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

What a marvelous little doll. So much work but such a wonderful result! I don't think artists ever earn what they are worth. But, they bring such beauty into the world. I will have to check out your Etsy shop.

 
At January 16, 2008 at 9:57 PM , Blogger Sherry said...

I love her summer outfit!!! :)

 
At January 27, 2008 at 11:43 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

I was thinking... perhaps you could gain some girth by wrapping a little bit of those felt sheets... You could save a lot of time that way and it will still be an entirely felted piece!

P.S. Just found this blog and i love it. I wish I had the time, $, and willpower to do all the crafts you do!

 

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