Momiji Couture Competition

This month I entered the Momiji Couture Competition and I met the deadline! Meeting the deadline wasn't a sure thing because my doctoral program is so consuming. I will be done with school in April and I am counting the days until I will be able to resume doll making on a regular basis. To keep myself going I entered this competition: http://lovemomiji.com/couture/ The task was to make a cloth doll in the Momiji style. It took me months to design her, make her and send her off to the West Coast. When I set up the photo stage Zinger insisted on sharing the spot light. I didn't have time to argue so they posed together! It was fun to make a doll again and send her off into the world. I am really looking forward to seeing how other people met the challenge!

Enchanted Doll Artists Conference

This year I attended the Enchanted Doll Artists Conference for the first time. It was a good experience. I was honored to win the advanced amateur blue ribbon for my doll Archimedes. Archimedes was formerly known as Athena's Muse. When I submitted him to EDAC the new name just fell into place and it felt right - so I went with it.

The first two days I learned about how to write patterns with elinor peace bailey. I worked on writing a pattern for some of my doll maker's awards and medals. It was great fun and I learned a lot. I hope to publish my first pattern shortly.

Looking at myself in the photo with elinor I look seriously under dressed for the occasion! I must work on my wardrobe! Obviously I need to dress more vividly... get some hats...cover up the grey. Could I pull off my day job of professor with a primary hair color?


The last day I took a class with Peggy Wilson on how to make clothing fit a particular doll. Peggy is a good teacher and she knows her stuff about tayloring. I put together a doll for this class out of spare body parts. It felt pretty random until I designed the garments. This is a picture of the dapper Sir Edac modeling the clothing made in Peggy's class. He is a work in progress.

Doll Makers Medals & Ribbons

After attending the doll makers conference in Columbus, I came home full of excitement and pleasure from the fun, creative experience. When I told the people in my life about the experience, most of them said something like: "Oh, that's nice". I realized that people who don't find meaning from making things don't "get" the excitement of a creative experience such as doll making. I suppose they find their creative sparks in other ways.

I took a class with elinor peace bailey who suggested that I make a decorated doll. After mulling things over I decided to make "decorations" for doll makers and artists. I want to recognize kindred spirits with medals and ribbons. The photo shows my train of thought for designing these medals and ribbons. Once I have developed the designs a bit further I will make name the various ribbons and medals. A short term goal is to develop these small projects into a publishable pattern.

Artistic Figures in Cloth

Despite the awkward name the conference was great fun.  It was the perfect way to blow off steam after a demanding semester.  It is always good to spend time with fun creative people. I'm energized.  

I finally met elinor peace bailey and took a class with her.  I learned a lot and have short term goals to work on during the summer semester.  I am going to make a series of doll maker's medals and ribbons to balance my life.  Hopefully out of this experimentation I will come up with a small pattern to publish.  

Mrs Boyer

Mrs Boyer is the first round robin doll that I have received that I really like. She is going to be the mascot for my doctoral project. I'm looking at how to support frail elderly women maintain their independence with cooking and related activities. I'm particularly interested in the meaning of maintaining independence and safety. I have her sitting on my desk to keep me company as I work my way through the doctoral process.

I've learned that it helps to start the face on these round robin dolls. In this case I sketched in the features with some simple embroidery. Mrs Boyer is named after the mother of a childhood friend who made fabulous raisin cookies. I imagine her as being at that point in life where she does what she wants to do and she doesn't care what other people think.

studio photos

A pin cushion doll



Baby Matron in repose



Monkeys and pigs



epb doll minding the time


My rocking chair