Modern Annie - Cloth Doll Workshop

Please note that Tin Soldiers Studio will be closed between 17 December and 25 January. 

I'm working on a series of posts that are scheduled to post automatically while I am away.  Starting 1 December, 24 Days of vintage Christmas images and festive ideas.  I've been collecting them all year, and look forward to sharing them with you.

Over the past two weekends we had our first ever all-doll-making workshops at Tin Soldiers.  I'm wildly impressed by everyone's dolls.  Here are Dawn and Ina's nearly complete Modern Annie dolls.

I have workshop pics too, will see if I have a minute to post them this week.

Workshop helpers

I'm working on a step by step face painting tutorial...

Bonnie and Clyde are supervising from all angles.

Colani, being older and wiser, watches from a safe distance.
With so many dogs to give advice, how can the doll not turn out perfect?

Bearathon Teddies

Here are some happy pics of bears made this morning at Beth Shan home in the north of Pretoria.  Janine Rowley from Woman Against Rape is the co-ordinator of the project, and Shannon Visser very kindly donated her time to teach new skills to the residents.

Looks like we have a Bearathon factory opening soon... Well done, girls!
You can follow the Bearathon project on our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/Bearathon
Please take the time to click the Like button, and share our teddy bear making drive with your friends.
If you have any craft materials (polar fleece, cotton print fabric, beads, sequins, buttons, teddy eyes and noses, knitting wool, toy stuffing) and sewing supplies (scissors, needles, sewing thread, embroidery cotton) that you would like to donate to the project, please email Megan.
Wishing you a creative day!
 

Workshop dates November and December 2013

The year is galloping away from us, summer has arrived in full force, and I don't know which broom to choose to get everywhere I need to be fastest!

 

Here are workshop dates for the remainder of this year. 

23 Saturday
Advanced Doll Making Part II
9am till 4pm.
25 Monday
Sew Along 6pm till 10pm.
26 Tuesday
Sew Along 9am till 1pm.
27 Wednesday
Sew Along 9am till 1pm.
28 Thursday
Sew Along 6pm till 10pm.
December
2 Monday
Sew Along 6pm till 10pm.
3 Tuesday
Sew Along 9am till 1pm.
4 Wednesday
Sew Along 9am till 1pm.
5 Thursday
Sew Along 6pm till 10pm.
7 Saturday
Teddy Bear Making Workshop 9am-4pm.
9 Monday
Sew Along 6pm till 10pm.
10 Tuesday
Sew Along 9am till 1pm.
11 Wednesday
Sew Along 9am till 1pm.
12 Thursday
Sew Along 6pm till 10pm.
14 Saturday
Advanced Doll Making Part I
9am till 4pm.
16 Monday
Advanced Doll Making Part II
9am till 4pm.

After deliberation I have decided to to close the studio from 17 December until 25 January 2014.  This is going to be the kind of doors locked, lights off, no-one-answers-the-phone closed.  Yes, I know it's five whole weeks, I will miss you but there are things I need to get done.  This will not be a holiday.  And no, I don't know what you are going to do if you run out of bear making supplies.  Best stock up now! 

  

Birthday

Yes, today is indeed my birthday.  No I'm not telling how old I am :-)

Thank you for all the wonderful birthday wishes, I had a lovely day.

Received a two-piston-compact-silent compressor from The Man.  He loves me because I allow him to buy my presents at the hardware store.  So I started the day by spray painting two wicker trays just to get a feel for the new machine.

Just when it started becoming fun and I got the hang of directing the spray away from my new birthday shirt and my fingers, Eskom bestowed a power failure on us so I went off to see the Bodyworlds exhibition that I have been trying to get to for months.  A rather ghoulish birthday excursion, but I just know that looking at all those flayed bodies will make me a better sculptor in future.  Quite honestly, it is an awesome exhibition.

http://www.bodyworlds.com/en.html

Then, just for the heck of it I drove around the Kayalami racetrack at 20kph in my housewifey station wagon.  One must do something insane on your birthday. 

http://susiemcmahondolls.blogspot.com/

When I got home I cut out the fabric pieces for Moxie, a stunning kit sent to me by Susie McMahon.  I've been drooling over it for weeks.  Can't wait to make the doll, I wish that mine turns out even slightly like hers, I do so admire her work.

To round off the day, we had a braai (barbecue) at my mother's house.   The beautiful roses are from my sister.

 

Insight

 Read this and it made me stop in my tracks.

 

“… I putter about the hermitage, make the bed, wash the breakfast dishes, sweep the porch; and something begins to order itself inside me as I order my external world. The ordering and puttering become a kind of prayer, a way of attending to the human which is a way of attending to the divine, charged as we are and the world is with the presence of God. Domestic chores also become simply something to do. One cannot pray and meditate unendingly. There is a rhythm to life lived anywhere that calms the heart if we surrender to the necessities of the world around us and the world within.”
—Thomas Merton

http://parabola-magazine.tumblr.com/post/5545167562/i-putter-about-the-hermitage-make-the-bed

Bearathon Report

We had a fantastic Bearathon day last weekend.  Thank you, thank you to everyone who attended and helped to make the day a success. 
45 bears were completed and are ready to hand over to Woman Against Rape, as well as a cash donation that will buy the items needed to fill comfort packs. 
Here are some photos taken last Saturday. 

As the ladies arrived, they received a pattern pack and they could choose which fabric they wanted to work with.

 The trusty Singer sewing machines were popular once again.  A real time saver, and great for accurate sewing around tight corners.

Once the sewing part was complete, we moved outside and did stuffing and finishing touches under the trees.  This is was the fun part.

If anyone looked as though they were not busy with a bear, Clyde offered them a pony ride...

Here are the fruits of everyone's efforts.