Fancier Doll Pictures

Add some extra fancies to your photos with some items you likely already have in your home. If you don't have some of the items below, these will cost you very little and are temporary items that won't permanently alter your dolls. First, go through your jewelry box and find items you think would suit your dolls, such as necklaces with small charms. You can put the necklace on your doll, like pictured below, but just get a paperclip, piece of tape, etc. to hold it in place.

Want earrings on your dolls, but don't want to commit to holes in their ears? Put some loose rhinestones to good use by temporarily adhering them to your doll's ears. I used poster putty to stick the rhinestones on since it is nice and temporary, not super adhesive, and lacks color to dye doll skin.

Those are a couple of quick tips add a little extra flair to your dolls pics. Happy picture-taking!

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Upcycling/Repurposing Projects!

In between making doll clothes, I've been making paper products or doing other small sewing projects. All items typically involve some form of repurposing or upcycling. Below are some paper products and/or items for the home that came out of my creative endeavors. I've mentioned repurposing paper products for cards before and below are some cards made from an old 365 day calendar on pin-up women. Next, I made a sleeve for memo books out of scrap fabric and old embroidery thread. I thought it would spice up that boring book for notes I carry around in my purse.

The frames with "Love" or "Megann" in them are small frames (often picked up at a second-hand store) with a piece of scrap fabric and your choice of cross stitch word using embroidery thread. It makes a darling little accent on a countertop or shelf.

Lastly, the rose paintings. Made of 100% recycled paper, these little artworks are painted silhouettes of flowers that can be easily framed in a set. If you are interested in making paper, send me an email and I'll let you know the details.

Happy creating!

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Branching Out to Different Dolls

For a while now I've been collecting other popular dolls so I would have models for other clothing fashions. Below are some clothing designs I've recently produced for large BJDs (58 cm) and smaller ones (Tiny Betsy McCall sized). I'm really enjoying making different sized outfits.      

Support an artist! Visit my Etsy Shop. You can also follow my Twitter and Facebook pages, just click on the links on the right-hand side of this page. [I'll be adding more pictures of products and work soon]

The Business Phenomenon of CyberSpace - The Difference Between CyberSpace and the Real World

It's easy to start an online business -- find a site that proposes relatively low cost to host selling items online and you're in business. However, it isn't like generations past. Now, we buy based on the idea that what is represented (what you see is what you get [WYSIWYG]). We no longer have the opportunity to try on, feel, hold, criticize, or otherwise assess a tangible product we are potentially buying. This isn't necessarily a new phenomenon given the longstanding opportunity to buy via mail order catalogue in several decades past, but the new consequence is the idea of online "feedback." People can leave each other a relatively permanent message of one's opinion of a product or service, but is it 100% accurate? Is an individual's opinion completely sound? We no longer provide a more objective standard, but instead we provide the opinions of those who can access the world wide web as the standard for business practices. Is that healthy? I suppose the reason I ask is because I provided a product on my Etsy shop that was fairly represented -- folklore in quality, not store-bought quality, but I received negative feedback because it did not live up to the strong expectation of the buyer, even though the price & description clearly reflected the amount of work. Am I to be punished for fairly representing a product? Did the buyer even read the description? More than anything, this led me to understand the divide between in real life (IRL) businesses versus online businesses -- there are clearly different business practices simply based on the nature of the practice. Opinions? Comments? I'd love to hear them. More specifically, seek out my Facebook page for the prolonged discussion.

Support an artist! Visit my Etsy Shop. You can also follow my Twitter and Facebook pages, just click on the links on the right-hand side of this page. [I'll be adding more pictures of products and work soon]

The Art of Home Taking Off

It's been a while. I've started a new local sewing group, The Art of Home Sewing Guild, and we have been having tons of fun! We are an eco-friendly group inspired to make lovely items out of new and like new second-hand and remnant items (typically at least 50% upcycled/reused products). All of our products try to provide a green alternative for our homes to save our planet. Thus far the group has been doing quilting from of a variety of different fabrics I've collected that don't really work for doll clothes. Below are some pics of the quilts. It's a great way to use up fabric, but get something artsy and useful out of it.

Support an artist! Visit my Etsy Shop. You can also follow my Twitter and Facebook pages, just click on the links on the right-hand side of this page.