Porcelain Dollmaking

Pouring molds!!

2010-04-04T11:20:00.001-07:00

SUNDAY APRIL 4, 2010

Happy Easter everyone! What an absolutley georgeous weekend we are having! With the weather being so nice, I decided to do a little pouring yesterday afternoon. This is the one aspect of dollmaking that I continue to have problems with. Most people don't realize that humidity in the air and the temperature affects the way pouring goes. When it is really dry, molds set up a lot faster...but when it is really damp, molds set up a lot slower. It has been good a dry the past weeks or so here so I thought my pouring would go nice and smooth. Unfortunately, it was too dry so not only did my molds set up very quickly...they set up too quickly which caused the casing to crack while still in the molds. After I realized the molds were to dry, I began spritzing them with distilled water to allow them to set up a little more slowly so I could get some good casings. The process of pouring the molds begins with the slip. You need to prepare the slip for pouring. I use Ultra Chic Porcelain Slip. When I receive a new gallon, I have to stir it up really good and add a little water to it until it is the right consistency. Once I get it thin enough, I then strain the slip to get all the air bubbles out and to strain out any chunks of slip that did not stir up well. There are many different Porcelain Slips in the Market, but I prefer the Ultra Chic. It pours beautifully and is very easy to clean in the sfgw stage.

Once you have your slip all prepared, it is time to pour! I normally will allow the slip to sit for a few hours before I start pouring. This is the time I use to get set up. Here is a picture of my table all set up. Some of the supplies I will be using can be seen. I have my slip and molds, mold dusting brush, fettling knife, small paint brush, distilled water, strainer, measuring cup that I use only for pouring (once I use any of my old kitchen utensils to pour with, I never ever use them for food again!). I also have a old wood spoon, extra mold bands, a bowl of clean water, small straws to help blow out molds, and lots of paper towels!

I always start with the head molds. Since I paint my dolls eyes, I lightly wet the eye area with some distilled water and then paint in the eye with white slip. Once the eye is painted in white slip, I band the molds and then pour the head in flesh colored slip. Here is a picture of a head mold that is ready to pour out. I check the thickness of my casing using my fettling knife. Once the casing is about a 1/4" thick, I will pour out all the extra slip back into my slip container.

And here is a picture of the leg mold poured. I just finished pouring this mold and took the picture and you can already start to see the little divets in the tops. Right after I put the camera back down, I had to top off the molds again with more slip.

Once the molds have been poured out and allowed to sit for a while, I will use my fettling knife to clean off the spares. This is the pour hole are of the molds. I reconstitute these spares. This is a process of filling a empty slip jug about 3/4 of the way full of all these pieces and then adding distilled water (just enough to cover the spares) and mixing it really good to make usable slip. Since I mainly make dolls as a hobby, this is acceptable. However, for dolls that I am going to sell or for Antique dolls, this is not recommended. There is a slight difference in quality when some reconstitued slips are used. I have not seen any difference with the Ultra Chic but would rather not take the chance.

I now have 3 complete dolls ready to work on. The next step in the process is to either brush clean the greenware, or soft fire the ware and clean it that way. With these smaller dolls and the Ultra Chic, I prefer to soft fire the ware then clean.

For a warning for anyone who wants to try making dolls: Porcelain Greenware Dust is very harmful to your health if you breath it in because it is made of up of tiny glass particles. Soft firing the ware before you wet clean it eliminates the dust. While in the liquid state, slip is not harmful at all..but when allowed to dry, care must to taken to avoid breathing in the dust at all costs. I wear gloves and a mask whenever I handle dry greenware or any dried up porcelain. I always clean my work surfaces down very good with clean water and paper towels and I never ever re-use anything I use for pouring to cook with. Warning labels are on all brands of slip and care must be given to follow the important health precautions. I even go a step further by re-cleaning all my surfaces with a small bit of bleach water to make sure I get is all cleaned up. Since I normally pour in my home, I don't want to take any chances with my or my family's health.

I hope you all are enjoying my blog. Please ask any questions you may have and I will try my very best to answer them. Dollmaking can be a very fun and rewarding craft and I just want to share with you all the process of making them. Again I hope you are all having a wonderful Easter!

Another "New" Technique I want to try

2010-04-01T02:05:00.000-07:00

APRIL 1, 2010

Good Morning all my dollmaking friends! The Daffodils are blooming here in Wheeling WV, along with those pesky Dandelions, which marks the arrival of Spring! Easter Dresses hang on racks at all the local department stores, while candy isles fill with Easter supplies. The local weather for this weekend is calling for highs in the 80's with lots of sunshine! What a great way to start April! Another good way to start a new month, is discovering a new Technique for making porcelain dolls! Last month I attended a webinar about Spanish Oils. I had never heard of them before so I thought is was just a different kind of china paint..boy was I wrong. Spanish Oils is actually more like a stain you use on greenware. The greenware absorbs the color and stains the porcelain when you bisque fire. It reminds me of how you would paint a earthenware greenware ceramic. Years ago, this was what I used to paint all the time. I would go to my local ceramic shop, buy a piece of greenware, paint 2 to 3 coats of "colored clay" on the piece and then have the ceramic shop bisque fire the piece. Once it was bisque fired, I would then glaze it and return it for another firing which would cause the piece to become glossy. What makes the Spanish Oils different is that it is not a surface paint but a stain. The greenware absorbs the stain which actually changes the colors of the slip. There is also the detail colors which are surface colors that you apply after you apply the stains. Once you have your piece painted, you then bisque fire the piece...and if you want, you can then glaze the piece and have a glossy porcelain figure. This is the method they used to make Lladro figures years ago. After attending the webinar, I knew I just had to try this technique to make some figures. Here is a picture of Bernadette. I have ordered this mold with a starter kit of the oils from www.theporcelainplace.com and hope to receive it soon so that I can try these amazing oils!

These Webinars are a great way to learn about all sorts of ceramics. So far I have taken 3 of them and have learned so much about porcelain. Here is a link to some information about the webinars for anyone that is interested. http://www.theporcelainplace.com/porcwebinars.htm
I will try to post pictures and keep you all posted once I receive my supplies and being trying this technique. Have a great weekend my friends!

10" Dolls Ready to Assemble; New Kiln; Carousel

2010-02-22T11:49:00.000-08:00

THURSDAY APRIL 1, 2010

What a better way to start off a new month than to add my pictures of my latest two dolls all dressed up! I still need to make the shoes for my Portrait Head 10, but I just didn't want to wait any longer to share them with you.....so without further ado, I give you Portrait Head 10 and Vanessa!

I am not sure what I want to name her yet...with her pretty blue-green eyes and dark blond hair, I am just at a loss. I found this lovely cotton lawn fabric on-line and knew the colors would be perfect for her. I used the pattern book "Fashions For Small Dolls" by Rosemarie Ionker. I just love how the blues and greens in the fabric really accentuate her eyes.

Little Vanessa was a challenge. I began learning how to make shoes from Hearty Clay and so I followed the instructions to a T with mixing my colors...but once I finished the shoes, I discovered that there are not many fabrics out there with these same colors. While playing around on e-bay, I ran across this vintage cotton voile fabric that looked very close to the same colors....after winning the auction and receiving the fabric, I was amazed at how close the colors matched. The pattern for this outfit includes a little hat, but I ran out of the trim I used on the hem of the dress that is called for to use as a hat band, so I have been desperately searching for more so I can make it. I am also looking for some tiny silk ribbon in orange and raspberry so that I can make some roses for a nosgay for her to hold. For now, she will just have to snuggle with her little dolly. This little dolly was also hand made by me using hearty clay and press molds.

With these two dolls almost completed, I have began working on three more dolls. Two of them are larger dolls with cloth bodies, and the other is another 10" full porcelain body doll. I am getting a lot better with pouring the molds and cleaning the greenware, which makes a huge difference in the quality of the finished doll. I know that the weather here is supposed to be absolutely georgeous this weekend so I hope to be able to pour some more. With the addition of my small kiln and new molds, I am all set!

SATURDAY MARCH 6, 2010

It has been yet another productive week for me. I was able to get my two 10" dolls assembled. They are now ready to dress but I am looking for the right fabrics. I have an idea of how I want them dressed...but finding the right colors of fabrics to accentuate the eyes is the trick. I have learned in the past that no matter how much work you do to a doll, if you choose the wrong colors of fabrics, it takes away from the beauty of the doll. So, without furhter ado...I would like to present Vanessa (Red Head) and Chelsie (Blonde)!

MONDAY FEBRUARY 22, 2010

Hello everyone! Here is 10" Portrait Head 10 and Vanessa all painted and ready to assemble. I have the stands ready but have decided to try to make my very first pair of Hearty Clay Shoes for one of these dolls. I will use the dolls leg as a form to make the shoes so it will be a lot easier to do this before I assemble the doll. So, here they are...what do you all think?

My new Kiln has also arrived! It is the small Fire-Fly Kiln by Paragon. This kiln is going to come in handy when I am china painting these little heads. I was able to china fire them in under 40 min. and was able to take them back out of the kiln in a couple hours. Here is a couple of pictures. The first picture is one of my new Fire-Fly, and the second is a picture of both my kilns side by side. The larger kiln is a Skutt and it is perfect for the larger dolls I do make from time to time.

I have also been working away on china painting the Carousel Horse. This piece has been fun so far but has also proved troublesome. Since China Paint doesn't dry until fired, trying to not touch the piece while painting it is impossible...and if you touch wet china paint and don't catch it, it will leave prints in the paint when fired that you cannot fix. I decided to paint the horse in stages. Since most horses are not all the same color anyway, I feel the different tones of brown will only make the horse look better. I am going to work on this little guy later tonight while I wait for the Heary Clay on the dolls shoes to dry. I know that for sure, I have to get the first coat of paint on the horses eyes before it goes in the kiln again. So, here he is so far.

Here are the Heads with the 3rd Coat of China Paint....Having some Pupil Issues

2010-02-12T03:09:00.000-08:00

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 12,2010

I worked on these heads Wednesday evening. I struggled with the black pupil part on both of these heads so I have not yet china fired this coat of paint on. No matter how much I moved the paint around and manipulated it, I still see that one pupil seems to be a tad bigger than the other one on each head. Most people would ask, then why don't you just add some more paint and make them bigger...well, when I tried this, not only were they extreamly off balance, but they also looked even more cockeyed. So these heads are waiting for me to decide weather I want to china fire them as is, or try again to even the pupils out. I will more than likely try again and see what happens. Once china paint has been fired on, there is no taking it back off...and since it is translucent, trying to add to or fix a mistake with the next coat does not work. Here are the Pictures. I am not sure if you can really see what I am seeing....

I am also working on a Porcelain Carousel Horse that my friend Tamara gave me while we were at Controlled Excentrics last weekend. I am trying to paint this Horse in stages because china paint also never dries until it is china fired...and there isn't much for me to hold on to as I paint it. So I am working on it in stages. Gary is going to try to find me a long threaded pole that will fit through the holes so that I can anchor it on a base while I work on it. This will allow me to get the paint on evenly.

What I would like to do is find a doll the right size to make for this little horse. I can see her in my mind sitting atop the saddle with a huge smile on her face and excitement in her eyes. The hardest part of this will be finding the right sized sitting doll for it.

I also have been pouring dolls and cleaning the soft fired greenware. I sat at my little work station almost all day yesterday working on cleaning. I used to just buy my bisque but a few years ago when gas was almost five dollars a gallon, shipping went through the roof so I decided it was time to learn how to pour and clean. I set out to learn this part of dollmaking thinking it was going to be easy...boy was I wrong! Until recently, I have been having loads of issues with my slip...it is either way to thick or way to thin. I was lucky enough to be able to attend a Webinar hosted by Tony Tanner of The Porcelain Place where he taught us the History of Slip, the differences between slip, and the proper way to thin and pour Ultra Chic Porcelain Slip. After this Webinar, I used his method on some Seeley's slip I have been having problems with and Voila!!!! Problems solved!!!! Of the three dolls I casted the other day, all of them have soft fired and cleaned beautifully. The parts I casted before taking the webinar, are all giving me problems during the cleaning. Hoepfully this means I have finally learned this stage of porcelain dollmaking and will now be able to pour with confidence. Next week I am taking another webinar on again pouring, but also cleaning the dolls so I am really looking forward to it. Happy Dollmaking!!!

2nd Coat of China Paint on the Eyes!!!

2010-02-10T01:33:00.000-08:00

Here is a good picture showing what the doll heads look like after 2 coats of china paint being applied and fired on. These heads will require 2 to 3 more coats before they are completed. I am really happy with the way they look so far. What do you guys think?

Express Yourself Arts Studio and Controlled Excentrics

2010-02-09T00:58:00.000-08:00

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 9, 2010

What a great weekend I had! I found a new store on-line a few weeks ago and decided to contact to owner. Controlled Excentrics is a HUGE Arts and Crafts Studio located in quiet, beautiful Sutton, WV (which is about a 3 hour trip for me). After a couple phone conversations with Tamara, the owner, a visit for me was planned. The news starting calling for a snow storm over the weekend so we made arrangements for early Friday. It was well worth the trip. Tamara has it all from mosiac pieces, glass fusing, ceramic bisque and of course dollmaking supplies! Here is just one picture of the doll area:

I am so happy I finally found a shop that is within driving distance where I can go and buy the supplies I need. Once we got to the shop, the weather took a drastic change for the worse! The temperature started falling, as did the snow. Knowing the roads were going to start getting bad, we cut the visit short so we could head back home. Tamara and I did have time to very quickly pour a couple head molds with Laguna Porcelain Slip. I had never used this slip before and she wanted to show me how easy it was to pour. She broke out a jug of mocha brown slip, stirred it a few times, and we poured them. Within 10 to 15 minutes, the excess slip around the pourholes started to pop off all by itself and the molds released very nicely! I also noticed that the color of the slip did not transfer into the mold at all. It was just a white as it was before we poured it. I am going to order some of this slip and try pouring my 10" doll molds with it. I can't wait to see the results I get when I have more time to really concentrate on pouring. Tamara and I are discussing setting up a weekend this Spring or Summer for me to go back down to the Studio to teach an eye painting class! Now that I have visited the Studio, I am really looking forward to going back down when I have more time.

The trip home was a whole different ball game than the trip going down. By the time we hit the Morgantown area, the roads were snow and ice covered. We seen many vehicles wrecked into the medium and off the sides of the road. Traffic was creeping along at 20 mph but we were still sliding all over the road. Luckily we made it home safe and sound and the next morning, it was still snowing! We ended up with total accumulations in our area of 24" of snow. Here is a picture of Gary's truck in the driveway:

With more snow predicted for this evening, I plan to stay home and work on dolls! I have been painting on my bisque and will have to take some pics to post.

Have a great day!!!!

Kiln Maintenance and Dolls in the Works!

2010-01-27T08:42:00.000-08:00

FRIDAY JANUARY 29, 2010

I had a successful Bisque Fire the other night! Here is a picture of my witness cones.

And here is the picture of the load all fired to bisque!

Once I was able to remove the parts, I had to sand them smooth. When you take porcelain bisque out of your kiln, it has a rough feel to it and you need to make it as smooth as silk. I have these 220 grit sanders that I use to smooth away all this rough stuff. Once I feel that I have it smooth enough, I will rinse the pieces under running water, let them dry, then take a piece of silk fabric and lightly run it over the pieces. If there are any rough spots on the piece, the silk will snag on it. These pieces have all been sanded and are now ready for the china painting process. China paint goes on your piece in layers. Each layer of paint also has to be fired onto the piece using a kiln and each head will have at least 4 coats of china paint on it since I paint the eyes. I have been after Gary for years to buy me a smaller kiln that I can use just for China Firing and next weekend, I am going to order one! At the present time I am still weighing out my options to see which kiln is going to be the most useful for what I need it for. The one I am leaning towards is a Cress Kiln. It is small enough that I will be able to china fire my heads and take them out of the kiln in less than 3 hours, but big enough that if I need to bisque fire a replacement part for a small doll, I can. I was looking at some other kilns that would not reach the appropriate temperature to bisque fire, but knowing that I am good at breaking those tiny little fingers off during my cleaning stage, I thought that a kiln that will fire at a higher temperature would be best. Once I recieve my new kiln I will post pictures.

Wednesday January 27, 2010

Making Porcelain Dolls is a fun, exciting, fulfilling and expensive craft. When you start making dolls, you learn very quickly that a kiln is the most important and essential tool you will need. While working on Molly's new Smocked Dress, I decided it was time for a little Kiln Maintenance. Anyone who owns a kiln knows what I am talking about when I say "Kiln Wash". This is protective coating for your kiln shelves and floor that you need to paint on your shelves. It comes in a powder form that you need to mix with water to a thin cream consistency. After a few bisque firings, the wash begins to crack and peel off the shelves, so new wash has to be applied...however, before the new wash goes on, all the old has to be removed. This can be a grueling process and luckily, Gary was here to save the day and scrape the old wash off for me ;) Last night I applied the first layer of wash and today, I applied a second coat. The wash gets put on in layers and dried completely between layers...and you paint each coat on in different directions (eg. up and down 1st coat, side to side 2nd coat). I have been given many different instructions on how many coats to use, but I have found that for my kiln, 2 coats are sufficient. Here is a picture of my shelves with the new wash on. You can see the dark spots where the wash is not completely dry yet. As soon as this coat is completely dry, I will be able to set them back in my kiln and set it up for Bisque Firing!

Here is a picture of some soft fired greenware that I have ready to bisque fire.

This ware will go into the kiln where it will undergo a process called vetrification. When I set up my kiln, I will place cones, known as Witness Cones on the shelves and a smaller cone on the kiln sitter. This small cone (cone 6) will melt and bend at a certain temperature and will automatically shut the kiln down. The witness cones are used to make sure the kiln fired at the correct temperature. I will put a cone 5, 6 and 7 on the shelves and when I open the kiln, I will inspect these cones. The cone 5 should be bent all the way over, the cone 6 will be bent half way over and cone 7 should only be slightly bent. Here is a good picture of what the Witness Cones will look like if my kiln fires to the correct temp.

I will also place a thin layer of silica sand on the shelves so that when vetrification is occuring, the pieces can move around on the sand. This is a very fine sand that allows the pieces to move and shift without pitting the porcelain. You see, during vetrification, the porcelain turns to like a thin taffy and If I were to just place the ware directly on the shelves, even though they are washed, the porcelain would still fuse itself to the shelf ruining not only the piece, but the shelf as well. During this firing, the inside temperature of the kiln will reach approx. 2230 degrees farenheit...now that is HOT HOT HOT!!! It will take about 8 1/2 to 9 hours for my kiln to reach this temperature and I will have to leave the kiln to cool naturally before I can open it to inspect my ware. When I fire this greenware, I will set my kiln to low for 1 hour with the lid propped open and the peep holes open. After an hour, I will bump the kiln up to medium and close 2 of the peepholes and close the lid. After another hour, the kiln goes to high and I will close up the last peephole. From there on, the kiln does all the work. About 6 to 7 hours later, the cone on the shelf sitter will bend and the kiln will shut down. I never leave my kiln unattended when bisque firing. If the kiln has fired over the time it normally takes, I will only let it fire for about another half hour and I will manually shut it down.

If all goes well during the bisque firing process, by this time tomorrow, I will be able to post pics of the fired bisque!

Molly's new dress is done!!!

2010-01-27T08:35:00.000-08:00

Wednesday January 27,2010

Well, after my little accident over the weekend, I concentrated on finishing up Molly's new Dress. Here it is!!!!

I also received my fabric and even started on another dress. Here are some pics!

Noooooooo!!!!! Talk about a bad past couple of days...geesh!

2010-01-24T01:05:00.000-08:00

OK so Friday I woke up very early (2:30 a.m.) and couldn't go back to sleep. I laid there tossing and turning until almost 3:00 and decided to get up. I played on the computer all morning and got my daughter off to school...then it hit me...I was totally ready to crawl back into bed for a while but since the bed was already made, I decided to stretch out on the couch instead. After a few minutes of daydreaming about dolls, I fell back to sleep....but when I woke up about an hour later, I had a migraine! I stumbled to the Kitchen and took one of my migraine pills and layed back down on the couch...which is where I ended up staying the rest of the day sleeping on and off until around midnight. The headache was finally gone but I was wide awake, so back to the computer I went. At around 6:00 a.m. I broke out my smocked doll dress and sewing machine and started working again. I got the sleeves put in and the buttons on but before I sewed the seam up the back, I wanted to make sure I got the bottom hem right so I got another 18" doll out of the cabinet and was going to check the fit. This doll was my 18" Portrait Head 10 which I loved the painting I had done and was really wanting to make a special dress for. She had been in the cabinet for over 6 mo. now in just a slip....well, I put her on my work table and walked away to get the dress.....CRASH!!! She fell over and shattered into a thousand pieces! I am sure all dollmakers have had this happen to them at least once and know how I am feeling about it. Sadly I do not have this mold so I have no way to re-make her at this time and since I was waiting for her to be dressed before I took her picture, I don't have anything to remember her by either. Hopefully I will be able to order the sfgw to re-make her soon...but for now, I will have to concentrate on finishing up my Molly before I can finish my smocked dress. I really want to make sure I get the lenght right before I finish the back seam.

Blog changes

2010-01-18T23:23:00.000-08:00

January 19,2010

Hello again my dear friends. You may have noticed some changes happening to my blog and I hope you all like them. After trying unsuccessfully many times to sculpt and putting the miniatures on the back burner, I have decided to re-focus on my porcelain dollmaking so I have changed the name of my blog. Porcelain Dollmaking is my true passion!

Smocked Doll Dress WIP

2010-01-18T18:04:00.000-08:00

Monday January 18, 2010

Hello my dear friends! I am so sorry it has been so long since I posted but real life has gotten in the way...but I have been working on a 18" smocked doll dress and it is turning out beautifully! The second doll I ever made was 24" Molly by Expressions. This was before I knew how to paint the eyes and I was still learning how to sew and when I purchased the dress pattern for this doll, imagine my wonder when it started calling for pleats and smocking....I was at a total loss. I spent days on the computer trying to learn how to do smocking and here is a picture of the results:

After a lot of consideration, I decided to try again but this time, make the 18" Molly and paint her eyes. I am still working on both the doll and the dress but I am just so happy with the way the dress is turning out so far that I wanted to share it with you. So here is a picture of the panels all smocked and ready for assembly:

Today I worked on finishing up adding the piping to the yoke and I attached one of the panels. I am doing this work by hand so that I keep everything neat and straight. I am hoping to have the dress completed by the middle of the week and the doll done by the end of next week. Once she is completed, I will post more pics.

Have a great week everyone!!!

2009-12-03T01:51:00.000-08:00

2009-07-25T03:20:00.001-07:00

Working on Miniatures

2009-07-24T19:25:00.000-07:00

Meet Nathalie!!! She is my very first Miniature Doll that I made with a kit and on-line class! I am a proud member of http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MSATMiniDolls/ and this was an online class that was offered! I have been busy working away on a lot of different projects and most of them are miniatures.

Here is another set of pictures for you to see. It is my very first miniature dollhouse. I received these wonderful bricks from a friend and got to work on bricking the front of my dollhouse early this week and have been able to complete the front.

This project has been such a fun learning experience! After trying to sculpt dolls in polymer clay, I have discovered I am much better at making things in miniature so I am working on some miniature dishes, vases and other accessories for my house. I am so excited that I am able to use porcelain and polymer clay in combination to create one finished project. I am learning so much about both miniatures and polymer clay and just wanted to share these fun, new and exciting things with all of you. I will try my best to keep you all updated of my newest WIP!!!!

Thanks for following!!!

ADO Challege

2009-06-19T19:25:00.001-07:00

Very exciting is the 4 elements challenge from the ADO.
Everybody is invited to participate you can read all about it here
The open for all challenge starts June 19!
I can't wait to see all the pieces everybody makes.

I have signed up today so I have another project to work on....lol

Busy Beaver!

2009-06-05T04:04:00.000-07:00

Hello again all my friends! I have been busy working away on dolls. I am happy to say that I have two almost ready to be put together....unfortunately my camera is resting now in digital camera heaven so I have not been able to take any more pictures. The poor little guy....Luckily my mother is going to let me burrow her camera for a while but I need to find the time to go to her house to pick it up! Once I get it, I will be able to take some pictures for you all to enjoy!

Now that summer has officially arrived for School Students, I may find it harder to find time to work on my dolls. My daughter has her awards assembly today at 9:00 a.m. and then she is home for the Summer! That means vacations, swimming pools, picnics and all other things Summer.

With Summer arriving, I wanted to share with everyone that I have joined in on my very first "doll swap"! I have all summer to create a doll with a summer theme! Oh the ideas I have running through my head!!! Joining in on Yahoo Groups has opened my eyes to so many neat ideas and now I have all kinds of people to go to when I have questions about things! For anyone looking for answers, you should check out some of those groups...you will be amazed!

Hope to have some more to share with everyone soon!!!

Still working away feverishly!!!

2009-05-05T03:57:00.000-07:00

Just a couple quick updates to let you all know I am still here!!! I am still working away on the three porcelain dolls and was able to get the 1st coat of paint on them and get them fired!!! Will post pics later.

I have become quite addicted to Yahoo Groups these past few months and discovered one that deals strictly in Miniature Dolls! I joined the group immediately and am already addicted to it! I have some molds coming and am real excited to dive in to this sized porcelain dolls. Don't worry, I haven't abandoned the Polymer Clay and am still planning on getting more work done with it...but I really need to finish those three porcelain dolls done first!

Please keep watching! I will tons more to show soon!!!

Another great giveaway!!!

2009-04-27T18:01:00.000-07:00

Here is another great giveaway I am pleased to post on my blog! Please visit http://dzfantasy.blogspot.com/2009/04/original-spraypaint-picture-purple-rock.html for all the information on how you can get entered into this great giveaway!!!!

Request from a passing Grandmother....

2009-04-25T07:25:00.000-07:00

APRIL 25, 2009

Hello everyone! Once again you may have been wondering where I have been...well, my Husbands Grandmother got very ill and passed away on Sunday April 19, 2009. It has been a very emotional last few weeks. When she was first put in the hospital, she had asked me if I could make her 3 little girl dolls for her to give to these 3 girls who sat with her every Sunday at Church. She said she would like to give them to them for Christmas. Well of course I agreed so I began looking through my molds thinking about which ones to make them. Unfortunatley, her health deteriorated very quickly and as she laid awaiting for the Lord to take her, she looked over at her youngest Daughter and said "Please, make sure Daphne still makes those dolls for those little girls.". Ten minutes later, she was taken. It struck me hard when I was told that was her last request. Now that she had been laid to rest in the Cemetary, I am able to begin on the dolls. Once I get them made, my husband and I are going to go back to Grandma's church and present the dolls to those girls in Grandma's memory.
With this request, I will be once again putting my Polymer Clay on hold. I will be dedicating myself into getting these three dolls made and ready to find themselves in the loving arms are three beautiful little girls whom Grandma loved.

Here is a picture of the greenware for two of the dolls. The greenware has been cleaned and is ready to be fired into bisque. Bisque Firing is a long process to where the kiln heats up very slowly to around 2190 degrees F! I will be waiting until this evening before I fire the kiln since the weather here is finally getting warm. My kiln is located in my dining room and when I am in the process of bisque firing, it heats the house up pretty fast.

I am planning on updating everyone to my progress and of course post some pictures for you all to watch as I create these dolls.

New Doll in the Works

2009-04-04T17:06:00.001-07:00

OK, so I am totally addicted!!! As I was cleaning my porcelain Friday morning, I just couldn't stop looking over at my new clay and my two failures. I kept telling myself to stay focused on the porcelain and work on the polymer another day...but it was an itch I just had to scratch! After cleaning two more pieces of porcelain, I knew I had enough for the kiln to be able to bisque fire (which takes all day) I ran right into my craft room and started working with my polymer clay again. This time I made the wire armature and added a small amount of clay to it to act as a skeleton for some stability. I kept all the joints free and I used my embossing gun to cure the clay. I then mixed two types of clay together: Prosculpt and Cernit. I used a bit more Cernit than the Prosculpt and spent about three hours combining and conditioning the clay. I worked on adding the clay for about four more hours and this is what I have so far. I hope this doll actually makes it to the oven!!! So far my clay is staying very clean and this mix is a lot firmer to work with than just the Prosculpt alone. At this point I feel I am making a lot of progress and am really starting to get a "feel" for working with Polymer Clay.

TUESDAY APRIL 7, 2009

Yeah!!!! She has a head!!!!! After about fifty attempts I finally got a head I am happy with. It may not be perfect but it is the best head I have made so far! As I worked on getting the head attached to the body, the clay started getting soft again so I attached a little extra clay where the ears will be and called it a day. I need to let my clay harden back up. This has been a very fun project so far and things are going so much better for me this time. I have the help of the members of my yahoo group and Fantasy Art Guild plus I now have my book from Aida!!!! I am just so excited at this point and I hope everyone is enjoying watching me as I learn how to sculpt these beautiful dolls! More to come soon!!!!

You May Be Wondering When I Will Have More To Show

2009-04-03T05:42:00.000-07:00

Boy I am a bad blogger! I never realized how much I needed to add until I logged in this morning. I have gotten some orders for Five Commissioned Porcelain Dolls so I have been busy working on them. Unfortunatley, my Polymer Clay Time has been put on hold (so to speak) until I get these Commissioned Dolls done. Once I get the Porcelain Dolls in bisque form, I will have more time to devote to my Polymer Clay. Since, at this point, the greenware is behaving itself and the cleaning seems to be going smoothly, I expect to have them all in bisque form by the end of next week. So, please don't think I have given up because there is no way that is going to happen. I just have other obligations to attend to first...then....back to sculpting.
Thanks for watching!!!

Anatomy A Must!

2009-04-03T04:58:00.000-07:00

So as I strive to learn how to make these beautiful OOAK Polymer Clay Dolls, it has been said many times that the best beginning point for any doll sculptor is knowlede of the Human Anatomy. I never realized how each individual muscle in the human body plays its own role in how the body looks. For example: If I were to raise one arm over my head, the muscles on that whole side of my torso would react causing just that side of my torso to show more muscle tone and texture (the ribs would show more, that breast would be lifted more and so on). I did a little experiement yesterday. I have a lot of mirrors in my bathroom that are positioned to where I can see my whole body from every angle. I sort of posed in different ways to see just how these muscles work and what the effect of them where as I changed positions. I was simply amazed at how every pose changed the entire shape of my contours and how different bones showed in some positions but not others. I can definetly see why you need to have some really good reference pictures of the Human
Anatomy.
Dollmakers are some of the nicest, most sharing people I have ever met in my entire life. There is an ocean of these people online that are willing to help you any way they can. Most of them have amassed tons of information that they are willing to share and all you have to do is ask! When I posed the question to other dollmakers as to where I might possibly get this kind of information, I got hundreds of responses. The following two websites seemed to be the favorite ones of other dollmakers:

http://www.posemaniacs.com/
http://www.human-anatomy-for-artist.com/

I have been to both sites but Posemaniacs is my perferred favorite. My next stop in this learning process will be my local library. So remember, if you want to learn how to sculpt the human figure in clay, you must first learn about the human anatomy.

DLynne Artdolls is having a Blog Giveaway!!!

2009-04-01T15:04:00.000-07:00

You have got to visit dlynneartdolls.blogspot and check out her OOAK Skeleton Man giveaway! He is totally cute and would make a great addition to anyones OOAK collection. There are two steps to be entered for this giveaway: Step 1 is as easy as following her blog and Step 2 is to add a post on your blog about her giveaway! This is such a great idea and has me thinking about trying this once I get better with working with the clay. So what are you waiting for...hop on over to her site today to get registered for this awesome giveaway!!!!

Photo is a copy from DLynne's Blog. This is a picture of the doll she made and is giving away.

My Porcelain Dolls are for Sale

2009-03-24T14:37:00.000-07:00

Hello again everyone! It has been a struggle to come to terms with the fact that my dolls are taking over the house. Due to this fact, it is time I part with some of them. I have decided to sell some of my dolls not only to give me more room for new dolls, but to finance my new hobby...Polymer Clay Fairy Dollmaking!!!! It takes a lot of time and patience to make a Porcelain Doll. From start to completion, it takes me up to three months to make just one doll. My dolls range from 10" to 24" tall. To make it as easy as possible I will price the dolls by size:

10" $100.00
12" $125.00
14" $150.00
18" $175.00
24" $300.00

*Prices can be negotiable but please understand that I have not put a big price on these dolls and I will not be making any money on them. Anyone who has any experience in Porcelain Dollmaking knows that it is a very expensive hobby.

Anyone interested in my dolls can contact me and I will give a more detailed description on the doll you are interested in. If you see a doll you like but like an outfit shown on another doll, just ask me because most of my dolls outfits are interchangeable. All my dolls outfits and props (like the little dollys they hold)are also handmade by me.
Please help to clear out some of these dolls!!!!

Thank you for your interest!!!!

Learning What "Not" To Do, The Hard Way

2009-03-22T04:06:00.000-07:00

Have you ever done something to realize, way to late, that it was the worst thing you could have done? Well, I realize this morning that I made a pretty big mistake last night. I decided to take the day off from Sculpting to work in some of the other aspects of making a Fairy...The Wings!!! I found two really good tutorials on making them using two different mediums...Fantasy Film and Liquid Sculpy...but I seemed to be drawn to making them using Fantasy Film. The different colors and textures you get when you add heat to the film really adds to the realizm of the wings. There is a really good step by step tutorial on how to make them at... www.cdhm.org/tutorials/making-fairy-wings.html
OK, so I really took my time spending at least 3 hours laying out my wires and gluing them to the Fantasy Film. I let them sit to dry the rest of the afternoon and finally got to heat them for the fun effects! They looked so good and I was very pleased at my first set. I used the Lacquer to seal them and before I went to bed, I noticed one wing was not laying flat anymore so I checked to see if they were dry, and they felt really dry to me so I layered them between two pieces of paper and put a heavy book on top of them hoping it would help flatten them back out. There was my mistake. The Lacquer had not completely dried and this morning when I went to look at them, the paper was sticking to them. I tried to very easily pull the paper away but I it still stuck in spots and I have absolutely no idea if they can be saved....so it looks like I need the advice from my fellow Polymer Clay Artists. I will keep everyone posted as to what I find out.

Finally, I get to try some polymer clay ooak dollmaking!

2009-03-04T08:15:00.000-08:00

After years of making porcelain dolls, I have always been interested in those beautifully sculped ooak dolls. The fine detail they use to really bring the dolls to life are simply amazing! There are some very talented people out there!! I have really done some research on this aspect of dollmaking and find myself with a huge desire to try it myself. The only thing that kept me from trying it years ago was the fact that there really wasn't a whole lot of information to be found on the subject but with the internet and so many artists that are willing to share what they know, it has given me the courage to finally try it. Just today I ordered a wonderful kit from Patricia Rose Studios that will help me along the way to learning how to sculpt! I am so excited to get it and hopefully within the next couple of months, I will be able to learn this skill and share it with everyone. I guess that is why I decided to start this blog so I can share this wonderful journey I am about to take with anyone who is interested. I would really like to build on this blog and take my learning with you step by step. I should have my supplies hopefully by early next week so keep checking back often for updates!

Monday March 9, 2009

The excitement of receiving my kit has really grown over the weekend but as my research has taught me, Patience is the key. I spent most of my weekend setting up a little area to work at and doing a lot more research. I found an ebay store, The Morzemore Estate, that offeres a lot of supplies for the polymer clay doll artist and they have a blog where they show some of their Works In Progress. I am so impressed by what they have been able to accomplish. Here is the link for anyone who has not yet had the opportunity to visit their store...
http://blogs.ebay.com/morzemore I have found a lot of other sites that offer their Works In Progress also but I really like the Morzemore site. The artist even shows when things go wrong how she fixes them and they have a really cool tutorial on making a beautiful base out of Manzanita wood burls. Another site that offers a lot of tutorials is Patricia Roses' site. From start to finish she shows how to make a beautiful lady fairy and a lot of other really good tutorials. Here is a link to those tutorials... http://patriciarosestudio/com/html/tutorial.html
During my research, I came across another very neat website. They show the human figure (the figures are shown in the muscle stage) in different poses. The site is very neat in the aspect that you can grid the photos and do a full turn on the figure so you can see it from all angles! This would help any polymer clay artist and it is a site that I saved in my favorites for futher use. The link is http://www.posemaniacs.com These three sites are a great source for anyone who wants to learn how to make polymer clay dolls or even artists looking for some inspiration. I hope I am allowed to put these links on my blog...I am really no good at blogging and am just learning so if anyone finds out or knows it is illegal or not allowed, please let me know and I will delete them. I just wanted to share them with you because I know that they are sites I will visit very frequently.
OK, well for now, I will try to patiently wait for my kit to arrive and keep up the research. If anyone knows of any other good sites to visit, please let me know. I really want to get as much information as I can.

Tuesday March 17, 2009

YEAH!!! My kit finally arrived and boy was I excited. I rushed the stuff in the house and immediately started opening all the little boxes and unwrapping all the supplies. I popped in the first DVD and sat in awe as I watched Patricia Rose turn a big lump of clay into a very beautiful fairy doll. I hit the repeat button and had everything laid out in front of me and began to follow her and here is what I have so far. As you can see, I have one leg that is starting to look like a leg. My main concern at this point is the amount of dirt I have in my clay. I have been given a lot of advice on this subject: First, wear a white cotton t-shirt while you are sculpting. Polymer clay is a lint magnet and if you wear dark colored clothes, your sculpture will get dark lint. Second, keep some baby wipes handy and use them to wipe your hands and tools off frequently. Of course, even with these precautions, you will still get dirt or lint in your sculpture which you will have to scrape off after your first fire. I ordered a Manazinta Burl to use as a base for my doll and it should arrive today or tomorrow. I am going to try to get the other leg to match the one I have, build up the torso some and work on the arms and feet (yikes!!!). Once my base arrives, I will pose her and put her in for her very first firing. Now that I know a lot more, I should have had the base before I started sculpting to make sure the scale is right.

Thursday March 19, 2009

I knew I should have ordered the base first! So my burl arrived today and guess what...it is way to small. I will have to remember that in the future. One hump in the road will not stop me though. If the weather permits, I am going on a hunting expedition this weekend in the woods to see what I can find. My husband just cut up a whole bunch of firewood so I will start there. Hopefully I can find something suitable.

Saturday March 21, 2009

I stayed up very late last night working and smoothing to try to get the two sides of the body to match up. I added some addtitional clay to the hips, lower abdomen and chest area. Another problem occurs when you are working with Polymer Clay. The more you work with it, the softer and more pliable it becomes. Being new, I have a terrible time working with the clay when it gets to soft so what is recommended is for you to hang your piece from the loop in the armature and leave it alone for a while (most artists agree on letting it sit for at least an hour). As it sits, the clay will harden back up making it a lot easier to work with.

Tuesday March 24, 2009

Well, the weather was absolutely georgeous this weekend so I went on a hunting expedition in the woods to see if I could find a new base but came out empty handed. I have decided to check out a couple of the local hobby shops today to see what I can find. I am currently involved in three different contests and challenges...

Bunny Contest http://www.fantasyartguild.com/Default.aspx?pageId=289510
UFO and WIP Contest http://spritebites-brokenplanet.blogspot.com/2009/03/and-so-it-begins-ufo-wip-challenge.html
Keep Dancing Contest http://www.fairystudio.net/

so I need to find something fast!!! Unfortunately I have tons to do this week so my sculpting will be limited to only about an hour a day. With that said, I really need to get my day started. I have to go Birthday Shopping for my Daugher who will turn 12 next month and try to find a suitable base.

NOTE: My fairy wings could not be saved :( I will also be looking for some more fantasy film while I am out today to try again.

TUESDAY MARCH 24, 2009

OK, so my search still has not turned up a base but I decided to work on her pose anyway....while I was posing her, I noticed her arms seemed pretty fat so I am starting to perform liposuction on them by carving off a lot of the clay. I also decided to try the head again and I am happy with the way this one is beginning to take shape. More pics soon to come!!!!

Friday March 27, 2009

After years of making porcelain dolls, I have always been interested
I knew even before I posted the last pictures of my first head that I really wasn't happy with it. The eyelids were way to heavy and the nose was a little bit big for her facial structure. I knew I was really going to need a good tutorial to follow to be able to make a head that I would be happy with. I ran across a very good e-book that I purchased and used to tweak my dolls head and you can see the amazing results already! The book is currently on sale at:

http://www.goddess-dreams.com/index.html

This is a awesome book with lots and lots of information!!!! Aidamaris Roman is one of my favorite sculptors! You really need to check out her website and see some of the beautiful dolls she has made. Her website has a free tutorial on making a fairy but the book she has is a lot more detailed!

Sunday March 29, 2009

I was hoping to have more to show everyone but I ran into a couple of pretty big snags the other day. First, when I went to take the head off the stick....all that work I put into it got ruined when I did this step. As I slowly rotated and pulled the head off the ball on the end of the stick, the bottom portion of her face got pushed outward and split. I tried and tried to fix it but the more I played with it, the worse it got. Another mistake learned! I got the sticks I have when I ordered a kit of supplies but there was no good instructions on how to get the head off of it when you were ready to take it off. The stick has a small ball on the tip of it that you put the head on. Since this happened, I am going to just use the other end of the stick next time and I will defienty finish the head completely first so that I can use my embossing gun to cure the clay before I even attemp to remove it! Second, the longer the doll has sat and the more I work on the body, the dirtier the clay is getting. I tried covering her up with some plastic wrap but we have a fireplace that we use constantly during the winter. Since it has been cold here lately, I fire has been going and it burns real wood...hence....a lot and lot of dust!!! Of course my little studio is in the den where the fireplace is....grrrrrrr!!!! Last but not least, I ran out of clay. I have some ordered so I should get it by mid-week.

With these problems I feel that I should scrap this doll and start over! The weather is finally changing so we shouldn't have to burn every day now. I will have to save my sculpting for days we don't have a fire, or, move into another room while I am sculpting! I told everyone about the e-book I purchased and I am going to make that doll instead (or at least attempt to make that doll). I already made the armature and have the base clay fired so I will start adding the clay as soon as it arrives.

FRIDAY APRIL 3, 2009

Just a note to add about the problem I had with removing the head from the sculpting stick: Judy from "The Beginners Polymer Clay Art Guild" :

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Beginners_Polymer_Clay_Art_Guild/

explained to me what I had done wrong. Remember, the stick I used had a small wooden ball on the tip that you attach the clay to. The stick is not pulled back out of the head through the neck but pushed up out of the top of the head. It leaves a hole in the dolls head that some artist use to put a "plug" of hair in. There is a good tutorial on how this is accomplished at:

http://www.patriciarosestudio.com/html/tutorial.html

There are a lot of other tutorials on this page also.
Happy Sculpting :)