Little Leilee and Cora - ADO team Broken Heart Challenge Art Doll by Pumpkinhaus for Valentines Day

Well! She is finished!!! And not a moment to soon!!!

Presenting~

Little Leilee and Cora

Little Leilee clutches her dear heart Cora ever so tightly this Valentines day. She made herself a little baby dear so that she could be reminded that the world didn't always have to be so hard, cold and lonely.

Leilee is 13" tall (sitting - toes to the top of her head) and is hand sculpted out of polymer clay over a rigid armature. She is hand painted and finished with a UV resistant gloss glaze. Her dress is comprised of vintage fabrics, hand dyed vintage lace.... and a pair of my favorite socks that Rowan wore when she was a tiny babe. Her hair is a Japanese modacrylic wig.

Sweet Cora is a tiny ragdoll that can come out of Leilee's arms. Her body is batik and she has vintage fabric embellishments and vintage buttons for eyes. Her braids are made from hand dyed and spun yarn from Fabulosity.etsy.com (my favorite!)

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You can check out some of her progress here:

http://pumpkinhaus.blogspot.com/2008/12/this-face-makes-me-giddy.html

http://pumpkinhaus.blogspot.com/2008/12/baby-in-oven.html

http://pumpkinhaus.blogspot.com/2008/12/i-painted-little-dear.html

The Baby in the Oven!

Here is the finished piece, all baked and ready to be painted! It looks a little freaky because I used two boxes of Super Sculpey, and you can see that they fired different colors. I was intending for this to be a girl, but I'm not so sure now.... I am thinking a little boy in a tutu? eh?

These are the hands and feet I reworked last night, I just was not feeling the little shoes I made the night before. He felt like 3 different dolls.... really scattered! But, I am happy now. The little hands look a lot like Caels! I sat on the floor next to the oven and watch them bake because it was just so weird!




It fit perfectly on my turkey roasting pan.... I really need to work smaller! hee hee...

This Face Makes Me Giddy!

Hee hee.... I'm not gonna show the rest of the body quite yet though!

sneak a peak.... new work to come!

So, it is here, I have officially put my shop on a 2 week vacation! It really feels nice after the mad rush of holiday sewing to be able to actually sit with my little lovelies and drink my coffee.... while it is still hot! I have a few small projects to finish up for some family members, but, that is it!

I am really excited to get started on some new work.... I am going to be ordering up some new sculpting tools and I will be making a few dolls over the holiday. I really miss sculpting... I used to teach ceramics and I had my hands in the clay 5 days a week. When we moved home I almost had to go cold turkey. I have access to a small kiln, but it is not really feasable right now, so I am hitting the polymer clay. I will post some WIP pictures once I get started, but for now.... here are a couple pages out of my sketchbook....

Dolhouse sized Poly Prims

Some more Poly Creatures

A Matroyshka companion to the HausMaus

Study for a jointed doll in either polymer or ceramic (we'll see how far I actually get!)

Head study for jointed doll

The Earthlies are on hold for a bit.... I have to find a source for knit ultrasuede. I have not been able to find it, and my last few attempts at making the soft sculpture has me almost in tears! The fabric I picked up is just horrid.... the poor babies have raisin faces, and I can't stand it! Ah well....

Big Brother Does it Again...

This will effect everyone in the Handmade Nation undoubtedly. Not just toy artisans...

http://www.handmadetoyalliance.org/

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/economicimpactsofCPSIA/

http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/national-bankruptcy-day/

Please sign petitions, write your congressmen, alert your state representatives, and by all means.... Spread The Word!!!

Pumpkinhaus Earthlies Doll

Each little Earthlie is one of a kind. These have been very popular in my shop since I first added them! I absolutely love making dolls, I consider myself a dollmaker first and foremost! This one is my newest addition, and also one of the first dolls to have the plastic eyes. I chose a beautiful batik print fabric for her little dress.

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The original Earthlie Plaything will soon be residing in her new home in Alberta, Canada! I hope her little toes get some warm lovin' this winter!! I feel I should have sent her a pair of little slippers!!
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This one was super fun for me to make! I had an alchemy request from a fellow Cafemom Etsymom teammate for a little Earthlie with wings. She will be the guardian for her little ones new bedroom soon! I will definitley be adding more wings to my doll wardrobe in the future, I am very happy with the way they turned out, and they recieved Rowan's seal of approval!
My little Cael loves these dollies so much, I make sure he kisses each one before they are packaged up and sent off to thier new homes. Hmmm... I wonder what he will be getting for christmas this year!