Other Stuff

-Recycled Jean, Messenger Bags Embellished w/Hand Drawn
"Patches" -Black Pillows w/Off-White Hand Drawn Designs

I'm on my way out the door to go hunting - no, not little fawn or deer but furniture and other goods. Where I live, people get rid of stuff by leaving it out in front of their property for others to gather up for their own pleasure. After I moved here almost three years ago, I noticed this phenomenon of people scooping up other folks' discards and soon found myself doing the same thing. At first, it was just with one friend of mine and I must say that I was uncomfortable worrying about what people driving by thought of me picking up what many regarded as trash. That lasted about a minute when I realized, why should I start caring now about what others thought of me, especially strangers and especially since other strangers were by my side scrounging for stuff also. So I tossed all my lovely acquisitions into the truck and sped along my merry way to the next hunting ground.

When friends came for a visit they'd ask where I bought this and where I bought that. I'd explained that I didn't buy anything but instead received this and that for free. Now, a group of girls truck along the roads to go what I call "hunting". It's a great time hanging out with people you love and scooping up free stuff that is oftentimes sooooooo valuable. And I'm not talking monetarily, I mean something that has value to you for whatever reasons - because it reminds you of something your grandmother had when you were little or because it's vintage and you love vintage stuff. That's the kind of value I'm talking about. Some of my finds include an old, perfect wood stove, an absolutely, wickedly fabulous, sofa from the 60's. (I only know this because an upholsterer friend told me it was from the 60's and it was fabulous - as if I didn't already know the latter), a beautiful mid-century bureau, and more. I will get around to sharing some of these finds in the near future.

Ok. I went off on a tangent there but what I really meant to do was to show that dolls aren't the only things I make. So here is some other stuff. Have a nice weekend. I'm off.

Request For More

In my last post, I mentioned that Payaso was from a series. Someone requested to see more from this particular series, so here are three more. From left to right they are Nzinga, Erdelobos, which is an abbreviation of his real name - El Rey De Los Bandidos (King of the Bandits) and Indeeoh.

The abbreviated story of these dolls is that they are from a series called The ProodinThorpes. Now, the ProodinThorpes are a bunch of wealthy sisters (I have like 3 of them made but I'm thinking that there are about 12-16 of them) who live in a huge, old, glorious victorian home that, like the sisters, harbors many secrets and undiscovered treasures. These sisters not only inherited large sums of money between them, they also [unexpectedly] inherited a niece named Trixie and her dog, Maila. The other cast of characters from and/or attached to this illustrious family include Millicent (the matriarch of the family), Babette (the baby sister who is an artist), Farley a neighborhood kid who taunts Trixie - or should I say attempts to taunt Trixie but he will soon find out that this little girl harbors secrets of her own. Farley has a brother and sister who aren't made yet but believe me, they are also bad - big, bad, bullies. All of the abstract plushies like those in this post and Payaso, represent artwork of the character Babette who, as I mentioned, is an artist. Those four are supposed to be her sculptures. Another of her sculptures, which is not shown here, is called King Flooba Ha Ha. Between you and me, I think his name is so cool.

By the way, if you're wondering why these dolls have such an in-depth profile, it's because when they were in the sketching phase, I felt as though they were characters from a children's book so it seemed natural to create bios for each. Enjoy.

Payaso Plush Doll

Ok. Here's the photo I attempted to upload in my first post but wasn't able to. Sorry, I'm still getting the hang of this. When he was completed, he resembled a clown to me, so I called him Payaso which means clown in Spanish. This particular doll is a bit labor intensive, as are all the plush in this series but I really enjoy making dolls so I don't mind all the details.

Virgin Blogger Welcome

A month and a half ago, I didn't know what a blog was. Alas! I now have a blog of my own. So on this, my very first post on my very first blog, I wish to say hello and welcome.

My plans for this blog are to share my work since I am an artist and to highlight whatever objects in the art, design, diy world that get my tail wagging. My work includes paintings, collage, and I'm also an indie designer who loves, loves, loves fabrics of all kinds - cotton, linen, wool, and even the most despised (is it the most despised?) and ridiculed of all fabrics - polyester. Yes! I admit it. I love polyester, especially vintage. They make the cutest dolls. You probably thought I made pink polyester suits for myself or something. But really, they do make super cute dolls, pillows and tons of other funky stuff. Most people don't even know it's polyester until you tell them but I keep the poly stuff for myself because many folks don't like it. By the way, I didn't name this site after my love of polyester. I just really like the way the word sounds.

Anyway, I entered a couple of my plush dolls in the Softie Awards Competition. My little baby, "Payaso" can be seen above and at www.softiescentral.typepad.com. If you see some cute, little, doll over there that catches your fancy, you can vote for it. It's unbelievable how many talented designers submitted their dolls and unbelievable how many countries participated! I was shocked because I had no idea this would be so huge. Good luck to all the participants and thanks to all the judges for their hard work.