Myrtle and Valentino

Myrtle is the first Carney I made and, therefore, she is the matriarch of the clan. I love her ... maybe it's because she was my first born. :) The arrogant Valentino sits next to her. Since they're seated, you can't really see the cool boots they're wearing but trust me, they are pretty darned cool. Enjoy!!

Carney Bios

I made up some tags for this series of dolls but I wanted to make something a little different... something other than paper, so what did I opt for? Well...fabric of course. I hand drew the doll faces on a petit piece of muslin, hand wrote their bios on the back and topped it off with a fine satin ribbon to go around their necks. The blue photo shows a handmade, muslin label sewn to the backside of each doll...just so you won't forget its name. :)

Welcome to Carneyville

The story on the Carneys is this: I'm a big recycler ... love turning things that don't work anymore into things that do work. That's where the name came from - the fact that they were reincarnations of fabrics that were once something else. They were not inspired by circus or carnival folks... although some of them do look like circus freaks. There are currently 6 Carneys in the series and all are one of a kind made freehand, not from patterns. The two shown here are Gumbo on the left and Gingko on the right. You may recognize these two from the sketches below - Gumbo sketch posted 6/11 and Gingko sketch posted on 6/23. Enjoy!

A Carney Debut

Finally. . . Finally I have pictures of the Carney's and finally I bought a digital camera. This is the longest I've gone without posting but I've been making stuff like crazy and I've been procrastinating using the camera since I got it a few days ago because poorly written directions and figuring out how to use new technology are not my favorite things but I've been at it for hours now (it's now 10:27pm) and have had some snags along the way but I'm happy to have figured it out, so here they are making their debut...The Carneys.

Potential Carneys

I do believe that it's time to invest in digital camera. I promised some real dolls from my "Carney" series on Friday but the photos are just not to my liking. Simply put, they're crud. Crud...Crud ...Crud! So all I have today are more sketches ... sketches that I am turning into dolls at this moment. I was reviewing my sketchbook and came across these from 2005 and thought they'd make perfect "Carneys". This is what I love about sketches, I know that one day I'll be able to use them for something. S'amusez bien.

The Carneys Are Coming...The Carneys Are Coming

The quirky, goofy, oddball, groovy, funky "Carneys" are on their way. I was waiting for their semi truck to pull up in the driveway, when I remembered that while I can't get any photos until they get here, I do have some rough sketches... and here they are. Stay tuned! Oh yeah...I also have some super, funky, baby quilts on the way, so come back this Friday for those. See ya.

Handpainted Totes

I haven't shown any bags for a while, so here are some colorful, handpainted totes to brighten your day.... hopefully :)