Playing With Dolls

Dec 23, 2011

I’m enjoying the break between semesters and taking some time to restock the shelves at my Etsy store. I’ve had a very busy and productive year in 2011, and now it’s time to share some of the results.

I’ve revamped the packaging and I’m putting together more Spirit Doll Kits  with ceramic and polymer clay faces that go with dyed cotton doll bodies, fabrics and trims.

In addition, I’m making up the contents of each kind of kit for a sample or two, and taking pictures as I go.

Here’s a picture of the contents of a Large Spirit Doll Kit. I’m going to spend a few days working on this doll, adding some beads and silk flowers from my stash of stuff, and do a bit of embroidery.

I’ve been wanting to do a little needlework and this is a perfect spot for some! I’ll be taking pictures as I work on the doll, and I’ll post an update after Christmas.

Large Spirit Doll Kits like this one have contents that include:

• one ceramic face, hand drawn and painted with under-glazes and clear glaze, affixed to
• one (premade) 12″ hand dyed cotton doll body,
• one 18″x 22″ (fat quarter) piece tie dyed cotton jersey
• assorted dyed fabrics, trims and embellishments

I also sell the ceramic faces by themselves.

I made a specially shaped cutter from a strip of aluminum, cut each face from a rolled ceramic sheet, then shaped each one with a curve.

After they dried, I sanded each one to get smooth edges and a good surface for drawing the faces.

After the pieces were bisque fired, I drew and colored them all in with painted under glazes and gave each a finishing coat of clear glaze before firing them all again!

The results are colorful “dolled up” ladies all ready to turn into dolls, or wearable art.