This is about as political as I get...

Selling on eBay?

I think I may have sold my last item on eBay. Their new policy prohibits payments by check or money order - or at least it will come October. I happen to use PayPal quite a bit, but don't feel particularly warm and fuzzy toward eBay when they put a halt to these other legitimate methods of payment. I guess they don't feel they make enough off the listing fees and the final bid fees. EBay owns PayPal, so they get a percentage of those payments as well. I dislike the controlling and greedy feel of this.

With the economy taking the turn it has, you'd think eBay would do whatever necessary to keep the customers they have. I'm not the only one disgusted with the new rules. I see many artists are turning to etsy, so I may look into that.

Trying Something Different

While I've really been working on my Verity pattern (up to page 15 now), this doll has been on the back burner for a doll club challenge. We're making Izannah Walker inspired dolls, so I'm trying something different .

This doll is made from my Verity design, but with some differences. This is actually the first prototype of the design (when I was figuring out what to do for 2006 Hoffman Challenge). Well, the head is, anyway. I whacked the head off the original body, because the body was too small. Incidentally, this first doll was made from knit fabric, so her head is much rounder. Her replacement body is made from muslin.

I needle sculpted the face and repaired some blow-outs with paperclay. Next came the tricky part. I coated her head, neck and upper chest/back with blue and covered everything with a knit fabric. Next, I'll gesso and paint her. And she'll need ears, and maybe some dimensional curls or ringlets.

You can see more photos of this doll's progress at my picturetrail site. Click on the Izannah Walker inspired album: www.picturetrail.com/blueherondolls

An old doll pattern, revisited

It's mid September already, and I thought it was a good time to brush the dust off my Hazel the Witch pin doll/ornie pattern. It's been out of print for quite some time, due to lack of a decent cover photo.

This is one of my earliest patterns (copyright 1999), and the original cover photo was one taken with my 35mm camera (pre-digital!). Well, I have no idea where that particular negative is, so had to make do with this digital photo of a later doll. But this Hazel had some needle sculpting that the original doll lacked. So that meant I had to include those instructions.

Now it's time to made another Hazel (this was was given away in a pin doll swap). Maybe I could make some improvements, too. I'd love to be able to make one in the coming week, as there's a doll show in Portland next Saturday. http://www.dolls4all.com/

The Boys in my Life

These are the boys in my life. I had such a great time with my boys this past weekend. My youngest and his family were here for a 3-day visit. My oldest came on Saturday to visit, too, and while here the four of us (two sons, husband and I) went for a bike ride, then out to dinner.

Sunday was good, too. Got to see my grandson again, and my how he has changed in just a month! His mom is looking good, too.

The top photo is Ivan, looking very thoughtful. The next is of my youngest (Ivan's daddy). The third is of my two sons. The fourth is of my oldest, and the last is of my husband and sons.

A Quality Weekend. How lucky am I?

A Tandem for Christmas?

Last week we decided to sell our old tandem bicycle, so pulled it out of the garage where it's been hanging for years, dusted it off and tuned it up. We took it for a test ride to a downtown coffee shop, and found that it was more fun than we'd remembered.

Then we rode it to work.

Then we rode it a little more - a 12 mile ride we call "Walluski Loop."

You know, it got us to thinking that we'd like to ride tandem more - but with a better bike. So after some research, decided to buy a Cannondale tandem. This will be the 2009 model, which won't be available until November or December. Sounds like a good Christmas present to ourselves. Pictured below is the 2008 model. Our new biked will be white.

My husband actually suggested we do Cycle Oregon again, this time on a tandem. They aren't called "divorce bikes" for nothing. A week long ride may be pushing it.

Time Flies

I can't believe it's already the end of August. Time flies. It feels like I've done nothing but work the past couple weeks. I've certainly not made any dolls.

I did work on a huge slideshow project each night after work for a retiring coworker/friend. It was much more labor intensive than I'd anticipated. I edited more than 300 photos, and used my Photoshop Elements program to create the slideshow. The hardest part was selecting the music, but I think I chose well.

The retirement party was last Friday, and I shared the slideshow on a big screen. Many got up and spoke - not a dry eye in the house! It was a huge success, and I'm still burning copies of the slideshow for coworkers.

My husband and I both have the day off today, so we rode the tandem bicycle downtown for coffee. We haven't been on that bike in years (BTW, tandems are known as divorce bikes). Then we took the dog for a walk. Now I need to get this disaster of a studio straightened up so I can work on dolls!

Poll Results and Pattern Progress

My "Next Pattern" poll closed at the beginning of the month, and here are the results:

Verity ~ 41 votes or 65%
Grace ~ 14 votes or 22%
Adah ~ 4 votes or 6%
Felt Angel ~ 3 votes or 4%
Carlie ~ 1 vote or 1%

(I know these don't add up to 100%, but it appears they are all rounded down)

So here's an update:

I'm now on page 4 of Verity's instructions, and the pattern will probably be published with two sizes included. The photo above shows Verity at 100%, 85% and 75%. I'm leaning toward the 100% and 85% dolls for the pattern, with the sailor dress for her clothing.

New Release: Sleepytime Santa pattern

Yesterday and today (and probably tomorrow, too) have been spent collating doll patterns, printing cover photos, folding, and stuffing ziplock bags. My stock of patterns was low, and there's an upcoming doll show in September in Portland, Oregon.

Sleeptime Santa was designed in December 2007, and the pattern was completed at the same time. But as I also submitted a somewhat abridged version of it to Soft Dolls & Animals magazine, I have delayed its release. I expect it may be in the next issue of the magazine, as the holiday season is fast approaching. For that reason, I decided to release the pattern today. You can find it here: http://blueherondolls.com/blue_heron_patterns.htm

I still have a lot of catching up to do after Vegas, and my sewing room is a disaster area. Verity is standing on my work table, a constant reminder that she needs to be an official pattern. I'm getting there...

Baby Ivan, Grandma's Boy

As promised, here's picture of baby Ivan. He's 9 days old today. Mom, Dad and Baby are here for the weekend. He woke Mom up every hour last night...how I don't miss those days, but somehow we all survive them.