Spring is in the air! It is all about new growth and coming out of your shell to blossom!

What better way to celebrate Spring fun than to join in our Shylock Doll Gathering on Tuesday, March 12th at 1:30 pm MST.

This is a fun live Zoom event where we get together to talk and play dolls.  We might bring up issues someone might be having with a particular problem that with a little group brainstorming helps us solve them.  Or we throw out ideas of something new we would like to create together.  There is always something different and new happening in our doll garden. 

​It is has been so exciting to talk with the various doll makers throughout the year, but Alena had me rolling off of my chair laughing when she shared her first experience about wanting to take an out-of-town class.  Hint... don't mess around with a pregnant lady!

Travel to the top of the world with me as I sit down to have a conversation with Sandee Elvsaas from Alaska. 

Alaska is truly an unique place just as unique as Sandee's delightful shell characters.  There is quite a fishy tale to go with them too *smiling*.

But it isn't just the weather and even an earthquake or two that makes Alaska so interesting, it is seeing it through Sandee's eyes as she talks about the different cultures and tribes.

Come join me as I walk the path that Diana Noch's dollmaking journey took me on.  Her creativity and joy in dollmaking was a delight to discover.  

Her diamond in the rough tip also reveals how out of the box we doll makers think when we are looking for tools and techniques to make our dolls better.

So pull up that chair and your favorite brew and join us while Diana and I talk about the variety of mediums that can be used for making dolls enjoying our passion for doll making.

Setting out on an adventure to follow a dream in my beautiful caravan is the type of experience I enjoyed when visiting with Jerry Knegtel. ​

She weaved a story full of fairies that made me feel I had entered her magical land.  They surround her but Jerry was more than willing to share how they come alive through her and become a part of our world seen through her eyes.  

The artwork of Amanda Parkinson is exciting and I certainly love hearing and seeing it through her eyes.  

Besides thinking outside the box in creativity, it is also amazing how, as dollmakers, we often are required to figure out other ways in order to create our dolls.  We may not get the exact thing we wanted for our piece but we don't let that stop us. We simply move forward.

What is pix-a-lated?  There are many stories and legends of the unexpected traveler being pixy-led and arriving home disheveled often following the revels of a village fair.  They would insist that the pixies were to blame for heading them from the path with their flickering lights resulting in them being lost or very late.

Well, that is what I feel like now that here in the USA we have Sprung forward an hour.  We are suppose to be enjoying an extra hour of sunlight but I am still waiting for the sun to show up for that too.  Here in the USA we are also out of step until others go through this stage.  

So what does that mean?  For those of us planning on attending the Shylock Doll Gathering this Wednesday the 15th, please check your time zone as to not miss out on this fun gathering of dollmakers.  We are looking to explore the different ways (or the easy way) to make fingers for our characters.  

Our Zoom meeting will be this Thurs Feb 23rd at 12:30 (Mountain Standard Time) for members of IADR who want to be inspired, maybe learn something new, or just meet another fellow dollmaker who shares our passion.  

Keep your eyes open for the link in the IADR Members Only group and don't be a SHY-lock.  Come join us *smiling*.

​Come with me as I go to Italy to have a conversation with Adelaide Santini about dolls.  I didn't even have to leave the comfort of my chair to have this delightful time with her. 

Her fun sense of humor had us laughing more than once and I was able to experience the flavor of Italy as I listened to her enchanting accent.