New ideas

So many ideas floating in my head!!!

 

Got new ideas for my business... don't want to reveal it just yet but I will be taking some classes next month to get ready for this venture.  Can't wait!!  :)

 

Stay tuned!

What's been happening since my last post...

Hi Everbody!!

  Long time since I've wrote in my blog.  Way too long!! 

A lot of things have happened since... the most impacting for me and my family was my mother's passing last month.  I will miss her tremendously... but I know she will forever live in my heart.  She has always loved my art and has re-ignited a commitment for me to continue with my business of selling Panama dolls.  She had always made sure that I didn't forget my home country no matter where we we due to the military.  She even enjoyed watching my children learn and dance traditional dances from Panama.  My daughter has even wanted to continue to make abuela (grandma) proud.  :)

Currently I'm creating a new line of bust dolls and then full-bodied dolls so I can make molds from them and cast several to sell at shows.  I've also re-listed OOAK dolls on my Etsy page, so if you would like to order a One Of A Kind (all completely sculpted by hand) doll here's the link...

https://www.etsy.com/shop/panpollera?ref=pr_shop_more

Stay tuned for more updates on dolls in progress and up coming shows.  :)

Almost done with sculpting

I finished her neck and shoulders, her boots and both hands and all the baking... well almost. On her right hand one finger broke off. Now I know I could have just fixed that finger, but I wasn't to happy with that hand so it's a perfect reason to redo the whole hand. So that's all that's left for me to do and then I can start making her cloth body.

I've already sanded everything as well, but I'm going to wait till after I finish her right hand before I start painting.

Stay tuned! :)

The Pirate doll I'm working for the class.

As I said in the last post, this particular doll I'm working on is not the one I'm using for the tutorial for my online class. I'm not taking step-by-step pics of her in the making but I will do that for the next one. I'm only making her to perfect exactly what I want to teach.

So far, I've already made her head and hands. I haven't made her neck and upper shoulders cause I want to build it into the armature first then attach the head. Planning what works the best for a soft-bodied doll. I won't show any pics of her till she's done or at least has a body before her clothing.

Here's the inspiration for her clothing...

But the color for the jacket is purple instead of brown, but the student can choose whatever color they want. Also she will have one hand on her hip and the other on her hat...

Her boots will be made out of clay as well. Next up, I gotta make her boots! Then I can make her body. I can't wait till I'm dressing her!! :)

What has happened since my last post?

A LOT!! lol Well... to start off with, I moved back to the states. Long story... but one day we would like to go back to Panama, even if it's just to visit instead of live there. Traveling with my 2 children, without my hubby, and a ton of luggage was tough! But we made it safely back to WA and right on Christmas Eve. And we did have a lovely Christmas with the family. We also gave away both our dogs to owners who I know will take care of them. I miss Lady (the Jack Russell Terrier we originally got back in '05 in VA) and Dama (the hound dog puppy we got from my cousin while we were down in Panama).

Next up... we got into our own apartment in April. So now I have a half work area/half dinning room. Hey, better than nothing. :)

So now I'm back to working on my dolls and I also updated my website. No more ads on it... YEA!!

Now what I have in mind is to start teaching online classes and also one-on-one classes right here in Lacey. So, I'm working on a soft-bodied doll that I want to use for the class. This one will not be the one I will make the tutorial from, but it's just for me to plan out how I want to teach this type of doll. I also I will teach how to make bust dolls (not the Pollera bust dolls) and a full body sculpt. So stay tuned for that! :)

New Ideas!

Ok... so I did end up going to the Craft Expo and they had a lot of neat stuff... but I was a bit disappointed. I've noticed that they sell a lot of the same things. So I checked out the dolls that were made and I think I came across just a very few non-repeat items (stuff you can find at the Central or other tourist places). Here are a few dolls that I saw...

Here are a few Kuna cloth dolls... they were $5 each.

This lady had a few original Kunas... cloth and wood spoon dressed as Kunas

Pollera/Kuna/Other Nativity Scenes

There were mini Pollera dolls ($2) and the big cloth Embera Indians on boat ($35)

And Pollera Angel ornaments ($5)

So overall... I came out of here with a few ideas I wanna try. Not necessarily polymer clay dolls... but cloth dolls and teddy bears. Right now I'm in the process of making my own pattern and then sewing up a test toy and see what I come up with. ;) Photos soon... stay tuned!

She's Blushing!! *^-^*

Went over to my grandma's house today to get laundry done... and while I was there I blushed my BJD doll and baked 1 foot of my Pollera doll. I only got to bake one of her feet because the power went out so I left for the night.

I restrung my BJD and noticed that her right leg's elastic needs to be just a bit tighter. Overall... I'm excited cause she's almost done. Now I just need to figure out how to make her removeable wigs. I was thinking of getting an old black legging or stocking and cutting it up and sewing a thin black elastic unto it... then sewing the hair unto that. We'll see... hope it all turns out right. lol

Still have to sculpt her hands and feet and finish up her outfits too before I can finally sell her.

Stay tuned! :)