December Luncheon and Secret Santa Party

Our hosts Debra and Beverly provided a lovely lunch, which was followed by opening of our Secret Santa gifts.  We had a happy time together.

 Lovely decorations for the table.

 Santas for the serving table.

 Mary with fairy furniture chair from our workshop..

 Sharon, Billye, and Janet

 Debra with half (broom) doll.

 Beverly with Steiff owl.

 Barbara's gift of a Valentine Storybook doll.

 JoAnn liked her 2 dolls with ice skates.

 Jill S. admired her 3 black dolls.

 Sharon is happy with her special wooden carved bust.

 Billye likes Annalee.

 Jill Mann's handmade Santa made by Dorothy.

 Ann with her sweet bisque doll.

 Janet with her special gift.

 Mary likes her mouse (?).

 Dorothy got a special ornament.

Jill cuddling her Santa, which she said she'll display year around.

Colleen Moore's Fairy Castle to be Restored

http://www.msichicago.org/whats-here/exhibits/fairycastle/

November Workshop with Dorothy - Making Twig Furniture for Fairies

This summer was a very wet one and the mushrooms were absolutely great. So many colors, shapes, and sizes. There was a fairy ring in my front yard. I picked the mushrooms and made a display for the table outlined with the fairy ring. Fairy rings are known to have lived for 600 years.  Daytime is safe to get into the ring because fairies come out at night to frolic, play music, and dance in the ring. If you hear music at night in the woods, stay away because if you enter you may never come out. Remember what happened to Rip Van Winkle.  Accepting a fairy is only up to them. Fairies are alien, they do not think like humans or feel like humans. They represent  magical power humans don't understand.  to make fairy furniture, you need to gather natural material. However, they will steal manmade things from humans to make their world more comfortable.   I know fairies have stolen from me because things seem to disappear in my house.  I spent all summer gathering things in the woods. Twigs, acorns, cones,wild flowers, moss, mushrooms, vines, and any interesting materials. I used only the natural. Fairies use flowers, mushrooms, and acorn caps for hats. They are very artistic, musical, and clever. There are Flower fairies, water fairies, hill fairies, swamp fairies, low garden fairies, tree fairies, witches, trolls, leprechauns, elves, goblins, dwarfs, brownies, pixies, and mermaids.  Most fairies should be left alone by humans. 

There are many websites with instructions on making miniature twig furniture.

 The mushrooms are from a real fairy ring.

 Brownies.

 Pillows are mushroom caps.

 Debra's neat twig chair.

 Natural ingredients gathered over the summer.

 Starting a chair.

 Some of our successful finished projects.

 Mushroom table and seed pod cradle.

 Creative chair.

 Canopy (dried pansies) bed with moss cover and leaf blanket.

 Fairy throne and mushroom table.

Back of throne.

Hitty Alert!  The missing doll pictured below is approximately 6.25" tall and made of wood.  Her hair and face are painted.  She was hand carved by Janet Cordell and is Janet's personal doll, Hitty Sequoia.  She was last seen this past weekend in Dayton, Ohio.  Please contact Janet at janet_cordell@yahoo.com if you see or find Hitty Sequoia.

 

An Evening with Miss Iwate, Japanese Friendship Doll

http://bplolinenews.blogspot.com/2013/02/bpl-and-birmingham-doll-club-present.html


Here is the Birmingham Public Library article about the February reception and lecture concerning  Miss Iwate's restoration.  The Birmingham Doll Club of Alabama is a sponsor.  The expert Alan Pate was our speaker.

16" Heinrich Handwerck from the Huntsville, AL Doll Sale

She is marked only "109."  This is the original dress.  I added the hat and made the jewelry.  Click on photo to enlarge.

UFDC Convention Souvenir Dolls (Double Click to Enlarge Photos)

October Halloween Meeting - UFDC Convention Dolls

I became interested in UFDC Convention dolls a few years ago after attending the convention in Atlanta. I came home and started looking through the dolls collected at convention by myself and my mother. I thought it might be interesting to specialize in collecting these dolls, so I contacted  the United Federation of Dolls and asked for a list. I have been searching websites that sell dolls ever since. I’m still missing over a dozen as the convention has been giving souvenirs (mostly dolls) since 1950. In fact, I am in the process of acquiring the UFDC plate given at the first convention. I love the dolls, and I have to admit that the “hunt” is often exciting.            Billye

 First arrivals at the Halloween meeting (Billye made her grandaughter's dress!)

 Convention dolls on the piano

 Lisette, a candy container by John Wright, was a favorite.

 We were fascinated by Billye's collection of UFDC Convention dolls throughout their history.

 Yes, we did have some fun with dressup (cats, witches, Old Mother Hubbard, and Groucho Marx came.

 Another photo with the spotted Bengal cat on the right, who actually led the meeting.

                                              
 Some of the "Ugly Dolls" brought for show and tell (on R a cartoon character from Archie Comics).

 More "Ugly Dolls" for the Halloween theme (Horsman crying baby puppet).

 On the right a repainted Chase Baby with haunting eyes.

Another favorite Convention doll - Baby Stuart (such a sweet face).