Cloth Doll Connection - September Updates

Cloth Doll Connection - Newsletter
September 1, 2007

Greetings to you all:

Leaves are beginning to fall and the dog days of summer are here. Our last summer holiday is upon us. I wish you all a family and friend filled weekend of grilling and tall glasses of iced tea. Enjoy!

It saddens me to know we have lost one of our pioneer doll makers a few days ago to cancer. Susanna Oroyan was a talented and exceptionally gifted doll artist. She will be remembered by so many of us who knew her and admired her work. She has left us a beautiful legacy of doll pictures and inspirations in her wonderful doll books by C and T publishing. Thank you Susanna for sharing yourself with all of us. We will miss you.

We are starting to get geared up for the season ahead of us and thinking snow!!! That's right snow! If you want that special Santa doll done by the holidays you better get started now by thinking the snow is just minute away. Snowflake dolls and gingerbread men and nutcrackers will be on the menu sooner than we want to admit to! This is a great time to check out all the designer listings to see which artists offer special holiday patterns for winter and Christmas season.

New patterns are popping up all the time and our classified ads will keep you updated to what is new and exciting from the world of cloth doll designers.

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Have you checked out the FORUM yet? This is a wonderful way to communicate and share and retrieve information with others of like interest in cloth dolls and fabric arts.

The FORUM is a place for people to post questions on the subject of cloth dolls and related topics.

Several people have posted and we need you - thats right you and your expertise to come front and center and answer the questions posed by the members. You are the experts and you can share your knowledge with others who need help. This is a great place to show off your talents and know-how with others that need help and a place to get information.

Stop by the FORUM and take a peek.

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BOOKS from my personal collection -
I am clearing out my stash of wonderful doll books. I have several lovely books that are in perfect condition and are loaded with fun projects and techniques for cloth dolls and some crafts. I have created a website to view the books and the price I am asking. Feel free to make an offer though as I am motivated to move them on. Postage will be added according to shipping location.

http://www.clothdollconnection.com/books

Soon I will have my collecton of THE CLOTH DOLL MAGAZINE ready to auction off. It is a nearly complete collection of a wonderful cloth doll magazine that was a forerunner to all the wonderful publications we now have on the subject. Names you will know, articles by doll designers and patterns in each issue. I will keep you posted on this collection.

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New online classes are posted and the schedule of doll events has been updated Check them out and see what one tickles your fancy and sign up. The promoters of these events depend on you to participate. They are a wonderful way to meet new friends of like interests and have a creative time out for yourself. You deserve it!!

Thanks for letting us knock on your door again this month to bring you all the new information from the CLOTH DOLL CONNECTION.

Sincerely,
Karen

PS......These newsletters will be posted onto Cloth Doll Connection's own BLOG http://www.clothdollconnection.blogspot.com


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ONLINE CLASSES!
Ute Vasina - "Crow Mother"

Step out of the box and create something new! Crows are not the friendliest of creatures, except for this one. She found this little 2 3/4 troll baby in the Fantasy Garden. Now at first she wasn't sure what to do. But she has taken quite a fancy to this little one and plans to nurture it until it can take care of itself. .

Online Classes available - many are Ongoing and you can immediately get the lessons and work on the project at your leisure.


Go to the following link to view all the classes available -
http://www.clothdollconnection.com/Classes/classes.html

You will notice the new links by looking for the flashing star.. You may need to refresh your web browser to see the new changes.
Thank you for sharing your talents, enthusiasm, blogs, dolls, events and links with us.
http://www.clothdollconnection.com

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Designers: Please check out the exclusive list of Cloth Doll Designers on the Cloth Doll Connection.
http://www.clothdollconnection.com/ClothDollDesigners.html

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Doll Showcase: The Doll Showcase is a good place to purchase a one of a kind doll. We will be adding more soon. Please visit often.

http://www.clothdollconnection.com/dollshowcase.html

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Blogs: Check out this month's new blogs:
Karen's dolls and stuff - by Karen Mallory

Please let me know of other Cloth Doll Blogs.

http://www.clothdollconnection.com/blogs.html

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Events: There are more doll events to visit and participate in.
This months Event:
Creative Festival - September 20 - 23, 2007 - Council Bluffs, IA
Art & Soul Retreats - April 13-17, 2008 - Asilomar, CA
Women of the Cloth - April 30 - May 4, 2008 - Santa Fe, NM
Think Pink! It's a Girl Thing - May 16 - 18, 2008 - Aurora, OH
Gami Matsuri - July 9 - 13, 2008 - Santa Fe, NM

Please let me know when there is a Cloth Doll Event in your area.

http://www.clothdollconnection.com/EventsandList.html

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You will find three new Cloth Doll Links on the Cloth Doll Connection:
Frankly Its kute Productions - I love making cloth dolls, primitive, to finding vintage patterns and doing up cloth dolls, sometimes I like mixing up the patterns to come up with something different..
Ira's Dolls - Irena Rozenberg Lives and works in Israel, and her main profession is dressmaking. She began sewing cloth dolls in 2002 and dolls from Polymer clay sculptures in 2005.
My Cloth Souls - Welcome to my world of enchanting cloth sculpted fairies, trolls, bugs, and other magical and whimsical characters!

http://www.clothdollconnection.com/ClothDollLinks.html

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Fabric & Supplies: Hope you find what you need for your doll making needs.
Blue Moon Fabric - Blue Moon fabrics is one of the top leaders at offering the best selection of lycra, faux furs, minky, funk brocades, and other fabric at great prices.

http://www.clothdollconnection.com/FabricandSupplies.html

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Cloth Doll Clubs: Find a club listed near you.
Badaks..Books and Dolls of All Kinds - Norfolk, VA
Lil Raggedies - Internet, CA
3-D Cloth Doll Club - Mount Vernon, NY

Do you have a club that isn't listed yet?

The following link list them by location.
http://www.clothdollconnection.com/ClubsLocation.html
or by club name:
http://www.clothdollconnection.com/ClothDollClubs.html

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Free Patterns and Hints & Tips: You should be able to find a great free pattern or hint on this page.
Free Patterns CHALLENGE!
I would like to suggest a challenge for your doll club or for just yourself. On the Cloth Doll Connection there are FREE PATTERNS from A "Absolute Sweet Cindy" to Z "Zewy Sewy." As each project is completed we can add them to the Photo page. Create this challenge to meet your needs... go ahead and begin anywhere you like.

http://www.clothdollconnection.com/FreePatterns.html

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Cloth Doll Online Classes: Here you'll learn creative dollmaking.
http://clothdollconnection.com/EventsandList.html#Classes

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Cloth Doll Challenges Online: You'll find fun challenges you can participate in.
http://www.clothdollconnection.com/EventsandList.html#Challenge

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Cloth Doll Discussion Groups: Places to share with others
http://www.clothdollconnection.com/EventsandList.html#Lists

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Magazines, Books & Videos: Let me know if there are any books that I may be missing.
Art Doll Adventures book by Lisa-Li Hertzi
Creative Cloth Doll Couture book by Patti Medaris CuleaBR>

http://www.clothdollconnection.com/MagsandBooks.html

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Forum--- A Forum that you can make doll related posts. Talk amongst yourself sharing cloth doll discoveries, techniques, tips, etc. This will not be delivered to your mail box but will wait for you to check in and participate. That way you are not bombarded with unwanted daily posts but can pace it as you see fit. Doll makers are always happy to share and this is the place to do it.

Photo Album--- Would you like to share photos of your dolls with everyone. Feel free to upload and share your creations yourself. This is a gallery of dolls you have made and just want to share for fun. Hope you enjoy this new avenue to share and inspire. This is not the place to advertise but rather a cloth doll family photo album of your wonderful creations.

http://www.clothdollconnection.com/mailinglist.html

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Click on the "Get Classified" button to see who has placed special ads. I will send you updated ads on a monthly bases. These are here to help you find the special supplies and pattern you are looking for.
http://www.clothdollconnection.com/classified.html


Stop by and check out all the new happenings - you won't want to miss a thing!
Thank You.....
Karen Samuelson
P.O. Box 730668
San Jose, CA 95173-0688
www.clothdollconnection.com
karensamuelson@aol.com
Cloth Doll Connection
Your online provider of
Cloth Doll Products, Sources, Designers, Events, Free Patterns,
Online Classes, Doll Showcase, Blogs,
"Get Classified"

Rainbow Clouds

For the whole series click here: ksamuelson.com/rainbow_clouds

I was so excited to view these clouds I had to share the photos with everyone.
Has anyone else ever seen anything like this?
The following is the information that was shared with me.

They may be what's called "iridescent clouds." Here's a picture in the archive of my favorite website, the Astronomical
Picture of the Day

The explanation says that it's due to the nearly perfectly uniform size of the water droplets and that it's very hard to see unless the sun is blocked, as it was for you.

The jet trail (called a "contrail" for "condensation trail") was very nice, too. It must have been above the iridescent clouds because it cast a shadow on the clouds. The rapid motion shows how the air at different altitudes can be blowing in different directions--and quickly, too. The contrail might have been up in the "jet stream," a high speed flow that can reach speeds of 120 mph.

I now use these photos as my screen saver - I find them very soothing.
Enjoy,
Karen

Happy New Year!

Here is a photo of my husband, Mike and my granddaughter, Haley. I couldn't resist using it for our New Year cards.
What a lovely pair they are.

I hope all of you have a wonderful NEW YEAR!!
Peace Out....
Karen

Merry Christmas

We had a fabulous time at my son, Eric and his wife, Kristi's new home in San Francisco. I didn't have to cook dinner this year. Eric baked the turkey and it turned out the best. This is one of the gifts I gave them. A picture of their new home. It isn't their style of art but it will be a lasting memory.

Mom Memories

This years project was to create these for all my friends and family. It is taking much longer than expected as I still have my Cloth Doll Connection job to take care of.

I want to share the steps it took - don't expect details as I'm a miminalist at heart. I hope the photos will help. So here I go.

PS..... this is my mom at age 16.

After scanning all the photos I used PhotoShop to line up all the photos before printing them on "Waterslide Decal Paper."

Then I cut each one out - very carefully.

Place that photo into water. It will curl up and loosen it from the paper.

Slip the decal off the paper.

Here you see just the decal on my fingers.

Slip the decal onto the bamboo tile or place it onto anything else you'd like.

Wrap the decal around the bamboo tile and set aside to dry.

Spray each tile with a clear polyurethane sealant (gloss). I used the crochet needle to hold each one up to spray.

Then I started beading the tassels. I hadn't beaded in years and had to start from scratch. It took several trips to the bead stores to get all the right pieces.

These are the extra fun things I did for the party place cards. Our mothers joined us in spirit.

This is the backside of the placecard with pictures of our past Christmas parties.

Here is how it looked as the place card.

We girls have been celebrating Christmas for 36 years.
I love them.
Karen

My backyard

I thought I'd start my BLOG with a picture of my backyard. This is a good place to relax. My daughter, Sara and I painted the old shed many years ago. That was a great project, it covered the ugly plywood and a great way to bond with paint brushes.

I love bird houses and find sunflowers make me smile. I hope to grow some next summer.

Karen