Dollmaker’s Journey CUSTOMER CONNECTION
Dream ~ Imagine ~ Create ~ Grow ~ Believe ~ Magic
At http://dollmakersjourney.com we help your creative dreams come true.

July 2009 Issue 92

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Copyright 2009 by Dollmaker’s Journey

Dollmaker’s Journey Customer Connection newsletter is a free e-mail newsletter. Tell your friends, family and fellow dollmakers about us, and feel free to forward this newsletter to those who might be interested. You can visit our companion website at:
http://www.dollmakersjourney.com/

**Notice!**
You can read all the past issues online. Go to:
http://dollmakersjourney.com/newsletter/archives.html
The archives include an easy to follow index to all the past issues.

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Dear Dollmaking Friends,

In the last newsletter I mentioned that July 8, 2009 at 4:05:06 a.m. would be 04:05:06 07/08/09. Ellen Brown wrote: "Won't we experience it again at 4 p.m.?" And then I got an email that said: "Actually, at 12:34:56 7/8/09, it will be 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9." And that will happen twice also. Thanks for everyone who brought this to my attention.
Did you know that thirty-five countries will be celebrating an "Independence Day" or similar national holidays in July? Included in this list are: Bahamas, Canada, Comoros, Egypt, France (Bastille Day), Malawi, Mongolia, Philippines, Solomon Islands, United States and Venezuela. We were wishing we could just hop on a plane and visit all thirty-five! Have a great July, everyone!
Bonnie is excited because Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (movie 6) came out July 15. (So far she has seen it three times!) In honor of this, she has a fun project you can share with the children in your life. Enjoy!

Bonnie and Mary Ann

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JULY SALE

We have always been proud of our selection of MOLDS and RESIN FACES and we have quite a selection! If you have never tried making a doll with a face mask, now’s the time! Our sale also includes
related items such as the Pressmold Companion Kit and the Pressmold Making CD. This is a great time to check them out end enjoy a 20% discount through the end of July.
http://dollmakersjourney.com/

Remember, visit our website at http://dollmakersjourney.com at the beginning of each month to see what our new sale will be. That way you won't have to wait for a newsletter.

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JUNE QUIZ WINNER

Q: Everyone who reads email knows what SPAM is. Why do we use the term SPAM instead of junk mail?

A: This question came from my son, who recently graduated from law school. Here is the answer he showed me in one of his law books. In a case in the United States District Court in 1997, District Judge Graham presided over the case of CompuServe vs. Cyber Promotions, Inc. This case concerned the commercial use of the internet, specifically the right of an online computer service to prevent a commercial enterprise from sending unsolicited electronic email advertising to its subscribers. During the case defendants referred to this as "bulk email" while the plaintiff referred to it as "junk email." It popularly became known as "spam". This term is derived from a skit performed on the British television show "Monty Python's Flying Circus", in which the word "spam" is repeated to the point of absurdity in a restaurant menu. (It was repeated 86 times during the sketch.) (Taken from Prosser, Wade and Schwartz's TORTS Cases and Materials by Victor E. Schwartz, Kathryn Kelly, and David F. Partlett, p. 78) By the way, CompuServe won, but spam continues to this day.

I also received some false etymologies but fun acronyms:
Stupid Pointless Annoying Messages
Self Promotional Advertising Messages
Send Post All Members

Congratulations to Lynn Greenberg from Florida. Your name was selected at random from all of the correct quiz entries, and you will receive a $10 gift certificate from Dollmaker’s Journey. Watch for your name in a coming month!

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JULY QUESTION

Q: Where in the world can you see the sun RISE over the Pacific Ocean and SET over the Atlantic Ocean? (This question was suggested by my lawyer son, who is also a geography aficionado.)

Everyone who emails in the correct answers by August 15th will be entered into a drawing for a $10 gift certificate to Dollmaker’s Journey. The winner will be announced in the next newsletter. Email your answers to Bonnie at EnchantedR@aol.com Put July Quiz in subject box. Please include your full name and where you live (state/country) in your email. NOTE: Several times in the past a winner was drawn with no name or state/country included. When that happens we have to draw again. So please, make sure you include this information with your answer.

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CHARITY CORNER

Last Month I gave you a website I enjoy called Do One Nice Thing (http://doonenicething.com) Carol Becht wrote: "Recently I had to quit my job as a hospital nurse to care for my elderly mother, so while I have a little more time in the evenings, I have little finances for doing "extra" things. I have always enjoyed and tried to "do nice things" also so when I found the "do a nice thing" site I got excited. I have already done some of these and have made a list; also I am passing this on to everyone I know." I hope many of you have taken advantage of this wonderful web site.

It's time again for the Salvation Army's Evangeline Booth Miracle Home's annual request for doll donations as part of their "Every Doll Needs a Home" auction. It is located in Schenectady, New York. Donations are being accepted until August 25, 2009. The auction will be held September 24, with proceeds going to help the home. The live auction will consist of handmade dolls of cloth or cloth and clay. Porcelain, vintage, and manufactured dolls are also accepted. They will be offered in a silent auction.

For more information contact Pam Small by calling her at (518) 370-0276 or (518) 370-0277
or email her at erasmuse@nycap.rr.com
To learn more about the Home and doll art benefit, go to http://home.roadrunner.com/~tsmall/2006/indax.html

Dolls can be dropped off or shipped to:
The Evangeline Booth Miracle Home
ATTN: Pam Small
168 Lafayette Street
Schenectady, NY 12305

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JUST FOR FUN

Summer is a time for cookouts, picnics, and sharing time with loved ones. Our favorite baked bean recipe came from a newspaper column many years ago (Hints from Heloise) and my children still request it for most family gatherings. Best of all, it's cheap, quick, easy, and delish!

Bootlegger Beans

Dice 3 strips of bacon and fry. When about half done, add a small chopped onion.

When onion is slightly browned, pour off most of the grease and add one to four 16 oz. cans of pork and beans in tomato sauce, 1 Tablespoon of brown sugar, 2 Tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, and 2 Tablespoons of catsup. Stir well and cover.

Let this simmer at least 30 minutes.

It’s even better if you bake in the oven for 2 hours. You can also used canned Mexican chili beans instead for a different taste.

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CUSTOMER QUERIES

Q: Are curved needles good for sculpting dolls?

A: Mary Ann wrote: "Straight needles are much easier to use for sculpting. Curved ones would be very hard to get from one point to another on the face. They are good for sewing on doll body parts in hard to reach places - like when you are sewing on the legs.”
Bonnie adds: "Usually these needles are used to sew curved areas or hard-to-reach areas together, but you could try and use them for sculpting. I usually use John James darners to do needle sculpting."

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OUT OF THE MOUTH OF BABES (POTTER PUPPET PALS)
by Bonnie B. Lewis

My 13-year-old grandson was visiting for a week to help take care of my one-year-old granddaughter while her mother attended school, and he showed me a website that was lots of fun. It was called "Potter Puppet Pals – The Mysterious Ticking Noise" on you tube. Someone had made puppets of 6 Harry Potter characters and they filmed a fun skit. You will notice that somewhere in the middle Dumbledore loses his robe, but he carries on naked. (In our version, we firmly glued his robe to his body.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0loVd16NIOk

After watching it, I decided we could make puppets too, although ours would become finger puppets. So we got out felt, Grrrip glue which we put in the tiny applicator bottle (available at Dollmaker's Journey), some sequins, rhinestones, and starry cotton fabric, and started inventing patterns. Since Harry Potter is copyrighted, I can't share my pattern, and we can't sell them, but they make fun gifts and a great project to share with the children/grandchildren in your life. I think after watching the video you will know what to do. We made some changes, and these are detailed below. Of course, in addition to Harry, Voldemort, Snape, Ron, Hermione, and Dumbledore, we also had to create Dobby (House elf), a broom, wand, and Hagrid. Here are some hints of things we learned along the way, many by trial and error.

* Create a robe shape, including arms. Make sure your finger will fit comfortably inside – after all these are finger or stick puppets. You can use tongue depressors inside if desired. Add 1/4" seam allowance to hem and neck of star fabric robe pattern. Trace onto freezer paper. Iron to right side of black felt or wrong side of star fabric (for Dumbledore). Sew from hem to wrist, wrist to neck, leaving open at hem, arm and neck. Cut out with scant 1/8" seam on felt, or larger seam allowance on fabric. Felt robes won't need to be turned. Clip underarm seam allowance on fabric robe. Remove freezer paper. On star fabric, open seam allowance on hem, glue open, and run a thin line of Grrrip glue around bottom. Turn up narrow hem. Repeat on neck edge. DO NOT HEM SLEEVES. Turn Dumbledore's robe right side out.

* Next create a body and head shape. Make sure body is shorter than robe. The head is round, with ears sticking out on both sides. The body was straight, shorter than the robe. Make sure neck is smaller than robe opening. We traced this shape onto freezer paper, ironed to the right side of flesh colored felt, and sewed around the head only from one side of the neck to the other. DO NOT SEW THE BODY. Do not sew around the ears. Do not sew the chin. Stuff the head through the neck opening, and then sew the chin using matching thread. Cut out the body and head, leaving a scant 1/8" seam around head. Remove the freezer paper. Glue the front and back ears together.

* Create hands from felt to match head. Make sure they are narrower than sleeve opening of robe. We used light pink for Dumbledore and Hermione, flesh for Ron and Harry, Ecru for Snape, and white for Voldemort. The hands we made were a long oval. Again, this is easier if you draw them on freezer paper, iron to felt, cut out, and then remove freezer paper. We folded it in half, inserted folded edge into sleeve using a flat screwdriver or palette knife, making sure cut edges were even. We then sewed hands to sleeve along edge of sleeve, using matching black thread. For Dumbledore's robe, we zigzagged the hand to the sleeve, covering the raw edge with thread. We also sewed from underarm to neck edge to create separate arms.

* We drew lots of heads on a sheet of paper, and created hairdos and faces for each character (except Voldemort, who is bald and super easy). We even created a long strip of hair for Dumbledore, which we glued to the inside of his hat. We also drew a hat on one head for Dumbledore, and added 1/4" seam allowance to all sides. We sewed the hat RST, glued up the bottom hem, and trimmed the tip, then turned it RSO. We cut back and front hair from felt, and hand sewed the hair together from ear to ear with fine overcast stitches. Add Grrrip to the inside of the wig and glue hair in place.

* We drew a face for Dumbledore, creating a mustache and beard pattern, which we cut from white felt.

* Pull body inside robe neck using hemostats. Glue robe to neck just under chin, and front and back of body to inside of robe. This gives added stability so neck won't flop. (It is especially useful on Dumbledore's thin robe.) It is also helpful to glue any overlapping hair and beard to robe (Snape, Hermione, Dumbledore) for extra stability.

*Draw faces using permanent markers or pens. Snape's nose is created from a triangle of felt to match face. Sew from top edge of triangle and down sides and glue seam edge to face. (Bottom of nose can be left open or glued closed.) You can also put a little glue inside to create a pointed nose.

* Finishing touches: Create Hogwarts badges from gold felt in a shield shape. Glue tiny red rhinestone to center and place on left side of robe. Harry's glasses are made from black felt (shape like a barbell). Glue white sequin (concave side out) to center of each circle. The tiny hole in the middle creates a perfect pupil. Otherwise he looks blind. For Dumbledore's half moon glasses, cut a white sequin in half on either side of center hole and glue in place. Optional: Cut tiny circle of pink felt for Dumbledore's nose. Make sure you add a lightning scar to Harry's head.

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WORDS TO LIVE BY

Miracles don't happen overnight. Sometimes they take the whole weekend.

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CHALLENGES/COMPETITIONS

Cloth Baby Doll Contest Winners are now online
Congratulations to all those who entered.
http://clothdollbabies.com/challenge2009/

2009 All Dolled Up: Beaded Art Doll Competition
Due date: August 31, 2009
Theme: Earthen Mother
Official rules posted here: http://www.landofodds.com/store/alldolledup.htm

September 4-7, 2009 – DragonCon Art Show and Convention
Atlanta, Georgia
To enter the juried show with dolls that are SciFi or fantasy themed, apply by April 15.
Information and applications for the show can be found here
http://artshow.dragoncon.org/index.html

September 30, 2009 – Mimi's Child Interactive Pattern
http://Mimidolls.com for entry forms and instructions
Download free pattern from her website

October 15-18, 2009 – Treasures of the Gypsy Challenge
Houston, Texas
The theme this year is "The Enchanted Gypsy." Send $20 to Pamela Armas to receive your challenge packet of “Gypsy” fabric and trims. This includes the entry fee and shipping. All dolls to be exhibited at the Houston Quilt Festival!
For more info: GypsyTreasures@cs.com
For packet send $20 to: Treasures of the Gypsy PO Box 748 Mountainair, NM 87036

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PRINTING TIP from Sharon Young in California

While printing the latest free pattern from Dollmakers Journey I thought I would share some tips for the newbys that I have found useful. I have a 4" binder full of tips and patterns I have copied off the net over the years and it would be bigger if I had not discovered 2 -sided printing. Before I print I use "print preview" to see how many pages and if multiple I set my options to "book" and I get the article printed on both sides. I also will use "draft" printing for articles that have no color pix and save on ink.

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UPCOMING EVENTS YOU WON’T WANT TO MISS

June 17 – September 13, 2009 – Sandy Spring Museum Art Show
17901 Bentley Road, Sandy Spring, MD 20860
Featuring Paula Starr's "Soft Sculptures"
For more information call 301-774-0022

July 25, 2009 – New York Black Doll and Craft Show
New York City, New York
For more information: http://www.BlackDollShows.com

July 30 – August 2, 2009 – Enchanted Doll Artists Conference
Albuquerque, New Mexico
http://www.enchanteddollartistsconference.org/

August 8, 2009 – Rockville Senior Center Doll Show
1150 Carnation Drive, Rockville, Maryland
Sales is from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Lots of dolls and doll-related items for sale
For exhibitor information call 240-314-8800

August 15, 2009 – Day With Dolls
Babylon, New York
http://mysite.verizon.net/vze2r22a/notices/DWD.pdf

September 8-13, 2009 - NIADA (National Institute of American Doll Artists) National Convention
Arromont, Tennessee
For more information go to http://www.niada.org/info.html

September 16-19, 2009 – Dimensions in Dollmaking 2009
Contemporary Cloth Doll Exhibit at the San Diego Quilt Show
Sponsored by the Imitation of Life Construction Company (IOLCC). The theme this year is “Make Me Laugh.” Contact Lois Bouncer at lois@aardvarktozebra.com or 760-438-3431 for the details and forms.

September 25-26, 2009 – California Regional Doll Festival
Millbrae, California (by San Francisco Airport)
For more information contact the Lowmans at DollFestival@aol.com or call (831) 438-5349

October 8-12, 2009 – The East Coast Art Retreat
Crowne Plaza, Cromwell, Connecticut
Email: info@art-is-you.com
Website: www.art-is-you.com

To save yourself time and energy, get all the details on upcoming doll related events at
CLOTH DOLL CONNECTION: http://clothdollconnection.com/

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SPECIAL GIFTS FOR YOU

Great tutorial on making perfect shoes by Antonette Cely
www.nonidolls.com/shoe.html

A pattern for an 18" doll's shoe and directions for resizing to fit any doll
http://www.snsdolls.com/pattarch/dollshoe/shoemain.htm

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NEW PATTERNS/BOOKS/CD-ROMs/DVDs/MOLDS

We have always prided ourselves on our collection of Ethnic doll patterns and we are delighted to welcome a talented new designer to our Dollmakers Journey family. Come see the wonderful folk art dolls of KRISTA HARRIS of Painted Heart Designs. We fell in love with her charming dolls and the variety of her faces. We know you will enjoy her work as well.
http://dollmakersjourney.com/harris.html

We also have a brand new ethnic pattern from SUSAN BARMORE called “Cora Mae.” If you want to advance your painting skills treat yourself to one of SUSAN’S patterns. http://dollmakersjourney.com/barmore.html

We also have restocked four popular patterns by MARILYN HALCOMB.
http://dollmakersjourney.com/halcomb.html

Now that JUDI WARD is back in the USA we are once again able to carry a selection of her wonderful patterns for your creative enjoyment. JUDI is one of the most innovative and clever dollmakers in the world and a superb teacher. Each one of her patterns is just like taking a class. Come take a look at what we have so far and let us know if there are others you’d like to see at Dollmakers Journey.
http://dollmakersjourney.com/ward.html

BARB AND DOUG KEELING have decided to spice up their fabulous collection of face stamps by adding a basic body pattern to each one. Now you have the terrific added value for the very same price. Stop
by and see the newest one we have – “Cathy” – and see what a lovely doll it makes up to be.
http://dollmakersjourney.com/keeling.html#new

MAUREEN MILLS has just had a spurt of creative energy and released three terrific new patterns "EZ PZ Prairie Dolls", "Firecracker Freida" and "Prim & Pretty" - especially cute raggedies with a different hairstyle. Why not check them out along with the rest of our collection of MAUREEN'S patterns. http://dollmakersjourney.com/mills.html

"20 to Make: Wild Women Stitched Art Brooches" by SARAH LAWRENCE is one of the most imaginative collection of doll pins we've ever seen employing a wide array of embellishment techniques. You won't be able to resist this book at such an amazing price! http://dollmakersjourney.com/books.html

SHERRY GOSHON'S beautiful new mold and body pattern "Agnes" has finally arrived featuring instructions for creating a full head with the clay - and it's on sale!
http://dollmakersjourney.com/goshon.html

If you have wanted to learn how to transform your ideas from a flat drawing to a 3-D object then PAMELA HASTINGS' awesome "Pamela's Designing a Doll and Making Faces Inspiration Book" is the book for you. Click here to read more about it. http://dollmakersjourney.com/books.html

elinor peace bailey has revisited one of her earlier designs "Maggie Goes Shopping" and turned her into a very jazzy fairy named "Izzy Brown." Now you'll get instructions for both dolls in the same pattern giving you more bang for the buck! http://dollmakersjourney.com/epb.html

We have also restocked two JANE COUGHLAN favorites - "Pippi" and "Christmas Tree Toppers." http://dollmakersjourney.com/supplies.html

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CUSTOMER KUDOS

Estelle Katz has her doll "Joan of Arc" appearing in the September issue of Soft Dolls and Animals. We love all the imaginative ways she uses our Doll for All Seasons pattern. http://dollmakersjourney.com/friends.html#Lewis

Congratulations to Kay Dendy for her Runner Up win in Category C – Fictional Characters for the Soft Dolls & Animals recent Character Doll Challenge for her entry “Fancy Nancy Sees Stars.”

We are always delighted to see the dolls of our cherished customers in the pages of the magazines! Be sure to let us know about it.

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SUPPLIES

Over in the FABRIC DEPT. the #1 Caucasian Light, #2 Caucasian Medium and the #9 Hispanic Dark are back in stock. http://dollmakersjourney.com/fabrics.html

GRRRIP GLUE is back in stock along with the 1/16th grommets and the 3” oval glasses. You'll find CRAFTERS PICK ULTIMATE GLUE back in stock too.
http://dollmakersjourney.com/supplies.html

For your shopping convenience we now have three varieties of SOLVY stabilizer to meet your needs an essential ingredient for your Free Motion Embroidery projects and much more. http://dollmakersjourney.com/supplies.html

For all of you learning to incorporate chalk into your face making we finally have the very handy (and inexpensive) CHALK AWAY ERASER to assist you in the process.
http://dollmakersjourney.com/supplies.html

We've just added two more yummy colors of Tibetan Lamb - Golden Blonde and Dark Auburn - bringing our color selection up to 20 tantalizing shades! Stop by and take a look - http://dollmakersjourney.com/hair.html#tibetan

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NEWS FROM THE HOME FRONT

Bonnie has had lots of welcome company this past month. Last week all 21 grandchildren were running around in her back yard. The oldest is 14 and the youngest 3 weeks. Her daughter from Massachusetts came down with four grandchildren to spend a week. Meanwhile she was babysitting her 1-year-old granddaughter for the month of July while another daughter attends classes. Fortunately her 13-year-old grandson helped for two of those weeks. Then another daughter decided to move to Utah with her husband and five children, and the children moved in while the parents packed. So that is 14 people spending the night. Then her son's family came for several days with their two children. Unfortunately, the air conditioning decided to quit on Monday night and wasn't restored to working condition until Thursday. She never realized how welcome and dependent we have become on climate control until the temperature climbed to 86 INSIDE the house, even with all windows opened all night and fans going all day. Even so, she managed to supervise Harry Potter Finger Puppets and coin collections in the midst of chaos. Now it is almost quiet here. Her son graduated from BYU Law School in May and is living here while he takes the bar exam next week. While he studies, Bonnie is busy finishing this newsletter. Next she is working on different style wigs to teach in New York next month.

Mary Ann’s new roof is in place and she and Jim continue to go on a variety of fun summer excursions. They spent the 4th of July with Jim’s sister Joedy and her husband Bill enjoying a cookout, spectacular fireworks at Colonial Williamsburg, and a lovely Sunday Brunch. Last weekend they were back in NJ visiting with Mary Ann’s parents and Jim’s sons. On Saturday evening they drove to Atlantic City to meet up with Sean, Lisa, Mike & Becky who were there for the weekend. While killing a little time in the casino they managed to win enough money to pay for their dinner at the incredible Chef Vola restaurant tucked away in the basement of an old home on a side street. What a treat! Because James P. Lyng is the only man in America who has never seen the “The Wizard of Oz” movie they will be attending a Friday night program at Wolftrap where they will watch the film and hear the score played by the National Symphony Orchestra. Mak can’t wait – there’s nothing like picnicking under the stars and listening to the Symphony on a warm summer night! The count down is beginning for our Annual trip to Dollie Day and we are pricing and packing our goodies every day.

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WEBSITES:

VADRUM awesome drummer to William Tell Overture
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3vLQ7iCz94

Create your own original artwork at the following two web sites:

Create a comic strip and email them to friends and family. You can make them in 7 different languages. http://makebeliefscomix.com/

Go to Bread Art at http://www.breadartproject.com/#/home
Create a piece of bread art, and $1 goes to food banks. This is a great place to download pictures of dolls you have made, create a collage, and it will be in a virtual museum and you not only will contribute to a food bank, but will have a fun piece of artwork displaying some of your creations.

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We’d love to hear your thoughts about our Customer Connection newsletter.

Contact the editor Bonnie B. Lewis at EnchantedR@aol.com with any comments, suggestions, etc.
Please feel free to pass this newsletter on to any of your friends. Help us spread the word about Dollmaker’s Journey! All we ask is that you forward it intact, with all the subscription information included.
Thanks!