DollsArtCats

I need doll shoes, and I have wanted to make them for ages--but I wanted to start out with something easy, that didn't have a heel. Partly because I wasn't sure how well my Granado guys would stand in heels; they have small feet. So I found an old dead purse and cut it up for the pleather. If you are making doll shoes, regular leather is too thick--craft leather is better, but pleather is stiff enough to look right and soft enough to go through the sewing machine. I'm thinking even craft felt and polymer gloss medium might work,(for a little shine and less fuzz) though you would want to do the polymer last after they were sewed up. These shoes with flaps are based on a pair of kid's shoes that are in the Williamsburg museum collection--I was having trouble fitting the sides of the shoes and the flaps make the sides more adjustable, so that was an easy fix. You can see why buckles were so common on shoes--not as decorations only, but as a way to keep the flaps togethe...

I had a chance not only to spray a doll head outside today, but do some yard work, planting summer bulbs and clearing out old mulch and dead stuff. I thought these seed pods were pretty and lace-like--the cats thought the dead grass and pods were a great place to roll. At least I got a photo:D.Here is the large version in case you have a use for brown seedpods: http://gypsyreggae.com/Freebies/seedpods.jpg We also went past Culvers while doing errands yesterday--this sounds almost good; though it was hard for the sign to top "Mint Chip Walleye". The fish combos are always my favorite. Finally, Zelda sold me one of her 68 cm Granado boy bodies--she felt that the size was out of scale with the rest of her guys, and the torso slipped around more than she liked. I took it, took out all the kips in the joints, painted matte medium in the hip sockets (it's a little like very thin hot glue sueding) and made this crazy insert to see if it would tame the waist joint. It seems...