Linda's Review of Autumn Wreath Cross-Stitch Shadow Box Picture - Mill Hill Buttons & Beads Cross-Stitch Kit - MH14-7205

Since Fall is my favorite season for crafting I decided to create another shadowbox cross-stitch picture with a Fall wreath to add to my collection.

Like the other Mill Hill - Buttons & Beads Series patterns I had bought the Autumn Wreath kit included the pattern, embroidery thread, brown perforated paper, beads, button, 2 needles and instructions.

The Autumn Wreath Cross Stitch Kit pattern uses full counted cross-stitch and straight stitching as well as beads and buttons for emphasis and depth. The pattern also calls for certain areas of the perforated paper to be left untouched as the background. In this case they were leaving sections of the brown perforated paper background untouched.

I, once again, decided to frame my finished cross-stitch picture in a 5" by 5" white shadow box frame that is 1 1/2" deep and can stand on it's own or with its back picture stand (like the picture above) as I've been really happy with the way all my other cross-stitch shadowbox pictures have come out.

I also decided to once again utilize the rectangular wood frame jig that my darling husband built for me that I could tape the edges of my perforated paper to. The wood frame jig is a rectangular embroidery hoop of sorts, but without bending the perforated paper. He had made it out of 1/2" x 1" pine wood strips with an adjustable center strip that I used for this 5 x 5 square design.

I had learned from previous mistakes that I needed to draw diagonal lines to locate the exact center of the perforated paper as in the last perforated paper cross-stitch picture I had done was slightly off center by a few holes which caused a problem with inserting the needles in the holes along one of the edges of my frame. So, I drew a diagonal line across each corner to get the center point of the perforated paper.  I also drew diagonal lines across each corner of the pattern to get the center point as well.

I had also run into a slight problem with one of the perforated paper cross-stitch pictures I had previously created with the beads along the edge causing a problem when framing so this time I also drew squares on the perforated paper to show me where the 5" x 5" square was. Plus, I knew I wanted to square my picture so I needed to know where to end my stitching or where to add additional columns and rows of stitching..

My Tinytopia & The Magic of Little Things Online Class At Artful Gathering by Mary Jane Chadbourne

I don't know why it is that I can never do anything in moderation.  I try to, but always fall prey to loving what I'm doing and wanting to try this or try that.  That is definitely a formula for over doing and, one of these days, I am truly going to run out of space for everything I make.  Hubby and my sister would tell you that I'm way past that point right now.  They're probably right, but when my creative juices have a hold on me - I make way more than I should.

Such was the case with the miniature houses I made for the Tinytopia class I'm taking during the 2nd session of Artful Gathering.  My Tinytopia & The Magic of Little Things online class is being taught by Mary Jane Chadbourne, who is an amazing mixed media artist.  I love her class and love the way she teaches.  Her classes are always a lot of fun and filled with all sorts of different projects and methods to try.  I always end up buying the DVD from Mary Jane's class as she teaches so many different mixed media techniques which I like to go back and review once the class is finished.

This is the 2nd class I've taken at Artful Gathering taught by Mary Jane Chadbourne.  The first was "ART-S2-307 The Imaginarium: Anthologies of an Art Doll " which took in 2014 and I reviewed here.  That class was my first introductuion into mixed media and I loved it and Mary Jane's teaching methods so much I decided to take her Tinytopia class this year.

I still haven't finished the miniature house canvas projects from her class.  I'm working on them so, yes, there will be more to show you.  For now here's what I've made so far:

The picture at the beginning of this post is a collage of the 12 different miniature houses I made.

Nine miniature houses in a row.

My Romantic Journey On Canvas Online Class at Artful Gathering by Debby Anderson

In July of this year I spent two weeks in crafting bliss working on my projects from Debby Anderson's "A Romantic Journey On Canvas" at Artful Gathering and have to tell you that I may have found a new passion - something I absolutely love.

I can hear you all saying - what a surprise, Linda! You've found a new passion. When it comes to crafting is there anything you've ever tried that you haven't absolutely loved? Probably not.

Well, it is true that I absolutely love to craft and love everything I've learned through my online classes, but when it comes to passion - well, that's a little different. I have a passion for the Victorian era - especially the dresses, for doll making, for genealogy, for floral design, and for history. To all this I would have to add mixed media. I absolutely LOVE mixed media.

My husband doesn't love it as mixed media utilizes lots of different types of supplies so my living room was an absolute mess. You couldn't even see any of the furniture in there. It was all covered with arts & crafts supplies of one sort or another - all needed for the mixed media projects I'd been working on for my online classes.

I have to tell you that I absolutely LOVED Debby's class.  Debby Anderson is an unbelievably talented and inspiring jewelry designer and artist.  Her online class was fabulous.  Her video's were very easy to follow and she explained everything she was doing beautifully.  I couldn't be more pleased with her class.  If you've wanted to try creating mixed media canvas collage dress form projects Debby's class is a MUST TAKE.

There were 3 projects in  Debby Anderson's "A Romantic Journey On Canvas" mixed media online class: one to create a corseted tutu, one to create a wedding gown, and one to create a mixed media angel collage.  I made two corseted canvas's - one on 12" x 12" canvas and one on an 8" x 10" canvas.  I've also created a wedding gown on an 11" x 14" canvas.

Here's my first corseted tutu on a 12" by 12" canvas:

My Bonnets and Beaus: A Regency Doll Project Online Class at Artful Gathering Taught by Hall Levesque

I finally finished the Regency Era  paperclay and painted faces dolls that I was making based upon the Bonnets and Beaus: A Regency Doll Project online class that I've been taking during the first session of Artful Gathering.

The online class was taught by Hally Levesque who is an exceptional art doll artist, photographer and a bit of a history buff. Not only are her video's easy to follow and beautifully taught but they are sprinkled with historical tidbits of life with Jane Austen - which I loved.   Now why would that be? Hmmm.... History tidbits for a history buff....... Hmmm....

Since I never do anything in moderation I, of course, couldn't just make one doll. I had to make two.

I was looking forward to taking this class as it would be the first time I would be sculpting the dolls faces, hands, and feet out of paperclay and then painting them with acrylic paints. Acrylic painting of any sort is not my strongest skill - so I knew this would be very challenging. At the very least it was going to be interesting if not comical.

I had no problem with the costumes and cloth body. Sculpting the heads and legs was a bit of a challenge but I finally got the knack of it after experimenting a few times. Sculpting the fingers was much harder than I had anticipated and I ended up not liking mine. They looked like Frankenstein hands so I changed them into more of a solid hand.

Painting the faces was a real challenge. I just couldn't get them the way I would have liked them to be. Suffice to say, acrylic painting of doll faces is still not by strongest suit.

They say practice makes perfect so, who knows. Perhaps it's a skill I can master over time. Right now I wouldn't hold my breath.

Instead of using mohair for their hair I decided to use my sister's alpaca fiber from her Rock Garden Alpacas Farm. I used Zinnia's beautiful fiber for the doll in the white outfit and Ivy's fiber for the doll in the dark brown and black outfit. If you'd like to check out my sister's Rock Garden Alpaca Fiber Etsy store here. I LOVE working with the alpaca fiber. It makes fantastic doll hair.

I loved this class and would recommend it for anyone interested in making dolls or, specifically, historical period dolls.

The History Of Faceless Dolls

I have loved Victorian dolls since I was a little girl and can blame my grandmother for that. You see, as a young girl she gave me a Godey’s Fashion print for August 1870 that belonged to my great, great Aunt Flossie. From that moment on I was hooked. I was captivated by the beautiful dresses and wanted to create dolls wearing them.

Eventually I was able to design my own Victorian "Lady" dolls, like the one pictured on the left, who are all faceless. Now you might be wondering why they are faceless. It's because I wanted each to have its' own distinct personality.

My feeling is that faces overwhelm the dolls personality and have a greater impact on their personality. I wanted the clothing, clothes, hair, color scheme, etc. of the period to determine the personality of the doll.

As far as I am concerned "Beauty lies not only in what is seen, but what is imagined. I believe the essence of a dolls beauty should determine her personality."

You could compare this to the use of mannequins by museums. Most mannequins in museum dress & textile exhibits are either headless or have heads, but they are generally faceless. Or, they have the sculpted definition of facial features but they are not painted. The idea is to not distract from the beauty of the dress or textile piece on display. The same holds true for store window displays.

I have also been a history buff since I was a little girl and loved doing research for history projects all throughout my school years. I especially loved to research everything and anything about the Victorian Era. Their history, their etiquette, their fashion, their hopes, their desires.... In fact, sometimes I think I was born in the wrong era.

Designing handmade faceless dolls was not a novel idea as faceless dolls have been around for a long, long time. However, given my penchant for history I, of course, was curious about the history of faceless dolls. So, back in 2006 I decided to do a little research on the history of faceless dolls and wrote a research article for my Linda's Blog that I subsequently updated in 2009.

I figured that there had to be a history of handmade faceless dolls out there or, at least, some cultures and norms. Believe it or not but there wasn't a lot of information back in 2006 on the web on either the history of faceless dolls or cultures and norms that started such a tradition. There was a little more when I updated my research in 2009.

There was some information on two of the most popular and widely known faceless dolls - Amish dolls and corn husk dolls. And there was the legend surrounding Raggedy Ann and "faceless" dolls.

In doing my research, what I was pleasantly surprised with was the application of "faceless" dolls for so many current charities or organizations. More on that a little later.

I was hoping that now, in 2015, things would have changed a little and there would be more information on their history. I'm happy to report that there is a lot more now and that over the last few years there is a growing trend towards creating faceless dolls in all sorts of doll mediums - which thrills me to no end.

Part of the new trend has to do with creating eco-friendly and nature dolls and part has to do with allowing children to use their imagination more. It also has to do with comforting children facing tough medical situations. Without a face the dolls can be happy or sad, they can be laughing or crying - in essence, they can mimic the emotions of the child holding them. Putting a face on the doll defines the emotion of the doll with the child - which may or may not be comforting.

So, I decided to update my history of faceless dolls research article and include new research as well as some of the new trends. I hope you enjoy it.

Part 1 -  Corn Husk Dolls and Native American Indian Faceless Dolls

Part II - Amish Dolls

Part III - Marafona Dolls of Portugal

Part IV - Dominican Republic Dolls

Part V - Russian Folk Rag Dolls 

Part VI - Japanese Sarubobo Dolls

Part VII - Goddess and Spirit Dolls

Part VIII - American Primitive, Prairie, Pioneer, Wagon Train, Appalachian and Folk Art Rag Dolls

Part VIIII - Handkerchief and Pillowcase Dolls

Part X - Twig, Pine Cone, Willow and Nature Craft  Dolls

Part XI - Worry Dolls and Toothpick Dolls

Part XII -  Fairies, Gnomes, Elves, Wee Folk, Bendy's, Pixies, and Trolls

Part XIII -  Waldorfs

Part XIIII -  Muslim Dolls

Part XV -  Yarn Dolls

Part XVI - Mixed Media Faceless Dolls 

Part XVII - Faceless Dolls of Francoise Bosteels 

Part XVIII -  Faceless Dolls From Carole's World Costume Doll Collection

Part XVIIII -  The Ruth E. Aten World Doll Collection: Americas

Part XX - Other Faceless Doll Art 

Part XXI - Books To Help You Create Your Own Faceless Dolls

Part XXII- A Very Famous Faceless Doll 

Part XXIII - Faceless Dolls For Charity

I also created a History Of Faceless Dolls .PDF.  If you would like to download my History Of Faceless Dolls .PDF please click on the picture below.

The History of Faceless Dolls

Copyright © 2004-2015- All Rights Reserved - Written by By Linda Walsh

I think you all know that I, personally, love faceless dolls. Victorians, primitives, colonial, prairie dolls, rag dolls, or country style dolls. It doesn't matter. I love them all.

In fact, I created a video to reflect my feelings about faceless dolls which is: "Beauty lies not only in what is seen, but what is imagined. I believe the essence of a dolls faceless beauty should determine her personality."

Please CLICK HERE or on the video below if you would like to view my "Linda's Faceless Beauties" video.

Why do I love the faceless doll so much?

Because I think by being "faceless' the doll can be anything you want him or her to be. You create the dolls personality to be exactly what you imagine it to be. Their personality, therefore, reflects your creativity and your feelings.

And, as we've seen from the above mentioned articles the application can be heartwarming, meaningful and beautiful.

In researching doing the research to update my History of Faceless Dolls article I was thrilled to see that there are hundreds of artists and crafters who are now creating various types of "faceless" dolls in all different medium. I couldn't be happier to see all these wonderful new applications for faceless dolls. I'm hoping you all will agree.

For more information on all my free e-patterns, e-printables and e-books please CLICK HERE.

My Mixed Media Art Dolls From ART-S2-307 The Imaginarium: Anthologies of an Art Doll with Mary Jane Chadbourne At Artful Gathering 2014 2nd Session

For the last two weeks I have been having a blast taking my 5th class at Artful Gathering. The class is ART-S2-307 The Imaginarium: Anthologies of an Art Doll with Mary Jane Chadbourne and it is a delightful mixed media art doll class.

I'd been anxiously awaiting the start of this class as I have never created mixed media art dolls so it was going to be an adventure for me. And, adventure it was. I never realized how much fun this was, how much work was involved in creating mixed media art dolls and all the different supplies you would need.

I had decided to buy one of Mary Jane's art doll wood kits and to try and accumulate all the art supplies and printables I would need ahead of time. The wood kit contained the wood needed to make 3 different art dolls.

My Artful Gathering 2014 Session 1 Finished Project Piece - Let's Go For A Ride

I had been anxiously awaiting the start of Session 1 for Artful Gathering and was so happy when class finally started on June 6.

This is my 3rd year taking online classes at Artful Gathering and I have to say I have loved each and every class I've taken. The instructors are fantastic and I've had a blast in each class learning something new and, best of all, making wonderful new friends.

There were so many fabulous classes to choose from this year it was hard to decide. I really only had time for two and decided to take Julie Haymaker Thompson's Let's Go For A Ride class in Session 1 and  Mary Jane Chadbourne's The Imaginarium: Anthologies of an Art Doll class in Session 2. Both classes dealt with mixed media, which I've been anxious to try.

So, for the last two weeks I have been taking my 4th online class and working on my project. The project called for making an adorable little mixed media shadow box scene with 3 pets sticking their heads out the window of a car that was driving over a hill. The class looked like it would be a lot of fun to take.

A kit was available for purchase from Julie's Etsy shop so I ordered one as it's a lot easier to do that than run around to get supplies. The kit came with everything you needed to create the project including thread and needle. It was fabulous.

For my online classes I like to view all the video's first and then go back to watching them as I follow along with the instructions. Here's where my Ipad comes in really, really handy. It's great for this as I can zoom in and out of the video pictures, advance and reverse them as needed, etc.

I tend to be a bit of a rebel when it comes to my classes. For the most part I follow the instructions, but sometimes I just have to be me and do it my way. Such was the case with my "Let's Go For A Ride" project.

Linda's Review - Winter Chill Cross-Stitch Shadow Box Picture - Mill Hill Buttons & Beads Cross-Stitch Kit - MHCB245

Of all the cross-stitch shadow boxes I have made I realized I didn't have anything specifically for the winter season so I decided to make a shadowbox to add to my collection. I don't know why I would want anything depicting the beauty of the winter as I hate the winter - especially this winter. TOO MUCH SNOW. I can hardly wait for the spring.

However, I wanted my collection of shadowbox cross-stitch pictures to be representative of all the seasons and holidays and realized I was lacking a winter scene. So, I decided to make one.

Like the other Mill Hill - Buttons & Beads Series patterns I had bought the Mill Hill Winter Chill Winter Buttons and Beads Counted Cross Stitch Kit which included the pattern, embroidery thread, brown perforated paper, beads, button, 2 needles and instructions.

The Winter Chill pattern uses full counted cross-stitch and straight stitching as well as beads and buttons for emphasis and depth. The pattern also calls for certain areas of the perforated paper to be left untouched as the background. In this case they were leaving sections of the brown perforated paper background untouched.

I, once again, decided to frame my finished cross-stitch picture in a 5" by 5" white shadow box frame that is 1 1/2" deep and can stand on it's own or with its back picture stand (like the picture above) as I've been really happy with the way all my other cross-stitch shadowbox pictures have come out.

Linda's Review of Joy To The World Mill Hill Buttons & Beads MH14-8301 Cross Stitch Kit

It's no secret I love to cross-stitch. I also tend to be a very sentimental and love crafts and handmade goods that have the word "JOY" in them because my Mom's name was Joy. So, it should be no surprise that I was drawn to the Joy To The World Beaded Cross Stitch Kit.

Like the other Mill Hill - Buttons & Beads Series patterns I had bought the Joy To The World kit included the pattern, embroidery thread, blue perforated paper, beads, house button, 2 needles and instructions.

The Joy To The World pattern uses full counted cross-stitch and straight stitching as well as beads and buttons for emphasis and depth. The pattern also calls for certain areas of the blue perforated paper to be left untouched as the background.

As this was a very dark design I decided to frame my finished cross-stitch picture in a picture frame with a white mat and chose an 8" x 8" tabletop picture frame that had a double mat in it. As this particular design had beads on the edges and was 5" by 5" finished I knew the mat opening had to be exactly 5" by 5". The inner mat only allowed for an 4 3/4" by 4 3/4" opening which wasn't going to work with the beads along the edge. The outer mat had a 5" by 5" opening so I removed the inner mat.

I thought that adding some colorful seasonal stencils to the bright white mat would be festive and colorful and wouldn't distract from the design. I had several EK Success Brand Jolees stickers to choose from and decided to go with the festive pine-cones.

Linda's Review of Dimensions Counted Cross-Stitch Tree Ornament Kit

I just love to cross-stitch and always have a cross-stitch project half finished. Some of my projects are finished quickly while others seem to linger for months on end. My cross-stitch tree ornament is in the lingering category. I don't remember when I started my tree ornament. My guess is sometime last spring.

So, with the Christmas holidays looming I thought it was time to finish it.

The Dimensions Counted Cross Stitch, Tree Ornament kit contained the presorted thread, 14 count plastic canvas, needle, and instructions.  The  pattern uses full counted cross-stitch and outline stitching for emphasis and depth.

The pattern came with starting, stitching, finishing and even cleaning instructions as well as samples of the various stitches required, and color coded keys (with code #'s, color names, and cross-stitch symbols) and a chart with color coded symbols. The colors and symbols on the keys and chart were easy to read and follow.

While I was very pleased with the end results of this design there are some things in the kit and in the instructions that can be improved upon.

Dyeing Alpaca Fiber & Roving and Creating Carded Alpaca Fiber Batts

I have been in love with needle felting creations like art dolls since they started becoming more and more popular several years ago. And, when my sister became an alpaca farmer I was definitely smitten. I LOVE fiber - especially alpaca fiber.

My sister has been teasing me with fiber surprises all year. Several times now when checking the mail  hubby has brought in a package in from my sister. The packages are usually filled to the brim. When you open them they literally explode with the fiber trying to get out.

The last package she sent contained a wonderful selection of alpaca fiber she had hand dyed. They looked so pretty in the package. Almost too pretty to use...

So, when planning my trip to Rock Garden Alpacas and Rock Garden Alpacas Fiber last month she told me I was going to learn how to dye roving and washed fiber and learn how to create carded batts. If you don't know what carded batts are they are lengths and widths of fiber produced on a drum carding machine like my sister's which is shown below:

You can card natural washed fibers alone or in a combination of natural colors, card dyed fibers alone or in a combination of dyed colors, or add various other fibers like Angelina silk to natural or dyed fibers. The possibilities seem endless.

We decided to set several days aside for dying and carding our fibers. I should say we set several days aside to play and have fun. And, have fun we did.

Linda's Review of Embroidered Quilt Shoppe by Chickadee Hollow Designs

Several years ago I bought a couple of creative embroidery and stitchery patterns for making ornaments that I wanted to make into little pictures and decided last May that it was time to make them. One was for a birdhouse vintage ornament that I blogged about in a Linda's Blog post entitled, "My Embroidered Vintage Birdhouse Picture."  The other was for an embroidered vintage quilt shoppe ornament that I turned into a picture.

Vintage Ornament #18 is a pattern for an embroidered quilt shoppe from Chickadee Hollow Designs. The pattern included the design on pre-printed pre-colored fabric, as well as a basic embroidery stitches sheet and sheet of basic instructions for completing their ornaments.

I had decided ahead of time that I wanted to frame my ornament as a small picture instead of using it as an ornament.

My Mermaid From Judy Johnson's "Lovely Sea Maiden" Class At Artful Gathering

I have to tell you that I've been in blissful heaven for the last three days. If you're wondering why it's because I've been needle felting a mermaid for Judy Johnson's "Lovely Sea Maiden" class at Artful Gathering that I'm taking.

I'm completely in awe of the ability to mold and sculpt the fiber to get it to be exactly what you want.

It's simply amazing and, once again, I've fallen in love with a new crafting medium.

Before taking Judy's class I never would have dreamed of all the ways you can felt and handle the roving.

Judy is a fabulous teacher and she shows you exactly what she wants you to do step by step.

I have to tell you that I thoroughly enjoyed this class and now my head is spinning as to the possibilities. There are so many ideas running through my head right now I cannot keep them straight.

This is dangerous territory for me. There are so many things I want to try and, once again, not enough hours in the day. I need to prioritize - but, right now that is almost impossible.

This is the 3rd class I've taken at Artful Gathering and every one of them has been fantastic.  I took Pat Winter's Crazy Quilting 101 class last year, Colleen Moody's "Briley The Birdie" paper clay class in the first session this year and Judy Johnson's "Lovely Sea Maiden" in the 2nd session.   If you've never taken an online class I highly recommend any of the Artful Gathering classes.  They're fantastic.

Next year I'm definitely going to be taking more.  I wonder what will strike my fancy next year?

Linda's Review of #195 Puppy Love Penny Rug Pattern By Barrie Sue Gaudet Of Bareroots.com

I know I've told you many times that I LOVE creating with wool felt. Whether it's an ornament, a pillow, a wall-hanging, or a penny rug - I just LOVE it.

Several years ago I was introduced to penny rugs during a shopping trip with my Mother in Sturbridge. One of the shops we liked to visit carried penny rug patterns. As I was looking through the patterns one of the shop owners told me she'd be happy to put a few kits together for me. She suggested we go to lunch at a restaurant down they street that she liked and come back after lunch to pick up our purchase.

So, I picked out three that I liked, went to lunch with my Mom, and returned after lunch to pick up my kits. Thinking about that now I have to say that was one "savvy" shop owner. What a great way to get not only a pattern sale, but sales of wool fabric and embroidery floss.