Finally!
I found the books I am supposed to review for Art Books Reviews (dot com) and the next one in the pile was Patti Culea's Creative Cloth Doll Beading. I am not really a beader... so I sighed "Oh... tedium, oh schemedum, oh little tiny bead-ium" but what I saw knocked that apathy right into a shocked puddle on the studio floor which was dangerously slick... what with all those beads all over the place!

Creative Cloth Doll Beading
Designing and Embellishing with Beads
by Patti Medaris Culea with Anne Hesse and Laura McCabe

* Beaded Tattoo's - what more can I say? How COOL!

* The collaboration of these three stellar dollmakers brings out the best in each artist.

* Great new Techniques for wings, hair, creative clothing and beautiful faces! Also... detailed directions on making flowers - WOW!

What a killer book! Patti gets some able assistance from two of the doll making worlds finest, Anne Hesse and Laura McCabe. Just as she did in the wonderful Creative Cloth Doll Couture, Patti provides one versatile doll pattern. This pattern is used by all three main artists and the many talented "gallery" artists, to create a flock of beautiful and unique dolls.

Patti does a chapter on flowers, making them look wickedly easy and raucously beautiful. Anne has the next chapter and with her two comrades, she leads us through a bead embroidered face, now THIS is exciting to me! Next Laura creates a "wood elf" and beads her leather garment with several cool techniques, my favorite being the bead stacking. Finally Patti returns at the end of the book and gives us "Franalizia of the North Sea" who has scales of beads, and a wealth of burned, melted and glued beading and embellishment techniques. She is a "Fairymaid" Upp you guessed it, a mermaid with wings, extremely clever!

Off to the right here... is my version of the beaded head... Ok, so I didn't draw the face onto the fabric and I didn't use a rubber stamp (tho this is a great idea!) , I basically didn't follow any of the directions, (tho they are great!) but I did get INSPIRED and I did LEARN about "Wedges", "Focal Beads" and "Fill Patterns". I also learned how to make fringe, and flowers and what a "bud" is. (this was welcome news to me as it associated with the "bezel" and I can't help but sit around snickering about "budding the bezel" or "bezelling the bud" - Yeah, just alittle easily amused... Ya think?!)

I highly recommend this book for us "regular folk" as well as the seasoned beaders. Hum, now where did my charolottes go, I need to do a basic bud on that bezel!

This would be a great gift! Shoot on over to Amazon and get your copy!

It is Amazing...

How quickly one reality becomes another... One eventful and emotional month ago, I was getting on the plane with my pillow, laptop and sketch book after a tearful goodbye to my wonderful friends, a ta-ta to the weather of the Gods, and a so-long to my Ganesha, the remover of all obstacles aka: the unstoppable, immortal periwinkle blue Pathfinder. Now... I am unpacked and officially moved into my parents (their cat actually seems to own the house...) home and I am missing that car...  

I am driving, dare I admit it... my coolness factor, so tenuous, is about to be smashed into oblivion... oh well... an Oldsmobile... an OLD Oldsmobile, a white, old, "Olds"...  It is not mine.  It is my dads and my dad, as you may have guessed, is from the Midwest, so he got a killer deal on the car.  He is also... not young, so this car looks good with his white hair, and goofy grin.  He can pull this car off with style... Octogenarian ladies bat their false eyelashes dangerously fast when we pull up to Fischers Grocery.  I, on the other hand, have been a "not-Midwesterner" for quite awhile now and don't sport either that white mop or the stylin sweater vest... I grokked that I looked ridiculous driving up to the Starbucks in this geezer mobile so I did the logical thing... of course! I put flowers on the antenna!  

I might be residing in the land of long grey patches and rich green, rain saturated afternoons, but I still have a bit of the Sun in my Soul!  See Pix Below.

If you are interested in some cool doll books click here to see my list on Amazon: CLICKSTER

The Return of the Native!

Well everyone, we are on the move again... The dolls have been piling into boxes with the enthusiasm and precise organization of.. say... a herd of Mexican Jumping Beans! Here is Namba tickling the others to try to make a space to catapult herself into the cardboard!

The last time I moved, I called it Li's Big Adventure and it has been that for sure! What next? to serialize or not to serialize? Li's Big Adventure Take 2? Nah... um... The Return of the Native? Ah! Yes, I am the reluctant native and I am returning to Ohio - one of the best places in the world to be from they say... Anyway you might have noticed a lack of activity on the site which is due to hyper-activity in the moving arena. I just never imagined such a small space could hold so many many many boxes! I haven't found my phone before the 5th ring for weeks!

Enjoy the spring and make stuff - then after you make it give it away or sell it, just be sure its not in your house next time you have to move! - a word from the "wized-up" - packing fool that I am...

WOW!
Thats all I have to say!

The Cha Trade Show was spectacular! Patti Culea and I drove up to LA in her beautiful little eggplant PT Cruiser. There seem to be flocks of Cruisers in L.A. We got there early and stayed all day... allllll dayyyyyy, my brain was in monster overload with all of the possibilities! I wanted to buy everything - I mean, this is the succulent bliss bunny brain bath for creative people! How lucky we are to be living in this time... Imagine what Picasso could have done with Jaquard Paints, Those amazing Coptic Markers, all the glitter, the wax (I really want to expore this after my move) little colorful balls of wool, clays and and and... It was an artists dream come true... EXCEPT... you couldnt BUY anything! Bliss Bunny brain implosion - aweeeeee. Hah!

I finally got to meet the most-charming Mz. Mary Ann Hall, my editor, who was but a pixel away from reality all through the creating of the book. Somewhere there is a picture of Patti, Mary Ann and I grinning like cats. As soon as I get it, I will put it up here! I am delighted that she lives in Cleveland - close to my soon-to-be home - and plan to pester her her occasionally with more than emails... AH hah! Now I can just drive up there! Grin

Then there was the thrill of seeing the book up there with all of Patties... sitting there in all its very-blue glory. Quarry has an amazing range of beautiful books

I also met and lunched with another of my heroines, Sherrill Kahn. This wicked-creative artist is full of new ideas and smiles. She has a new book out on using permanent markers and alcohol - go get it! Magic with Markers for paper, Fabric, Wood, Metal, Plastic and Clay.

I didn't even notice how tired I was until we got into the car to go home... My feet... Oh... My... Feet!

Other News

I am moving! Yes I am leaving the beautiful people, (all 50 gazillion billion of them) leaving the beach and fog and high prices and well... Sniffle, I am leaving the beautiful weather and all of my wonderful friends for a new adventure in Ohio! My parents are needing alittle assistance and I am going to do my best to help out and lend alittle levity to their days!

Are you an artist in Ohio? Shoot me some advice!

WOW! The Cosmic Queens Day was a great Success!

What a thrill to be involved in this amazing day! Here is everyone in the audience, look at all of those dollmakers! The room was very large and easily fit the 31 creativistas that filled it.


We were all about faces on Tuesday, tho doll bodies and well... EVERYTHING you can imagine about cloth dolls... flowed from these talented dollmakers.




Here is my "station" A little hint of Africa in Escondido! I talked about making the "bush babe" and we played with De-constructing the face - gesso, garage sale stickers and scraps of fabric were our tools of choice.




Lee Jebreil with Barbra Chapman in the background applying some heat to her crayon encrusted face - Everyone did such an amazing job!





This is Staci Dumoski, the new managing editor of Art Doll Quarterly showing off her wonderful long-nose doll face in the making!




And here is the blue group - everyone had a snazzy name tag and on the tag was a colored star, they gathered around people of the same star-color and migrated from station to station in their star-groups.


elinor peace bailey gave the participants wonderful insight into creating a doll that speaks (as well as leading the meeting with humor, grace and more than a couple laughs!)


Here is her station before everyone got there, just look at all of those smiling faces! Elinor's work is truly ground-breaking on a continuous basis and she one of the most authentic, talented and colorful people I have ever met! A Heroine of Mine! I traded her an Art Doll Adventures book for a block of wonderful ZaZu fabric which she is selling on her site - always finding the newest and best she is! Some day I will get an epb doll of my very own! Grin.

(someone sent me this pix after the day and I just dropped it into the file of faces. I recently found out that it was snapped by Lauren Chong Sng! Great Pix Lauren! You can see her cool stuff at: http://www.abc-rags.com/index.html

Here she is with Barbara Chapman smiling for the camera. Look at Barbara's beautiful sweater (Barbara teaches at the black sheep in Encinitas and I guarantee you will emerge from her classes with awe and wonder and a bucket full of new techniques to add to your creative arsenal)


We had show and tell right before lunch and elinor was the MC. She really nailed her calling, this lady is a performer extraordinaire! and she made everyone feel great about their creations, Bravo elinor! What a talented group we had! Quilters, dollmakers both cloth and porcelain and many other crafty personages showed up to delight and inspire us.

Unfortunately, I was so busy for most of the day, that picture taking was greatly curtailed so I don't have pictures of the other stations, but let me assure you, they were beautiful!

Patti Culea got everyone making beautiful faces with colored pencils to go with her great stump doll pin cushion and pattern AND masterminded the whole day! WOW! this woman rocks! She is my hero in the book world and you should stop reading here and go get all of her books! Such a prolific lady and funny and generous and... well I don't want to sound "over the edge" but suffice it to say, I am delighted to call her friend and mentor!

Betts gave up a load of dollmaking secrets as only she can and Barbara Willis and Sally Lampi held forth on the mysterious (to me!) techniques of using moulds to create and cast faces. Barbara and Sally are two sides of the same coin, Barbara's Beautiful and elegant dolls on one side and Sally's hilarious characters on the other!

Where did this happen? At Bits and Pieces in Escondido, great shop with machines and fabrics galore - you really should visit and here is the address!

Bits & Pieces, Inc.
426 B W. 2nd Ave.
Escondido, CA 92025 USA
(760) 745- 5878
bitsnpieces@pacbell.net

It was defiantly a day to remember for all of us! Thanks to all that came and special thanks to the special teachers!





Here are the early morning queens, chatting away in hostess-Patti's bright and welcoming kitchen. She makes some killer muffins! (Hum... yes, its slightly out of focus because the one behind the camera (me) had not had enough coffee yet... not a morning person... nope, not me)

Make Dolls! Play! Create! and Smile Everyday! Blessings in the extreme to all from Li

HOLY MOLEY!

Well I came home this afternoon from yoga around 1:30 and suddenly its almost 8pm! What have I been doing all of this time? Oh, Just messing around... OMG this machine is really something special folks and it practically guarantees I will get nothing else done for at least a coupla days!

I figured out the interface pretty easily even tho NOTHING is Mac-Friendly! Not the CD, not the program, Nothin! And you all know where my steadfast loyalties linger! But, I am resourceful and thanks to my cousin Amy, I have a nice little ole' Toshiba which worked quite nicely for viewing the directions. Thanks Amy!

The directions are delightfully concise and accurate little movies nestled in an easy-to-use master page. By spending the afternoon viewing these, I figured out how to use the embroidery module, change stitches, and use all of the feet! and of course, make a list of all of the NEW feet I WANT! Grin!

SO! I love Bernina! I am sure that I have only touched the surface, so, well, I have to go now, uh, he (Uh-Huh, yes, its a He) is waiting! His name is Wesley and the Embroidery attachment is Inigo as in "my name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die" A very persistent man who was deliciously facile with sharp tools.

Have a wonderful week! Make stuff and Play!

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Don't forget to visit: Art Doll Adventures.
and should you need graphic work, here is my website for that: LiHertzi Design

Come Play with the Cosmic Queens and me!

Come Join elinor peace bailey, Barbara Willis, Sally Lampi, Betts Vidal, Patti Culea and Li hertzi (me!) for a day of fun! Learn how each of these artists draw, sculpt, and color various faces. Each artist comes with her own unique way of doing faces. You will learn to make faces for dolls, wearables, quilts bookmarks, Atc's, fabric postcards or where ever you want to add personality!

Each person attending will receive a pattern from the artists showing her techniques for the faces she'll be demonstrating. After the morning lectures by the artists, and a light snack lunch, we'll spend the afternoon going from artist to artist watching demonstrations and experimenting with the supplies provided.

To register:
send checks to Patti Medaris Culea
9019 Stargaze Ave.
San Diego, CA 92129
patti@pmcdesigns.com

Bring:
Scissors, mechanical pencil, eraser, colored pencils, fine markers such as Zig Millenniums, Micron Pigma, etc. and something that you have made to share!

I look forward to meeting all of you wonderful, creative, San Diego people and playing dolls! Happy Christmas time!

ON ANOTHER NOTE

Well, I have been messing around with my sites due to the fact that several of my graphics clients were wondering what happened to my logos and what are all of these strange dolls. Grin!

So I have now created a site for art doll adventures here: Art Doll Adventures.

and should you need graphic work, here is my website for that: LiHertzi Design

Feel free to let me know what you think! Happy Day, LI