County Fair Dolls

Here is a doll I made from Patti Culea's book. I named her Naranji (orange-y). She is sitting on a chair in the county fair. She actually got the first place ribbon but the organizers interchanged the labels and the ribbons. Here is also a picture of Naranji with the original designer, Patti Culea and yours truly. I am so glad that I got to show Naranji to Patti at "A Full Day with Flat Women" in Castro Valley, CA in July.

Alice below is the very first doll I made in a class. The doll was designed by Bonnie Hoover. The class was a lot of fun. And I got a red ribbon (second place) for her at the county fair.

Ran Out of Batteries

That would be the title of my autobiography! Ran Out of Batteries.....

I put all the doll parts on the table and took out the camera only to find the batteries dead. Can you believe it? If you know me/us well, you will. So the moment is lost and I get no pictures. But that's ok. I know I will get some soon. In a day or two or three. I am an optimist. I always see light at the end of the tunnel. Oh, by the way, the flashlight is also out of batteries. I checked there first before I gave up.

Happy Rakhi Day

I have plenty of sweet childhood memories of Rakhi Day. My parents would take us to a local store to buy Rakhis a few days ahead of time. On Rakhi day, I would tie Rakhi on my Anna's (big brother's) arm and would get 25 paise (1/4 Rupee) as a gift from him. That was a big deal! One year I was lucky. I got 50 paise. (I remember I shared 25 paise with Anna and he bought a wooden top (toy) with the money.

Mom would make some yummy sweets at home so I could shared sweets with Anna, right after I tied the rakhi. Those were the days when Amma made sweets at home. Now she goes or rather sends Appa (Dad) to Bombay Halva Store or Pulla Reddy's (Sweet Stores). Gone are the days of experimentation! Mom would start making laddoos (round-sphere shaped sweets) and we would end up with lots of laddoo powder instead!! We loved them! Back then we were so happy Amma was making her famous powder!! For the record, my Amma is a great cook (right after my mother-in-law- who is just too good) - "cooker". And she still makes sweets at home- sometimes. She used to make good laddoos most of the time but we kids loved the powder more. It was more entertaining.

I am coming back to the topic now. Rakhi day is observed on a full moon day of Hindu month of Shravan (mostly comes in August). Sisters pray for the long life of their brothers and tie a "Rakhi" on their brothers' wrists. People have feasts, family gatherings and have lots of fun.

This year I could not send Rakhi to my brother who lives far from me. When I called him yesterday, he said that I could just send him a picture of it instead. So here it is. Anna, you pick the rakhi you want. And the other one is for my son. My daughter will tie Rakhi on her brother's wrist today. We have been celebrating Rakhi day for the past 3 years now. I did not make sweets! I am not sure my kids will appreciate "powder" sweets. I have some from the Indian grocery store... Maybe they like cookies better??

Busy Day at Curves

You know what happens when they fix every single machine in there? In Curves, I mean. You get a very tired and aching me! Had to rest this afternoon after a 36 minute (3 rounds) workout in Curves this morning.

Hope the machines will ease up a bit by Friday. I try and go to Curves every other day. (Try being the operative word). I also talk very passionately about going on a diet to jump start my weightloss. So far it is just a talk (about once in 2 or 3 weeks!!) . Some day I will get hit by a bolt of lightning from high above and then I might actually do something. Someone DO something... HELP!!

Doll Talk: I might get some time tonight to sew some limb parts of a doll (s) I have been working on. Will post pictures soon.

Semi- Finished Faces

Well, what do you think? I used some dye-na- flow dyes. I loved playing with them. I do like some of them and think they will make some beautiful pin dolls. They are not nearly done. Can't wait to play some more.

Wonder what will happen if I used acrylic paints on the next batch? Fun...fun.... Who cares if I will ever use them in my dolls? I might just make some and play.

Unfinished Faces

Unfinished Faces

Here are a few art doll faces/masks I made over the weekend. Last week I tried to make my own paper pulp using soaked paper napkins, white glue, salt, some glitter and of course a nice mold for the faces. The faces got stuck to the mold and when I tried to peel them off of the mold, I could not even tell that they are faces.

This is experiment #2. This time I got smart (:-)) and used some air dry clay. I love the results. And I like them white- so pure and so beautiful. But I know things are going to change very soon........oh...no!!

Pin Dolls

Here are a couple of pin dolls for my very first entry in my very first blog. I made the Raggedy Anne for a friend who collects them. The second one is a healing doll for a friend from my doll club. I love to make pin dolls. They are easy to make, faster, and best of all they want to go everywhere with you.