Doll Artist and Teacher: Preserving the art of making dolls and Artist Member of the Original Doll Artist Council of America (ODACA).
What Will the New Year Bring?
Hello Reader,
2023 has been a remarkably short and yet at the same time, LONG year. How can that be? A lot has happened - personally, nationally, and globally. Let's hope 2024 brings peace, health, stability and happiness to all.
My goals for 2024:
- Knuckle down and get an online course launched.
- Finish some projects (when is there NOT a project to be done?)
- Play more music at local venues, on a regular basis.
- Maybe travel a bit.
- Get in better shape!
I hinted at a project I was working in my last newsletter. Earlier this year my mom asked me to make 1950s dolls for two of her close high school friends.
Years ago (early in my doll "career") I made one for my mom - poodle skirt, sweater, dickie, saddle shoes, etc. You can see this doll in one of my first newsletters: https://blue-heron-dolls.ck.page/posts/in-the-beginning-we-were-all-beginners
And since that one was a simple OOAK doll (who knows where the pattern is!?) - I decided to use the pattern I designed for the class I taught in March and again earlier this month. I enlarged the pattern a little and added boobs. I'm happy to say both dolls were well-received.
The next UFDC Convention and ODACA Day will be held in July, in Kansas City, MO. This gives me many months to make more than the 10-12 dolls I usually produce for the ODACA sales room. I'd love to see some of you there! ODACA welcomes anyone interested in becoming an Artist member (which is a juried process) or Patron. Check out the button links below:
| UFDC Convention |
| ODACA Day |
Now I'm off to complete two three unfinished dolls!
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| ODACA |
Deanna Hogan
www.blueherondolls.com
deanna@blueherondolls.com
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Deanna Hogan, Blue Heron Dolls
Doll Artist and Teacher: Preserving the art of making dolls and Artist Member of the Original Doll Artist Council of America (ODACA).
Hello Reader, It's down to the wire now, as ODACA Day is fast approaching. I've selected the dolls traveling to Kansas City, and have begun tagging and carefully wrapping them in tissue paper and bubble wrap. I'm more fortunate than some of my fellow doll makers, as my dolls are primarily cloth. Those who make porcelains or sculpt in the polymer clays have a more precarious job of it. ODACA Day is under the umbrella of the annual UFDC Conference. ODACA's theme this year is "All That...
Hello Reader, I'm making slow but steady progress on my schoolgirl doll, and the end is almost in sight. I'd decided on dressing her in a school uniform, with a plaid pleated skirt. I don't have much experience making pleats, so as I worked out the process I decided to create another quick tutorial for you: Pleater Board Tutorial Maisie Now I'm nearly finished with her jacket. And honestly, those tiny lapels really threw me for a loop! I'm also hoping to include some some sort of school...
Hello Reader, As the weather improves, I've been spending more time outdoors - gardening, walking our dog, riding my new bicycle. But I've also been whittling away at a doll - you may have seen her not-yet-assembled body parts in my last newsletter. Once I added her hair, I envisioned her character: a schoolgirl in a uniform - button down oxford shirt, jacket, pleated skirt, etc. As I contemplated how to design her shirt, I thought it might be a good idea to take photos of my process and...