Blueprints September 2010

Blueprints

Imitation of Life Construction Company

September, 2010

Next Meetings, Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Sew Pro, 4951-b Clairemont Dr, San Diego Ca 92117

6:30 – 9:00pm.


Doll Camp:  There is still room for more students.  This will be held at Angel’s Landing in Julian on Nov. 12th-14th.   Patti Culea and Rosemary Hernandez will be teaching.  The cost is $250 for the weekend, which includes the classes on Friday evening, all day Saturday and Sunday morning,  room accommodations for Friday and Saturday night (shared rooms, single room $60 extra),  3 meals on Saturday plus Sunday breakfast, apple pie and ice cream Friday evening.  Fun is free.  Since Patti has left for several weeks teaching in Europe, contact Lois ( lois@aardvarktozebra.com ), 760-438-3431, for registration forms, and payments.  Those already registered who have made a down payment; your remaining payment is now due.  Patti has given me the itinerary, supply lists, pre-sew instructions, etc. to distribute to those fully paid.  Patti is holding a pre-camp workshop in her home on Saturday for those who want help in the pre-sewing:   Patti writes: 

Some of the people interested in Doll Camp are relatively new. I told them I would be doing a pre-camp workshop on Saturday, Nov. 6 from 9:30am to 3:30pm at my house.  If you could let anyone know who might be interested
that would be great. I will need to know how many to expect. They will need to bring their own lunch. I will provide beverages.


What we will be doing is sewing the body part in preparation for camp. I'll have 5 machines they can use if they don't want to bring their own. What they will need is:

Fat quarter flesh-colored 100% cotton
Fat quarters 4 print fabrics for body parts
Stuffing (I prefer Fairfield and will have some available for their use)
Stuffing tools
Threads to match their fabrics
Sewing machine with a 1/4-inch open toed foot, or appliqué foot
Basic sewing kit - scissors, straight pins, extra bobbins, threads, seam ripper, ruler, etc.

This workshop will be for doll camp full-paid participants only. I will announce it later this weekend in my newsletter. Maybe that will entice more people to sign up.
         Patti  

Programs:  

• Sept. 28th:   Rosemary Hernandez continues with our learning lessons, with using a sewing machine and tools.  We also will begin a challenge, with grab bags of fabrics, trims, and a pattern.

• Oct.26th:  Sheila Godfrey will lead a hands-on program, making felt holiday ornaments with cookie cutters patterns which can also be made into pin dolls, using face stamps from Barb and Doug Keeling.

“Dimensions in Dollmaking”:  Patti Culea had a booth of her dolls, patterns and books at the San Diego Quilt Show, which went very well for her.  Patti has talked with Kim Graf, who says we can go back to the quilt show next year for our 20th DID, if we meet their conditions.  This needs to be discussed at this meeting, as we need to reserve space at the Comic-Con now if we choose to repeat our show there instead of being at the quilt show.   This decision will be up to the members by vote.

Workshops:

• Oct. 17th:  Barb Keeling with her needle-punch dolls   

PUNCH EMBROIDERY for your dolls and other creative projects.

Learn the joyful process of Punch Embroidery.  Using an easy to do hand punch, learn the fun and frolic of doing punch embroidery.

This is a great process of embellishment that can add to the texture of your doll creations.  The doll head here is done completely with the Hand Punch tool, using a thread, more or less the weight of buttonhole twist.  You will learn the basic fill in stitch and the random free form stitching, multi-thread use and using metallic and rayon threads together. This is very cool for embellishments as shown on the doll body. 

There will be the patterns for the head and body.  Come play in the thread with me on Oct. 17th. 

One day class is $45. plus the cost of the needle and punch.

 

 

• Feb. 13th:   Susan Berkowitz:  1 day workshop with found objects , Details to follow

• July or August:  Gloria “Mimi” Winer -- weekend workshop.  There are several classes to choose from, so I will bring photos and information to the meetings.

• Movie nights or weekends:   Lois has a new video of Gloria “Mimi” Winer’s “Needle Model a Pretty Face”, It’s 2 discs, 5 hours of detailed instruction, a fantastic series of lessons.  She also has 3 videos of Jane Darin’s, in addition to all the discs and tapes listed in last month’s Blueprints.  There are a whole, whole lot of doll-making instructions in this library.  Can we organize a series of meetings to begin showing these, in addition to our regular Tues. evening meeting?  Maybe in member’s homes, just an informal get-together, with a video and a cup of tea.  

Business News:
Arline Lowenthal has volunteered to review the By-Laws at the meeting. 

Membership News:
Membership dues are due at this meeting.  It’s still just $25 a year.  We have an exciting year planned, so please come and rejoin.

Carol’s Column

Dear Ladies of Blueprints,


 I am one of the newer members of the club having introduced myself about a year ago. I added "doll making" to my daily life just a little more than 18 months ago without a background of design, or in fact any kind of craft, ever, especially sewing. At that time I described my intention to put up a booth just outside the Farmers Market among the "precious" boutiques along La Mesa Boulevard. About 75 dolls later, I have given away many, many as gifts and sold a few to neighbors, however, still procrastinating the  day I offer up my dolls for sale and find out if my new endeavor (passion) will bring financial success  As a retiree, I was hoping for an extra $ 200 -$300 bump in my monthly income. My plan was to be able to sell many dolls in the $35- $45 range.  


I use Bendi-dolls and glue on polymer faces. The costumes are made mostly by hand and this is because I am not skilled with my machine. A very talented club member named Robin assures me this if fine as she also sews by hand. Perhaps you have noticed she brings her hand-sewing to meetings. My closest friend in the club is Sharon Cariola, who fits into the artist rather than crafter category and she has encouraged me to sculpt the faces rather than using molds. I moved to this kicking and screaming but loving my original little faces.  

Lois asked me to contribute to the newsletter.  I thought if I used my column like a journal, giving my fellow members an accounting of my progress toward the goal of actually selling my dolls, perhaps procrastination may be limited and I will finally face the "big day" when I market my work product.  

As an aside, I keep birds and publish a twenty page newsletter for the Finch Society. Our upcoming meeting is to celebrate the bird club's 37th anniversary. Pictures of Barbara Chapman's Christmas house were published in a home and garden type magazine last year and I had a copy. My cover of the September Finch Society issue was a picture of one of Barbara's creations which appeared in the magazine, a happy clown standing on one hand. It made a beautiful cover and I received much praise. 

Carol Whelan

Note from Kelly:
I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you to all of you for your continued support and prayers for my family.  It's been a rough road and we're not through it yet, however, things are starting to settle down (knock on wood) and resemble some sort of normalcy around here.  I especially want to say thank you to Barb Keeling for posting the Dimensions In Dollmaking information on the blog in my absence. Great job, girlie!  I am planning on being at the meeting on Tuesday, and can't wait to see everyone. - Kelly

Dimensions 2010

I have posted the pictures of the fab dolls that were in the IOLCC Dimensions 2010 Doll show held in San Diego, CA at Comic Con. 

I am not the "nomal" expert who takes care of this Blog. I am a "pinch hitter" as our gal has some serious illness issues in her life at this time.  So in the mean while I am doing the best I can to help out.

I have put the doll photos up as a slide show:


I'm not so sure I've done this just right, but with luck you can at least see the photo slide show of these outstanding dolls.
 
Pinch-hitter  barbkeeling

Blueprints May 2010

Blueprints
Imitation of Life Construction Company
May, 2010
Next Meetings, Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Sew Pro, 4951-b Clairemont Dr, San Diego Ca 92117
6:30 – 9:00pm.
The purpose of the IOLCC is to share the joy of doll making and collecting and to bring this enjoyment to the community through exhibits, workshops & programs.
Rummage Sale:
We had a successful rummage sale at Patti Culea’s on May 15th. Thank you, Patti, for hosting it and thanks to those who came on Friday to sort, price, and set up, and to those who came on Saturday to sell, and pack up afterwards: Kelly Riley-Duckworth, Susan Berkowitz, Joann Dossett, Carol Whelan, Rosemary Hernandez and Carrie Nisil.
Since we didn’t sell it all, there is another rummage sale this weekend, May 22nd, at Sheila Godfrey’s house, 908 Morse St. Oceanside. (760-757-4122 webehome@hotmail.com) from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. We have two members volunteer to help Sheila and Lois with this sale, but would welcome more. (Lois -760-438-3431, lois@aardvarktozebra.com )

May Meeting:
At the May meeting we will be doing the following:

• vote on how to spend the Rummage Sale money.
• work on party favors for Tea Party - if you can, bring cutting boards and rotary cutters!
• do Show & Tell - anyone been working on something fabulous they want to share?
• Talk about the next chapter in Anatomy of  A Doll by Susan Oroyan if we have time.

Doll Camp Update:Doll Camp is on! We have enough down payments to reserve Angel’s Landing in Julian for November 12th-14th. Patti Culea will teach. See the Doll Camp Registration form for all the details. There is room for more students, so join in the fun.

Dimensions in Dollmaking 2010 Update:
“Dimensions in Dollmaking” also still has room for more entries. This will be at the Comic-Con convention in San Diego, on July 21st-25th. It’s an exciting new venue for us and will be fantastic exposure for our dolls. We need your promise form  by May 30th and the dolls by July 10th.

Tea Party Update:
IOLCC’s 20th anniversary party is Sunday, July 11th. Sandy Feingold and Joann Dossett are organizing this. They will be discussing details and leading us in making party favors at the May meeting. The theme ties in with the 20th anniversary, which is china.

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To keep up with events in the cloth doll world, don't forget to keep checking with www.clothdollconnection.com

Huge Rummage Sale at Sheila's House Saturday May 22nd

This Saturday from 8 am - 3:30 pm will be our second Rummage Sale. Come on out and support the IOLCC - still lots of goodies to be had!
Click on the 'Google Calendar' button below to get more info and a map to Sheila's

Huge Rummage Sale This Weekend!

HUGE RUMMAGE SALE ! May 15, 8-3pm at Patti Culea's house, 9019 Stargaze Ave. San Diego, CA 92129
Many past members have donated their amazing stashes to our doll club. We will have a rummage sale at Patti's house on Saturday, May 15th. We'll have patterns, books, fabrics, yarns, threads, sewing machines, dolls, quilts, trims, and many other sewing and craft items. Everything will be at hugely reduced prices. And, none of it is junk. Even those who don't make dolls will find something they'll need.Let's come out and support this. 
If you can help either Friday to sort, price, etc. or Saturday to set up, sell and clean up afterwards, from 9 a.m to 3:30 p.m, either day, please call Lois, at 760-438-3431. Patti and I could use some help.

Link to Facebook Event for Rummage Sale Info
Link to Yelp! Event for more info on Rummage Sale
DATES TO SAVE:
July 11th - Our 20th anniversary party.
July 22nd-25th - Dimensions in Dollmaking-2010
November 12-14th - Doll Camp in Julian, with Patti Culea

Everyone needs a stuffed animal to hug.Lois Boncer
lois@aardvarktozebra.com
http://www.aardvarktozebra.com/
The zebra says, "Don't vark too aard"

Dimensions 2010 Promise Forms & Doll Camp 2010 with Patti Culea

Here are the three forms you will need in order to sign up for the Imitiation of Life Construction Company Dimensions In Dollmaking Show 2010 held at the San Diego Comic Con Art Show :

Dimensions Cover Letter

DID 2010 Promise Form

Exhibit Form 2010 DID

Next is the form you will need to sign up for Doll Camp with Patti Culea!  She will be the teacher for this year's Doll Camp being held in November 2010 - limited space - sign up quick with your deposit to ensure your spot! Here's the Form:
Doll Camp 2010 Registration Form

If any of these links don't work, please shoot me an email at iolccsandiego@gmail.com and I'll fix it.....

Kelly

Blueprints

Imitation of Life Construction Company

April, 2010 - Part 2

Next Meetings, Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Sew Pro, 4951-b Clairemont Dr, San Diego Ca 92117
6:30 – 9:00pm.

The purpose of the IOLCC is to share the joy of doll making and collecting and to bring this enjoyment to the community through exhibits, workshops & programs.

Program for April: how to joint a doll. There are many, many ways. Susana Oroyan's book

"Anatomy of a Doll" has a section of these techniques. Bring any jointed dolls you have for Show and Tell and to join in the program. Let's have a good display.

Here's some examples of different types of jointed dolls:

*for artist copyright ownership - right click on each picture to see source!

In addition, I found a great blog entry by Mimi Kirchner talking about jointed dolls and how to do them!  Visit Mimi Kirchner's Blog

We had good attendance at the March meeting, with Patti Culea bringing former member Althea Church, whose Friendship Pin Doll is in Susana Oroyan's book "Anatomy of a Doll", and two of her friends. Althea shared an adorable hat she had made - very springlike and whimsical - I wished we'd have taken a picture!  After discussing "Dimensions" and other business, Patti proposed Doll Camp at Angel's Landing in November. Patti will teach. See the attached registration form. We need at least 13 people to deposit $100 toward the weekend, to put the down payment on the resort. This will be great fun. All of us together making dolls the whole weekend. As written in the last Blueprints: Patti Culea has offered to organize and teach at Doll Camp this year. It’s been several years since our club has had Doll Camp. Patti has contacted Angel’s Landing in Julian. She’s taught there before and endorses them. They have one weekend still open this year, November 12th-14th. But we need to put our deposit down now. Patti estimates the weekend to cost about $250, each, all inclusive, if we have 16 students. (Patti’s workshops are usually much more expensive). Before this last weekend is gone to someone else, we need all of you who’d join us to sign up now, with $100 deposit. We’ll not cash your checks unless we get enough students to pay the deposit. Doll Camp is always so much fun; we’ve really missed having it. Please contact Lois 760-438-3431, lois@aardvarktozebra.com or Patti 858-484-5118, jculea@san.rr.com .

"Dimensions" is definitely on at the Comic Convention in July. See the attached cover letter, promise form and exhibit form for all the details (these are attached only to the emailed version of this Newsletter). This is a fabulous new venue for our cloth doll exhibit, so don't miss out. It's a bit more expensive, but you have the opportunity to have your doll seen by over 100,000 people and to sell it if you wish.

As sent by the last Blueprints: We have been accepted at the Comic-Con International Convention’s Art Show, as our venue for “Dimensions in Dollmaking-2010”, July 21st -25th. This is a huge venue, with 126,000 attendees last year. And the dolls can be for sale. However, we have been allowed only 3 tables, so there is less space than in previous years. Therefore, it’s first come-first served on entries this year. Our committee has decided to send the forms first to IOLCC members, local dollmakers and to those artists who have been sending to DID in recent years. If the spaces are not filled we will then issue invitations to other dollmakers over the Internet. The promise form deadline says May 20th, but we’re asking that our first groups respond by April 27th. So download the attached forms (cover letter, explaining the new venue and procedures), the promise form and the exhibit form. Or, you can pick some up at our next meeting on April 27th. Read these and if you want to be in DID this year, send your promise form and check in right away. On April 27th, we’ll go out to other prospects. The entry forms are attached to the emailed version of this Newsletter.

This is IOLCC's 20th anniversary. Joann Dossett and Sandy Feingold are chairing an anniversary Tea Party to celebrate. They will have details at the meeting.

Rosemary Hernandez and Sheila Godfrey have both volunteered to host Yard Sales of all our donated goods. These will be fund raisers for the club, to boost the scholarship fund to help pay for workshops, and doll camp. We have a lot of fabrics, trims, patterns, books, tools, fibers, beads, buttons, and craft supplies to sell. Help wanted. Rosemary and Sheila will have dates set, and sign-up sheets at the meeting

Hope to see you all there on April 27th. Lois"

P.S. It was decided to continue to send the Blueprints to past members who have not paid dues, in the hopes some of you would come sometimes. If you are no longer interested in cloth dolls or the club, contact Babs (bbehling@san.rr.com) to ask to be removed from the list.

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To keep up with events in the cloth doll world, don't forget to keep checking with http://www.clothdollconnection.com/

SPECIAL EDITION BLUEPRINTS APRIL 2010

BlueprintsImitation of Life Construction Company
April, 2010
Next Meetings, Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Sew Pro, 4951-b Clairemont Dr.
San Diego Ca 92117
6:30 – 9:00pm.
The purpose of the IOLCC is to share the joy of doll making and collecting and to bring this enjoyment to the community through exhibits, workshops & programs.
 
I am sending out this extra Blueprints early, as there are some matters you need to act on promptly. In particular, “Dimensions in Dollmaking-2010” and Doll Camp.
DIMENSIONS IN DOLLMAKING 2010
We have been accepted at the Comic-Con International Convention’s Art Show, as our venue for “Dimensions in Dollmaking-2010”, July 21st -25th. This is a huge venue, with 126,000 attendees last year. And the dolls can be for sale. However, we have been allowed only 3 tables, so there is less space than in previous years. Therefore, it’s first come-first served on entries this year. Our committee has decided to send the forms first to IOLCC members, local dollmakers and to those artists who have been sending to DID in recent years. If the spaces are not filled we will then issue invitations to other dollmakers over the Internet. The promise form deadline says May 20th, but we’re asking that our first groups respond by April 27th. If you are interested, please email us at iolccsandiego@gmail.com and we will forward the forms to you via email or snail mail.  On April 27th, we’ll go out to other prospects. 
DOLL CAMP 2010

Patti Culea has offered to organize and teach at Doll Camp this year. It’s been several years since our club has had Doll Camp. Patti has contacted Angel’s Landing in Julian. She’s taught there before and endorses them. They have one weekend still open this year, November 12th-14th. But we need to put our deposit down now. Patti estimates the weekend to cost about $250, each, all inclusive, if we have 16 students. (Patti’s workshops are usually much more). Before this last weekend is gone to someone else, we need all of you who’d join us to sign up now, with $100 deposit. We’ll not cash your checks unless we get enough students to pay the deposit. Doll Camp is always so much fun; we’ve really missed having it. Please contact Lois 760-438-3431, lois@aardvarktozebra.com or Patti 858-484-5118, jculea@san.rr.com . (Patti’s proposed doll photo)

Checks for both the DID promise forms and the deposit on Doll Camp may be mailed to me at:

Lois Boncer

5219 El Arbol Dr.

Carlsbad, CA 92008

Checks should be made out to IOLCC. Doll camp checks won't be cashed unless we have enough to cover the down payment to reserve the rooms. I have a list of 7 so far; need another 6. Patti is back East, teaching at "Magic, Mischief and Mayhem" right now. That's Annie Hesse's fabulous doll conference. Patti is very much in demand as a teacher -- at conferences and workshops all over the world, as well as cruises, TV appearances, etc. And you know she's authored a series of best-selling books on doll-making. We are so very lucky she has agreed to teach us here. And, of course, we all need to run away from home once in awhile, and spend a weekend making dolls, eating and having a ball.

RUMMAGE SALE!!!
If we can get our rummage sales organized, money made can be used to offset some of the cost of Doll Camp for those going. Rosemary Hernandez and Sheila Godfrey have offered their yards. If we organize well at the first one and pack the boxes well, we can just transport to the next one. Anyone else want to host a rummage sale in some other part of the county? We have a lot of donated items which would be better turned into cash. Volunteers to work the sales are needed.
TEA PARTY?
Joann Dossett and Sandy Feingold have volunteered to organize a tea party in June ----our 20th anniversary as IOLCC. They will have details at the next meeting on April 27th. Thanks for your attention. We're on the move again! Lois

It was decided to continue to send the Blueprints to past members who have not paid dues, in the hopes some of you would come sometimes. If you are no longer interested in cloth dolls or the club, contact Babs (bbehling@san.rr.com) to ask to be removed from the list. ***************************************************************************************To Keep up with events in the cloth doll world, don't forget to keep checking with www.clothdollconnection.com

Dimensions 2010 - Can You Believe It?

Here's the latest on our 2010 Dimensions in Dollmaking Show - we will definitely be at a new venue this year, and we are so happy and excited to have been accepted at the Comic Con 2010 Art Show here in San Diego at the Convention Center. 
For those of you who aren't familiar with ComicCon - It is a HUGE convention of comic book collectors, animation enthusiasts, sci-fi (think Trekkies) junkies, Anime, Fandom, SuperHero wannabe's,  Steampunk punkers, Fantasy frolickers and well, just more than you can ever imagine in visal arts.  Last year I  believe there were approximately 126,000 attendees - so for us to be able to show our work in such a venue, is reaching a much larger and broader audience than ever before in the history of Dimensions.
We are working on getting the enrollment forms ready for distribution to enter the show and will post all the information here as it trickles in.  The show is in late July so get started on those dolls now.  We are limited in space, so we are opening it up to our current members of IOLCC first. However, we have kicked around some ideas on how we can maximize the space we've been given - so think 'hanging dolls' !!!  The theme is any of the above categories I mentioned which really gives us a broad spectrum of ideas. 
Keep checking back often on the blog as we will continue to post updated information in regards to Dimensions.

New Google Group Discussions Forum

I just created a new Google Group for us - it's got several topics to browse or post your comments to. See the advertisement up above where you can join - just click on it and it will take you directly there. I've started several pages to get us started! Anyone can become a member and when you do you have the ability to post pictures and pages. Share pictures of you current work, ask questions, give suggestions. 
Visit often and see what's new - tell your friends about it and everyone is welcome to post a comment or a question, however, only members comments will post automatically - I have reserved the right to moderate from non-members.

BY THE WAY:  You can now post comments on our blogsite, so it's more interactive.  Robin & I were talking at the last meeting and she mentioned she was going to leave a comment, but couldn't.  I decided to turn on the 'comment' ability just to see how it goes.  I do think it might just get more of you involved with posting to the blogsite!
-Kelly

Blueprints March 2010

Blueprints
Imitation of Life Construction Company

March, 2010

Next Meetings, Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Sew Pro, 4951-b Clairemont Dr, San Diego Ca 92117
6:30 – 9:00pm.

The purpose of the IOLCC is to share the joy of doll making and collecting and to bring this enjoyment to the community through exhibits, workshops & programs.
FEBRUARY MEETING: FLAT PANCAKE DOLLS!
At the last meeting, we decided to continue with the doll-making lessons, with hands-on work time. Rosemary made several flat pancake dolls and shared them – thank you Rosemary! We discussed fabrics, stretch vs. stable, woven vs. knits, stitching and cutting techniques, tools , etc. Some of us also worked on our flat pancake dolls and Sandy Feingold was there with her dolls sharing them with us. Thank you Sandy for attending and sharing your expertise. Carol also brought a bin full of fabric from the storage that she had gone through, and we were able to sell some of the better ones. Thanks, Carol for volunteering to help out – it really takes all of us doing our bit to make this a successful club.
As you can see, flat dolls can be as elaborate or as simple as you like:

Figure 1 Barbara Willis Designs

Figure 2 Pic from http://www.aboutdoll.blogspot.com/

Figure 3 Heather Bailey

Also, for a really great You Tube Video featuring our own Patti Culea, you can or click on this link or cut and paste this link into your browser to visit Colleen Babcock’s blogsite called ‘The Magic Bean’ :
http://themagicbean.typepad.com/the_magic_bean/2009/08/freebie-friday-flat-and-fun.html

MARCH MEETING: STUFFING YOUR DOLL!
The meeting next week on Tuesday night we will concentrate on stuffing techniques and tools. Bring a sewn doll, or shape, to stuff, your favorite stuffing tools, and some stuffing. There are tricks to getting a smooth stuffing, but it also takes practice. Come and learn all about it!
Figure 1 www.make-baby-stuff.com/free-doll-pattern.html

Patti Culea is back from Europe and will be attending the meeting. She is bringing Althea Church as guest. It will be a fun visit.
Be sure to bring any dolls you’ve been working on for sharing during ‘Show & Tell’.

“Dimensions in Dollmaking”.
The membership at the last meeting and those responding by email or phone were enthusiastic about moving DID to Comic-Con. Kelly, Sheila and Lois met to discuss and plan. Lois sent in an application, paying for 2 tables (maximum 2 per artist), using photos of some of her fanciful pieces. She has not heard back yet that she is accepted. We also discussed some alternate venues. These will be presented at the meeting for discussion. Bring your suggestions, too.

In the meantime, until we have a commitment from Comic-Con, start working on your dolls anyway! The show will be upon us before you know it. As we said, the themes you must stick to for adhering to the Comic-Con Rules are: Animation, Comics, Science Fiction & Fantasy, or Fandom

Whether or not we get in to Comic-Con – we can still have our theme for this year follow along the same rules so as to be prepared!

From last month’s Blueprints, for those who missed it: After 18 years, we will not be showing at the San Diego Quilt Show this year. Kelly Riley-Duckworth has been investigating the ComicCon convention as a new venue for us. This is an international convention, to be held July 22nd-25th, in the San Diego Convention Center. Booths are very expensive and are sold out for the next 4 years, but they have an art show which we can enter as individuals.
This needs discussion by the membership. Kelly and I need to know how many of you think you’d participate, what you think of the money aspects, whether you are willing to help raise IOLCC’s share of the costs. Come to the meeting and give us your thoughts.
If you can’t come, ASAP email or call Lois or Kelly.
Lois: 760-438-3431, lois@aardvarktozebra.com
Kelly: 619-851-7466 kriley3652@hotmail.com or lunaetica@gmail.com
We would give first opportunity to our local dollmakers, and those who have been participating in DID in the past few years. Then we would go to the Internet doll groups for more if there is space. What do you think?

Here’s some thoughts on the Pro’s & Con’s of moving to Comic-Con:
Differences from the quilt show venue: Entry fee is $35 per artist, however you can send multiple pieces (IOLCC had charged $15 per doll, $25 for 2). The whole fee goes to the ComicCon. Entry forms must be sent to the ComicCon, but IOLCC would be listed as your agent. Attendance at the Comic Con was 126,000 last year, much higher than at the quilt show. You may sell your dolls at this art show. There is silent auction bid sheets next to each piece. You set your minimum price. If you get at least 10 bids, you have the choice of going to live auction. You may also list your doll as NFS (not for sale). ComicCon does not take any percentage of the sales. Works must be original with a theme of animation, comics, science fiction and fantasy or fandom. There are rules for copyright infringement for any non-original copies of another artists work and permission must be granted by the artist and credit given.
IOLCC will be allowed to set up our show together as a group. The dolls would be sent to us, we would be listed as the agent, and we can still photograph them all, write up a program and send all the entries to the doll and craft magazines afterwards. We can expand our publicity to comics, science fiction, fantasy magazines, too.
This would expose cloth and clay dollmaking to an enormous new audience and promote fabric sculpture as an art form. However, the show is two months earlier than we usually have. We may be limited for space, so we need to get our entries in early. All the entry fees go to the convention, and since this is more than double what we have charged in the past, I hesitate to charge IOLCC entry fees on top. Dollmakers will still be responsible for their shipping to and from, and insurance. We will need to have some fund-raisers to pay for IOLCC’s expenses of organizing this show (printing entry forms, mailings, photography, printing program, gasoline & parking, blog-site and/or web-site, publicity, etc.)

BLUEPRINTS:
It was decided to continue to send the Blueprints to past members who have not paid dues, in the hopes some of you would come sometimes. If you are no longer interested in cloth dolls or the club, contact Babs (bbehling@san.rr.com) to ask to be removed from the list.

Check out our blog. http://www.iolccsandiego.blogspot.com/ Kelly Riley is responsible for this. Good job, Kelly Anyone interested in having us link your website to our blog, please give me a call or shoot me an email. Also, for those of you that would like to have pictures of your art put on our blog – I’m always looking for ideas to keep the blog fresh and interesting….ideas for topics on the blog are welcome as well.
Email: iolccsandiego@gmail.com

***************************************************************************************To keep up with events in the cloth doll world, don't forget to keep checking with http://www.clothdollconnection.com/

Blueprints February 2010

BLUEPRINTS FEBRUARY 2010

Imitation of Life Construction Company

Next Meetings, Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Sew Pro, 4951-b Clairemont Dr, San Diego Ca 92117

6:30 – 9:00pm.



At the last meeting, we decided to continue with hands-on doll making, learning new techniques as we go. Since most of us present owned a copy of Susanna Oroyan’s “Anatomy of a Doll” we decided to use that as a textbook. It starts with the simplest dolls and progresses to ever more complicated techniques. So at the February meeting, we will make flat, 2-piece, “cookie cutter” dolls. Bring fabric, and thread and sewing tools, pattern if you have it. We can use the sewing machines on the floor of the SewPro store. We will also talk about choosing fabrics and what should be in a doll-maker’s toolkit.

Two IOLCC’ers have dolls on the cover of Oroyan’s “Anatomy of a Doll “book: Sandy Feingold and Jane Darin. Other dollmakers who are present or past IOLCC members with dolls in this book are Kareena Bouse, Barbara Chapman, Patti Culea, Maggie Mayer, Frances Petefish, Bonnie Stewart, and Karen Wooton. All these dollmakers were invited to make a doll for the White House Christmas tree one year.

Sandy Feingold, whose flat dolls I brought to the last meeting, will come to show how the choice of fabric really makes this kind of doll.


DIMENSIONS 2010
“Dimensions in Dollmaking”. After 18 years, we have been uninvited to show at the San Diego Quilt Show this year. Kelly Riley-Duckworth has been investigating the ComicCon convention as a new venue for us. This is an international convention, to be held July 22nd-25th, in the San Diego Convention Center. Booths are very expensive and are sold out for the next 4 years, but they have an art show which we can enter as individual.

Differences from the quilt show venue: Entry fee is $35 per artist, and you can send multiple pieces (IOLCC had charged $15 per doll, $25 for 2). The whole fee goes to the ComicCon. Entry forms must be sent to the ComicCon, but IOLCC can be listed as your agent. Attendance at the Comic Con was 126,000 last year, much higher than at the quilt show. You may sell your dolls at this art show. There is silent auction bid sheets next to each piece. You set your minimum price. If you get at least 10 bids, you have the choice of going to live auction. You may also list your doll as NFS (not for sale). ComicCon does not take any percentage of the sales. Works must be original with a theme of animation, comics, science fiction and fantasy or fandom.

IOLCC will be allowed to set up our show together as a group. If the dolls are sent to us, as the agent, we can still photograph them all, write up a program and send all the entries to the doll and craft magazines afterwards. We can expand our publicity to comics, science fiction, fantasy magazines, too.

This would expose cloth and clay dollmaking to an enormous new audience and promote fabric sculpture as an art form. However, the show is two months earlier than we usually have. We may be limited for space, so we need to get our entries in early. All the entry fees go to the convention, and since this is more than double what we have charged in the past, I hesitate to charge IOLCC entry fees on top. Dollmakers will still be responsible for their shipping to and from, and insurance. We will need to have some fund-raisers to pay for IOLCC’s expenses of organizing this show (printing entry forms, mailings, photography, printing program, gasoline & parking, blog-site and/or web-site, publicity, etc.)



This needs discussion by the membership. Kelly and I need to know how many of you think you’d participate, what you think of the money aspects, whether you are willing to help raise IOLCC’s share of the costs. Come to the meeting and give us your thoughts. If you can’t come, ASAP email or call Lois or Kelly.

Lois: 760-438-3431, lois@aardvarktozebra.com

Kelly: 619-851-7466, kriley3652@hotmail.com, or lunaetica@gmail.com

We would give first opportunity to our local dollmakers, and those who have been participating in DID in the past few years. Then we would go to the Internet doll groups for more if there is space. What do you think?


BLUEPRINTS NEWSLETTER
It was decided to continue to send the Blueprints to past members who have not paid dues, in the hopes some of you would come sometimes. If you are no longer interested in cloth dolls or the club, contact Babs (bbehling@san.rr.com) to ask to be removed from the list.

BLOG

Check out our blog:

http://www.iolccsandiego.blogspot.com

If you have anything you would like posted to the blog, please send an email to me at iolccsandiego@gmail.com

This includes photos of dolls you've made, articles you've read, tip and tricks you've learned, or if you want to create your own blog and have us link to it from ours we can do that too. Just let me know.

-Kelly


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To keep up with events in the cloth doll world, don't forget to keep checking with http://www.clothdollconnection.com

February 2010 Meeting

IOLCC Meeting:
Tuesday, February 23, 2010,
Sew Pro's Clairemont ,
4951-b Clairemont Dr.
San Diego Ca 92117
6:30 – 9:00pm.
We will be working on 'pancake dolls' or 'flat dolls' - the first in a series of 'hands-on' meetings that we will be having this year. We will also be talking about what should be in your doll making toolbox, as well as fabric choices for dolls. If you come, bring a flat doll pattern you would like to use, there will be some free patterns available; also bring your fabric and any flat dolls you've already made to share during 'show & tell'. Rosemary, from Sew-Pro's has informed us that we will be able to have use of the sewing machines (thank you Sew Pro's) but we MUST BRING OUR OWN THREAD!

Finally, if you are coming and you own a copy of 'Anatomy of a Doll' by Susanna Oroyan, bring it with you as we have decided to use it as a 'textbook' of sorts this year to explore the wide world of doll construction. If you don't own one, it's ok, many of us do and are willing to share during class.
See you there!

BLUEPRINTS JAN 2010

Blueprints
Imitation of Life Construction Company
 
January, 2010
 
Next Meetings, Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Sew Pro, 4951-b Clairemont Dr , San Diego Ca 92117
6:30 – 9:00pm.
 
The purpose of the IOLCC is to share the joy of doll making and collecting and to bring this enjoyment to the community through exhibits, workshops & programs.
 
We thank Barbara Chapman for hosting us in her lovely home for the annual Christmas Party.  A good time was had by all.  Lots of good talk, laughter and food. 
 
PROGRAM:  Our membership is at an all-time low.  Only 16 people have paid dues this year.  So we can’t afford to continue to pay speakers for every program.  I sincerely apologize for scheduling programs last year that interested so few people.
 In discussing at the Christmas party what those attending wanted for program and activities, several said they wanted more hands-on meetings to learn how to make dolls. I'm thinking now of having formal programs with paid speakers only 3 or 4 times this year, with the rest of the meetings as a 2-hour class in some technique. I'd like to kick the series off with a "What is a Doll?" theme for the January meeting.  Have everyone bring dolls and discuss body types, from simplest to very complex, with sources of patterns. I have several boxes from the materials donated for fund-raising that have doll patterns -- some new, some used.  These will be sold for 50 cents each.
Future meetings could be on fabrics, tools, cutting, sewing, stuffing, jointing, making armatures, mounting for display, faces, hair, clothing, accessories, assemblages, hands, feet, wings, animal/human combinations, etc. There are all kinds of possibilities. We had programs last year on needle-sculpted faces, carved wood faces, 2 on painted faces, dolls assembled from found objects, wrapped dolls, polymer dolls, costuming, and more. Neither the June potluck, the Halloween party, nor the Christmas party were well attended, so we could use some of those meetings for instruction, too. I'm thinking of a solid 2-hour class of instruction, with work time, so what about free to paid members, others pay $10/ class, money going into the club treasury? I can teach a lot of it, but would welcome anyone who wants to do any of it. So, bring lots of dolls, patterns, sources of doll patterns to the January meeting.  We will discuss what classes you want, what techniques you want, and what formal programs you want.  
 
It was decided at the last meeting to continue to send the Blueprints to past members who have not paid dues, in the hopes some of you would come sometimes.  If you are no longer interested in cloth dolls or the club, contact Babs (bbehling@san.rr.com) to ask to be removed from the list.
 
Dimensions in Dollmaking
We will be discussing the future of DID at the meeting on Tuesday.  We are having some problems with the quilt show board and need to decide if we want to try to continue there, find another space, or abandon the show.  Your input  would be welcomed.
 
Other possible activities are a pin doll exchange, either within our club, or with another club.
 
A field trip to the Susan Quinlan Doll and Teddy Bear Museum in Santa Barbara
 
A field trip to the fabric district in Los Angeles
 
Tea Party
 
Doll Camp
Challenge or two:  what theme would you suggest?
 
Fund-raiser rummage sale of donated doll and craft materials

Workshops:  Sharon Cariola will offer her polymer doll class again
and Susan Berkowitz on assembled dolls.

There will be sign-up sheets for each of these events.

Opportunity to display art:   The La Jolla Art Association is having an Art and Food Exhibit, open to all San Diego artists and chefs.  They are soliciting artwork featuring food.  Artwork is juried.  Deadline for entries is January 31st.  Exhibit is Feb 1st through Feb. 14th at the La Jolla Association Gallery, 8100 Paseo Del Ocaso, La Jolla, 92037.   Forms are on www.lajollaart.org,   $45 per entry for art, $15 or recipe, $50 for artwork and recipe.  There will be prizes.  Our dolls are artwork for sure.  Who has dolls featuring food? 
Check out our blog, too.   http://www.iolccsandiego.blogspot.com  Kelly Riley is responsible for this.  Good job, Kelly
 
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To keep up with events in the cloth doll world, don't forget to keep checking with  www.clothdollconnection.com