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Tuesday, March 30, 2010

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'sSteampunk 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.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

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

Friday, March 19, 2010

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 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

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