Friday's Favorite... rachel whetzel

It's going to be a perfect autumn day, here in South Jersey...

boatloads of sunshine, a bit of a breeze, and we're approaching

peak color as the maples, ash, and sugar gum trees drop their leaves.

It's also a perfect day to stop by and visit rachel whetzel...

at her blog, website, and shop!

http://www.minetothine.com/ 

Her dolls have been published and featured in 
PRIMS, Art Doll Quarterly 
and other wonderful publications... 
rachel's blog: "Memories of Mine to Thine" 

is a good place to start... 

You'll love her steampunk doll found on the October 7th post!

Have fun and tell her that I said "Hi!"   Daryle

Perfection...

This past Friday morning the car was packed and we were ready to 
walk out the door...  leaving for a wedding in Olean, NY.  
It would be a seven hour trip from Woodstown.

The phone rang... it was 6:00 a.m.

 "Hi Dad!  The contractions are coming every five to eight minutes...

we're on our way to the hospital!"

And at 12:55 p.m.   our second grandson was born!

Jonathan... "a gift from the Lord"

We arrived in Olean, well before the wedding rehearsal on Friday.  
The ceremony on Saturday was a testimony  to the glory of God, 
and the reception that followed was a hoot!

Katie and I danced the night away... returned to the B & B in Allegany 
and enjoyed breakfast the next morning with the groom's family. 
We arrived in North Jersey by mid afternoon on Sunday... 
(more than ready to see that family of ours) and just in time to snap a pic 

of big brother Ryan holding little Jonathan for the very first time!

We think they're going to be best friends!

Life is good...   Daryle & Katie

Santos Cage... Body Beginnings!

Focus... "to concentrate attention or energy"

This Santos has helped me to once again "focus"

and move forward!

I have added a "finial" of sorts... 

to the inside of the cage for interest.  

Perhaps something will eventually dangle from it?

I added a halved styrofoam ball, to provide some shape

for the doll's hips... soon to be covered with a fabric armature.

I do so much better "visualizing" with a paper representation...

I like the proportions.  Her long waist will drop when I actually 

"tuck" the fabric and attach it to the wooden upper base.  

Santos Angel... Has a Cage!

"floundering"...  a verb: to struggle, to make mistakes.

Goodness, that says it all!  I feel as though I've been

floundering in the aftermath, the past few weeks.

Perhaps "wallowing" would be an even better word choice!

Having "wallowed" long enough... I started working on the cage

for a new Santos Angel!

 I used some poplar furring strips, over-laying them with 

decorative pine moulding that I attached to a basswood base. 

Her tiny 4-3/4" waist base is pine. Some drywall screws and good 

ol' Elmer's wood glue seems to be holding it all together! This Santos 

will be quite large; the cage is 19 inches high. I'm thinking that will 

make the doll close to 36 inches tall.  Happy Trails!  Daryle

A New Doll... in the Works!

My excuse?  Well, our downstairs is still waiting for new flooring,

following the carpet soaking waters of Irene!

Two weeks ago we finally pulled the last of the old, original tile flooring up...

(the carpet went four weeks ago)

The new flooring will be delivered tomorrow, acclimate and be installed on Tuesday.

My workshop is a disaster: furniture piled, stacked, jammed and junked all over the place.  Being a bit "over the top tidy"... (Yup! basically O.C.D.)

I struggle to work in a "less than well organized" environment.

This evening I decided to venture into that very same space and at least attempt

to "work on" the base for a new Santos!  I am defining "work on" as taking a photo of potential materials to be used in the base of the new cage doll.  Sad, huh?

And so it goes...  Happy Sunday evening!  Daryle  

Friday's Favorite: Abi Monroe's Dolls!

If you have never stopped by to visit Abi at her blog or Etsy Shop...

please do!

Very simply put: Abi is designing some of the most incredible dolls 

that are out there.

You can find her at:  http://abimonroe.blogspot.com/

Stop by and tell her "Daryle sent you!"

Our Finds: Four at Four

We found our newest favorite stop for special "finds": 

The Annex Marketplace in Wilmington, Delaware!

http://www.annexmarketplaceonline.com/

And what was the "fourth" find?

A beautiful "flag throw" (blanket) from the Museum of Fine Art, Boston

depicting fifteen historical American flags.  It came in the original zippered bag

with tags and the museum card.  Yup!  It too was: $4.00

Happy hunting... Daryle & Katie