And, while I'd like to share some of the stuff I did at convention, which isn't quite "creative process" talk (or maybe it is), I did spent quite a bit of time on table favors for the events I attended, little pass-along gifts for special friends, and I did take some workshops to pass the time.
After writing the article on Ruby Ho for Spring Doll News, and creating and writing up instructions for Year of the Dog toys for Ten Ping dolls, I was still in felt mode and came up with the idea for Fripon hand puppets for the Bleuette collectors, whose table I sat at during the final banquet night. This was probably back in April, but I couldn't share these with you since these, and the other favors, had to be a surprise. I have no idea who reads my journal, but thank you all for sticking with me as I continue to toodle in my studio. 
I also wanted to introduce you to Belinda (see first photo), who was my play doll and mascot during convention. She was the 8" companion doll to the 12" souvenir doll we received the final night. I was tickled to pieces with Belinda, who has the Ten Ping body, but a little face of her own. Ruby Ho made extra "adventure" outfits for both dolls, which I purchased ahead of time, and Belinda wore her green shorts outfit most of the time due to the incredibly hot weather. Not having a lot of money to spend there, I collected little things just for her, to tuck into her travel case, and purchased one of Gail Wilson's LE 3" Hitty's at the luncheon she gave.
Moving along, I wasn't quite sure what to do for the Hitty luncheon Gail put on, as I don't really collect Hitty dolls and attended this for a friend. People who collect Hitty generally have everything a 6" Hitty doll could want, so I made little boxes with the Mountain Ash flower fairy on them to tuck treasures into. As the story goes, Hitty was carved of Mountain Ash, so it seemed fitting. My friend, Jean, provided me with the die cut boxes that folded up beautifully, are sturdy, and I cut and glued the fairy pictures on. Simple, yes, but pretty.
Since I was attending Rosemarie Ionker's (Boneka) luncheon, An Indonesian Fantasy, I had to come up with something unique for favors for our table. This was a toughie. I started doing research on Indonesia and what might be symbolic to the islands, and discovered that the Komodo Dragon was a national symbol. I went nuts! I watched Youtubes of Komodo Dragons on Komodo Island and fell in love with this tropical paradise. Ever typing away in Google searches, I found a paper Komodo Dragon, miniaturized it and made ten of them. I knew the ladies would probably pale at the sight of them - wonder if I'd lost my mind, so I tried to make the packaging as informative and cute as possible. I thought they were cute, and felt very clever coming up with this. Claudia, Rosemarie's daughter, loved them, so there you go. I pleased one person.
Being a big fan of Ten Ping, and since Ruby Red Galleria was the souvenir artist this year, I made a few China babies, or what I call "star" dolls, for friends who were as nuts about this line of dolls as myself. Ruby had made tiny dolls with heads like these for one of her Ten Pings, so I followed her design concept and just made the heads and queues a little bigger. The aprons are supposed to tie on, but I wanted to do something different, and decorated them with tiny buttons. 
Darlene Lane is one of the premiere doll artists of the UFDC, and always does fabulous reproduction mignonettes for her souvenir dolls. This year she was doing one for the region of Alsace-Lorraine. I attended this dinner for my friend as well. The event was outstanding. The best one of the week - and it wasn't just the exquisite meal we had, but the presentation, too, on the history of this region, and in particular, the illustrations of Hansi, of the children, villages, and war postcards. And, this is why I'll interrupt this dialog for just a moment to say, Yes!, going to a convention can be part of the "creative process", because now I want to make a doll in this costuming. 
Anyway, after a bit of research, and not a lot of luck, the only thing I could come up with was little baskets of cabbage for a regional dish. Basically, a kind of sauerkraut. I was panicking because the pieces were coming from China, and still hadn't shown up two weeks prior to my departure. So I asked Betsy, who I was attending the event for, if she had any ideas. This is when I learned that the town of Selestat is known for the first to cut and trim Christmas trees. They decorated them with red apples for the story of Adam and Eve, and unblessed hosts for their Catholic religion. Well, I just had to jump on that one! So I purchased 4" trees and miniature red apples and had a happy time with the glue gun.
What's nice is that the presenter at the event, who was sitting at my table, told me she was grateful that I'd done this, since she'd run out of time to talk about Selestat. By the way, the tradition of the Easter Bunny came from this region as well, dating back to the mid 17th c.
With a little time to kill before I left, I needle felted a little Becassine doll for a friend who was putting on the Bleuette Gathering. Heather is a lovely person, and I just wanted to give her a little gift in friendship. So I sat down and needle felted her a 4 1/2" Becassine doll for one of her Bleuette's to hold. I used an image off of one of the antique G-L books I have. Interesting that the illustrations of Hansi look quite similar to those in these books. Same time frame, too. Is a style of illustration indicative of a time and era? Food for thought. The Becassine does have red and white striped legs under that skirt. She's on wire armature, so she can be posed.
While at convention, I took a few workshops to keep the days flying by, although I did spend a lot of time reading. So much down time. I don't have a cell phone or Ipad for emails, so these trips are non-electronic. Normally I finish these workshop pieces at home, but I worked on them in my room when not reading, or pining for a hike outdoors. Or watching Seinfeld reruns.
The first full day I was there, I took a workshop for a doll on a swing, or Bebe Balancoire. I don't think anyone in that room expected 1/2 scale miniatures, but this is what we got. (If anyone has been with me since I first began this journal, you might recall the Bebe Balancoire I did in red and cream, after the antique one in Etrennes.) It takes skill at this scale. Normally I'd do this kind of work with tweezers and my mag lamp, but instead, it was arm's length eyeballing. Its a beautiful little thing. This photo was taken in my room at the desk I worked at. Catherine Mather, the Australian artist, indicated we would glue these pieces to the boards we covered, but I'll sew mine on as the originals were done. Tiny! Catherine's a very creative woman. I like her work. The doll is about 2 to 2 1/2" tall. 
Following that class, I took Playtime at Claudia's Bali Retreat, which was for a set of outfits in Batik by Boneka. We had to embroider the top, finish seams and hems, etc. Cute little pieces and so colorful. Quite a generous set, too. Rosemarie also had batik carry bags made for the clothing and we finished those as well.
The last workshop I took was for a French Fashion travel bag. Took me 15 minutes to put this together (for a 2 1/2 hour scheduled class), so I did the bag for the lady who sat next to me since she was exhausted and a bit flustered from the last event she'd just strolled in from. I chose the blue fabric. Hers was the gold. So yes, I got to create, do things creative while there. I would have gone nuts otherwise since I'm always working on something.
I had a great time at convention, and Belinda kept me company throughout the six days I was there. I may look for a few more things for her travel case, too (the green one sitting next to her in the top photo, that RRG made, not to be confused with the FF travel bag).
Below are a few more photos I took. I was in awe of this 19th c. German doll house at one of the antique doll dealers' booths. There is a photo of the Indonesian Fantasy souvenir doll we got (who can wear the Bali Retreat clothing), and a photo of the centerpiece doll that was dressed in dance costuming. I wish we'd gotten those! The seated Indonesian boy was the companion doll you could purchase. But, I did convince the luncheon folks to sell the orange netting and sequin umbrellas to those who wanted them - ME. I love orange. And, Claudia's husband made the aluminum baskets in miniature for us. These regional items typically store flowers and fruits in the households. Love it. And, Belinda receiving her Hitty doll, checking out a large saguaro cactus, and testing the air after a brief sprinkling of rain.
Now its time to put all my treasures away and get busy on something new. Alsace-Lorraine! We're in a heat wave of our own right now, so staying indoors doing doll things is the way to go. Any season!
Love,
Melissa
