A Mini Doll Exchange

These are the two I sent to the USA and the UK beside the two I received.
The theme I requested was "wild and crazy" woman!  

The group "Stargaze Tomers" on Yahoo is comprised of members all over the world.  I am lucky to be one. The leader of the group is Patti Culea.  I was lucky enough to take a class from her years ago and would do it again in a minute if given the chance.

The on-line group is a very creative bunch and every once in a while, a challenge or exchange is organized to get us active again.  This time it was a tiny doll to be included in one of the "tome pages" which are the patterns we all have and got us united to begin with.  The people who chose to take place were divided into groups of three.  I was lucky enough to be assigned to an exchange with Patti herself and with Sue Crook, whom I have done exchanges with in previous themes.

I received a beautiful doll with hand dyed silk from Sue Crook with wildly colored hair.  And her clothes are separate, not a part of the doll.  A work of tiny and very specific art.  The doll I received from Patti is made of painted silk and her clothes and hair are beaded.  They are both shown in the picture above.

Patti wanted hers to be a garden fairy.  Here is a picture of the back and front of the mini doll I sent to her.

She is about 5" tall, has jointed arms and legs is dressed in ribbons and lace and hand beaded. Her hair is mohair that has been dyed.  Some of the lace she is wearing is hand painted (not by me!).


















Sue wanted one that reflected the area I lived in.  Here are photos of what I received and what I sent away to her.  The area I live in has so many things to choose from to represent it.....skiing, fishing, boating, hiking, camping, cities, country.....snow, soil and surf all within minutes of each other.  So I decided to go back to the beginning and chose to do a doll that represented the Haida who were First Peoples on the west Coast.

She is wearing a traditional button blanket cape, a cedar (silk strips) woven hat, and carrying a basket of shells (teeny tiny ones I found on the beach where I walk my dog.) Oops....I see she doesn't have the basket in hand in this photo, but Sue tells me she arrived intact.  I spoke to a friend about the political correctness of making a Haida doll when I am not of that descent and was told that it was ok as long as it was done with respect.  It was and here she is.