Flying Phoebe Cloth Doll Club: Some Said the April Meeting was the BEST EVER!!!!!

We were all surprised and over-joyed to find charter Phoebe member and designer of the original Phoebe logo, Elinor Peace Bailey, at the April meeting. She flew down from Vancouver to visit her Phoebe pals and brought with her some of her latest creations, as well as her ever-famous wit and humor, and her sage advice. She talked to us about the benefit of belonging to and learning from the activities and talents of our Phoebe family. We hope she can find a way to visit us more often. She is always an inspiration to us all!

And, what a fabulous hat she brought with her! It features a blue wool felted face.

The Phoebes' latest challenge and exchange has centered around the use of jigsaw puzzle pieces, and elinor showed us the book she has made in the shape of a puzzle piece, filled with her beautiful original drawings, paintings, proverbs and ideas.

Calendar Of Events

May 16 (Saturday), Northern California Doll and Teddy Bear Show, 9:30 A.M. to 3:30 P.M., Alameda County Fairgrounds, Pleasanton. Go to www.crossroadsshows.com.

May 16 and 17, Los Altos Rotary Fine Art in the Park, Lincoln Park, Los Altos. Anne Klocko will be in Booth 150. You won't want to miss her latest ceramic and polymer creations, especially her assembled figures that incorporate tins.

May 21, Phoebe Meeting, 6:30 P.M., Alameda County Office of Education, 313 W. Winton Ave, Hayward, CA. Bring your 5"x7" "Alice in Wonderland" card exchange from the last meeting, as well as the two 4"x6" postcards you've made to donate to Bonnie Hoover for the Sunshine Committee. Barbara Willis will be demonstrating how to embellish her flat doll die-cut dress form. Bring your tool kit... we will be making and taking... to be finished at home and brought to the next meeting.

May 24, (Sunday), Pleasanton Antique Faire, 8 A.M. to 4 P.M., Main Street, Pleasanton.

June 6/7 and 13/14, East Bay Open Studios, 11 A.M. to 6 P.M. Stop by Goose Cottage at 1610 Minturn Street in Alameda. Ten artists, including Phoebes Bonnie Hoover, Daisy Kiehn, Sharon Martin, Kelly Mead, Donna Perry, Stephanie Smith and Mary Porter Vaughan will be participating. Come and see their latest creations.

July 20 (Monday), Sally Lampi Workshop on "The Window," ( 9 A.M. at the Alameda Education Building. Contact Stephanie for more information or to sign up.

August, Phoebe "Frog Prince" Exhibit at the Book Shop, B Street, Hayward. Sharon will be in charge. Anyone who has made a Frog Prince using Betts Vidal's pattern is invited to participate. Frogs will be due at the June meeting.

September 17, Phoebe Meeting, 6:30 P.M., Alameda County Office of Education, 313 W. Winton Ave, Hayward, CA. The year-long Tilda doll challenge will be due at this meeting. You can make more than one if you wish. Contact Sharon Martin at loveparissm@yahoo.com

November 9 and 10, and November 12 and 13. Two Kate Church Workshops, 2-days each. Class space is limited to 8 people per class. The first class is full, but there are still openings in the second. Contact Daisy at daisybkdoll@comcast.net for information.

December, Phoebe Exhibit at the Book Shop, B Street, Hayward. Betts will be in charge. More information later.

January 2016, Phoebe Tilda Doll Exhibit at the Book Shop, B Street, Hayward. Sharon will be in charge.

Special Presentation

Donna Perry gave her talk on "All About Me" at the April meeting. She brought with her examples of dolls, paper art, and sterling silver jewelry she has crafted over the years.

She also brought examples of her published art, watercolor paintings, and clothing she has designed and embellished with fabric painting and beading.

Anne Klocko April Workshop

Anne Klocko's polymer class last month was large and the participants oh, so enthusiastic! The fantastic polymer figures shown below are testimony to Anne's gift in sharing her knowledge and teaching it to others. And, there are even more results we are eagerly waiting to see once they are completed!

Barbara Willis "Make It and Take It" Tutorial

For those who wish to participate, Barbara Willis will be demonstrating how to embellish her die-cut dress forms at the May meeting. Below are Barbara's examples of embellishment possibilities. Bring your tool kits and join in!

Challenges

Last month Phoebes were given a puzzle piece and invited to make whatever they wished with it. Some were embellished and made into hanging items.

Rosie turned hers into a book with pages she cut to conform to the puzzle shape.

Donna incorporated hers into a collage that included an Altoid tin to add an additional dimension.

And she embellished the front of several composition books with puzzle pieces, turning them into journals, complete with attached pens.

Below is another hanging puzzle piece and also several cards Zanaib made with puzzle pieces covered with fabric and paper.

Below is Harlene's sculptural piece with features flowers and paper butterflies.

One of our newest members, Linda, amazed us all with her exquisite flat doll, using the puzzle piece as a base, and featuring a tiny puppet theater and miniature puppets.

Exchange

Phoebes were also given a smaller wooden puzzle piece for the April exchange. Rosie had brought examples of possibilities last month and here are some of the wonderful figures that we made and exchanged in April.

Show and Tell

The show and tell portion of each meeting in always an amazing display of many items in differs mediums. Here is a quilt Elinor is working on.

Below is a felted mushroom and purple egg, made by one of our new members, Linda.

Sally has been challenging all of us each month by bringing patterns for envelopes. These, made with the March pattern, are closed with colored paper circles and button embellishments.

Below is a felted wool doll made by Anne. Love the eyes!

Betts showed us the place where her newest flat dolls, "Three French Hens On a Shopping Spree," seen below, reside.

They are tres French, and we get a glimpse of the inside of their book/home, complete with a potted plant and cabinet.

Elizabeth is currently working on a paper clay ball-jointed rabbit, "Machi." Note that even the ears will be jointed!

Harlene's is our master at fabric fusing. She purchased this white vest and fused fabric flowers onto it. She also used these flowers on her challenge puzzle piece sculpture.

Stephanie is so prolific at turning out ever-more amazing polymer jewelry. Here is her latest! Some, like the one above, are made from cane ends, and the one below is made using leaf canes.