April Update

Suzanne's adorable doll she brought to the March meeting for show and tell.

Calendar of Events 2013

April 18, Phoebe Meeting, 6:30 P.M. at the Alameda County Education Building. The Exchange and Challenge theme for this month is "April Fools—surprise us!" Bring 5 buttons to exchange and something small using theme buttons to keep for yourself. Bring your tool kit for enrichment and remember to wear your nametag.

April 25-26, Deborah Pope Needle Felting Doll Workshop at the Boy Scout Building in San Leandro. Set up at 9 A.M. Contact Stephanie Smith at smitharts2002@yahoo.com. See Deborah Pope at www.deborahpope.typepad.com.

May 16, Phoebe Meeting, 6:30 P.M. at the Alameda County Education Building, Hayward. The Exchange and Challenge theme for the month is "Ladies, Fashions, Hats!" Bring 5 buttons to exchange and something small using theme buttons to keep for yourself. Bring your tool kit for enrichment and remember to wear your nametag. Also bring the beginnings of the doll you want to make for your 2013 project.

June 1-2, 8-9, Alameda Open Studios. Visit the studios of the many talented artists located in Alameda. Several Phoebes will be exhibiting at Goose Cottage on Minturn Street. Maps are available online or at the Frank Bette Gallery.

June 27-30, NIADA (National Institute of American Doll Artists) Convention to be held in the Bay Area. A doll-making school will be offered June 24-26. Check NIADA Web site for information.

June 29 (Saturday), Phoebe Alameda County Fair "Make It and Take It" Outreach Event, noon to 6 P.M. Contact Diane at cwlwld@pacbell.net to sign up for a shift. This is always a fun and personally rewarding experience for everyone who volunteers.

July 11 and 12, Leslie Molen "Ling Ling Doll Workshop." Contact Stephanie Smith at smitharts2002@yahoo.com for details.

August (TBD), Bonnie Hoover's Beginning Doll Workshop.

October 3, Christine Delgadillo Altered Book Workshop, 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. at the Alameda County Education Building. See Christine's work at http://classkitsbychristine.blogspot.com/ Contact Stephanie Smith at smitharts2002@yahoo.com.

March 1, 2014, Zanaib's Altered Book Window Display for The Book Shop in Hayward. Contact Zanaib for details and participation.

Here are some examples of the March meeting's Show and Tell.
 

Close up of Donna's new "Frida Kahlo."



Barbara's exquisite little lady.

Another of Barbara's beautiful lace adorned dolls.



Pame brought her traveling doll, who came with her very own suitcase!

Tani's gypsy was a delight!

Another example of Tani's wonderful doll making skills.

An adorable doll by Stephanie. Love the curls!

Diane Willis brought lovely necklaces she made using the embellished metal washers
we painted and ink colored during Zanaib's enrichment exercise.

Zanaib brought examples of her fabulous dolls she exhibited at her recent Book Shop
window display in Hayward and the Olive Hyde exhibit in Fremont. She also brought
some of her completed pinwheels from Sharon's March enrichment presentation.

Upcoming Events

The February meeting's "make it and take it" project was a paper pinwheel
ornament created under the direction of Sharon Martin. Everyone made a beautiful paper creation to take home. We loved it!

Calendar of Events 2013

March 21, Phoebe Meeting, 6:30 P.M. at the Alameda County Education Building. The Exchange and Challenge theme for this month is "Spring" (green, flowers). Bring 5 buttons for the exchange. The challenge is a small item for yourself using theme buttons. Bring your pattern for the 1-year doll project (or choose from ones available at the meeting). Tami will be leading a "make it and take it" session, so bring your tool kit.

April 25-26, Deborah Pope Needle Felting Doll Workshop at the Boy Scout Building in San Leandro. Set up at 9 A.M. Contact Stephanie Smith at smitharts2002@yahoo.com. See Deborah Pope at www.deborahpope.typepad.com.

June 27-30, NIADA (National Institute of American Doll Artists) Convention to be held in the Bay Area. A doll-making school will be offered June 24-26.

June 29, Saturday, Phoebe Outreach Make it and Take it Day at the Alameda County Fair.

July 11-12, Leslie Molen “Ling Ling” Doll Workshop. Contact Stephanie Smith at smitharts2002@yahoo.com. See Leslie Molen at www.fromthesehandsblog.blogspot.com. 

This is a photo of the book project for Christine Delgadillo's workshop. It includes tiny drawers made from matchboxes.

October 3, Christine Delgadillo Altered Book Workshop, 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. at the Alameda County Education Building. See Christine's work at http://classkitsbychristine.blogspot.com/   Contact Stephanie Smith at smitharts2002@yahoo.com.

Another sample of Christine Delgadillo's altered art—a desktop organizer
made with book pages.

One of Christine's altered books.

Beautiful beadwork brought by Ofelia Aguirre for "show and tell."

 

Anne Klocko brought her dresses made from various reused
metal objects.

 

Anne's dress made from a metal tin.

 

Two more fabulous examples of Anne's metal art.

Stephanie brought several sculptures in progress to show her use of
paper clay over cloth to build up facial features.

 

 

Rosie Dennis's completed doll from her
cyndi Mahlstadt class.

 

Stephanie Blythe Workshop Was Fabulous!

Zanaib's colors were so beautiful... she dipped and painted the dyes
on her silk and the result was yummy!

On January 10, fifteen Phoebes and friends gathered at the Alameda County Education Building for the Stephanie Blythe workshop. Stephanie, who lives in San Anselmo, has established a world-wide reputation as an outstanding porcelain doll artist and specializes in exquisite miniatures measuring from several inches to about eight inches tall. Her original concept of tea cup fairies brought her great recognition and commercial success, as have her figures inspired by “The Kiss.” Go to her Web site (www.stephanieblythe.com) to see these and other amazing dolls she has created.

The fine details she incorporates into her costuming are the result of decades of acquired techniques and skills, and she most generously shared many of them during the workshop. Her fabrics of choice are vintage, including fine silk velvet, and vintage trims, all of which she often custom dyes to match her color scheme of a piece. She brought several types of dyes to class and all had hours of fun experimenting with the many techniques of application she presented. The results were beautiful and it was truly an inspirational event. We couldn’t wait to go home and start dying all those white trims we have been hording in our stash. Thank you, Stephanie, for a delightful and memorable workshop!

Stephanie Blythe (right) was such a sweet and encouraging instructor.

  

Rosie is deep in concentration as she experiments with brush strokes.

 

Katie, Sharon, and Stephanie Smith show exactly how much fun we all had!

 

Laurie is shown dying some of the trims Stephanie most generously
supplied in her kit.

  

Here are two more photos of Zanaib's huge assortment
of fabrics and trims she dyed during the workshop.
She and Sharon were among the cleaver ones
who brought extra items from home to test the
dyes on. Beautiful!

 

 

The Phoebes window display at The Book Shop in Hayward was the most fabulous one yet!

Here are some photos from the December bookstore display:
Sharon, Stephanie and Kelly (the real Santa's helpers) were busy on Sunday, December 2, setting up the Phoebe window display at the bookstore on "B" Street in Hayward. They out-did themselves this year and the display is absolutely outstanding. As always, it is hard to take photos during the daylight hours, as there is so much reflection of buildings across the street on the window glass. However, these photos will give you some idea of just how adorable Santa's Workshop was this December.




Stephanie contributed her train set, which circled the Christmas tree. Her kitten doll and Zanaib's colorful lamb represented some of the toys in the workshop.

This elf worker (made by Jo) is taking a little much needed break from all the busy work that must be completed by Christmas Eve.



Another adorable elf is keeping busy making sure the toy makers have all the materials they need to finish the toys in time.

Santa is an equal opportunity employer, and you can be sure sure the female elves are a vintal part of the toy-making process! Mary did an outstanding job sculpting this one from clay.

Betts brought two of her toy inspectors to make sure all the toys are assembled correctly.

A quality control toy inspector carefully checks little lamb, and Donna's elf is double checking the list to make sure no child is overlooked.

Kelly's clay sculpted elf is sporting his new Christmas suspenders, while a toy inspector in his bunny slippers says the toy airplane is ready to be packed in the toy bag for Santa's sleigh.

Stephanie's sweet doll is going to make some little girl very happy this year. She is posing next to "The Night Before Christmas."

Phoebes Participate in the KPFA Crafts Fair 2012

A slightly different group of  Phoebes had a booth at the KPFA Crafts Fair at the Concourse in San Francisco on December 8 & 9. Once the booth was set up, everyone was in a hurry to beat the Friday afternoon traffic and head home. Some of my photos did not turn out and Suzanne's were slightly out of focus. However, these photos show some of the items not previously shown in the Fort Mason post. They give you an idea of what Phoebes and former Phoebes have been up to in the past months of preparation for the two shows.




Former long-time Phoebe Suzanne Duran displayed her amazing small dolls.

Here are two of Suzanne's "too cute" primitives and her adorable elf.

  

Donna Perry sold all but one of her fascinators.

 

Bonnie had a beautiful display of her hand-crafted pins.

 

This shows some of Stephanie's dolls, as well as her adorable animal ornaments, which were popular items.

 

Donna Perry displayed one of her newest dolls, "La Muse."

 

Another of Donna's dolls celebrated famous or influential women.

 

Donna also displayed fabric cuff bracelets with vintage costume jewelry embellishments.

 

This cuff Donna made from a vintage doily.

Phoebe Members Participate in Celebration of Craftswomen 2012

On November 24 and 25, former Phoebe Wanda Fudge organized a booth at the Celebration of Craftswomen show at Fort Mason in San Francisco. Phoebe members Mary Porter Vaughan, Zanaib Green, Kelly Mead, Bonnie Hoover, Stephanie Smith, and Donna Perry displayed dolls, as well as mixed media crafts.




Wanda's famous women series, complete with several Fridas, was a hit.



Bonnie's flat dolls, with her exquisite embellishments, were fabulous!

 

Bonnie's cloth doll was representative of her signature style.

 

Bonnie's two standing dolls on one base were so original and captivating.

 

Kelly's dolls, some with painted bodies, were primitive, yet feminine.



Kelly also displayed her famous tree toppers, and a very original mermaid.

 



A truly wonderful tree topper by Kelly.

 

Stephanie's sweet diminutive dolls were a sales success.



More of Stephanie adorable dolls—before they "flew out the door."