Race for the Cure

I have a customer in Pennyslvania who occasionally commissions me to make decorations or favors for parties or fundraisers she is involved with. It's always a surprise what she wants me to do.  This year she asked me to make 36 pink horse sculptures to be used at a "Race for the Cure" fundraiser.The nice thing is that I charge her my wholesale price and she sells them or auctions them off at the fundraiser.So often artists are asked to donate their art for auctions. I'm happy to do that for organizations that I am involved with or support but I often have to turn people down as I just get asked so often. This is a wonderful way to support your "starving artist" and make money for your favorite cause.I love having to figure out how to come up with a dragon hobby horse or acrobat table centerpieces!! I've put a few of these pink horses in my Etsy store. http://etsy.com/shop/magicthreadsdolls

Clean Studio

I've spent the last week cleaning and reorganizing my studio. If you are anything like me, you just keep buying, collecting and aquiring "stuff.." As dollmakers we need lots of stuff! Not just cotton fabrics but felt, wool, silk, lace, velvet and brocade. We need different colors and styles of yarns, trims, beads, fringe, fur, feathers, pipe cleaners, buttons, bells, well, you get the idea. I'm lucky enough to have a VERY large studio so I have plenty of room to store everything but sometimes it all gets away from you You know you have something but can't begin to find it.I pulled all the fabric off my shelves and sorted through the piles, throwing away the too small scraps and making give away piles. I organize by colors and patterns. Checks are together, polka dots together, batiks together. I have an old school room organizer with 36 cuby holes.Even after getting rid of two big boxes of fabric, they are still full! I think I may have overdone the cleaning...now I'm afraid to mess it up, but not for long!

Open Studio

It seems like such a nice idea...have an open studio with a few other artists, invite your friends and customers to see your latest work, serve some cookies and punch; how hard can that be? Well, first you have to start with a clean house, because everyone will walk through the house to get to the studio. Never did like the color of that wall, this would be a good time to repaint. Living room needs tweaking, so it get's completely rearranged which means all the art has to be rearranged too. While moving fruniture discover at least a dozen doll heads, arms, tin foil balls, beads, pipe cleaners and assorted dust bunnies, all of which the cats are overjoyed to see again..

 

Did I mention that I'm doing all this with a ruptured disc in my back......what's a litle pain? Take a pain pill and prompt fall asleep for 8 hours. Should have started this project a couple of weeks sooner. Dive into the studio, where 90% of the Mess gets shoved into boxes and hidden in closets. Big problems will arise NEXT week when I actually have to work in the studio, Still have to send out pattern orders, ETSY purchases and start on commissions for Christmas.

 

I have to say that I did anticipate these conflicts and attemped to rent a empty store for the open house. It seemed like such a simply plan....but no one would rent out their already empty store. People just don't trust  crazy artists.

 

So I am down to one more day.Invitations were sent and e-mailed. House is almost clean, studio is almost clean, cookies aren't baked, dolls aren't arranged but at least there is no snow in the forecast which means I better get out the shovel! If you're in the central part of Iowa, please stop by and join me, Becky Kemble, Cindee Moyer, Bonnie Samuel and Cyndi Mahlstadt. The art will be stunning!!!!

Lincoln Arts Festival

I'm excited to be doing the arts festival in Lincoln Ne this weekend.  This is our home town so it will be great to see old freinds and family.  Haven't been doing outdoor shows for a loooong time. Right now the forecast is 75 and sunny . One less thing to worry about., I hope. I will be bringing both dolls and my newest found objects pieces. I did a FO show at the Burkholder Project in Lincoln in Feb. and did really well so I'm hoping for a good weekend. Lots of Halloween themed pieces too.

Hope you'll come if you're in the area!!

Etsy Treasury

One of my Witches is in a tresury on Etsy. Check it out!!http//www.etsy.com/treasury/4c9487012c528eefcd735250/halloween-witches-are-all-ready-for-some?index=0

September Sale

I'm having a sale through the month of September. If you order 3 patterns you can choose a 4th one for free. That's a 25% savings on 4 patterns. Simply fill out the order form with 3 patterns and put the name of your 4th choice in the memo section on the order form. Sale runs through September 30.........my birthday! Happy September. Now is a great time to be making Halloween decorations. Today I cut out one of my Bird of Paradise dolls, but I'm making the bird a crow and the rider a witch. Give it a try!The Secret Keeper also makes outstanding Witches. Make them with green skin!!!
Enjoy the Bewitching Magic!

Mariah, Black Hawk

I've been asked to send a doll for the "In Celebration of the Doll" doll exhibit held during the Quilt Festival in Houston. Generally it is a mad dash to finish my doll by the deadline but this year, I'm done with a month to spare. What a great feeling. The doll is named Mariah. Sometimes the dolls just makes themselves

Fall!

The temperature in Iowa suddenly dropped from the 90s and humidity to a cool 65. Fall may be coming!!! So in honor of Halloween, I'm featurung my Halloween Witch patterns on my Etsy site http://magicthreadsdolls.etsy.com/ I have three pattern for Witches that are all fun and super easy to make.Don't you all love Halloween!

NYC shopping

Okay, I know, I haven't been blogging, at all. Just not enough hours in the day but I am going to make a real effort to update more often.!! I promise.
Last week I was in NY. First to visit my son and DIL. Second to have a mini reunion with two friends from Manhattan (KS) High School, class of 66, and third, and possible most important, was to shop!! Living in Iowa does not offer unlimited sources for fabric, trims etc and unless you live in a big city, you probably don't have a lot of sources either. All we have here are a few independent quilt stores and chain stores that are more craft stores than fabric anymore. No one carries garment fabrics except the occasional prom dress fabric. This is one big reason to head to NY, Philadelphia, LA or Minneapolis. Fabrics Galore. The garment district in NY is a fabricholics dream. From 7th to 9th Ave between 36th and 4oth. the area is jam packed with tiny stores. Some of the best aren't on the street leval...like Mood and B&J Fabrics. Closer to 6th Ave are the trim stores with the best of the best, M&J Trims on 6th. This area also has ribbon stores, button stores and millinary supply stores. One of my favorites is Tinsel Trading Co that specializes in vintage gold bullion trims, silk flowers and paper goods. Most of these stores have web sites and many are on Facebook.
My son took me out to Williamsburg, Brooklyn on Sunday. Had an amazing day going to Artists and Fleas....mostly artist market. Wonderful assortment of young, talented designers. Bought a great asymmetrical, drapey top (a dress if you are younger than 50) by artist Nana Ko. Her website is http://nanakoclothes.com
Also went to Mast Brothers, fantastic chocolates with outrageous flavors, like coffee and salt and pepper. Blue Bottle Coffee and a great beer garden. Brooklyn is looking better and better but my kids like living in Manhattan where they can still walk to work. Tiny, tiny apartments cost as much as my house payment, but I'd trade places with them in a heartbeat.....just wouldn't have room for a studio!!
New things happening at Magic Threads. Check back soon to see what.......yes, I will post more soon.

So much going on!!!!!

It's been crazy busy around here for months!! I've had several large commissions to finish, new patterns to design and print and assorted teaching gigs. Chicago Quilt Festival was this past weekend and is always stressful to get ready for! I finished my new patterns and mailed them to my printer 150 miles away and they didn't get there for 8 days. By then we were close to the day I had to leave for Chicago so I had to drive to Nebraska to pick them up and then fold all day when I was getting ready to leave. Not my favorite way to arrive at a show.
Nice surprise in Chicago, Barbara Willis and Betts Vidal were there too and we had SO much fun catching up. It's been years since I've seen them and we just picked up where we left off then. Such fun! Show was definitely down from previous years but it could have been much worse!!!!
I'm taking a break in May and going to NYC for a couple of weeks of play, theatre, shopping and a little teaching. I'll be teaching my new Bird of Paradise at the City Quilter on May 16 and 17th. In June I'm going to be in the Seattle area while my husband has a business trip there. Haven't put a class together so if you or any of your friends would like to organize something, just let me know.
Happy Dollmaking,
Julie mc