We just received a flier for a DAG German character dolls seminar in Albany, NY, on May 17th – 20th. Click here to see the full flier.
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The following information was shared by Hazel Johnston Ulseth’s son Mark who seeks to honor his mother by keeping her many contributions to the doll world available to doll enthusiasts all over.
Hazel Johnston Ulseth, age 94, of Sun City West, Ariz., died June 1. Foremost a mother and wife, Ulseth was also an active doll club member and organizer as well as an entrepreneur, author, teacher, and master seamstress.
She was a member of the United Federation of Doll Clubs and the Detroit Doll Collectors Club, where she presided over the 1970 Regional 12 Convention in Dearborn, Mich. In addition, she started and was a charter member of the Grand Traverse Doll Collector Club and the Sun City Doll Study Club.
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Betty Burchfield shares a bit about her own start in doll making as well as introducing new doll makers to the art of properly pouring a doll. The doll pictured in her article is one of her own sculpts. This article is also the first chapter on her CD, Complete Doll Making for Beginners which those interested in the rest of the process of doll making can order by clicking on the link here on this website.
Pouring Greenware
By Betty Burchfield, aka “Lil Reb”
Good greenware is the basic necessity for a good porcelain doll. The doll I am using for illustration is my first doll, “Debbie” which I sculpted in the image of my only daughter, Debbie. She is 29” tall, posable and has a cloth body. (Molds are by Van Hellen Custom Molds.) [click to continue…]
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Some of you may have taken time to check out the Online Doll Show in the past, and found it to be a showcase for OOAK (one of a kind) dolls. It’s fun to see what these artists are doing and to get to appreciate their talent, but this time you’ll have a chance to see something a bit closer to the kind of dolls we know a bit more about – Victorian Era Antique Reproduction Dolls! This show will take place February 11th and 12th from 9am to 9pm EST on their website at http://www.onlinedollshow.com.
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One of our readers sent an email asking for help in locating Jan Kirkwood. She is trying to make contact for her grandmother. If you know how to find her, please get in touch with this lady:
Chivonne Cheney chivonnecheney@gmail.com.
Thank you.
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Have you seen the latest news from The Porcelain Place? Since new doll makers are always asking about sources of information that will help improve their skills, you might find the following announcement of interest:
New Educational DVDs
We are working on a NEW series of 10 DVD’s that will introduce you to all of our products. Each DVD will be 2 hours long with complete detail on how to use our products. Everything from painting a half doll, basic LLado techniques, how to do Pen and Ink, and more. On top of this we will also be introducing a series of 3, 2-hour DVD’s, on mold making. Beyond compare, they will include creating a simple two part mold, creating a multiple piece mold, and how to do rubber masters of these molds. If you have any of our DVD’s you know the detail we include. These will be that same quality.
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Designed by Betty Ruth Burchfield, Little Reb
Making this little mask was so much fun. You can do the same with other molds and create your own design very easily. This little accessory adds much to your Ball gown.
As porcelain shrinks when fired, this mask will be smaller than your pattern below. It is always good to make the mask at the same time you pour your head.
The pattern below is used for the 29” “Midge” doll Head which fits on the 29” Debbie Body.
*Make pattern for mask on a piece of sheer tracing paper similar to illustration and size to fit your doll. It is recommended to trace off your pattern as paper tends to get wrinkled when laying on the wet slip.
You will find the exact pattern in the pattern titled “A Rare Moment” as listed on my website under Patterns at http://www.littlereb.com.
- To achieve the mask, I used one half of the “Midge” head mold using the side with the face. Pour porcelain slip into the mold filling it about halfway and let set until desired thickness is obtained.
- Pour out slip and let slip remaining in mold dry to leather hard stage.
- Cut out pattern to make a stencil. Lightly trace around the mask stencil with a Diamond Perfector. Trace around eyes.
- Remove the stencil and finish cutting out mask being careful not to cut your mold.
- Place the mask on the head you have previously poured to make sure it fits. Press lightly in places where it doesn’t fit the face well. Allow enough room at the top of the eye holes for the eyelashes to show through. If you want the mask to be worn, cut out a small hole on each side of the mask for insertion of thin elastic.
- Fire at 018. Wet clean. Bevel out eyes. Fire to bisque at cone 6. Trace off bisque mask on a piece of paper to make a pattern. Using this as a pattern, cut one piece of felt and when finished embellishing, glue to the back of the mask to prevent the porcelain head and mask from rubbing together when the mask is on.
See illustrations of steps below 1-5 below:
Step one |
Step two |
Step three |
Step four |
Step five |
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Embellishing the Masquerade Mask
Embellishing the mask is so much fun. I encourage you to be creative with your designs. Paint the mask, preferably with Bell’s Porcelain Splash paint and let air dry for two
days. Bake in oven for 30 minutes at 325°. (If you do not have this paint, Delta enamel
paint will do, but do not put in the oven).
When finished painting, spray or paint a finish with polyurethane. You may want to sprinkle a little bit of glitter on some places while the finish is still wet. Embellish your mask with feathers, braid, beads to your taste. Glue a 3/16” dowel 6” long to the bottom side of the mask. Paint dowel and then glue braid around the dowel for decoration. If you want the mask to be worn on the face, insert thin elastic into the hole and tie a knot on the outside of the mask in the elastic. Secure with a little glue. You will want to cover this knot with a bead, braid etc.
Paint design (I used Delta Dream Coat)
Apply Glitter when Gloss Varnish is wet
E6000 Glue, toothpicks, a small dowel cut to size; feathers; braid for trim around mask and dowel.
Glue Dowel to back of Mask securely. Paste a piece of felt on the inside of mask.
If you have any questions, please free to send a stamped address envelope to Betty Ruth Burchfield, “Little Reb” at 235 Jackies Terrace or Email at http://www.littlereb.com.
A Rare Moment Pattern is now available with complete instructions on mask, making shoes, costume, pantaloons, and headdress and hoop petticoat. The 29” “Midge” mold shown in this article was sculpted by Little Reb. Mold is made by Van Hellen’s Custom Mold.
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I hope you were able to take a few minutes to read the recent article on this website by Little Reb in which she told how to make Leather Look Victorian
Boots right on her doll’s feet. That article got me thinking about all the other ways to make doll shoes that I’m familiar with, and which are fun to try.
One thing that’s fun is to make them from Super Sculpey, which is a Polymer clay. There is a Sculpey III on the market that is supposed to be the easiest to use and stays fairly soft until baked which causes it to harden permanently and take on a matte, bisque-like finish. Again, these are made right on the doll’s feet and then baked in the oven, so be sure to make these shoes before the legs are attached to the body.
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The following article detailing the making of this doll was submitted by Brenda Moore. If you have any questions about her instructions, you may contact her directly using the email address provided at the end if the article. Thank you for your contribution, Brenda!
READY TO SING IN THE PARLOR
By: Brenda Monroe
When I first saw Jessica LaRue I knew it was a doll I would have to do. I fell in love with it at first sight when I saw a photograph of it. I purchased the mold and clothes pattern and then started looking for fabric for the outfit. I instantly liked the colors of the fabric I chose, and started my doll.
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The following article is written by Betty Ruth Burchfield, AKA Little Reb.
This doll is particularly dear to me as it is named after my sister, Midge Detwiler. Midge is my baby sister and a very good sister.
I could not resist making a “Midge” doll into a Marie Antoinette. Even though I had previously made one for the Debbie Doll, this doll just seemed to have the features I was looking for. She has a very mysterious look and would catch the eye with or without her mask at the Masquerade ball.
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