On Grandma Duty

I'm spending a few days in the south of the state looking after my son's children, while he is in the Kimberly region of Western Australia scoping out an exciting job opportunity.
So I'm doing the grandma thing........ baking cakes and biscuits and spoiling them rotten. Still finding time to do some of my own work - good thing it is easily transported!

Here's the view from the front window of my son's house in Taroona and a pic of the little IW doll I'm working on.

Preparations

I'm in the middle of making arrangements to head overseas next month to teach at a number of locations starting in Albuquerque, NM. There is always plenty to do in preparation for a teaching tour like this. I have been making a number of moulds from my original head sculpts and making sure all my notes are in order. And booking tickets. And contacting friends. etc, etc.

Here is a mould I am making for a couple of "Historically Inspired " doll classes I am running. This will be cast in silicone in two parts to make press moulds for complete heads (for those students who are a bit timid about sculpting their own!) This head is loosely based on an Izannah Walker style of doll from about 1850.

Easter Feasting, A New Doll, and a Celebration

Spent a beautiful Easter Sunday feasting with friends - here are a few pics of the day.

I am working on this new doll - here are some progress pictures - she is based on my "Izannah Walker" design, but I have taken a few liberties with the head by giving her a moulded hairstyle and I plan to paint her in a more detailed way.

I have noticed that my blog has achieved a few milestones just recently - I have passed 200 followers and visitors to my blog is now exceeding 10 000. So to celebrate these milestones, I going to have a giveaway. All you have to do is respond to this post by leaving a message and I will draw a winner on May 1st. Not sure what the prize will be yet, but it will be something hand-made by me.........so if you want to be in the running, just leave a message on this post.