Are blogs still popular?

 A few years ago, I started to blog.  I thought it would be like a diary or journal.   I was never a great diary writer,  as private as journals can be, putting my thoughts and experiences on paper seemed not very private  (too many movies where the secret diary is found!!)  The difference with blog writing is it can be very generalised and writing about anything other than personal secrets gives you a wide scope of topics and freedom to write - if you want to.

I actually liked writing the blog posts and I guess I had a few followers who looked me up.  I did not get many comments.  Other bloggers offer free give aways or competitions to increase interest, but I am too shy for all that. I am not competative and heaven forbid I get a negative comment.  I would fall apart.  And as much as I read others instagram and facebook, I cannot bring myself to comment on their posts.  So I feel a little bit invisible.

Sadly I have been distracted by life happenings and just feeling it's all a bit pointless, being invisible and all.  All this is hard for me because as much as I have boys that are tech savvy, they are certainly not like some of the gen x or y or whatever it is.  They just have insta and facebook, they don't have youtube sites and are too busy being parents to my granddaugters to care about social media.  Which is kind of a good thing I guess, but I am clueless as to how to manouvre the social network, for the sake of my little Etsy shop.

 So should I be posting on Facebook?  Instagram is good , but again sometimes I hesitate to put up pics that might not be good or interesting enough.

I am selling from my etsy site, and I would like it to be my job now.  At my age, I am ready to just spend my days sewing and selling what I make.  I don't want mega bucks.  I just want some sales and income to maintain the basic necessities - hairdresser, skincare, luches with friends - once COVID settles down.

At the moment, the old fashioned in me is selling my wares at the local craft market, and it is addictive.  Make things, put them on a table at the market, sell them to lovely people and go home to make more.  Thing is, the more I sell, the more I need to make so it is getting hard to keep up!  

I am selling!!

Thank you, Thank you,  Thank you!!!
I have finally sold not one, not two but 3 of my dolls from my Etsy site.
Admittedly 2 of them were my controversial cats and the other  was a boy doll.

.

And I am making and selling at the Fullarton community market.   This is what I wanted to do.  Spend my days crafting and then selling to share the joy that dolls can bring.  It is starting to happen.  I really enjoy the markets and if I can have Etsy sales, it would be a dream come true for me.  So I still have to find my groove, but it is starting to happen...... Yay..........

The cat controvesy

So I am always inspired and challenged by the things I see online.  This year my goal is to finally sell a doll from my Etsy shop.  I did a course and was so inspired I opened a 2nd shop for waldorf style dolls.  But I wanted to sell my unsold cloth dolls that I had taken to market.  

Now, cloth dolls and rag dolls have a basic structure -  body legs, arms and a head.  

If it's an amimal it can be a little exagerrated.  

I really like this look for a cloth doll type cat.  

Problem is I was 'inspired' by pics I saw online.  I understand copyright and I don't want to steal anothers work.  

Thing is, I totally had to design this doll and create the pattern.  Limbs, tail, body , head size, ears, dimensions, height.  

So, when I uploaded to Etsy I was shocked to see they delisted it! 

At first I was confused and upset.  There was no explanation except that they were checking their policies!  

But the good news is they reinstated my listing without any notice.  I have to assume they were checking the design.  I will not make any more of these cats, purely for the fact I don't want to be stepping on anyones toes and I have had the challenge of making it.  Did I do something wrong?

See my etsy shop

Etsy again

It has taken me all day to photograph some dolls I want to put onto my Etsy site.

I have to say I am so pleased that a very kind buyer has put photos of my doll on her Instagram site and made a cosy bed for the doll and gifted it to her 4 year old.  My heart swelled when I saw the post.  I would love to just spend my days sewing dolls, their clothing and knitting cardigans and shoes for these little beings.

I like my shop name Minikins, because literally it could be a description of a little family member. 

I love this cat design, it was inspired by my long limbed doll making style, inspiration from other dollmakers and the squinty eyes my own cat does.

The halter neck dress is from a pattern I purchased on Etsy.  It is so cute.

So I am once again trying to put some of my creations online.  I am sure it will all come to fruition.  The timing has to be right and the product has to be right so here it goes again.................

Others waldorfs

WALDORF DOLL
classic
by Taisiya Stepina

Just recently I purchased a master class pattern from Taisiya Stepina, a waldorf doll artist from the Ukraine.

Her dolls are so sweet.    The soft little face, the simple body and the wonderful layers of clothing that I know every child would love to take off and put on...

As I have said previously, I have learnt so much from being on line and exploring the methods and  techniques of dollmakers who want to share their knowledge.








I have followed Fig & Me  for a while now, and receive her newsletter. 
She is very poetic and her dolls are wistful.....

I also follow Little Doll House on facebook and I must say her You Tube videos are so helpful and an excellent learning platform.

The first pattern I purchased was from LaliDoll Nursery

As you can see, these dolls all have a distinctive look even though they are primarily made the same way.  Some have needle sculpting for the face to bring out the features.  But they are still a very simple face, embroidered eyes, a bump for the nose and threaded lips with beeswax crayon cheeks.

Pure Wool stuffing and good quality cotton jersey skin fabric.

The wool gives the doll a natural weight and warmth that is so huggable.

The hair is often a crocheted cap threaded with wool hair.  It can be mohair or synthetic, but the basic doll has wool hair.

I have  a few dolls in the works that I am going to put oup for adoption on Etsy.

So stay tuned, I am really keen to make these lovely dolls to share.

New Year - New Blog

Hi Everyone,
If you are reading this, you have found me!
I decided to move myself to a whole new blog because I have not been updating my old one.  And I have changed my focus to a simpler style of dollmaking.  

If you were following me previously, you will know I have tried everything from Santas to polymer clay to air dry clay sculpting and all manner of cloth dolls.

Now I have grand children, I have been interested in children's doll play, and the fact you can whip up a basic rag doll in a couple of hours.  

I will no longer be making clay dolls, not for a while anyway.  I am exploring the Waldorf doll technique and (again) would like to sell on Etsy.
As the picutre shows I have been selling at the local makers' craft market, but to be honest, for all the hours it takes to make many different dolls and then to just sell a few, I would like to see if the world wide web will give me more exposure and a bigger market place.
I am in the process of setting up this site, so bear with me and I promise this will be my new sounding board.