Gypsy Rose Catrina

It's that time of year... when I'm inspired to make skeletons, bats and flowery Day-of-the-Dead skeleton Catrina dolls in particular. This one was a gift for Iris, in honor of her recent 17th birthday.

She is a painted cloth primitive folk-art style Catrina, who is feeling her Gypsy side. She chose these bright orange/red ribbons and beads to adorn her head and the fuchsia pink doily as her dancing skirt. I can imagine her doing the Flamenco. Ooh, I should have given her a fancy lace fan! Or maybe a Gypsy version of the Mexican hat dance? See the tiny vintage butterfly rhinestone button decorating the front of her belt? She is ready to party all night long at the cemetery for the Day of the Dead.

Hallowe'en... the Costume

I was recently invited to a Halloween-themed event, which will be a fundraiser for SHARE house, our local homeless shelter... a great organization. The hostess has told us all to wear "funny hats" instead of full costumes, so I immediately started brainstorming some way of integrating collage into my hat to make it completely unique. A trip to Goodwill was fruitless... nothing there (at least nothing collage-able) to fit my oversized skull! So, I went home and tried my hand at constructing a simple witches hat from posterboard. Turns out that wasn't quite as simple as I imagined... but I finally turned out a pointy hat. It is a bit small, confound it... but, I'll wear it anyway, secured with a ribbon under my chin. Luckily, it fits my daughter perfectly, so she'll wear it for trick-or-treat night!

I had a stack of old... and I'm talking OLD... newspapers from Missouri and Iowa that my grandmother acquired many years ago from a neighbor of hers. The dates range from the late 1890's (when my grandmother was a young child) to around 1910. It is all in terrible condition... literally crumbles in my hands, so I've used it for a few collage projects, slathered liberally with plenty of gel medium to hold it together and preserve it.  For this project, I selected quite a few old advertisement, plus (since it's also "that" season) political cartoons and headlines... and anything to do with gruesome events such as murders and horrific natural disasters... to complete the dark theme that surrounds Hallowe'en and the Day of the Dead.

I just layered these fragile bits of paper on and covered the entire surface of the hat... and the underside of the brim and created a collaged witches hat. This was so much fun... reading through some of the articles and editorials, and imagining the mindset of midwestern America prior to World War ONE! There were still ads for buggies and surreys... not yet for automobiles. This was before antibiotics... so there were many ads for various elixers and tonics that would "cure" anything from catarrh to syphilis!

I pulled together a really eclectic mixture of interesting things to see and read... and spent exactly zero money on my party hat (unless you count that half jug of gel medium). I added a wee bit of distress ink to the edge of the brim of the hat... but most of the aging and distressing is natural! Once the collaging was done, I dressed the hat up a little bit with some vintage rick-rack and ribbon, then wired on some plastic skeletons as spooky-funky accessories. I'm looking forward to using it as a centerpiece, as well as a costume hat! Now... just enjoy a few more shots of the project in process...

Witchy Woman

Hallowe'en snuck up on me this year. Didn't I just turn the calendar page to October last week? I had much greater intentions than just finishing ONE doll... but as it turned out, I had to scramble to finish this one at the 11th hour, literally as I was throwing my own costume on for trick-or-treating in the neighborhood with my daughter.

I have wanted a witch doll for years, so was determined to make one for myself. My original idea was an all-cloth "prim"... and I definitely knew I had to design this pattern myself. Wanting a really classically "witchy" face, but not being able to figure out how to accomplish that in cloth, I reached for the polymer clay and modeled one up over a core of crumpled aluminum foil.

I used simple rag doll construction for the body, arms and legs... with button joints at the shoulders. I stuffed the muslin parts, then painted, sanded and aged with a coffee stain.

I've been dreaming of those black boots with turned up toes, and green and black striped stockings since I was a little girl, and was downright giddy while watching them take shape!

The hat is also a simple muslin form... stuffed, painted, sanded and stained.

Next came hair... grizzly gray, of course, to perfectly play up her beady-yet-bulging yellow eyes. I used some lovely Romney wool fleece, so fresh from the sheep it still had hayseeds in it.

See the perfect blend of wit and wisdom in her expression? (And the ever-so-slight resemblance to Marty Feldman in Young Frankenstein?)

Her clothing is minimal, and casual... as witches go. She's not in full-tilt flying attire here, with cape and all. I think she looks as if she's just finished up some sweet herbal brew in the kitchen... and thought to go sweep the porch before the kiddies started knocking on the door. I used part of an old curtain for her skirt- simply painted and aged it, wrapped it around and tied it with a bit of jute. Her collar is vintage, with some extra aging added. The broom is made from twigs cut from our pear tree.

I may make some little tweaks and additions before I stash her away for next year... but all in all, I'm pleased. Call her Brunhilda, if you wish... but when I look at her, I can't help but call her "Witchy Woo".