Dotee Dolls ... the beading .....

One of the most fun parts of a Dotee is the beading.  Well, it is for me anyway.  I love making the "danglies" and the hangers.  It's fun to arrange the lovely colours to complement the dolly.

Over the past few months a friend and I have been doing a lot of origami ornaments.. she saw some of mine before Christmas and wanted to learn how to fold and assemble...I was thrilled to have somebody to play with..so we spent many an enjoyable hour doing those.  Now, I'm making some in Easter colours...for my Easter Tree.  They have a little gold thread to hang them....with beads on it to complement the colours of the papers of the ornaments.

 I seemed to acquire lots of colours and sizes ..but, you can never have too many beads, right?  They are even fun just to look at and run your fingers through.
Last week, with my 50% off coupon at Michael's, I got this.

A whole container with thousands of seed beads...   whopping total ....  $19.49.  I bought a fairly large string of them at the bead store for $7.00 a month ago...  ...but..... they were all the same colour.  So, if I bought only 3 strings of beads in different colours... I would already have spent $21... what a bargain.

It is a good idea to scrutinize every aspect of it very carefully though...and to make sure how to open each of the containers so as not to spill out any ...(or plenty!) of the seed beads.  Trust me on this.  You turn the carousel on it's side and jiggle and shake it back and forth gently to make sure all the beads are settled into their various compartments.. BEFORE opening the lid.   And, then, when you close the lid... make sure it is done properly and is securely fastened.  See that little crevice in the photo below? (on the red beads) ... a lot of tiny beads can fall out of that opening!  And ... they did!  'Til I figured it out.  Much blue air ensued after the first careless closing.  I failed to realize that the lids fit just so, and must accommodate the corner tabs inside the lid properly, before trying to close the snap tabs on the outside of the lid.   And beads must not be on those little dividers either ..or the lid doesn't close properly.  It's a good system and it works ..if you pay attention.  Just sayin'......... if you buy one .... make certain you have it figured out ... please...

 Then, get a glass of wine and do some beading...oh, just a minute ...I'm empty... hang on I'll go for a refill.... .................  .........................  ......................

Don't you love my clutter?  It's the way I work.  Everything within easy reach ... and as I know you are aware ..all of a sudden, all of it is all over the place.  Soon I'm working in a pretty small space ... like ..  about 8 X 8 ....inches, that is!

Works for me.

It's still kinda organized....  (the ex-dental assistant) ..hahhaha....

....   and don't think I don't use every single tool on that mat either.  They are indispensable.  Every single one of them.


Of course, there is doubt, consternation and downright curiosity from various onlookers....

Well, of course, not everybody is interested in beading.....

Each to his own ........

Dotee Dolls..... a quartet...

So far I've not heard them singing or anything ....but, there are four of them, so they could if they wanted to.  Unfortunately, I can't help them... I don't. Sing that is.  Can't carry a note in a bucket.

The new girl is Sunny.  My sister think she looks like her.  hahahah...I think they all look pretty similar... maybe she meant looks like "hers"... oh, yeh, that's probably it.

Please meet Sunny

I even found a little yellow flower to put in her hair ... along with some orange and pink beads..

A quartet of dollies...

I've taken to calling them the Dotee Divas........ or, the DDs for short....

Dotee Dolls .... ad infinitum.....

hahahhaha.... they're everywhere now!  the birds have tried to carry them off ..or at least carry them around.  Looks like storks delivering babies.  Yikes!  Please, no!!

                                                           


















The third is a little redhead.... with blues, reds and some lovely pale green beads ...

So, now ...we have triplets!

All looking so content and almost cosy and sleepy.... perfect.....

.... and, soon we'll have a quartet..... as a matter of fact, she's already in the works.  I hope she can sing because I sure as heck can't ....

Who was it that mentioned I was mad ..or that this could be come an addiction?  ...well, of course, all of you were correct..... I am and it has....... oh, well......it could be worse.

Dotee Dolls

My second Dotee .. or Ditto Dotee as I call her....

A piece of pretty blue embroidered light weight fabric .. lightweight enough that I could have/should have backed it with another piece of lightweight something ...   I'll get it down pat by about the 4th or 5th...I'm sure of it.  And,... still a learning curve.. remind myself to leave more of a seam allowance on the third Dotee body.  I seem to stitch only about 1/8" from the edge no matter what I am stitching.

Probably from the bear making days...always trying not to waste any expensive mohair fabric.  With the cheap little bits of fabric I use for these...and I do seem to have a lot of it around from the doll making days... it is no big deal.  Just cut them out larger and leave a good seam allowance.

I was merrily stitching away when, all of a sudden,  realized that I had totally forgotten to leave enough room to turn it right side out!  acckkk!!  Look at this...only about 1/2 an inch left.
hah!  can't fool me.  I have turned teensy weeny fingers on dolls.  I have the tools and the expertise for this!!

An array of haemostats ... that'll do the trick.

Grabbed it deep down near the dangly tail piece...pulled carefully through the opening...then, teased the face disc though the tiny space as well... being careful not to pull it away from the fabric... and phew  ...  done and all still intact.













Then, stuffing through that little opening was no problemo ...done that before with little bears as well... but the fabric was fraying like nobody's business.  That was a problem.  I ended up stitching the hanger to a piece of twill and tucked it into the seam and stitched the fabric onto that at the seam.  Works like a charm.  But...next time.... bigger seam allowance so I don't have to wrestle with anything.  And, somehow, remember to stop stitching before I leave too small an opening for turning it right side out!

The colours in the first few are all out of whack due to the camera setting....I wasn't paying attention.  As you can see it even has the "sparkle" effect turned on.... sheeeesh........ oh, well...

here is one that is the proper colours.... a lovely soft blue with pinks..... and, hair.  My sweetie liked the "hair" on the first one and I have managed to find some yarn of appropriate colours to use for hair on all three (yes there are already triplets!) ....as a matter fact ..now I've begun a fourth.... and, she too, will have hair.  Must be my signature.....

and, I got fancy with her beads and used some pearls.... Maggi, you know where the small ones and the tear drop one are from......

Please meet Dotee Pearl .....

Dotee Doll (part three)...

Same day ... later.  You know I couldn't just walk away ... once I found some more 'stuff' to use.

I finished her instead of bothering with vacuuming, laundry, etc..  although I did do the treadmill and some other exercise.  So... I'm feeling okay about it. There's always tomorrow for the other things...

She is finished and I'm pretty happy with her.  I learned several things and will do them a bit differently next time..and, I will definitely look for some transparent beading line if there is any...or use white next time... but, other than that.... she's pretty cute.

That was fun.

The "Dot" pose...   this is always how she displayed them... oops... got her on the wrong finger .... okay, so .....close then, but not exactly, which is fine, because she is not exactly a Dot doll but similar, and that's what I was aiming for when I began this.

and...reclining on a chair.... you can see some colour on her cheeks and nose in this one....I used some blush on a Q tip.... instead of doing more beads..I thought there was plenty around her face already.  Next one I may not use quite that many...and, in retrospect... I wish I had used some greens on her face ... the purple seems a bit blah to me.  But, as I say...  not necessary for her to be perfect.... they are just cute, fun little projects.

Next ..... I'm dragging out my fabric and choosing a second bit of colour for a Ditto Dotee ..  ... but, first I must eat.

There is always tomorrow................................................

I

Dotee Dolls (part two)....

.... there could be 37 parts to the story...hahhahahhah... okay...just kidding. But, it might be awhile...

I began a little Dotee last night .... only to discover I didn't really know much about beading.  So little in fact, that it was embarrassing.. (but mostly frustrating).
After spending some time..(quite a bit of time, actually) trying to figure out how I would thread the beads onto what kind of thread..etc... for the dangly "tail" and, just let me say, it was a bear trying to thread any needle I found that was small enough to go through a seed bead .....  silly me.   With our origami, we even thread the seed beads just with the lovely gold thread that is stiff enough to go through the holes without being on a needle!
I was looking for more info about beading this morning and all of sudden remembered...I took a short lesson on beading some time ago.   I think it was with a local doll group.  This should not be difficult for me.  And, I knew I must still have some beading thread.. I don't throw much away.  Found it.  White and black.  On little bobbin type thingies.  Alright!

Also, I discovered I don't have to go to the quilting or craft shop...I found beading needles too.  A whole new pack of them.  Now I have some ammo to attack the dangly and the hanger again.  I still don't understand how to get it attached to the inside of the wrong side of the fabric ..and, have no thread showing or to somehow not lose the last few beads up inside of her...but, maybe that's the ticket... put lots of the right colour on near the end of the loop or the 'dangly' and don't worry if they hide up inside...better than seeing empty spaces on a too long thread.

So... today I have now added a dangly thing and the hanging loop... and, was working on her face prior to that.  Honestly, I know how to embroider, but for the life of me I didn't get the stitches looking great on the first few mouths I tried.  And, the piece of felt I bought at Michael's ?... forget it.  So cheap it is almost transparent... I'll either be looking for some better stuff or adding a circle of cotton under it so you can't see the colour of the body showing through.

She has a cute little face... simple just like Dot made her little gals.....  no show and tell just yet.... and, even when you do see her ...she will be my prototype...on which I am learning as I go... and, I have to say the stitching is not great.... you know how it goes when you want to see the first one done already.... but, she will live with us and we will love her all the same.... just as she is.

Show and tell soon....

Dotee Dolls

Do you know of them?  They were really popular several years ago and everybody in the doll making world and also the embroidery and beading circles was making and trading them.

Dot Christian is the lady who first created them and they are named for her....  such sweet little things they are.... she said she liked to use them to spread friendship, love and joy.  They sure did a lot of that.  My understanding is that they were never to be sold....just traded or given as gifts.  She made hundreds (I wonder how many she did make?) and traded with people all over the world.

I wish her blog was still around...she had so many great photos of dozens of them and little stories about them and where they went and where some sent to her came from.   I have collected quite a few photos of the ones I really like and am always on the lookout for a pretty coloured one or a cute shape or the amazing beading work, etc....

Since long before Christmas I have been having fun making origami ornaments ... buying and using all sorts of pretty beads.  You can already see where this is going can't you? ....

Now... I really should be putting away the beautiful beads, pretty papers and gold and silver threads... ((OH< AND... may I just put this out there before I go on with the dolls??))

I have almost run out of single ply gold thread to hang up the origami ornaments.  I did manage to find 12 more rolls of the silver on an Easy site, but, gold is nowhere to be found.  It is a craft thread I suppose more than a sewing supply... found in bead shops.  All it says on the label is one ply thread made in Japan and the yardage .. sold for about $2.50 a spool.  The spool is a skinny cardboard  2 1/2 inches long with a 3/8 inch diameter.  If anybody knows where I might find some can you please let me know?  Or if you have some of the same stuff, do you want to sell it to me?  or will you trade it for something? .........

Onward...

I want to make a Dotee Doll.  I can still play with pretty colours but in fabric instead of papers... and do some fun beading... all around their little faces, on the hangers and the tails, and on the bodies and ... ..oh, the hair ...the list of supplies to use for hair is amazing...

Also, I had a thought about incorporating some of the embroidery techniques and fabric scraps from the classes I took with Karen.... I could make a white on white with lovely embroidery stitches and perhaps some soft pastels placed here and there .... I think that might be a great little dolly.... I'm "imagineering" even as I'm writing this.

Anyway,  most of these are Dot's own design and dolls... ... although, one of these is not like the others and is not hers ...but, I love the colours and so am showing you that as well....

Does anybody have an original Dotee Doll of their very own?   I would be interested to see a photo of it if you do.

So, as far as I know...the above dolls were made by Dot herself...that is her hand displaying them...

This one I think somebody made for her... the facial embroidery is so much different than her own.

I love the colours and beads... and, it seems to be a different type of body than her usual...but, I like it too.  Aren't they all so sweet? ...

Click them to enlarge for more detail..... and ...     stay tuned for my very own first Dotee doll... soon..... .

Wild Bird Wednesday

So, I looked back through my Wild Bird postings...and, didn't see this one.  Doesn't mean I didn't already post it... I could have forgotten to mark it with "label" and it may not have come up in my search.

Seeing as I have pretty much photographed all the little guys that do come around...I am digging up one from my archives... man, that makes it feel oollldddd.... but, it was only from the past summer or fall ....

I thought it was so cute that they were sharing... as not all birds seem to like doing that.  Nobody likes to sit beside a sparrow.  I've taken to calling them the "stinky sparrows" for that very reason.  Or...as somebody else calls little brown guys she can't immediately remember the names of; LBJ ... and no, that is not the 'Lyndon guy'... it means Little Brown Job...... which I thought was so cute; likely the reason I remembered it.  If I like a word, or find it interesting...I remember it.  Like, say, pingueculum ... who would remember that word?  Me.  That's who.  And, especially if my eye guy said it.  I  need to know what is going on.

Sorry, I digress...hahahha..... as is my usual, of course, if you know  me.  I call it round-about thinking..... you know, where one thing leads to another until you forget what the beginning of the conversation was all about and you can't remember how you got on that particular topic at all.... sometimes, a lot of detective thinking later, you do all of a sudden remember what you actually wanted to say, but, by then, the other somebody has gone home, or it is 2:00 am......

Now, where was I ?  oh, yeh..... birds!!

The cute little Black Capped Chickadee and the White Breasted Nuthatch..... the nuthatches always hang upside down like that.  Never seen one upright ...oh, well, one time..on the wall...and I didn't even recognize what it was in that unusual position.

Click on it to see them a bit bigger if you like.                                                                
                                                                                     



















I'm linking this up to Stewart's Wild Bird Wednesday.... check out the great birds they have all been seeing and photographing...

Happy Valentine's Day

I hope you all make it a happy one in some way or other  ....

Today I read ..if you don't have huge expectations for it ...you will be happier.  That sounds good.

I always think too much is made of certain days of the year ...mostly to generate sales of anything and everything... and we fall for it ..of course.

Days like Mother's Day and Valentine's Day.... hmmm.... we should make those days special all year 'round.  Well, that's how I feel about it anyway.

Here are a couple little furry guys to wish you all a Happy Heart Day.

Tuffy, Posie and Scruffy... playing with the heart cookie cutters.  Think they are lobbying for cookies? .... oh, yeh....

And.... here are some chocolate dipped strawberries....... yummmmmmmm

Little Darla says please have one.... "they're luvly"....
                                                                                 


... and, some chocolate covered cherries....... why not?

I'm giving them all to you ... because... right now I am on a chocolate, wine and coffee hiatus..... sigh...
My gut is giving me grief and I am trying to figure out what is causing it.  And, I definitely am not giving up breads and cookies or thinking gluten right away  ...forget that !!  I'll give up the other three before I give up bread.
I love breads...as a matter of fact...today I am baking pretzels... a first time for me but had to give it a go after seeing some my neighbour guy baked ... Trevor, the Renaissance man.... baking and cooking and .... well, he does it.... so why can't I? ....

It gets better...

...I managed to get a few better pics of my little chickadees... and, now...I'm even able to call them to the lilac bushes just outside the patio.

I stand in the patio with my handful of seeds and if there are none around...I call to them.  I do my best "chick-a-dee-dee-dee" sound...and also just say... "come on little guys... here's your seeds".. "come on".  Within a minute or two I hear one across the street and then... at least one will fly over to check me out.

I'm still making at least one guy hop on my hand for a seed before I sprinkle a few out on the top of the patio wall for them.  I try not to put too many..and I also wait til way late in the day to do it..or the hordes of sparrows just eat them all ...

A little white breasted nuthatch came to the suet feeder today along with several different Flickers... I try to chase the silly magpie away from the suet feeder when I see him.  He has figured out how to hang on it ... using the tail rest for one of his big feet... doing the splits and risking groin injury just to peck a bit of peanut butter and bugs ... crazy bird.  Sometimes when he lands he scares a Flicker off it ... and, the Flicker lands on the Hawthorn or the wall top and squeaks....if I hear him I know what it is and run to the closest window.  All I have to do is move the latch and off flies the magpie.  The Flicker then gets back onto the suet... it's a mad house around here .... well, it probably always was ...just a bit more so now with birds...

Anyway... without further ado...here are the two best ones I now have ..

and, finally, I actually have two witnesses that have seen them land on my hand even though I haven't managed a photo of that yet.  I'm still working on it........... I just need a few more hands...........

Click on the pic to enlarge....

Chickadees again.... and, me.....

How do the weeks go by so quickly?   Sheeeesh......

Anyway....I've been trying to get a chickadee to land on my hand for a seed.  It took about 3 days of standing there with a handful of seeds ... at late feeding time.  Finally, it happened ...with the tiniest little one.  So brave.

He pecked gently at my fingers first.  I don't know if he was checking to see if they were edible or if they dispensed a seed.  And, then..one hopped right onto my hand and off again with a seed .. so quickly it could hardly have been called a landing.  They are so quick.  And, so light...I hardly felt a thing.

The second day I tried to hold the seeds with one hand and take a picture with the other hand.... oh, man...I was trying not to move too much..not to giggle and not to swear.  I got about 19 blurry photos.  Just couldn't get the auto focus working how I wanted it to.  I need a remote shutter release and to set up on the tripod I guess.... although, I don't know if the tripod is high enough. ...maybe on a box or something... that wall is 5 feet high... almost too high for me to get my hand on there...it cramps up after a while trying to keep my fingers out quite straight so they don't think I am going to grab them... as if they would know the difference.

Anyway...finally I did come up with a couple of not too blurry ones...

Click to make them larger if you like...

Here little chickadee-dee-dee

I have sunflower seeds.... the best kind.....

And, if I took my hand down to rest it....they jumped onto the top of the wall and glared at me....like...where's that seed you promised? .....

Hey, wait a minute here!  I just noticed when I cropped it... and could see better...he already has a seed in his beak!  Cheeky!  Gimme a break will ya?  Have to rest my hand...........

You can see I was having way too much fun.  Especially when I should have been paying more attention to what was getting quite brown on the stove ...

I'll try to see if I can get things set up a bit better or ... better yet... find another pair of hands to help take the photos....

Check out the other great birds on Wild Bird Wednesday.

Click the birdie below to go there ....

Just hanging out....

...or on...or, off .. or something.

Susan had a funny pic of a gull trying to swallow a too big fish... and this doesn't go anywhere near that for a laugh...but, maybe a little giggle.

He has a sunflower seed from the feeder in his tiny beak...but, why he chose to go to this spot with it I don't know.  How is he going to eat it hanging upside down?  Hmmm....

When they get a seed, they usually go to a branch...hold it down with one little foot and nibble at it daintily  ... til it's gone.

Surely he must have gone there after his unusual decision to do some calisthenics mid flight....

Click on the photo to see him bigger

Here is what they usually do.....
Much simpler ... hahahha..

                                                                 

Wild Bird Wednesday

I was looking through my photos today wondering what I have that is interesting and that I haven't posted on WBW yet....

Lo and behold...I do have something cute and interesting.

A little Downy Woodpecker.  A lady .. there is no red on its head.... the males have a small patch of red on the back of the head.

She loves the suet feeder ...  and, every so often I do see a little man come too...but, more often than not..it is only her.  She jumps off right away if a big Northern Flicker shows up ...but, is quick to return when he goes away.

She has a look in the feeder ...decides where to peck and then goes to work.  I have some suet with bugs in it... they seem to like it quite a bit.

Every so often she leans waaaaay out to either have a rest..or to get a better look at things.  Maybe she has vision problems.. hahahaha...

And look at the last pic...she has a little crumb on her chest... so cute....


Click on any pic to enlarge and get a closer look ....

And..... please head over to Stewart's blog and check out Wild Bird Wednesday ... lots of neat birds and great photography to see over there.  Just click on the long legged guy in the pic below....

Wild Bird Wednesday

... again, not 'til Thursday... oh, well, here I am...

This is a rare glimpse of the Lesser Canadian Snowrunner.... they go so quickly you hardly have time to get them into the frame, never mind focus... even with auto focus...

Isn't he cute?

Maybe I fooled somebody for a nano second.  But, most of you probably recognized him right away. Of course he is really the Black Capped Chickadee.  They are my favourite little guys. .. so cute, so quick and yet pretty brave, in that they come close to you once they get a bit used to the fact that you will continue to stand there for some time.

Click on the photo to see his feet..they're a blur!

I had brushed off the snow and laid out a few seeds on the top of the wall.  They would jump on the wall from the nearby lilac twigs... grab a seed and carry it back to eat it in the bush.  They hold it against a branch with one foot and nibble it ... so civilized they are...compared to the sparrows.
This guy must have been kicking up some snow to find that last seed he absolutely knew must be there .... somewhere.....

I got one or two other decent pics...

.....................and..............as usual....................

a lot of these.....

butts.....

in some frames there were no birds at all...just a few bits of tossed up snow as they left...

Why don't you check out the Wild Bird link below to see what gems the others managed to photograph...

Wild Bird Wednesday

Pure happenstance.

I was picking my way through snow covered rocks in my garden.. trying to take down the suet feeder to refill it... when I heard a huge commotion behind me.

Sure enough...I stepped on a rock..slid, turned my ankle a bit, tried to catch myself and in the process..did a complete spin around...just in time to see about 6 magpies chasing something really big.  I jumped up ...had a look and saw a big owl sail into the huge spruce down the block.

Quickly dashed into the house and got my camera. Wrong lens..changed it for the other one... got out there and down the block I went.  There he was ...still sitting in the tree with the stupid magpies squawking and hopping up and down right in front of his face, on the very same branch.

He was about 70 feet up a 100 foot tree..so I couldn't even stand any closer .. the big branches completely hid him if I got too close.  I fired off a couple of shots... but, with automatic focus..it was doing the magpies rather than the owl.  I don't even use the manual focus...must read up on that and get some practice in ...and soon!

And, so...I'm afraid it is not a great shot ... but, I did get him!  My first owl... and, only the second one I have actually seen right here near the house.  We are close to a golf course and they probably hang out over there ....

..... and, then........off he flew with the darn magpies in hot pursuit..poor guy.... can't even enjoy a quiet wintery fly about with them around.

I've decided he is a Great Horned... please correct me if you know for sure and I am wrong....
                                   
Also, click on the photo to see him closer ... it is cropped big time to get him that close already...
'cuz as I mentioned..he was about 70 feet in the air and I was out in the middle of the road as well...

Damned magpie...get outta there!  (sorry Chris ...I know how you love the Majestic Magpie!) ...

      

Linking up to Wild Bird Wednesday where you can see all sorts of great birds .... just click on the spindly legged guy below if you would like to go straight to the page.