Nature Friends

New dolls have been added to my Amanda May Shop this evening.

This one is my new favorite:



He comes from the forest, obviously, and is clearly descended from royalty (notice the crown and decorated staff). I think he is ready for an adventure...

Busy Days!

It seems that in the Spring things just get busy. I don't even really have that much to do, but if I am not outside enjoying the days somehow, I feel that I am missing out.

That said, I spent quite a lot of Sunday asleep on the sofa. Day of rest and so forth...


One inside (mainly) thing I was able to accomplish in the last few days was finishing up a couple little needle felted dolls for listing in the shop. They are very sweet, I am especially fond of the green polka-dotted jumpsuit.

Another little lady in the Shop!

She's about 3.5 inches tall, spunky and pretty and ready to venture forth! Visit her at amandamay.etsy.com!

New Dolls and Old

My little shop is back in business. It was never actually closed, but it was sadly neglected for a while there while other things took precedence. Things will do that.

Some are new and some have been around a while. This gentleman was introduced quite some time ago, but he was waiting for his wife to return from her hair procedure before he ventured into real public life. As it turns out, the hair problem was somewhat more complicated than expected and I am afraid our friend got a bit fed up. He actually hardly knew the woman, it was more a marriage of convenience, so don't feel bad for them. Someday perhaps she will get some hair and then she too will wander out into the world. As it is, the dear man is waiting a smidgen impatiently for someone to offer him some new adventure...

My dear dancing lady has also been listed. She has been a regular around the studio for a while now, just gadding about. But I am afraid she has become a tad bored with me. I don't blame her, I'm hardly here these days what with work and the dog and the nice Spring weather, and she's getting restless. So off she goes!



And then there are some simple Waldorfian-ish finger puppets. These little princesses were a means of mental relief for me from the lengthy process of the needle felted dolls. Where those are time consuming and detail oriented, these are relatively basic and wip up in a very satisfactory instant-gratification sort of way. And they have such sweet character in their simplicity. These sweethearts just plain make me happy!

Unplugging...

I have to send my computer in for repairs, so a short unplugging will also be taking place. Well, sort of. My job requires mainly computer work, so I will most definitely be plugged in most of the day, but I will not be around here, or etsy, or flickr... oh dear, it makes me sad just to think of it!

See you in a week!

A New Little Man

... is in the shop! Check him out here.

Blogger won't let me load any photos right now, but you can see more pictures of the little guy in my shop!

A set including one each of the three paper doll postcards is also available now.

Paperdoll Postcards and Mail for You!

New in my shop! I am very excited about these, they have been on my mind for a while and it is very satisfying to have the completed product in my hands.

The items in question are Paperdoll Postcards! A sweet shy little girl paperdoll and four outfits on a beautiful soft gloss postcard. The doll is inspired by a vintage sewing pattern illustration, hand-drawn and digitally colored.



I have a long love of paperdolls. My mom had a terrific collection from when she was a child, and I collected and made my own as well. The Dover Publications catalog was highly anticipated in the mail, and the Tom Tierneypaperdoll books were my absolute favorites. Recently I remembered how much I always loved Tierney's work, and I looked him up online and sent him a note. His niece replied with a very nice message and I was as excited as some people might be upon getting Obama's autograph!

So anyway, all this rambling to tell you about my cards! I am obviously fairly excited, and I would really like to share! So leave a comment here with an email address, or send me your address in an email (make the subject line "paperdoll postcard"), and I will pop one of these cuties in the mail to you!

Good night my friends!

And a Boy!

My very first needle felted boy doll is dressed and ready to meet the world! I think he is very sweet, he has a pensive face but looks like he could kick a soccer ball with the best of them!


This was also my first attempt at a wire armature, which turned out to be a bit of a hassle. Three felting needles were broken, effectively halting my needle felting evenings until the emergency refill pack arrived from Ewetopia. It is good to have friends with connections.

My favorite part of this little man are his ears.



I am tempted to go back and add ears to all the other dolls I have around.

Visit my shop for more pictures!

Miniature Bliss

If I can't live in Corey's house someday, I will settle for one of these (click on the right arrow in the upper right corner of the page to see more and more and more... believe me, you will be glad you did).


Of course, I would have to get my hands on some of Alice's shrinking potion, since these wonderful rooms are built on a 1"=1' scale. Oh well. But, aren't they perfect? Find them at the Art Institute of Chicago.

My little etsy shop has been featured today on "Quirky'n'Berkeley" Fun!

Photo from Art Institute website.

Summer Sweetheart

Now available in my shop! She is not a Lenci, I still have some practicing to do to get to that level, but she is very sweet. If I do say so myself! I think she can be a wonderful dollhouse inhabitant, or a sweet little friend to stick in your pocket. Or she can decorate a desk or nature table, as others of her compatriots now do!!

I have been having some dilemmas on the pricing front. If I priced these dolls so that my time was actually worth, well, something, they would be way to expensive for anyone to buy. Conundrum. I am working on ways to cut down on production time while keeping to my meticulous standards of quality, we will have to see how that works out.

The part of making these dolls that takes up the time is felting the body. It takes an astonishing amount of wool to make each one, and compacting it in layers and layers is time consuming. The really fun part is when the basic body shape is together, and I can start to individualize it. Extra layers are added on to make bumps and curves, the legs must be rounded out and the tummy plumped up. Then the face, for sure the most fun part. It is amazing how the dolls come to life once they have eyes. Actually, I usually try to leave the eyes until the very end, it is hard to stab the needle into it when it has eyes. (Just to clarify, for those of you who are unfamiliar with needle felting, it is a process in which barbed needles - often recycled from industrial felting machines - are poked and jabbed at the wool, causing it to felt).

Two of my dolls have so far headed off to new homes. I know that this one is looking forward to traveling too!

Treasures, Etsy style

Today I happened to be in the right place at the right time and I scored myself an Etsy treasury! For those of you unfamiliar with Etsy, the treasury is a section of the site where people can "curate" their own display of pieces, usually the work of other Etsy sellers. To be honest, I am not exactly certain why this is so darned popular, but the fact remains that it is, and that it is very difficult to become a curator. This is because it is only possible to get one when there are less than 222 in all. When the amount hits that special number, anyone who happens to be around can click in and win!

I am suspicious that part of the draw of having a treasury is the feeling of accomplishment at having managed to get one.

That said, it was fun to find a selection of items out of the vast inventories on the site. My theme was dusty pink, and I found a wide variety of items that fit in that color scheme - you can have a look here!

I also posted another little felted lady in my shop. She is a flower child, I think, with a penchant for running barefoot through clover fields. She is also a dancer, light on her feet and fond of pirouettes.


You can find more pictures and a description of this tiny dancer here.

The littlest witch

This little lady was just posted to my shop. You may remember her from this post a little while ago, but now she has explored a little out of doors, and she is ready to travel further to a new home!


To see more, visit her in my shop!

ok, so I'm addicted to Etsy...

I'm not going to lie. I have been spending waaaay too much time lately perusing the pages of Etsy.com. I'm not quite sure why, even. I guess it is just that there are so many talented people all gathered together, and they are real! I especially like the forums, getting the inside scoop on the artists and artisans. Fun. And time consuming.

If this is going to work for me, I need to get off the internet and get working on items to post and, ideally, sell! I have a couple little needle felted dolls who will make an appearance once they are clothed and presentable. And some embroidery. And possibly some drawings... I have lots of in-progress projects going on, but no pictures of them at the moment.

In lieu of my own photos, have a look at some of the totally beautiful things I came across in blind obedience to my addiction:

>>>exquisite simplicity
>>>brilliant!
>>>so clean and modern
>>>adorable, in a kinda creepy way
>>>lovely, as are all the rest of her pieces

Now I will move away from the computer... maybe there is time for a bit of my own creativity before sleeping!

I'm putting up my shingle...

Isn't that what it's called, when you open up shop?

Today I finally placed some items for sale on Etsy. I signed up in - May? I think? - and it has taken me this long to overcome the mental block of putting my stuff out there. I think I subscribe to the philosophy, albeit involuntarily, that as long as things are not tried, there is always the possibility that they will work. Conversely, there is no chance that they will not work, which I think is more to the point. But of course that means that there is also no opportunity that they will work, so I am attempting to overcome that way of thinking and jump right in!


The first jump is five paintings, listed this afternoon. I realize that fine art, and especially paintings such as these, might not be the biggest sellers on Etsy, geared as it is towards jewelry and other more crafty items. I plan to list some other things soon, dolls and bags and the like. I would love if you would have a look, and I would really love feedback on the whole affair (especially from those experienced in the ways of Etsy)!