Hobby photography

I will admit that I am at times quite envious of people that have excellent photography skills. I can take pretty good (and at times great) photos of people but miniatures of all kinds give me a lot of trouble. The really annoying part of the whole thing is I know what at least some of the problem is. I have really horrible lighting in my house. I can't take indoor photos after dark or even on cloudy days because it is just too dark inside and the lighting is pretty yellow. It doesn't make for a good photo. Outside photos are a tiny bit better. Overcast days I can sometimes get some pretty excellent shots and I can get some decent shots when it is sunny. I don't have a super place outdoors to take photos though. The outside table is meant to be an outside table. It slopes down slightly from the center to the edges. I am assuming that is to make sure rain water runs off so you don't have standing water on your table. The kids have a big swing set but the ladder steps are sloped and even the "tree-house" floor is slightly tilted. I end up taking most of the outdoor photos on a saw-horse. Not the best thing to get a nice picture.
Inside photos I have a bit more for flat surfaces but still not tons. We have a serious lack of space in here ☻. I even have one of those cool collapsible photo cubes that pros use to get nice product pictures. But I have lighting issues. I have one florescent light that I saves from a fish tank and a couple of incandescent lights I got with the photo cube. But those lights should probably go because they heat up quite a bit and very quickly. I should probably look into some more florescent lights, I can get pretty good photos at live shows.

I also need to get some more patience. The doll group photo I have is nice. I am pretty proud of it. It took me a couple of hours to get that shot just the way I wanted it. I set the dolls up one Saturday morning and took a series of shots. Then I uploaded them and studied the dolls. I moved heads and legs a bit here and there so they would look more like people and less like dolls. At one point the back row fell over and I had to set them back up. The end photo looks pretty good in my opinion. The dolls don't look like plastic people and it is not to light or too dark. However it took a couple of hours, lol. Another problem I have is my camera. I finally have a nice camera that I know is fully capable to taking really excellent photos. In the hands of someone who has a clue what they are doing, it takes really excellent photos. I learned how to use my Dad's manual film camera for my grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary (no pictures from that day, sorry) and then used it to do the photos for my friend Annie's wedding. Those pictures came out really nicely. But my camera is a mystery to me. I probably should get out the book that came with it and see if I can figure it out a bit more. Then I need to work on getting good photos in less than a couple of hours.

So all in all, I know at least part of the problem I have with getting nice photos. There are probably some key points I am missing that would help me out immensely with getting nicer pictures. And nicer pictures not only are better for the brag book but better for selling your work as well.

Working away

The backlog is done and most of the official customer orders as well. I am not totally stop taking custom orders but I think I will take a break from advertising for custom orders. I ran 2 sales recently, one in December and one in January and while they brought in business they also cost me a lot. That and the donation doll I already have done for the Mary Kay foundation (totally worth it, she brought in $230 for the foundation!) and the several donation dolls I have in the semi-near future...I need to stop giving everything away I think, lol.

So this is the newest doll to come out of my studio. She's fairly simple to reflect the current trend in the show ring. But still sparkly because I like that sort of thing :) I think I will also have a couple of saddle seat dolls for sale in the near future. They can be a lot of fun.

February countdown

Only one week left in February. I have a good chunk of work to finish up so I don't fall behind again but things are coming along well. I'm also trying to keep up with the blog without having much to say. At least there will be photos. I got that group of western dolls done the other day and then the next day I finished 2 more dolls. That is the beauty and the curse of working in groups. It takes awhile to get anything done but then you get a lot done all at once. I finished this western pleasure doll as well. I had a lot of them to do in that group but the new chap design is making me happy. This lady was a trade for a painted resin I received back in the very beginning of January. It's about time she gets finished and on her way home.

Then I had this nice casual lady. I did something a little different with her sweater that I think makes it look more realistic and more in scale. Things being in scale is very important to me. But I like how this came out so I think if/when I do more sweaters this will be the way they get done.

Then yesterday I was wandering around MH$P and found an artist that was looking to trade paintwork for some unpainted mini resins I have hanging around. So I am trading a couple of those for a paint job for my Hazel resin. About time Hazel gets some clothes on, she's been hanging around naked for a long time now. I want her to be chestnut and something like this horse would be great I think. Hmm, she even looks a teeny bit like Hazel (I just noticed that).

And finally, February has been an exceptionally good month because of the doll that I made to raise money for the Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation. I took offers on her until yesterday and she brought in $230 for the charity! I covered the paypal fees and shipping so the full amount would go to the charity and that is a respectable amount I think. And it is also exciting that the couple that had the high bid on the doll are very nice people. I wrote back and forth with the husband a few times and he and his wife wanted the doll so badly. His wife has had an ongoing battle with cancer and besides loving the doll (which is a nice boost for me) the money would go to a cause that is very close to home for them. A doll is just a doll but it is nice to have something you create go to people that will keep it and love it.

Off to the post office this morning to ship dolls and get Hazel to the painter. Then perhaps finish up a few dolls that are also very close to done and get to work on the next batch.

Western dolls

I haven't finished anything in a bit and it has been making me crazy. Part of the reason for that is I have been working on a very large number of dolls all at the same time. Some of that was boredom (I hate the winter) and the need to change things up a bit (working doll-making like an assembly line is a bit different) and some of it was and still is the lack of materials. I am so low on black and brown skiver it is very challenging to make any boots. Rio Rondo was out last time I checked as well. *gasp* what do I do now?! So I found a leather dealer on eBay that had lots of super thin, undyed skiver. I asked that he sent me the thinnest possible. I got it in and it is wonderful stuff, very thin and I won't run out for a long time. The problem is the prismacolor markers I use for coloring small bits of leather, (they don't leave an iridescent sheen) like English boot bottoms, isn't good for coloring the larger portions that are needed to make the rest of the boot. *sigh* so I ordered some black and brown dye and am waiting for that to come in. While I wait I have been working on bits and pieces of lots of dolls. But yesterday I decided I needed a positive boost and had to finish something. So I finished 3 somethings.
I ended up taking a shortcut on the cowboy and just cutting down some plastic boots for him (I may keep him for myself so that's OK...) and the ladies both have Ultrasuede boots. Not my favorite for boot making but they match the chaps perfectly.

The cowboy has been slow to get finished because I have been considering keeping him. I put him near my saddle pad and realized his shirt was a great match. Now I have to think if I am going to keep him or not. Hmmm.... Today I am hoping to finish up another batch of dolls. I have one more western pleasure doll that is pretty close to done so she might get finished. And then I have 4 English dolls of different varieties to finish up. I don't think I have enough skiver to do them all but I am going to try. Besides that I need to hair a bunch of heads. Maybe I can get all of that done today. That would be fun.

My newest doll donation

She's finally done! The special donation doll I have been working on. This is Mary Kay. She is a 100% donation to the Mary Kay foundation. The foundation funds research into cancers that affect woman as well as domestic violence programs. As I mentioned in a previous blog my Mary Kay unit is putting on a fund raiser in Springfield, MA called "Pink at the Rink". Last year we raised over $14,000 and this year we want to double it (or more, more is good). The event itself is a hockey game that will take place on March 6th. There will be a special ceremony on the ice before the game honoring cancer survivors. I was not part of Mary Kay last year and didn't attend the event though people who did say the ceremony was very moving.
Many ideas were suggested on how we could raise money (besides selling tickets to the game). They sounded nice but since I am a doll maker I decided I would make a special doll. Everybody needs dolls after all.

Mary Kay Cosmetics is a glamorous company. The independent beauty consultents teach skin care and make-up artistry and make woman feel good. I figured that Mary Kay the doll should be glamorous as well. She has tons of swarovski crystals on her outfit as well as newly designed chaps that I feel are more realistic than the old design. I believe I have created a glamorous doll. She is much lovelier in person. When I asked Ethan what he thought of her he said she was "very sparkly". Photos just don't show how true that is.I'm taking offers on the doll on MH$P until February 21. If you are interested in making an offer please see her ad http://www.modelhorsesalespages.com/sales/view_details.asp?id=764941. Also if you are interested in making a donation to the Mary Kay foundation or would like more information you can visit the website at http://www.mkacf.org/Pages/Home.aspx

Waiting for Spring

I don't like winter. When I was a kid snow was fun because you could go sledding, build a fort, etc. Now snow is just cold, makes getting around hard and we haven't had good fort/snowman snow very often in recent years. You can't build anything with the light powdery stuff no matter how much of it there is.

Last Monday it was just about 60 degrees. Then 2 days later is was 9 degrees. I hate New England. So it's not time to put away the winter things yet. Even my dog has a coat (and she likes it, lol!). It's hard to be warm and look cute but she pulls it off.

Winter doesn't inspire me to do lots of new projects but I am plugging along. I have a very special doll in the works and I will post photos and her story when she is all done. I am also working on customer orders. I am a bit behind but not horribly so. Hopefully tomorrow the groundhog will decide we finally get an early Spring. I can't wait for it to be warm enough to open a window and not freeze.

January countdown

January is more than halfway done and I am happy to say I don't think I am behind on orders. That's pretty good seeing as I spent the last couple of months of 2009 freaking out about how late things were. The truth is I don't like to be late at all. If I say I will get your doll done in mid-November and it isn't done until late November I feel bad. For 2010 I started something new. I have just been saying the month the doll will be done and that seems to have helped me relax and get more done. So now if life gets in the way a little more than normal or I get bit by the lazy bug (more and more when the weather is dark and gloomy) then I don't have to feel horrible while I am working.

I ran a holiday sale in December which was well received. That gave me plenty to do this month without overburdening me with custom orders. I do want to sneak in some dolls here and there of my own choosing. But that will probably have to be if I have time at the end of the month. I did enjoy the sale, which was $50 off a new order plus a lower required deposit, and everyone that wrote to me with an order seemed happy with the sale as well.

At the moment I am also running another sale. I was putting photos in my doll book and realized I had reached my 150th doll! So of coarse it was time for another sale. So that will give me plenty to do in February. I also found that the orders seem to come in groups. Last week I did a bunch of English dolls (casual and hunt seat both) and this week seems to be ruled by western pleasure dolls. Next week is also going to be western pleasure dolls but I believe I have two dolls in turquoise/black/silver and 2 dolls in light and dark green. I am thinking of some designs that are very different from each other so that will make working with the same colors more fun.

Some of you know that besides making dolls I am also a Mary Kay consultant. My national area is putting on a fundraiser with a local hockey team to raise money for the Mary Kay Ash foundation which supports research into cancers that affect women as well as domestic violence programs. The event is called "Pink at the Rink" so I thought it would be fun to make a doll in pink. So far I am thinking a western pleasure doll but I am not positive what I want to do just yet. I have some design ideas running through my head and I think this will be fun. Once the doll is complete I will put her on MH$P and take offers for a week. All of the money from her sale will go to the Mary Kay Ash foundation.

I'm not sure what else the year will have in store for me. I don't think I will hold another sale next month so this could be the last chance for awhile. But I do enjoy making people happy and I know times are tough. Everybody needs dolls so if I can make it a little easier for people to get them then I am glad to help.

I am also still not sure about holding my live show this year. I still don't have a car so even going to book the hall is not something I can easily do. Though I could probably call them, book over the phone and mail them a check. Hmm, something to consider I guess. Then there is the judge issue. I need 10 judges total. I only need 9 other people if I do a section myself but that is still quite a few judges needed. Then there is all of the fund raising. So many hobby artists are stretched so thin that they can't afford to do donations. And without donations the show may not squeak by. I will keep thinking on it and see. I overfilled my plate last year with the wedding, my show and all the shows I judged at and attended. This year I may need to take things easier.

So that is the latest from the Field Of Dolls Studio. I hate the winter and the weather makes me miserable. I am thinking of moving to Hawaii. Even the unseasonably warm weather we have been having hasn't helped much. I live on a dirt road so the temps in the high 30's and low 40's make for a lot of mud. But winter doesn't last forever and it will get warm again. I can't wait until I can open the windows. Is it Spring yet?