More dolls!

If you can believe it, the Christmas rush is well underway here at Making Friends. I'm busy enough right now that I've closed rush custom orders and I'm currently taking orders for delivery in October.

Allow me to share with you my last 2 custom Waldorf orders - shipped in the last 2 weeks.

The sad thing for me about a rush job is that I don't really get time to get to know the dolls, bond with them, really fall in love with them. But then I remind myself that it's not important how I feel about the doll (beyond being able to take pride in my work), what's important is how the kid/adult getting the doll feels about it. 
Here's Lola. She was ordered on Monday evening, and shipped on Thursday. How's that for a speedy turn-around time??

With a rush order, I have to work with whatever I have on hand -- so that's one VERY good thing about them! There's no time to just wander through the fabric store, or to visit the yarn shop -- which is good, because I have a plethora of amazing fabrics and yarns already. Look at Lola's hair -- isn't it fabulous? I had that yarn just waiting for the right doll. I might never have used it for fear of not having it on hand anymore (sounds silly when I put it in words) but Lola needed curly blonde hair. And here we are :)

Then there was Carolyn. I was contacted by a mom with a little girl having a birthday in late August. She knew she had left it to the last minute, but did I think I could possibly complete a rush order for her daughter's birthday?

Ordered on  Monday, shipped on Friday. This one was more of a challenge - there's a lot of hand-work on this body style! Couple that with the fact that I don't usually have black hair yarn on hand . . . I actually had to raid my knitting stash for this one, so there are some premium, fancy-shmancy yarns on this doll's head.

And her dress fabric is one of those "I can't use this! I'll run out" things again. It's pretty perfect on Carolyn though, don't you think?
And yes, I totally ran out. And I'm fine with that. There's a whole bin of gorgeous fabrics here waiting to be used.

It would seem I neglected to share this adorable baby dragon with you.

This one is all natural. Stuffed with wool, made with cotton fabrics, and some lamb . . . I love her little snout.

Apparently Boober approves of baby dragons. One of these days I'll show you the behind the scenes images from a Making Friends photo shoot.

There are lots more baby dragons coming. Stay tuned for more images! I have lots more to show and share.

Two little cuties

This is Symphony, and oh holy crap! If she weren't already bought and paid for, I think we'd be adding another doll to the collection chez nous.

Symphony is a 10" jointed Waldorf doll. She's sporting an incredible lamb wig, and has a completely unbelievably adorable face. I could play with her for hours.

This one is little baby Allie. She's super cute too. Boober thought we should keep her forever and ever - but I sneaked her into her box and mailed her off this afternoon.

Her face is impish, don't you think?

At least now that Allie has been sent off, Boober will stop freaking out every time he sees her! His baby looks much the same, but he has green eyes and is always naked. Whenever he saw Allie, Boober would yell loudly as he attempted to reclaim his beloved doll - and no amount of conversation would persuade him that this particular doll was not his to love, kiss, and undress. Suffice it to say, there were a LOT of tears.

Productivity!

It has been a busy and productive few weeks! Let me show you.

This is Jennifer Jane, or JJ. She's the doll from the giveaway and has gone to be loved at her new home. She's sporting a first for Making Friends - Tibetan Lamb Skin (TLS) hair. I love the look of this stuff, although it is rough on the fingers to stitch down! For a long time I resisted the idea of TLS on dolls because . . . skin? Sounds off to me. Then I learned that in Tibet, part of their cultural practice involves eating lamb, and the skin used in Waldorf doll-making is a by-product of this cultural way of life.

JJ looks great, and her pigtails are adorable!
Wondering about that frilly dress? I bought it last year from Princess Poppets intending to use it for a giveaway. I had forgotten about it until last week.
Sadly, it looks like the maker of this awesome dress is on vacation for an indefinite period - but I still have one tutu that would fit a 14" doll!

This is the dragon from the giveaway. He came out much thinner than I had hoped - the velour didn't stretch quite as much as I had expected. But, oh he's cute!

And the perfect size for little arms to hold.
These dragons will be available for order via Etsy in the future. If you need one sooner, send me a message or an email.

And finally, there's this little fellow. Monkeys are so cute, don't you think? This pattern is especially charming.

This little guy has already reached his new home, and is busy playing with his little friend.

I have all kinds of things in production right now, but you will see a slow in my Etsy listings. My Christmas rush started last week - it gets earlier every year.
If you're thinking of putting a Making Friends creation under your tree this year, order soon!

Isabella

This one was fun. A lot of fun.
I started this doll a week ago. It was a very motivated project for me. See, I sent the momma who had ordered the doll (someone I consider to be an online friend) a photo as a bit of a joke -- just the doll's pieces, sewed up but not stuffed. "Here's your doll. Har, har." She showed her little girl the photo. Her little girl declared the empty doll skin gorgeous, said she loved it, and instantly named it Isabella.
At that moment, I knew this one was special.

Last year's giveaway saw a first for Making Friends - the rainbow haired doll. When she saw that rainbow beauty, the little girl mentioned above fell in love. She's been patiently waiting for a whole year for a rainbow baby of her very own. A whole year in Tiny Town -- is a lifetime.

Momma and I worked very closely on this doll, and as a result I feel like I know this little girl . . . at least a little. She loves Iron Man, and the colours orange and purple. She's been making up adventures that Isabella has been having right under my nose, but without me ever knowing. Isabella rides rainbows and (exciting!) eats dinner!

Most heart-rending for me - even though her momma told her that Isabella wasn't ready yet, even though she knew that there wasn't a chance, EVERY DAY since Isabella's order was placed, little girl has accompanied her mom to the mail box to see if she's arrived yet.
If there is nothing else that will get someone moving, it's the thought of disappointing an excited child. My wrists actually ache from the pace of the work I did on this doll.

Today her mom showed little girl the photos of her finished doll. "I AM SO READY TO LOVE HER!"
<3 <3 <3
Well hello, gratification.
I certainly hope there are no mailing hiccups.

Prize pool #2 - a dragon or monkey!

General Rules:

• You are not required to like Making Friends on Facebook, favourite Making Friends on Etsy, follow this blog, or pin anything on Pinterest. That said, if you like what you see well enough to want one of your own, then I would hope you will like, favourite, follow and/or pin my work. 
• 2 entries per household permitted. You're on the honour system here - don't break my heart! You choose whether you want both entries in pool 1, both in pool 2, or one in each pool. I will be checking that the winners only have 2 entries total. Additional entries mean instant disqualification. That's just cheating. 
• To enter, leave the following via comment: Your choice of prize, and a contact for yourself - either email or Etsy. Please keep in mind that while you CAN comment anonomously, I will need a way to contact you. Please manually enter 2 comments to get both of your entries - I cannot keep track of posts requesting 2 entries for the same pool. Sorry, and thanks.
  
• Winners will be selected via random number generator at noon EDT on June 25th, and contacted immediately. They will then have 48 hours to respond, or the prize will be passed on to a new winner. 

Pool rules: NO RUNNING ON THE DECK! Just kidding.
Winner of pool #2 gets their choice of either:

A dragon - to be made in blue and aqua, or red and yellow, with eye colour to be decided. This is a DIYFluffies pattern, and is super cute! Dragons are made with fleece and stuffed with polyfil.

Or a monkey made from a Dinky Baby pattern by Vicki Riley. The monkey is made with craft velour, and stuffed with polyfil.

Or if you'd like, you can be the first to try out a baby dragon - born of Sweet Pea's imagination and still in prototype stages. It will be made with fleece or cotton velour and stuffed with - you guessed it - polyfil! No photo because it doesn't exist yet. I'm not sure if that makes it more exciting or not.


Good luck to everyone, and keep the enthusiasm and love coming! You all make me smile.

**Comments are closed, and the winner has been notified**

Prize pool #1 - a Making Friends doll!

General rules:

• You are not required to like Making Friends on Facebook, favourite Making Friends on Etsy, follow this blog, or pin anything on Pinterest. That said, if you like what you see well enough to want one of your own, then I would hope you will like, favourite, follow and/or pin my work. 
• 2 entries per household permitted. You're on the honour system here - don't break my heart! You choose whether you want both entries in pool 1, both in pool 2, or one in each pool. I will be checking that the winners only have 2 entries total. Additional entries mean instant disqualification. That's just cheating. 
• To enter, leave the following via comment: Your choice of prize, and a contact for yourself - either email or Etsy. Please keep in mind that while you CAN comment anonomously, I will need a way to contact you. Please manually enter 2 comments to get both of your entries - I cannot keep track of posts requesting 2 entries for the same pool. Sorry, and thanks.
• Winners will be selected via random number generator at noon EDT on June 25th, and contacted immediately. They will then have 48 hours to respond, or the prize will be passed on to a new winner. 

Doll Pool details:
Prize consists of your choice of either a soft sculpture doll, made with a Dinky Baby pattern by Vicki Riley. Skin is synthetic content - craft velour, and the doll will be stuffed with polyfil. You choose skin tone (light or dark) and eye colour. Baby will come to you wearing a diaper and hat.

Or you can choose a 16" cloth doll - made with some Waldorf techniques, a layered wig, and basic outfit (no fancy costumes, princess details, superhero capes, etc.) Skin will be 100% cotton interlock just like Waldorf dolls, but it will be stuffed with polyfil. You choose skin tone, eye and hair colour, and suggest clothing colours.

OR a 10" Waldorf doll

This will be a semi-custom doll - you choose the hair and eye colour. The body is already made up with fair skin - just like the 2 pictured above but is NOT one of the above pictured dolls!! It will be made to your specifications, once you and I have discussed your preferences. Once again, it will be a basic outfit - no costumes.


Good luck to everyone, and thanks so much for your support, your clicks, and your enthusiasm!

**Comments are closed, and the winner has been notified!**

DOUBLE GIVE-AWAY! In which a second birthday, and 500 likes co-incide!

Tomorrow marks the second birthday of Making Friends. The day before yesterday saw the Making Friends Facebook page hit 500 likes. Both of these things are pretty significant - and both of them make me very, very happy.
To celebrate, I'm doing a double give-away! 2 chances at a loveable hand-made creation of your very own!
I think that the best way to do this is in 2 pools. Prize pool #1 will be for a doll. Prize pool #2 will be for a monkey or dragon. Each person will be permitted 2 entries - you choose whether you want them both in one pool or not. I'll open this up tomorrow, and it will close on June 25th at noon EDT.
Further details will be provided tomorrow with the kick-off posts - I hope to have them up by noon EDT, but you know how life and kids can postpone things. Check back in tomorrow!

Your chance at a smile this big, beginning tomorrow!