and you'll be sure to receive a LOT of compliments
She measures approximately 1.75" x 1.75". I took a couple of photos of her against a jacket to give a better idea of her size. The photo at the top of the page is a close-up of her.
Her face is 100% silk, which I individually hand-drew, needle-sculpted and hand-painted. Her ears are part of the face and are also 100% silk, which I hand-painted...they are lavender with tiny polka dots. Each ear has a 4mm Swarovski crystal hand sewn into the center of it. She also has several Swarovski crystals sewn into her hair (center top between her ears).
Her coloful hairdo was designed from an Italian yarn which is a mixture of soft wispy "eyelash", and "poofs" of color. Her eyes and lips have a coat of crystal clear lacquer, which gives her a very "life-like" look and shine. The entire face has been sprayed with a matte finish sealer, so you don't have to worry about it running or smearing.
The pin's back is a circular piece of texturized brass to which the face and the pin's clasp have been cemented to.
Be sure to check out my other free "GIVEAWAYS", which I currently have running on DZFANTASY. All giveaways are listed in the right hand column of my blog. All you need to do is CLICK on the photo of the giveaway to get to the giveaway post.
GOOD LUCK!!
PRINCESS OF THE SEA
GRISELDA'S SPIRIT ART DOLLS
Although painting is my first love, assemblage and art dolls has become an essential spiritual practice. I love the process of sculpting with polymer clay and working with textiles, yarn, fibers and beading, creating a context where magic begins. I've been inspired by many cultures where dolls were made symbolic of the sacred...full of meaning and creativity, I feel there is an element of reverence and solitude that guides me gently into that type of art. This is for me a form of meditation...a beautiful dance with creativity, where Spirit moves me to find inspiration in nature, myth and life itself. My only hope is that people may find in my art a sense of peace. SPIRAL SUN
COBWEB 
Mildred's Christmas Shopping As the Christmas season begins, we find Mildred out at the mall carrying her heavy bags filled with gifts through the crowds of Christmas shoppers. Someone should tell her about the new and improved way to shop, on Etsy.com!
Mildred is a unique one-of-a-kind sculpture. An art doll creation by artist Patricia Bill. She has been hand crafted of kiln fired clay, wood and paper mache. Hand painted in acrylic paints and detailed with velvet and faux fur, she stands over 16 inches tall. Sure to become a treasured heirloom. She can be found in my Etsy shop - STAR SHINE GALLERY
"MAPLE MOON" by Megan
I create OOAK faerie sculptures using polymer clay over tiny wire armatures. This one is titled 'Maple Moon' and she is part of my private collection. I also sell faeries in my shop and do commissions if requested.
Each faerie begins as a faint whisper in my mind. She slowly develops into an idea over days or weeks--can't rush the creative Muse. When she is ready, she pours out of my mind and hands and into the clay and transforms herself from the figurative into the literal. I might work for days or weeks, and for hours and hours at a time on each sculpture until I am finished. I can become quite complusive about my sculpting and their detailing--barely stopping to eat, drink or rest, as I apply their hair, and hand paint details and sew them clothes. My sculptures come from my inner being and are meant to invoke joy in others. I am naturally drawn to the magical realms and my art has always reflected my love of faeries. These days, now more than ever, it is critical to nuture the magic in our lives.
CW POPPETS
FLOATING MARKET
by Christine
The doll pictured above is a primitive folk art Santa doll made of muslin that I painted, sanded, coffee stained and sanded again to give him a time-worn look. His facial features are entirely hand-stitched. His beard is made of wool that I purchased raw and hand-washed myself, and the sweet annie that fills his stocking was purchased from a living historic farm that is still operating just as it did in the 1800s.
ART FEY STUDIO
Wendy Dreams of Neverland
by Zaryana
Art Doll making is a big part of my life (and even part of my personality) that gives me an opportunity through the creative process to dream away from everyday life into the wonderful world of fantasy. I am passionately in love with creating Art Dolls and for me it is as important as fresh water and fresh air.
The process of creating itself has many wonderful aspects to it like: research and brainstorming, sculpting and painting, picking colors, fabrics, and accessories and designing a costume, finding right color, texture, and designs for hair and overall creating a character. The other thing that I really like about Art Doll making is that there is always a room for learning some new and exciting techniques. Also, hearing from my customers that my creations bring joy and happiness to their homes makes me a truly happy person.
FAERYSPELL CREATIONS
by Jennifer
Samilova, the Spirit Of The Forest: Slavic Goddess of the woods who is the fierce protector of all animals. She has the ability to shapeshift into a falcon, horse, snake, swan or a whirlwind and would not hesitate to cause harm to anyone who threatens her creatures. She lives deep in the woods and has great knowledge of plant medicine.
I am inspired to create my Faeries and mythic creatures through my fascination with the ancient lore and legends of the Faerie People of all lands. My artistic inspiration comes from Nature, first and foremost. I also love and greatly respect the work of artists such as Brian and Wendy Froud, Alan Lee, Arthur Rackham and Edmund Dulac. In addition to these, my inspiration as a doll artist comes from my love of old world dolls and old fashioned marionettes. I love the quality of a doll being doll-like, and yet seeming as if it could come to life at any moment. I believe this influence shows in my work, and is a part of what makes my dolls unique. My dolls truly seem to me to form themselves--I am only the medium. They emerge from the clay, each with his or her own distinct features and personality--they are always a surprise to me!
PAULETTE CARR
This is one of my favorite dolls. She is also my first "art doll". I was inspired by a pattern in Patti Culea's Beading for the Cloth Doll book. She was a challenge for me, but what a learning experience! Her clothing is made from silk fibers that I stitched between two layers of soluble stabilizer. I then hand dyed lace to match the color of the silk. The flower in her hair is recycled from an old hat!
ADVENTURES IN FIBER (Paulette's Blog)
CAYA'S CREATIONS
"Petite Poupees"
"Hi, my name is Catherine Gabriel and I live in Australia. I have been making miniature teddy bears and animals for the past 5 years and have recently ventured into cloth doll making. These dolls are called "Petite Poupees" and stand at 6 inches tall. They are made out of pimatex fabric with soft tibetan lambswool hair. The faces and clothes are drawn with watercolour pencils and pigma pens. I have designed these dolls to look almost like an illustration that has come to life."
MYSTIC REFLECTIONS
HONEYSUCKLE MYXIEby CARALYN
I have always enjoyed fantasy art, and have been drawing characters since I was really young...especially fairies. One day a fan told me something that changed the way I approach my art. She said, "I love your drawings, they have so much life, but I wish I could pull them off the page and hold them in my hand." I started thinking about what she said and decided to try a different way to give life to my ideas, and after some research, decided that I would try working with polymer clay. I had sculpted before in high school but never with polymer clay, and I found it was really easy to work with and my "Myxie" fairy sculptures were born. Once I have the sculpture done, I paint their features with acrylic paint and then add hair and make clothing to fit their personality. Honeysuckle is one of my favorite Myxies... I sculpted her using glow in the dark clay mixed with beige polymer clay, and was able to create a soft honey color for her skin. Usually when I am sculpting a myxie, it takes on a form as I go and doesn't turn out as I originally pictured, but I am always happy with how they turn out because they all have their own look and are truly one of a kind. Honeysuckle is special because she is one of the few that actually came out exactly as I envisioned her.
I hope you all enjoyed your visit with all the delightful "art doll" artists that I was so lucky to have participate in this post. We'd all love to hear any comments you may have!
MERFAERIEThis "Merfaerie" is my latest design. I've been wanting to create a fantasy creature who not only is a mermaid, who can flit through the magical ocean kingdoms and seas, but also one that can soar above the earth and visit other magical kingdoms as well. She is the first of my colorful Merfaeries!
I hope to be creating more of these "Merfaeries" in different sizes, as time allows. She is the largest ,and measures approximately 15" tall, with a fin span of 10" wide. Other sizes I am considering are 6.5", and 10".
Her upper body and face are 100% silk tussah fabric. Tussah silk comes from wild moths, whose main diet is oak leaves. I individually hand-drew, needle-sculpted, and hand-painted her face.
If you'd like to learn more about her, she is now out in my DZFANTASY SHOP ON Etsy...you can click on the link below to visit her:
I am also thinking of creating a "special" Merfaerie for one of my monthly "giveaways", so it would be fun to hear from all of you....to see what you think of this new design.
DZFANTASY'S OCTOBER GIVEAWAYTO ENTER, PLEASE DO THE FOLLOWING:
1. Leave a comment in this post.
2. Leave your email or a means of identifying yourself, should you be the lucky winner. If you sign in as anonymous, be sure to leave at least your first name!
That's all there is to it!
A winning entry will be randomly selected on November 1st, and the winner's NAME and COMMENT will be posted out here on DZFANTASY. Winner has 5 days in which to respond with their shipping information. If WINNER doesn't respond within the 5 day limit, I will randomly select another WINNER from the remaining entries.
If you have any questions, you may contact me at: dzfairies@msn.com
Now...a bit about the fairy! She is one of my wall style fairies, measuring approximately 10.5" tall from the tip of her toes to the top of her fluffy hairdo. She is my own original design, and created individually be me.
Her face is 100% silk, which I individually hand-drew, needle-sculpted and hand-painted.
Her body wing fabric is a fun, colorful batik fabric, with all different colored "hearts" in the design. She is posed to stay in her current position, however, since her arms have inner wire armatures, you can move those up or down a bit.
Her colorful hairdo was designed from a wispy, long "eyelash" style yarn, and is accented with a silk flower and Swarovski crystals. Her other accents are Swarovski crystals accenting the lavender heart on her chest, a waist accent of hearts and Swarovski crystals, crystals on the tip of each toe, and a silk flower and crystals in the center back of her wings.
She is one fun fairy, who will be making her home with the lucky winner of this "October Giveaway"!
GOOD LUCK TO ALL!!
In my previous post "HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A MAPLE LEAF THIS SIZE", I showed the steps of how I created this huge, silk maple leaf, whose template was created from one of the largest maple leaves I've ever seen....11.75" long x 11.25" wide, when I found it.
Dyeing the "face" fabric
Preparing the fabric for sewing
After I pressed the fabric dry, I ironed interfacing to one side of the fabric so that I could trace the face template onto the fabric.
Now the face is being stuffed with acrylic fiberfill. I was amazed at how much fiberfill it took to stuff this size face. It measures approximately 3" long and 2.25" wide. Lately, I 've been making teeny, tiny faces for my butterfly pins, so this was a big change of pace! 
In this photo the fairy's face has now been completely painted, and is ready for her hair. 
The entire sculpture is now completed!! She will soon be out in my DZFANTASY shop on Etsy.
Finished Leaf Waiting for the "Fairy Face" to be addedMY TUTORIAL ON CREATING
A
100% SILK "MAPLE LEAF FAIRY" WALL ACCENT
STEP ONE - The Leaf
What you will see here are the steps it took me to create a fiber sculpted "maple leaf fairy" wall accent using my original template of one of the biggest maple leaves I ever saw.
I designed the template from a real maple leaf my husband and I found while taking a walk two years ago during a gorgeous fall day in Lake Geneva, WI.
It was the most amazing size maple leaf I ever saw!This huge leaf, was laying among other regular sized leaves which had fallen from the tree. I was so thrilled at this find I had to rush back to our car and press it between paper towels so that I could perserve it until I got home. The leaf measured 11.75" long, and 11.25 wide by the time I got it home. It had shrunk just a little bit.
Below you will see the steps taken to create this 100% silk, leaf. In another post I will show you the steps taken to create the fairy's face, also out of 100% silk, and finally the completed creation! This is only the third "Maple Leaf Fairy" I have created using this huge maple leaf. There is so much work to it!
The photo below shows the template after I traced the actual leaf onto white posterboard. It was quite difficult tracing all the little peaks on the leaf without ruining the leaf.
The next step was to trace the leaf template onto the silk fabric which I used. I used "tussah" silk. Tussah silk is a silk that is derived from wild moths, whose main diet is oak leaves. I also use this same silk for all of my fantasy creation's faces, as well as the mermaids upper bodies. The natural color of tussah silk can be anywhere from a very light cream to a darker tan. When I plan on dying the silk, I use the very light colored tussah. In order to trace the template onto the fabric, I use an iron on interfacing.
The next step is steaming and pressing the leaf to get all the many wrinkles out that were incurred pulling it through the tiny opening. The photo below shows the leaf after it has been stuffed with acrylic fiberfill.
The next step is to "top-stitch" a design onto the leaf. The photo below shows the leaf after I have completed this step. I always sew all of my creations using a clear quilting thread.
Now is the part I love best.....painting the leaf using Jacquard's liquid Dye-na-Flow fabric paint. It flows on so nicely, but you have to work very quickly with it so that you don't develop lines in the coloring. Below are several photos taken in the process of painting the leaf.
I used several different shades of Dye-na-Flow to achieve the colors I wanted for the leaf. Below you will see the finished leaf....waiting to dry! The next step will be creating the "fairy face" , which will go on the center of leaf. The final creation will be a delightful, colorful wall hanging. Be sure to stop back to see the how the whole Maple Leaf Fairy turns out. I will be doing it in another post later this week. 
The center of the leaf and the stem are a bit off center, but this won't show when the creation is entirely completed. Be sure to stop back to see how the completed creation will look!
This is one of my "leaf fairies", which I just finished creating a couple of days ago. They are one of my favorite items to create, as I love painting onto silk fabric using Jaquard's Dye-na-Flow fabric paint. It is such fun watching the colors flow onto the fabric, and being able to blend all the different colors!
I created the leaf template from an Aspen leaf, which I pressed, then traced onto paper, and enlarged it on the copy machine to this size. I enlarged it from its orginal size to 144%. The "leaf fairy" above is now available in my DZFANTSY SHOP, click on the link below to find out more about her:
I use silk tussah fabric, as I love how it really absorbs the fabric paint so well. I use a medium size brush to paint the leaf. Tussah silk is a silk fabric derived from wild moths whose main diet is oak leaves. Its natural colors can range from a pale cream to a darker tan, depending in the amount of tannin that is in the oak leaves. I have found that it is becoming more difficult to find suppliers for this particular silk, and the prices keep going up. It is also the silk I use for all of my creations' faces and the mermaids upper bodies.After I sew the leaf, I lightly stuff it with acrylic fiberfil, top-stitch it into a design, and then the fun starts....I get to hand-paint it!! You have to be rather quick when applying the liquid paint, and blend the color, or it will leave lines in the fabric. I also paint a small section of the silk fabric to use in creating the face. These are "leaf fairies", and as they are the "spirit and essence" of the leaves, their faces have to blend in with whatever color I decide to make the leaf.
The fairy's face then gets sewn, stuffed, hand-drawn, needle-sculpted and hand-painted. After that is completed, she gets her hairdo and accents. The "fairy leaf" hairdo above is a fun, sparkly, Italian yarn with wispy eyelash and paper ribbon as its texture. For her hair accent, I added a Swarovski crystal flower bead, and several 4mm Swarovski crystals. I also added another crystal flower bead, and 4mm crystals at the base of the leaf.
