Thursday, August 20, 2009

Voodoo dolls


Voodoo dolls have a bad reputation let’s face it. Stick it with a pin to make that annoying person in your life endure physical illness. Inflict all manner of misfortunes on enemies with the use of the doll. It’s fun and a little scary.

Any time magic or universal energy is used there is a balancing effect to ensure all energies stay in order. It is important to use your voodoo doll/poppet responsibly to avoid Karmic repercussions. You wouldn’t want to break a toe simply because you gave an annoying co-worker a little toe ache with the use of a voodoo doll.

Ten ways to use your voodoo doll/poppet;

  1. Healing; use pins to locate specific areas of the body that you wish to direct healing energies.
  2. Protection; adorn your doll with items that represent yourself or someone you wish to protect. Place it in a see-through muslin bag and instruct the divine energies that the bag will let in only positive influences and block negative.
  3. If a loved one is away from the home, adorn it with a representative charm and give it a kiss every night before going to sleep. Your loved one will know that you are thinking of them and will perhaps think of you too.
  4. Prevent a child’s bad dreams by instructing the doll that its job is to keep bad dreams at bay, present the child the doll. Every night when you put the child to sleep, remind the doll of it’s important job.
  5. Use the doll as a cute Halloween toy for your child.
  6. Place a protection spell on the doll and present it to a travelling friend or loved one. It will keep them safe on their journey.
  7. Give the doll to a cherished pet as a protective toy.
  8. Use the doll as a focusing tool when performing spell work on behalf of another.
  9. Give the doll a bag of coins and place it where you do your budgeting, it will help you to balance your accounts.
  10. Use it as a cute and fun home décor piece.

May your doll bring you enjoyment and fun!!

Monday, August 17, 2009

Why buy handmade?


Kimberly’s Goods is a brand new business, only a month old. As the owner and only crafter in this business, I want to experience first hand what it was like to be a customer in the hand made universe.

So I began to shop. The most unique gifts are the hand made so in that spirit my goal for the next year is to buy the majority of my gifts from hand made sellers.

My first purchase was a celebratory gift for my self. I purchased a wristlet to hold my work keys from a charming and colorful shop called Sweet Irie. The experience made me a fan of handcrafted goods for life.

The wristlet was wrapped up like a charming little gift with a blue ribbon. I found myself tearing into the little package like a kid on Christmas. The wristlet was perfect, well made, exactly what I was looking for. To my surprise there was also a little bag of goodies tucked into the parcel, with discount coupons, a sample from another shop and a cute little matchbook note pad. All these little treats made the experience delightful.

Check out Sweet Irie, you won’t be disappointed.

http://www.sweetirie.com

Friday, August 7, 2009

Shoes = Inspiration


I love painting on fabric. It’s fun, challenging and entirely pliable. I love the way the paint blends together to create colorful and uplifting images.

Take shoes for example. What can brighten up the rainiest day better than a stunning pair of shoes? How about a stunning shoe painted on an eyeglass case, or pillow or anything else for that matter.

I am currently creating hand painted accessories. Something small and fun to pamper yourself or someone else you love. These accessories are colorful, perky and entirely one of a kind.

Enjoy!

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

The love of the art

I love the days where I am so productive, so inspired and something beautiful is the product. It gives me butterflies in my stomach and leaves me feeling fulfilled. It's on days like these that I would make dolls just for the fun of it.
I love how they take on their own personality in the process. As the pieces are sewn and stuffed, who knows what they will be? Then the hair and face, and suddenly they are alive with possibility. Next the clothing and jewelry. Make up and other dangles and flair. Finally it's a work of art!

Here's picture of my newest Art doll, she needs a few finishing touches and a name but she’ll be in the shop by the end of the week.

I think at this point I’ll be taking a break from art dolls and focus on the kids dolls. My kids dolls will be make by request however I’ll have a little brother and sister pair shortly to model their clothing line. I am so excited about these dolls in particular as, unlike the art dolls, they are entirely huggable and playable.


Have a wonderful Day exploring your own creative side.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

11 days into it.


I received a custom order for a Charlie Chaplin doll, which I excitedly accepted. This doll has been a challenge and I’m very proud of it! I’ll be opening up my line to include likeness dolls of all types.

Charlie’s suit Jacket and pants are cotton, the vest is wool and his shoes and bowler hat are made of modeling clay covered in flannel.

I got to try out my new felting needle on the hair and mustache and I love the effect. It make rooting the hair easy and gives me the ability to do a nice job with very short hair. Facial hair is also a breeze.

I’m getting great feedback and response on the my dolls and I’m starting to look forward to Halloween, Christmas and all the craft sale opportunities up and coming.

Friday, July 17, 2009

Ready to go!!



The initial dolls are all complete and ready to go! Tomorrow is launch day, and the first four dolls will be posted to my Etsy store, with several more dolls in various stages of production. I’m trying out a line of kid friendly dolls with their own clothing line. You should see them in the shop within the next few weeks.

I’m also working on some kick butt shoes, yep a dolly shoe collection may pop up.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Launch day!

The dolls are up, The store is updated, the Web site ready to go. I am now in business. I’ll be relentlessly marketing myself for the next little while.

I want to extend a huge Thank you to my supporters and idea people. Thank you for the help, you all know who you are, but here’s a few (Bri, Monique, Peg, Jim, Cheryl, Juan)

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Plugging right along


With the clothing made on my initial dolls, it is now time to paint faces, Add embellishments and finishing touches.

These first four dolls will be the last of the smaller dolls that I will make . I’ll be embarking on a bit of a theme over the next little while which will be a bit of a surprise.

As I am a woman also and it is my prerogative to change my mind regularly, also because the store has not yet open, I’ve decided to put other projects on hold temporarily. To be honest I am enjoying the dolls immensely and prefer to put more energy into them.

I can’t wait for you all to meet them, Again a teaser picture has been posted in this blog.

Nine more days, and so exciting!!!

Friday, July 3, 2009

The dolls are taking me longer to complete than I am happy with, partially because they have such tiny body parts that sewing is a challenge, partially because to date they are all female dolls, and let’s face it females are more finicky.

“I want long hair, make me bangs, not short but long, no no taper them. I think I want all my hair braided, I don’t like it, start again.”

They don’t even have faces for crying out loud!!! So having said this I’v come to three decisions;

  1. I need to make bigger dolls, not for the bigger voices but for the ease of sewing. Price will not change.
  2. I need a felting needle. Hey if they are going to be so picky with the most elaborate fashions demanded, I need to root the hair faster than I have been.
  3. I need to make a few male dolls to balance the hormones.

Quality is of utmost importance, so changes that help maintain the quality while allowing me to be more productive is a plus.


Have a great day!

Friday, June 19, 2009

Production and portraits

Production of my initial set of dolls is well underway, They should have all discovered their personalities by the end of the weekend, allowing me the opportunity to work on some Batiks. I’m excited that things are rolling right along beautifully. My craft room on the other hand needs some TLC, I’ll be celebrating the launch with a bit of a decorating session.

I’m currently looking for five people to model for some sample portraits. First come first serve, in exchange for allowing me to use the portraits on this site, they will receive the original piece. E-mail me if you would like to be one of those five.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

It Begins


Just when it seemed everything was running smoothly in my business startup, I ran into a road block while attempting to set up my domain name on my mobile me hosting site. By the time this is read by anyone however it will be fixed. I’m currently creating my stock and researching all I need to know to make this business work. Wish me luck.