A bit of an update from The Sandra Jones Center. I'm now in direct contact with the center, although they have difficulty with email due to poor internet service, I can now reach them by phone or email if you have any questions or concerns.

Thanks to Cindee Moyer the first box of dolls has been sent and arrived in South Africa! Thank you to Luella Mossom who made it possible to get the dolls to the center.

Onwards and upwards now that we know it's possible!

Proverbs 19:17
He who is gracious to a poor man lends to the LORD, And He will repay him for his good deed.

Thanks to everyone who has been kind enough to offer to help make dolls for the Sandra Jones Centre in Zimbabwe. The girls there are truly blessed to have so many willing to help!

I just want to keep you all updated and let you know myself and a couple kind ladies in South Africa are in the process of trying to find a better way to get the dolls to the centre. I'm in hopes that a gentleman from our church who is a ship captain is going to be able to help get the dolls from ports around the world...we have offers from(in alphabetical order not order of those good enough to help :) Australia,Canada, Mexico,South Africa, UK and the USA so if you live near a port city, if this nice ship captain can talk to others, perhaps those creating dolls could send to you as ambassadors and we could figure out from there how to get them to the ports.(I know this is a big ask, but it could work)

I did contact the airlines to no avail, the have not been helpful in the least! Surely there are flight attendants who could get the dolls a little further down the road....I'm trying to think outside the box and get the dolls to the girls as safe as possible with the least amount of cost to those of you good enough to bless the girls with your generosity. Don't forget to take photos of your dolls, I'm sure it will encourage others to make dolls as well.

If you have not started your dolls yet, Connie Hindmarsh has been FANTASTIC and offered one of her lovely doll patterns for us to use free of charge, the information is on Connie's blog.

Thank you again for you kind offers of help!

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up.

God bless each and every one of you'

Finally an address you can send your dolls to :)

I'm so sorry it's taken so long to get an address for those of you who would like to help, I had not thought about things such as the cost that might be inured on their side for customs and import tax or that they might need some sort of "SAFE" address to be given for direct shipments. Please make sure you mark your packages with a very small if any monetary value and mark them as a charity donation so they don't have any tax to pay on their side. Thanks to everyone who has been emailing with offers to help! God bless you all :)

Here is more info about the orphanage; http://www.sandrajonescentre.org/

Here is the address to send to directly:

Lydia Forbes
Sandra Jones Centre,
139 Old Esigodini Road,
Riverside, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

I'm hoping this weekend to put a very simple doll pattern here for anyone who would like to make and send a doll
Connie Hindmarsh generously stepped in and is offering one to use, have a look at the comment section for her information)
or
I also had the suggestion of sending vinyl dolls, here were a couple of those suggested to me, they are from Amazon, extremely well priced too!  Here are the direct links to Amazon. You may well find them elsewhere, this was just one suggestion give to me by someone who generously agreed to purchase 10 of the dolls and send them!   

 $7.95 for this one

Link for baby doll 1, click on baby doll 1 to go to site
Baby doll 1

10.99 for this one

Link for baby doll 2, click on baby doll 2 to go to site

Baby doll 2

 Here is the mailing address for donations of dolls that I mentioned in my last post

 Sandra Jones Centre, 139 Old Esigodini Road, Riverside, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe 

Please remember to make sure your item is marked DONATION so they don't incur huge taxes or import charges on their end. Thanks in advance for your help.
God bless you all

 Hello to all the crafters and doll makers out there! :)

I'm wondering if you might be able to help me?
A need for something totally different recently came to my attention, the need for children of horrible circumstance to get on with being children.....A Missionary came to our Church this past week, his daughter has gone to Zimbabwe for 2 years to work with the Sandra Jones Children's Village as nutritionist, the work is with a girls orphanage in Zimbabwe, most of the girls there have been assaulted,  bringing "shame" to the family so they have been thrown out on the streets! These girls are, for the most part, under the age of nine years old!! CHILDREN , and certainly not accountable for something an adult has done to them! Ian, the man speaking to us mentioned, that the girls were so thrilled and overwhelmed when someone donated 2 dolls of color to the center!  They had NEVER seen a doll of color, most of the girls are still very young and would like dolls to play with.....As a doll maker myself, as someone who believes every child should have the opportunity to be a CHILD... I'd LOVE to send dolls of color to them, but there are over 75 girls there at present (they have a lottery at night to determine who gets to sleep with the dolls for the night) that number is growing every day. I can no way make 75 dolls on my own, nor can I buy them in the UK, I have never seen a doll of color here.........
I'm asking if you have any suggestion of how to contact other doll makers and crafters making them aware, this is but one shelter, one place where these children are housed, there is surely a need of more than 75 dolls for just this shelter.

I'm sure they would  be happy with any type of toy....we all hear about how much these children need, food, water, medicine, & clothing, maybe what they need just as much is the comfort of something to cuddle when sad or frightened....the opportunity to be a child.


Thanks in advance !!!!  If you can't help, I TOTALLY understand, but if you can help in any way, if even only by word of mouth or posting a link on your own blog, that would be a fantastic help!
~Proverbs 28:27~ Whoever gives to the poor will not want
God bless you all

This is my member interview by the wonderful Group Art Dolls Only.

What Kinds of Dolls do you create? 

I have eclectic tastes, but most of my art dolls have some aspect of Gothic or Steampunk style, I do love ANYTHING vintage so I make vintage style dolls as well, I do try to use something vintage in every piece I create.
                                                                               
                                            

Where did you learn to make dolls? 

I'm self taught, I simply let the doll become who they are, guiding me along the way, telling me a life story that  dictates how they will look, dress and what kind of attitude or character they posses.I never take the time to sketch,  I don't use patterns or molds when making my art, and I change a lot of things on some dolls and not a single thing on others. I do keep a life size skeleton, and skull in my workspace so I get a realistic idea of proportion if that' what I'm going for.

What research do you do before you create?

 It depends really, with the likes of  Mary Mary Quite Contrary, I researched real plants for her Gothic garden,  making sure her garden only included real plants that were carnivorous, black or poison..I think a true Gothic garden would contain that sort of thing.
If I'm making a doll from days gone by, I make sure I know what kind of undergarments were worn, the hairstyles,and fashions that were in vogue for that era.I like things to be period correct, I feel the history of fashion is required research to dress a doll....if they didn't use elastic to hold up their knickers in an era that I'm creating for, you won't find elastic in that doll's knickers, when making dolls that came before sewing machines, I don't use one, I hand stitch everything. I'm sort of a stickler for things being as correct as possible.

Do you have a favorite doll that you have made?

I think Lady Bloo,She was inspired by my Niece who once wrote me a "ticket" for having too may Tangle bugs in my hair! So Lady Bloo was born, she is noted for having the most wonderful "rats nest" hair, but when she received Elvis the snake as a gift, he slithered through her wonderful hair gobbling up all of the little rats, Poor Elvis,now he has to wear a muzzle!  Lady Bloo enlisted the help of her Cat, Sir Hiss, to carry the piper who is a tiny Satyr, she's in hopes that he'll lure new rats and her hair will be restored to it's glorious messiness once more. Lady Bloo is my favorite doll because the very silly idea of being given a ticket by a child for my unruly curly hair grew into a whole story that I just HAD to create. The whole piece is called "Lady Bloo,Sir Hiss and the Piper take a walk on the wild side with Elvis" 

What are your favorite materials to create with?

I Love LaDoll & creative paperclay.  I prefer vintage fabrics when possible, adore old buttons, and am the enamored by anything rusty. I Love found objects and things from nature, small bits of sea glass, a gorgeous stone, feathers.....

Where does your inspiration come from? 

Hmm that's a hard one, I create dolls to sooth my over active imagination, I kid all the time,about "the voices in my head" They tell me things like "buy that piece of fantastic vintage velvet, it would make a perfect gown for me!"
The right piece of fabric, trim, or glass button may conjure a doll so powerful I have to rush home and  start as soon as possible. Music, nature, and history inspire me too. I'm told I have an odd sense of humor and I like to put a twist on my dolls when possible, so I guess something a little whimsical and out there inspires me too. 

Do have any doll artists that inspire you?

My Mom was the first artist to ever inspire me, we had a full size floor to ceiling marionette theater in our  living room for a long time when I was a kid! My Mom created the marionettes, first sculpting the heads in clay, then making a molds,then doing the same with the hands, She made the cloth bodies, painted and strung them, then put on shows for my Sisters and me, it was all fascinating to watch as a kid, who wouldn't want to create such magic after seeing it first hand!
My Mom first inspired, then encouraged me to do whatever I wanted to in life, without her telling me I could do it, I would never have tried.  Robert McKinley, & books by Susan Oroyan really inspired me too. Outside the doll world, I really love unusual and whimsical, so Tim Burton instantly springs to mind. 

What advice would you give new doll artists?

Don't give up! Your first doll may be a disaster, sure you will make a few mistakes, think that you could have done it better, and you probably can, that's the point, if you give up you achieve nothing! Create your own style, work with your heart, not just your hands, and don't skimp on quality supplies.

What is your dream project?

My dream project would probably involve being able to work with the likes of Robert McKinley or Tim Burton but more realistically I'm working on my dream project every day! I'm a full time doll maker, it doesn't get any better than that for me! Life is but a dream....there are so many dolls to bring to life!

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