Du Buh Du Designs

Happy Fourth of July Weekend!

mini framed photo from inside the gypsy caravan

Thank you so much for all of you wonderful comments and name, book suggestions  left on my last post! I wish I could give each one of you a party gift in the form of a doll:) According to the random number generator the winner is no.  14,  Jessica Jane!

 I will post the doll she chose sometime on Monday along with a shop update notice as I will be putting the remaining six in my Etsy shop next week. I am still getting around to looking at all of the sites that participated in the Mad Hatter Tea Party~I was so impressed by what I saw that I can't wait to see what everyone else created~ Well done and thanks again to Vanessa for hosting the  event for a second year!


a few days of kite-flying and playing in the sand ..

Well, we just got back last night after having taken a few days off for some relaxation time along the Northern Oregon Coast..we had spectacular weather and a great time. Andres and I were the last ones on the beach after the sunset; even in the chilly evenings he didn't want to leave ~nor did  I :)
I'll be back next week~ we have family in town today for the holiday and thus begins a busy month+ of family visits! Hope you have a safe one:)


looking north toward Oceanside and Cape Meares , Oregon

En route to the Mad Hatter Tea Party via the Gypsy Caravan!

(click images to enlarge)

The new Du Buh Du ladies were quite excited to receive an invitation to the second annual Mad Hatter Tea Party. Rumors have been swirling around that last year's party was a blast and so the seven headed on down to Arizona to join in on the the event hosted by Miss Vanessa.
 Last year as you may recall, a few Du Buh Du ladies took a rather fanciful balloon ride there but after hearing that Miss Violet fell out and broke her neck the new ladies  decided to take a safer mode of transportation (closer to the ground) in the form of a Gypsy Caravan. Here's just a snippet of their two day journey...




taking a leisurely break after their first day traveling..
















Susanne with a doll for the hostess








a little tarot card reading to pass the time






Trilby daydreaming her afternoon away whilst listening to Spanish Guitar music..




An evening at the gypsy camp, where dancing  under the moon ensues







The next morning  lends itself to sightseeing with the realiztion that they are oh so close to the Tea Party..





Rushing to get to the party in time~Hope to see you there!


 To "mingle" and meet other guests, head on over to Vanessa's place. List of participants are on the right hand column of her blog , A Fanciful Twist!



Special Thanks to my husband Mark for building the gypsy caravan for me (it actually moves !) and for putting up with my taskmaster ways~You did an a-m-a-z-i-n-g job ;) Happy Birthday and Anniversary to you (both on Sunday)!!
xo

In celebration of my 150th post (a few weeks back ) and the Mad Hatter Tea Party I am having a giveaway! I will pick one winner via the random number generator and that person will get to choose one of the seven dolls posted here to take home with them (each doll comes with a small handmade wire lantern by the way). Just leave a doll name suggestion, music , book or movie suggestion or a simple hello and where you are from. I will pick a winner on Thursday July 2nd ~if for some reason you can't leave a comment just email me at dubuhdudesigns@aol.com and I will add your comment :)
The next few weeks will be busy for us as we're heading out of town followed by family visits here, but I will try and have a small shop update with the remaining dolls in the next two weeks. I will post that info
here or you can join my mailing list to hear first when that will occur (info in right hand column).

The Elements, a Tea Party and Important Dresses.

Hi there! I've been meaning to post  since last week but just haven't had the chance. There is an upcoming blog event being held by a group I belong to (Art Dolls Only) and it's open to all. If are a doll maker or have always wanted to make an art doll now would be a great chance to show off your work while meeting others who make and appreciate art dolls. The online event will be held July18-19th and the theme is the Four elements~you make make up to four dolls , each representing one of the elements (earth, air, wind, fire). Please visit ADO's blog for more details:)

 

Also just a reminder that the deadline for the"Addressing the Situation" project is coming up. Dresses need to be sent in on the first~please visit Monica's blog for more details.

I'm finishing up  a couple of dolls for this Saturday's Mad Hatter Tea Party over at A Fanciful Twist's blog. I believe is still open if you would like sign up to participate ~and if it's anything like last years "party",there will be lots of creative fun to be had for sure :) I'm trying to finish things by Wednesday as we have plans to head out of town this later this weekend so everything is sort of rush rush right now. I'm backed up on my emails ~ hopefully I'll get a chance to email back this week ..my apologies as well if I havent been by your blog in weeks or ( even months!). Just need to find time in my day to enjoy my favorite blogs. See you Saturday:)
Happy belated Fathers Day and Summer Solstice!

Andres this morning waiting for the Energizer bunny to wake up

Well it's  been a weekend of "flight related" events here in town~Summer time in Bend means activities galore). With two guys in the house that love anything to do with flying you know where we were.. We got up early Saturday morning to see the annual "Balloons Over Bend" event only to be disappointed ~the winds prevented the balloons from flying. Fortunately this morning, at my subtle urging, (GET UP nooooww !! ) we were able to see the 6:30 am launch of at least a dozen or more hot air balloons down at the Ampitheater in the Old Mill District. It was worth the early rise and chilly weather to see the colorful balloons float about. Andres, despite having been in one before, was a little unsure of them (the sound and fire scared him) but we could see his pensive little face was curious. Mark stood awhile in line with him to get on a teathered balloon for a "short ride" but Andres backed out at the last minute and was rather vocal about not getting on. Perhaps next year:)














Saturday morning after the first failed balloon launch we ventured out to the airport for the annual "Airport Appreciation Day" (they ought to re-schedule this for Father's Day) and Andres got to pretend he was a pilot in the helicopters  and watched the flyover of F-15's and other planes take off and land. They were giving helicopter rides over the area (what a way to see the Cascades) but we passed on it this year. Andres went up in one two years ago  but since lately he's at that stage where he would either love it or be afraid (translation: throw a tantrum) we figured perhaps another time :)


Saturday evening's light show ~complete with a few balloons, music and fire dancers under a full moon.




As I mentioned before I'm taking a short blog break and will be back later this month. I have several projects to get to and two blog events coming up including the Mad Hatter Tea Party.. after this weekend's inspiration perhaps we'll have a Hot Air Balloon Ride Part II ..?. :)
See you soon!

(Thank you to those who purchased a doll this weekend!)

Mini Shop Update

Due to the many requests I have been getting regarding, my dolls,  I have included doll descriptions in each of the three previous posts . Also, please see my shop policies regarding shipping, pricing and doll construction info. A link to it will be in the right column from now on under FAQ's. Thanks:)

Tallulah

click images to enlarge

Here is Tallulah and her branch of green pears (in keeping with the theme of the past few dolls). I chose to use viscose again for the hair as I really like how it handles. I have lots of silk samples, soy, bamboo,etc and they are very similar in texture but still aren't the best for long hair. The best solution so far seems to be mohair, although the texture is a bit coarse so now I have to find the right mohair ~ probably not of any importance to you unless you are a fellow doll maker :) I also want to keep costs down so I don't have to raise my prices too much.Thanks for all of your tips!

I have decided to put Bellanca, Tita and Tallulah  in my shop this weekend~I'll include the details here in the next few days  (I'll send out emails to those on my mailing list first ) and  doll descriptions will be included here just before the "update". Actually it's not really an update as I had wanted to have more dolls but I thought these should be in my shop sooner rather than later.

I have several projects to get to including making dolls for a few blog events coming up (plus I just found out I have jury duty in the next week or two) . So I figured this would be a good time to take a few weeks off from blogging so I can catch up on my projects and then return later this month with new dolls :) 

: D  O  L  L     D  E  S  C  R  I  P  T  I  O  N  :

Tallulah is approx. 12.25 inches from head to toe (31.12 cm). She is wearing an aqua blue dress with sun/ flower patterns embroidered with copper and gold metallic thread (fabric from India). She wears a teal blue ribbon sash made of lace and her shoes are painted metallic gold. Around her neck she wears a necklace of glass beads and a brass pendant with an orange swarovski crystal (the necklace has been glue in place to prevent breakage).
Tallulah is also part of the new series of Du Buh Du Dolls that are made with "hair". Her chestnut brown hair (made of viscose and matching her eyes) is pulled up into two buns in the back and glued into place. Two green silk flowers adorn the  her hair.

She is carrying a branch of green pears, each fruit is hand sculpted by me from polymer clay (just as my dolls are) and painted with acrylics and a protective varnish.
Please note that my dolls always vary in size and while these are approx. the same size as my previous doll they have slightly larger heads as I find this size even more agreeable to work with:)

(For more info visit this link for FAQ's , info. about doll construction, my shop policies and pricing)

Tita

click images to enlarge

Hello! I have another doll to share~ Tita, (named after the main character in the book Like Water for Chocolate.) This is the second doll  I've made using fiber for dolls hair. This particular material is viscose which is a wonderful to work with . It's quite soft and while it's not as shiny as silk it does have a slight sheen to it. When I tugged on the viscose, some of the hair did come loose but nothing like what happened while working with the silks. So this may be a solution to the long hair dilemma. I have several more fibers to try out including mohair and bamboo. Tita looked quite exotic with long hair  but it wasn't quite the right look for her (my camera batteries were dead which is why there's no photo). Her hair is pulled up into two buns in the back and adorned with teal green flowers made of acid free mulberry paper. I also wanted to continue with the theme of fruit that I started with Bellanca and so I made Tita a branch of lemons as they reminded me of Mexico and they symbolize love and friendship.

  I have several projects that I need to begin so the dolls may be a little slow in coming. (I'll try and post images as I finish them).Thanks again for all of the kind feedback and suggestions!






: D  O  L  L     D  E  S  C  R  I  P  T  I  O  N  :

Tita is approx. 12 inches from head to toe (30 cm). She is wearing a flowing, pleated cotton skirt in a teal blue with a mustard colored apron-like covering over it. Her top is white cotton and smocked.that ties in the front and is accented with a bee pin. Around her neck she wears a necklace made of tiny green glass beads with a decorative rhinestone piece in the center (glued). Her shoes are painted black and her eyes are brown. Tita is also part of the new series of Du Buh Du Dolls that are made with "hair". Tita's black hair (made of viscose) is pulled up into two buns in the back and glued into place. Teal blue silk flowers adorn the back of her hair.

She is carrying a branch of lemons, each fruit is hand sculpted by me from polymer clay (just as my dolls are) and painted with acrylics and a protective varnish.
Please note that my dolls always vary in size and while these are approx. the same size as my previous doll they have slightly larger heads as I find this size even more agreeable to work with:)

(For more info visit this link for FAQ's , info. about doll construction , my shop policies and pricing.)