Discover Dolls - Peterborough - October 2010

What an amazing day! The show was great, lots of very familiar faces and lots of new people,  I got to see a lady who I used to live quite close to but had lost touch with since my move, so that was a bonus! I also got to spend time with Sam Brown, a fellow reborn artist and good friend, who spent the day with me on my stand and was saleswoman extraordinaire, which gave me time to take lots of pictures for people at the photobooth,  I will have to post a selection of the photos I took (including some incredible ones of Ceinwen's fairies) in another post because I have too much here just talking about the show!!

Sam and Ceinwen

I was really fortunate in that I had three babies adopted on the day, which really pleased me, Finn and Georgia both found new homes so I was really happy with that as well as Christine picking up her custom baby Kimberley Beth.

Christine Collecting Kimberley Beth

Sue collecting Finn

At the next table to me was Ceinwen Clarke who was displaying her amazing fairy creations and they were truly eyecatching and the amount of effort and time Ceinwen had put into not only the dolls but their individual outfits was wonderful.

There is something really satisfying about watching all these people who have come with such expectation and empty hands leaving with their new babies either wrapped in blankets or in presentation boxes and baskets with huge happy smiles at the end of the day.  As an artist knowing you have given that pleasure... well to be honest, there's not a feeling like it.

I did take a lot of photographs of the stands, the visitors and the dolls on display and below there is a slideshow selection for you all to enjoy.

Mini Magic

I fell in love with the second set of Secrist mini sculpts when they first appeared on the scene. I missed out of the first set completely, they sold out very fast but in some ways I don't actually mind that as the first set were in truth more difficult to do. On the first set you didn't have any pre-done eyes and painting realistic eyes onto a tiny 6 inch mini sculpt is a challenge to say the very least.

The second set featured 3 sculpts, one sleeping and two open eyed of which Belle, pictured here was one. This time the eyes were already done, which I imagine lead to more than one sigh of relief.

You would be mistaken in thinking that creating a doll from one of these tiny sculpts is any easier or less time consuming than a full sized sculpt, of anything they are more so because the tiny little details really require close attention and care when working on them.

although the mini sculpts came with their own very cute little outfits, it's always nice to add something individual and handmade and as luck would have it, I got that opportunity when I tested out a crochet pattern by Ceinwen Clarke that was going to be featured in the December 2009 Issue of Hello Dolly Magazine. After making the snuggie pattern up twice in full size i was inspired to make a mini version to fit little baby Belle.

Belle has recently gone off to a new home in Lithuania but I can see more minis in my future they are so much fun to do.

Eastbourne Craft Fair - December 2009

Ceinwen is on a mission to raise the profile of reborn art and I have to agree that the only way to do that really is to "get out there" in as many ways as we all can to show people the art and talk about the work involved in creating our dolls. I am so sick of hearing about Channel Four's 'My Fake Baby' programme. It has been a real double edged sword that one and the bad side was not only sharp but tipped with poison. For every 1 person who has said to me 'oh yes I saw My Fake Baby and it got me started in the artform', I can show you another 5 that say 'oh yes I saw My Fake Baby and you women that make these dolls are all mental and need psychiatric help' or something equally insulting and unnecessary.

I don't have a problem with people not liking reborn dolls, there is a reason for the aversion, it's understandable and in a lot of ways seeing someone do a double take because they're not sure or even seeing someone recoil can be a real compliment because it means that the artist has achieved the aim of the art, to make something so lifelike and realistic that the viewer is not sure what they are seeing.

If the art is ever going to shake off the stigma that has been attached by that programme and the other negative and sensationalist press that the artform has received, then it has to be down to the artists to get out there and tell people about what we do and why we do it.

Anyway I toddled off to Brighton to accompany Ceinwen to a craft event she was having a table at in Eastbourne, not a doll show, just a craft fair, but it seemed like a good opportunity to show off our work to some people other than doll enthusiasts... you never know, we might create a few new doll enthusiasts along the way. The room in the basement of the hotel was lovely, very airy and bright and there was a real mix of crafts on show on the various stands, from jewellery, knitting and photography to an amazing stand by a lady who made fabric art dolls which were incredibly detailed and had whimsical poses.


Our stand was on the outer ring of the second exhibition room in a really nice central spot and from the moment we started setting out our display we were busy, there was a constant stream of visitors to our stand, before the show opened it was other stall holders coming over, fascinated by the dolls on display and so it went on all day, we talked to people all day about the art, what was involved in making the dolls, how time consuming the rooting of hair was and how long it took to paint. Ceinwen was on hand with a blank kit to show the starting point of the art so people could see how much work was involved.

I spent most of the day demonstrating rooting and people commented how I must have the patience of a saint. I don't think I do, I just love what I do!


The only downside to this event for me was the lack of wifi and mobile service, something about the building made it impossible to get a signal and unfortunately that meant that we lost out on a couple of prospective doll sales.

Still... our intention in being there was really about showing off the art and getting people interested and we definitely achieved that!