JoAnn Roberts Victoria doll

I bought this doll kit from JoAnn Roberts four years ago and it sat in my closet the entire time until I went to St. Louis for NAME National convention. I figured I would work on the doll during off times and if I ran into trouble, I could call up Jo for help.

I was pleasantly surprised to find it was really EASY to dress the doll. Jo had done all the hard stuff, so I just had to glue everything in place.

The doll was already wigged. The hat was done (by Deb Moran). The parasol was done (by Deb Moran). The skirt and train was all cut and glued in place by Jo.

All I had to do was glue the bodice, sleeves and skirt embellishments into place. Even the sleeves and bodice pattern had already been cut for me.

 And here she is--Victoria, la belle femme.

I had trouble following written directions for the pouf at the back, so Jo demonstrated what she meant when I took my class on the lady in ball gown.

  Deb Moran makes BEAUTIFUL hats, full of lace, ruffles, silk ribbon roses and fluffy bows, lush ostrich feather plumes, and silk bows all over.

Here's the beautiful parasol that was included with the doll and kit.

It looks complicated, but Jo says this is the EASIEST kit to dress a doll that she carries.

However, I would recommend taking at least one class with Jo before you order this kind of kit because the written instructions have hand-drawn sketches, but no step-by-step photos so you have to be familiar with her techniques and verbiage for the instructions to make sense, unless you already have experience dressing dolls to begin with.

If you ever experience problems or have questions with any kit you buy from Jo, just call her on the phone and she's more than happy to talk you through it. Worst case, you can send the doll to her to fix any mistakes you made and she will send back to you as good as if she had made it herself.

Jo guarantees all her dolls.

The Meals at 2014 St Louis NAME National Convention

These  pictures are just to make you hungry and represent the meals we received during our 3 meal functions. It's been too long to remember when I ate what.

The worst meal in terms of quality and quantity was the Thursday Opening luncheon when the main entree was a salad, a bread roll and a small dessert. Some people got their meal late or not at all.

The best meal was the Saturday banquet and Sunday brunch was not too bad either.

Best of all was winning one of the table centerpieces. I got one of the EXTRA table centerpieces because more centerpieces were created than they had actual tables for number of people registered, so I was one of 3 people who received an extra table centerpiece, and it was a great one.

Not too bad for sitting at "unlucky" table number 13.

Donations to St Louis NAME National Convention

This is the playhouse from 2013's Lexington Houseparty that I donated as Houseparty Helper in St. Louis. The theme was toys and childhood items, so I used all the totebag favors received and put them in the playhouse, which was a Thursday Night Fundraiser featuring a playhouse kit by Phil and Lynn Joehnke. The playhouse is based on a playhouse in one of the Little Golden Books that Babette Overman, who was chair of the houseparty, collects.

 Here is the inside of the playhouse, which also includes many of the roundtable kits offered at the Houseparty.

 I made the flowers for the side of the playhouse.

The playhouse was won by Jenny Fortin of Colorado.

 This is a quarter scale Craftsman style house featuring two roomboxes from Teresa Callender kits. I built the house to hold the two roomboxes.

Here is a view of the roomboxes. One is a living room with fireplace and bookcases flanking the fireplace. The bottom roombox is a Craftsman style kitchen with eat-in dining nook.

Not pictured is the engraved artwork on the sides of both roomboxes, which I also colored in with paint markers.

St Louis National Theme Luncheon and ME Gala souvenirs

 The 2 chairs and table are souvenir gifts received at the ME Gala with Mary Engelbreit, native St. Louisian, as guest of honor. Not pictured are daisy shaped cookies and a pin created by ME special for the occasion, that all Gala guests received.

It was a sold-out affair with dinner on the 42nd floor of Kemoll's restaurant, which gives the diner unobstructed 360 degree views of downtown S. Louis and the famous Golden Arch.

ME signed about 250 books and posed for pictures with everyone who asked for an autograph. Jean Scribner, official NAME photographer, generously took photos of everyone who came up to shake hands and meet ME.

I felt sorry for ME having to sign her name 200 times and getting blinded by flashing camera bulbs, but I guess that's the price of fame. She was a good sport about it.


 This is what I made in a class with Carolyn McVicker. We learned to make tostada chips, guacamole, tostada bowl, carrot sticks, celery sticks, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, cauliflower florets, sour cream with chopped vegetables, salad dip, and how to paint fiesta style plates with Gallery Glass paints.

Cucumbers were made for us. All the clay had been pre-mixed for us since it was a half-day class.

If you take a full day class with Carolyn, she makes you learn how to blend your own food clay.

It was a very good class with lots of learning tips. Everyone received a tostada bowlmold made from silicone.

 The Huck Finn doll received from Pat Boldt theme luncheon, "How I make Dolls". It was an interesting presentation for me, since I have never taken a theme luncheon with Pat.

One good tip I received from Pat was to use a Butterfly needle as a glue stopper for the fine tip glue bottles. Pat says a lot of things that claim to be "stainless steel" are not truly stainless, and can cause metal to rust over time and spot your glue. The butterfly needles used when they draw your blood at the doctor's clinic or hospital are truly stainless steel, so ask for one the next time you have your blood drawn.

 This is the Baby House cabinet for a 1 inch scale dollhouse that we received at Lew and Barbara Kummerow's theme luncheon in St. Louis. They specialize in making antique toys in 1 inch scale or smaller.

I had a hard time hearing what Lew was saying, but the lunch was great.

This 144 scale dollhouse I received at a Kummerow theme luncheon at Cleveland's NAME National convention. It's a reproduction of the very 1st dollhouse they sold when they began their miniature business many years ago.

St. Louis NAME National --Table Gifts and Souvenirs

These are table gifts I received sitting at table 13 with Vernis Ross as Table Hostess. Vernis is the nicest, friendliest and best table hostess I have ever had since attending my 1st NAME National Convention in Seattle in 2010. Molly Cromwell was also at my table, Jane Justis, a couple from Virginia with her mother in tow, Vernis' sister Althea Baker, and two other very nice, but quiet ladies I didn't get a chance to chat much with. I ended up at a great table despite having reservations of who I would end up with on completely random basis.

Here's my pile of table gifts before being opened in St Louis

Our best-ever-table hostess Vernis Ross presented the entire table with a bag of goodies that included necessities for surviving a convention, such as a travel size pack of Kleenex, foam paint brush, travel size bottle of tacky glue, a foam sponge blotter, pencil, pen, notepad, glue stick, and too many other goodies to mention.

 From Vernis Ross

 from Althea Baker

 

The readable Raggedy Ann book and huge shopping totebag were all from the same lady. The book is printed and readable on both sides and does NOT use the accordion style of making book pages. It's like a real-life book, but in miniature scale. Very nice.

 

 hanging flower pot

 lattice wall planter

 hurricane lamp in crocheted base

 lady's fan from Jane Justis

 handmade hyndrangea stems

 a wood box to decorate

 how convenient--the plate has same initial as my 1st name!

 a plate of beautifully made petit fours, from the same lady who made the hyndrangea flower stems

 This was my big exchange gift, from the same lady who made the petit fours--awesome!!!

 Our 1st souvenir was received at opening luncheon. It's a river paddle boat cast in pewter by Barbara Meyers, who specializes in making animals in QS.

 This set of Mark Twain books was also presented at the opening luncheon. The books have blank pages, same cover for all 6 volumes, but is nicely made. How cute is the tiny black box the gifts come in? I see re-use possibilities in miniature.

The final gift was presented at Sunday brunch and is a laser cut photo album of major cities along the Mississippi. It features a pop-up of the famous Golden Arch of St. Louis and was created by Carol Kubrican of True2scale, who also created the logo for the convention. The gift came in a mini linen bag stamped with the convention's logo.

The Becky doll (from Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer) is the deluxe souvenir of the convention from Pat Boldt and presented at the Saturday banquet. 

Let me tell you, it is a lot of work to fire the doll (porcelain), paint the face, wig the doll, and dress the doll, for 450 people. Look at the doll--she has a bonnet, an apron, a dress, and underwear. It would easily take the average person one week to complete just one doll, much less agree to make 450 such dolls.

JoAnn Roberts Lady in Ballgown

This doll was made in a class I took with JoAnn Roberts at St. Louis NAME National Convention, my 2nd with Jo. The 1st time I took a class with Jo was four years ago, when I was a complete novice when it came to dolls. This time I had more courage and was willing to make mistakes for the sake of learning from my mistakes, but Jo is always there to save the day and correct mistakes so you will finish with a doll you are satisfied with.

We had 10 people in the class, all ladies. No one finished, but my doll was 95% complete by the time I left and I put the final finishing touches when I got home.

 Here she is in all her glory. She can stand on her own without aid of a doll stand. The ballgown is all silk and cotton lace, which is harder to come by these days. There is no 100% cotton lace used in doll making. There's always a small percentage of polyester used for strength.

 Here's the back view of the doll. One tip I picked up from Jo, who used to be a real life hair dresser--never cut your doll's hair the same length. It doesn't happen in real life, so don't cut your doll's hair the same length. For the curls at the back of the head, they are all different lengths, just slightly shorter or longer the overall "shoulder length." Looks more natural this way.

 In the class I learned how to make bows the Jo-way, ruching, pleating with the Pretty Pleater, making ribbon roses and ribbon leaves, and the "ripple" effect she uses for lace ruffles.

To be honest, she demonstrated all these techniques in class. I thought I "learned" it, until I actually put in practice. She makes it look easy because she's been doing this for over 20 years. I have a ways to go in mastering these basics.

Micro Scale Art Museum in 1 inch scale Artist Paint Box

 The 1 inch artist paint box was the souvenir for the Micro Mini 2014 Online Convention and included the easel, table with 2 chairs, and the paintings on the box lid.

It was a miracle that I didn't break anything considering the size of the souvenir. I sweated bullets putting the box together though.

 I also participated in the swaps for the online convention and used what I received to make the "garden" and garden accessories you might find at an art museum, and voila! Project finished.

 The man and dog figure is from Lesia Lennex and they are studying the painting on the easel.

I exhibited this at the St. Louis NAME National convention.