A little history...

As a child I never liked dolls. I actually thought they were really creepy. Once I've been given a doll that was as tall as me...... my mom put it in my bedroom and I remember being petrified by her stare at night.  It didn't last long in our home........
I was more of a Lego girl. Luckily I had a younger brother who was often gifted with Lego boxes that he couldn't care less about! I built all those castles, houses, cars and even a helicopter for him.
I remember myself drawing, coloring, crocheting and embroidering all through my childhood. In my teens I took up painting and knitting.
The human form was a constant in my paintings and drawings. I always had a fascination for faces and the fantasy world.
In the early 80's I was gifted with a sculpted gnome. I was so enchanted by it that I wanted to make these magical beings too. I bought my first packets of Cernit polymer clay and I started sculpting gnomes and fantasy dolls. Sort of wingless fairies. I might still have some photos around......
They were supposed to be Christmas presents for all my friends but my room-mate took one to her office and orders started pouring in! I spent all nights making these dolls for filling orders and my friends got store bought gifts instead...
I worked on these dollies for some months then I moved on to something else as usual. When I master doing something....... I move on to something else! I'm the typical jack of many trades......

Anyway, the years that followed my first adventure in doll making were really busy. Arts and crafts have been always present in my life but always in between my many travels for pleasure and for work (I even worked as a travel guide for sometime), some jobs (including a boring one in a corporation office), a marriage and the evolution of technology as well!
In 1988 I had my first computer (Mac). I started playing with computer graphics, very basic stuff....... with a dot printer...... so noisy I couldn't print at night because I was disturbing my neighbors!! In 1991 I started my own artistic rubber stamp company that I still run today, 19 years later, a son later and an international move later!
I have achieved a good of success with it both on business and personal basis. In the course of the years I have been published on all major stamping magazines and published articles and how-to's. I appeared in some books and my stamps are used and sold worldwide.
In between all this, I always kept painting and toward the end of the millennium I also built a dollhouse and took some pottery classes (the only art classes of my life).
My interest for art-dolls appeared in me again 20 years later...... while surfing on eBay I came across some spirit dolls by Griselda and then by Gina who is today my great friend.
I got interested in art dolls again but I quit after making my 3rd spirit doll because I couldn't find the time and the real inspiration.
I even bought Art Dolls Quarterly since #1 for years, loving every page and doing nothing.
I bought a couple expensive dolls that I resold after sometime. I just wanted to see what they looked like in person. I bought a BJD from Korea. Gorgeous doll but soul-less because she's factory made. I played with her a bit, dressed her up and re-sold her a year later.

In August 2008 I bought yet another ADQ, but this time I got hit really hard by the doll bug! I saw the dolls by Beth Robinson........ those creepy, odd dolls that can scare the faint of heart. Well, they didn't scare me! I HAD TO make them too!!! I searched around for Paperclay, got myself a packet from Michaels and started sculpting my first creepy doll. A ghost....... LOL
So ugly I don't even want to show the photos. It sold on eBay........ and I got thrilled! I made more creepy dolls......... 3-4-5 or so. Thankfully they all got out of here fast! I really don't know, maybe there was an angel out there who didn't want to discourage me and bought my dolls to push me to keep going...... they were ugly!
Luckily I soon changed direction....... I reduced the size of my dolls (the first were 20 inches or so) and I started making prettier little girls. I am still in an evolution zone so I don't know if this is what I will keep doing....... probably not. I like to try new styles and ideas so I don't know where my dollmaking journey will take me to.
This is only a hobby for me and I do it at night, after I'm done with work, fed cats and humans, cleaned kitchen. I come to my studio, switch the TV on and create something.
This blog will start with a gallery of (about) all my dolls and their personal story. It's a way for me to preserve the memory of the idea and the process that went into each one.
Now I'm over a year into my doll making venture and still enjoying it, still evolving....... still experimenting........