This is little Sophie all dressed up to have her picture taken. Alas, she couldn't stay awake so her formal baby pictures are of her sleeping.

Sophie is my original design. She is 16 inches long and has a fabric molded head. Her joints are movable. All of her clothing was designed and made just for her by me. I used some 1920's vintage lace and cream silk, left over from a wedding dress I made last year, to create her little dress. Her hair is craft fur. The little stuffed rabbit that she was clutching is store bought and "borrowed" from an older "sister". The ribbon headpiece in one picture is also store bought. The baby blanket that she is lying on is a family heirloom. She was a joy to design and create.

Max was designed completely by me, Casie of BeBe Babies and Friends. He is the second doll in my realistic preemie series. He is about 12 inches long and he is made of cotton spandex. His arms and legs are string jointed and he is very floppy for realistic posing. His little preemie shirt and hat were also made by me. He is painted with fabric paints and weighted with clean craft sand. He has a blonde mohair wig that has been trimmed to give it a more newborn style.

I'm very excited to enter this doll in the contest because this new design has produced two of my favorite dolls I have ever created. I am hoping to make many more in the future, as well as expand to larger, more realistic dolls.

This is Elizabeth Suesette (Betty Sue). She depicts an 11 month old toddler just learning to walk. She was made from my own pattern design. Her face is seamless but made with the same poly-interlock fabric and poly fiber fill as her body. She's 100% handmade with approximately 40 stitches per inch of both backstitches and interlocking whip stitches. Her face is hand painted with nontoxic acrylic paints. Her hair is individually sewn yarn strands and the style is also my design. She, as all my dolls, is machine washable. She is wearing a dress, panties & diaper I made from a pattern by Esther Lee Foster with added purchased embellishments. The diaper pins & lacey socks were purchased and the booties were crocheted by Kathy Simmons.

I started making needle sculpted dolls in 1984 and in 2003 developed my own pattern and needle sculpting techniques. In 2010 I began signing my dolls with a hart on their chests which bares my initials and the date the doll was created. I use the same nontoxic acrylic paints for their harts. All my dolls are meant to be cuddled so no wire is used.

Bluish Horror Story

Bluish is a baby ghost inspired to the gothic legend of a blue hair and pink eyes little child who truly lived in my country in 1400th (Azzurrina of Montebello). She was a Lords' little daughter and, 'cause of her strange look, folks feared she was a witch so mummy shut her up safe in the castle with two bodyguards but one day she mysteriously disappeared while toddling below her ragball and a dark, sad story tells her ghost wanders through the mazes of the castle calling "Mamma". Really I guess she went away with Circus where lived a long happy life together with other very special people.

Doll's head molded by myself in paper clay and then reproduced in Slip Fast with the old system of plaster mold. The dress is aged by infusions of licorice, accessories are muddy with gold dust (porporine) and I have tried to reply the sideways glance and the sulky face of and old fashion Lenci. Cm. 33 tall, entirely handcrafted by me on my own original design.

Handmade Earth Doll Orignal Design

This is Cece, she was made using natural materials. She is made with a combination of different techniques. Based on waldorf doll heads, the inner head is made from tightly rolled wool. Needle felting techniques are used to add facial features and then a cloth over method to cover the wool. Facial details are enforced with coloring and stitches. Her eyes are embroidered with cotton floss. No paints are used only natural beeswax crayons. Her hair is a wig made from natural mohair. Her torso is filled with wool and doll weighting glass beads for extra weight. She is made from my own pattern inspired by vintage dolls with floppy limbs. She has fabric joints which allow her limbs to easily pose. She can sit or lie flat. She is approx 12/13" long. Her romper is handmade by me from my own pattern, which was designed after an outfit my daughter had as a baby. Her bonnet is handmade from my own pattern, designed to look like a pixie bonnet.

Original Soft Sculpture

Rose Ella, Rosy, was born on May Day to herald in the Spring season. Kissed by the fairies, blessed by the angels, she is happiest in her little mother's arms.

Built from the bones up over a wire armature. Layers of polyfil create the muscles and the skin is pantyhose. Completely hand stitched. Her neck lets her head cuddle and flop like a real newborn. Lashes of hardened nylon over acrylic eyes. Outfit made of vintage 1950s rayon fabric. .

Original Doll

Baby Brynn is made from my original pattern. He is a few months old - his limbs are designed to be floppy, making him very cuddly.

His hair is acrylic and eyes painted. He is machine washable. I made his outfit out of a cotton knit print and my favourite blue velour fabric. I knitted his alternate outfit. I hope you love him as much as I do...

I was a doll maker/teacher/designer in the 80's & early 90's and until last month hadn't made a doll since 1994. I now have a little more 'me' time and am thrilled to be a part of this competition. Miss Martha's 'Precious' and Mimi Weiners 'Earth Angels' were my inspiration in the 80's. I love all Kezi dolls but could not get my Kezi dolls to look like hers. They always looked like mine and I preferred Kezi's!

This gave me the motivation to design my own. I was determined to come up with a seamless face and my Baby Brynn is an example of what I achieved. I am now re-inspired and looking forward to a whole lot more designing and doll making - my inspiration now is my grandchildren.

Meet Rose...

Rose is new to the world, being born a preemie she is really small.

Rose is made from a sculpting fabric and is about 17" long. She is bald with sleepy eyes. She is fully soft sculpted with all ten toes and all ten fingers. And she is anatomically correct. Rose is heavily weighted for a realistic feel. Her head will need supporting just like a real newborn baby.

Her clothing, a onesie and a cap.... She also wears a real preemie diaper and a magnetic paci.

Soft/needle Sculpture Baby

I designed "Justin" to resemble my youngest Son, as a Newborn.

He is made entirely from single-layer doll skin fabric (camel Craft Velour, smooth side showing) that I sewed up, and stuffed with polyester stuffing (plus micro sand glass beads in his torso for added weight).

He weighs just over 3 pounds and is very cuddly & pose-able (his arms and legs are jointed with hidden doll joints, his head is sewn to his body). He can sit up all by himself, without props..

His hair is a wig I made from black Craft Fur. His facial features, navel, bottom and toes, etc., are needle-sculpted with very strong thread- none are add-on's/separately sewn on.

His eyes are hand painted with acrylic paint and sealed. His mouth, face and body shading was all done by hand in mixed media and sealed. He contains nothing but polyester stuffing and glass beads (he has no mask/mold/form of any kind, needle felting, pom-poms, wires, etc., under his skin).

He is actual Newborn-baby size and is wearing a Carter's brand baby outfit in size Newborn. His toys are store bought.

Meet Makayla...

Makayla is really new to the world. All she does is sleep now as she has some growing to do...

Makayla is made from a sculpting fabric and is about 19" long. She has a head full of blonde hair with sleepy eyes. She is fully soft sculpted with all ten toes and all ten fingers. And she is anatomically correct. Makayla is heavily weighted for a realistic feel. Her head will need supporting just like a real newborn baby. She is made with doll pellets for realism.

Her clothing, a onesie and a cap.... She also wears a real preemie diaper and a magnetic paci.

This is "Baby" - she is a 6" (seated)all-cloth doll with jointed
shoulders, hips and neck. She is just the right size to nestle in the palm of your hand! She has a romper suit made of green bamboo knit fabric with a touch of pink embroidery, a knitted hat and cardigan and crochet booties. "Baby's" head is made from moulded knit fabric over a paperclay support and it has been sealed and then painted with artist's acrylics. Her hair is blonde fur fabric, painstakingly applied.

"Baby" represents a very young child of about ten months of age.....one of the photos shows her with her big sister.