Welcome to my Spirit Doll Studio

Welcome friends! Please, grab a cup of coffee or tea, relax, and enjoy your visit to my studio. We are located high in the Santa Cruz Mountains, deep in the wonderful Redwoods. Please enjoy your visit, and come back often. Wonderful friendships have come from blogging, and especially from a blog hop like this!

Oh… and I have a give-away for you! Just leave a comment, and become a member, and in 30 days I’ll give away two of my “How to Create a Spirit Doll” books!  

They are selling on Etsy right now for $14.95. Here’s your chance to get one free! My hope is that you’ll be excited about creating your own Spirit Dolls! I’m ALWAYS available for questions or guidance… please feel free to email me!

So, here is my home and studio…. We live in a funky but sweet 

old cottage in the woods.

 I'm usually out here working with the early morning sun...

 

Don't be shy... 

come on in 

and 

have a look 

around....

WELCOME! 

May I introduce you to Pachama...

She stands 28" tall and 25" wide.
As an Andian deity insures inner strength and creativity.
The powerful Selenite Crystal in her headdress draws the light from Higher Realms.
Close to her womb, cradled in a bed of fern,she protects all humanity.
Her Prayer Stick directs your positive desires.
Her seedpods inspire your creative fertility.
Her feathers carry your prayers with every breeze,
in the tradition of the Tibetan Prayer Flags.
Her braided cord is a woven ‘Kumihimo’ in the Ancient Japanese Tradition,
reminding you of the ‘Braid of Life’ weaving us all together.

 

So, let's take a look around.....

Right off, you'll notice floor to ceiling shelves of supplies.

Sometimes, I get all the fabrics folded. These are actually smaller pieces of 

rescued designer fabrics I use to make the clothing for my Spirit Dolls.

I love using old hat boxes for trims and laces. And here you also see an antique Victorian desk organizer, trying to hold onto some trims and fringes... but they keep spilling out!

While I love using vintage storage solutions... 

I've found the portable 12x12 plastic storage containers just 

PERFECT for so many of my Spirit Doll activities. 

I'll show you what's in the containers a bit further down.

Turning your back on the storage wall you can see the front door and a mish-mash of supplies. I always look beyond the mess, out to the amazing view of the Redwoods.

Like this...

Okay... focusing again. Here's my sewing center with my dear Janome...

Here's a peek into one of the wire mesh drawers where I store more fabric.

 I love that I can see through them. I try to keep them color coordinated.

The late afternoon sun creates beautiful color through my bottle collection.

To the left of the door is yet another window. You can also see the pegboard that holds lots of supplies, to keep them close at hand.

My Ikea cabinets provide both out-of-sight storage and a great work space.

Paints, varnishes, a jumble of this and that.

The drawers keep me organized... WHEN I put things away!

This is the far left side of my work space... more windows of course. My table is so messy, I'm keeping the camera focused up, so you can't see how disorganized I am! I had it all cleaned up for the 'photo shoot'... but got distracted on another project. oh well.

So... what's in all these boxes?

Fun stuff... like seed pods....

And feathers, and miniature prayer sticks....

This box contains my miniature Wisdom Book supplies. Wonderful small pieces of leather, weathered old papers, some hand-made beads for closures, and leather cording.

Here are two little Wisdom Books made from these supplies....

Here is a vast amount of Spirit faces and adornments to call upon...

Another box for Blessing Stones and Spirit Rocks...

 

My 'go-to' box of jewels....

A box with just wire ribbons (also from Fabmo, where you can find amazing rescued designer fabrics and trims!)

More trims from Fabmo... great for hair on the Spirit Dolls.

These shorter trims are great....  makes for wild hair and head-pieces.

I know. This is ridiculous! I've been picking up embroidery floss at garage sales for years. The amazing wide variety of colors have saved me many a time!

A yummy stash of 'finer' silks... all vintage.

Another box is crammed full of fabulous Mulberry paper flowers.... 

great for anything from greeting cards to hair adornments.

 A container of Selenite, crystals, shards, and stones.... My girlfriend Maja sent me the 300 year old pottery shards she collected in the New Mexico desert... along with selenite crystals.

Wow... it's beginning to look like I just can't show you everything!

So... here are just a few of my Spirit Dolls, created from all these supplies.....

 

 

 

So, what follows are just a few of the other creations that have been created here... You can click on the 'Spirit Doll Gallery' for lots of pictures of the Spirit Dolls!
Many books of lace.... I love working with layers upon layers of vintage laces....

Here's a pile of lace books....

And, with some of those designer fabrics, here are a few Gypsy Purses....

And, at least once a year I break out the paste paper paints 

and go to town creating fun paste papers to use as journal covers.