Blah....

I'm suffering from a severe lack of motivation! Right now I have at least 5 different dolls in progress and various other projects going and nothing is inspiring me to complete any of them. I guess I have "crafter's block."

I was thinking that maybe I should stop by the Craft & Folk Art Museum to get my juices flowing. Unfortunately, it's also raining here in LA (contrary to Tony Toni Tone's declaration that "It Never Rains in Southern California"), which deeply influences any desire to drive in town. But I think I'll suck it up, throw on several layers of comfort and warmth and head out into the world...wish me luck!

R.I.P.

Octavia Butler

1947-2006

2005

Welcome to the Jinamae 2005 collection.

Below is the result of three months of a lot of hard work and a million trips to Michaels, but it is all worth it. I really love making the dolls and put a bit of myself into each one. This year I experimented with size making five of the dolls 20 inches tall (twice the size of the smaller ones). It was great working on a larger scale and I think I may stick with this height in the future. Also, you may notice that many on my girls have become very well endowed. That's right, 2005 is the year of the boob! Cleavage is everywhere!

Los Angeles is a great place to do what I do because there's inspiration everywhere. Women in town have such a sense of style from the fabulous to the freakish and everything in between. The city offers great resources for materials and I find myself all over town hunting for just the right things. But the hunt is one of the best parts of the process.

~ I first want to thank Stash, my fiancee, who put up with a house full of felt and late night sewing. He also built my Bazaar Bizarre booth for me...thanks love!
~ I also have to thank my mom who is by far my best client! I don't think she ever intended to begin collecting dolls, but over the years her collection has grown not only with Jinamaes, but beautiful dolls from around the world.
~ Also, I can't forget Allison of Supercrafty. She's always giving me bags of yarn and fabric. While most people would pass over these scraps...they've been a goldmine for me. She's also my soon to be cousin-in-law! Thank you so much!

I hope you enjoy the collection and feel free to drop me an email with any comments or questions: jinamae72@yahoo.com

lisa

My little China doll...her top was impossible to make! It kept fraying and falling apart, but somehow I managed and she turned out to be such a cutie.

lisa_detail

dionne

"I need a 'round the way girl!" Dionne is my favorite doll of the entire collection...so much so that I told myself I could only keep one doll this time around and she's it. You can't see from the picture, but she has on a pair of old-school gold door knocker earrings like I once had in the '80s.

shannon

Another crowd fave at Bazaar Bizarre. This was the first time I used "Sculpty" clay for accessories.

I haven't com up with a name for her yet...I'm open to suggestions.

She was made specifically for a doll show at Monkey House Toys in Silverlake. It is a great shop owned and operated by Mayra who is totally dedicated to bringing unique toys to kids. Check out their site...

www.monkeyhousetoys.com

farah

The Persian princess...I still want to make a designer handbag for her and she needs her mandatory small dog as well.

The following dolls are all 10 inches tall which has been the traditional size of Jinamae dolls. Each one is completed handmade and done through a variety of techniques. Enjoy!

sagami

Named for seas around the world these three aquatic beauties were especially enjoyable to create. Supercrafty spplied the yarn for their hair, which I think is the best part...THANKS!

flores

savu

vanessa

This group of homegirls is called "Las Munecas" and is led by Vanessa. Leadership was passed down to her from Alma (see below), an OG from the neighborhood.

These girls were a big hit at Bazaar Bizarre.

bubbles

Bubbles is the glamour girl of the set. She's always busy getting manicures and going shopping. She hopes to either be a fashion designer or marry rich. Despite her fashionista side, she's always down for her girls.

huera

She's the roughneck of the group. Always down for whatever.

april

I wanted to create a group of dolls specifically designed with children in mind. So many of the other Jinamae dolls are too delicate for any type of regular handling.

The "Puffs" are 3 dolls made a bit more durably than the others and each includes a little friend.

panda

A little surprise!

june

may

FRIDA

**FRIDA**

This was by far one of my favorite dolls in the collection ( I think I've said that about 12 times already)...and the first to go. I admire Frida Kahlo as a woman, activist and artist and this is my small tribute to her.

Many people have asked why I didn't do her trademark uni-brow. I tried but it looked kind of crazy...not everything translates well in felt!

KARIMAH

I don't know what I was thinking when I first made Karimah but she's was TACKY! She had on some red leather hot pants and a disco top.

So I pulled everything off and started over. In the end she turned out beautifully and was a crowd favorite at Bazaar Bizaare.

MAKEDA & SOLOMON

Young love...isn't it grand? Solomon and Makeda are the cutest pair. Makeda lucked out since Solomon was the only guy in the bunch and all the ladies were vying for his attention!

MAKEDA

SOLOMON

CLAIRE

I handbeaded Miss Claire's dress...it took forever!!! In the end I was happy with the results and now I'm ready to learn more about beading fabric. I'm even thinking about doing it on my wedding dress...(I'm sure I'll come to my senses on that one).

ANGIE

If rock n roll groupies had a queen, it would be Angie. She's a die-hard KISS fan especially for Paul Stanley.

CAELAN

I loved this fabric the moment I came across it and it really complimented the color of Caelan's hair. The tiny turquoise sequins and gold embroidery were great details.

Holly Would

There's a specific type of woman in LA who is always on top of the trends, the parties and whatever is "it" at the moment. This is my tribute to her.

MARIPOSA

Madame butterfly...I got a bit experimental with this one.

NIKKI

I wanted to have some fun and came up this frisky little lady...

DOTTIE

In the roaring '20s Miss Dottie was the cat's meow...for her the party isn't over yet!

*@@@@@@*

Well, I think I have finally gotten over my post Bazaar Bizarre exhaustion. The days before the show were absolutely insane, I think I slept a total of 10 hours the entire week!

The show went very well. This year it was located in the famous Shrine Auditorium where the Oscars were held. Much more space than last year which was great! I sold several dolls and bunches of the doll head magnets and ornaments. I received so much love from everyone there...people really got a kick out of the dolls! Thanks to everyone!

I'll post pictures of Bazaar Bizarre soon as well as the newest collection of Jinamae dolls.

Ahhhhhhhh!

I have been so busy trying to finish 25 dolls in time for the Bazaar Bizarre next week. For those in the LA area, this is a great art/craft show and the perfect place to get unique gifts for everyone on your list! Come check it out!

www.bazaarbizarre.org/la

KALLI

Kalli was the final doll I completed last year. And she is also one which I decided to keep for myself. Her dress is made of leather and tagged by my man, Stash. It's our little collaboratio. He also tagged up Miriam's tote bag as well.

TIEGAN

ANIKA

I wanted to experiment with a different skin tone...it's hard to see from the picture but I crochetrd her little sweater out of mohair.

grace

under construction

My entries have been pretty scant...I've got less than a month before the Bazaar Bizarre show in LA and I have so much more work to do. I set pretty lofty goals for this year...but I think I'll make it (by the skin of my teeth).

gents

For every young lady there is always a fellow not far behind...

xxxxxxxxxx

Nothing too fancy, I really just wanted to finish her so I could move on. In the end I only used a little bit of the turquoise snake skin for her belt.

XXXXXXX

Here's Little Miss X...finally done.

:":":":":

Thanks to Mrs. Supercrafty for the beautiful vintage fabric!

ALMA

She's definitely one of my favorties...so much so that I decided that I had to keep her for myself! Check out her great tattoos and she has a dragon on her back as well.

PAIGE

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Here are some of the beads and such I use when creating the dolls. I really enjoy the silver spirals and the tiny shells.

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So my trip to Mexico wasn't the craft supply bonanza that I thought it would be...it was however a Tequila bonaza. We landed in Ensenada which is more of a tourist/party destination. I did buy a bunch of local craft items, but I thought I might stumble across a great fabric store or bead shop. I guess if I had a bit more time to research...

The best part of the trip was when my boyfriend, Stash, proposed! It was very sweet and of course I said yes. In true DIY fashion he didn't present me with a ring, but a gorgeous emerald. Once we returned to LA we began the process of finding a ring and having it set. I just wanted to share this little bit...I promise this won't become another wedding blog!

Now I'm back on the East Coast visting my family and in the midst of heavy doll production. I forgot how humid it can be even this late in the summer...but it keeps me indoors working!

HYACINTH

There's not a club this side of Tokyo that Miss Hyacinth hasn't graced with her presence. She's a tried and true party girl!

SYRAH

Syrah is Los Angeles! I had the city and all its beautiful ones in mind when I made her. Her real name is actually Sarah and she's originally from the Mid-West, but once she made it to LA she became a star (or a least a wannabe).

TATI

I love Miss Tati, my homegirl! I wanted to experiment with cornrows and her's turned out perfect. Add the afro-puffs and she was too fierce!

weekend warrior

This past weekend was very hectic! On Saturday I spent the afternoon in downtown LA's Fashion District and when I was halfway there I realized I forgot my camera. The whole area is sub-divided between women's clothes, men's, children's and the best part...the fabric stores & craft supplies! I hopped around from shop to shop for a few hours finding some great deals including a great price on seed beads and ribbon.

My main reason for traveling downtown was to stop by a fabric store called Michael Levine's...I'd never been before and all the local craftistas rave about it so I made it a priority. I came across a beautiful vintage print in red and cream and a bunch of felt. All in all the day was a fruitful excursion.

I spent Sunday and Monday (Labor Day), working on various craft projects. I think I have about 6 different ones fighting for my time right now. I was determined to get a least 24 of the little heads completed before the weekend was over and barely made it by the skin of my teeth! But I made it.

lil' jinamaes

These are some of the smaller projects I'm working on...ornament sets for the holidays.

!!!!!

I'm making a list of dolls and other items to make before the holidays and the list keeps getting longer and longer. There are so many things I want to make but of course there's so little time. In addition to about 25 dolls I wanted to do some pillows, smaller dolls and even a few stationary projects. I have about 3 months in addition to working during the day!!! It's going to be crazy!!!

I've already begun to work but it will be great when I have a stretch of time. In a few weeks I am going to Mexico and hope find great textiles and beads while I am traveling. After that I am heading back East to visit my family in Maryland. I there a bunch of little spots that are great for collecting materials and such. Plus I can wrangle my mother and grandmother into a bit of doll production.

KEARA

Little Miss Keara was a whole bunch of work! Not only did I crochet her tiny poncho, but her hair was sewn in a few strands at a time. It's difficult to see from the photo, but she has a huge bun on the back of her head which made balancing her somewhat tough...but in the end it was worth it.

MORGAN

When I made this doll I had someone very specific in mind...my best friend from college. She had this great sweatshirt with our university's initial embroidered on it and beautiful long black hair. I gave the doll to my mother for Christmas and as soon as she opened the package she immediately knew who it was supposed to be.

CHANTAL

My little hippy chick...I love her sleepy eyes and sunflower adorned hair. She was one of my earlier dolls.

!

It's been so hectic around here that I haven't had the chance to add anything new...but I have been busy sewing! I'm trying to get a jump on the holidays and make as much as possible right now before the crunch. I hope to have about 30 dolls ready plus a bunch of small items. Well we'll see...

Coto-grannie

This is another genuine Cotomisse from Surinam. According to my mother, she's over 50 years old and is very delicate.

the real thing

This is a genuine, Surinamese Cotomisse doll. She's over 40 years old and was given to my grandmother by one of my great-aunites. I've always loved the pattern of the fabric and her regal headwrap.

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This is the very first doll I ever made...she's probably about 7 or 8 years old. She's based off of a style of dolls made in Surinam, the country where my grandfather is from. The dolls look like the women of Surinam called Cotomisses (I may not have the correct spelling), which means "Cotton Misses". The name comes from the layers of printed cotton fabrics which covered the women from head to toe.