Wednesday, 30 November 2011

A Special Offer to Say Thank You

I'm offering Scarlet, my own little doll that's kept me company on my work table since I first began making art dolls, FREE to anyone that purchases one of my largest dolls or makes a purchase of $200 or more before Sunday 4th December.

I found out today that my last shipping date to the USA, Canada, or Australia is Monday 5th December according to the UK Postal Service. I'm really disappointed that in this day and age Britain can't do any better than this. And it makes this my last chance to offer all of my wonderful customers the chance to get my own little Scarlet free of charge and get her to them before Christmas day arrives.

I've met many wonderful, kind and friendly people through sales I've made through my Etsy store - www.NatashaMorgan.etsy.com
And have learnt just how kind, supportive, and truly amazing people that you don't know can be. So this is my small way of saying Thank You.
I just wish I was in a position right now to offer you more. Which is why I've decided to give up Scarlet; my patient companion that has always listened to me babel away when I'm trying to decide which direction to go in when I'm stuck or when I'm trying to refine what I'm doing.

Scarlet is a small (approx 20cm) doll that has jointed shoulders, knees, and hips. She's dressed in scraps of fabric and lace, and wears a mix-match of tiny jewellery pieces. But she's very special to me for so many reasons.


As I've said, Scarlet is my own doll. I made her for myself, and she's never been listed for sale anywhere before.
She's the very first jointed doll I made. The first that I sculpted in paperclay, and the first doll that I managed to perfect applying marabou feather hair on. She's not one of the first of her kind - She is the very first!

I agonised over how to attach her legs and arms before finally being brave enough to drill the holes in her limbs, hips and torso. Only after practising on little scraps of dowelling did I finally manage to do it. Still, there was quite a bit of trial and error before I was happy, and I unfortunately wasted quite a bit of the strong vintage thread from the wooden spool given to me by my Grandmother. And I still string my dolls in a very similar way.

Before I made Scarlet I'd made a few really awful fabric dolls that quickly got discarded, and a few fixed position clay sculpted dolls. But I dreamed of being able to make a doll that could be positioned, that could sit down and be animated, and that came somewhere towards the stunning old dolls that until then I'd only ever seen in museums (which is why I make my dolls in the way that I do).

I'd also used feathers on some of these earlier dolls as they remind me of a tattered little clown with feather hair I owned as a child that I loved dearly. But Scarlet was the first doll that I managed to get the very full, wild, and in this case mixed colour hair, just as I wanted it - even down to the tiny sparkling gems cut from a piece of a broken old bracelet that I used as a hair clip for her.


Scarlet wears a tiny black bodice under a high waisted tartan tutu with a wide lace petticoat, and has white and turquoise stripped knee high socks. She has perfectly stripped black, dark cerise and white hair. And has lots of bracelets, a sterling silver coker necklace, a diamonte hair clip, and a tiny faceted glass bead hanging from her waist.

She's imperfect, small, and has overly pointed feet. But she's my own, my friend, and my first.
Scarlet has helped me come such a long way in making my dolls, and I'll miss her greatly ( I don't mind at all if i get to keep her). But I can't think of a better way to say Thank You.
I wish I could offer more.
Natasha

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