The theme for the refreshments was St. Patricks' Day.
There was a drawing with this sweet colleen as the prize.
Member Kimberley Nystrom did a program showing how she creates her realistic silicone infant dolls.
She brought many examples of her wonderful and whimsical wee ones.
A basket of her itty bitty babies.
Kimberley described the detailed process for creating these newborn babes. She begins by building a metal armature. Using a sculpting material, she then builds the doll over the simple wire skeleton.
Once the sculpting is complete and hardened by baking, she uses the form to make a silicone mold.
This mold is for a baby head that will have inset eyes.
The silicone casting material is poured into the mold, and, once it is set, the mold is peeled off.
These blue babies are forms Kimberley uses to make additional molds. She can use these forms to modify the basic doll, such as making an anatomically correct baby boy.
The doll is then assembled and painted to achieve realistic skin tones and detailed touches.
Members brought dolls to share, like this little dear dressed in John Deere.
One lucky member displayed her rare Kammer and Reinhardt character doll, still in her original outfit and box!
These are wooden dolls sold as souvenirs for the House of the Seven Gables in Salem, Massachusetts, made famous by Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel of the selfsame name. A recent article in the United Federation of Doll Club's publication, "Doll News," had an informative article about these dolls.
