Pink pastures and earth drawn days

Great news! The article to accompany our Pink Artist Doll is complete and shortly will be typed up and sent in to Art Doll Quarterly™ for their AUTUMN issue!

Spread the word that our beloved doll, Love Squared will make her debut in the Autumn issue of ADQ to hit news stands on August 1, 2008. Donations will be accepted following her debut up until October 15, which is the OFFICIAL day of the drawing. The month of October is as you know Breast Cancer Awareness month. Together we'll make this a fun & rewarding way to HELP others. Donations being accepted are money orders (preferred) made out to Susan G. Komen and cash (sent at your own risk) mailed in to Monica Magness PO Box 2206 Madison, AL 35758. Sorry, no personal checks. For those of you wishing to use paypal, donations can be sent in to MLMagness@aol.com at that time. Please note that paypal takes a fee to operate, be sure to take this into consideration when sending in your donation. Please write The Pink Artist Project on all correspondence and make sure your name and address are legible (typed is best for accuracy). Donations will be collected & dispersed to aid breast cancer research on October 22, 2008. All activity involving the drawing and monies donated for charity will be shared here at a later date. Though ANY donation amount is cheerfully accepted, for every $10 donation you send in your name will go into the drawing twice.

For those of you just learning about our drawing, it was voted to offer our doll as a gift in a drawing opposed to using ebay as this method allows for more participation, raising possibly more funds for charity due to a greater wider audience, and offers a FUN environment for giving because your collected name will go into the drawing for Love Squared and the "runner up" gifts (to be announced).

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Soon to be available: a button for displaying on your blog, a newsletter for you to pass along to your friends and family, a flyer to print out on your home PC that could be passed out in the office, at games, or anywhere you are legally able and a postcard of our doll to email out to interested parties.

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Also, Stampington & Company expressed interest in sharing The Pink Artist Project in a future newsletter- to sign up for their mailings, please visit: Sign Up for Post Script.

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Doll artist Patti Culea helped inspire the making of the pink artist doll with the use of her pattern found in her book, Creative Cloth Doll Making. Of course, the waist down was altered for height. Patti wishes to help us spread the word of our project in a future newsletter when the time arrives. You can find her blog, Patter from Patti by visiting her link and signing up for her posts by email. Thank you! Stay tuned for more exciting news!
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I hope Spring is greeting you with her magnificent smile!

Photos by Jeff Magness

Puttin' a lil spring in my step...

Life takes many forms: a walking path, a winding road, an undiscovered journey, a stage show- but no matter which you choose, let the show be run by you!

Ahhh, it's Spring... time to break out the itty bitty shorts and tight fitting skirts. I'm referring to the ones that DON'T FIT that are buried to the bottom of the closet floor from my TWENTIES that don't seem to fit me anymore now that I'm in my thirties, the ones we swore we'd make pull up someday, that pair you vowed to kill yourself DIETing for. I don't believe in diets, I do believe in DYE ITs.

There is HOPE. There is a way you can WEAR that heckling pair of denim once again without the guilt.

Recently I've been excited to share with you the great news that Stampington & Company's flamboyant art mag called Haute Handbags selected a couple o' bags I've made for their Spring issue (in bookstores now).

Excited because they really put out an INSPIRATIONAL magazine with lavish works of art on every page, but mostly I'm FLIPPING OUT because one of the pieces they have selected and found on pages 85 & 86 is a tote bag I whipped up to pay tribute to my adored niece who turned THIRTEEN this year. The article they've allowed me to write pays homage to the balance of becoming a teenager and the journey of discovering ones true self.. I was able to tell this story through art.. a gift to me and to my sisters fabulously artistic TEEN, Kristen. HAPPY BIRTHDAY gorgeous! love, auntie

Also in action is a denim bag, fashionable love on page 119.

Thank you to my friend Fiona Kearns of Strawberry Seahorse (a UK Co.)

for gifting me the felted heart & friendship.

Yes, I'm proud to say I was inspired by the pile of skirts and shorts of yesteryear that now fit perfectly on my shoulder. How's that for honesty, butt... but, look at what can be done calorie-free!

(BLOOMing now in Progress)

Are your ideas blooming yet?

"Spring" ATCs created using fabric collage sheets purchased at SassyArtGoddess.

As Winter has left making way for Spring herself,

perhaps you are finding that sweaters make perfect bags too?

Still on the hunt for MORE inspiration?

A Black and White charm swap

_Calls and Challenges

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!Sallly the Snail Handbag

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Mother Henna give-away!

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I hope Spring is treating you kindly

opening the door for you

to shed the weight of Winters cold

causing you to embrace

the warmth of blooming possibilities!

-Live Life Beautifully-

it's a Dolly doll Art World...

Beading For A Cure auction, beautiful beaded doll created by my friend GraceBeading

(click on link for a chance to bid)

PHOTOS by and property of Grace Danel

Over at Faerie Window today she has created a frenzy, a celebration of your favorite doll(s), an inspiration of play and gatherings, to share, to celebrate your favorite doll created by your favorite doll artist or to show-off a creation you've made. Stop in, the doll party awaits you.

Doll art excites me to no end. Whimsical, zany creatures with kooky expressions... my brother-in-law personally detests dolls assuming they come alive in the night hour while you sleep. Do they? One can only dream.

As a child my grandmother made me a doll that resembles none other than me with stringy brown hair, buggy eyes and silly, goofy smirk at age 8. At 33, it still looks like me. It even has knobby knees and a boys body. I searched this place high and low to share it with you, but smartly the doll escaped to the only hiding place I couldn't find her. Whew.. that was a dodging bullet (embarrassment avoided).

Below is just one of my favorite gifts, a doll made by the talented Rebecca Laslie.

Above pic shows some of the simplest dolls I've made using items found on hand (and for the record the wine corks were acquired over time with the help of thrift shops and my german husbands fondness for Riesling *smirk*). Prompted by the amazing Pat Winter to make and donate dolls to brighten up someones day, these little pocket dolls erupted to make someones day a bit brighter (and a couple I shipped as surprises for friends).

Several doll artists top my list as my personal favorites, but not being able to afford Patti Culea's dolls I seek out her patterns for whipping up dolls. One doll made using portions of her pattern is our incredible lady Love Squared aka The Pink Artist Doll created by 182 artists,

and there is my friend ART TEA LIFE who created a wonder, a perfect depiction of Spring and whose art is ultimately without question a JAW DROPPING experience. Sandy you amaze me every day (the detail is flooring) and when this beauty shows I'll declare that day a personal self-afflicted holiday.
Patricia at Art Propensity inspires! The depths of her creations reach insurmountable proportions. Someone have a tissue? I'm drooling.

Then there is Donna Engstrom. I'm lucky to own one of her anatomy dolls, The Timekeeper:

So, there you have just some of my favorite dolls. If you visit my blog often you may have already seen these mentioned. Do you have a favorite doll you've held on to over the years? A doll made for you special from a friend? Is there a creation you are most proud of that you've made? I'd love to see how doll art has effected your life.

Or maybe doll art is something you'd like to try? There is no time like TODAY to start a new addiction...and YES! most assuredly it is AN ADDICTION.. this one I wish not to cure. No, I'm certain I like this "bug" way too much.

The Pink Artist Doll: THE REVEAL

Her name is "Love Squared."

She wears 180 two inch art squares.

182 artists total created her.

She is just under 40" tall

and weighs 6 pounds and 2 ounces.

She smiles because already she knows love

and is able to give love unconditionally.

To many, she is a symbol of hope.

She stands for COURAGE and was built

by a community of givers.

Your generosity helped make this doll a reality.

Do you spot your square?

Shall we all have another look?

Ahh, it feels goooood to help someone doesn't it?

We're ONE step closer to helping raise $$$

for Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

Our beloved doll is currently being wrapped,

carefully packed for her journey to Art Doll Quarterly™.

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More information will be available at a future date

as far as publication date/issue goes...

but when I hear something, YOU will be the first to know,

I PROMISE.

Until then know, I THANK YOU from the depths of my heart for working with me to create this doll. I believe your story and participation will forever be a part of me and I know your art square WILL always be etched in my brain. I've come to know most of you through your art, a journey I absewlutely treasure. My wonderful husband, Jeff Magness has PUT UP with me during these bizzy days, helping to clean, cook, and pamper ME while also helping to make postal runs, photograph squares and our doll. He graciously gives YOU (Pink Artist) permission to swipe photos of YOUR SQUARE and of OUR DOLL to post and share on your blog. Our collaborative effort made this doll possible, our support for breast cancer research CREATED this project. I appreciate your commentary, your thank you's, but mostly your partication for getting involved and making this world a better place.

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I dedicate this doll to my adventurous Uncle Carlos who I believe watched over this project from heaven with delight, guiding my hand and soul and helping me to smile through the entire process even while pinpricked. I dedicate this doll to my gorgeous aunts, Dee & Mary for supporting this journey with their love, their "oohs & ahhhs," and for spreading the word about our project to coworkers and friends. -smile- I dedicate this doll to my mother, Mary who taught me to sew, who loves me unconditionally and who checks in on my blog daily for new progress. Mom, you are the BEST! and my BIGGEST fan! Thank you! I love you!

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Now, it's YOUR turn! Make a post... show off the doll YOU helped make. Dedicate it to a friend who touched your heart, a family member who supports you unconditionally. Tell someone thank you for touching your life in a profound way. Make a difference in someones life. Live Life Beautifully. See ya soon! Now that I'm freed up for a time, I'm ready to make rounds and READ YOUR BLOG. :)

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Huge thank you to Kat West for creating the dolls stunning necklace (doubles as a bracelet for the owner), to Alma Stoller for making this awsum art purse for our gal and to Carol Strand-Siebers for providing the way kuhl collage sheets used on the base of the doll. You girls are amazing and these pieces fit PERFECTLY. Art on!