Category Archives: spirit doll

Spirit doll tutorial video

Spirit dolls seem very popular these days. This month I sold out all of my painted clay faces in my Etsy shop Earth and Faery. I had to get busy making more. I had this great idea to make a Green Woman version of the Green Man. It has been a great success, so far.

Then I got the idea of making a video tutorial on how to make a Spirit Doll using fabric scraps and one of my faces. I will explain more, and the link will be below.

https://www.etsy.com/your/shops/EarthandFaery/tools/listings/1012602710

I ended up making a series of Green Women until I ran out of green clay… That type is not the only one I sold. I make my usual faces too, and they are generally well-liked.

I also made some unusual ones. My creative muse has been working in overdrive all month.

I’m getting better at sculpting my own faces, but it has been a learning curve for sure, and it ain’t over!

I also got some funky sculptures done from styrofoam eggs and Apoxie Sculpt.

I had a lot of fun making the boots for the light blue chicken! To make the sculpture stand on its own, I had to make heavy shoes / boots. Each time I get a bit more creative, haha.

I also got a couple of paintings done.

Most of these items are available in my etsy shop.

So as you can see, creativity has been my friend this month, and I LET IT! No big resistance.

SPIRIT DOLL YOU TUBE VIDEO.

What are you working on now? I’d love to see some of your art in the comments.

Here’s an older Spirit Doll/ box I posted a couple of years ago. It’s mostly made from paper, and so easy to make!

Spirit Box tutorial.

And another one: Today I Made This Spirit Doll.

Make your own! You can paint the face on fabric, or leave it faceless. It’s the intention that counts!

Lots of love,

Maria

The makings of greatness

She had the “makings of greatness” as the saying goes but never amounted to anything. What a whopper of judgment and out-and-out lie! If you are breathing and walking, you are a success. The rest is judgment. We are always a work in progress.

We are always in the process of greatness

As I create my art, it creates me too. The struggle and the many minor difficulties are part of living. The clay I mold is how life molds me, and there is adding and taking away, smoothing, and digging, and carving. It does not end until I die and likely goes on from there.

It’s so easy to judge everything and everyone around us, but what a limitation! What do we really know about others and their work? I don’t want to put limitations on my life, but to be fluid in life is to let go in every moment. Go with the flow as they say.

I realize I have so many items in my Etsy shop that I have to branch out. Part of life is discipline, which helps us move along and not get stuck, but sometimes there is too much “making” and not enough “creating.”

The makings of a crow

I found a doll pattern by Susan Barmore of a crow and decided to try my hand at making one. I bathed in frustration for days and blamed my sewing machine for the clumsy sewing. But good comes to those who persevere… Discipline – perseverance – makings of greatness.

crow in making

The feet were not that hard to make since I have made several for other projects. Sewing never came easy to me, and I can never get one side looking the same as the other even if I follow the pattern exactly. But it’s not about perfectionism.

Finished basic crow

Gray cotton fabric was great to work with, and the crow could stand on her own two feet.

Black paint
Finished painting her

I used black satin craft paint and it got all over me, the table, and the crow. 🙂 I dry-brushed some purple paint that never showed up when dry, and on top, I added some copper paint.

When I had painted the crow, all the fun commenced. I stained some fabric to make the dress, made a clay bird and talisman for the necklace.

It was hard to get good pictures of the black-painted bird. The black seemed to eat all the light.

The most important part

I kept a prayerful frame of mind (for the most part), and also added prayers to the actual doll. Crow is one of the smartest birds, and the energy of intelligence, fluidity, curiosity, agility, and courage they embody is inspiring.

You can purchase this healing doll at Earth and Faery, and there are loads of other things in the shop as well.

December is a busy month, but I hope you’ve had some time to make things. I made some items to give to my friends, but so as not to spoil the surprise, I will post pictures in my next blog post.

If you missed my last post, another stuffed bird I made, the Dastardly Owl, you can check it out. I’ve been into birds lately.

To move into greatness, which is some kind of elusive goal we made up, keep going, create, get surprised as the art takes over and becomes much more than we ever intended.

Lots of love this holiday season! Remember to breathe.

Today I made this spirit doll

Today ended up being a creative day where everything fell into place. I have been working on spirit dolls, or spirit boxes since there is a box attached to the back for prayers or small treasures.

Back in 2018, I wrote a tutorial on how to make these boxes. If you want to make your own, go HERE for instructions. They are so much fun to make. I posted a few pictures of the current creations for you here.

Today I made this
spirit doll / box
On my art table
spirit doll / box
Today I made this
Spirit doll / box

AIl I have to do is attach the box to the back. What takes time is all the gluing and drying. Otherwise, it’s not hard to make. You can make a polymer clay face from a mold. I also have some faces for sale in my shop Earth and Faery.

I made a box the other day, and here’s a picture. It sold already, so I know people liked it. 🙂 It is wearing one of my custom faces. The face above is made from a mold and then painted.

Spirit doll creation
spirit doll

This is the back view of that finished box.

Back of spirit box
spirit doll / box

Go ahead, try your own

As I said, it’s not that hard, and it makes a great Christmas gift for someone who loves unique things.

Creative challenges make us grow. 🙂

Lots of inspiration to you!

Love,

Maria

Spirit doll faces and more

Spirit doll faces are new to me. I have always wanted to try self-drying clay, but I know it doesn’t work well for my mosaic tiles. I did get inspired by cruising on etsy to try my hand at some free-form sculpted faces.

To finish them, I used the same process I use for painting mosaic tiles. I have a video on YouTube on how to paint tiles. VIDEO

spirit doll face

I had so much fun and they are pretty easy to make.  I used a purchased face mold and then sculpted the edges as I felt inspired.

spirit doll face

I could use all of my favorite colors!

spirit doll face

To get the imprints I used rubber stamps mostly. I also added some clay “hair” and the pieces fused well to the clay as it dried.

spirit doll face

I’m playing with making a doll in a shadow box, but so far, I’m not very happy with the result. Assembly with lots of materials is tough, but it’s always fun to try something new.

spirit doll

I’m using hand-painted fabrics, but nothing is finite in this picture. Just playing!

The faces are now available in my etsy shop Earth and Faery. 

I also made one of my mini shrines so far this week. They are pretty popular but somewhat labor intensive since every part has to be cut out and molded individually. 
spirit shrine

You are blessed indeed! 🙂

I’m having fun with clay and polymer clay.  What are you working on? It’s important to spend part of every day in the studio for art exploration = self exploration.

Let me know in the comments if you like the spirit doll faces. Thanks.

Have a creative rest of the week.

xo

Maria