Signs !! Pay Attention to Signs !!

When the universe is trying to tell you something and you're not listening, it starts throwing signs at you in a way that makes you take notice, hurling in my case. For months now I have been trying to track down a cloth doll designer through someone in the US that I thought would be able to do that. Having made several requests and getting nowhere, I had resigned myself to never being able to locate this designer. Little did I know what was coming.

About 10 days ago I had an email from Andrea at our local fabric store to pass along some information from the doll club in Victoria. They were having a guest teacher for this past weekend and would she pass the information along to anyone that might be interested. Well you could have knocked me over with a feather. Who do you think the guest teacher was???? The very one that I had been trying to locate.

Then a couple of days later a lady from the doll club emailed me with the same information. I had to write back and say that I already had the class she would be teaching and how I had been trying to find this lady for so long... Then I contacted the original person who had told Andrea about the class, and told her the same thing. That it was such short notice, that I couldn't afford the class and that I already had it. The next thing I know, both ladies wrote me back to tell me to come to the class over the weekend to meet the designer and then I could speak to her about why I was trying to find her.

Well okay, I'm all over that, so off I went on the Friday. I went into the place (not even 10 mins from home....talk about the universe throwing this at me and boy I better take what's being offered) and there she was. Leta Benedict the designer whose doll (The Secret)I have adored for the past 3 years but never felt confident enough to take on. She gave me a hug and we chatted like we had known each other forever. Have you ever met someone for the first time and your conversation just flows as if you were picking up where you left off. That's what happened here....Amazing, I was on tippy toes the whole time. I got to meet some of the ladies from the doll club and felt comfortable with that, so signed up with them. So another thing that the universe obviously thinks I better do.

This is the doll I am going to be making, you may recognize her. Is she not the most beautiful doll....and continue below the pictures to read the rest.

Off I went after telling Leta what it was I was trying to find her for but not before getting her contact information. Saturday comes and hubby and I are off to get firewood. At the end we were soaked through from the rain, but I at least had a dry jacket to change into. On the way home, still soaked through with my slacks and shoes, I asked him to stop at the class as I want to speak to them. I went in and the first Leta did was laugh at me and said "Hi Cinderella, love the boots".....To funny. Dirty old sawdust covered boots...

I asked the ladies, if it were possible to pay for one day and allow me to sit in on the class for Sunday. Yes, no problem, so off I went again on tippy toes.... Sunday came and I brought two stuffed heads and a whole lot of enthusiasm. The fabric I brought was not good for doing the cloth overlay for the face so near the end of the day Leta spent quite a while with me doing the overlay with fabric generously offered by someone in the class, and she applied the first steps of the face since I had missed the technique on Friday.... This doll will never leave this house now... ;o)) This is what she started for me. I did the sculpting, and Leta showed me the technique for doing the overlay. I have done it with stretch fabric, but not cotton, so it was great to have it demonstrated. I finished the face today and have added it below the first part.

Now I have never taken any classes with a teacher other than online, so this was just so exciting to just watch her build up the face and with her technique. I was in awe to say the least. The day came to an end with me feeling so much better about how to create this doll. It isn't the costuming that I was concerned with, it's the face. If the face is poorly done, the whole doll fails no matter how well you do the costuming. I asked one of the ladies to take a picture for me with Leta and my surprize weekend came to an end.

BUT...that's not the end. We are going to get together Thursday morning and do some shopping or whatever she'd like to do while she's here. I will aim for another picture or two on Thursday.. So are you bleary eyed from reading, I am exhausted from being on that high all weekend...lol Can you imagine it, months of searching for her and she appears practically on my doorstep....Now those were signs I am so grateful that I listened to...