Kelley Corbett

Hello to all!  Hope you are having a nice fall season and enjoying the weather.  Been a bit out of touch for the last few weeks, but I assure you, the doll making has definitely continued.  You see, October happens to be my family’s busiest month next to December, of course, and May.  Three out the four birthdays in our family fall in October, so it is a month long celebration.  This year my husband and I whose birthdays are one day apart, made a new plan to share our birthday cake.  In the past years, by October 31, I had three leftover birthday cakes sitting in my refrigerator!  This year, no chance, we shared our favorite birthday cake – coffee ice cream cake – and I have to say it took less than 24 hours to eat the entire cake!  Yum!  Yum!

Now on to the dolls.  I have been having a great time sewing dolls over the last few weeks.  Funny enough, most of them have been for presents.  My daughter’s teacher just had her first baby – a girl – so of course, I had to make her a baby doll.  The fun part about making dolls for people you know is that you can include their personality in the doll.  This doll looks just like her.  I used a very fun fabric called “Make Life” from Sweetwater.  The dress has all sorts of fun sayings about life – “Make life beautiful; make life fresh; make life silly; make life creative; etc.”  Perfect little sayings for a new little baby.  And the doll even has glasses that match my daughter’s teacher.  Check her out below.

My second little doll project was by special request.  My daughter’s BFF requested a little princess doll for her birthday.  Pink and green are her favorite colors.  The doll
has a little tutu under her dress, along with a princess crown and a big pink scarf for fashion purposes, of course!  It is a lot of fun to make such different dolls.  If you have a special request for a certain type of doll, just let me know, and I will see what I can do.  My other fall season dolls will be on the kelleycorbett.etsy.com website soon.  Have a great week, and I hope you have a chance to get out and enjoy the weather!

Dolls mean different things to different children.  They can be a best friend and hold the best of secrets.  They can be a protector in a storm.  They can be a cheerleader in those moments when bravery is required.  They can be a constant when the world around is changing.  This week I received a request for a doll that was a very fun idea.  I wanted to share it with you.  This doll belongs to a little three year old Chinese girl who just became a big sister.  The red and gold symbolize good luck and balance.  And the apron on the front reminds her how special it is to be a big sister.  I wish her the best of times being a big sister, and hope that this little doll is her companion through all her adventurous moments.  Enjoy your day!

Yes they are!  If you read my previous posts, you know that I was working on a new hat design.  The hats are very fun coordinating fabrics that are  lined with wool felt and adorned with a fun bow or flower.  My daughter fell in love with them and picked out this one pictured which became her “Back to School” doll.  It has accompanied her to school in her backpack everyday, and last Friday, she had earned enough “good behavior” coupons to have her doll sit on her desk ALL DAY!  She told me Madison (that is what she named her) was going to cheer her on as she took her Spelling Test.  A very fun day indeed!  The rest of the collection just went on my website, kelleycorbett.etsy.com.  Feel free to check it out and have a great day!  I am enjoying a wonderful rainy day!

Tonight is my daughter’s first slumber party.  I didn’t realize it – she’s done several sleepovers.  But this is a PARTY.  A whole new level of fun.  And she is soooo excited.  She will be in a fashion show, get her nails painted in the “spa”, and get a massage from the teenage girls.  Oh, it just doesn’t get better.  So as part of the excitement in our house, I had to share with you the slumber party doll I just finished making for the Birthday Girl – and amazingly enough, if you read my last post, she doesn’t have three eyes and one leg!  I consider her my accomplishment of the week – my safety rope to pull me out of the fog of our new school schedule.  And she was oh so much fun!  She even has a matching tote bag for when she travels on her many future adventures!  Have a great weekend.  Thank goodness it’s Friday!

The polka dot girls are finally here.  All dressed up in their tulle skirts.  You can check them out at kelleycorbett.etsy.com.  Hope you are enjoying your Sunday afternoon.  We just got a quick rain shower – a welcome relief from the heat!

Who doesn’t love polka dots!  I think I’ve ordered polka dot fabric in every color in the rainbow – and then some.  I started the week getting organized – of course, kids are home from school so organization is really a call for sanity rather than an actual possibility.  But I did sit down and organize my fabrics.  All the polka dots in one box, the stripes in another – you get the idea.  And the end result is that I got really excited about all the polka dots!  So I have a new design that I’m sewing this week.  I’ve finished two dolls and tomorrow is pink polka dot day.  The dolls have ruffled skirts with ballerina tulle underneath.  Hope to get them on the website early next week.  Stay tuned and have a great week!

Tonight at dinner my little girl (I still like to call her that even though she is getting older by the day) asked me why I make dolls.  So… here is what I told her.  I make dolls because it combines the things I love – fabric, color design, painting, and last but definitely not least – children.  I told her that every child needs someone to listen to him – a friend to talk to, to share the good and the bad with, to cuddle up to, and  to love.  And I don’t think that children always have that.  So I hope that my dolls brighten up a child’s day and gives him that special friend.  Take care!

Yea!  The boys are here and ready.  Take a preview below and check them out at kelleycorbett.etsy.com.  What fun!  There is the pirate – ahoy, matey!  The baseball player – anyone up for a game of baseball? or maybe just a hot dog and a Coke. 🙂   The preppy little dude – I just love madras and summertime seersucker.  The weekender – ready for a hike or sitting by the fire (by the way, the whole family voted, and this doll reminds us the most of my husband.)  And the urban camper – I just love his shirt!  Hope you enjoy them.  I had a great time making them – although I will admit that the boys are much more difficult to make than the girls.  Have a great week –  we are halfway through the summer!

I’m so excited.  Posted my first two collections on etsy today -kelleycorbett.etsy.com.  Check them out – “Summertime collection” is a lot of fun bright colors mostly from Kaffe Fassett fabrics.  I love the Kaffe Fassett fabrics – very creative, bright, colorful, and great quality.  Definitely one of my favorite fabric designers.  Also, I posted “A day at the Zoo”.  I have been making dolls for two years now and this is definitely the most fun I have had making a collection.  I just had to give the lion to my daughter – it reminded me of when she dressed up as a lion for Halloween when she was three years old.  Have a great day!