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Posts Tagged ‘Crafts’

Someone who has a toy hobby is usually an adult. After all, all children collect toys – the more the merrier for them, but a person who has a toy hobby normally collects one sort of toy – like, say, train sets or a specific maker of train set. These adults retain their childhood absorption with fantasy. They are not childish, but are childlike when they start talking about or playing with their favourite toys.

Some toy hobbyists like to share their hobby with children, often grandparents fall into this group, and some toy hobbyists do not, often single people who are scared that children may damage their often valuable collection.

These collections of toys can become very valuable, because people tend to collect the toys from their youth, so a grandparent is usually collecting toys from fifty or sixty years ago.

A favourite toy hobby for women is collecting antique dolls or dolls from other countries. Occasionally this interest in dolls will spill over into an interest for dolls’ prams or dolls’ clothes and they might start to make dolls’ clothing and even their own clothing. Some women and some men too get into manufacturing dolls and even dolls’ houses.

Rag dolls are a distinct favourite both for the collector and the crafter because they are easy to make and easy to mend. Teddy bears could also be put in the category of dolls. Many homes have a small collection of teddy bears if there have been children brought up there and it is not strange to see hundreds of teddy bears on shelves dotted around a house.

Lots of older men collect train sets or model cars. Hornby, Marxs, Marklin and Lionel spring to mind for train sets and Matchbox and Dinky for small but detailed, die cast model cars. Tonka is well-known for larger, maybe less detailed, model trucks, but people liked to play with their bulldozers, trucks and earth-movers as children.

More modern toys that have become collectible include Beanie Babies. Beanie Babies are childlike representations of babies. So there are baby kangaroos, baby elephants, in fact babies of every type of animal you can think of and every one has its own distinct personality.

They are not expensive and lovable and there are hundreds of them – just the blend that some collectors desire. Teddy bear collectors frequently have a few Beanie Babies as well.

Other popular toy hobbies are flying radio-controlled, powered model aircraft and racing motor-powered radio-controlled cars and trucks. There are also hobbyists that collect or and make radio-controlled boats. Some collectors of radio-controlled aircraft, boats and vehicles might not like being referred to as toy hobbyists, but it is what they are after all.

Wooden toys have always been well-liked as well. A hundred years ago and further, all toys would have been made of wood, particularly those of the working class and there are still a lot of parents and grandparents who like to give or make wooden toys themselves. A toy hobby is a great pastime for those who remember their childhood fondly and never really got out of the habit of playing.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on many subjects, but is presently concerned with HO Train Sets For Kids And Adults. If you would like to know more about Train Sets for Kids, please go over to our website for some great offers.

A caricature is a portrait, painting or cartoon that exaggerates or distorts certain features of a person or item to generate an easily identifiable visual similarity.

Caricatures can be discourteous or complimentary and can serve a political point or be drawn solely for entertainment. Caricatures of politicians are commonly used in editorial cartoons, whereas caricatures of movie stars are often found in entertainment magazines.

The word is derived from the Italian caricare- to charge or load. Thus, the word “caricature” essentially means a “loaded portrait”. Strictly speaking , the term refers only to depictions of real-life people, and not to cartoon fabrications of fictional characters.

However the world-renowned animator Walt Disney claimed that his animation work could be likened to caricature, saying the most difficult thing to do was find the caricature of an animal that worked best as a human-like character.

One of the earliest instances of a caricature has been discovered in the ruins of Pompeii where a graffiti caricature of a politician had been carved on a wall.

Moving forward nearly 1500 years but remaining in Italy, Leonardo da Vinci was an dynamic proponent of the art. He actually sought out people with some kind of deformity to use as models.

The purpose of a caricature was to offer an impression of the original which was more striking than a portrait. Diodemmar Casem, one of the great early exponents, claimed to be able to sum up a person in ? three or four strokes of the pen?.

Caricature experienced its first successes in the closed aristocratic circles of France and Italy, where such portraits would be passed about for mutual satisfaction.

Mary Darley was one of the first professional caricaturists in England and about 1762 published the first book of caricature drawing in England – A Book of Caricaturas

However, the two greatest exponents of the art of the caricature in the 18th century were Thomas Rowlandson and James Gillray. Their styles of output were in great contrast. Rowlandson was the more artistic of the two and took his inspiration from the public at large.

Gillray, on the other hand, was more interested in the political scene and used his art to lampoon political life. Being contemporaries they became great friends and used to spend a great deal of time getting drunk in the taverns of London.

In drawing a caricature the caricaturist can choose to either gently mock or cruelly wound his subject. Drawing caricatures can merely be a form of entertainment and amusement ? in which case gentle mockery is in order ? or the art can be employed to make a significant social or political objective.

A caricaturist draws on (1) the natural characteristics of the subject (the big ears, long nose, etc.); (2) the acquired individuality (stoop, scars, facial lines etc.); and (3) the vanities (choice of hair style, spectacles, clothes, expressions and mannerisms).

Although caricaturists like Gillray raised a lot of controversy in the 18th century by their portrayal of the Royal family and especially George III, it was nothing compared to the present day uproar in the Muslim world brought about by cartoons caricaturing the prophet Mohammed. So the contemporary day caricaturist continues in the satirical mode of his illustrious predecessors.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece writes on many topics but is presently concerned with Kitty Cannon 3. If you would like to read more, please go over to our web site entitled Kitten Cannon 3.

Do you fancy manufacturing a doll’s dress for your own doll or a friends? Or how about some other articles of clothing like a trouser suit, pyjamas or a night shirt?

If you have never done it before, it is not that difficult to create a decent job of making dolls’ clothing, but you will have to take measurements, just as in real life.

It is a good idea to know the full length of the doll, but there are no garments that actually cover from head to toe unless you are designing a ghost’s fancy dress costume for the doll. Be cautious with the chest measurement as well.

You cannot guess it because dolls, both male and female, tend to have larger chests than proportion would suggest that they ought to be. Just look at Barbie and Ken, they could probably hold their breath for ten minutes!

Similarly, the inside leg measurements tend to be overstated and the waist way undersized. This is why it is so essential to measure the doll or if the dolls’ clothing is to be a surprise, measure one like it. From waist to the hem is enough for a skirt or from neck to the hemline for a dress.

If you are manufacturing trousers, you will require the inside leg and the outside leg to the waist band or hips, depending on the style. Then you will also require the waist or the hip measurement and the combined thigh measurement for skirts and dresses or individual thigh measurements for trousers or slacks.

If you are measuring for a top or the top of a dress, you will need the measurements from the sternum to the centre of the armpit and from there to the centre of the other armpit.

In many ways, measuring a doll for clothing is equivalent to measuring humans, but on the other hand, the dimensions can have a great deal more tolerance because seams do not come under stress from movement with dolls. It is fairly easy to merely use common sense when measuring dolls for clothing, but practice will make perfect.

One of the best habits that you can get into is making notes and drawing sketches. When you have become skilled enough at making dolls’ clothing, you might be able to sell your produce and perhaps even sell your pattern book too, if they are all your original concepts.

Tailoring or dressmaking for dolls can be great fun and children will certainly appreciate a new, unique costume for their doll, but then you will see that for yourself the first time you present your little niece, nephew or friend with one of your latest creations.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on a number of topics, but is now involved with Silver Cross Dolls Prams. If you want to know more, please visit our website at Doll Prams.

It is vital for everyone, even babies, to have somewhere safe and secure to sleep. I say ‘even babies’ because it is simple to think that babies are not quite conscious, but closer contact makes the observer soon realize that babies have a sense of security. For instance, they may cry if one stranger comes near and smile if a different one comes near. A bit like animals, they have instincts.

Well, they are animals and so are we adults, so that should not come as much of a surprise either. Babies require warmth and softness and something akin to a nest. Naturally, parents have realized this for thousands of generations and the way we have dealt with that need for thousands of years is by wrapping babies up and putting them in cribs or cots.

In other words somewhere safe and secure. Even though they do not know it, they have a feeling that they are in a walled enclosure where animals cannot see them without difficulty and they cannot drop out of either. a crib or cot permits a baby to sleep comfortably as if it is hidden from danger.

However, as they get older, they become more adventurous, which is precisely why they require ‘walls’ around them, which make them feel safe and frustrated at the same time. This is obviously the time when toddlers are at their most vulnerable, because they want to explore but are not very aware of the dangers of the world. Every parent worries about their children wandering off.

When a child can walk and scramble is the time when it has to be removed from a crib that is off the ground to a safer bed, from which they cannot climb out and fall.

These beds are often called toddlers’ beds, but now the sides have to be high enough for them not to be able to escape from – a type of pen.

Some cribs can be converted and although they might seem more expensive at first, they can be cheaper in the long run.

It is one of the most hazardous times for babies and one of the most worrying times for recent parents too. Putting the toddler’s pen in the parents’ room is an easy trap to fall into, because it can make the eventual necessary break moving the child from the parents’ room to the nursery all the more a problem when the time ultimately comes.

However, that time will come when the child has to sleep in a room of its own either with other brothers and sisters or not, but the fact of the matter is that parents have to have their sleep as well so that they are alert enough to both earn money to support their family and be awake enough to watch over their offspring.

If you are concerned about child pool safety or Child Safety in general, please visit our website.

If you want to redecorate, you should be thinking about the textiles that you will use in your redecorating scheme. There are quite a few fabrics that can play a role in a redecoration project, such as carpets, some wall papers, such as flock, furnishings, cushions, lamp shades and wall hangings like tapestries and embroideries.

You can use the fabrics in these items to create a decoration theme over any other set of items. You can buy old furniture, but it is expensive, you can buy old paintings, but they are expensive, but textiles can be new yet still convey different atmospheres for little money. Think about the textiles and colours that you would need to express primitive, Eastern, Hispanic, Victorian or contemporary themes.

Let’s say that you would like to decorate your home in a Victorian style. It is the case that it would be good to have some old furniture, but what will definitely make the style scream ‘Victorian’ is the fabrics. You have to think about Victorian houses: they were quite large (unless you want to live in a hovel), and they were drafty.

This meant that the fabrics were weighty to hold back drafts. You could hang flock wallpaper, have weighty, lined curtains, lamp shades with tassels and weighty bedding with a real eiderdown or patchwork quilt.

The funny thing is that although Victorian textiles were very weighty, they tried to make them look very feminine, or perhaps that was why they tried to make them look more feminine. However, men provided the earnings and women ran the home in those days, so that may be why as well.

Therefore, there were lace edgings, lace trims, tassels, beading, velvet and brocade. Embroidery exam pieces can sometimes be picked up quite cheaply , but they are frequently handed down through families too.

A modern style or theme would have lots of bright and frequently contrasting colours. An extreme variation of contemporary style is minimalist with plenty of black and white but with maybe one splash of yellow in a corner somewhere. This style can be hard to achieve, can be unsettling, but can be dazzling as well. It is suggestive of the Sixties.

Some people endeavor to recreate an Eastern or Oriental style, but you have to be cautious because otherwise you will end up with something that no Easterner would recognize. A bit like Charlie Chan and western style curries. You will be told to use pictures and figurines of elephants, tigers, dragons, carp and geese or ducks. This is all very well if you want to persuade your Western friends that you have an Oriental theme of decoration, but few Orientals would recognize it.

It is very difficult to get this theme looking authentic unless you are from the Far East or you get an Easterner in to assist you. Jades and silks could form a part of this styles along with some figurines. Be very cautious of trying to imitate a style you know nothing of.

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