I've made a handful of African American dolls in the past month. There's black ballerina dolls, black  dress-up dolls, and one beautiful doll that I really love but am having trouble labeling. I just call her Pretty African American Doll. I always try to have a mix of white, black and Asian dolls available. The race of the dolls usually doesn't seem to matter to the children who come into my tent at craft shows. But it frequently seems to be important to the adults who are shopping with them. It's a funny world. The handmade dolls I make all get along no matter what color they are.  

Remember the Monopoly card that says, "Collect $10 from each player. You won second place in a beauty contest." This past weekend, that's what I was thinking about when my dolls won third place at the Central New York Maple Festival Craft Show. The festival's Maple Queen and her Court came to my booth and presented me with a big ribbon. Along with the ribbon, I received a jug of real maple syrup and some maple sugar treats. Now if I could have only collected $10 from each player. The Maple Festival is a very well-run  craft show held in Marathon, N.Y. every spring, a time of year when there aren't many good shows in Upstate New York. Joelle's Dolls has done the show for three consecutive years. It is a fun show. I also got to have a wonderful pancake breakfast at the show with Nancy & Mike from Hilltop Pottery and with Roberta from ButterFlips, two other members of the New York Crafters Team on Etsy.

Next weekend, on March 24-25. Joelle's Dolls will be at its first arts/crafts show of 2012, the Central New York Maple Festival in Marathon, N.Y. This will be the third time I've done this show. It's in a small town about 40 miles south of Syracuse. The whole town turns out for a pancake breakfast, pancake eating contest, maple sugar shack, and other activities. It's a lot of fun. I hope to see you there.

I just joined a new team on Etsy.com that is for artist or crafters who make products for children. It's called Etsykids Team. If you are looking for handmade gifts for a child, go to etsy.com and search "etsykids team"

There may soon be an entire ballet troup of Ballerina Dolls in my online shop. I have already put four Ballerinas in the shop this week. So far, there's a Ballerina in a Blue & White Lace Tutu, Ballerina in Pink Tutu,  Ballerina in a Peach Tutu and the Ballerina with Stars on Her Tutu. I never took ballet lessons as a girl. But when I attended Point Park College in Pittsburgh, there was a large performing arts department there. There were girls and guys running around in leotards all over the campus. My Ballerina Dolls have been popular with young girls learning ballet,  but older ballet fans also like to purchase them as unique pieces of art. Maybe I should take some to Point Park the next time I visit?

The Joelle's Dolls Mini Dolls recently got mentioned on the After the Dress blog, a very nice sewing blog. The blog's author sewed a fabric doll house for some friends' daughters, and purchased some of my Mini Dolls to be the residents. Thanks Gwen! 

We have three sons, Philip, 27; Tyler, 25; and Raymond, 19. All three are creative, which can be a gift and a curse. As adults, they may not enjoy the feeling of security that a job with a weekly paycheck brings. That's scary for parents. But hopefully, they will love what they do for the rest of their lives, and make enough money to pay their bills. When our boys were growing up, we encouraged them to chase their dreams, to chase them hard, even while we worried that their dreams might be a sure path to poverty. Our oldest son dreamed of being an illustrator and cartoonist. I think Phil is right on the cusp of finding success. His website is great. Our middle son, Tyler, dreamed of being a writer. He is attending University of Pittsburgh in the MFA creative writing program. He had a short story recently published in Redivider, a literary journal published by Emerson College. Ray, our baby, is a talented musician who plays drums and guitar. The Syracuse police came to his show last night and shut it down. The cops weren't music fans, I guess. 
Do we worry about them? You bet we do. But for now, I'm not worried that they will be filled with bitter regrets over what might have been. 

I did not make any special Valentine's Day-themed items this year. Sorry about that. But I have been busy. Here's a photo of a Mermaid Doll with a beaded tail that I just finished and put into my online shop.

I just finished making a little girl Doll in Easter Bonnet. She is in my online shop. I hope I didn't miss the Easter shopping rush Isn't that a weird concept. In the good old days, the only thing you bought for Easter was chocolate candy and new clothes to wear to church. Now retailers are trying to make Easter a gift-giving occasion. Well, if you want to make a child or an older doll collector happy with an Eastern gift, my Doll in Easter Bonnet will do the trick. She is a cloth dress up doll whose clothes are easy to take off and put back on. She's even wearing fancy bloomers under her frilly pink dress. 

I think I will be putting four Mermaid Dolls in my online shop this week. I put the first one there today, a Mermaid Doll with red hair and a purple tail.