There is nothing like teaching at Sauder Village.
The Sauder Village staff and the hotel staff treat you like royalty!
I was picked up at the airport by Sue Link, SV staff and she was at my beck and call for anything that I needed, including the toothpicks that I forgot to pack and taking my giant box to the post office to mail it back home to me. :)
My room was GLORIOUS and all of my needs and comforts were met, and many at no charge to me.
During the two day class, the staff provided snacks and drinks throughout the days as well as a lovely boxed lunch each day! WOW!
My students, likewise spoiled me!
Keatha brought in a lovely tray of muffins from the Dough Box Bakery (oh my goodness, some of the best baked goods, EVER!) along with a card that all three class members signed.
Keatha also brought to my show table three pair of very special crochet booties that she allowed me to pick from as a thank you for the class. The booties were made by her sister who had strokes when she was in her 40's, was told she would not live very long after that but who is now in her 60's. What a blessing and a treasure to have such a precious gift. I selected a pair of crochet roller skates!
Carolyn provided a darling sleeper and cap for the baby that I painted in the class...because even though I instructed the students to bring an outfit for their babies, I failed to bring one for mine!
The class was from 8 am-5 pm each day. We broke for lunch right in the class room since our lunch was brought right to us, at no additional charge I might add, and we could not wait to get back to our work.
Oh we had so much fun and the gals loved learning how to use air dry paints and they overcame hesitations about them and obstacles while using them. (They learned that if the paint is behaving, the mixture is right. If it is not behaving, the mixture is wrong.)
I was able to set up the class the night before which was a big help! It is stressful to set up a class the morning of.
This is how the setup looked:
Each student had her own bag of supplies to use and take home, and her own doll kit.
I used three different types of air dry paints in this class to teach about all three. The Special Care Nursery paints are pre-blended with mediums and thinners already in them. We did have to add a bit of slow dry medium and a bit more thinner to almost all of the colors, but I don't mind that as it allows an artist to adjust her colors according to the intensity that she wants for the procedure she is doing at the moment.
I brought alone some Art and Magic Water Borne paints as well as some LDC paints and Ultra Matte Gel. I sent home with each student the Plaid Liquitex Outdoor Matte Sealer so that the students could matte their doll once the paint was well cured.
I began my class with an overview of air dry paints, answering any questions about their myth and use. So many people have a bad taste in their mouth due to the old air dry paints that were used on dolls that were purchased at Walmart. These paints are NOT the same. They are artist quality and designed for use on vinyl dolls.
And then the fun work began!
I teach best by working on a doll at the same time that my students do.
They always love this as well as they can actually see the technique as it is being applied.
I took a moment to take a picture of each doll about midway through the day.
Please pardon the lighting in the room. Not great for pictures and I didn't have my best camera (I won't travel it on the planes as too many of my camera's have become damaged on flights) but I do have to say that this class room had the best light of any I've taught in before. It was great!
This one is mine, Tristan by Jessica Schenk:
This one is Carolyn's; Trinny by Jessica Schenk
Donna's; Tristan by Jessica Schenk:
And Keatha's Trinny by Jessica Schenk:
I took another picture at the end of the first day:
My Tristan:
Donna's Tristan. This picture cracks me up..it looks like he is reaching out to say, "Help me!" LOL
Keatha's Trinny:
And Carolyn's Trinny:
The second day found us back to work at 8 am.
And we were still smiling!
We were super excited that we had gotten so far on our dolls that the plan was to teach them how to basically paint hair.
Here are the dolls before hair:
Donna's Tristan:
Keatha's Trinny:
Carolyn's Trinny:
And my Tristan:
(The vinyl on my kit was darker than the other three kits as I had purchased it years ago and had just purchased the students kits before the class.)
I guess I failed to get picture of the dolls with the painted hair because we were so excited that we also had time to put them together...at least for now, until we each arrived back home and could spend some devoted time doing it properly (glass beads in limbs, eyes glued in, lashes on etc).
I taught the ladies some of my classic techniques for weighting and they were all thrilled with it.
Donna loves the feel of the plastic pellets in the small body:
Carolyn making sure things are just right :)
And then...babies were born!
Carolyn's Trinny:
My Tristan:
Keatha's Trinny:
And I somehow failed to get Donna's Tristan!
Sorry Donna!
I loved watching Carolyn dress her precious little girl. She had the prettiest dress and blanket for her!
Group picture!
Carolyn with Trinny, Donna with Tristan and Keatha with Trinny:
I sure wish I had my big camera for those last three pictures! The babies were colorful and precious!
We went to the lobby of the hotel and asked the hotel staff to take a picture with all of us in it.
What a delightful group of ladies. I truly enjoyed teaching them.
What I loved most? Seeing the ladies on the show room floor the next two days with their darling new reborn dolls!
Carolyn, Donna and Keatha, thank you for being the amazing people that you are!
Thank you for taking my class and spoiling ME in the process :)
I will be teaching this same class in Denver in 2015.
For that class, we will have our own, specifically made just for our class then to be released at our class doll kit created by Marita Winters.
I can't wait!
XXOO
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