kokeshi dotee love

kokeshi dotee love, originally uploaded by poketypatch.

received in a swapbot swap
I am in love with her
she is simply perfect
thanks to rubberstampcollector
for making her

{Kokeshi Dolls are traditional Japanese dolls.  They were orignally from northern Japan and hadmade of wood.  They have a simple trunk and enlarged head.  The facial definition is made up of a few thin, painted lines.  The body usually has a floral design painted in red, black, and sometimes yellow, and covered with a layer of wax. One characteristic of kokeshi dolls is their lack of arms or legs. The bottom is marked with the signature of the artist.} Wikipedia

My First Dotee

dotee doll #1, originally uploaded by poketypatch.

Today I was notified that my little dotee had been received. The recipient, Maggie, was very kind to say she liked the doll. If you are looking for inspiration in order to start handcrafting a dotee, you should definitely check out Maggie's flicker set - crazy for dotees. She has quite a collection!

Dotee Doll Swap

Recently I joined a swap for Dotee dolls.  Happily, this one came in the mail to me from Brandy.  She named her Carla.  Dotee dolls are tiny, handmade cloth dolls (4 to 6 inches).  They have a circular face that can be drawn with markers, embroidered or even painted.  The stuffed doll usually has a hanger made out of ribbon or beads, and a beaded tail (or legs).  The stuffed doll is embellished with beads, ribbon, sequins, yarn...just about anything.  I believe that the craze was started by Dot.  There are lots of tutorials online to help you get started.  There is a video tutorial here and a nice pattern here.  Once you have made a few dolls, you can start swapping!  There are so many swaps on swap-bot.   And, there are lots of pictures on flickr.  I made one for swap as well, but am waiting to post until it is received by its new owner.  

Another fun thing that I like about the swaps on Swap-bot, is the packages usually contain a few "extras".  In addition to the doll, Brandy included a cute, handmade card and a little magnet.  How thoughtful!