Sasha Celebration Weekend 2017 - part 4

Saturday morning at the Sasha Celebration weekend has become the time to hold the craft workshops.  After breakfast those of us running the workshops were given time to set up our tables before the crowds of eager crafters came to make what we had prepared for them.  We each had been asked to make up 50 kits so that even if people couldn't get everything done in the 3 hours, they could take away a kit or the pattern for the craft.

In the Maypole/International exhibition room Emma, Judith and I set up our tables, in the Favourite doll/Raffle room Jane, Janet, Brigitte and Frances had their crafts.  Emma's project was a felt jacket with braiding, Judith's project an apron, Janet's project was a wool rug made via the progging method, Jane's project was some miniature paper gift bags, Frances had some beautiful decorated bags for people to make and Brigitte was teaching people how to make leather satchels for Sasha.

My project was another toy for Sasha. Months ago Janet had suggested a push along toy to me and mentioned she had a push along duck as a child.  I investigated lots of design ideas and eventually decided to buy some laser cut wooden ducks and some round wooden discs for the wheels.  To cut 50 duck shapes in the workshop would have taken me far to long and they would not have been accurate. The duck shapes I bought were too thin for the push along rod hole so 5 weeks before the Celebration weekend my girl helped by gluing pairs of duck shapes together with me.  When they were dry I drilled holes in them for the wheel axle and for the push along rod, drilled all the wheels, cut the rods (bamboo skewers) and bought some coloured beads for the end of the push along rod from local charity shops. My husband cut the axles from phosphor bronze rod and I filed the ends. My girl assembled the prototype duck for me after she had coloured it in with felt tip pens.  It did not take her long to do and she enjoyed it, which was a good test of the kit.  I wrote up the instructions and assembled all the kits.  We also decided that duck webbed feet could be imitated by gluing short lengths of ribbon around the rims of the wheels. Not even Janet knew exactly what the toy would be - she just knew I was doing a toy again.

The push along duck

The push along duck showing the wheels and flappy feet of ribbon

The parts of the kit for the push along duck

The push along duck craft table awaiting crafters

Miranda and Edmund with the push along duck

On the day Miranda and Edmund showed off the push along duck on our table. My girl was able to look around the other tables and decided what she wanted to make on the day as she had already made the duck. She also collected some of the other kits to make later.

Emma's table awaiting crafters

Colouring their ducks

Colouring in the ducks

Making aprons at Judith's table

Emma explaining how to make the felt jacket

Felt jacket making

Making leather satchels

The doll wearing the leather satchel on her back

Janet showing how progging the rug works

Making rugs

Jane with her paper bag crafters

Making the little decorated bag

Rug making

Discussing ducks and Sasha dolls

Iris draws eye lashes on her duck's eyes

Assembling the push along toy

Emma demonstrates getting all the pattern pieces out of the felt

Showing off her completed, very colourful duck

Colouring ducks as Miranda and Edmund watch

Enjoying the ducks

Two more unique ducks completed

Sewing the apron with Judith's advice

My girl receiving some experienced advice on how to set the sleeves in the jacket

Jackets in progress

More duck making and Janet enjoying her finished duck

Showing off his completed duck

The wobblers in the wood play with their new push along duck toy

Testing the push along duck rolling along the table

Assembling her duck

Very proudly showing off her duck

Watching a duck being coloured

Discussing a soft bodied baby while the last duck is made

My girl made good progress with the felt jacket (which was a long complicated sewing project), she will finish it at home.

I enjoyed explaining and advising how to make the push along ducks during the workshop and seeing the unique colourful ducks which people created.  No two ducks were alike.  There was a lot of chatting and happy laughter around all the craft tables during the morning, with everyone absorbed and enthusiastic about what they were making.  The challenge for those of us who volunteer to run the craft workshops is to work out what to create for the next Sasha Celebration weekend which will be just as appealing.

Sasha Celebration weekend 2016 - part 2

It was Saturday morning of the Sasha celebration and the Sasha dolls in our room were stirring from their sleep.

Lucy the polar bear was snuggled in comfortably with baby Mabel and baby Nina

The miniature Baby Born in a push chair was a gift to my girl from Laura H when we arrived on the Friday - thank you Laura.

Florence, Miranda, Melanie (behind Miranda), Reuben, baby Leo, Nicholas James (as Robin Hood) and Betsy the Schoenhut girl were all waiting patiently for us to decide who would join us for breakfast

In the event my girl's red headed family and Trendon Elliott came to breakfast

Baby Amy and Edmund were still in their pyjamas!

Edmund was pleased to meet Rosie Shortell's two little German toddlers.  They are a similar size to the Sasha toddlers though a little chunkier, with large hands and big feet!

After breakfast those of us running the craft workshops set up our tables while everyone else waited in the refreshment area.  It did not take long to put out the waterproof tablecloth (to protect the hotel tableclothes from glue), the marionette kits, trays for small parts, marker pens, glue and feathers. Reuben was pleased to hold the marionette demonstration model while Florence held the prototype marionette which I had decided not to mass produce as it would have meant too many pieces of wood for me to cut to shape and sand.

Reuben and the marionette on our craft table

Everyone waiting patiently for the fun to begin

Janet welcomed everyone and explained about the two rooms, the 5 craft workshops and Kendal's glorious display of the entire Sasha brood.

The marionette craft table just before people arrived in the room to start

Kendal's studio and course dolls and wonderful photos

Kendal's production dolls - part 1

Kendal's production dolls - part 2

Kendal's production dolls - part 3

Kendal's production dolls - part 4

Kendal's production dolls - part 5

Kendal's production dolls - part 6

Petrana took a photo of Steve and family with Kendal, Chon and Liss beside the Brood

At the table beside mine Emma F was teaching an eager group of people how to make felt shoes or boots

Lorraine, Jocelyn, Alice, Liss and Shelly started reading the instructions and assembling their ostrich marionettes from the kit of parts

Iris and Ginger were also getting stuck into making the marionettes while the sunshine streamed through the big windows

soon Ginger was very proudly holding up her ostrich all strung on the controller

In the room next door the three other craft workshops were a hive of activity.  My girl was running a production line of face masks.  She made one for Kendal and two for her own dolls (Laura and a baby). She had tested out a marionette prototype for me at Easter time so knew what it was like to make a marionette.

My girl at the face mask workshop

The face mask for Laura which my girl made, using stencils, glitter glue and sequins

Jonny, Jo, Janet and Iris were busy at the face mask table too (yes, Iris is speedy crafter, it didn't take her long to finish her marionette and move onto the next craft)

Theresa was teaching the face mask making workshop

Judith (Dollydoodles) was teaching a large group of keen sewers how to make a playmat for their Sasha and Gregor dolls

Jane W had made a large number of knitted and crochet hand and shoulder bags to embellish with beads and other decorations - Paula, Dee, Jane and Ann were busy selecting and stitching

Meanwhile Lorraine had finished decorating her marionette with colourful feathers

Lorraine's flamboyant ostrich marionette

Lorraine's new boy Edward was very pleased to be the first to hold the ostrich marionette

Jocelyn, Alice and Liss were also decorating their ostriches with colourful feathers

Liss had gone for orange and yellow feathers for her ostrich

while Jocelyn had chosen her favourite colour turquoise feathers for her ostrich

artist Janet had given her ostrich the most amazingly well drawn eyes, quite unlike any of the others and had made her ostrich pink and turquoise

I was thrilled that Ginger had brought Finn to the celebration weekend for her first ever trip to England.  I had knitted for him in Lorraine's first Secret Santa Sasha swap in 2011 and he was pleased to hold Ginger's ostrich, now decorated with purple, pink and turquoise feathers on the table with Florence for the rest of the morning.  I was delighted to meet Ginger at last after 4 years of corresponding via blog comments and email.

Finn with his ostrich made by Ginger, standing with my Florence and the prototype duck marionette

people swapped craft tables as they completed projects and tried another throughout the morning (we had 3 hours for crafts), so Paula got started at my table

Judith paid a quick visit to my workshop to collect a kit as she was teaching her workshop and couldn't spare the time to do another craft at the same time.    

A new group of people were soon sitting at Emma's table making shoes

The elves and the shoemakers hard at work

following marionette instructions carefully

Laura H with her completed shoes on the doll sized lasts

Alison and Laura being cobblers and chatting

A gorgeous girl modelling a completed 'Robin Hood' boot

Paula proudly showed off her completed marionette

Fiona joined Jane at marionette making

while Liss became a cobbler

Kendal was on hand to talk about her Sasha Brood, Kendal and Liss enjoyed a chat while marionettes and shoes were made 

Soon Jane was walking her turquoise feathered marionette

Janet M was the last person to come along to make a marionette before lunch

It was great to have 3 hours for craft workshops - it gave everyone a chance to complete or try at least one craft and at least one person did 4 of the 5 workshops in that time!  Those of us leading the workshops could not try other crafts however some of us had made up enough kits for everyone to take away to do at home, so my girl and I have the shoe kits, my girl also got the playmat kit and Jane gave us several crochet bags to decorate.