A Giveaway and a Conversation with Margaret Bloom
December 05, 2013
It was serendipity that I found Margaret's book. I wasn't looking to
buy a book on making peg dolls, but one look at the cover and I knew I
would have to take it home. While I love and appreciate Margaret's
talent, what touched my heart was her encouragement of
imaginative child play through her simple dolls. A quote from the book's foreword by Susan Perrow expresses this nicely, "A refreshing discovery for the adult reader is that the peg
dolls are calling out to us as well as to the children! For those
adults who feel they are drowning in the current 'consumer culture' that
is so prevalent in our modern times, for those who feel overwhelmed by
the excess stimulation of the technological world, this book offers a
lifeboat through the very nature of its simplicity." Amen to that.
Margaret and I discovered we are near neighbors and met for coffee last week. Please read below for my interview with Margaret and information about the sweet giveaway she is offering to my readers!
My conversation with Margaret:
1. I love the simplicity of your
dolls.
Thank
you! There are a few reasons I try to
keep my designs simple. The first has to
do with developing my own personal style. I adore the intricate designs created
by a number of artists who also specialize in tiny doll-making and am amazed at
the beauty of their work, but when creating my work, it’s important for me to
cultivate my own sense of design.
There’s also the fact that I have two young children and so I have very
little free time; when I am creating a toy or gift, I need the design to be
simple, easy and quick to create.
The
second reason I try to keep my designs simple has to do with keeping in mind
the people who will enjoy my book. Most
of my readers are mamas of young children who also don’t have a lot of time and
want something simple to create, plus many children also use my book to get
ideas for their own designs. I want the
projects in my books to be approachable for anyone, and I also feel it’s
important to allow room in my designs for personalization. I tend to leave the gowns, cloaks and hats of
my dolls unornamented, and I encourage anyone using my book to add painted
designs to the bodies of their dolls or embroidery to the cloaks and
hats. There continues to be latitude for
readers to add their own flourishes to my basic designs within my next book,
too.
2.
So many toys currently marketed to children encourage the purchase of
numerous accessories, while your dolls just need a tiny hand!
Yes!
I am appalled when I see the words, “Collector’s Edition,” or “Collect the
whole set!” on packaging for toys. In my
own observations, it seems that, once the focus shifts to acquiring and
collecting toys, children lose interest in actually playing with them. Toys are meant to be played with, not
collected!
3. Your handmade toys are not so
precious that they cannot be played with by messy little children. You
encourage that don't you?
I do encourage that… there is an anecdote I shared in the introductory section of my first book which touches on this. I sent a few little dolls to a friend in Australia, and her wee daughter Alice immediately took up one and named it “baby.” Alice played with the tiny doll for hours and when she was done playing, she tucked “baby” into her skirt pocket. Later that day, the skirt went into the laundry and my friend was very apologetic about the resulting state of the little doll -- but I was happy knowing that one of my creations had been so appreciated and loved by Alice.
I do encourage that… there is an anecdote I shared in the introductory section of my first book which touches on this. I sent a few little dolls to a friend in Australia, and her wee daughter Alice immediately took up one and named it “baby.” Alice played with the tiny doll for hours and when she was done playing, she tucked “baby” into her skirt pocket. Later that day, the skirt went into the laundry and my friend was very apologetic about the resulting state of the little doll -- but I was happy knowing that one of my creations had been so appreciated and loved by Alice.
4. Did you always make things? As a child, were you crafty? Did your parents encourage you to explore art?
I
did love making things as a child. We
always had basic art supplies in the house – paper, pencils and markers; and,
at an early age my mother gave me free access to her sewing supplies.
My
mother also enrolled me in classes such as ceramics, theater & dance, plus
we visited museums, and attended theater productions, but I think, more
important than all this was the fact that my parents set limits on how much
television I watched. Some of my friends
were shocked that I had limits on watching television, but the limits gave me
the opportunity to spend more time developing interests in other things. The other really wonderful thing my parents
did was to not over-schedule me -- this gave me time to lie around reading,
drawing, sewing and playing imaginative games with my brother and my friends.
5. What were your favorite toys
as a child?
Is
it any surprise that my favorite toys were books and tiny dolls?!
6. What is your education background?
I
have an undergraduate degree in English Literature from UC Berkeley and a
master’s degree in Counseling Psychology.
7. The photography in your book is beautiful, yet so simple. Can you tell me a little about that?
My
husband Paul has a BFA from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, and, up
until around 1996 he was working full time as a commercial photographer. When he takes photos, he puts time and effort
into the lighting, while I did most of the styling for the photos for the
book. I wanted the dolls to appear to
inhabit their own tiny world and set up the photos as tableaux to reflect this.
Shooting
the photos for the first book was somewhat stressful because we were on a tight
deadline. The only time we were able to shoot was when our toddler was
sleeping, but Paul lightened things up with his sense of humor. My favorite moment was when the dolls were
all set up to start a photo session. Before
taking the first shot, Paul would look at the dolls and say, “Okay now…
everyone smile!”
8. Do you have any ideas for another book?
Yes! Right
now, I’m in the home stretch on my second book – 8 more weeks of solid work
before the manuscript, photos and artwork is due. Then the exciting part really begins – I love
getting emails every week with proofs of the layout for various sections of the
book.
I do already have an outline for a third book,
but, when I jump ahead and start talking about the next book before the current
one is finished, the head of Hawthorn Press is in the habit of politely
reminding me, “We would like to get this book finished before we start talking
about the next one.”
GIVEAWAY! Margaret gave me this sweet angel to give away to one of my readers! It's tiny and sweet and will arrive just in time to hang on your tree. To enter, please be a follower of Knitionary and leave me a comment and let me know what you think of these little peg people! Make sure I know how to get a hold of you if you win! Yes, this is open to international readers of course! Edited, 12/10, the giveaway winner has been chosen and contacted. Congratulations Estella!
GIVEAWAY! Margaret gave me this sweet angel to give away to one of my readers! It's tiny and sweet and will arrive just in time to hang on your tree. To enter, please be a follower of Knitionary and leave me a comment and let me know what you think of these little peg people! Make sure I know how to get a hold of you if you win! Yes, this is open to international readers of course! Edited, 12/10, the giveaway winner has been chosen and contacted. Congratulations Estella!
Here are some great links for you.
Making Peg Dolls by Margaret Bloom
We Bloom Here blog, she has a give-away right now!
We Bloom Here on Facebook
My Mushroom Purse project from her book.
You might also like the blog Forest Fairy blog by Lenkda Vodicka Paredes.
Lenka has written a book by the same name, Forest Fairy Crafts
and she is currently co-hosting a give-away with Margaret.
Next week I'll show you the simply elegant angel ornaments I made using clothespins,
peg dolls, tulle, eyelash yarn and vintage Christmas sheet music.
All in gold and silver, inspired by Margaret's book.
Also, a post on my cowl in the new Rowan Fine Art Aran,
the finished Luna cardigan in Rowan Kidsilk Eclipse
and shopping for beads, buttons and trims in NYC.
Also, a post on my cowl in the new Rowan Fine Art Aran,
the finished Luna cardigan in Rowan Kidsilk Eclipse
and shopping for beads, buttons and trims in NYC.
12 Comments
Amazing :)
ReplyDeleteI love Margaret's book and can't wait for others.Her toys and ideas are so sweet and creative.Thank you for the interview.I enjoyed reading about her.Your mushroom family turned out to be adorable.
ReplyDeleteThis is an adorable book, one I will add to my library. Such fun to make with my little grand baby!
ReplyDeleteSo adorable! I might have to make some!
ReplyDeleteI would like to have the book. So cute. Rav Id. Sjordan
ReplyDeleteSo beautiful! We love making peg people.
ReplyDeleteAndrea G ang_ihy@hotmail.com
How gorgeous and cute is she lovely post. bubsiekins@hotmail.com
ReplyDelete:-)
These are so cute! I would love the angel for my tree.
ReplyDeletelindame dot rumsey at gmail dot com
The book is great and so is Margaret's attitude. I love "toys are made to play with, not collect."
ReplyDeleteCarole
Oh so sweet!
ReplyDeletetktl on Ravelry
Kris, I'm personally not attracted to the little dolls, or any little dolls in fact, but man, that was a heck of an interview! Brought out great stuff about the artist/creator, a bit about her world view, and we got to know her and like her. Bill
ReplyDeleteOh my little girl would love these dolls! And what a great interview. Makers are the nicest people, I find.
ReplyDeletePS..I follow you in Bloglovin'
You make my day when you make a comment!