The image shows a blue frame surrounding the words "museum tour" and the Chelly Wood dot com logo, alongside a photo of a Petite Barbie doll staring at a bust of an African man wearing impressing garb.

Pictures from my trip to Paris and the museums I visited #ParisTrip #AmWriting

Today’s video is a break from my normal routine. Back in 2014, my daughter and I took a trip to Paris. I took these photos in museums all around Paris, and now I thought it might be fun to upload them and see what you think. Feel free to leave comments and/or suggestions. Should I have narrated, or was it fun to just look at … Continue reading Pictures from my trip to Paris and the museums I visited #ParisTrip #AmWriting

Sewing machine image on a turquoise blue background with sewing accoutrements.

Which New Year’s resolutions did I accomplish in 2022? #NewYearsResolutions #DollClothesPatterns

Everybody’s busy making resolutions for the upcoming year, but today I’m going to reflect on the resolutions I set back in 2022. What was I able to accomplish? My Strawberry Shortcake 11 inch doll, which I bought at a second hand store and restored from her earlier state of disarray, now has her own gallery, here on ChellyWood.com, so that was an accomplishment for 2022! … Continue reading Which New Year’s resolutions did I accomplish in 2022? #NewYearsResolutions #DollClothesPatterns

The Chelly Wood doll (a Spin Master Liv doll that has been re-designed to look like the real doll clothing designer, Chelly Wood) is seated at her desk in her office. The wall of the office is a mottled purple color behind her open laptop. The doll's fingers touch the keyboard which is resting on an extended arm of the desk. Her computer screen shows the ChellyWood.com "Share Your Creations" page with three doll clothes displays under the introductory text. The ChellyWood.com logo appears in the lower left corner of the image.

Announcement: a change to the “Share Your Creations” page on ChellyWood.com

In 2019, I first launched my Share Your Creations! page. Starting today, July 15, 2022, students who have taken one of my online courses through the Creative Spark online learning platform are being offered an opportunity to post images of their handmade doll clothes, along with a link to and/or watermark for their website or social media handles, for the Share Your Creations! page on … Continue reading Announcement: a change to the “Share Your Creations” page on ChellyWood.com

The Chelly Wood doll points to a pink dress. In America, we would call this type of dress (that's sort of strappy at the shoulders and is intended to go over the top of a blouse) a "jumper," but in the UK they don't say "jumper" for this type of dress. The dress, which is very straight (not flared or A-line at all) is pink with tiny multi-colored polka dots.

Upcoming Tutorials, Videos, Projects, and Patterns

Today I’m going to give you a brief preview of the many projects I’m working on behind the scenes. As I’ve said in a previous blog post, I’ve started filming for my next class. That takes a lot of time and concentration, so I have to get lots of blog post materials prepped before I start to work on my Creative Spark coursework. And here’s … Continue reading Upcoming Tutorials, Videos, Projects, and Patterns

On a purple background of fabric we see the words "which dolls will Chelly design patterns for in 2022?" and below this is an image of a doll silhouette with a question mark superimposed over it.

It’s time for a doll-clothes-designer’s New Year’s resolution!

I’m actually pretty good at following through with my New Year’s resolutions. As my most faithful followers may recall, in 2019 and 2020 I resolved to a.) re-design my website with galleries and b.) switch all JPG patterns to PDFs for easier downloads. I’m still working on the resolution from 2020 (which carried over into 2021 and still goes on to this day) — that’s … Continue reading It’s time for a doll-clothes-designer’s New Year’s resolution!

On a purple fabric background with tiny white polka dots, we see an image of two Littlest Pet Shop animal toys in a wicker chair. One wears a felt cat mask; the other sits inside a pumpkin. The text says, "Halloween with L P S" and there's a corner logo that says "Chelly Wood."

Let’s watch a Halloween video with Littlest Pet Shop toys! #HappyHalloween #KidStuff

I hope you enjoy this Littlest Pet Shop video. It shows how my patterns can be adapted for various dolls and toys, to suit your needs. As with all of my videos, the content is perfect for even young children and older kids too. This blog post is a re-post. I’m on a business trip, so I’m keeping my blog posts short (but hopefully entertaining) … Continue reading Let’s watch a Halloween video with Littlest Pet Shop toys! #HappyHalloween #KidStuff

The image shows a Lammily "Photographer" doll wearing handmade doll clothes in a charming lace-trimmed business-suit-style. She stands in front of a cathedral in Paris, and she seems to be taking a photograph with her tiny black camera. The scene appears to be "to scale" for a tiny 11 inch doll! Please visit ChellyWood.com for free sewing patterns and tutorial videos for making doll clothes to fit dolls of many shapes and all different sizes.

Doll Photography Tip #11: Make an “Invisible” Doll Stand @ ChellyWood.com #DollPhotography #DollStagram

This is an older video, but it has been somewhat popular on my YouTube channel. Since my article was published in the March & April issue of Doll Castle News magazine, I’ve been following a theme of doll photography tips and tricks on Mondays, so I thought it wouldn’t hurt to revisit this helpful tutorial, showing how I make my “invisible” doll stands. Now in my article … Continue reading Doll Photography Tip #11: Make an “Invisible” Doll Stand @ ChellyWood.com #DollPhotography #DollStagram

Visit ChellyWood.com for free, printable sewing patterns for dolls of many shapes and sizes. Image shows a Liv Doll acting as photographer, taking photos of a Tonner doll in a professional photo studio. Overlay says, "Doll Photo TIP #10 Avoiding glossy doll 'skin'" and offers the URL ChellyWood.com

Doll Photography Tip #10: Avoid Glossy Doll “Skin” #Photography #Dollstagram

Fashion dolls are typically made of hard plastic, and yet we want them to look life-like in our photos. So how do we avoid the glossy look of a doll’s hard-plastic “skin?” This doll photography tutorial video helps you solve this notorious problem. My regular followers know that in my day job, I’m a school librarian, but you probably don’t realize that I teach classes … Continue reading Doll Photography Tip #10: Avoid Glossy Doll “Skin” #Photography #Dollstagram

Doll Photography Tip #9: Set up a Studio for Photographing Your Dolls #DollCollector #CraftRoom

Indoor photography can be a real hassle when you have to set up the kitchen table for a photo shoot right after breakfast, hurry though your photos, and then take the kitchen-table-studio apart again in time for serving lunch or dinner. In 2015, I moved all my doll photography stuff out to the kids’ playhouse. They were in junior high and high school, and they … Continue reading Doll Photography Tip #9: Set up a Studio for Photographing Your Dolls #DollCollector #CraftRoom

Visit ChellyWood.com for free, printable sewing patterns for dolls of many shapes and sizes. Image shows a Liv Doll acting as photographer, taking photos of a Tonner doll in a professional photo studio. Overlay says, "Doll Photo TIP #8 Light and Shadows" and offers the URL ChellyWood.com

Doll Photography Tip #8: Light and Shadows #Photography #Tutorials

We’ve all taken them: the photo that’s too dark or too bright. This video tutorial suggests ways to counteract problems with light and shadows. However, if you want to know more about how to adjust your DSLR camera and its ISO, aperture settings, etc., the place to look is Chelsea and Tony Northrup’s book, Stunning Digital Photography. I learned everything I know about my camera … Continue reading Doll Photography Tip #8: Light and Shadows #Photography #Tutorials

This image shows the Chelly Wood doll holding a tape measure next to the 6 inch Mini American Girl doll. Beside these two is a blond haired, tan-bodied made-to-move Barbie doll. All three dolls wear handmade doll clothes. They appear to be standing in a tiny sewing room, complete with a desk, a sewing machine, and other sewing-related furnishings. It looks like the dolls are about to use the tiny tape measure to take measurements of the little American Girl 6 inch doll, for a sewing project. This image accompanies a blog post for hashtag tape measure Tuesday in which we learn the specific measurements for the 6 inch American girl doll mini. The blog post for measuring a 6 inch doll is found at ChellyWood.com, and this watermark appears on the photograph of these dolls.

Doll Photography Tip #7: Maintain Ratios #Miniatures #DollHouse

In the image above, I’ve included dolls from both a 1:6 scale (i.e. Mattel’s Barbie) and a 1:9 scale (i.e. the Breyer dolls). For a brief period, I used this image to demonstrate that ChellyWood.com offers FREE printable doll clothes sewing patterns for dolls of — as my catch-phrase states — “many shapes and all different sizes.” However I got a little bit of negative … Continue reading Doll Photography Tip #7: Maintain Ratios #Miniatures #DollHouse

The image shows the OOAK Liv Doll "Chelly Wood" at her computer in her tiny dolly diorama office. Behind her is a painting of ballerinas by Degas. The overlay says, Fan Mail and offers the at symbol followed by the URL ChellyWood.com, a website where there are hundreds of free, printable sewing patterns for doll clothes to fit dolls of many shapes and sizes. This is the YouTube header for what one might call "Barbie fan mail opening" or stop motion fan mail reading. It's a stop motion video of the Chelly Wood doll discussing her fan mail, reading it out loud, and showing a video of Barbie dolls modeling the hand-made dresses that one of Chelly Wood's fans created using Chelly Wood's own free doll clothes patterns (printable on the ChellyWood.com website).

Out of the Office and Recommendations for Sewing Room Remodel Ideas from This Week’s #FridayFollow #Porch

Sorry everyone, but I’m about to take a wee little vacation. I do get fan mail every day or so, and that’s why I thought I’d give everyone a heads up about my absence. To keep you entertained while I’m away, I’m recommending that you visit an article on a website called Porch in which author Daniela Gonzalez gives you tips to help you “Create … Continue reading Out of the Office and Recommendations for Sewing Room Remodel Ideas from This Week’s #FridayFollow #Porch