Enter to win a Free Mixed-Media Doll handmade by Linda O'Brien, co-author of Who's Your Dada?

Do you love this original handmade dada doll by Linda O'Brien?

You can enter to win it!

All you need to do is leave your answer to one of these two questions in the comments section of this post by midnight ET on November 24th.

Linda and Opie will choose a winner at random on November 25th. On Thanksgiving Day, November 26th, we will announce the winner on this blog.

Question 1:

What was your favorite doll as a child and why? (Do you still have it?)

Question 2:

What was the last thing you made that simply put a smile on your face every time you looked at it and why?

Just to inspire you, here's my answer to the first question.

My favorite doll as a little kid was my stuffed bunny that I would dress in the pretty clothes my mom sewed for my fancy baby doll. Even then I was mixing things up and doing it my own way! And yes I still have it, the fur is pretty much gone and it has lost its original eyes and nose that have been replaced with buttons, but I still love it!

The answer to the second question I promise to post about soon. I swear it is cracking me up, but it is not quite finished. It will be soon, I promise!

If you like this mixed-media dada doll then you will want to grab a copy of the immensely creative and inspiring:

Who's Your DADA?
Redefining the Doll through Mixed Media
By
Linda O'Brien and Opie O'Brien

Inspired by the "dada" notion of making art from materials that would not typically be combined or expected to go together, and driven by a similar sense of irony and humor, this exciting book by Linda and Opie O'Brien shares their unique approach to making mixed-media dolls. It is not only a "must have" volume for anyone interested in found object art and the human form, it is a thoughtful and provocative exploration of the power, symbolism, and cultural significance of dolls and representational figures.

The authors share detailed techniques for using surface embellishments, creating faces, heads, and limbs, using molds and molding products, and building and transforming disparate objects into whimsical, inspiring dolls. Starting with a variety of substrates--a wood block, a canvas, a tin can, a book, and a box construction--readers are guided step by step through five types of doll constructions.

Included:

-Complete instructions for making a box construction doll, a wood block substrate doll, a two-sided canvas frame doll, a tin can doll, and a book doll

-Numerous variations on each of the core projects for further experimentation

-An inspiring gallery of mixed-media dolls from leading artists who discuss their methods and share their very personal answers to the question: "What is a doll?"

Originally from New York City,Linda and Opie O'Brien are full-time artists living on Lake Erie in Ohio with their cat Angelus and his cat Angel. They teach workshops nationally and internationally. Their work includes jewelry, dada dolls, artist books, assemblage, collage, masks, music, and more, and has been featured in numerous books, magazines, galleries, exhibitions, solo shows, museum gift shops, and private collections.

Comments

[Susan Bluerobot]

Question 2 answer. Last thing i made that every time i look at it makes me smile is my blog mascot the ROBOT he is made out of card stock (thanks for the chance to enter)

[Steve Lacroix]

I'm a 57 father so this might be a bit of an odd comment. My favorite doll as a child was a little boy hand made doll I called "Stevie". Stevie lived at my grandmother's weekend/summer house. I was never allowed to take Stevie home, but he was always there when I visited and we would be pals. We explored all of the little areas away from the house together and discovered many wonderful things, butterflys, junebugs, fruit growing on the trees, flowers and such. My grandmother's husband didn't much like the fact that I had "a doll" and I was certain that if he just got to know Stevie, he would realize that he was so much more than a doll. I don't remember when, but one summer vacation as we arrived for a week at the house, I couldn't find him resting on the bed I shared with my sister and brother, waiting for me to arrive. As hard as I looked, Stevie was nowhere to be found. My visits to the house after Stevie left (my grandmother assured me that no harm had come to him) were never quite the same, nor did I look forward to going for weekends now that my little blue-eyed friend had gone away. I've never forgotten him and can still see him when I close my eyes.

[Lisa Gallup]

I had TWO fave dolls....one was Chatty Baby. My sister had a Chatty Kathy and one day she pretended to cut Kathy's hair. I thought she REALLY cut the hair, so I basically scalped my Chatty Baby; I was soooo upset when I realized she had just "pretended"! My other favorite was a rag doll named Marie that my Grandma made me. She is armless and missing hair, but I still have her in a doll stand on my dresser. :) xoxo
The last thing I made that put a smile on the old face was a fun little assemblage with a tree branch and a red bird in it. :)It was DEFINITELY out of my comfort zone as I am primarily a painter. :)

[Karen]

My favorite doll was an old "Mama" doll my German Oma gave me. I played with her even after the "Mama" box fell out of her back leaving a big, round hole. Her hair stands on end from countless washings. I still have her and the dresses my Oma knitted for her. She lives in the doll trunk with all my china dolls and plush. Some day she and my mother-in-law's very old china doll Molly will be going to the Doll Hospital for a nice spa treatment.

The thing I've made that makes me smile is a tiny beaded tree doll. She is one of the few things I've beaded that I kept for myself.

[Kelley Arasim]

My favorite doll when growing up was a Chatty Cathy doll. Yep, I'm from that generation. LOL Though I had several dolls I loved..and can remember all their names...I still actually have a couple of them, including the original Barbie, Midge and Skipper (plus of course, Ken). But Cathy was great because...she talked! Mine still works...but is in storage. All of them are too precious for me to have sitting out and one day will most likely be "tossed" by my kids. :( But I do hold on to one on my bedroom dresser...a ten inch American Indian girl with a buckskin beaded dress on...and if you "walk her feet/legs"...her head moves back and forth also. My grandparents brought her back to me (my older sister got the mom w/ papoose) when they went out west one year when I was about five. My daughter (14) has her eye on that one. LOL

[whitney]

question one- my favorite doll was Jem- it was like a barbie but she was all rockstar!
Question 2- the last thing I made that made me smile was a quilt that represented the end of a tough couple of years and the beginning or a new life

[MaryAnn Scheblein-Dawson]

My favorite doll was Tressy. She was like Barbie but her hair could grow. My mom made clothes for her, either sewn or knitted, and so did I. My girlfriend's mother gave me scraps from the georgeous evening gowns she sewed and I fashioned them into one-of-a-kind outfits. I still have her and most of her wardrobe.

[Mary Anne]

I actually had three favourites and still have them all. Unfortunately I have no clue what their names were, but I remember getting one from my bachelor uncle and the other from Santa - both the same year. My absolute favourite though was a stuffed Lassie dog pajama holder. I loved that dog to bits - quite literally! He is still in my cedar chest and I can't bear to part with him, even though he's threadbare and his nose has been chewed pretty much off!

[Kathy Cunningham]

My favorite doll when I was growing up was a Barbie doll since I learned how to sew her clothes and I learned how to put on buttons , snaps, lace, other embellishments. I am sad to say that I do not have her today. For a long time, I was interested in having children and raising them and Barbie got away from me. Now I am back to doing my crafts and sewing and other arts.

[jean b.]

these answers surely give away my age, but my first favorite doll was a "Betsy Wetsy"... and i still have it. a recent toy acquisition at a resale shop was a giant plastic "Cootie"; it remains on guard in the studio until i figure out what to do with it. glitter?