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~Here's a little about who we are:

 

Marcia Grant - 'Heartstrings' As a little girl, Marcia  spent hours playing with her dolls and "fixing" them up, restringing them, making new wigs for the ones that wore out, and designing and sewing wardrobes for her little family.  She started collecting dolls from around the world but when she was given the dolls her mother lovingly played with as a child, her dreams changed to someday expanding her collection of antique dolls.   In an effort to learn how to restore her mother's dolls, Marcia discovered doll making through a doll collector's club and was hooked.  Now, she enjoys not only creating her own reproduction "antiques", but has discovered the excitement of creating modern collectibles as well.

Delois Powers -'Dee's Gallery of Porcelain Dolls' Delois grew up on a family farm  and always loved dolls as a child.  Every year she would get a new doll to love but had a hard time protecting her new babies  from her brothers who were not so gentle.   A few years ago, a friend brought a collectible doll in to work for everyone to see and Delois was amazed to realize that grownups could play with dolls too.  Her friend told her about doll making classes and her enthusiasm took off.  She signed up for classes and started making her own dolls the very next week   Now her workshop is always humming with creative activity and she is one of the most prolific doll artists around.

Jackie Tomassone - 'Precious Bebes' When she was a little girl, Jackie was always excited to see those special shaped boxes under the Christmas tree because she knew it meant a new doll to play with.   Never satisfied with the way her new doll's faces were painted, she would redo their lips and cheeks with her own special touches.   Jackie discovered doll making in the early 1980's when an enthusiastic friend convinced her to take classes together. She didn't think it would interest her because she never considered herself a "crafty" person.  It didn't take long before she had a kiln of her own.  Now Jackie is a highly regarded instructor and doll artist and teaches several classes a week

Gay Mertz -'Doll Depot' Gay just never outgrew dolls in any size or shape!  Her mother had her sewing buttons onto scraps when she was a  toddler and by her teens, she was helping her mother in the costume department of the local theatre.  As a young mother, she got involved in scale dollhouse miniature furnishings, replicating dressed 1800s walnut canopy beds and brass Victorian cradles.  At miniature and doll shows, she discovered porcelain dolls and the craving "to do that" was born.   After two years of classes and strong encouragement from her teacher, Gay went professional. She was in the first class to earn the Master in Dollmaking rating, and continues to seek out those with new and different skills from which to learn and grow. Gay teaches three doll making classes a week and schedules special costuming classes in her studio, as well as traveling to other shops and studios to teach.  Her greatest love is creating special order dolls - especially detailed reproductions of early French dolls. Gay's Husband Tom is her partner in the management of the Doll Depot and GMG Shoes and he assists in doing shows with her.  He also makes the LocLine armature assemblies that Gay designs for the modern dolls.

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