BeBe Babies and Friends: Lizzie Gibson's Sugary Sweet Babies

I was first attracted to Lizzie's dolls because I really admired the mouths on her babies. She inspired me to do more detailed work on some of my own dolls, including the new mouths I have been working on. The other thing I admire about Lizzie is her dedication to her work. After becoming aware of her dolls, I started seeing her pop up all over the internet. She also has personally sent me messages asking for my advice. This tells me that Lizzie is someone who knows how to market her work, and when she doesn't, she is the first to put herself out there and ask questions. I admire that because I'm somewhat similar, as you know. I hope you will take a minute to get to know her and her babies! Notes in italics are my comments.

Gummy Baby

1. When did you begin making cloth dolls?

My love of baby making started back in 2007 when I needed a special birthday gift for my youngest daughter. I had an old doll bed that I painted and made all the bedding for. Then I tackled making a doll. I found a pattern in an old magazine I had. I had never made a soft sculptured doll before. The doll was about the ugliest thing I'd ever seen after I'd finished, but my daughter loved it (she still has it and wouldn't take anything in the world for it.)

Lizzie's first doll

2. Have you always made cloth dolls or have you made other types of dolls?

I have always made cloth dolls. I do appreciate other forms of doll making like reborning and vinyl just to name a couple, but I love cloth. I love the way I can manipulate fabric with a needle and thread to make features and creases.

3. How did you learn to sew and make dolls?

I learned to sew from my mother and grandmother as a child. Later, in high school, I did take a sewing class. One of the projects we had was making a rag style doll that was about 8 inches tall.

Tootsie Roll Babies

4. Do you have any advice for new doll makers?

Most people think you can just make the perfect doll on your first try. That's not the case at all. Doll making is a learning experience. You are learning with each doll you complete. Even the most experienced and talented doll artists are still learning new techniques. I would advise anyone to not give up. It's practice practice practice.

(I concur with Lizzie here. I am always learning and perfecting my skills, which is what I think is part of the fun.)

5. Does anyone help you in the creation of your dolls?

My sewing studio is my domain. I am a one woman show. I do everything myself from start to finish.

6. Is making dolls just a hobby for you or a serious business?

My Lollipops are a serious business for me. Just about everything I do or say revolves around them. I promote my babies every chance I get. No matter if I'm in the dollar store, the post office, grocery store or wherever, I hand out business cards and tell people about my babies.

(What a great idea! I'm a little too shy to talk about my babies but I think we can learn something from Lizzie's outgoing strategy.)

Goo Goo Cluster Baby

7. Do you belong to any clubs/groups/forums?

I belong to a number of groups and doll pages on facebook and also on flickr and etsy. Check out Cloth Doll Creations, a group that Lizzie administers, Spam a Doll, Handmade Dolls Addicts Anonymous, and OOAK Artists and Collectors.

8. Where do you sell your dolls? Where can people buy them?

I mostly sell my babies off of facebook and etsy. I also have a website. I recently was invited to share a booth in our local flea market in which I did fairly well, so I will most likely in the near future rent a booth to show my dolls locally on the weekends.

9. Do you collect dolls yourself?

I'm not a collector, but I am a big admirer of other artist work.

10. Who are your favorite doll artists?

There is so many doll artists from yesteryear and today that have so much talent. It's really hard to just name one. I love all doll types and each style of doll making.

Cotton Candy Baby

11. Anything else you want to share about your dolls?

I have been doing this for so long, I can't even remember how I came up with a name of Lollipop Babies. But since then, I have created different sets of babies and each set had to have its own unique name. Each set is mostly named after a sweet; like BubbleGum Babies, TootsieRoll Babies, Biscuit Babies, CottonCandy Babies and so on and so forth. I love creating new lines, and the more sets I have, the more variety I have to offer my followers and customers.