Meet Marty

Willard's World

A new personality in the Way Home Universe was introduced last week: Marty. He is one of two employees of the Way Home General Store (the other employee, Dwight, we have yet to meet) and is passionate about his job…although I’d like him to consider taking a vacation for his mental health. Then again, he doesn’t sound confident in Dwight’s abilities to do anything other than make a breakfast sandwich and there are a lot more tasks involved in keeping the Way Home General up and running!

Like Kenneth and Rusty, Marty’s voice and some of his mannerisms were inspired by my upbringing in rural Vermont and my familiarity with country store culture!

When I make dolls to sell, I dress them in brand new clothes. When I make dolls to keep as my Way Home Universe characters, I can dress them in used clothing as well. I found these FILA sneakers at a local thrift store and couldn’t resist them. I felt they were older and worn enough not to necessarily require that the wearer be a basketball player (Marty does not play sports, unless you count ring toss). I also found the perfect country flannel for him.

Mother Willard

Uncategorized, Willard's World

Willard and Willette found their mother, but the visit was a little disappointing. She was asleep when they arrived and kept talking about how she needed to be back by three o’clock to watch her show.

Ms. Blodgett rains on Rusty’s parade

Willard's World

Be sure to turn on the captions when you watch the video below!

I made a new creature named Rusty recently and was working on his voice and character all last week when I was driving around in my car. Last weekend I did some puppetry with Rusty and Ms. Blodgett. I had already established that Ms. Blodgett was the neighborhood gossip and meddler, and I had also established that Rusty had entrepreneurial aspirations in the vein of becoming a life coach or other kind of coach (I’m not sure Rusty has clarified what he’s coaching about, only that he wants to be a coach).

    I have somehow stumbled upon the concept of “coaching” myself and I find it a fascinating cultural phenomenon. On the one hand, there are many legit consultants out there who are extremely knowledgeable and helpful when it comes to particular topics.

    But there is also another type of “coach” in the internet space whose actual knowledge and offer seems unclear, yet who are offering to coach other coaches. The underlying premise and “hook” seems to be financial independence, being one’s own boss and sometimes a sprinkle of “spirituality”.

    Many seem to find themselves intrigued by these “offers,” regardless of how foundation-less they sometimes seem, and how closely they sometimes resemble MLMs. I find the whole thing fascinating and that is why I decided that Rusty would be someone seeking this promise of “abundance” and financial freedom. Like many folks, Rusty also has a sincere desire to help others.

    Unfortunately, Rusty’s marketing of his coaching offer is thus far limited to the small neighborhood in which Willard resides, where he is unlikely to find his target market niche. He encounters Ms. Blodgett, who is quick to offer her own ideas about his coaching offer while simultaneously criticizing or downright ignoring what he has to say about it. Can his plans–already threatened by his anxiety and social awkwardness–survive her scrutiny? We’ll have to find out!

    Lil’ Willard

    Creature Dolls, Uncategorized

    I developed this 10.5” doll body style as an alternative to my full-sized baby creature dolls. Although I love the full-sized, sometimes it’s nice to have something more compact.

    This doll has a floppier and simpler body, but the same head as my larger dolls (just reduced in size) so that it still has that same character and dimension.

    Its bum is lightly weighted and it can sit or be held upright. I plan to make more creatures in this style as well.

    Pre-orders for Lil’ Willard will go live soon. Each will come with a removable tee shirt and certificate of authenticity. Lil’ Willards’ eyelids are not lined, but the raw edge is finished with a blanket stitch just to be thorough 🙂

    Smol Willard

    Creature Dolls, Willard's World

    I have been tinkering with ways to make smaller versions of Willard plush. I would love to have vinyl action figures made, but this is a fairly long process and I wanted to see if I could make something myself.

    At this tiny scale, certain techniques that I use with full-size Willard aren’t possible, so I opted for an embroidered face. While, in many ways, it doesn’t even necessarily look exactly like OG Willard, it does fit right in with the Way Home Universe and is absolutely adorable in its own right.

    One thing I love about Smol Willard is that the size makes it easy to easily create fun toy photography. You could take Smol Willard on adventures and get some tasteful bokeh effect shots, or even remove the background of a good photo of him and layer it with illustrations. The sky is the limit. I would like to create some downloadable graphics that one could print and attach to box board in order to create little playscenes.

    I will be taking pre-orders for Smol Willard starting soon— keep an eye on your email for specifics! Smol Willards will look identical to the one above, except that the hand-drawn and embroidered faces will vary slightly from doll to doll, making each one truly one of a kind.

    Melancholy Couch Time for Willard

    Uncategorized

    I have been making more stop-motion videos which is definitely a steep learning curve! Today I made one of Willard shifting around on his couch and his pet possum, George Jones, climbing up for a snuggle.

    All About Kenneth

    Uncategorized

    Meet Kenneth, Willard’s good-natured and fairly oblivious neighbor. Kenneth is never seen without a can of Coke in hand. His “rig”‘s been in the shop which is why you see him walking in the video. He enjoys circulating the neighborhood and chatting with or TO anyone who is outside. In the video below, Willard was overwhelmed because he wasn’t expecting company and hadn’t rehearsed what he wanted to say. Later, he felt very guilty for his lack of responsiveness. He may be slipping past Kenneth’s place under the cover of darkness (so as to avoid more chit-chat) to leave a 12-pack of Coke to make up for it.

    The original pattern I used for Kenneth was actually intended to look like a hippo, and I had visions of a kindly lady hippo creature. But as I cut it up and made it an open mouth version, it evolved into more of a monster. As I played with it as a puppet, a classic old man Vermonter accent emerged from my mouth and suddenly Kenneth was born. Lately, I have been thinking about the rural gathering places that I was constantly in and out of as a youth, and the old men that would sit around and chit chat about not very much at all. I suppose Kenneth emerged from the collective memories of this upbringing: loud, gruff, but ultimately well-meaning old men shuffling around the village making small talk. Kenneth represents the creme-de-la-creme of this cohort, as he never participates in spiteful gossip or begrudges the “flatlanders.”

    Saying Goodbye

    Uncategorized, Willard's World

    Willard and Willette had a great visit and enjoyed staying up watching paranormal shows and eating snacks, as well as loafing around in their pajamas and having more snacks. Today, it’s time for Willette to leave.

    Goodbyes are always poignant, lonesome and sprinkled with a strange sense of relief and a touch of looking around for something to fill the void. Willette will be busy with her trip home, and Willard will re-acquaint himself with an empty house and try to avoid questions from Ms. Blodgett.

    Willette

    Uncategorized, Willard's World

    I had been thinking for a while of adding an additional creature that would look like a relative of Willard–resembling him, but not identical to him in terms of his facial features. I knew I wanted it to be a female and made of baby pink fabric to match Willard’s baby/pastel tone skin.

    At first I thought of making it his mother, but then was leaning more toward a sister. My 89-year-old grandmother, who has become very invested in the Willard storyline, apparently had some of the same thoughts because she suggested a sister named either WillAnn or Wiletta. I settled on Willette.

    I fell in love with Willette as soon as I made her. Typically, I make creatures and sell them and they don’t spend much time in my Way Home creature universe. But now that I’ve developed more of a narrative around Willard, I really want to start making dolls that I can keep and continue using in my story telling. This also gives me a good excuse to go shopping for adorable shoes and buy fun fabrics to make outfits for these dolls (and of course, if people want their own versions, I can always do more made-to-order replicas.

    If you follow my Instagram you know that Willette contacted Willard online, where she found him after they had been separated at birth. They had a Facetime chat and made plans for a visit, which is what you see below.