Bonnie Chyle

     Bonnie was born in Newberry Michigan, one of eight children.  Both of her parents were creative and artistic, and they passed these talents on to their children.  Bonnie always had a desire to create and make things and loved art.  As a child, she spent a lot of time making doll clothes.  Her grandmother taught her to crochet, so in time she started crocheting dolls, which led to making cloth dolls and finally to soft sculptured dolls.

In the beginning, Bonnie sold her creations at local craft shows so she would have enough money for doll making supplies.  Eventually Bonnie tried her hand at sculpting in clay and taught herself to sculpt.  She loved it from the very beginning and after making her first baby doll sculpt, she was hooked.   Bonnie is inspired by babies that are around four months old and enjoys their sweet and innocent expressions.  With time her dolls progressed and she was able to sell the designs to a few companies, including The Doll Maker and Friends.

Bonnie loves to see the finished babies that Linda creates with such adorable costumes.   Bonnie is very grateful to God first of all and then to all the people who have purchased her babies.  This has made it possible for her to continue to make more dolls to fill her life with babies for a long time to come. 

     Brenda grew up on a farm in South Western Ontario, Canada, the third youngest of a large family of thirteen.  As far back as she can remember, dolls have always been a part of her life. She distinctly recalls countless hours of playing and dressing her baby dolls. These dolls to this day are a part of her doll collection.

Watching her Grandmother and Mother sew for many years inspired Brenda to learn how to sew.  Around the year 2000, Brenda took a weekend sculpting workshop and loved it. Brenda eventually taught herself to sculpt babies from professional polymer clay, practicing hour upon hours. She thinks that when she first started she created “the ugliest creatures” she had ever seen and still looks back at them to chuckle every now and then.

Brenda strives to sculpt the most realistic, lifelike newborns and capture their true innocence for collectors all around the world.  Brenda has been blessed to enjoy working with a form of art that she completely enjoys and loves. Seeing her babies come to life from a block of clay is just indescribable.  This was meant to be; from playing with dolls years ago, to now creating them. Brenda believes that you can never be too old for dolls … they just keep you young at heart!

     How many people love their jobs?  Diane thinks that she just might have the best job in the world!  Sculpting dolls has become her passion in life.  Diane took her first doll making class in 1996, and sculpted her first doll in 1997.  Her love for dolls started as a child with collecting Madame Alexander dolls.  After she started a family, that passion was rekindled. What better way to capture a child's expression and a baby’s cute little wrinkles, than with a doll?

 Diane found that realism can best be achieved in vinyl and silicone dolls.  Working with Linda Rick for The Doll Maker and Friends has given her the opportunity to bring quality dolls to her collectors.  In Diane’s opinion, Linda is the top designer in the doll industry, and she is honored to be working with her.  Diane hopes that you love the dolls she designed for you as much as she and Linda loved creating them.

Diane realizes that she is blessed with a job that she loves and a family that she adores. And because the doll industry is in constant evolution, it is exciting to see where it will continue to evolve.  Diane would like to encourage you to remember that it’s never to late to discover your passion and to follow your dreams.  She has and now looks forward to each day as a new adventure.

 
  Linda Valentino Michel

     After the birth of her 5th child several years ago, Linda Valentino Michel started making cloth dolls, took fabric-painting classes and then started making her own original cloth doll patterns.  The next step was to make porcelain reproductions of antique dolls.  She also restored antique dolls for approximately 10 years and developed a love of and feel for old fabrics.

Linda finally started sculpting in the early 90's and has sold limited edition original porcelain dolls through retailers since then.  Her designs usually include vintage laces and antique buttons and that has become a trademark.  She used to play with my grandmother's buttons as a child and her grandmother taught her how to crochet.   

Linda loves to decorate with dolls to be part of little vignettes rather than lining them up on shelves.  She believes in dolls because unlike anything else, they have human characteristics that people can identify with and love.  We see in dolls certain qualities that we see in people so that when we are attracted to certain dolls, it's because of a quality that we cherish in others.  These are the qualities that Linda tries to capture with her dolls.

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  Sharon Robinson

     From the time Sharon was a small girl growing up in Iowa, she had a passion for baby dolls.  She always loved crafts and creating things.  Through the years, Sharon tried most kinds of crafts and then came across polymer clay (resin) in 1992.  She made pins, earrings, and figurines until she saw polymer clay babies on Ebay.  Her first baby was created in the fall of 2002.  After several attempts, she created one that she thought someone else might enjoy.  For anyone who has created with polymer clay, they will know that it is habit forming.

As a high school math teacher, a wife to a wonderful, supportive husband, and a mother of one daughter (now all grown up), there was little time for sculpting.  It seemed like every spare minute that she could find was used for creating "babies".  In June of 2003 Sharon retired after 31 years of teaching and now is able to "play" with clay as much as she wants.  She still feels like she has a lot to learn and hopefully will keep improving.  

Each baby has its own personality and each is such a joy to hold!  Even though she feels none are perfect, she still strives to create each one with a personality so that her "adoptive moms" will find just the right baby for them. It gives Sharon so much joy to think that the little ones she creates bring so much joy and a smile to their new "moms".   Sharon would like to thank Linda Rick for giving her the chance to offer you her sweet little ones.