Online Courses
For anyone wishing to learn dollmaking techniques from master Artist Members of the National Institute of American Doll Artists.
OUR LIST OF COURSES
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$50.00Jack of Bells & Queen of Stars
If you've wanted to work with air dry clay or find new and imaginative ways to use this versatile material, this class is for you!
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$55.00Tandem Teachers: Sculpted Paper Wings
Tandem Teachers Pat Lillich and Connie Smith take their mutual regard for each other's work to the next level! Join us as we cross-pollinate two of our favorite techniques to create beautiful, ethereal sculpted paper wings for special projects!
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$100.00Hands, Paws, Claws & Hooves
This course will show how different sizes of hands paws claws and hooves can be created using cloth and batting over a wire armature. Stitching, sealers and paint will give form and life to your artworks by using these simple techniques.
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$45.00Adhesive to Haute Couture
Create removable doll costuming with out copious amounts of sewing, using modern adhesive techniques. Learn to print unique fabrics with a home ink jet printer, then put your newly acquired skills to work creating the class project Alice dress.
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$70.00Angel with a Heart
This course is devoted to sculpting an Angel with a Heart, where you will create a complete doll step-by-step: making body with polystyrene and clay, working with papier-mache, painting details and priming clothes.
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FreeFREE: Making Leather Shoes
Nina’s demo will show the basic steps of shoemaking necessary for creating a wide variety of leather footwear.
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$150.00How to make a complete Prince. (Bonus: Princess)
In a three-day class Ankie will teach you how to make a complete Prince. All lessons are on video, like all sculpting, painting, putting together and costuming, and three times a Zoom meeting to ask Ankie all needed questions. Kits available.
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$80.00Decorative Masks in Creative Paperclay
Learn a very easy method to make the base for a mask in Creative Paperclay. Follow the step-by-step process for four different masks and be inspired to design your own mask.
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$75.00Hats Off - Hats On
Make a special and unique hat that will set your work apart and help create a story and identity for your artwork. Files folders and bits of wool blended felt will put you on a journey of discovery.
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$149.00STUFFED CLOTH HEADS with NEEDLE-SCULPTED FACES covered with FABRIC SKIN
Discover the unique techniques Shelley Thornton uses to make her own dolls’ heads. Videos will guide you, step by step, through her process, and you will be provided with a detailed illustrated instruction booklet and patterns to download and print.
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$45.00Into the Forrest Heat & Transform
Designed to create confidence with the use of thermal set fabric Fosshape® when heated is activated and stiffens to hold its shape. Learn additional techniques to free form mushrooms, organic shaped foliage and a blue birds nest to trim the hat.
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$45.00Let Them Eat Cake Heat & Transform
Marie Antoinette style wig is a fun project introducing students to the basics of making a historical style/fantasy wig using thermal set fabric Fosshape® a felt-like synthetic fabric that when heated is activated and stiffens to hold its form.
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$45.00All that Jazz Heat & Transform
Learn millinery skills to create a 1920s Cloche, using thermal set fabric Fosshape® a felt-like synthetic fabric that when heated is activated and stiffens to hold its form. Use a simple kitchen tool to create floral trims to embellish your hat.
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$39.00The Evolution of a Personal Style: an Artist’s Path to an Individual Way of Working
Enjoy an illustrated lecture presenting ideas to help artists find their own unique voice. Shelley shares insights discovered on her own artistic path and offers thought-provoking worksheets to help you discover who you are as a creative force.
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$100.00Red Sonia on the Beach
Sculpting “Red Sonia on the Beach” Create a complete art doll and enjoy the process of making Sonia. You will have step-by-step video lessons from sculpting doll’s body to the ready Sonia lying on the beach.
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$25.00Photographing Your Dolls
How to photograph your dolls using simple studio methods utilizing natural light.
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$75.00Fantasy Chair Building with JoEllen Trilling
This is a class on how you can create a fantasy doll-sized chair. By using wire as an armature and sewing on batting while incorporating found objects and finishing with paint. You can make a chair with your unique personality with JoEllen Trilling.
(1) 5.0 average rating -
$35.00Fabric Bead Embellishments
Step by step color images and descriptions are provided in 4 PDFs. Learn to use small bits of fabric to adapt commercial items such as metal bead caps and acorn tops to develop a variety of shapes and sizes of fabric beads.
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FreeFREE: Mixing Polymer Clay
In this short tutorial Kate demonstrates her personal method of conditioning a neutral "skin" mix using PREMO clay by Sculpey giving you some basics for mixing and conditioning polymer clay.
(1) 5.0 average rating -
$65.00Making Faces, facial expressions
You already have some experience as a sculptor or a doll maker but you are struggling with the expressions of your dolls. Marlaine shows you how to make a happy face, an angry face, an arrogant face and a surprised face in air dry clay.
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FreeFREE: Ankie's Scrapbook For Ideas
Ankie made a scrapbook filled with ideas that can help you in creating your dolls.
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$75.00LEGACY COURSE: Robert McKinley Making a Beautiful Pair of Shoes
A masterful step-by-step approach to adding leather shoes to sculpted legs.
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$25.00Put on your Hat
Learn to make fanciful textile hats. Discover a new and easy way to create hats for your dolls by heat setting textiles you probably already can find in your stash and never found a purpose for. Another fun course by NIADA artist Marlaine Verhelst.
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$24.00How to sculpt a heartshape face poking eyes
In this course Ankie Daanen will teach to make eye sockets in a special way by poking eyes and also how to paint the face. In the example a heart shaped form will be used. But this also can be done using an egg shaped form.
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$45.00How to make a complete doll: The Sweetheart
In this course Ankie Daanen will teach you how to make a complete standing doll: The Sweetheart. You will sculpt the face, hands, legs and body. You will paint and costume.
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$10.00Molding and Casting Paper Embellishments
Create your own simple, one-sided molds and cast feather-weight embellishments with Pat Lillich
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$45.00Sculpting a Paper Clay Head on a Styrene Egg
Step-by-step instructions, photos, text & voice over. Materials list, demos of carving the polystyrene egg , covering it with clay, inserting eyes, building features with anatomy guidance & adding a chest plate. Finally, finishing off and ...
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Kiln-Fired Raven/Crow
with Connie Smith In this 1st of 2 courses, create a Raven or Crow figure from Cassius Basaltic Clay, and an articulated cloth + wire body as Bird or Anthro Hybrid! Clay/Cloth Body Course resumes Oct 2022. Costuming Course, debuts Jan 2023.
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$20.00Sculpting bare feet with air-dry clay
In this video course you will learn how to sculpt bare feet step-by-step. The course is about sculpting in air-dry clay and shows you lots of tips and tricks to make your dolls' feet more realistic. The course is ongoing and open for everyone.
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$65.00How to make The Girl from Paris
In this course Ankie Daanen will guide you in making a charming complete doll: The Girl from Paris. Sculpting, painting, and costuming instructions included.
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$30.00LEGACY COURSE: Akira Blount - Creating Cloth Doll Heads and Hands
Internationally renowned doll artist Akira Blount shares her unique philosophies, techniques and skills in creating cloth heads and hands for art dolls.
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$150.00LEGACY COURSE: Robert McKinley's Dollmaking Workshop
A comprehensive teaching tool on Bob McKinley's step-by-step approach to creating a doll using paperclay.
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FreeFREE DEMO Making Hollyhock Dolls
with Shelley Thornton. For kids of ALL ages
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FreeFREE TUTORIAL How to work with air-dry clay
This free PDF tutorial shows you tips, tricks and techniques to help you sculpting with air-dry clay
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$20.00How to Make High Heels
Ankie will show you how to make high heel shoes by means of videos and PDFs. You can make many different models based on a basic process.
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$30.00Polymer Clay Tutorial : Making Shoes
A seven-part tutorial demonstrating methods and ideas for making slipper shoes and boots for small figures using polymer clay. Students can follow the lessons at their own pace and will be able to download the videos for their own reference library.
(4) 5.0 average rating -
$30.00Playing with Synthetic Organza
Synthetic organza makes me happy. Because of the beautiful colors, the transparency and the endless possibilities to play with it. In this class you will learn how to melt and combine synthetic organza into flowers and leaves. Have fun!
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$49.00More Playing with Synthetics
Lots of inspiring patterns, techniques and ideas to work with unexpected materials
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$22.00Painting Faces
This is a short course in which I show how and with what I paint my doll faces. I show this in five different examples.
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$5.00EXPRESSIVE HANDS with Polymer Clay
A two chapter video tutorial demonstrating Kate's personal method for making hands using polymer clay. Many tips and techniques are covered in this 20 minute demo.
(7) 4.9 average rating -
$150.00PaperClay-Bird-Wren
with Connie Smith, ongoing, with a NEW ZOOM ITINERARY BEGINNING JUNE 1, 2022! Make your own jointed Bird Doll updated Painting demos! Full access to Private Facebook Group; participants from original Zoom sessions welcome to join in again!
(5) 4.8 average rating -
$100.00Costuming with Ankie Daanen
In this course you can see how Ankie dresses up two dolls in her unique way, how she uses unusual embellishments in her costuming, how to make hats for your doll and also sewing instructions and in addition hundreds of costuming ideas.
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$75.00Make An Artie Bean
Make a complete character beginning with Building the Armature - Sculpting in Paperclay - Sewing the Costume - Painting & Applying the Hair - Assembling the Bean.
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$95.00Hand Sculpting in Porcelain
In this class you will learn how to hand sculpt in porcelain, without using molds. But besides that you can look over Marlaine's shoulder to watch her sculpting faces, hands and feet. The course has both videos for all subjects and an extensive PDF.
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$18.00Making Dolly Necklaces
In this class you learn how to make Dolly necklaces with Ankie Daanen as well as many ideas to create your own. It is a fun class with a quick result.
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FreeHow Books Can Inspire You
I would like to invite you to see what kind of books I have on my bookshelves that have always inspired me. Because you often need a 'trigger' to stimulate your imagination!
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FreeFREE: TOOLAPALOOZA with Connie Smith
This FREE TUTORIAL is an ongoing, cumulative collection of DIY toolmaking projects. Because sometimes the BEST TOOLS are HANDMADE. Connie Smith.
Academy Gift Cards
Purchase an Academy Gift Card for a friend, loved one or even yourself! Available in $20.00 - $30.00 - $50.00 - $100.00
NIADA Academy Instructors
Learn dollmaking skills
The NIADA Doll Art Academy courses are taught for all skill levels in techniques such as sculpting, painting, fabric-figure making, textile design, armature design, costuming and more.
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