RUSSELLVILLE — Paula Johnson's childhood love of Raggedy Ann dolls resurfaced in a big way when she became a mother.
Johnson, 37, says she started making rag dolls in 1990, but had loved the simple dolls "since I was born, my mom says." In the past 17 years, the Russellville resident has parlayed her love for dolls - aided by skills in sewing taught to her by her mother - into a doll-making passion, and now a business.
Over time, Johnson's dolls have crept into more of a fantasy realm, possibly inspired by the book about fairies that she received at age 12.
"I've always been dreaming about them, so it's just natural, I guess, that I make them," she says. "And they're fun; some of them are kinda mean, mischievous like kids." Jokingly, Johnson adds, "My mom says every doll looks like one of my kids."
Her operation grew and dollmaking paraphernalia slowly took over the dining room table in her home. Then she began selling doll patterns and dolls on a small scale on the Internet. After getting numerous inquiries about how she makes the dolls, she started teaching classes online.
"I like to teach people who want to learn to handcraft things. I try to teach them that it's better than going and buying it premade and precut and then just glue it together," Johnson says. "It's calming, it's peaceful to make something beautiful. It helps you, the maker - it helps you get through things."
Johnson's creations beginwith a wire frame that she calls the "bones." She finishes and dresses the dolls with fabric from old clothing or quilts bought at secondhand stores. "I like to use vintage fabrics; it seems like they have a warmth to them a lot of new stuff doesn't have."
In November, after more encouragement from her mom, she moved into a small retail space just off Russellville's Main Street to begin a new business, Calico Ladies Fabric Shoppe. Her three children, who share her love of art (one daughter is an art major at Arkansas Tech University), created murals in the shop's windows, as well as painted chairs and the walls inside. The store includes space for Johnson's workshop and doll-making classes.
Johnson says ideas for dollsare backlogged in her head and on paper. "I have two or three sketchbooks full of stuff. Maybe one day they'll all get done."
She likes to believe her dolls give joy to the people who buy them.
"I hope that they make them happy and remind them that there's still a little bit of magic in the world."
Family, Pages 35, 40 on 12/05/2007