Colliii.com: Congratulations on your success at the Colliii Awards 2011. Tell us a little about yourself...

Yvonne: My Name is Yvonne I am 55 years old & have 2 grown up children a son & a daughter. I live in the beautiful county of Cornwall in the UK on the cliff top overlooking the stunning North Cornwall coast. I have a Hotel so am extremely busy in the summer months, but spend the rest of the year persuing my passion for reborning. I also have a web site www.cornishbabies.com

Colliii.com: What motivated you to take part in the Colliii Awards 2011?

Yvonne: I followed the Colliii Awards for the last 2 years & was amazed at the standard of work & the amount of entries. I think this is a wonderful competition for the doll world & gives by far the best recognition for your work it has to be the most prestigious of all awards worldwide. I was hoping to be recognized in the doll world if I managed to get anywhere.

I won 2 small competitions during 2011 & thought maybe I was ready to try the Collii Awards this year but I never expected to even be nominated. It is an honor & great pleasure to have received 2 awards

Colliii.com: What are you going to do with little Daisy who won the prizes?

Yvonne: Sadly for me little Daisy has gone to Ireland to a collector, who absolutely adores her. I miss having her around.

Colliii.com: How long have been making dolls for and what got into interested in it?

Yvonne: I have been making dolls since February 2008. My Husband introduced me to the art, he saw a program on the TV & recorded it for me to watch later he thought I might be interested in it. As soon as I saw people making these lovely babies I wanted to try & make one myself. My husband bought my first kit for my birthday in February & I have been reborning ever since.

Colliii.com: How long did it take you for Daisy and what was her inspiration?

Yvonne: Daisy took me a couple of months to complete I wanted her to be as perfect as possible she is such a lovely sculpt so delicate & the detail on her is amazing, I had seen a few Daisy’s on the forums & ebay & fell in love with the sculpt I just felt that I could make a lovely baby from her. She looked so adorable.

Colliii.com: What is your motivation for Reborning dolls? Is it a nice hobby or does it go deeper?

Yvonne: I love reborning unfortunately it is just a Hobby for the time being as I have a Hotel also. I spend all my spare time reborning, researching & trying new methods, I am totally hooked & love every minute of the reborning process. I have always loved dolls & babies as a child I spent hours on my grandmothers Treadle Singer sewing machine making rag dolls & dolls clothes.

I love the way you can create a baby, the way they come to life in stages I fall in love with them all Reborning is a wonderful art it gives so much pleasure to me & hopefully to the people that adopt my babies.
I have a daughter who lives in America & she has 3 children who I have never seen…I wanted grandchildren so much & missed out on them as babies so I guess the babies I make fill that gap to a certain degree. It has helped me immensely.

Colliii.com: Where can people buy your work? Do you go to shows?

Yvonne: I only sell my babies on eBay at the moment but hope to do commissions as well, I take quite a lot of time to do one baby & like to have them around for a little while when they are finished. I have not been to any shows yet but hope to next year.

Colliii.com: What plans have you got for the coming year? Do you think about sculpting your own dolls?

Yvonne: My plans for the coming year are to improve on my babies as much as I can by learning & experimenting with new techniques & materials & of course enter the Colliii awards again. I hope to start some sculpting in the next 12 months but want to continue reborning as well. I may start doing commissions now I have the confidence, thanks to the Colliii Awards.