Carmel Ooi , Posh Pawz / Ooi 1’s Nursery

Carmel Ooi is a UK born, Spanish Basque doll artist.  She has been based in Singapore for many years.  Her life has always been full of creativity.  As a child she loved drawing, and always picked school projects where she could put her talents to full use.

As a busy mother the creative side of her life had to take a break, although she did find time to paint a lot of tee-shirts for her children and they all have hand-painted heirloom bedroom furniture, which they can pass down to their children in turn.

Once her children were older, she again began to start creating.  In 2011/12 she discovered the world of Artist Dolls and this became her main focus and passion.  Like many artists, she has dabbled in other disciplines including making lamp shades, teddy bear making, needle felting, hand-made Christmas baubles which will be featuring in some of her Decorator Elf dolls, and, most recently, making beaded animal brooches.  All of which have been lovingly supported and generously forgiven by her indulgent husband.

Although Carmel usually makes baby/toddler dolls, she loves to make Character Dolls, in particular, Father Christmas/Santa Claus.  Carmel finds the different techniques used in creating Character Dolls a challenge, the costuming and prop making take up many hours, and indeed days, of her time.  She feels a great sense of achievement when she sees the finished doll she had envisaged, come to life.  She loves the multi disciplines involved in doll making.  She credits YouTube for teaching her to sew and crochet, and many other doll artists for their generous tutorials on wigging, costuming, sculpting etc. and for inspiring her with their wonderful creations. 

Carmel uses Pro-sculpt clay for the majority of her dolls and is now testing Cos-clay for its strength and flexibility on the hands, which are traditionally the most delicate parts of the doll.  She dresses her Father Christmases and Elves with fine fabrics, such as velvet and silk, and likes to use vintage (but not previously used) fabric wherever possible.  She also uses various beads, rhinestones and trim and fur from vintage fur coats, which she buys at auctions in the hope that she can give them a new lease of life.

This year, for the first time, she has decided to create some elves to assist Father Christmas in his busy life, she will be debuting them at the Singapore Teddy Bear And Friends online show. 

She works under the names: 
Ooi 1’s Nursery for the Baby/Toddler dolls.
Ooi 1’s for the Character Dolls
Posh Pawz for her Teddy Bears.

Visit Carmel’s Facebook pages here:
https://www.facebook.com/Carmel-M-Ooi-OOAK-Sculpted-Dolls-…/
https://www.facebook.com/BlingIsBest/