Still here...still winter!

It's still very much winter here in southern New England.  We have so much snow and ice... and are promised more of the same for next week.  

So what's a girl to do?  Stay busy!  There is always something to do at home...housework...art work..sewing...cooking...etc.  I cannot imagine what it would have been like in colonial times in the Northeast without heat and electricity. Life must have been so difficult.

Still drawing here.. and creating... though sometimes it is difficult to stay motivated. I have visited some of your blogs so I know that some of you have had winter weather and/or health challenges.  Hope both improve for you!

Recently I saw that Paula McGee's Wynnstann pattern is available on Etsy. I really loved when I first saw it and decided it give it a try.  (You can find Paula's patterns here.)  There are very good directions and photos and I had everything on hand that I needed.

The fairy seated on the mushroom is from a pattern by the late Barbara Graff, who made the most wonderful miniature dolls and patterns. I made this fairy at least ten years ago ans she needed some new seating!

Wynnstann can be made with or without a base made of wood.  This was my first attempt but I will make more. Paula encourages using different fabrics.  The techniques that Paula teaches are versatile! 

I did NOT make these Becassines but I acquired them in an online auction. It is a miniature world of Becassine. The figures are under 1.5 inches. The figures are called  feves (after fava beans) and were made in France. They are also called Epiphany figures and were originally beans in King cakes.   The beans (and later figures) were baked into the cake and the lucky finder received special privileges.  (Hopefully there were no broken teeth!)  Now the figures are just collectibles and these are from the 1990's.

As some of you doll collectors know, Becassine is part of the Bleuette doll culture. I have come to love Becassine as a character herself but I know the Bleuettes will want to see these soon!  

So what did I draw?  Lots of drawing but not many scanned.  Have been making little collages and other things as well but didn't photograph them.  Lighting has not been good lately! 

What are you doing these days? You might have better weather but you might be having weather that is worse! There is extreme weather all over the globe these days!  How are you passing the winter days?

Think spring

and always,

enjoy the day!

Doll talk continued...

It has been a sad week in New England. I struggle to finish my doll talk, but  I said there were a few more dolls...here they are.

This is one I made entirely from paper and paper products.

 

The challenge was to make an art doll from a papier mache doll body purchased in a craft store.  I combined it with a paper cone and lots of other paper items:  tissue paper, scrapbook paper, paper clay face that I made, and brown paper bags paper for hands. I quilled her hair from card stock...a fun project.

Then there was a special doll I was waiting for....

Years ago I had a very special Internet friend who gifted me a number of dolls that she made. Mary Vlasak lived in Airlie in Queensland, Australia, in a magical stone house built by her beloved husband Ollie.  She owned a doll museum... and had been all over the world collecting dolls and teaching classes.

She made and sold them as well.  She also sold patterns and sometimes was published in magazines. (You can see a doll that she gave me in magazine  here. )

Although she and I corresponded  a lot about making cloth Hitty dolls, she never sent me one because I had made a few myself,  Some are here.  Last week someone I knew many years ago e-mailed me that one of Mary's dolls was on eBay. Long story short, I bid on it and won.

I am not sure why Mary made her into a pedlar doll.  I have since removed her tray and cape revealing a very pretty little Hitty doll underneath.  She is standing on top of our coffeepot so you can see how little she is.

I remember sending Mary that fabric for the dress. She was very fond of adding crochet trim to dresses and also fond of making tiny red work animals and other accessories for her dolls.

Those tiny dolls in front of the ladies above are less than 1/2 inch tall...she poured them in porcelain.  They are magic when you see them in person!  Some of her dolls were made from polymer...others cloth and some porcelain.

Once she made a patterns and named it "Little Helen" and challenged me to make one, too, which I did.  Hers is on the left and mine is on the right...they are about 3 inches tall.

Another time she sent me a tiny Eeyore. Edie is only 4 inches tall so Eeyore is a tiny guy!

She sent me of the Little Winnie Dolls from her magazine article and I started making them, too!

Then she made a Becassine. I said. "send me a dozen and I will sell them for you"...and I did!

I saved the best for last. Above is Mary...who was a doll herself.  She had been ill for decades with a rare form of cancer. When she passed away in 2007, she had outlived every patient in Australia who that had the disease.  Ollie passed away a few month before her.

She truly was breath of fresh air and sunshine...a joy to everyone who knew her though hardly anyone knew that she was ill.   She always signed her letters, "smiling, Mary."

So now Hitty has come here to live and I am so happy.  I do not know how many Hitty dolls she made or sold. She liked to work on multiple dolls at once so I am guessing she made a few.  I am glad that I have one now, too. Thank you, Mary C. for pointing it out and for remembering Mary.  She was  a wonderful person, doll lover, maker of dolls...and friend whom I think of every day.

As always,

enjoy the day...

and smile!

Where are the Bleues?

There was time here not so long ago that the Bleuettes commanded much attention, huge wardrobes and many photo ops.

This past year they have been neglected...again. They have been lingering in their summers duds despite the fact it snowed the other day.

"Madame," said Becassine, "the girls need attention!"


" S'il vous plait, could you get them into their coats?"


"Maman," said Odette, "when can I wear my ballet costume again?"



"Where is my brown dress?" asks Sido.



And then Marie, the wooden Raikes Bobette, reminded me that she would prefer to get back into her jammies and read.




LouLou, not to be outdone, asked, " where is my red dress?



Becassine is right of course. All the Bleuettes need attention...time for a wardrobe change. Maybe a little too soon for winter coats, but perhaps they could get dressed up for Thanksgiving.

Au revoir, and, as always...

...enjoy the day!

Look who is sitting in my chair!

Last week a very large box arrived at my door. As I unwrapped it, I couldn't imagine what was in it. I recognized the return address but was not expecting anything in the mail.

When I discovered what was inside the box, you could hear me a few houses away!

It is a pristine Becassine doll and a very large one at that! She is 27 inches tall and unique in size. I think she is artist made but she is so well done that it is hard to tell. She is wearing a wool dress and all the clothes one would expect to find on Becassine.

She accompanied me to doll club on Monday and you can see how tall she is. The dolls around her are mine but not that tiny bisque--she belongs to a fellow doll club member.

All the Becassine dolls I have seen have been much smaller. I have made one myself and other cloth doll makers have made them, too, especially those who enjoy Bleuette.




There are relatively few dolls considering the popularity and longevity of the character. If you want to know more about Becassine look here and here.

Let me give a really special shout out to April (a very talented person herself) and say THANK YOU and merci beaucoup. I love this doll so much!

Enjoy your day!

Becassine and the Bleuettes take a walk.

Bonjour! Last year I made a cloth Becassine doll for my Bleuettes since they needed the guidance she would provide for them. She needed to be just a bit taller than they to keep them and their pets under control. She is made from my own pattern and is wearing wool felt clothing. You cannot see it but she has striped stockings and a red and white checkered petticoat.

Unlike Becassine, I don't seem to be able to keep anything under my control, including my own 4 pound precocious and precious Yorkie. He doesn't respond to Becassine! Life is definitely simpler for the doll population that lives here.

If you don't know who Becassine is and what to find out more, visit here.

Enjoy your day.