Winter lingers...

It is a brisk 14.4 °F this morning.  I would prefer it slightly warmer! The snow still lingers.  There is so much snow piled up everywhere from the last storm.  This was the parking lot the other day at the grocery store.

Hopefully we will see some melting soon.  Since flowers had started to bud when we had unseasonable warm weather, it will be interesting to see what blooms this year. The weight of the snow crushed the little narcissus plants that had started to bloom near the house.

We had a program the other day on Asian dolls at my doll club.  There were many more dolls  than these but I was not able to snap photos. We had 23 members present... and we always serve a light luncheon. I was one of the hostesses and it was hectic.

The ones above are from my collection.

I also added a little something to my collection:   It is a Kewpie that came in this basket of rose petals which I purchased from a friend. Underneath the petals was a  tiny crown and  a glittery netted ballet-like skirt.   It looks very cute dressed.  This little bisque Kewpie is only three inches tall.

Have you added anything to your collection?  Are the any signs of spring where you live?  The day we see some green again will be a good one!  The snow is pretty enough but it is time for it to exit and make way for spring!

As always,

enjoy the day!

Things that live on the shelves...

Confession:  I have a lot of books shelves and they are home to many objects.  Cluttery? Yes. Fun?  Yup! Make me happy? Yes!

Here are few of the things 

occupying bookshelf space.

Some are gifts, some are made by me 

and some are collected.  

All are fun!

What do you like to place around your environment that makes you smile?  Even a decorated desk at work can be fun and brighten a day. Maybe it is your table by your bed or your kitchen window.   Would love to know.

It is snowing again after summer weather.

Wherever you are 

whatever you collect

enjoy the day!

What is in the pretty flowered box?

What's in this pretty flowered box?  

It has a little heart on the closure!

Could it be?   A mushroom/toadstool doll?   

From Lenci?   Oh, that pretty face!

A mushroom doll just had to come and live here 

where  mushrooms and toadstools 

are in abundance!

Though it is pristine and looks new, it was actually sold through  home shopping channel in the late 1990s.  They sold in limited editions of 500, signed.   

 "A  Lenci limited edition “Funghetto” handmade doll."

  

The doll came with its COA and the box is pristine as well.  The price was incredibly low so it was nice surprise to receive a doll in such excellent condition.  Not a doll for everyone, but certainly one for me. 

The doll hunt continues...

as always

enjoy the day!

Sunshine on a cloudy day...

A belated Christmas gift from my friend, Nancy, has brought some sunshine to this gray winter day!  Photos just don't do her any justice...she is even cuter in person!

Made by "Dolls By Francine"  she is as cute as a button and her sunny disposition really brightens a day!  Thank you, Nancy!

Another doll came here recently, too, with a sunny disposition. She was made by my friend Carol and coincidentally she is wearing sunny yellow, too!

The horribly cold weather seems to be behind us for the moment. It is much milder this week so far.  There is very little snow on the ground here and driving conditions are much better than they were.  If we are lucky, maybe it will stay milder way for a while.

Doesn't it seem like the holidays were a very long time ago?  I look forward to Valentine's Day which is about the halfway mark for winter.

How is your winter progressing?  If you are lucky enough to live where it is summer, I hope it is not to extreme.  Weather (like many things!) is better when it is moderate and not extreme!

As always,

enjoy the day!

A little doll talk...

Sometimes dolls just choose to come home with me...even though I had no intentions of bringing them home from doll club.

 This lovely little ethnic 

doll was a gift 

from a friend.

What a pretty costume!

 This is a flirty side glancing

Edith Flack Ackley pattern doll.

 This happy couple 

stole my heart.

 The workmanship

is excellent!

A few more came home but they were not ready for a photo shoot. One of them is very special but will not appear until I make him some shoes!  The fairy below didn't come home with me...I made it for a friend. She actually left home today. 

She is sitting atop

 a little box and is made of paper 

and loaded with embellishments.

Soon I need to really clean the doll cabinets and shelves.  The dolls are always happy to have their outfits fluffed and their hair smoothed down. Some might even want spring clothes...who knows?

How are you amusing yourself in these early spring days?  What appeals to the child within you?  Has the creative muse visited you lately?  The gardening bug?  Easter is coming very soon...are you ready for it?

Happy Spring

and as always,

enjoy the day!

Homage...to Edith

We are still buried in snow here but things are getting better.   We are halfway through winter now and the days are getting longer and brighter.  With more day light, the massive snow in our area will hopefully melt faster and we will be on our way to spring. 

Recently, I was getting a doll out of a cabinet and saw this one pleading for attention.  I made her several years ago and call her my homage to Edith Flack Ackley. Her skirt is made with a panel from printed off images from items in my collection. Her petticoat is made of densely gathered crinoline netting. She is made from cotton Japanese crepe and has vintage Shetland wool hair.  I purchased her candlestick base at one of the Brimfield Shows as well as the vintage wool for her hair.

I never really shared her image very much. Sometimes her face appears at the top of my blog in a banner. There is always an issue of copycatting on the Internet and I wanted her to be special for a long time.  Selfishly, I wanted to just enjoy her myself.

The dolls are very neglected because I have been busy with other projects. I like to keep many of them away from light and also totally away from pets (including pet dander) and fireplace odors. But just in case you never saw this, this is one of the doll cabinets.  It's time to tidy the cabinets  because I  tend to make a mess when I take them out to show and don't put them back with care.

Monday, Monday and much to do!  Still making a little drawing every day and sometimes more.  It has been fun...lots of spring drawings  to show you in the future.  Here is one for you for Monday...inspired by Zephyr, our rescue cat who is  crazy funny girl.

Happy Monday!

As always,

enjoy the day!

Getting to know you...

A new Edith Flack Ackley Pattern doll has come to live here. She was made by Yolanda Montano of Dollways. I don't think I have to gush over how cute/beautiful/charming she is. The photos can speak for themselves!



Here she is getting to know some EFA relatives who are also nine inches tall. They were made by doll artist, Carole Bailey.

They couldn't be prettier...

if they tried...

and their size is perfect!

While it is true I make Ackley pattern dolls myself, I love to have the work of other artists. (Just like when you love to cook, you still like going to a restaurant.) And I like to give credit where it is due...there are artists that will seldom give a compliment to another artists let alone buy their work. I have never been that way. I know the work and love that goes into things and I wish I could buy from even more work from more artists.

Cleaning up after the hurricane/tropical storm is ongoing here. School hasn't started for a lot of children and the power is out in a lot of places. Trees are being trimmed cut up, and wood chipped. The weather continues to be beautiful though the sound of saws and wood chippers is a reminder of what has just passed.

Back to work here

...and as always,

enjoy the day!

P.S. Hop on over to Martha and Jane for the surprise ending..and a FAB give away!

A beautiful day in the neighborhood...

What a day! It went to the 50's last night and it is breezy with low humidity today...like summer used to be... before it became so hot and tropical every year.


I just had to share with you a most magical birthday gift that I received...isn't this the most AMAZING clock? Mushrooms, acorns, squirrels... whimsical! Thank you dear April!




I have to admit it's probably TOO whimsical around here.

The various woolies and characters have been keeping company underneath a table upstairs. Take a little trip to Martha and Jane to hear what they were discussing!




We are going to enjoy this terrific weather in a variety of ways this weekend. Who knows knows when the heat wave will return?

Wishing you the happiest of weekends!


Enjoy the day!

Seminole Indian dolls...

When I was growing up, we spent winters in South Florida. I have fond memories of wild animal farms, alligator wrestling, orange juice stands ...and the Seminole Indians who sold their wares at roadside stands with palmetto thatched roofs.



To be honest, I was terrified of the ladies in their big skirts and capes until I was about ten or so... and fell in love with their work.



Seminole Patchwork is incredibly wonderful to behold: bold geometric diagonal squares usually used in strip quilting on garments.


The dolls were and still are made from the husk of a coconut.


What appears to be a hat on the dolls was really a hair style. The hair was wrapped over a board.



Over the years, the vintage dolls have become pricey. The most sought after dolls are the ones with actual Seminole patchwork on their clothing. Dear friend April found this large one at an estate sale and she is a beauty!

Just looking at the dolls reminds me of the days long ago and far away.

Weekend is here. Hope you have a good one... even though it is getting harder and harder to remain optimistic between the economy and the weather...

as always

enjoy the day!

A lesson learned...

It was a really hot and humid day in South Florida. The sun was beating off the pavement and there was very little shade except for an occasional palm tree.

In those days nobody had air conditioning…not even the grocery stores. There was little respite from the relentless heat and humidity.

I was outdoors on our steps drawing pictures in a notebook when a neighbor invited me into her bungalow. I had to ask my mother's permission and she said it was okay. (In retrospect, she already knew about the invitation and knew I would love the visit.)

I was about ten years old… and hated the heat even then.

I entered into a very dark little home that was amazingly and comfortably cool. The lady made me a cup of tea and served delicious sweets.

She only had a few lights on…and showed me photos of her grandchildren far away in a foreign land. Her daughter and son were visiting her native land during that time and she missed them. (Mind you-- lights on in the day time was completely peculiar to me at the time.) During the day the her curtains drawn and windows were closed in the bungalow.

It was so wonderfully cool in her home that once back outside, I was blinded by the sun and a wave of heat as if an oven door had opened.

Our little neighbor wore a long white dress and thick sandals which most elderly ladies in the South did not wear although people still wore white in the summer in those days…men, women and children. Sometimes I do now; I am sure people think I am wearing some sort of uniform.

It was many years later before I realized that she was from India and she really knew how to keep her home cool …it was the opposite of what everybody else did where I lived and people could not seem to get enough sun.

Today I use white lined heavy curtains in our home to reflect the sun away... and keep our indoor shutters closed when the sun is on them. It is not light and airy in here, but it keeps the house much cooler—and the a/c doesn't have to be set so low. I often think of our little neighbor when I enter a darkened room in the summer.

What do you do to keep cool
besides a/c and fan?


Stay cool,


and enjoy the day!

A matter of taste...

Time to talk about dolls again...vintage dolls.

Some collectors have exquisite bisque and dolls that cost more than a new car. Some collectors collect strictly for investment or artistic value. Other collectors collect a specific genre such as cloth or vinyl or dolls from a certain era.

Then there are the rest of us: we collect the doll because it is cute...or reminds of us another time...our childhoods or our children. I am one of those collectors.

Once upon a time there was something called a "dime store."

Everybody shopped at them for just about everything. There were inexpensive items and all sort of fun stuff to see. Most had soda fountain/lunch counters and women of a certain age remember with fondness all the treats that a dime store could deliver.

Here is what is called a "dime store doll." She is probably from the late 50's or early 60's. She is a doll of little monetary value but for some reason, I think she represents my collection: whimsical, durable, quirky, eclectic!


Before "big box store" chains, there were little gift shops and books stores where you might find a doll related to a book.

One of my favorite authors of little gift books is Joan Walsh Anglund. She published more than 45 million books. Recently I found these little dolls and books from the 60's.

Amazingly, the dolls
are in pristine condition.

Sentimental? Perhaps. These dolls are more than 50 years old already so they definitely vintage...and collectible.

Today I am traveling to a vintage textile show in MA. I cannot wait to see what antique... and vintage... sentimental treasures await!

As always,

enjoy the day!

Wonderful collections...

Our doll club met on Monday and did a program on dolls of color for Black History month.



The above dolls are from my collection. The Edith Ackley dolls are by Carole Bailey. I made tiny little Precious from an Ackley pattern. The tiniest cloth doll is quite old. There is an adorable Kelly doll in African costume who just makes me smile.

And Addie, with the blue hair bow, is a doll I soft sculpted and painted. Her body was designed and constructed by Ike Putney from the Deare Girl pattern. She is carrying a stuffed Edie doll I made her!




Amazingly, there were no duplicates in such a variety of dolls ranging from valuable bisque dolls to souvenir dolls to humble home made cloth dolls.



Doll collectors like to research their dolls so it was interesting to hear the history and origin of the dolls.


There is even an original Cabbage Patch doll...an American girl doll.


It was also Valentine's Day and our buffet luncheon table was decorated with the most wonderfully attired Evangeline doll. Note that she has a miniature heart box of candy nearby. It was filled with tiny realistic looking candies.


As you can well imagine, we had a very good time...ate too many goodies...and loved the opportunity to share our dolls and friendship. I came home with a very special item I purchased from a club member. But, that is for another post. It needs its own introduction!

As always,

enjoy the day!

Here I am!

Have you been wondering where I have been? For at least five years I have blogged here (or elsewhere) three times a week...faithfully. Not so this week.

I decided to sort
through every
piece of paper and art supply
at my disposal.
So, what happened?

I created a worse mess
than I had before!

I would be lying if I said I wasn't having fun. I have enjoyed sorting and rediscovery and the inspiration from all the colors and patterns.

In between sorting stuff, we ran up to Vermont. At an art display I saw this piece of furniture I love. Hopefully, Mr. DollZandThingZ will finish some projects soon and make me a similar item. Hint, hint.



In one of my favorite antique stores, I saw this donkey and thought, "as a child I would have loved this!"


My friend April commented. "as a child? You wanted now and I am surprised it didn't come home with you!"

She knows me well! There was a moment of temptation...

So, back to work here. Between art, sewing and needle felting supplies...and a small home... there is much to do.

Hope you had a marvelous new year's eve and will have a fabulous 2011!

As always,

enjoy the day!