Mary ~ Doll

Here is my latest rendition of the maché-head doll with the cloth body that I call Mary. This Mary is a blonde dressed in an elegant reproduction early styled fabric. She is designed to be a sitting doll, and here she sits for her picture. Mary is also wearing lovely white pantalets and a pink petticoat. Her slipper shoes are painted-on pink with little painted-on flowers.

Mary is on her way to her new home in Ohio.

A

The Wearin' o' The Green

Happy St. Patrick's Day to EVERYONE!

My sweet little shamrock girl in her original, plastic dome, is on Etsy, for anyone who might be interested. Meanwhile, she is in her right place today, celebrating dear St. Patrick.

I hope you are all wearing a bit o' green today and enjoying every moment.

Here are two of my mache-head dolls now on Etsy. If you are interested in one of them, please click here: Dolls

Cloth Angel Doll ~ New Design

 I just finished designing and creating a handful of this little doll, Angel of Love. She is all of 9 and 1/2 inches tall including her halo. If you are interested in owning her, she is listed at my Etsy store.

Thank you!

Ice Skate Tag ~ A Design of Tim Holtz

I just completed these two ice skate tags. You see, I do love Tim Holtz and his products. I had such fun creating this design of his. If you want to see where it came from, click HERE.

These tags are the standard size that tags tend to be. I used my Tim Holtz die cut for cutting the tag as well as the darling ice skates and the sweet little pinecones with their leaves. The skates are 3 and 1/2 inches tall.

Just had to share.

My Etsy and Shipping

On my Etsy Store I have only chosen to ship within the United States. But I am willing to sell outside of this country, if one finds something of interest from my stash.  Email me about it. I can then pull it from Etsy and make arrangements from there.

It's such a hassle for me to figure shipping period, and so, this is my temporary angle.

Thank you for your understanding.

My email address is up in the right hand corner as at the button that says Contact Me.

Petal Cone ~ The Believer

Here is one of my Petal Cones that I just listed for sale on Etsy. This one is of a beautiful young lady sleeping in her lovely Victorian bed and dreaming of angels and perhaps heaven. It is a picture that I found in an old book.  I cannot actually remember which one, but I do think it is a Currier and Ives, which of course I absolutely love. The name of the picture is The Believer, so perhaps I ought to do some research with the name. All-in-due-course. This little piece of assemblage art is sweet and romantic and even if it never sells, I totally enjoy having it in my home.

To see on my Etsy Shop, Click Here.

The Window

Click on the link The Window:

The Window

This is a mixed-media on canvas that I enjoyed creating, especially for the back of it with the secret pocket. You can actually hide something small back there, maybe a love note, since it's a shallow paper pocket. 

I have it at my Etsy shop with the following description:

"Standing near her elegant, Gothic styled window of her mansion is a beautiful, young woman dressed in white. Denoted on this canvas are the words "Come to the window softly". I have wrapped the canvas in book pages, and used the backside as my front. Embellishments include paper rosettes, flowers, feathers and leaves. There are buttons and there is glitter and jewels and lace also adorning this romantic piece. On the backside I have created a secret pocket. One can put something into it for safe keeping, if need be. The canvas measures 8x10, but it extends with the decorative items."

You will notice that I am now promoting my creations via this blog, along with thoughts and observations.

I hope you will enjoy seeing what I have happily been doing.

Cornucopia Fairy ~ "Fairy Tale"

"Fairy Tale" is the name of this cornucopia paper mache doll. She resides in a lovely pink cornucopia that accentuates the beauty of her blue/teal attire. The miniature vintage ornament in her miniature cornucopia is a precious jewel to her. An elegant purple vintage button is at the very bottom of the cornucopia, and she holds a little quote by Charles Dickens about home: "Home is a name, a word, it is a strong one; stronger than magician ever spoke, or spirit ever answered to, in the strongest conjuration." 

This piece is 11 inches long.

Click here to see her in my Etsy.com shop.

Brigitte Christine's Santas

I am so proud of how beautifully our daughter, Brigitte has done with her chalkware Santa line. Obviously her work was impressive to Portland photographer Sharyn L.Warner, who sent this beautiful card to Monticello Antique Marketplace. Sharyn used Brigitte's beautiful Santa's for her very own Christmas card.

Brigitte and I enjoyed doing the five week Monticello Christmas Show and we had a wonderful show at that. Today when Gregory and I picked up the remains of our things, Joyce, the lovely manager of Monticello, gave this card to us for Brigitte.

Podium to Beans

I bought this old podium years ago, and I painted it with touches of mauve against white, colors that already existed in our 1888 Italianate house. I have never wanted to change this color that to me is softly reminiscent of a more Gothic era. It is quiet and calming and exquisitely beautiful to me.

I strove to sell my podium at various venues, but never a taker, and  I have to say my price has always been quite low. I guess no one wants my podium. I cannot fathom one not wanting one! I've enjoyed podiums down through the years. Since it was my last one, and not moving at Monticello Market Place, I simply took it back today, and am so happy that I did. Here it stands proudly in a spare bedroom. Draped over it is my beautiful old piano scarf that also contains shades of the same mauve, although my photographic skills rendered it more of a pink. Alas, we do not have a piano. The antique and very beautiful, brown Bible is a German one. I know I picked it up at an estate sale for diddly squat. That is one of my favorite prices. I've actually gotten considerable use from my little podium. Now it serves only for beauty, for the time being. 

Beans? Oh yes. Gregory soaked overnight a bag of 15 beans, and upon rinsing and draining them, here is how pretty they looked in the morning. The soup is now made and it will be our dinner momentarily. Luscious ham and bean soup with lots of vegetables. No picture of that though. I have to admit that I am not a vegetarian, nor intend to become one, although I've dabbled in it from time-to-time. Nope, I like to eat meat. I bless my food and thank the animal for assisting my body in life, and take it from there. I know that the environment begs less meat eating, and I do bless our world for that sake too. I choose to eat only organically raised animals too. So there you have it!

I am no longer sharing my blog with my Facebook friends. It seems rather silly to do so. I am not really going to Facebook much anymore either. That may change all-in-due-course, but for now, I prefer to keep my world simple and quiet.

I wish, you my blog visitors, a peaceful and quiet time too.

Sending love to all of you.

Two of My Dolls

We just received our copy of the latest issue of Early American Life (EAL) magazine; that being the February, 2014 one. There is an article in it called Preserving Your Textile Treasures and right there in a picture are two of MY dolls! Years ago, I gifted these two to Tess, the owner of the magazine. Thank you Tess for sharing my all cloth poppet, and my Maché head, cloth bodied, Tess. Ironically, I had already named this doll Tess before I ever met Tess of EAL!

I sort of had Tess of the d'Urvervilles in mind, even though my Tess represents an 18th. century styled doll, and the story by Thomas Hardy actually took place in the 1800's and not the 1700's, and of course, Tess of the story had a tragic life, whereas my dolly has a very good life! I just like the name for this doll. It fits a young woman of pastoral England of the earlier days.

Tess is also pictured in my blog banner. The other pictured doll is my milliner's model, Emma.

Also, we have this magazine quite early, because my husband is a contributor to it and the contributors get their copies before they hit the news stands.

Gregory's Design

My husband, Gregory, has created a number of very interesting furniture designs of his own, and below I am sharing his very sweet small and narrow cupboard that can be hung on a wall, or can stand on a floor or a table. I commandeered this piece for our kitchen, and so he deemed it his prototype, because it has become mine. I love the color Gregory chose. It is Duck Egg by Annie Sloan, chalk paints.  You can find this paint at The Purple Pear in Portland, Oregon.

I store our wash cloths in there, as well as my chocolate candy bars. Why chocolate bars? Alas, I cannot abide caffeine other than in the form of chocolate, provided it is prior to 3:00 PM. Otherwise, I hyperventilate and awaken in the night with the desire to catch a deep breath. I always adored my caffeine, but due to having overly indulged in it down through the years, I developed a form of an allergy. Do not over do it on anything, friends! Moderation is a must.

I can have a little bit of chocolate each morning with my decaffeinated coffee. If ever I do happen to intake caffeine after 3:00 PM, my night's rest is negligible, unless I can take a wee bit of an anxiety drug. Mind you, I seldom do this, because I never want to have another addiction, and of course, my doctor would never allow it. Colas for me are completely out of the question, although I do drink a caffeine free one when I can find it.

Back to the wee cupboard that Gregory designed. I have to confess that even among all of my wonderful antiques, this piece is actually one of my very favorites. I treasure it for Gregory's design and execution. It is special to me. He's not yet made another either.

Here it is in all its glory. Note the black mark on the floor. This is left over from when the house experienced a fire long ago, when the kitchen stove was in this spot. No stove has been there in at least 75 years. So we do not take credit for that splotch of black. But I like that lovely little point of history.

And here is the very top of the sweet cupboard.

Advent

Having been raised a cradle Catholic, I cannot do Christmas without celebrating Advent.

Today is the first Sunday in Advent. 

From Wikipedia:

Advent is a season observed in many Western Christian churches 
as a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas. The term is an anglicized version of the Latin word adventus, meaning "coming".

Today I will create my Advent wreath and begin reliving my childhood joys of anticipating Christmas!

I'm sure that all of the many faiths for this beautiful season work just fine. This one is simply my upbringing.

                                                   Happy Season of Love to all of you!

Set Up is Done (for now)

Here is my little space, all set up, with more waiting in the "rig". Show begins Friday, November 22nd. at 8:00 AM. So much fun!

Show Announcement

Monticello Antique Marketplace

I am showing in this one for the five slated weeks. Showtime begins Friday, November 22nd at 8AM! I am so honored to have been one of the 16 vendors allowed in the showroom for their Christmas Show.

My spot is over by the big windows. Hope to see you!