Silhouette by Suzanne Davis

Yesterday Suzanne Davis of Pear Tree Primitives and her charming husband and delightful sons dropped by on their way home to beautiful Boise, Idaho. They had been up in Washington, and as they passed through Oregon, of course they had to pass the end of the Oregon Trail and therefore me! I was beyond thrilled when she presented this beautiful silhouette to me. Even her business card is a work of art. Thank you again, from the very bottom of my heart, Suzanne. I am absolutely spellbound by your work.

The Velvet Strawberry ~ A Little Book

Here is my second little book with a pattern for making something from the story. This story involves my doll Amy who is planning a tea party.

If you wish to procure one of my books, click here. Each book costs $16 and that includes the shipping - (Unless it's not on this continent). I'm working on more and will continue to post on this blog when new ones are ready.

I also have it covered on the sidebar. Each book is made from the same paper. The difference here is the first was photographed while the second was scanned. Details you know...

Thank you for visiting!

Christine ~

Editing

I have a very dear and valued friend who once gave me some excellent advice on displaying my home. Thank you, Jamie! She suggested that I photograph and from there edit. Of course, this is evolution itself at this house. And so, I have removed the petticoats and pantalets from the windows, because it seemed a bit too fussy for me. There they all are now, adjacent to the bed, with plenty of walking space. I do believe, Julie, that some of the dolls did try them on while I was asleep, and even one petticoat was removed and replaced by an even older one. Those girls do have fun!

Petticoats and Pantalets

Aren't they cute? All but one of these were recently gifted to me by a dear friend from the Midwest who is moving to another state. I am so delighted that she no longer wanted them and was happy to bless me with the little darlings. These are doll clothes from the Victorian era and I love them so very, very much just hanging in my guest bedroom window for all to see. The guest bedroom, incidentally, is the place where dolls awaiting adoptions reside. I have strung the little garments on string across a lovely herb drying rack that I simply de-ribboned in order to place them each in a window.

Dolls and Fancywork Shoppe

I have just loaded up the above dolls onto my newest blog Dolls and Fancywork Shoppe. I will be sending out my newsletter tomorrow, but in the mean time for those of you who visit this blog, you are being offered a sneak peek at my latest offerings.

I thank you for visiting and hope you will enjoy meeting my new girls.

Christine

Lady Liberty

This is Lady Liberty. She resides on one of my kitchen doors, and is certainly a beloved doll in this household. Lady Liberty and I wish you all a fabulous Fourth of July!
Here she is in all of her splendor as she is accompanied by two very pretty, cloth stars, both of which were made by yours truly. Lady Liberty, however, is the delightful creation of the great and talented, Tish Bachleda of The Tweed Weasel in beautiful Schaefferstown, PA.

Happy First Day of Summer!

Multnomah Falls

Central Oregon

Portland

Mt. Hood

The Oregon Coast

Bandon Dunes Golf Course

Today is the longest day of the year, and it is the official first day of summer. June 21st is the summer solstice.

Here in our Willamette Valley, Oregon, of course, the rain forest is still having a go at it, and of course, we almost never have true summer weather until after the 4th of July, but once it gets going it is the most beautiful weather anywhere, for we do not know humidity here, as I have felt it in the Midwest and in New England, and of course, I shan't even mention the south. Nope, in the entire West humidity is something reported on paper, but not felt in comparison to those other places. I glory in my Pacific air. Our summer weather goes almost to Halloween.

Today is 70 and sunny. Perfection. Well was sunny and is slated to be later in the day. It usually burns off by noon. We shall see. Nonetheless, it is perfection for me for it is my home and I love it.

Just had to share.

Historic McLoughlin House and My Doll Hattie

My reproduction of a pre-Greiner doll, Hattie, now resides in the children's room in the beautiful, historic McLoughlin House in Oregon City, Oregon. The above picture is the same doll, but not seen in the museum, since we are not allowed to take pictures inside of the museum.

The pictures I have shown were procured via Google images. The house was built in 1845, and it is a half a block away from my house.

Just had to share!

Early Work Mercantile Update

This very Queen Anne Pansy Poppet will be featured in the upcoming, October issue of Prims magazine.

SOLD

Saturday, June 12 ~ Noon-4:00

This is where I'll be today from noon to 4:00, showing some of my early dolls, both old as well as some that I have made. I will be answering questions about how I make my dolls. Hope to see you there.

Historic Barclay House,

719 Center Street

Oregon City, OR 97045

503-656-5146

Art Room Re-Do and Asphaltum Varnish

The picture above is from our old house which is across the river from this town. We raised our children in that dear, 1898, Queen Anne Vernacular house. I was fortunate enough to have been in a magazine article, and therefore have scanned this picture so as to show you my woodwork.

I've not yet scraped or washed the windows on my balcony doors. I still have so very much to do before I can call this room finished.

These are my windows, and one can easily see the necessary indoor storm windows that keep the weather at bay. My photographic skills are indeed limited. For one barely notices the storm windows in reality. But the topic here is about asphaltum varnish as a woodwork treatment.

Again, something the photograph brings out that is not evident to the naked eye is the orangish color. It simply is not noticed except in this photograph.

What is asphaltum varnish? I Googled it and the answer to that question is too scientific. It is something that was used on woodwork in the late Victorian times. Although it dries very quickly, virtually in minutes, it will remain a bit tacky and therefore, one must coat it with clear shellac, and only then is it dry to the bone. It's easy to paint onto wood, as long as you mix in a little turpentine. You can successfully paint it over any color of paint. It leaves an elegant, rich dark and shiny woodwork which was very popular at the turn of the previous century. I have loved it for years, and used it in my other Victorian house that we sold in the year 2002. That first picture is from the magazine article from Country Collectibles, Spring/Summer, 2003, and there you can see my old dining room with the asphaltum varnish woodwork.

Incidentally, if anyone of you has ever read that article, it was not true that I coveted English collectibles. That was a slant the writer needed to put into the article in order to sell it. I did them a favor in letting them get away with this. My heart is primarily stolen by early American antiques of all kinds. I like the English things, but again, totally not a true sentiment of mine.

To finish my art room decorating I will next have to strip the paint off of the floors using my trusty old heat gun. That will take this week. Then I simply brush on a couple coats of the good old clear shellac. It dries in an hour. It is rock hard and voila, the fun will begin in returning my furnishings to the room.

I love my beautiful wall and ceiling paint by Devine from Miller paints. They are Spruce on the ceiling and Almond on the walls. I was totally blown away when it turned out to have just a hint of muted robin's egg blue in two different shades. I totally adore it.

Until this room is completely finished, no other kind of art work will be executed in it. Ah the joy of redecorating.

No More Facebook

The beautiful brick Federal Farmhouse, pictured above, circa 1820's, is the home of my mother, who turned 88 on Monday. Pictured at the fence is yours truly from a few years ago. One of my four brothers, who mows her lawn these days is standing nearby. One other dear brother, Tom, died two years ago. He used to live with mother. He maintained the yard and did all of her cooking. Although she had eight children (four boys and four girls), she never really enjoyed cooking.

This picture of serenity is what I gravitate toward, rather than the people filled, albeit friends, mechanisms of Facebook. As I was approaching 1,800 friends on "FB", it occurred to me that I never have time for it and yet daily I receive countless people coming to be my friends. I don't like to turn anyone away, but at last, I simply closed down my Facebook Account yesterday, so that I may strive more towards a serene existence where maintaining my home and enjoying my art prevails.

Mother seems to do just fine in the countryside of southern, Ohio, where she moved to in the 1990's, from here in Oregon. After my dear father's death, that which called her was that same love of olden days and beautiful old things and especially her beautiful house. She still hops into her car daily and heads to the antiquing realms. Her love of beauty rules her, and I am precisely the same way. Now to my dolls...

Dolls Getting Dressed

Here are a few of the dolls that I am in the process of dressing. Thus far they are wearing pantalets, petticoats, painted on shoes and stockings, and the Queen Anne has her panniers under her petticoat.

Since I tend toward "early" dolls, and as early is regarded as pre-1850, I use the maché because it preceded porcelain dolls. Otherwise I love to make cloth dolls, and am working toward woodens, one-of-these-days!

I enjoy making their stands. As our 1888 home has a lot of old wood in the basement, I use that. This batch was made from a piece of the original siding. We still have the same style siding, but from time-to-time, a piece or two has been replaced, and they frugally did not throw them away. I am so delighted to have this attractive and old wood available for some of my doll stands.

My blonde is my latest doll in history, because she was created in about 1870. This makes her not early. I do fudge occasionally, don't I? I call this model, Amy.

This smaller brunette doll is one that I call Claire. Claire is an M&S Superior from the middle 1800's. I regard her as early enough.

Here is my beautiful Emma, an 1820's "milliner's model", a term that I recently learned is not a correct one for any dolls. She was simply a lovely toy. The original has wooden limbs. My doll's limbs are made from maché.

Maggie is truly my very favorite of all of my maché head dolls. This doll originated in the early 1800's and had the beautiful, pupiless glass eyes. She is known as a doll's doll. She is a "pre-Greiner" and was the doll to one of the larger Greiners. Some purists do not believe that all dolls called "pre-Greiner" were that early, but I just don't know. I am not a purist. I simulate with paint the glass eyes.

My new Queen Anne with actual glass eyes, is a one-of-a-kind. She isn't named yet. I learned that pantalets and bloomers were not even considered for ladies until the 1850's, and so, the early styles really offered nothing of this sort. The ladies wore shifts and many petticoats under their dresses. My Queen Anne does not have pantalets or bloomers. I've given her some panniers under her skirt.

These are only a small handful of the dolls I have in progress.

I hope to have a few more uploaded soon.

Estate Sale Treasures

Last Saturday a dear friend called to ask if I had been to the fabulous estate sale that was just 4 blocks from my home. I am so grateful that she did this. I had totally failed to look at estatefinder.com and therefore knew nothing of one of Portland's best estate dealers being so close by. Well, I went in on Sunday, and typical of the last day of an estate sale in this area, anything under $50.00 is now half priced.

See the four beauties I scored! I am in heaven. And, I don't even collect china heads or porcelains, but when one finds them at very low prices, they do become members of my household.

The only thing I need now is either a better camera or a lesson in photography. I just couldn't get these new ladies photographed as I would have liked.

Ruthey, my Izannah Workshop Doll

I have been involved in the Dixie Redmond, Izannah Walker, workshop and this is my doll created in the process. I have named her Ruthey. Sitting with Ruthey is my wonderful new acquistion, a Schneeman dog called Patches. I found him at The 1800 House.

Dolls to Make and Dolls to Finish

This is Hattie. She is one of my pre-Greiner styled dolls, and she is not yet born. They're not born until the bodies are finished. There is yet much to do with her body, and so, there she sits in the time before birth...hence, no spirit occupies this body, yet.

Oh look at the shelf with the heads and the limbs. Much to do, and much joy to partake of.

My very large, beautiful Dolly, the Voit, whom I've named Abigail. Abigail is the size of an actual toddler. She sits so prettily wherever she goes.
My precious Hannah, another Greiner, is waiting for me to put her onto my website. She must be there for the others until 'tis time.
Another Abigail, waiting...And who is that on her lap? It's Claire, my little M&S Superior.

There sit two of my little wooden armed/legged poetry poppets.

And finally, who is this? She is a brand new addition to my line of reproduction, olden days dolls. She isn't even named yet. She will let me know in time.

Meanwhile, there are dolls to be designed dancing about in my mind. I do have fun!

Early American Life, April 2010

Above is what it looks like on the news stand. This issue of EAL is resplendent, and I especially love the article written by my dear and brilliant (if I may say so myself) husband about milliner model dolls. Below is a snippet, just to tempt you...

A Piece of Primitive, Early Oregon

Yesterday Greg and I went for a country drive, and discovered but minutes from our home, this amazingly well preserved log cabin.

I love this primitive number of a little bench. I could make one of these!

This house was the Stauffer log house that was built in 1867. I realize that is not a genuinely "early" time for our country, but this is the West! And, it is amazingly well preserved by the Aurora Colony preservationists.

I love this view of the out buildings.

Just a nice shot at those fabulous logs. (I much prefer this style of log to the rounded ones.)

Enter the front door.

This is the smoke house.

Here is a shot of the window in the smoke house.

This is the hog house. See the two doors.

The closed hog door.

The opened hog door.

And finally, right in the front door, the pet door!

To learn more about the Stauffer log house, visit this link: