A new ensemble

I finished dressing the swap bleuette. I sewed the final snaps last night. She's got a darling pale blue sparkly Christmas dress that has snowflake flocked sheer over blue cotton with some ribbon decorations. Her cape is off-white panne velvet that is trimmed in blue embroidered snow flakes and finished off with a blue tassel hanging from the hood. She can't wait to meet her new Maman.

now, I've got to go get my baking done for tomorrow. Mmmmmm, cheesecake and butter cookies.....MMmmmmmmmmmm

Mom's magical crochet hook

I just love my mother's crocheting. I spent the last week with her after she had her foot surgery and I swear the woman went through crochet withdrawals. She has got to have that hook in her hand at least 12 hours a day or God Help Us All she is not happy. you're probably wondering where I"m going with this.??

I sat down next to her and crocheted a 'pleated' skirt for a new Bleuette manikin that I made while I was at her house. It came out adorable. she wanted to know what I was making next so I showed her an old French LSDS pattern for gaiters. She grabbed the pattern and began translating it and the next thing I knew she had my hook and the baby yarn (that I had 'borrowed' from her stash) and she started to make the gaiters. I ran to the store for her and when I got back, my doll had not only new gaiters, but also a sweater and hat to complete the ensemble! When it comes to crochet, my mom is quite the talent! way to go Mom!!

Countdown time

A site that I just love is having a Christmas Countdown and free printables each day from Dec.1 thru Christmas. Lisa Vollrath is well known for her fabulous art and exteme generosity in sharing stuff to use to make your own art-everything from tutorials to ephemera etc. so anyway, her Christmas Countdown will be starting soon. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do.

I've been stiffed and it stinks~or~ up on my SOAPBOX

well, it seems that my swap partner for the 'Fall n Leaves' swap has stiffed me. that sure stinks. I've been working with the Swap coordinator and even she's smokin' mad. Seems that this lady signed up to swap with 3 partners and hasn't sent to anyone. We all made sure to get our packages sent to her on time. oh yeah, she's come up with excuses-"dad in hospital, husband in hospital, packages were in daughters car but she didn't send them, now their mysteriously sent but no one received anything, she can receive emails but she can't post", (oh, but how interesting that she can post to the group and join in two other events in the meantime and also she hasn't had a problem replying to the cooordinator) you know, I can sure inderstand that life happens, but geesh, at least have a little common courtesy and send out a short email saying you've had a family emergency and will not be able to participate. you don't even have to say what has happended because that stuff can be real personal, but jeesh, at least that would have been forgivable and you can understand and let her off the hook. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. ok, I'll climb down off my soapbox now....~~~~~~~

A new Bleu

Ooooh, I just love making this little doll. I'm swapping one of my cloth Bleuette with a lovely lady that makes porcelain Bleuettes. I've just finished her doll and now I'm making clothes for her. She wanted red hair and blue eyes. I tried on different wigs but none seemed to look right. then I tried on the curls and voila!! just what she wanted. 'Tres bon Tante' she declared! Je t'aime. well, now I have to see if her new Mamman likes her hair. We may be trying on something else just to see. hmmmmmm.....everyone has different taste.

The construction of this doll is so different. It's learned in Judi Ward's Cloth Bleuette class at Crafty College online. She uses wooden beads and grapes to created the joints. very different but the effect is wonderful. It makes the doll looks so real like the authentic Bleuette. I won't lie and say it's an easy technique. It's not. but it sure is worth all the effort. I guess that's why I have 4 more dolls in stages of construction. If I get too stressed with the part I'm working on, I pick up another doll and work on that one. Time to go make her a new dress......

2 down 1 to go

Whew~~~wiping brow~~~~~~

Made it through the Bridal/Baby shower 2 weekends ago. Last weekend was my brother's wedding (good gawd awmighty could that have been any more stressful??? I don't think so. nope, in fact I'm sure of it-that took the tops in the stress catagory as I ended up being the wedding coordinator-side note: now I know why those people get paid BIG bucks) now this weekend is the baby shower for our daughter. Then I get to collapse. WHEW...... Now, I live in a tiny house. tiny. 1300 sq. feet and that includes the basement. LOL. we had 6 adults, 1 dog and a severely disabled child in the house. I swear you could see the walls bulging as you drove up the street.

Well, in spite of all the insanity I managed to finish my pincushion for an October swap. The theme was Fall-n-Leaves and I'm really pleased. The first thing that came to mind was a tree. I used a brass candle stick for weight and a center post for stability. I used woolfelt and cut and sewed to get the shape I wanted. I had those darling leaves that were like sequins without holes and those were perfect for the tree. I made some cute little push pins out of Shrinky Dink and silk pins. They made the nicest addition to the tree. She's getting mailed out tomorrow morning.

Phid's new head or MMMMM, that tastes good.

Well, Phid got a new head....again. I make dolls for my brother occassionally. He loves my dolls. His dogs also love my dolls....ALOT. I've now had to replace Phid's head three times! Maybe three's a charm. (or so the saying goes). Isn't Phid cute with his heads. gee, I wonder if he knows Marie Antionette? LOL. I am so bad.........

Bleuette Manikin cutie

WOW, I just love a fabulous pattern! So, here's the little manikin I made last night from the pattern posted by the fantastic doll designer Judi Ward. It's her free Bleuette Manikin. A wonderfully designed little doll that goes together perfectly. Judi gives two hand options -mitt and fingers. I did the tiny little fingers. It makes a perfect little delicate hand and posable even! I definately have to make more of these to display all the bleuette clothes I'm making. She's the perfect size for a little girl to play with even. She has a really cute shape and I sculpted a belly button and cute little bum on her to complete the doll. I love the shoulder plate design. She looks like a little porcelain doll. Judi has the pattern available on her website. Judi's Dolls Isn't this the cutest little bum? This is another quality pattern from Judi and a freebee at that! What a generous gift to the doll world!

Halloween goodies

I love Halloween. I do believe it's my favorite holiday. yes, it is. I had to wait until my swap partner received her pin before writing this post. I belong to a pindoll yahoo group and we have monthly swaps. I don't always swap but I do join in as time allows. I couldn't miss Halloween. that's just too fun. Last year we were to find a good card and use that for my inspiration for a pindoll. I decided to do that again this year as that was alot of fun. I was perusing cards and found the most darling card at http://www.bluemountain.com/. I thought it would make a really darling pin. Here's pics of the card and pin. it's a quarter fold card so you can see the size of the pin. it's about 3-inches tall. It was a real bear to turn those teeny tiny arms, hands, legs and tail. I used black chenille stems to give him posability and also so I had to use minimal stuffing. it wasn't easy adding extra stuffing to some of the areas, like those tiny feet. I also made two more for my dear friend and her mom. I had to dig the pattern out of the trash because I don't always keep the patterns when I do a OOAK. She loved it so much she really wanted one. so, here they are, aren't they cute too! I call them my Scaredy Cats. They really were fun to make. The CAndy corn sack went with the first pin to my swap partner. Her Scaredy Cat hides inside. It snaps shut at the top. now, on to the next project. I'm working on my Halloween swap for my pincushion group. That is coming out really awesome so I'll post that when it's done.

Philomene's new dresses.

Well, I finished Philomene's new dresses and here they are. I just love reproducing these old LSDS (Le Semaine de Suzette) patterns for Bleuette. They can be a bit of a challenge because so many times now the picture and the pattern don't match. I guess the artist and the pattern maker were two different people and they didn't compare their ideas. LOL. Sizes aren't always right either but they're darn close to fitting this cloth Bleuette. Usually there isn't an appropriate allowance for hems and closures. And, my french is awful especially this really old French but I muddle through. Did I mention the patterns are all in French. oops. The darling pale blue dress is #24 from 1908 Robe D'ete'. It's quite a charming little dress and looks so darling on her. The sleeves in the picture were short puffed sleeves, but when I finished with the pattern as it was drawn, they ended up long. I still like it though. The adorable white w/pink polka dots is Robe habillee #44 from 1949. it is really so sweet and delicate. I just loved the pleated front. Philomene is quite pleased with these new additions to her wardrobe. I think I'm going to make her a Girl Scout Uniform next.

Oh yeah! I won something!

Woohooooo! My trunk and I won the $50 gift certificate to shop for patterns at www.ClothDollSupply .com. I am so excited!! Now I've got to figure out which patterns I want. So many to choose from. I do love how fair the challenges are on the Vintageclothdollmaking group I belong to. Everyone that enters has a chance to win. all the entries are 'put in the hat' and then names drawn to win. There are always a bunch of great prizes donated and the challenges are good. I'm still obsessing with my Philomene. I made her two new dresses today so I'll post pics of them tomorrow. This was just a short burst of happiness!

Trunk Doll Challenge finished

Here is the picture of my finished Trunk Doll Challenge at the Vintageclothdollmaking online yahoo group. It will never be actually finished as I plan on making her a never ending wardrobe but this is the picture I am submitting for the challenge. I am very pleased with the way it turned out. She has two dresses. A toy top to play with. Her Hunting outfit complete with jacket, vest, jodhpurs, hat, gaiters, hobby horse, elephant, bird in a cage and a bug house for catching odd specimens. A nightgown, robe and sleeping cap. An Alice in Wonderland costume. A swimming outfit-swimsuit, hat, towel and swim shoes. A lovely Witches costume complete with dress, collar, hat, pumpkin and a pet raven and a lovely curved top trunk to keep it all in. I tried to keep the entire ensemble between 1907 and 1911 but a couple of the things are later historically. oh well, I'm happy with it.

Philomene's new costume.

I found a darling 1911 Halloween pic posted online and it is supposed to be the cover for a deck of cards. I just loved the little girl in her witch costume and decided that my Bleuette needed a Halloween costume of her own. The pic was the perfect inspiration and so she now has a new outfit. I already had the perfect size old fashioned looking pumpkin for her to hold. The hat only took 2 tries to get the right size. The collar is separate from the dress and the bow is stitched directly to the collar. the belt is held in place by hand-knotted loops on each side of her dress. I may make her a set of cuffs yet to finish the look of the antique pic. that's the only thing I didn't make yet. The outfit is my own design inspired by the pic. oh, and I don't have a pair of dark boots for her. She looked cute in her red maryjanes so they will have to do.

I was finally able to decide on a name for her. I chose the name of one of my great-grandmothers. Philomene. Lovely isn't it?! and I think it suits her well. At least, so far she seems pleased with the name.

A day at Lake Erie

1909 Swim Ensemble

Bleu grabs her towel and is ready to take on the cool waters of Lake Erie in this charming 1909 Swimming Ensemble. She wears matching proper swim-dress, swim-cap(to protect those darling curls) long stockings and swim shoes. Mother is so proud that she exposes only the minimal skin so as not to excite those leacherous boys!

This is Bleu's newest outfit for her trunk. She had to have some way to keep cool during these long hot late summer days. It sure is amazing how bathing suits have changed. This was a proper bathing suit but I sure don't see how it could have allowed anyone to cool off. You had to have almost all your skin covered. Most ladies wore a long ankle-length dressing gown over their swim suit which they would shed before entering the water. ohheavenforbid should a man (GASP) see some skin.....drop one of those women into todays fashions and she would have a heart attack at just the thought of wearing two bandaids and some string and calling that a swim suit. teeheeeheeheeeheeeeeeeeee.

I love to make doll clothes.

The best part of doll making for me is the costuming. I've been having a ball making clothing for Bleuette. This is her new nightgown, robe and sleeping cap. It takes me longer than I'd like, but that's because I'm just too meticulous. I try to take shortcuts but the old seamstress in me (and the old Polish Gramma Guilt talking in my brain) won't let me . hahahahahahaha. My grandmother taught me to sew buttons on gingham when I was 3. by the time I was 5, I was propped up on phonebooks sewing clothes on her old singer. It had a knee pedal so I could make it run(really fast sometime too if I wasn't careful!). I have her machine and it still works. I have made dolls and clothes for as long as I can remember. there was never a time when I didn't sew. She made me rip out many seams and redo them if they weren't nice and straight so I guess that's where my attention to neatness came from. yes, even on doll clothes I take the time to have even seams, finish all the seams and line things like the little hunting jacket I just made for Bleuette-it is lined, even the cuffs. I know, seems kinda silly for doll clothes, but I still have a few pieces of doll clothes that I made for my dolls when I was little and they're in good shape considering their age. I have pictures of some of her clothing that is done in a new album-Trunk Doll Challenge-at my Picturetrail page. there's a link on the right side of this blog. I'm almost done with her swimming outfit. the suit is done and her shoes are done, all I need to make is her swimming hat to tuck her hair in. She wouldn't want to get those darling curls wet.

There was a pretty girl, with a pretty curl....

Today I picked up my niece's Homecoming dress from the drycleaners. I was so pleased, they got out the makeup spot. you see, someone gave her a used formal dress for Homecoming because they just don't have money for a new dress. She knows that I'm a pretty good seamstress (welll, I have made a wedding gown or two...LOL) so she drew up her own design for the dress, called me and asked if I'd help her remake this dress. It was an empire waist dress of bronze colored crepe satin covered in black flowered tulle. quite pretty. The black tulle was removed from the dress except for the bust. I remade the bust smaller because the original one was sized for 'Wendy Whoppers'. heheheheheheheh. I shortened the spaghetti straps and got the top fitting nicely. I then cut off the bottom of the formal and from that I cut a strip from the hemline. I gathered that for a flounce and then cut a yard of tulle into 5-inch strips. I gathered that onto the new flounce and attached that to the dress. I had to futz a bit because she wanted it to ?dip? up on the one thigh. Not sure how to explain that part, but that was about 3 inches deeper than the rest of the flounce. Next I fixed a flower on the bodice which was just gold beads glued on with glitter glue. the final touch was a black satin bow at the bodice. Isn't she going to be the belle of the ball?

Slacker

Man, am I slacking on my blog. I've got to find more hours in the day. I'm trying to get my 'trunk doll' done for an online challenge and stuff just gets in the way. This is my wonderful bestest friend Kate (on the left). I had my darling hubby snap a shot before we went to the airport. Isn't this a great pic?

I had a busy week which ended with a fun night Saturday. Hubby's brother came to town to celebrate his(brother's)birthday so we took him to the Ballgame Saturday evening. It was a great baseball game. Our Indian's won 6 to zip. wow. we had great seats and really enjoyed the evening.

Now, I've got to get finishing my doll clothes. I'm doing a wardrobe for my cloth bleuette. So far she's got 3 dresses, a combinations, a hunting outfit (including jodhpurs, vest, jacket, hat and gaiters)a nightgown, sleeping cap and i'm just finishing a robe, oh, and her elephant. Next she's getting a girl scout uniform and a wedding dress to play dress up. I'm keeping her clothes within a 4 year time period. 1907-1911. I'll post a few pics of her tomorrow.

Whew, what a weekend.

Wow, what a whirlwind weekend. I brought a fabulous dollmaker named Kate Erbach to Cleveland to teach her new doll Moody Boobs. We had a class of 11 lovely ladies making this doll. They had so much fun you would have thought they were doing something illegal! HAHAHAHA! It was special for me because Kate is a very dear friend and we have so much in common. It was hard to see her off at the airport last night. I miss her dearly as she lives a few states away. I do love when she's in though, she's one of the few who can make my husband giggle. The only way to know he's laughing is when his shoulders start moving up and down. He's quite an imposing, stoic Slovak man and doesn't laugh often enough. However, he likes Kate and her infectious sense of humor sure is wonderful. It sure is wonderful to have a good friend. I have many lovely aquaintances and know many, many good people, but I really treasure the few really good friends I have.

Today after a funeral for my hubby's aunt I was able to finish my dolls' beaded face. I really love the bead painting technique that Kate taught. I actually caught on and I get it! Woohooooooo! isn't she a beauty? Now to finish putting her together.

Where does the time go???............

Here I am blogging and I feel guilty! why you ask? Because I should be (fill in the blank). I just need a break. I know you feel like this too. I guess we all have these days. I've got a doll outfit to finish. It's almost done. I've got supplies to gather for a class, started gathering but don't have it all together yet. I've got a room to dust. I've got groceries to buy for class this weekend. I've got out-of-town relatives coming for a visit and going out to dinner with them. A grandson to pick up this afternoon from the school bus. Dessert to make for this evening's gathering (after the resaurant)......and here I sit. Oh dear, I hear the sewing machine calling my name~~~~~

I've been Name Tagged!

Well, well, well, I've been "Name Tagged" by Connie at ClothMatters. Ok, I'll try to play nice this time! LOL. I'm not too good at playing Tag. I was the one who liked to hide behind the tree and just watch!

ok, I am to write something about myself for corresponding with each letter of my name. So away we go.....

E- Enthusiastic
L-Laughing all the time
L-Life's too short-the motto I live by
E-Entertaining-yup, that's me (or so I've been told)
N- *someone needs to fill this one in for me* I'm stumped.

Now to share the love:
I'm going to tag the following lovely ladies:

Kerry at Attic Rose Creations
Natalie at Creative Characters
Judi W at Art Dolls
Kat at Designs by Kat Lees
Karen at Karen's Dolls and Stuff

Ladies, TAG, YOU'RE IT!

Bleuette gets an elephant

I finished this darling little fellow at 1:30 this a.m. Isn't he just the cutest. Here's his story:

Bleuette was always quite privilaged and came from an adventurous family. Her Great-Uncle Goodfried was away on safari in the great savannah when he came upon this poor fellow. Some beastly being had done away with the great mother and left the baby elephant alone and hungry. Well, Goodfried just couldn't leave the baby all to his lonesome to wander and become a meal for some hungry lion now could he? He new that Bleu had always loved elephants and knew she would make a most attentive mother so he had the squalling beast crated and shipped.

Bleu's Mother and Father were a bit surprised (well not that surprised-one never knows what Goodfried would send to Bleu) but with great sighs they were resigned to let Bleu care for the baby. Uncle Goodfried told Bleu the baby's name was Anana which meant soft and gentle. This described the little elephants disposition beautifully. Bleu and the baby lived quite happily for many, many years. Look closely and you can see how happy the baby elephant is!

Glow little glow worm glimmer, glimmer....

Whew, I finally feel like myself again. Teaching took alot out of me last weekend. I still have to download the pics from my camera. The girls sure made some fantastic dolls! I was so happy that everyone loved the pattern and had really no trouble with it. just a few adjustments to terms and it's tweaked. Now, I'm going to write it into an online class. I really think it will go well.

I"ve gotten so much done today. Went out to the Amish farm to buy fresh produce! $2.50 a doz. for freshly picked sweet corn! can you go wrong? eggplant 2 for a buck! peppers larger than softballs- 4 for a buck!!! I spent $10 and came home with 5 bags of produce. Oh Yeah!

Made two pincushions that I had wanted to do for a while now and finished my pindoll for this month's swap over at Pindollalley. This month's theme was Insects and Reptiles. well, I had this little sexy Glow Worm in my brain just waiting to come out. I've been humming that darn song....Glow little glow worm glimmer, glimmer......She really came out cute. Lucious long blonde hair (matches her glowing bottom you know!) Ruby red lips and big batting eyes. This was another good exercise in letting the mind just create. I even coated her Glowing bottom with glow-in-the-dark paint-yes, it really glows in the dark. I gave her eyes and teeth a coating of glow-in-the-dark nail polish so they glow too. she's a real hoot! I do think my swap partner is going to love her! What do you think?

The pincushions are cute too. one is a pincushion that is on top of a little basket with a handle and the other one is made from a little painted flower pot. Very cute. Ah well, time to cook supper than I think I"ll work on some stuff for my trunk doll. This is a challenge going on at Vintageclothdollmaking. I've decided to use my cloth Bleuette for this challenge. I've already made her 2 more outfits and she's going to get an Elephant. I found an old elephant pattern for Bleuette. really! an elephant. I had my son-in-law translate it for me so hopefully it will go together nicely. That German Potato Salad recipe is calling me.........

A Handy Pincushion

I just love pincushions. I've collected them for years. I made this one last night as a hostess gift. Isn't it lovely. My dearest friend had made one for me earlier this year and I use it all the time. It's from a free pattern online and I love it so much that I've now made a couple of them for hostess gifts. I just love the look of the organza over the base fabric. I dug through all my old buttons and found the perfect antique button. It's a beautiful filigree with a mother of pearl center. I actually remembered to take a picture of this one. the other one I made was red with a wonderful overlay and ruffle of white organza with red hearts and silver dots. Quite romantic.

A Smoker Doll, how politically incorrect...don'tcha love it?!!

Well, I'm ready to go teach my Bed Doll class in Maryland this weekend. This will be so much fun! I know these ladies and it's a good thing they know me 'cause I am NOT the most politically correct person. I really just love to have fun. Life's too short is the motto I live by. I've got my new pattern finished and decided to feature the 'Smoker' Bed Doll on the cover instead of hiding her in the directions as an option. teeheehee.....the Non-smoking doll is the option. LOL. Take that 'Big Brother'. I'm sucha rebel! LOL. So, what do you think? doesn't the Smoker look awesome?!

This doll is actually quite special. The green material used here was from a dress that belonged to my grandmother. She had made it from material my uncle had sent to her from his travels during his time in the service. I've had this dress tucked away for years and couldn't part with it because the fabric was so beautiful. I finally had the perfect project for it but it still brought a lump to my throat as I cut it up. Oh and yes, my grandmother was a smoker and had flaming red hair! She loved to smoke Salem light 100's.

That warm fuzzy feeling

I just love our club High on Dolls. It is the best group of ladies on the planet. Each year we do a service project-either we make dolls to donate to a shelter or fire/police department, or we make dolls to auction off and donate the money to a worthy cause. This year we made dolls to donate. The pattern is 'The Dragalongs' by Phat Phaeries Inc. My design partner Kate and I donated the pattern for the project. Is there a greater joy than giving a doll to a child? No, there isn't. These are simple beginner dolls that are just so darling. perfect for bringing a smile to a childs face. The ladies in our club have made 37 so far and a few more are coming in next month yet!! It's obviously easy-peasy for this very talented group to whip out these darling dolls for our project. Just look at these cuties. All so fun and different. These ladies just give, give, give. I am so proud to be part of their group.

Mamma's Got a Brand New Bag....

Oh yeah, when I'm blue, I make a new purse. Isn't she a beaut?! I call this one my 'Jane Jetson' bag. This fabric reminded me of The Jetson's-it was way cool. I love the ovals and rings. very planet like. Today was a long, cold, rainy day. Feeling hohum, couldn't get settled into my dolls so it's time for a new purse(and wallet). I dug out my fabric, pattern and handles and went to town this evening. I'm glad I have a good stash to work from. I loaded up my CD player with 3 good CD's of Classical music, hit 'play' and started. My birds just love it when I"m in the groove. I sit there and whistle and sing-well, mostly whistle-and they have a ball with me. I have two gray cockatiels that are very spoiled-Stella and Stanley. They love their mamma. hahahaha. Stanley loves to whistle along with me. well, at least he tries to. He is actually learning the theme to the old Andy Griffith show. It's funny to be sitting out in the living room and all of a sudden you hear strains of Mayberry RFD coming from the sewing room. Anyway, my purse is done and my head is clear. Now I feel better! Ain't nothin' like a new bag for Mamma to make her feel all better.......Ahhhhhh.....now I can get back to dolls.

Practical matters

Well, sometimes practical matters have to take over. I was watching dearest hubby hanging out his laundry (yes, he does his own laundry-doesn't want me to have to deal with his uckky work clothes-he's a real keeper!) anyway, I noticed that the clothespin bag was falling apart bad. real bad. I remembered a cute pattern that I picked up last year on a trip to Amish country and dug it out. It was for laundry aids and had a darling clothespin holder. so I dug through my stash and found some cute fabric-I didn't want it to be all flowery since he does half the laundry. I made up a new, really cute clothespin holder. It still needs a couple of buttons to finish it off but doesn't it look like a Hawaiin shirt with those tropical drinks all over it? It's black, that's pretty manly I think. hahahahahaha. When I asked him if he liked it I got the very well practiced and robotic "Yes, Dear, It's nice Dear". ~~~smiles, I know he likes it~~~~~~~.

I love pressure.....

I just love to work under pressure. I think I do my best work that way. The doll club I belong to(which,by the way, is a fabulous group of ladies) does a service project each year. This year we are making dolls to donate to a local police or fire department to have on hand for a child in need. We're making 'Dragalongs'-a Phat Phaeries Inc. pattern. These are really cute dolls. so easypeasy, but alas, I have waited until the last minute to make. I should have made these a few months ago but time sure slipped away fast. It could be worse, I could be trying to do this Friday night. I have my little girl done. My little boy is almost done, just have to sew on his hair and face and then paint his shoes. I'm going to sew Velcro to his hand and his frog. He just looked like he needed a cute little frog to hold. I embroidered an alligator on his pocket. LOL. These dolls are due at our meeting next Saturday. I'll take a picture of all the dolls that come in and post it next week after our meeting.

I'm the President of our local doll club-High on Dolls. It really is a fantastic group of ladies. We have about 30 now and we always get so much participation, it sure makes us all proud. We're invited each year to have a display of our dolls at the Sewing and Quilting Expo when it comes to town in the spring. These gals do such a knock-out job that our display rivals the Hoffman display! Each year we have a challenge and then those dolls become our theme display for the Expo. This years display was a Black and White Challenge. The dolls were extraordinary! This year our club challenge is "The Circus". I'm sure these dolls are going to be the tops! They will make a super display next spring. Time to get back to sewing and attach the boy's hair.

In the beginning.......

Oh no, I've been taken to the darkside.....blogging....the one thing I've been resisting tooth and nail for a while now. I just didn't want to be spending even more time on this computer, but I guess it's a good thing after all.

Ok, so, what have I been up to?.... well, I'm working on my new Bed Dolls. I just love these girls. They're simple but oh so pretty, and I'm even doing a 'Smoker' doll. She's actually my favorite. My smoker is waiting for her jacket and cloche. I'll be going to teach this doll in Maryland soon and I'm sure looking forward to that. It's a fabulous group of gals up there and the hostess is really the "hostess with the mostest". My 'big sister' Rose.

OK, well, I guess I've done it. I've figured out ......GASP.......BLOGGING.........