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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!