The shoes have their day...

We, the shoes of the Bleus demand to have our day too!!! See all the pretty colors and styles!! We can match most outfits that SHE makes. Someone go catch that darn dog that the bleu's own and find the missing boot! now, someone tell HER we need some yellow ones, and some tennis shoes, and some green ones, and some roller skates, and some.......shhhh, here she comes.......

Sockaholics Unite!!!

So last night some of my friends were talking about dolly shoes and socks when someone mentioned my...um...er....sockaholicness, or the fact that I have alot of socks. Soooooooooo, I decided to gather what I could find and took a quick picture. It's just socks I've made-none of the 'store bought' kind. This is just the tip of the iceburg. If I had kept track of all the socks I've made and sent out in swaps I'd need a picnic table for the picture. LOL. When my doll Hilly heard I was gathering socks she ran away sobbing something about me always wanting to undress her for one reason or another and she was having none of it. Francoise also refused to undress but at least stood and held up her foot to show off her green trimmed fancies. Georgia, my sweet little one quickly plopped down and grabbed off her first sock but I snapped the picture too quick so she wasn't able to get the other one off yet. My other girls were all sitting around giggling at the antics. Boy, if only I had this many colors of socks to choose from in my size. Wouldn't that be fun??

Another creation

This afternoon I set to work on another Ginny outfit. Someone asked me to make a Tinkerbelle type of fairy outfit. Her favorite color is purple so I had to include lots of purple. I went to my stash and started to pull fabric and found some yummy crinkled polyester something or other in a fabulous toned down chartreuse. I found some shiney crinkled silk organza in a companion color. I found some wonderful purple tulle and some shiney purple fuzzy fiber. Some purple bugle beads and the little roll of lilac butterflies the lady gave me to use on the outfit. I made it similar to the BleuGarden Fairy because I just loved how that outfit came out with the petals over the layers upon layers of tulle. This little dress has 12 layers of tulle. The panties are separate and done in the green crinkle polyester something or other fabric. She bought this doll special for this outfit so the outfit is sewed right on the doll since it's just going to be displayed. I've taken two pics of the back so you can see how the petals go completely around even though they're hidden under the wings. I am quite pleased with it.

Hankies make the cutest dolly dresses.

One of my friends asked me to make a hanky dress for her Ginny. I used a hanky that had a wide pink edge with flowers and scalloped edges. The middle was plain white. It really made a darling little dress and there was even enough fabric in the one hanky to make matching little panties.

I fussy cut the pieces so I even had enough scalloped edging to make ruffles around the panty legs. My little blonde ginny is modeling this new confection. Hankies really make such delicate little clothes. I also made two more flamingos today for a couple of ladies that collect Alice in Wonderland stuff. LOL. I'm gonna be dreaming about flamingos tonight. to see a pic, look at my past posts for the flamingo's older sister.

Valentines Basket Surprise

Well, well, well! the girls sure got a big surprise left in our mailbox today. A most unique Valentine's Day "Basket". Yes, the post office actually allows this to go through. As long as it has appropriate postage they don't have a problem. The girls quickly gathered around to see what on earth this could be. Tante Janie sent us a see through basket loaded with goodies that the ladies from Bleudoor made! Even the dog had to get his nose in there. He thought he smelled some goodies in there! Little Darla threw herself over the bottle to get a good look inside. "Look Maman! There's presents for us all!" Claudia quickly grabbed the lid and tried to twist it off. Francoise just laughed and told her that was silly because those presents would not fit through the small opening. The swooshed the dog out of the way and peeled away the tape to reveal the treasures. The other two girls came in to join the fun. Veronique plunked down all naked and squealed as she quickly put on her new hat from Tante Pat. With all the packages dumped out in front of them they dove in to claim items. If you look closely, the dog thought he'd get in on the goodies so they had to find a way to contain him. Raquel grabbed the bottom of the bottle and used it as a doggy playpen. Someone gave him an orange sucker to keep him from whining and they also hung a darling heart shaped valentine cookie from his ear. He's now quiet and happy to watch the rest of the goings on. Claudia put the piece of red tulle on her head and declared that she made a beautiful Valentine's Day Bride. She also grabbed a darling heart shaped purse from Tante Nance and a book made by Tante Pam. Veronique was getting cold so she put on the darling apron made from antique fabric by Tante Angie. Raquel grabbed the maroon ultra suede purse from Tante Arlene and the necklace from Tante Blythe. She also put on the new frilly collar made by Tante Sassy. Claudia put on the collar made by Tante JudiRose and grabbed the Valentine that Tante Pam also made. Francoise put on the lovely hat/snood made by Tante Rochelle. The girls are going to share the heart sew ons sent by Tante Gabrielle and the embroidered hearts that Tante Hildi made and they put their chocolate kisses in the little embroidered heart basket that is also made by Tante Hildi. Veronique grabbed the cake that Tante Margie made but was quickly told that good little girls always share. The girls and I want to thank all these wonderful Bleudoor Tantes for putting so much love in this special Valentines gift.

Confessions of a Sockaholic

Here's a not so great picture of the table by my favorite spot. I admit it, I'm a sockaholic. I've looked for, but not found any sort of in-step, uh, I mean 12-step program to cure me of this addiction. I find myself always making another pair of doll socks. different sizes, colors, designs, it's terrible, I think I might even dream about doll socks. I even spent 2 hours yesterday organizing all my balls of thread for socks yesterday in a new container, by color just so I could more easily find colors to match outfits I'm making. I wouldn't even cut off this big ball of bunched up loose threads because it might have meant I wouldn't have enough to finish a sock of a certain color. I carefully, painstakingly separated and re-wound those threads. It's a sickness I tell you...sigh......hopeless.....

Snoods, it's a 40's thing

I have always loved the look of a snood. In the 80's they were popular for a couple of years and I used to crochet them by the dozen's. Plain ones, beaded ones, I connected them to big beautiful barretts and they sold like crazy. A gal on one of my lists gave us a pattern for a snood for a doll and I thought, wow, why didn't I think of that. I'm always trying to keep my doll's hair neat in between displaying them and also while changing their clothes-especially the dolls with mohair wigs. I sat down and immediately crocheted one. It's darling and is being modeled by Claudia. She's most happy to have her hair kept safe and tidy in her new royal blue snood.

Dolly clothes

I love to make dolly clothes. This was for a Round Robin and it got mailed today. It's a darling striped wrap style dress and a polka dotted apron to go with it. I also made little socks (not shown) and had a set of tiny gardening tools to go with. The theme was Gardener's Delight.

Nice new jacket.

My doll Hilly has a new warm jacket ca.1950's. It's a pattern from Patti-Ann Stanley. She designs a wonderful pattern. I had everything I needed in my stash and had it together in an afternoon. This lovely plaid hooded jacket is lined in silver/gray satin and has a black picot-trimmed ribbon for the drawstring at the waist. It's trimmed around the hood and sleeves with fake fur. Hilly is very happy though she doesn't look it.

Robot fun

Robby is now finished. I know, the names not so inventive, but he looked like 'Robby' to me. His new mom can name him whatever she thinks will fit him. He's so darn cute I'm going to make one for my nephew and make him baby friendly-ie. no pellets, no hardware. I'll just use stuffing and embroider his features. anyway, another cutiepie finished.

Pretty coats

Today I finished a new pretty coat for a friend. Actually, she bought me a coat and it came with the pattern to make more. I loved that coat so very, very much I wanted to make one for her. I found a piece of lovely, dreamy, creamy spring yellow felt in my stash (some of my friends are now refering to it as "Ellen's Legendary Stash" LOL). I found a lovely hank of lavender embroidery thread and went to work. Here's the result. I think she'll be thrilled.

Comfort Food

There is nothing better than comfort food on a cold, crisp winter day. I made a lovely roasted chicken on Sunday so today I picked the remaining chicken off the bone. Plenty of leftover to make two Chicken Pot Pies for our dinner tonight plus enough chicken to freeze for another meal next week. Maybe some sort of chicken casserole..hmmmm....I'll have to think about that. Hubby and I love chicken potpie and I've made it since the kids were little. Yes, I even make the pie dough from scratch. I also make Turkey Potpies from leftover turkey. I learned to make individual pies as the kids would fight over who got the last piece so I solved that problem right quick. Tuna potpie is good too. try it sometime. Fresh, hot Chicken Potpie and a tall glass of ice-cold milk....it just doesn't get any better than that....snow be dammed! LOL....

Robots are so cute

I've been crocheting a little robot for my bestest friend because a. She begged me to crochet him, b. She loves robots and c. She bought me the pattern-LOLOL...she didn't really beg, i'm just teasing her! so now I've been sending her tease pictures each day as I finish parts of him. He is definately not for kids because he has real washers for eyes and a real screw for his nose. I actually had to screw the nose in with a screwdriver! that's not coming out for a loooooooong time. He could be easily made child friendly though. just so darn cute!!!

Another Wonderful Countdown from Lisa

I love ephemera. It's amazing how cool some of it is and the creativity it inspires is always great fun. Lisa Vollrath is doing her Valentine's Countdown from now until Valentine's Day. A new piece of ephemera available to download free to add to your stash. She always has terrific images so don't miss this!