Thanks to everyone who jumped in on my Halloween sale! It was great fun and got me feeling excited about starting into the Holiday season.
And here are some strange postcards for this November 1, All Saints Day-
I found them in a desk drawer when I was clearing stuff out of my parents’ house. I think my Dad probably bought these postcards in Mexico, in the early 60’s.
And one more thing-Â here is a link to a bat graph- obviously I should have put that up yesterday!
I am having a 20% off sale of everything in my Etsy shop, starting now and ending at midnight, 10/31 wherever. Just write “blog” in a buyers message, or send me a convo with that information and I will refund 20% of the selling price (not shipping).
Okay, now that you are back, let me explain. When the market was canceled 2 weeks ago, I was left with a vague feeling of letdown. And, a pile of dolls with nowhere to go. There is no greater disincentive for me to get to work then having many finished dolls looking at me. I’ve got to get those guys moving out and get the energy going into new work. So, I thought I’d give this a try!
It’s not as if I am not working. I am just not finishing anything.
I am working away on the pattern- tweaking, testing. Today I worked on photographing the steps. Mostly done with the kitty part.
Next, the clothes.
And some more tattooed ladies-
and now for some nature photos because Hey! It’s autumn and everything is very pretty right now!
When I was a kid, Halloween was never about the costume. I was focused on was the bag of candy ahead. I would usually find something left over from my brothers that could be a costume- like a too small (for them) football uniform. That is one I remember.
It got more fun when it was my kids dressing up although we started out very casually. I went on a little nostalgia trip today…
This was the first year with costumes- construction paper circles, cut out and attached to shirts= clowns!
We skipped a year- I seem to remember croup.
Second costume year- sweatshirts with ears and tails= cats. Except Eleanor also wore a frilly skirt and wings, so she was a kitty fairy.
next was one of my favorite Eleanor costume memories- little Indian girl. Julian was a boy in armor. The armor lasted about 4 houses before he came back home and took it off. It was way too uncomfortable.
And then there were 3.
I put a paint brush in Peter’s hand and, being 6 months old, he held onto it… add a beret and tada- he was an artist! Eleanor was a fairy again, although more traditional this time in a pink tutu. And Julian… well, he found that yellow mask and he really wanted to wear it. He put it together with some other dress-ups and told us he was “Love Man”, the most powerful force in the universe. Gotta love that 4 year old brain!
Okay, enough of that. So much fun though!
I’ve been working away at my kitty pattern, slowly but surely. I printed out what I had written and tried following my own diections (so far), as I made this baby present. I will get it done- I am feeling positive about this very slow approach to writing it. Gives me time to think it all out and mull over what I’ve already written.
The most recent tiny worlds are now in the shop.
We had to pull all the pots off the front porch when we had a few nights with frosts. That always seems to happen right before the brugmansia is about to bloom. Now it is in the enclosed part of the porch, looking beautiful and giving off a most exotic fragrance. When we open the front door, it perfumes the house!
I’ve been following the Hand Embroidery Network and they have a Stitch A Day feature. It is inspiring me to try some new stitches. I pulled out all my embroidery books and have been paging through them. Trying out new things on my Tiny Worlds.
Sometimes it seems to be impossible to get the light and/or color right when I photograph my work. This one is the closest to showing all the colors correctly-
I will be putting these 2 plus one more tiny world into my shop over the weekend at some point.
I am going to be listing the three tattooed ladies on Etsy around 3pm (ET) this afternoon. Yesterday I cut out 6 more. I’m having fun with these ladies!
I didn’t want to post just that announcement- so boring and no pictures. So here are some photos of a few favorite vintage fabrics in my collection- I know, I probably should have ironed them…
What is that cloth called with the texture of little squares? Waffle weave? This (above) is a remnant with a small amount of this very cute border and a lot more of the square dots.
Below is a silky fabric- maybe rayon? I’ve never tried testing it. It is an unfinished dress as far as I can tell. From someones wip pile.
And this little piece is a real favorite- I keep it hanging in my studio. I can imagine a tablecloth, but much more fun would be a little girls’ puffy skirt.
I hope to post more fabric photos, every once in a while. I’ve got some great ones! They have come to me from 3 places- my mom’s stash, my doll club, and from a friend who bought a house that had an attic full of a former seamstress’s collection. She had a sale where you could fill a bag for $10. So many treasures!
This third one- she has freckles-
I over-dye all the toile to make the skin tones and then dye some plain fabric and hope they match. I am not very good at it, but I have a great time. This fabric ended up with tiny red dots and they give her a freckly look.
I love her shape. Playing with the variety of lady shapes has been great fun.
I made a skirt, or maybe you’d call it a tutu, for my Tattoo lady #2-
And, I gave her fingers.
This is how I sign my dolls, in case you wanted to know-
It is a little tag made of shrink plastic.
Here are the three ladies, relaxing at the dumpster next door-
I like this photo because you can see my new lady’s little busom.
Fall! The last things blooming in my garden- chrysanthemums and dahlias. I love how all the blossoms on the mums are facing in one direction.
Walk in the neighborhood. It is surprising what you see when the leaves start to go.
And my class on Saturday- so much fun! There were 5 of us all together.
This is the Haunted house!
And here is the table with all the felt and wool-
The market on Sunday was canceled- we were having a nor’easter here in Boston- wind, rain, cold… I was not sorry to miss standing under a tent from 7am to after 4pm. And then it snowed! It was the right call. Still, I’m left feeling a little deflated- all the anticipation and hope that comes as I prepare for a show. The next show I am scheduled to do is the South End Holiday Fair– Dec. 12 and 13.
Saturday-
I’ve been working on samples and parts for the tiny world class. This is the latest finished one.
And Sunday-
I’ll be here– rain or shine. And the forecast is rain-Â Nor’easter actually. Yep, long underwear and wool socks ahead!
