My finished Christmas projects...

From the gorgeous book below, "Itty-Bitty Nursery" by Susan B. Anderson



my niece June's teddy bear and blanket...






and my niece Elaina's tea set

They were SO much fun to make! <3

knitting... tiny socks!!!

I'm sick with a cold/sore throat/cough virus, as is my 10 year old and my dad :( ...

and I'm just not feeling like working on my dolls at the moment - but, I did learn how to knit socks this week!!! They fit my dolls - and they're my first attempt, so I'm really, really proud of them... I included a penny so you could see how small (and thus even cuter) they are <3

BlackEyedSuzie & Yoshida Style...

I am an admirer of Miss BlackEyedSuzie's dolls [http://blackeyedsuzie.typepad.com]

and this one might be my favorite - though they are all beautiful...

A couple months ago Miss Suzie posted a blog about a new book she'd purchased called "Yoshida Style - I was curious and intrigued!!! So intrigued, in fact, that I recently received my own copy in the mail (I found it on eBay) and I LOVE this book!!! The entire thing is illustrated in such detail - though ALL of the book is written in Japanese (and though I took a year of Japanese in college and "Aced" the class - that was many, many moons ago and I can not read nor understand a thing this books says... BUT the illustrations for EACH and EVERY step are done so well, it's incredibly useful even without understanding the text.
[a little side note that I know will make my friend Julie shake her head... but the dolls are all anatomically correct and pre-teen in age - that's not disturbing to me (much) but the fact that the author dresses them provocatively kinda freaks me out - so I've taken the liberty of "re-dressing" some of the photos (in case my girls - ages 10 and 13 - decide to browse through it) because I think girls should dress and act like girls...

okay, I'm getting off my high horse now - and please, please don't take offense - Julie disagreed with my prudish-ness but STILL loves me]

Thank You SO Much Miss BlackEyedSuzie

for sharing your incredible talent

and your wonderful finds <3

my dolls...

I made her a little black t-shirt - I crocheted the edges of the neckline and sleeves... then I made her a pair of flaired pants - and crocheted the hem to match the t-shirt details... and added a crocheted flower to the pant leg... she has white socks on, though you can't really see them, and then I made her a pair of black clogs - I LOVE my black birkenstock clogs - when I was in college my friends called them my "keebler elf shoes"... whatever! they are comfortable!!!

She looks like she's "steppin' out" in this picture...

she's made of polymer clay and her shoes are made from paperclay... her arms, elbows, legs and knees are jointed... I found the tiniest spacer beads at my local bead shop.

and this is the beginning of my next doll <3

fingers and toes

sneak peek of my first doll's fingers and toes...

still working on clothes and shoes before I post the entire doll...

a little black purse <3

an "arty" photo of a little black purse for my doll...

the same purse in my non-"arty" photo

what a doll!

I love dollhouses - SO much! And I have three daughters - each with their own dollhouse... and I have my first dollhouse my father made me when I was 9 years old - and three more in kit form that I'm going to put together... but I want my dollhouses to have dolls - so I decided to try and make my own - in one inch scale... I'm finding the hardest part is the face and hair - this is my first doll - the body is complete - but this is her head in progress... yes, I crocheted the hat she's wearing - it has ear flaps!!!