Just Another Manic Monday

Sorry if I just gave you an ear-worm with the post title...I just gave myself one, too. 

But after a long and somewhat weird weekend, I wanted to lighten up a bit.  So, some baby animal photos I found on Pinterest, and a bit of silliness. 

Here's the silliness:

(I'm not sorry for that.)

Off Topic Post...

Take care of your old people.  The folks I know here don't need to hear this, but I need to say it. 

My next door neighbor will turn 90 next week, and his son and daughter have no idea what a treasure he is.

If I had my daddy alive, I would move heaven and earth to keep him near me, regardless of the inconvenience of his illness or disability.

So old Dick Next Door will get put in an assisted living facility--which I don't object to, as it's my preference when the day comes--but in a town where he has no kin and neither of his kids is willing to bring him to their town so they can be close to him.  He's likely to have a limb amputated for poor circulation, but their European Vacations must continue as scheduled.



So take care of your old people while you have them.  They are precious.

Just sayin.

Jimmy Dee Brown 1942 - 2009

I did it!

 For the last who-knows-how-long, I have let my Etsy store languish with very very few new listings.  It basically served as a shop for my patterns, and the occasional custom ordered Izannah.  I took all my dolls to the doll show, and that was pretty much it.

When I was an Air Force instructor, I used to tell my airmen: if you don't use the tools you have, then you might as well be sweeping the floor with your hands, while the broom is propped in the corner.

That's what I was doing.  Sweeping the floor with my hands.  But no longer.  I have listed them all on Etsy, and posted them on my Pinterest boards.  I'm sorry these aren't new to you guys--they've all been posted here at some time, but I never took the time to put them IN MY STORE.  Well, now I have listed them.  Woohooo!

Now to get started on dolls for the October doll show, and work on that Cherub Christmas Ornament commission.  Busy times. 

Sybil is ready.

The Izannah doll I've been working on over the last several weeks 

(thank you for your patience, Carolyn!) is ready to go to her Doll Mom.  

 

She's 18", with blue eyes and brownish/reddish hair.  I like this one and enjoyed sculpting her a lot.  The request was for an "almost smile" the way some Izannahs have.  She does look like she's about to smile.  The kicker was that she also got an entire wardrobe--a dress for each season!  I have never sewed so much for one doll, ever!  Top it off with a neutral colored bonnet, and she's ready for anything. 

I drafted a couple of dress patterns for Sybil, and stored them away--with notations this time, so the pattern drawer is not such a mess. 

Hope your weekend will be fabulous!

Sew What?

Yesterday was the monthly Sew What meeting at our local HOA clubhouse. Several of the ladies were missing (we usually have at least five or six) but we had fun, each working on our individual projects--and yabbering for hours.

In general, I'm not a fan of HOA's--so far the ones I've experienced were long on fees and rules but short on benefits to the residents.  But this is one benefit--they really use their clubhouse a LOT--there are all kinds of exercise classes, meetings and clubs that use the space.

Like these ladies who have been meeting for years.  (I'm a newbie, and they laugh at me because I'm younger than most of their kids.)  Great people, and talented seamstresses. Yes, I know "seamstress" is no longer in vogue, but I can't call my friends sewers.

New on Early Work Mercantile

What's primitive, creative, and covered in burlap?  You guessed it...Early Work Mercantile!  I love the format there, and the selection of gorgeous primitive folk art.  And I confess to a little envy of the cross-stitchers' talents, because I just don't have the patience for that art.  (I've tried!)

Nevertheless, I have dolls there now!  The mercantile updates the offerings on the 1st and 15th of the month.  Here are the dolls I'm offering there this month on my Early Works page:

I know it seems early to list a Santa, but we'll call it Christmas in July and let him on in. 
Hope your weekend is fabulous!

Dolls and a very sweet lady...

A month or so ago, I volunteered at Sharlot Hall Museum's annual Folk Arts Fair.  It's good fun--and fascinating to me to see all the folks in period costumes from the late 1800's.  Various hearth-crafts and entertainments are demonstrated, from chair caning to wood-carving to spinning & weaving.  This year there was a table teaching corn-husk doll making to the kids.  I was envious of the wool dyer guy and his art--what gorgeous colors!

Of course I was showing how dolls were made, at least the kind a pioneer family might have.  So I brought some paper mache doll heads and an antique doll body to show how a mom might have purchased a "fine" doll head and made the body in order to afford the doll. 

A very sweet lady named Lucy arrived to look at the dolls, and (this seemed to be a theme) wanted to tell me about her doll.  Only unlike so many who told about their antique dolls, handed down from mothers and grandmothers, usually French or German porcelain dolls, Lucy wanted to show me a doll her Aunt made for her as a "First Apartment" gift.  I'd never thought of moving into your first place as a gift-giving event, but I love the idea! 

So the event was for two days, and the next day, there she was with her doll.  Lucy is almost 90, but her lively ways and spirit make her seem decades younger.  This is Lucy with her doll (on the right) along with a lady who fell in love with a Raggedy Ann type that I'd made. 

As I enjoyed visiting with her so much, Lucy and I keep in touch.  She recently sent me this photo which had apparently appeared in the Sharlot Hall Museum's newsletter.  I don't often like photos of myself, but I guess this one is an exception--for once, I'm not making a face or squinting my eyes shut.  I had curled my hair and put the rest in a "bun" at the back with a tiny snood, trying to dress for the period as much as possible--but there was no way I was going to wear long sleeves and petticoats! 

Hope your summer is going as you would have it--stay cool and enjoy!

Summertime Blues

Some of it is fun work, but mostly, just work.  House, yard, pets, etc.  Everybody knows the drill.

I have two big commissions to work on, which is awesome, but I must confess that at this point in the summer, even the fun stuff becomes work. 

Can you tell I'm not a huge fan of summer?  I love all the flowers blooming, but I'm only out there long enough to water the flower beds before I'm headed in.  Too bad gardens don't grow in the winter.  I could be out there all day and love it.  Ha!  The dog gets his walk between 5:30 and 6:30 so we're out and back before the street is too hot for his feet. 

At any rate, it's not smart to whine, nor is it fun for anybody else.  So I'll stop and just say I hope y'all had a lovely Independence Day and got to enjoy some down time and family time. 

Be well, y'all.  And God Bless America!