Camilla

It was just meant to be a little diversion, a break from the norm, an afternoon project.....

My mind is always comming up with new things it wants me to make, and though I've made this little doll in felt before, I decided to do a cloth body version, with an embroidered face. My favourite hand-dyed felt was used to create her "hairstyle", and then I made a little dress with ruffled sleeves and hem. Tiny shoes peek out from beneath, and I decided to try my hand at a little grass green, felt berret.

Please meet Camilla, a new Lil' Dumpling Doll! She's short and sweet and measures about 7 inches tall. She'll soon have some sisters to play with, each with a different hairstyle and outfit, so please check back to see their progress!!


This dear Lil' Dumpling took a LOT longer than I'd anticipated! I began her journey on Sunday, and after many adjustments, tweaks, pleads and curses, she emerged this afternoon.


I knew immediately, that even though Camilla was one "ROYAL" pain in the butt (no pun intended:), she turned out darn cute anyway!

Little Lady Emeline says goodbye

After hugging, wrapping, and ribboning Emeline, she's ready to be mailed out to her new home in Georgia. Her new mommy will be eagerly awaiting her arrival and I know that when she gets there, she's going to love her new home, especially since the little cream kitty I made earlier this week will be waiting for her too!

Birthday Boy

Do you ever notice how time just slips by, a little at a time, and then, before you realise it, something as simple as a birthday can leave you feeling like you need to slow down and be more aware of every precious moment?

Yesturday, I became the proud mama of a 17 year old, and must admit that it happened in a flurry of laughs, cries, hugs, kisses, swimming lessons, band concerts, vocal jazz performances, rock band sessions, messy rooms, girlfriends and family get togethers.

Jody has grown into a talented young man, and with his wit and awesome sense of humor, has delighted everyone who meets him!

So, this year, for his birthday, we had a little family gathering, and afterwards, took him out for his favourite meal - lasagna, and then surprised him and his brother Dylan with tickets to a Beatles tribute band. Now, you probably don't know how much my kids and I LOVE the Beatles... We breathe the Beatles, we play Beatles rock band together (usually, I'm the singer) and we downright annoy the heck out of my dear, sweet hubby, who just can't seem to appreciate them as much as we do! Just to put it mildly, the concert blew as away! Of course, the kids and I knew all the songs, and had a rip roaring time, while hubby stayed home and watched the hockey game.

Emeline is ready for her new home.

I've always loved this Japanese cotton fabric, and after consulting with the new mommy, decided that I would use it for her little dress. I added a lovely cream cotton lace to the hem and stitched it with a co-ordinating embroidery thread to match one of the colours in the fabric. My sweet, talented mom made a dear little cardigan with a collar, and I embroidered two little flowers and leaves on the front, and added a green button. Little felt shoes with working buttons complete the outfit.


Please meet Little Emeline! She's wearing her little embroidered undies, and waiting patiently to try on her new clothes.



Isn't she cute? Sometimes it's hard to send my Little Ladies off to their new homes, but I know she's going to a lovely person, and she'll be happy with her new family!



Her little cardigan will keep her warm on her long flight, and come in handy on chilly days. She's ready for her photo shoot and then I'll list her in my shop. Hope her new mommy loves her!


Not a very good day for picture taking, it's far too gloomy, but here she is!

Creating a Little Lady

I've been working on another custom order, it's a new Little Lady, and I'm excited to finally have her at this stage. Now to sew up her body, arms and legs, then attach them, and then comes my favourite part - the hair!!






Here she is all sewn up. Bald but beautiful!






So, now she's done, and I think she's very pretty! Waiting to hear from her new mommy as to what fabric she likes best, then I'll whip up her outfit and send her on her way.

It's a..... Boy!!

Today's been busy. I've been working on a custom order for my etsy shop and have finally finished the first item - a very dear little anime kitten.

Now I know when you see the picture, you're going to think it's a little girl kitten, but for some reason, I keep refering to it as a "him", so I've decided that "he's" going to be special. He just likes pink, and there's nothing wrong with that! I even made him a little yellow felt flower, and beaded it, mind you, cause I just knew he'd absolutely love that too:)

He's also got a jaunty little bow tie, because, heaven knows, you can't have too many embelishments! There's only one problem - when he goes off to his new home, they're probably going to think he's a girl, and I bet you would too if I hadn't told you otherwise!!

A Couple of Love Birds

These two little cuties are finally done! Actually, Miss Chirp was finished quite a few days ago, and today she finally got to meet Mr Tweet. He's a handsome fellow, sporting a silky green bow tie, and she's adorable with her appliqued flowered wing. They're on their way to an afternoon picnic, where Mr Tweet will hopefully convince her to become his birdie bride. Hope all goes well!!

I made these two from the most beautiful hand-woven, hand-dyed felt that I get from April at Felt-o-rama. She carries the most wonderful, colourful felt around. You can see them both in my etsy shop, along with other handmade dolls, anime bears etc.

Hello World!

I've been meaning to get this blog going for months now, and even convinced my dear hubby to get one started for me, but that might've meant another few months would go by before it actually got done! So, I took the bull by the horns, and did a little blog search on google, and viola, here I am!

Firstly, let me introduce myself. My name is Shelly and I'm a mother to two teenage boys - Jody, who'll be 17 soon, and Dylan who's 15. My sweet hubby John and I have been together for over 18 years.

I am originally from South Africa, and we emigrated from there when I was 17. I am not yet a Canadian citizen, but that is in the works at the moment.

I would like to share my journey as a doll maker, craftster, etsy addict and lover of Japanese anime with you. To get you started, please take a look at my etsy site:
http://www.gingermelon.etsy.com/
Here you can see what I do with my free time, and being the only girl in the house, it's a great way for me to share my love of dolls with people around the world!