Four Little Ladies and an Anime Kitten

Hello!  I've been super busy this week trying to get the new Little Ladies ready for my shop.  They're comming along nicely, and should be ready for the weekend.  I decided to try some new yarn I got from a lovely lady on Etsy.   It's an orgainc merino wool that is super soft, and the colours are beautiful!  As you can see, the girls have not yet had their hair cut.  I think I'm going to leave the dark red headed girl's hair long, and I haven't decided what styles to give the other three.  Mom has been a busy bee too, knitting hoodies, berets and cardigans, and she has also whipped up a few skirts and blouses.  She even made a little night dress with a mop cap!  Our shelves are going to be full again!

A friend of mine celebrated her birthday this week, so I made up a dear little Anime Siamese Kitten for her.   I appliqued a little heart with rosy fabric on her chest, and added a green ribbon and a tiny bell around her neck.  To finish her off, I made a little flower  hair ornament with a green glass bead at the centre.  Her name is Rose.

If you'd like to see more pic's of these little girls, please have a look at my flickr.  I'll be adding  more as I go along.

Rowan

I'd like to introduce you to Rowan.  She is the end result of the little Damsel Doll I started on Friday.  I think the green hair suits her eyes better, and I like the way it compliments the blue-green of her blouse.  I've hand stitched all her clothing directly onto her body, and drew on little 'shoes' with pencil crayons.  This Damsel Doll will be the first of many to come, I absolutely loved making her and can't wait to start another one!  Will have to put it off for a while though as I've GOT to finish off the rest of the Little Ladies before next weekend.  I'm hoping to have them all listed, as well as some new dress-up apparel, by then.  Cross your fingers, please!!  Please take a look at my flickr:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/gingermelon/ for more pic's of Rowan.

A new lady unfolds...

Hi everyone, hope your saturday is going well!

I am very excited to share a new project I'm working on. I was merrily stitching away at some Little Lady faces and while I love doing them, I was getting a tad bored at the monotony of doing a thousand stitches. My mind does not do well with monotony for too long, and try as I might to concentrate on the task at hand, it kept conjuring up images of another doll - one with bendy arms and legs. Well, I just had to put pencil to paper, and after a few attempts, I came up with a new pattern.

This lady is a bit more delicate, a young woman ready to make her mark on the world. I think she's ok for a first attempt, and I already know where I'll be tweaking the pattern for the next one! I'm still trying out 'hairstyles' on her, not sure if I like this colour though?

 Please excuse the pins and blue marks all over her legs and arms!

Wednesday Woes

I've been having a heck of a time getting stuff done this week! And not for lack of trying. We had a lovely weekend full of family get togethers and the rest of the week has gone by in a blur. Seriously, I can't recall what I've been doing, but it hasn't been very productive! Anyhow, I thought I'd share what I have done so far - I actually managed to get one Little Lady completely sewn up, she's bald, but at least she's somewhat ready. The two above should be ready to sew up and stuff by tomorrow afternoon. I was really hoping to have six dolls in my shop by the weekend, but at this rate, there might be three if I'm lucky!

Have to take Nannykins for a blood test in the morning and who knows how long we'll be stuck waiting for that to be over and done with. Usually there's such a long wait, but I'm going to take her out for tea and cake when we're done, so at least there'll be something nice for her to look forward to!

I had two lovely surprises in the post this week, well they weren't really a surprise because I was expecting them! The first was a custom fabric tape with my shop name printed on it from a very talented lady in France. I absolutely love it! What an awesome job she did! The next was my very first doll - she comes from Belguim and was custom made just for me. I just love her too! My hubby doesn't know it yet, but I think that's going to be the first of MANY!

Sparky

When I began this little bear project, I originally had a birthday theme in mind.  Bamboodle was going to have a party, and his two friends, Lola and Sparky were to be his guests.  I dressed him up in his little party hat and ruffled collar, and then made Lola, with her little crown and ruffled skirt.  I've now decided to keep them as a pair.  Thanks for the suggestion Lada!  They're just too cute together!

Sparky loves early walks in the crisp spring air.  He's donned his favourite scarf and hat and is heading out the door.  He is made from an incredibly soft, blue and green hand woven felt, and I accented his grey hat and scarf with bright orange thread.

  

Bamboodle and Lola

Just had to share the second little Anime Panda with you!!  I'm debating whether to sew her little paws up to her mouth, cause it does look adorable, or just leave them down like Bamboodle's.  Any suggestions??  I'd love to hear what you think!   I have one more bear to finish for this little birthday bash, and as soon as he's done, I'll have them all thogether for their photo shoot.

Sneak Peak....

I've been working on a new little fellow and am dying to give you a little sneak peak.  He's an Anime Panda Bear and it's his birthday!  Bamboodle is adorable with his dark green party hat, sprinkled with orange diamonds and black beads!  He's got a darling little ruffle around his neck that I've dotted with green glass beads, and he's all ready for his big day.  I've got a couple more Anime bears that I'm working on, and when they're all done, I'll list them in my shop.  Will keep you posted with more pic's as I finish each one!

Daphne, Faye and Vivienne

Daphne, Faye and Vivienne are off to Georgia!  They're going to live with two friends who found me through my Etsy shop.  Hope the weather is nicer for them there than it has been here.  Well, I shouldn't really complain, it has warmed up a bit these last two days, but we had some nasty weather that had no place being here when Spring is so well underway!

Daphne's hair is made with a lovely soy wool yarn that has the most amazing texture and colour. Recently, I discovered that this yarn has been discontinued, and I'm sooo upset - I just LOVED it! I think I have enough left for one more doll, and I might just have to keep that one!

Her little dress was made with an adorable Japanese linen, printed with little animals holding sparkly balloons.  It's definitely one of my fav's!   

For Faye's dress, I used a fabric that I'd found in my local fabric store.  It really caught my eye and was perfect for my Little Ladies!  I edged it in a sheer white ruffle, and added one of my mom's little knitted cardi's to complete the ensemble.  Isn't she adorable!

This is Vivienne.  I just finished her this afternoon and am so pleased with the results!  She is just precious, I'm going to have a hard time letting her go!  I did her hair with an asparagus coloured wool from Iceland - must get more!!  I absolutely LOVE how this yarn goes from thick to thin, and it's got a great wavy look to it.  I was lucky to find this yarn at a little knitting shop on Vancouver Island when we were visiting John's mom and step-dad, but only got one skein.  Thank heavens I just found a shop on Etsy that sells it in a whole range of colours! 

Her dress is the same fabric I used for Daphne's.  To complete her outfit, I added one of mom's shrugs and  a little lacy scarf threaded with ribbon, and now she's ready for her journey!

Custom Dolls Week!

These past two weeks have been wonderfully busy with three sets of custom doll orders.  It's been such a pleasure creating each little girl and I hope the new mommies will be thrilled when they open up their packages!

This Little Lady is Eve.  She and her sister, Ava and their pet kitten - Miss Milky, went off to their new home earlier this week.

This little cutie is Miss Milky.  She's made with my favourite handwoven felt, some ribbon and a pretty glass bead.

So here they are, all ready for their trip!  Both girls are wearing dresses made from Japanese linen in the cutest little prints.  Mommy dearest made the shrug and cardigan and I can't wait to show you what she's created for my next Little Lady!  Will keep you posted!

Ava

Please meet Ava!  She's the first of the new Little Ladies, and I thought I'd share her with you.  She is part of a very special custom order for a lovely lady who has been waiting very patiently for her two new girls!  As soon as her little sister is ready, I'll post a pic of her too!

I just love this fabric!  It's too cute, and once I saw it, I just HAD to have it!  I must admit that I have  a bit of  a fabric obsession, especially  for Japanese fabrics.  They have the most adorable prints that I've ever seen!  Anyway, you can NEVER have enough fabric!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone!!  Hope you had a lovely holiday and a yummy feast!  Hubby dearest cooked up an amazing turkey bird, and I had to put up with the tantalizing aroma all day whilst I sewed up Little Ladies.  It was torturous, I tell you!  My dear Nannykins came up to join us, she's 92, but absolutely loves John's cooking and will stay awake long enough to have a special dinner with us, then it's off to her comfy chair for a nap.  We love having her live in the same building, and I usually have lunch with her during the week and the kids see her as often as possible.

Anyway, the Little Ladies are ready!  I thought I'd share the next step, the one I really wish some elves or fairies would do while I sleep:)  Attatching arms and legs is my least favourite part, same with stuffing - lets face it, it's sooooooo boring!  Not like embroidering the faces, or attatching the hair, which I absolutely love!

What do you think?  They're all lined up for their hair cuts!  I had to take this pic tonight, so the lighting doesn't do them any justice.  Tomorrow, I'll start their little outfits, another favourite part of the process, and I just can't wait to see how sweet they're going to look when they're done!!

Little Ladies

The Little Ladies are taking over...... and pretty soon, there'll be nowhere to have dinner, no place to sit and no end of fabric, floss, stuffing and yarn taking up all those areas in my house! When I have a batch of new dolls on the go, all normality is thrown out the window. And the kids are quite happy to abandon the dining room table in favour of laps in front of the TV!

Two of these Little Ladies are part of a custom order that I'm doing for a certain lovely lady! As I go along, I will add more pic's of their progress, so you can see how they evolve. It's quite exciting to see how each one turns out in the end!

Stay tuned for the next step in their making:)