Cremnrabble

Lupines

2011-06-16T20:37:00.000-07:00

We are having a very lush, cool June here in NW Oregon. I live right on the edge of the Coast Range Mountains. Nothing in between us and the ocean but green hills and mountains. Our little hidden valley has some very beautiful scenery. These lupines are just down the road from us. They are at their peak. The weather has been perfect for them. The smell is as wonderful as the sight.

helvismith art

2011-06-12T16:05:00.000-07:00

I have a good friend that just discovered she loved to paint. She paints about everyday and her studio is fast becoming full of bright colorful art work. I want to share some of her paintings with you as I think she is really good and her art work needs to have a broader audience. I have given you a link to her "helvismith" page here, or just click on my blog post title and it will whisk you to a world of color.

For those of you close by to our corner of NW Oregon, her studio will be open during the Washington County Art Studio Tour in October. And her art will be in Newberg in the next few months as part of their Friday Art Walk. You will be able to find more info on her art page.

Now how is that for a dose of much needed color in life!

Doll

2011-06-12T08:27:00.000-07:00

I used Susie McMahon's Izannah pattern for this doll. She has 3 outfits. Each with matching under pantalets. The apricot homespun fabric is a never used, 22" width from the turn of the century, the yellow fabric was a piece of tucked blouse from the 30's, and the blue was a piece of a skirt from the 40's. I made her hat with straw braid from the 20's. She spans a lot of years. Her hair is made from string. That also was an old reel! I am not sure the little box will travel with her. Probably. I used a Victorian scrap for the lid and did some painting on the sides and interior. New box. She is waiting till I find some distressed leather that is just right for shoes. She has two necklaces.

Shasta Trinity CA. Antique General Store

2011-06-07T22:00:00.000-07:00

I ran across these photos from a trip my husband and I took a couple years ago. We drove into the historical town of Shasta, California late in the afternoon on a Sunday. The general store was closed. We stood with our noses pressed against the window and as if by magic the front door unlocked and a very nice gentleman asked if we would like to come in. He did not have to ask twice!

We were the only ones in the store. He turned on all the lights and let us look around. He explained that the general store was one of the few buildings left standing in the town. If I remember right, he told us that when the original family turned the building over to the restoration group, they were told that most of the antique store goods had been put away, and were in an out building behind the store.

He said it was like a treasure trove. Everything you see in the pictures is old. Nothing reproduced, even though some of the goods look brand new. He said when they looked in the storage building they could not believe their eyes. It was like a dream. Boxes and boxes of original store stock in pristine condition.

This was the town that was at the start of the gold rush trail going into the Shasta Trinity Mountains where all the miners were headed to pan for gold in the 1800's. We followed the road through the mountains. The terrain is extremely steep. It must of been unbelievably hard for them. Here are the pics I took.

Some thoughts on sewing doll parts...

2011-05-24T19:59:00.000-07:00

I am working on Susie McMahon's Izannah Pattern.

I bought this 45mm pinking rotary cutter blade a couple months back. Decided I would try it out for cutting out the next batch of doll parts. Usually I just use the regular scissors and cut my seams if needed, clip and notch where needed. Sometimes I have used the pinking shears to cut out parts.

I asked what the MAIDA doll group I belong to had any thoughts pinking the edges of the doll parts. Some thought it was a good idea, some thought I only needed to clip the really tight or curvy places and leave other curves unclipped. I am undecided and I guess only time will tell.

I have turned and stuffed the pinked parts and so far everything is great. The pinking does not show through on the outside and the seams are still nice and strong.

While stuffing each foot, I held the foot down against the cutting table in order to get a nice flat sole. I think this will be really nice when it comes to fitting the shoes properly.

Sisters All Done!

2011-05-20T17:07:00.000-07:00

Finally all done. Don't know if the small one is their doll or a little sister.
They will figure it out.

Another sister done. One to go...and their box is done!

2011-05-15T17:25:00.000-07:00

Littlest sister still waiting to be finished.

Antique French fabric on box exterior.

I matched the pattern on outside of the box, on each side.

Vintage wallpaper interior. Cording at seams and braid on edges.

Doll Clothes Redo

2011-04-30T20:17:00.000-07:00

Just was not happy with this dress and bonnet. Added some trim to dress and made a "Poke Bonnet" to match. Made a different dress to match the white hat. I have this wooden case that I am going to line with antique paper and change a bit to fit her and her clothes.

Done?

2011-04-28T16:45:00.000-07:00

Still working on Queen Anne

2011-04-27T17:33:00.000-07:00

Working on Queen Anne

2011-04-27T09:13:00.000-07:00

Queen Anne in Process

2011-04-25T20:23:00.001-07:00

Two More Done!

2011-04-22T18:06:00.000-07:00

Maggie Bessie and Other...done

2011-04-20T17:54:00.000-07:00

She came out pretty good. I used the Bradley Justice pattern. Not the most complete instructions I have seen...pretty sketchy in places. I "tweeked" the dress quite a bit to get it to look like I wanted. I will be making another Maggie Bessie and as I do I will be posting at MAIDA and here. I think a few people might be sewing along as I go. I will announce before I start to give people a chance to follow. I am certainly not an expert on making these dolls, or this pattern, but I thought it might be helpful to someone else who hasn't made the pattern yet.
Made my own pattern for the doll shoes. White leather lined with muslin. They even unbutton.

I also made his other pattern variation of the Moravian Haube Cap and 1850's dress. This pattern was less explicit than the first. I had to "tweek" this dress also. He does not include a pattern for the pantaloons in the picture or the slip so I made my own. Cap turned out decidedly different than the old doll in the pattern picture. I did a little reading on these caps, and the caps did have a point and the child's caps sometimes had rather elaborate pleating. I could not find any pictures on the net to help. Anyway, I finished two dolls.

Maggie Bessie's in process

2011-03-01T20:15:00.000-08:00

I have been working on the Maggie Bessie's.

The little bodies are really wonderful.

Hanging doll parts to dry

2011-02-27T08:12:00.000-08:00

I have had this lamp with the arms and had been using it with clothes pins to attach various body parts for drying after painting. I was at the used store looking for something else to hang longer pieces from and came upon the other thing. Maybe it is a banana stand? Anyway, had another idea, instead of the clothespins I made some loops on the ends of the parts with needle and thread. Works great. Just thought I would share.

Very Primitive Doll Finished

2011-02-26T08:35:00.000-08:00

I have had this doll sitting around for months unfinished. I had done a paint job on the face that was partially sanded off and it was unclothed. Grabbed it yesterday and finished her up. Went straight to this piece of fabric I had stashed. It was a part of a sleeve from a 40's blouse. All that was left was the bottom portion of the cuff.

Dolls in process and studio

2011-02-23T14:21:00.000-08:00

The "Cloth Doll Artistry" group is having a doll blog hop starting in March. You can visit other doll maker's blogs via the links provided and see what they are working on. Thought I would post a few pics of current projects and a few studio pics.
One of the dolls I am working on is a pattern by Barbara Schoenoff. I have one already made and two in process. I did things a bit differently from Barbara's pattern. I did not feel any need to dress the first doll. I like her just as she is. Barbara's pattern is very long and lanky. We will see what happens with the other two.

We had to totally replace the upstairs area of our house 2 years ago due to massive roof leakage. It was horrible. But I claimed the upstairs for my own and that is wonderful. My husband has a small computer desk area and the rest is mine. We did all the work ourselves except for the reframing of the roof and the roofing. We shelved in the under eave area for my fabrics in a couple of areas on both sides of the room. We put up metal gutter for my bias, rick rack etc.. on both sides above the fabric areas. This is the largest side of fabrics.

This is the other side of this area. Lots of stuff stashed over here!

I had to figure out how to get all this stuff arranged so I could get to it. Ended up with a cubby hole behind the drawers with laces. I keep a rolling cart there. I can pull it out if I want to get into the corner and hide.

This is one of my other doll projects. I am participating in a "Maggie Bessie" challenge with the Vintage Cloth Dollmaking group on Yahoo. I am using the "North Carolina Cloth Doll" pattern by Bradley Justice. I have two started.

I have a couple other things going. I will post more later.

Coat to match baby dress

2011-02-14T17:13:00.000-08:00

Washed, felted, light weight wool, acrylic fold over binding, machine appliqued flowers and fabric.

I made this washable.

Wool flowers with bead centers.

I had velcro in exactly the right shade of periwinkle blue!

Pockets stitched into side seams.

Baby Dress

2011-02-13T18:38:00.000-08:00

I spent the day sewing a baby dress. It has been a long time since I made a 9 month size outfit. Probably way out of style, but baby Madalyn will like the soft little pom poms on her pockets. She will like the colors too. Don't know what her mom will think!

Hydrangea fabric is an old Michael Miller Fairy Frost fabric. It has a bit of a frosty sheen to it.

doll finished

2011-02-04T18:19:00.000-08:00

Something different

2011-01-28T21:25:00.000-08:00

I found this interesting, slightly disturbing, but wonderful.

Doll Do Over Done

2011-01-25T21:55:00.000-08:00

Doll Do Over

2011-01-22T18:02:00.000-08:00

The lovely little doll head in the post before the owls became quite a learning experience. I had absolutely no luck with the crackle finish I applied. I have since learned that I should not apply a sealer such as a matte medium or a spray sealer before a crackle finish application.

Well, anyway, it did not crackle. But did I stop there? No. I thought I would go ahead and apply the burn't umber wash anyway...No good. So I decided to apply another layer of crackle medium. Reeeallly not good. Did I stop there? No. I then decided I should repaint the head. But I could still see a glimmer of the lovely painting under all the crackle goop layers. So I decided to sand it a bit.

By now the layers had a dull whitish look and all that lovely rosy dolly look was gone, covered with layers of hardened crackle goop and dulled with sanding. Did I stop there? No. I decided to go ahead and apply a light layer of flesh colored paint thinking I would start the repainting process all over again. Oh my...reeeallly not good. So I walked away and left it to stare blindly into space with a sick patina of dull flesh colored paint on it's head. I left it there for a week.

I came home from work on Thursday and took little dolly out to the shed and rubbed some Briwax on. Briwax will either produce a lovely patina if used correctly or if used incorrectly such as on a previously, badly, painted sealed finish, it will remove things. Layers. I rubbed that Briwax on and watched the layers of crackle goop and paint start to soften and turn to mush. I grabbed my rag and wiped and wiped and wiped. I ended up with a doll head that looks like it has a been around for a good many years. Kind of what I was looking for, but surely not how I wanted to achieve it!

The pattern and mold I used for the head were designed by Deanna Hogan, Blue Heron Dolls. The pattern for this 16" doll "Viola Ruth" is extremely well written and easy to understand. The pattern pieces are all designed to be very user friendly. This was the first time I have tried using a mold for making a head. I am thinking about using the old lavender, checked feedsack material she is sitting on for her outfit.

Just had to add a picture of my granddaughter Madalyn. So cute!

Owls

2011-01-21T23:01:00.000-08:00

I ran across these pictures this evening. They were taken early last summer. My dad built this wood duck box a very long time ago for my mother. We actually had ducks in it occasionally. Our pond has since become filled in, the ducks, and both mom and dad are gone. The owls took over the box and we have had the pleasure of their company for many years. I was sitting outside watching a young one peer out of the box when things got a bit more exciting. I was able to take some pictures, but some did not turn out as well as I wished. I thought you might enjoy seeing them anyway.
It was a rare experience and very wonderful.

First there was one. Then there was two.

I had been hearing a parent call and the young ones were answering. Here came an adult with a giant worm as long as the adult owl! The owlet on the left grabbed it and at it like a piece of spaghetti shaking it and working it up into his beak.

Not too long after, one owl came out from a hole in the back of the box, and climbed up onto the roof. It was soon joined by the other.

A parent was soon back checking on things.

As evening progressed I realized there were not two, but three owlets.

The next day I was lucky to see them leave the nest. I just happen to be outside at the right moment. No camera this time and I was not going in the house to get it! They could not fly yet, but jumped down out of the box. One landed on a lower branch and one landed on the ground. The parent was in the woods calling and they all carefully made their way through the grasses to find the adult.

About two days ago I was outside with the dogs for their evening walk and I could hear an owl calling from on top of the box to another owl off in the woods.

Today's work

2011-01-14T20:45:00.000-08:00

I am plugging along at learning about the craft of doll making. I have the painting done on this one. I am going to try again at the ever elusive fine crackle finish.

Limbs are drying. A very primitive doll is patiently waiting for more painting and arms and legs. I found this lamp with the hanging hooks years ago. Never knew it would be used for doll parts. The guy in the antique corn can is also waiting.

Participated in a doll adoption in one of the groups I belong to called "Odd Dolls". This one was sent to me and started out like this And has so far ended up like this. I have rewired it and repainted. It might be done.

Lacey Purses

2011-01-08T18:53:00.000-08:00

I have had a small space at the antique mall "Collections in the Attic" in Forest Grove, OR on and off for the last 15 years since they first opened. The building has been sold and the mall is disbanding. Where one door closes another opens. I am taking another small space in a new antique mall due to open in Forest Grove in February. I decided to finish up some very foo-foo purses that I had started last year. I used vintage fabrics, buttons and laces. They are fully lined with interior pockets. I actually hand washed them after they were all finished just to see what would happen. After washing I filled them out with a clean towel and let them dry so the shape would be retained. They came out just great!

2011-01-03T17:55:00.000-08:00

I have taken a 8 month leave of absence from computer land. 6 months of absolutely no creative juices flowing...I have taken hold of what is left and have begun to reapply myself to things. The last two months I have been really trying to focus on learning some more about the craft of doll making. I finally finished one of the small Izannah's I started in Dixie's workshop last year. Of course she is not an Izannah, but ended up being a companion for another doll I made during the workshop. I used pink 30's fabrics for both dolls.

My other finished doll was also adapted from Dixie's Izannah pattern.

I used antique linens for all her undergarments. Her dress fabric is new, but authentic reproductions of antique fabrics. Even made her little boots. The soles are leather, the lower portion of the boots are a very old crinkled vinyl leather like fabric, and the uppers are kid leather. Ties are made from vintage German rayon flat braid. I was told it was originally used for doll shoes also.

Here are a few pictures of my Christmas tree this year. I did not put one up last year so this year it is January and it is still in the kitchen...Almost all the ornaments are vintage or antique.

Banks, Oregon Hill Top

2010-04-30T10:20:00.000-07:00

In full bloom above Banks right now is this wonderful, brilliant yellow hill. Yesterday was one of those days here in Oregon where it went from very dark and stormy one minute, to intense blue sky and warm the next. I happen to be just at the right spot to capture the change from dark to light as I drove over the hill to look at and smell the flowers. I am not sure what this crop is. Not mustard. It looks like phlox and smells of perfume. It was a wonderful experience to see and smell.

Published

2010-03-19T11:10:00.000-07:00

Received my pattern pack from Piece O' Cake Designs today. One of my purses is pictured on the "More Inspiration" page. During our very long, cold winter of 2009 we were without electricity for 7 days. I made the purse "Iceolation" while huddling in front of the stove. I stitched by hand while there was daylight and when our power came back on I assembled the purse with my machine. Electricity is wonderful!

Dolls

2010-03-17T13:20:00.000-07:00

Finished her today. I like this one.

Hummingbird

2010-03-10T11:08:00.000-08:00

First in today.

Dolls

2010-03-10T07:42:00.000-08:00

I had a request to post a picture of this finished doll. I ended up sticking a bun on top of her head because I was so unhappy with the painting job. Hair is hard...

Dolls

2010-03-09T09:35:00.000-08:00

Trim person said that they were going to send replacement trim. I actually got a person on the phone after trying by email for two days. So the purses are still on hold.
Here is my latest try at a Izannah Walker style doll. Dress is a test pattern. I need to make her something to bring the color out in her rosy cheeks...She does not get out in the sun much...

Here is a group photo of her with some friends.

Dolls

2010-03-04T17:39:00.000-08:00

My trim came and some of it was defective. I am waiting for UPS to come pick it up for return. If the time line remains the same as when I was waiting for the stuff, it will be another month before it gets picked up and then another month before I receive something in return...So, I still get to work on some dolls.

I am enjoying the process. Seems like you have to have a few in the works in order to continually have something to work on. You have to wait for a sculpted head to dry in the oven. Limbs need to be created and stuffed. Painting of each item. You have to make more than one at a time. Too bad...another craft has been unleashed.

I have made various stuffed and hot glued creations through the years, but this is the first completed, sculpted head doll I have ever made. The fabric for her dress is from the 30's or 40's. It was a hem of a dress that was cut off. It has some fading in parts. Used small mother of pearl buttons in the front. Her bonnet and pantaloons are from an old roll of eyelet I found. I left her head bald. I like her.

I am working on finishing the other heads I have painted. I have started one more. I am really trying to give her that Izannah look that the other's definitely don't have. We'll see...

Izannah

2010-02-27T18:54:00.000-08:00

No trim yet...but I have been working on the Izannah workshop. My heads do not look like Izannah's...but I guess that is OK. I am learning the process. They are very scary at this point...

I have no control over these things...they just appear...I am anxious to see what they desire for hair and wardrobe.

Bend Trip

2010-02-11T21:30:00.000-08:00

I have the good fortune of being able to travel to Bend almost each month of the year. I have done this for about 3 years now I think. Each mile has almost become like an old friend. I know the bumps and curves of the road, and I know where to look for the wild flowers in the Spring, and the snow in the winter. Traveling over our beautiful Mt.Hood is always an adventure. I try to time my passage over the mountain at the warmest part of the day in the colder times of the year, and I always am tuned in to the weather before each trip. I decided this trip I would take a few pictures. I will try to do this each trip and capture some of the changes of the seasons and post some pictures. The road was clear going over and snowy on the way back...you just never know...there have been times when the snow markers on each side of the road are completely buried and you only have the ruts in the road to guide you along.

When you get over the mountain on to the warmer side of the hills you are on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation. This particular spot is one of my favorites to view as I drive by. It is an area that burned a few years ago. I don't know what the colored shrub is, I am thinking probably a willow or dogwood of some sort. This low spot changes color throughout the seasons. What you see in the winter is mild compared to what it will change to come spring and summer. It glows like the flames that must have once touched it.

The exposed layers of rock in the hills are always very beautiful. This is right before you reach the small town of Warm Springs.

There was a light dusting of snow on the hills outside of Madras. The light of day was disappearing and the sky and hills took on lovely colors.

The Deschutes River runs through Bend. Reed Market Road takes me by this view on the way to my home away from home. You are able to see Mt. Bachelor and the 3 Sisters Mountains from many areas in Bend.

Work in progress

2010-02-03T10:53:00.000-08:00

I've got a couple of these crazy patchwork purses in progress. This one is the furthest along. I am going to be ordering the trim I need to finish it off.

Yes, more trim. Just don't have exactly what I need here...

I have been working on the pair of pink rag edge pieces also. They are turning into tote bags. And of course I have to go look for buttons. That's right, I need buttons...

Oregon

2010-02-01T15:08:00.000-08:00

Walked around this morning in the rain taking a few pictures. It is so mossy green right now. We do have a few things in bloom. The Viburnum bodnantense outside the living room window is in full bloom. Planted it way to close to the house, but the fragrance and the pink blooms this time of year make me remember why I did.

Walked down into the garden. The moss has taken over the roof of my garden shed.

It has been mild enough that chipmunk stored seed is sprouting in one of the bird houses stored by the door of the shed.

The wire basket birds are very well insulated with fine feathers of moss.