I’m getting ready for my children’s birthdays. Olivier’s is on December 30, Nynke’s on February 27, but I thought I’d better start early! I’m making them a birthday ring. I still have to buy the ring itself, but I’ve started on the dolls. It’s so much fun!! I’m not the best at painting straight lines, but practice makes perfect, right?
There’s Olivier in the picture, to the left, and Nynke, and next to her, that’s me (I’ve got a funny eye, need to have some surgery done, ha!), then Pieter. The girl in the lilac dress next to Pieter is, erm, just a girl. I made her just for the fun of it. Now all I need to to is add details!
Bunnies, as we all know, reproduce like crazy. And this little one here is living proof! It can’t be helped – I go to sleep one night and the next morning, all of a sudden, there’s another bunny living at my home. I don’t know how they do it. 
Anyway – this one’s in the shop!
There’ll be another bunny ready soon, of course. But that’s one already been reserved for a sweet boy in New Hampshire. 
Sshhhht, I’m not here – I’m knitting bunnies!
(And really enjoying myself Nicole, so don’t you worry!)
There’s also a new doll on my table, waiting to be stuffed. That sounds… icky. It’s not – she’ll be lovely. She’ll probably get Lina’s hairdo – tutorial, I hear you say? *blush* Yes. Any day now. Really!
Now off to work. Wish I could just knit and stuff all day, but alas, that’s not to be!
P.S. But before I go:
Look! It’s Carolina at her new home, all the way in New Hampshire! Doesn’t she look ever so happy? Taken by the lovely Nicole – thank you very much!!
Something made not by me, but by someone else today.
All the way from Australia, these arrived in the mail just now: my teeny weeny dolls! As you can see in the picture, they are really, really tiny. I love them!! Who could resist these? I certainly couldn’t…
They’ve got this hilarious fold-out booklet accompanying them:
“(Almost) 101 reasons why little dolls are better than big ones.”
I’ll name a few:
1. You can carry more dolls in your handbag
4. They come alive at midnight
6. you can fit 73 dolls on your mantelpiece
21. It takes a lot longer to fill up the house
52. You can take more to bed with you
53. All your dolls can join you on your holiday
And so on and so forth… Did I mention how much I love them? If you like them too, here’s where you can get some for yourself: Made By Joy (What on earth did I do with my money before Etsy anyway?!)
In other news: I’m making good, but slow progress on Rosalina. Her underclothing’s almost ready, her hair is almost done (just waiting for some more mohair, as I ran out and just need a little bit more to complete her hairdo), and I started knitting her skirt yesterday evening. Unfortunately, that’s also when the big killer headache (I get those once or twice a year, complete with nauseau and the absolute impossibility to move or even speak) struck. Ugh. Much better now, thank you.
There. She has a face – and a name!
This is Rosalina, sister to Carolina. I’m working on her clothing right now – panties almost finished, then on to a top. And then, I’ll have to decide what else she’s going to wear! It’ll have to be pink, that much is certain. (In the picture, she’s wearing Mina’s felted wrap-kimono-vest thingy, because she was so terrible cold…)
This is what I’m working on right now: Carolina’s sister! I’m not quite sure of her name yet; it’ll get to me when I’m done.
P.S. For those of you still waiting for my tutorial on making a waldorf doll’s hair, also known as Lina’s hairdo and how to do it: it’s all in my head (of course it is 
), I just need to find the time to write it down! Soon, I promise!
… for dollmaking!
I spent the morning making a head (not as grisly as it sounds, I promise!). No kiddies at home, my favourite CD playing (or one of my favourites, I should say) – German Baroque Cantatas, featuring the lovely Johannette Zomer, one of the best soprano’s out there, or so I think.
Do you listen to music when you craft? I almost always do, mostly classical music. I’m a big fan of baroque – Bach, Vivaldi, Telemann, Buxtehude, you name it.
Anyway, here is the result of my morning’s work:
The acorn caps were gathered on the brisk Autumn walk I took with my mom in between.
Hope you had a great day too!
I’ve been a good girl – I made four heads tonight! Okay, so not twelve, like I said before, but still. Four is good, right? I need to stock that shop… This is a good start. Two bigger dolls, two fairies. Or maybe two bigger dolls, two cuddlies. I’m not quite sure yet. We’ll see. I’ve also been wanting to make a true baby doll for the longest time. The body’s already been sewn – so what am I waiting for?!
(Please ignore the stamps. They are not, actually, used in the dollmaking process. They’re my husband’s. We battle it out at the living room table each and every night. I push my dolls over to his side, he waves stamps in my face. )
I’ve just sold my first doll on Etsy! Just like that! Listed her late yesterday evening, and when I opened my email this morning… “You’ve received a payment of $125 from ****** *********”
I still can’t believe it! I think I’d better go find a nice box… Design a nice card to go with the doll… Get some wrapping paper… And here I thought I had plenty of time to do all of that because it was going to take months and months!
Wheeeeeee!
P.S. I know exactly what you mean now by having a hard time of letting your first sale go, Emilie. I’m over the moon to have sold my first doll, but at the same time… I’ll have to stuff her into a box… She’ll go halfway across the world… and I’ll never see her again! Sniff!
Okay… *very deep breath* I’ve taken the plunge… As of now, Framboise the raspberry fairy is for sale on Etsy!
My shop is right here:
Starry Sheep :: Handmade Natural Dolls
It’s a bit of a pathetic store now really, with just one item in it, but I’m working hard on some more dolls to add!
You know what was the most difficult part? To determine a price… I think the care and attention and work and above all, the love can just not be translated into a price. Then, there’s the weak dollar to be taken into account, and a million other things besides…
We’ll see how it goes. I’ve never ever offered up anything I’ve made for sale before, so I’m quite anxious!
P.S. And it just now occurred to me: if I’m going to make some bunnies for the store, the name “Handmade Natural Dolls” will just not do, of course…