This little girl is Dandy. And for the first time ever, I’m offering this doll directly from this site. (Available on my For Sale page.)

Now for the details! Dandy is quite dandy, if I do say so myself. She’s dressed in rich chocolate polka dots & a beautiful red floral print…truly supple 100% cotton fabrics. Her muslin blouse features a taupe bead & all of her clothing features tons of hand-stitching.

(Please click thumbnails to see a larger version of each picture.)

Dandy is hand-painted, top to bottom & even features little earrings on those pointy ears! She carries some super Christmas treats in her sweet osnaburg bag too–a hand-painted teddy bear & Christmas tree. Dandy’s bag features decorative stitching, mustard yellow seed beads & a vintage button.

Dandy is 17″ long from the top of her head to the bottom of those darling boots. Her teddy is a wee 3″ from head to toe & her tree is 5″ tall. She has a hemp loop attached making her suitable for hanging or she can sit, with assistance as shown above. Dandy is my first doll for the 2008 Christmas season & comes signed, numbered & dated with a Certificate of Authenticity.

This special little girl is Miranda. Miranda is my original design, inspired by my recent vacation to the beach & all the ‘mermaid money’ we found! She measures 15″ from head to tail. She’s been made of muslin, stuffed with fiberfill & hand-painted & sanded, top to bottom many times. Miranda has a rich, deeply-aged patina, reminiscent of antique dolls. She has a hemp loop attached to her back making her suitable for hanging.

Miranda’s face has been needle-sculpted by hand and hand-painted. Her bottom lip ‘pouts’ while her top lip is simply painted. She has been painted with various mediums & has been sealed top to bottom with a combination of sealers so that she may be lightly dusted after display.

Miranda has needle-sculpted fingers. She has delicate pink fingernails. She is highly detailed & even features knuckles & a tiny belly button.

Miranda’s tail is painted in varying hues of blue & green with highlights added to give the illusion of sparkling scales.

Miranda is carrying seven sand dollars which range in size from 1-2 inches. They’ve been made of muslin, stuffed & hand-painted & sanded several times. Each piece of ‘mermaid money’ has been strung to a piece of hemp twine & loosely tied to Miranda’s arm.

Her hair is brown 100% mohair. I have lightly glued, then carefully needle-felted it to her head. It is parted & hangs loosely upon her chest. Extra care has been taken (and must be taken) while handling this long mohair as it is fragile & separates easily. Minimum handling is recommended.

Miranda (named after my little cousin who had curly long brown hair just like this) will be available on eBay July 20th at 9PM EST. She will end July 27th at 9PM EST. If you’d like to look at this little girl or even, perhaps, have her swim to your house, click here.

I’ve been so fortunate this week to receive some blogging awards from my sweet blogging friends & spectacularly talented fellow artists.

These people gave me an award recently. If you have a moment, please check out their work. I am so impressed & continually inspired by their creations & writing.

Lori - Queen Anne’s Lace & Lilacs

Betsy - Foothill Primitives

Krissy - Krissy’s Folk Art

Tootie - Honey Girl Studio

Lily - French & Country Chic Gallery

So, the rules are now that I nominate 5 other people for the awards. But…since a lot of my blogging friends have received these awards already, I’m just gonna link to five sites that I think you will really enjoy, because I surely do & am inspired each day by the endless creativity of these folks.

Cart Before the Horse - Whimsical fine folk art by Dylan & Jo.

A.F. Norling - One of my favorite artists - creator of fine mixed media pieces.

Carol Roll / Nostalgic Folk Art - Her paper mache creations are darling!

Katherine Quinn - Adorable art.

Laurie Hardin - Endlessly creative creations!

If you want to smile & oooh & ahhh & see some fabulous art, take a moment to visit these blogs & websites! You’ll so appreciate the visit!

And don’t forget!

(Feel free to snag this button for use on your website or blog. To view more buttons I have made that are available for free use, click here: Prim & Whimsy : Freebies.)

Looks like someone’s been in the flower garden!

This little sweetie is Bennie. Bennie is my original design & measures 16″ from head to toe. She’s been made of muslin, stuffed with fiberfill & hand-painted & sanded, top to bottom many times. Sweet Bennie has a rich, deeply-aged patina. Her left arm is wired to aid in carrying such a large hollyhock.

Bennie’s face has been needle-sculpted by hand and hand-painted. Her bottom lip ‘pouts’ while her top lip is simply painted. She has been painted with various mediums & has been sealed top to bottom with a combination of sealers so that she may be lightly dusted after display.

Bennie’s fingers have been needle-sculpted by hand. She has delicate pink fingernails. Bennie sports brown painted boots with lots of ’straps’ and ‘buttons’. She wears tan socks.

Bennie’s apron dress is made from 100% cotton prints. Bennie’s blouse is made of white muslin & features hand-gathered sleeves. Both the dress & blouse feature tons of hand-stitching! All visible hems have been hand-stitched (dress, sleeves, collar), as well as the back of the blouse. Bennie’s blouse is finished with beads while her skirt features two vintage, mother of pearl buttons.

Bennie’s hollyhock is super special & one of my favorite flowers! It is made from 10 separate muslin pieces & has been hand-painted & sanded, stained & sanded again. It is eight inches tall. Each bloom is attached with heavy duty thread & buttons, as are the two large leaves.

Bennie’s hair is black 100% mohair. I have lightly glued, then carefully needle-felted it to her head. It is parted & styled into loose messy buns.

I had a lot of fun designing & creating this little girl & her flower. And one new idea always seems to spark others!

Bennie will be available on eBay July 13th at 9:15 PM EST. She will end July 20th at 9:15 PM EST.

As always, Click here to view or bid on this little dumpling.