Story Boxes

Through the Woods

May 4, 2009 By Rebecca 3 Comments

Meet Little Red Riding Hood & her tiny sidekick. Little Red is 6.5 inches, from head to toe. She is permanently attached to this box which is meant to be displayed on the wall. Little Red’s tiny companion is just over 2? tall. He can be removed from Red’s purse, although he finds this spot quite comfy. Red & her Wolf have been made of muslin & fiberfill. They’ve been painted & sanded a couple of times, giving them lovely, aged patinas. She’s been sealed with a combination of glossy & matte sealers. This little wolf has been sealed with a matte varnish with added UV filter.

Little Red’s face has been painted with a variety of media. Her nose & bottom lip have been needle-sculpted by hand giving her a perfect little pout just like my larger dollies. Her hands have been needle-sculpted as well. She sports tan painted gloves. She also sports painted brown boots with tan socks & red, detailed laces.

Little Red’s blouse is made of white muslin. It features hand-gathered sleeves & hand-stitching around the neckline and back. It is finished off with a vintage button. Red’s skirt & hooded cape have been made from two 100% cotton prints. Red’s skirt features hand-stitching along the hem. Red’s tiny purse has been constructed from brown wool. It has a braided, embroidery thread strap which is not removable.

Red’s little home is full of charm! It is 4? deep & has a diameter of 7.5?. I have decoupaged the box with various vintage papers, including illustrations of various woodland creatures & types of leaves. All vintage papers were treated with acid neutralizer to prevent deterioration over time. A tiny forest has been painted inside Red’s box. “Little Red” has been hand-painted on the lid surrounded by hand-painted lace. The inside of the lid features various collage pieces, significant to the story of Little Red Riding Hood. A hemp string is attached to the back of the box, so that this piece may be displayed on the wall. The lid can be placed on the box or displayed alongside Alice, although no hanger is attached to the lid.

Little Red’s hair is 100% light brown mohair. It has been applied with light glue for extra security & needle-felting. Little Red Riding Hood is available on eBay. She will end May 10th at 9:15 PM EST. Click here to view or bid.

Filed Under: Dolls, Fairytale, Story Boxes Tagged With: big bad wolf, little red riding hood, primitive folk art, storybox

Alice in Wonderland

April 12, 2009 By Rebecca 6 Comments

Meet Alice. I’m sure you’ve met many variations of this little one before. But I am proud to offer you this week my very first Alice in Wonderland. Wee Alice is 6.5 inches, from head to toe. She is permanently attached to this box which is meant to be displayed on the wall. Alice has been made of muslin & fiberfill. She’s been painted & sanded a couple of times, giving her a lovely, aged patina. She’s been sealed with a combination of glossy & matte sealers.

Alice’s face has been painted with a variety of media. Her nose & bottom lip have been needle-sculpted by hand giving her a perfect little pout just like my larger dollies. Her hands have been needle-sculpted as well. She sports tan painted gloves. She also sports painted brown boots with tan locks & blue laces.

Alice’s blouse is made of white muslin. It features hand-gathered sleeves & hand-stitching around the neckline and back. It is finished off with tiny, black seed beads. Alice’s apron is also made from muslin. Alice’s skirt is made from two 100% cotton prints & features hand-stitching along the hem in chocolate thread. Alice’s purse has been made from muslin & has been hand-painted, sanded & aged. Braided embroidery thread is used as the strap. It is not removable.

Alice’s tiny companion is just over 2.5″ tall. He can be removed from his Alice’s purse, although he finds this spot quite comfy.

Alice’s little home is full of charm! It is 4″ deep & has a diameter of 7.5″. I have decoupaged her box with various vintage papers. They were treated with acid neutralizer to prevent deterioration over time. Inside the box is painted the tiny door to wonderland partially hidden by a painted, blue curtain. The outside of the box is painted light blue & has been crackled & aged. “Alice” has been hand-painted on the lid surrounded by hand-painted lace.

A hemp string is attached to the back of the box, so that this piece may be displayed on the wall. The lid can be placed on the box or displayed alongside Alice, although no hanger is attached to the lid.

Alice will be available on Ebay April 12 at 9:15 PM EST. (Link will not be active until that time. ) She will end on April 19th at 9:15 PM EST. Click here to view or bid.

Filed Under: Dolls, Fairytale, Story Boxes Tagged With: Alice in Wonderland, papermache box, storybox, white rabbit

The Woodland Fairies

March 31, 2009 By Rebecca 3 Comments

This sweet trio of sprites is sure to help you usher in spring & watch over your home! At least they keep everything in their own little forest running smoothly!

The Woodland Fairies live in a vintage soda crate (12″ x 18″) that has been primed, painted, collaged, aged & sealed & crackled. Each 7″ dolly hangs from an eye hook with the aid of invisible filament. The dollies have been made of muslin & stuffed with fiberfill. They’ve been painted & sanded a couple of times & have been treated to several layers of paint washes giving them lovely, aged patinas. Each doll has been sealed with a combination of glossy & matte sealers.

These dolls have been painted with a variety of media. Their noses & bottom lips have been needle-sculpted by hand giving them perfect little pouts, just like my larger dollies.

Their fingers have been needle-sculpted as well. They sport tan painted gloves. Each doll also sports painted brown boots with socks & detailed laces. Their blouses are made of white muslin. They feature hand-gathered sleeves & hand-stitching around the neckline and back. Each blouse has seed bead buttons attached. Their dresses are made from 100% cotton prints. They feature hand-stitching around the hemline & wee little buttons adorn the front. All clothing was treated to a lavender bud/coffee bath for a slightly aged appearance. Every piece was then hand-washed & pressed.

The dolls’ wings were made from muslin. They’re machine-quilted & painted in fun, funky patterns. They’re attached with embroidery thread & a vintage button.

Vintage papers were used for the collage inside this box. Every piece was treated with an acid-neutralizing spray to prevent deterioration of the paper over time. Some of the text was taken from the Big, Big Story Book, a geography book, an antique dictionary & an antique grammar book. The trees were hand-painted & sealed.

There is a lovely crackle texture applied to the outside of the box over several layers of primer & paint. In addition, the box has been lightly aged for an antique appearance.

The Woodland Fairies will be available on Ebay beginning March 31 at 9:15 PM EST. (Link won’t be active until that time.) They will end April 5th at 9:15 PM EST. Click here to view or bid on these darlings!

Filed Under: Dolls, Story Boxes Tagged With: Butterfly, fairy, storybox, woodland

Hey There Little Red: a Story Box for the Little Girl inside us All.

August 4, 2008 By Rebecca 6 Comments

I had so much fun working on this creation. It has truly been a labor of love & I’m delighted with how it turned out. Pictures really do not do this piece justice! I’ve included a ton so you can get a good idea of every aspect of this piece. This is a one of a kind Story Box which measures 18″ x 12″ x 6″. The box is a vintage Pepsi crate which I painted taupe & white & crackled. The inside is decoupaged with several layers of vintage & reproduction text. Upon that I’ve painted a forest background with acrylics. There are little trees around every corner.

Little Red & Wolfie measure just 9″ tall. They are my first minis. They have 3D heads, needle sculpted noses & Little Red’s bottom lip pouts just like my larger dolls. Both dolls have needle-sculpted fingers and have been hand-painted & sanded many times, giving them deeply aged patinas. They’ve been sealed top to bottom with a combination of sealers. Little Red’s hair is 100% brown mohair which has been needle-felted to her head.

There are so many details to be found on these dolls. Little Red sports golden gloves & socks & sweet brown boots with red laces while Wolfie sports the coolest white & brown wing tips, complete with golden socks. Wolfie also wears a corduroy newsboy cap (with matching corduroy lining) & polka dot suspenders.

Little red wears a velveteen cape lined with taupe osnaburg, a white muslin blouse featuring yellow seed beads and a skirt consisting of two super cute 100% cotton prints. This skirt & Little Red’s clothing as well as Wolfie’s, features tons of hand-stitching! All visible hems have been finished & hand-stitched.

Little Red also has, at her feet, a small basket filled with goodies. This basket has been entirely handmade by me of hemp twine, decoupage medium, rusty wire & thread. I fashioned the cookies inside out of paperclay, then painted them & dusted them with ‘sugar’ (real German glass glitter).

This story box has the prettiest curtains made from 100% cotton Moda fabric. They are tied back with chocolate ribbon but can easily be let down. Vintage buttons (many, mother of pearl) have been hand-sewn along the bottom to gently weight the curtains. They are finished with hand-stitching. “Hey There Little Red” has been stamped onto taupe cardstock & strung to the top of the box with hemp twine. Little Red & Wolfie hang gently from the top of this box with the aid of invisible filament & screw hooks. They also have hemp loops sewn on their backs so they can be hung outside of the box & are jointed at the hips & knees, allowing them to be posed in many positions.

Here’s a fun little detail about this piece:

Some of the vintage paper I used came from an old book titled Diary of a Birthday Doll. As I was layering the paper I noticed the name Ellis. Ellis is my Dad’s name & was his Dad’s name. I thought it was a nice, personal touch so I put that piece of text front & center.

“Hey There Little Red” will be available on eBay Aug. 3rd at 9:15 PM EST & will end Aug. 10th at 9:15 PM EST. Click here if you’d like to view or possibly make this little set yours.

Filed Under: Dolls, Story Boxes Tagged With: big bad wolf, Fairytale, little red riding hood, primtive doll, storybox