Recent Work

Sylvie, A Primitive Doll who Dreams of Spring.

March 3, 2008 By Rebecca 3 Comments

Looks like Sylvie had a better use for her math homework!

This little rebellious gal is Sylvie. Like all of my dolls, she is my original design and is guaranteed one of a kind art! She is 27" tall & has been made of muslin & stuffed with fiberfill. Her lower torso has been rag-stuffed & bean filled in order to weight her little bottom. Sylvie has been hand-painted & sanded, top to bottom many, many times. She has been treated to a series of paint washes, making her look "oh so vintage". Sylvie’s arms are lightly wired & can be slightly posed. Her face has been needle-sculpted by hand, (nose & lip), and hand-painted. Her bottom lip ‘pouts’ while her top lip is simply painted. She is heavily detailed & features big brown eyes, rosy cheeks, pale peach lips & detailed eyebrows. She has been painted with premium acrylic paints and shaded & highlighted heavily with oil pastels & artist pencils. Sylvie’s fingers have been needle-sculpted by hand. She has been sealed top to bottom with a combination of glossy & matte acrylic sealer so that she may be lightly dusted after display & kept a lifetime.

Sylvie sports painted brown boots and striped socks in shades of taupe. They are highly detailed, right down to the buttons.

Sylvie’s apron dress is made from a super cute, 100% cotton, polka dot, Moda print. Sylvie’s blouse is made from osnaburg & features hand-gathered sleeves & a collar & vintage black buttons. Sylvie’s dress & blouse feature tons of hand-stitching! All visible hems have been hand-stitched (dress & sleeves), as well as the back of Sylvie’s blouse & her collar. Sylvie’s blouse has been treated to a coffee and lavender bud bath for a slightly aged appearance. It was then hand-washed & pressed with linen water.

Sylvie is flying the coolest homemade kite! It is 8" long & 6" wide at the widest point. It has been constructed from specialty papers designed to look like vintage notebook text & math problems (how cute!!!). It The kite has been sealed with decoupage medium, attached to wooden skewers which have been treated to a paint wash & attached to a rusty wire. The wire is attached to Sylvie’s arm. The kite’s tail is hemp twine.

Sylvie’s hair is curly auburn 100% mohair. It is more subtle than shown in these photos. I’ve lightly glued, then carefully needle-felted it to her Sylvie’s head. Her hair is ‘parted’ and styled into low pigtails.

Sylvie is available on eBay. She will end Sunday night, March 9th at 9:15 PM EST.

As always, click here to view or bid!

Filed Under: Dolls, Spring Tagged With: kite, primitive doll

Handcut Silouhettes, Pine Needle Beds & Cracked Teacups.

February 28, 2008 By Rebecca 4 Comments

I wanted to share with you all an excerpt from my ‘newsletter’ this week.

In sharing Delphie, with my subscribers, I wanted to explain a bit about the inspiration behind her sweet hand-made & hand-painted egg. Briefly, in her eBay listing I mentioned the artist who inspired the silhouette painting, but left much of the story out. Here’s the excerpt.

Delphie’s egg was inspired by an article in February’s Victoria magazine. The article featured the handcut silhouettes of Sharyn Sowell. When I saw them, I immediately fell in love. Sharyn is such a talented artist & snip, snip, snips the most beautiful, whimsical scenes. They inspired the painting on Delphi’s egg. And they’ve been on my mind since I first saw them.

Why was I so instantly attracted & head over heels in love with those silhouettes? A few days ago while painting the little black bunnies on Delphi’s egg, it came to me. They remind me of my favorite book as a child, The Boxcar Children. The illustrations in those books were simple black silhouettes depicting the brothers & sisters on their journey. As a child, I longed to be one of the boxcar children. Every night my mattress turned into pine needles. I imagined sipping cool milk from glass bottles & bathing in the creek. The thought of a simple stew made my belly rumble & I pined, yes p-i-n-e-d for chipped teacups & just enough plates to do. I often dragged my cousins & brother through the woods, in search of those perfect little items.

How funny that, in a way, I still have a want to be a Boxcar Child. Sweet, chipped dishes make me smile. Hairline cracks in ironstone or white porcelain make me swoon. So instead of getting tossed, those items get to hold my soaps or brooches or one dried, single rose. I no longer have the urge to sleep on a bed of pine needles & quite prefer my nice pillow-topped mattress. But I always hope that my stew turns out like the stew in my head…the stew the boxcar children ate after Henry brought home left over vegetables from the kind doctor’s garden. And I still imagine drinking cold milk from a glass bottle even though I really, rarely have an interest in milk.

There are pieces of that story inside me. The hows & whys run deep, I suspect. But how lovely, in the middle of an ordinary day, while flipping through a magazine, to be reminded of the girl you were so many years ago. Although it took quite a while to figure out why those little black silhouettes made my heart leap, they certainly did make it leap!

Ah, the things we fall in love with as a child.

Here is an example of Sharyn’s artwork. This was taken from the Victoria article. I am truly smitten.

Filed Under: Dolls, Favorites, My Appalachia Tagged With: handcut silhouettes, sharyn sowell, silhouettes, stories of childhood, the boxcar children

Delphie, whose Heart is as Tender as Spring

February 25, 2008 By Rebecca 2 Comments

I am so excited to introduce to you, Delphie. Like all of my dolls, this little lady is my original design and is guaranteed one of a kind art! She is 29" tall. She has been made of muslin & stuffed with fiberfill. Her lower torso has been rag-stuffed & bean filled in order to weight her little bottom. Delphie has been hand-painted & sanded, top to bottom many, many times. She has been treated to a series of paint washes, making her look "oh so vintage". Delphie’s arms are lightly wired & can be slightly posed.

Delphie’s tender little face has been needle-sculpted by hand, (nose & lip), and hand-painted. She is heavily detailed & features big brown eyes, peachy cheeks, warm rose lips & detailed eyebrows. She has been painted with premium acrylic paints and shaded & highlighted heavily with oil pastels & artist pencils. Delphie has been sealed top to bottom with a combination of glossy & matte acrylic sealer so that she may be lightly dusted after display & kept a lifetime.

Delphie’s fingers have been needle-sculpted by hand. She sports painted, white, elbow-length gloves. She also sports painted brown boots which have been highly detailed, right down to the laces & taupe socks.

Delphie’s apron dress is made from a striped, 100% cotton, Robert Kaufman print. It is truly supple & silky to the touch. It features two vintage mother of pearl buttons, in the front. Delphie’s blouse is made from white muslin & features hand-gathered sleeves & a fluffy collar made from lawn cotton. Delphie’s dress feature tons of hand-stitching! All visible hems have been hand-stitched (dress & sleeves), as well as the back of Delphie’s blouse. All clothing has been treated to a coffee and lavender bud bath for a slightly aged appearance. All pieces were then hand-washed & pressed with linen water.

Delphie carries the most grand egg! It is 7" tall & 5" wide at the widest point. (I’d hate to see that chicken!?!) Delphie’s egg has been made of paper clay & is not entirely smooth…there are bumps & uneven spots, adding to it’s hand-made charm. It is entirely hand-painted & was inspired by the handcut silhouettes of Sharyn Sowell. (She is brilliant!) It is lightly sealed with a matte acrylic sealer.

Delphie’s hair is 100% "dark brown" mohair. It is not nearly as red as in these photographs. It was lightly glued then carefully needle-felted to her head. I’ve styled her hair into loose pin curls at the nape.

Delphie is available on Ebay Feb 24th – March 2nd. She will end at 9:15 PM EST. Click here to view or bid.

Filed Under: Dolls, Easter Tagged With: easter doll, egg, silhouettes

Cecile & her Pink Rag Bunny.

February 18, 2008 By Rebecca 2 Comments

This charming little lady is Cecile. And Cecile takes her favorite doll EVERYWHERE. Like all my dolls, Cecile & her sweet rabbit are my original designs and are guaranteed one of a kind art! She is 27" tall while her rabbit is 17" tall. Cecile has been made of muslin & stuffed with fiberfill. Her lower torso has been rag-stuffed & bean filled in order to weight her little bottom. Cecile has been hand-painted & sanded, top to bottom many, many times. She has been treated to a series of paint washes, giving her a deeply aged patina. Cecile’s arms are lightly wired allowing her to hold her rabbit (rabbit does not sit on her own). Rabbit has been made from a super supple, Robert Kaufman, 100% cotton fabric. Her ears are lined with a sweet, 100% cotton, pink polka dot print.

Cecile’s sweet face has been needle-sculpted by hand, (nose & lip), and hand-painted. Her face is heavily detailed! She has been painted with premium acrylic paints and shaded & highlighted heavily with oil pastels. Her rag doll’s muzzle has been made from osnaburg & stitched on with invisible thread. Her pink little nose has been drawn with artist pencils. Her whiskers are heavy duty thread. Cecile has been sealed top to bottom with a combination of glossy & matte acrylic sealer so that she may be lightly dusted after display & kept a lifetime.

Both doll’s fingers (paws) have been needle-sculpted by hand. Cecile sports dark taupe painted gloves with painted white ruffles lining the edge. She also sports painted brown boots, with tons of painted straps & buttons & painted dark taupe socks with hand-painted white ruffles lining the edge.

Cecile’s apron skirt is made from a celery green 100% cotton damask print from Moda featuring white bunnies!!! Her blouse is made from white muslin & features hand-gathered sleeves & a vintage green button at the collar. Rabbit’s dress is made from a 100% cotton pink striped print. These dresses feature tons of hand-stitching. All visible hems have been hand-stitched (dress & sleeves). There is decorative hand-stitching around her collar. All clothing has been treated to a coffee and lavender bud bath for a slightly aged appearance. All pieces have been hand-washed & pressed with linen water.

Rabbit’s dress is finished in the back with a vintage, white button. Brown buttons grace the front of both dresses.

Cecile’s hair is 100% ‘honey blonde’ mohair. It was lightly glued then carefully needle-felted to her head. I’ve styled Cecile’s hair into loose braids, then fashioned them into a low side pony.

This little doll is available now on Ebay. She will end Sunday, Feb. 24, at 9:18 PM EST. (Had her scheduled to start at the wrong time! Whoops!) Click here to view or bid!

Filed Under: Dolls, Easter Tagged With: Easter Bunny, Rabbit, rag doll