Recent Work

Little Miss Penelope

October 4, 2007 By Rebecca 2 Comments

Introducing Little Miss Penelope. She is 1/2 of a 2 doll set.

Available on eBay now through Monday, Oct.8th. Click here.

Penelope is such a sweet little wonder. She’s super ready for trick-or-treating & she has one goal: CANDY!

Penelope is my original design. She is 30" tall & made of muslin. I’ve stuffed Penelope with fiberfill. Her lower torso is rag-stuffed & bean filled in order to weight her little bottom. Penelope has been painted from head to toe. I then sanded her, painted her from head to toe again & sanded her again. I treated Penelope to a series of paint washes that make her look oh so vintage & maybe, just maybe, like a dollie some little girl loved so very long ago.

Penelope’s facial features (nose & bottom lip) have been needle sculpted & hand-painted. Her little bottom lip pouts. Her upper lip is simply painted. She has the rosiest cheeks & detailed eyebrows. Penelope’s features have been painted with premium acrylic paints & have been accented & shaded with oil pastels. Penelope has been sealed top to bottom with clear, glossy acrylic sealer so that she may be preserved beautifully over the years & kept a lifetime. Penelope’s gloved fingers have been needle-sculpted. She sports painted white gloves.

Penelope is also sporting some of the coolest vintage wingtips! Maybe she found them in her dad’s closet when constructing this costume. She has painted on laces & even hand-painted tread on the bottom of her shoes. Penelope is wearing white painted socks. Penelope is wearing a white muslin undershirt with a fluffy white voile collar. Penelope’s little bib skirt is made of vintage pink striped fabric & white muslin. I’ve dyed Penelope’s clothes in a coffee, lavender bud & vanilla bath. They do not smell however. I simply dyed them in those substances to obtain the proper color. I then hand-washed all her clothes after achieving the hue I sought. Penelope’s bibs are fastened in the front with two brown, vintage buttons.

Penelope has the coolest balloon! It was made from muslin, stuffed, painted, sanded, painted & sanded, then attached to a wire. The wire is wrapped & stitched securely to Penelope’s wrist. Her balloon has been stained & sealed with clear glossy acrylic sealer.

Penelope holds a banner that shows she means business. Candy, candy candy. That’s what this little girl wants. Penelope’s banner was made from a set of vintage stamps I acquired some time ago. Each letter is stamped onto taupe card stock with black ink.

Penelope’s hair is 100% raw wool. It has been lightly glued for extra stability & then carefully needle felted to her head. Her pigtails are fastened with little chocolate ribbons.

Filed Under: Dolls Tagged With: balloon, clown

While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks

October 4, 2007 By Rebecca Leave a Comment

This is a new set of 2007 Christmas ornaments. These sheep coordinate with my Little Believers Floral Angel set. These little babies have been made of sweet cotton prints. I hand-painted their cute little black faces, ears & legs. sanded them, & then painted them again. I stained their painted parts, then treated the whole ornament with a light paint wash to age the fabric. I attached a raffia bow around each neck & affixed a hem hanger to the top of each ornament. These ornaments as well as the Little Dreamers will be available soon on eBay. I’ll post a link to the auction here as soon as the item is listed.

Filed Under: Ornaments

Little Believers

October 4, 2007 By Rebecca Leave a Comment

This is my new collection of Christmas ornaments. There are five angels in this set. They’re made of muslin & stuffed with fiberfill. I’ve painted & sanded these dolls numerous times & treated them to a series of paint washes to truly grime them up. They wear little floral print dresses which have been coffee/lavender bud/vanilla dyed. They do not smell, however. The bottom hem & arm sleeves have been finished with hand stitching. The neckline remains tattered & raw. Each little apron has been made of muslin & dyed. There is hand-stitching on the apron. They are tied to the dolls with jute twine. These little babies have wings made from antique drawer pulls found in a local antique shop. I’ve stained them lightly to enhance & warm the color of the wood. The backs of the drawer pulls have been decoupaged with Christmas carol sheet music from a vintage hymnal. They’ve been paint washed, stained & sealed lightly. Each set of wings has been tied securely to the angel with hemp twine which crosses in front.

Each little angel carries her own banner. I’ve stamped the message onto taupe card stock with chocolate ink. The letters are attached to hemp twine & simply tied to their hands. Each comes finished with a hemp hanger.

These little girls will be available as a set on eBay later on in the season.

Filed Under: Christmas Ornies, Ornaments Tagged With: angels, christmas ornaments, Primitive, wooden wings

Miss Naoma

October 4, 2007 By Rebecca 2 Comments

Introducing Miss Naoma, the better half of my ‘Couple in Autumn’ dolls.

Like Virgil, her companion, Miss Naoma has been entirely hand-sewn. She is made of muslin fabric & stuffed with fiberfill. Naoma’s lower torso has been rag-stuffed & bean-filled. She has been painted & sanded, painted & sanded again, which gives her a leather-like feel. I treated Naoma to a series of washes to give her a beautiful, deeply aged patina. Her facial features & fingers & toes have been needle sculpted & hand painted with premium acrylic paints. Her wrinkles have been accentuated with oil pastels. Her hair (authentic, raw wool) has been lightly glued & then needle-felted to her head. Naoma has also been sealed with glossy acrylic sealer so that she can be preserved beautifully over the years.

Naoma’s clothes have been hand-sewn & treated to a lavender bud/tea bath. She sports bloomers, a blue print apron dress & linen undershirt. Her neckerchief is a vintage hankie with crochet trim & is fastened with a vintage clip-on earring.

Naoma carries a sunflower which has been treated to the same process. It was hand-sewn & hand-painted & sealed with clear glossy acrylic sealer.

Naoma is a big doll, measuring 34 inches.

Together, they make a lovely couple!

Filed Under: Dolls