Dolls after Sara

Just after sending Sara off I realized I really can't make dolls without knee dimples or bottoms and belly buttons anymore. And my customers who've seen pics of these features seem to expect them. So yes, from now on all my normal style dolls (16/17 inch and 18/19 inch) will come like this.
Just like Lucille (a wish list doll) and Tess (a rtg)!

Sara - a first

Finally Sara is ready to go. She's the first of my dolls with knee dimples, a bottom and a belly button!

She has brown hair made from handspun yarn by luxfish and blue eyes.

She's a real whirlwind and never wants to sit still. So I made her some fun clothes she can run around in, climb trees, hide in high grass run and skip...

Sara will be sold auction style in my hyenacart shop on Thursday, 17th of October. The auction will run from 9am until 9pm edt here.

Clothes - the difficult/fun choices

Not so long ago I always worried about the clothes for my dolls. I love knitting, so I worked on knitted tops a lot and just added simple boots and jeans or velour trousers. Always the safe choice, just like I  myself dress...

I also tried to tell myself that like me most buyers buy the doll and will put their style clothes on them anyway. But one day I looked at my daughter and I saw how much fun she has dressing herself, combining whatever she liked whether it supposedly matched or not. For over a year she refused to put on identical socks but always chose each sock for each foot! Clothes for her are not a worry but fun, something to enjoy and wear with a smile. So I decided to stop worrying and dress my dolls with a smile, choose more what my daughter would choose, not always take the safe choice but to combine what I think is fun. Clothes that would make my dolls and me smile!

And it works. I love their clothes now, I don't mind if the new family will just change them but I feel my dolls can have fun in those clothes, they will make other people smile just like my daughter sometimes does when she walks, skips or runs past.

My newest two dolls that have been waiting for clothes for a long time actually got the rest of their outfits today. The knitteds had been made a while ago but I never found the time to sew the rest. Clementine just seemed like fun from the start so it was easy. She's not perfect, has some wrinkles on her chin but she makes me smile with her freckles and her crazy hair.

Violet to me was the beauty and I was once again a bit afraid to clothe her. So I tried to take the safe choices again - also because I felt so many colours would clash with her hair. Then I imagined her beside Clementine and felt so sorry for her. Why just because she has no wrinkles on her neck can she not have fun clothes? Colours that clash, socks that don't match the rest of the clothes at all? Funny comfy velour shorts/ actually longer than shorts but short enough to show off her fun socks?

So here they are...
They will both be available in my hyenacart shop in the next couple of days, whenever I find time. They are fun and more than ready for new adventures!

Lucky charm: Stone with a natural hole

Violet and Nadine - two 19 inch dolls - Sneak Peeks

Nadine, the second 19 inch doll has a bit of a wrinkly neck. She's still sulking because I told her and told her I was very sorry because she's such a sweetheart. Before she went sulking in the corner she informed me that in fact her wrinkles were not worse than mine and did I tell everyone about mine? Like: Hi, my name is Monika, unfortunately I have a bit of a wrinkly chin? She might have a point there but I told her that some people would not love her if I didn't tell them that about her but that I'm sure we'll find a family who loves her just as she is 


Violet on the other hand to me is perfect, but my daughter complains about her hair being too short. It does look a bit messy when she takes them up in a ponytail.

We love them both very much so I'll take my time making clothes for them and decide how they will be offered for sale.

Mermaids - little girls

They are finally all ready! Three little (about 9 inches) mermaids, or little girls. 
They all come with a removable tail made from soft cotton velour and a crochet triangle top. And a dress for the time they spend on land.





I will sell them all auction style, in 24 hour auctions, every one starting one hour after the other in the order they were finished. I will do this this weekend in my Hyenacart Shop.

Socks

I so enjoy the time I get to spend with Anouk and Maple Lou. They are quite the pair. Anouk just keeps asking questions and Maple Lou sits there and makes you answer them all with her magical soft, understanding gaze.

They just couldn't believe me when I told them I used to go to work every day for about 10 hours in sensible business suits. Impossible!  And a confused look from Maple Lou. Well, it only looked sensible for other people, I assured them. I was me after all!
But how? Well, I wore a suit, yes, and those ankle boots with a medium heel. So of course nobody could see my socks, but I always knew what socks I wore and when I needed a break, a smile, I would mentally picture them... Of course they were never just black, they were also not the thin women's socks in any flesh colour. They were real socks I was always on the lookout for. My favourites were striped in orange and pink. Blue and green. Black with Woodstock on them. Woodstock? Yes, Woodstock, the yellow bird, Snoopy's best friend...
Ahhhhh... And a wonderful smile from Maple Lou. A cackling laugh from Anouk. 
A bit like your underwear, I say. Our underwear? Yes, whenever I think uf your panties it makes me smile and I know you're ready to take on the world with those. Have you not looked at yourselves in them? Not really, no... Go ahead...
And a wonderful smile from Maple Lou and a cackling laugh from Anouk as they stand in front of the mirror.
Whenever you feel down or insecure or just need that little something to lift your mood just think of your underwear and remember who you really are inside ;) Your little secret. Oh, but can we have socks as well, so we'll remember this afternoon all of us together?

How could I refuse.

UFOs

Quite a while ago I felt I wanted to make small dolls, so I made small doll heads but then realized that shipping would be the same price as for the bigger ones and maybe it wasn't such a good idea...
Then other dolls wanted to be made and from time to time I saw all those cute little doll heads with no faces lying amongst other unfinished objects in my to do basket. I finally felt bad for them and got to work once more. 3 of them now have a face, body and hair. Here they are.

They are quite happy running around naked and exploring the house at the moment but of course they'll need clothes before they'll be ready for travel. As they're only around 9 inches I'll need some quality focused time to work on their outfits and as I'm busy working on two bigger dolls and dolls from my wish list this just might take a while.
They tell me they don't mind as long as I don't mind the mischief they get up to ;)

Saying good-bye to my dolls

When I packed up my very first sold doll I knew it would become easier to send them off into the unknown big world once I'd sold a few.

But packing up and sending away Leni yesterday I realize it didn't. I feel the same sadness to see them go, the same doubt if they'll be loved in their new homes and the same fear that they'll get lost on the way and will never arrive...

Maybe I'm just not patient enough and it will get easier but just takes more dolls? Maybe I spend too much time with each doll because of my slow doll making pace and thus spend so much time with each one that I have to get overly attached?

Whatever it is, the sadness is lessened when I hear they have arrived and are loved in their new homes, when I get your thank yous, when a doll sells right away just seconds after I uploaded her like Leni did. It tells me someone wants her enough to wait in front of the computer and refreshes the page so they will not miss a chance to bring her home.

I feel blessed that I can create what I love and see my creations being loved!

Thank you very much for your support, your feedback, the pictures you send me of the dolls in their new homes having fun!

Larissa

With the holidays and the heat working on dolls has been a bit on the back burner. Maybe also because I enjoy the time while Larissa and Leni are still here with me.

In an earlier post I talked of Larissa's imperfections. Larissa had wild hair but some things about it bugged me so I completely redid it. Now it's still wild but the way it should be!

I'm still working on the shoes even though Larissa is trying to convince me that it's so much more fun barefoot anyway. But I told her the weather will change and she'll be glad to have the shoes - no need to wear them in weather like this when playing in the garden...

 I loved working on Larissa's sundress and I think she's very happy with it as well. Easy to take on and off (she does need some help tying it in the back though) and allowing her to run, jump and climb.

The good thing about her moving around all the time and refusing to be properly dressed is that I can show you the little imperfect seam. But psst, Larissa doesn't know about it as it doesn't keep her from doing anything and doesn't hurt her at all. It also isn't really in a place where she would see it ;)


Larissa is very confident and has lots of spirit and keeps asking when she can finally set out into the world and go exploring, make new friendships and maybe live in another country where she no doubt will learn the language very quickly - because she loves to talk, joke and laugh!

Back from the Holidays

I'm back from a wonderful surprisingly sunny holiday. We had lots of fun and explored the city, parks and beaches of Dublin!

My favourite beach ever... we stayed there for hours and enjoyed the sea and I collected stones with natural holes in them. You know what they say about stones with holes - one of my dolls will come with a necklace that will make her very lucky indeed ;)

We couldn't believe how hot it was so the time around noon was spent in parks with the littlest napping and the other relaxing...

Finding things to do inside wasn't too easy especially as there was no air conditioning - Ireland isn't really used to the heat.

I miss the green buses but these were a big hit for the little ones. And yes, we did sit on top in the front row every time of course ;)

Giveaway ;)

Fritzi has been my favourite baby style doll but for some reason she's still here with me. I didn't refresh her listing or reduce her price because she is dear to me - and in the back of my mind I kept trying to figure out what to do with her...

So, as we're soon leaving for our holidays where we're going to visit the city our daughter was born I thought this is the perfect time for a give-a-way. Please feel free to share or keep it to yourself ;)

If you would like to give Fritzi a loving home, please contact under this post. I only ask that you participate because you love Fritzi, not mainly because she's a free doll...

Larissa - a special girl

Larissa is a very special girl I'm working on at the moment. She has some imperfections but somehow the dolls I love the most always do. I need to stress she's not a boo boo doll - she will not fall apart or anything. And of course she considers herself perfect, including the hair that keeps sticking up no matter what ;)
I thought about keeping her because she's very dear to me, but my daughter insists she wants a blond doll...
So Larissa will be available in a special way - I'm still thinking about how.

She's a very spirited, wild doll. As soon as all her clothes are done I will post more pictures and also show you her little blemishes. By then I should know more about how she will be for sale.

Trying out new patterns

Some of you know I always make the pattern up as I knit. I do write down 2 to three numbers as a guideline but then I just go and see what I like and what I think suits the doll I'm knitting for.
Of course I lose lots of time trying an item on, starting over, frogging half of a top but somehow that seems to be how I love to work. I love the feeling of not having to produce something right away but to just go with it and do what I feel like. Of course it's even better when something turns out cuter than what I first had in mind because I changed my mind about the whole garment about 5 times while knitting ;)

Hope you like it too!

And the second redhead ;)

My trial run with wefts was a lot of work but I figured having learned so much it would be sad to not make more - plus I love the end result so much...
So here's the girl I'm working on at the moment. She's a custom so is already promised to someone ;)

Since I took this picture she's got a body and I'm currently working on her clothes...

Zora - my first wefted doll

Zora is my first wefted doll. I'm very happy with how she turned out and more wefted dolls will definitely happen ;)

Today Zora will be leaving for her new home - we wish her a nice journey!

Leni - a real summer girl

I'm happy to introduce Leni (she's called Elena but after cutting her hair for summer she told me she wants to be called Leni). She's been on the back burner for a while as I wasn't sure about what hair she would like. So I asked my daughter and this is the result!

Leni insists that it's too hot for clothes so she'll stay on a bit until I can convince her ;) Stay tuned...

Wish List

There have been a few requests for custom dolls and I've been thinking about how I would like to work in the future a lot.

As I'm not making a doll a week it's difficult for me to find a good time frame. I love to work on my dolls when I truly want to and not because I feel under pressure to meet a deadline. 

So I felt I will be starting a Wish List. People who would like to own a specific doll from me can be added to this list. Whenever I have the time I will just contact the first person on the list and see if they are still interested (as some time might have gone by since they were added) and talk about the details. When we agree to work together this will turn into a custom doll with a non refundable deposit and half the price due immediately so I can start working and the rest on completion of the doll ;) 

So if you're interested to be on this wish list, please comment on the post on my facebook page or send me pm on facebook...

Efraimsdotter

This is Efraimsdotter, she's a waldorf inspired doll and measures about 15 inches. Her body and arms are made from soft cotton velour, the legs and head from Swiss Cotton Jersey.
Her hair is meant to by styled in braids. It consists of different wool and cotton yarn attached to a mohair crochet cap.
Like all my dolls she's stuffed with clean carded wool, the eyes and mouth are embroidered with cotton thread, the cheeks blushed with wax crayon. She has freckles
painted on with a Kajal pencil. They and the cheeks can be refreshed when they become paler.
She wears stockings attached to her body with bottoms and handknit boots.
These dolls are collectables and not intended for small children or rough play due to long fibres and small parts.

If you would like to purchase Efraimsdotter please leave a comment with your name and e-mail address. I will choose a name next week.

She will be 180$ plus 20$ international shipping from Switzerland.

Rullgardina

This is Rullgardina, she's a waldorf inspired doll and measures about 15 inches. Her body and arms are made from soft cotton velour, the legs and head from Swiss Cotton Jersey.
Her hair is meant to by styled in braids. It consists of different wool and cotton yarn attached to a mohair crochet cap.
Like all my dolls she's stuffed with clean carded wool, the eyes and mouth are embroidered with cotton thread, the cheeks blushed with wax crayon. She has freckles
painted on with a Kajal pencil. They and the cheeks can be refreshed when they become paler.
She wears stockings attached to her body with bottoms and handknit boots.
These dolls are collectables and not intended for small children or rough play due to long fibres and small parts.

If you would like to purchase Efraimsdotter please leave a comment with your name and e-mail address. I will choose a name next week.

She will be 180$ plus 20$ international shipping from Switzerland.