A Bit of From Nancy's Heart History II

PART TWO: the doll years

Hello again! So last time I left you with the promise of seeing some photos of the dolls

I made years ago.

A few of them were tucked away, poor babies, but this doll (seen below) is

sitting in my newly painted sitting room. You know, I forgot to check her out to see what year I made her, ( I would date them) but I know it was before 2000.

Well for a dolly that's over 10 years old, she's aging pretty well!

Her body is soft but the trick to give her some weight ~ split peas!

Yes! A part of her bum is filled with split peas.

Back in the 90's, my mom was in charge of making the bodies; she had a bag of dried split peas on hand and thought, "this may work"~ it did!

She, the dolly, not my mom, has a wooden head and a hand made wig that I finally figured out how to make after a year of gluing strands of hair piece by piece onto their heads!

I believe I was the one at the time who also had a wooden head. :D

Her dress is made of Calico and Corduroy; but what always caught a customer's eye ~ her shoes!

I ADORE shoes, so of course why wouldn't I put them on my dollies?!

I have to tell you about this great pair of red patent Mary Jane's I .... oh, I'm sorry, the dolls, yes. I had, just had, to put lacy socks on her too. It would be a sin not to have lacy socks with a nice pair of Mary Jane's

Below, are photos of dolls that were named: Halo Dolls.

And for the life of me, I can't remember now why I gave them that name!

At the time, especially when making dolls, I needed to have several different sizes and price points. Back then, they always had a problem standing.

I think they drank too much while I had them stored away... I know I would always hear music while in the workroom! ; D

I must say, thinking back to the times making these wonderful dolls, I did have fun and it gave me a bit of diversity; plus when I got bored painting... I just moved onto sewing!

The doll (above) is made of a combination of wood and of course her hand sewn dress.

So, there you have it in a quick nutshell ~ my dolls.

The dolls you see in this post were my samples and I've had offers to give them new homes; but I just can not bear to separate myself from them. That means something, right?

Well, I think 2011 may be the year of the dolly comeback!!

Are you happy to hear that Mom? I know that you are!

Tomorrow: My Greatest Dream Realized; but was it a Nightmare?

Customarily Yours

A few weeks ago, I received a request to customize a doll for a special 1st birthday celebration. Little Sadie Jane is the sunshine in her mother’s eyes and I was blessed to be able to be included in this special little girl’s 1st Birthday.

How special it is to be apart of someone’s life. I have been amazed, going into someone’s home (a friend’s friend whom I did not know) and found my ornaments hanging on their Christmas tree ~ that was an incredible surprise and one that I’ve never forgotten. So to have a request like this, just makes me feel so lucky.

Here’s Little Red in love stationery set created by Happy Papers Sadie’s mom picked for the party.

Isn’t it just lovely... she has so many of the sweetest downloads for your own graphics to use to celebrate that special event.

During the making of Little Sadie, I thought, after seeing the invitations that I should include some of the newest items that I’ve been experimenting with ~ lovely wooden mushrooms in pastel colors. So not only with Sadie have a special dolly but also some really cute mushrooms to remember me by!!

And here’s Little Sadie (pictured above)! In searching for material for this cutie, I found some big polka dotted red material but when my friend, Nancy, sent me some material that she had ~ there were several pieces for really cool fabrics, there it was, this wonderfully petite red polka dot material that was perfect for Little Sadie!!

So many thanks to my wonder pal, Nancy ~

And my best wishes to the lovely little girl who’s cute face will be covered in Birthday frosting in another few weeks!

If you know anyone who would also like a doll, just let me know... email me at fromnancysheart@yahoo.com or stop by the shoppe to pick the dolly for your celebration.