This little girl is Harleen, a baby Harley Quinn. For such an iconic character she made her first appearance in the Batman canon in 1992 in Batman's Animated Series only reaching the comics in 1993. I love the aesthetic, the black and red is so striking and she is such a fiesty character.Dressed in black and white Tim Holtz harlequin patterned fabric with a red dot cotton contrast, her jester collar is white cotton broderie anglais with tiny bells.She has bicoloured felt boots and carries what is to become her iconic mask with a tiny jester charm. Accented with black and white and red and white gingham ribbon and finished with lots of tiny buttons she is very smart in her best dress.Being a big fan of the bat she was a joy for me to make as were her sisters Poisen Ivy and Catwoman both as little girls. Just love Batman's Bad Girls!
This little girl is Iris and iris flowers are the bringers of hope in the language of flowers. She is one of five new Fairytale and Fable dolls now on the shop. From Coraline to Harley Quinn they reflect my favourites from contempory fairy story.This little girl is dressed in a Liberty print called Iris Muriel from Postcards from the Highlands collection. Teamed with lilac chambray and white tulle. She a single appliqued and embroidered iris flower to her apron while sporting a pretty sampler pillow.Made from Powder Puff wool felt, her face and hair are hand styled. Her hair being a warm lilac wool tops with her eyes a deep plum frosted glass. She is finished with a tweedy Rowan yarn bobble hat and wool felt boots.On this Easter Sunday, hope seemed the right message to offer. For all the madness in the world I hope you have a gentle Easter or Oestre, whichever is for you xx
Sam is a little hand embroidered wren gentleman with a yellow silk cravat. Hand embroidered with a range of brown and cream silks he is dressed in a little waistcoat with tweedy yarn dyed plus fours. His shirt is a mustard yellow shot cotton.He featured the new more birdy legs and has heavily embroidered wings and tail. He sports a tiny embroidered hoop containing a wee cross stitch wren. He is one of two gentleman birds, the other being Tom a blue tit gentleman. There is also a little girl wren called Win dressed to match his waitcoat in an Acufactum fabric called Bird Prince, which is beautiful.
Just listed on the shop are a range of little gifts I would normally make for shows. I cannot attend shows at the moment but I do like making the brooches, keyrings and coming little mice etc. I find the projects soothing and enjoy the end results.So there is a selection of Blossom Brooches in spring colours, each one in boxed so it will post well and each one is in a tiny 4cm hoop. There is also a tiny collection of Alium Brooches, more of them on the way and keyrings.As the season progresses and I have more time to sit and slow stitch there will be mice and hanging birds with other ideas worked out. We are having a garden day today, so like us, enjoy this amazing sunshine and have a great weekend xx
I thought I would share Bea, a little goldfinch doll with one of her pages from my sketch book.When creating a new bird I find watching the bird is always the best way to know the bird but drawing the bird also helps you to know plumage, My bird dolls are obviously very styalised, but my drawing are pretty literal. The bird dolls I make are always taken from birds in my garden and in the woods behind our bungalow. I feel I know them and can render them accurately. I also collect bird greeting cards for inspiration. There I look for highly styalised rendition to give me a glimpse of how others see the bird and yet you can still see it is a goldfinch or a chaffinch. Some of my favourites are Jane Crick's work and Isobel and Frank prints.
Rae is now complete and listed on my Folksy Shop. She is a gentle girl with a warm spirit. I love her fabric choices, they sit so well with her colours, so rich.To her heart she has rose quartz and rosemary in her stuffing. She carries a little cross stitch bullfinch cab and has the new birdier feet in a cool grey. She is finished with burgundy organza ribbon and tiny buttons. Beneath her dress is a little bullfinch tail and her wings are also heavily embroidered.I am truly enjoying making these little birds. To sit and watch them visit our garden while I slow stitch the plumage is such a joy. You feel a real connection.We have two of the most beautiful days here in Lancashire and we are off to the ducks at Martin Mere today. If you have it, enjoy the sunshine and the coming spring in the air xx
Looking closely at the embroidery of this little bullfinch. She is surrounded by the parts that make the doll whole. With her cab, wings and tail sitting on the fabric that will make her dress. She has the new bird feet too!The feather like stitch is an adapted fly stitch that I run to look like a feather pattern. Her that is in both black and grey. The pink stitching is random cross stitch in three shades layered to give such a rich look. The colours are chosen to sit somewhere between the make and female colouring to give a wholesome bullfinch feel.I particularly like the pinks, greys and black with this Acufactum fabric called Blossom Splendour with rich dahlias and nasturtiums in deep pink and orange.Each bird has a crystal to her heart and herbs in her stuffing to give a gentle scent. This little girl has rosemary and a piece of rose quartz for love xx
