This little girl is Heidi, from the Swiss Alps. She is a character from a book by Johanna Spyri written in German in 1880. There are two books usually published in one volume and the tell the story of Heidi who is orphaned very young and goes to live with Aunt Dete before settling in the mountains with her Grandpa and the two goats Barli and Swanli. Life changes dramatically when Aunt Dete takes Heidi to be a companion to Clara in the Frankfurt. Pining for the mountains and her old life Heidi looses her joyful spirit and is so diminished the family return her to the mountains where Clara comes to visit. My Heidi is dressed in her best outfit for a visit from Clara. A full dirndl skirt with an embroidered felt and laced waistcoat with a pretty floral blouse. Wearing her trusty bobble hat and her stout felt boots she is still ready for a walk in the meadows. Carrying a tiny brooch in a hoop of the meadow which comes off and can be worn separately. In the story Heidi is described as having black hair and black eyes with a rosy complexion and always a smile. My Heidi has brown eyes because that is how I see her and curly wool tops in black for her hair. She was a joy to make and one of my favourite stories as a little girl.Heidis Lehr- und Wanderjahre und Heidi kann brauchen, was es gelernt hat xx
This is my first Coraline(Sold) and she was a delight to make.Dressed in her classic yellow coat with cropped jeans and a red leather bag, she is ready for an adventure.Her coat is lined with blue gingham to pick up the colours in her hair, which is blue wool tops. She is wearing a black and white stripped top to match her black and white stripped socks. She has her classic yellow boots with a black sole.Her eyes are bright blue frosted glass beads with a smile. In her pocket she carries a tiny Other Mother for company. Her coat is finished with lots of tiny buttons and cuff details with a pleated back.She is a OOAk doll and will not be repeated but I will revisit the character in the future. Coraline is one of my favourite film character being a lover of quirky animation and unusual stories!
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.
