Here is the latest doll orphan I adopted and dressed. I crocheted this outfit while I sat in the gazebo with my favorite friend, my puppy, Marlee ...well Marlee is not exactly a puppy but all you pet owners out there will understand why I always will call my bichon my 'baby'. no matter how old she is..my love!

I love pink as you can tell. In creating this doll outfit, I was thinking of my dear friend who suffered from breast cancer. Therefore, I am naming the doll Dianne in her memory. Dianne also loved collecting Barbie dolls, and it was so sad her life was shortened at 50 years old by this dreaded disease..

I enjoyed every minute of designing this outfit and styling the doll's hair. Ain't she pretty?

QUOTE:

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart. - Helen Keller.

Crocheted Flapper Doll Outfit

Busy crocheting a flapper outfit for a Blythe doll...please visit again soon...I have some new photos coming soon of another outfit I have completed.

I am using a Skipper doll, Barbie's little sister with the same measurements as the Blythe doll I am crocheting the dress for. Here is the top completed...I have to add the beaded fringe yet. I think outfit is turning out pretty good, however the hat is much more work than the dress...just have the beaded fringe and embellishments to add. The purse is already made front and back and only needs the chain and embellishments added. I want to complete this order as my main priority for this week.

I know this doll is really quite funny looking, but has the same size body so she is okay for using as a model.

Leo Mol's Sculpture Garden

Let's go for a walk to view the amazing works sculpted by world renown sculptor, Leo Mol. Our city proudly represents Leo Mol's wonderful sculpted works and his legend.
Let me show you some photos of statues this remarkable sculptor contributed to us.

...oops, this is my DH and my baby bichon, Marlee...let's follow them...

"Walk a little slower Daddy", said a puppy so small,
"I'm following in your footsteps and I don't want to get lost".

..."Mommy I am tired...can you please carry me...then you can put me down to chase that squirrel I hear over there".

" ... but that girl does not have any clothes on!"

".... what are those little piggies doing?"

"Seeing all that water is making me thirsty...they have yucky stuff in the water that even chased away the ducks. Look, all the ducks have gone South for the winter. Mommy, I don't want winter to come here and cover all this stuff with snow."


"Everyone is eating around here...I am hungry...."

This is my favorite statue...Moses as God makes the Ten Commandment tablets.


Leo Mol loved nature as he sculpted animals, Mother Bear and Baby bear cub being one of his most popular works.

...oops, this photo should have been cropped.

Thank you for sharing some history with us. We had a wonderful time.

Copied from Wikipedia: Leo Mol, (January 15, 1915 – July 4, 2009) was a Ukrainian Canadian artist and sculptor. Born Leonid Molodozhanyn in Polonne, Ukraine, Mol studied sculpture at the Leningrad Academy of Arts from 1936 to 1940. Following the German invasion of the Soviet Union he moved to Germany where he was influenced by Arno Breker. In 1945, he moved to The Hague, and in December, 1948, he and his wife, Magareth (whom he married in 1943), emigrated to Winnipeg, Manitoba. More than three hundred of Mol's works are displayed in the Leo Mol Sculpture Garden in Winnipeg's Assiniboine Park. The garden was unveiled in 1992 and has been expanded twice since. It is supported by private donations, and Mol personally donated most of the sculpture. In 2002, his sculpture Lumberjacks was featured on a Canadian postage stamp. He was always known as a particularly prolific artist and some of his most famous works include likenesses of three different Popes which stand in museums in the Vatican. He also has a sculpture of Taras Shevchenko on display on Washington’s Embassy Row. Mol died July 4, 2009, at the Tache Centre medical facility in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He was 94.

Please come visit us again...we love bloggers and followers too....

DRESSING BARBIE - crocheting vs tatting

Just some little things I like to do...here is the last doll dress I crocheted. I used up two balls of this cotton thread and did not have enough to crochet a hat which I find usually completes an outfit properly, but here she is...I even did the hair...took me all afternoon.

You may have noticed that I am an avid DOLL collector. I started collecting dolls in 1990 when my DH presented me with a 1989 Happy Holiday Barbie doll as one of my Christmas gifts. Needless to say that doll brought me much joy, however I have been 'addicted' ever since (or obsessed as my friend's boyfriend said when he saw my doll house...yes I don't think there is one room in our house without a doll)...however I was thinking 'what to do' during my 'retirement' when I starting making dolls. Since 1994 I have taught many grandmothers porcelain doll making. What wonderful heirlooms dolls make.

My love of dolls seems to be growing as I age...even though I definitely do not purchase as many dolls. My mother even bought my doll from me from MY garage sale years before I took such an interest in doll collecting as a hobby. Perhaps Mother realized my love of dolls LONG before that as there are numerous childhood memories of Mother sewing us girls new doll clothes from 'recycled' scraps of material from a seamstress's e hoard! Both my sister and I would anxiously wait for mommy to finish our much treasured dolly outfit. I especially love a little sweater Mom knit for my dolly.

In 1991 I started making my own porcelain dolls after attending a Christmas craft sale where another doll sculptor was selling her one-of-a-kind dolls. She had sculpted a little doll which I immediately bought...believe me that doll has a face only a 'mother' could love as the face is so homely it is cute.

I had tried every hobby from cooking to stained glass and must say:

"Collecting dolls is better than doing cooking or housework!" Don't misunderstand me...I really used to love cooking and entertaining, but then something happened...having a family just was not meant to be for me....therefore I had a great excuse to spend more money on my dolls and their outfits than my own clothing. Aren't we fortunate to live in a country with luxury at our fingertips?

My DH seems to understand my love for doing my other numerous hobbies as he has taken over in my kitchen. (Shhh....it is not the greatest ladies as men 'never' clean up properly). My kitchen cupboards are in terrible shape...but I must not complain.

I love crocheting outfits for Barbie, and am adding the final touches to my 39th crocheted outfit since 2004. I have a Slideshow of some of my dolls in an earlier post. I find crocheting is easier than sewing, as I can easily crochet just about anywhere (even in the car while DH is driving). In fact I started a gold outfit identical to this pink one in the car. I have spent many hours crocheting out in my gazebo. Since my DH has installed the screen, I find the mosquitoes can no longer bother me. Mind you, I went out to gather up my supplies after dinner and two little sparrows were fluttering around INSIDE my gazebo. (shhh...don't tell my little bichon birds were invading her domain...she would have devoured them..or at least tried to catch them. To our horror she had a live bird in her mouth last summer and after an hor we finally figured out how to remove the poor birdie from her mouth...poor bird never survived it's ordeal.

Now tatting is not so easy for me. I had taught myself how to needle tat last summer from online instructions, however I have since forgotten everything. I admire my friend Tatting Chic who tats beautifully...someday soon I hope to tat as Tatting Chic tats. Learning how to shuttle tat is a MUST for me to do this winter.

Little girls like to play dolls (and sometimes big girls like to dress their dolls too). Recently I volunteered to be editor for our Manitoba Doll Club. In browsing the internet I found some great doll related material. If you can't sew and love dressing dolls, you may like to check out this site...it is FUN! Or if you have daughters, granddaughters, there are several online doll dressing sites and games to play...perhaps for those rainy days.

LINKS:
1. http://www.thedressingupgames.com/
2. http://www.thedollpalace.com
3. http://cartoon-dolls.blogspot.com/
Sites even have doll games!

Anyways, I think I have rambled on enough for today.

QUOTE FOR THE DAY:

"Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you may look back and find they were the BIG things".

Several web sites that I visit are written in a foreign language, then my friend who knows more about computers than I do informed me I can easily download a Google toolbar which has a 'TRANSLATE' icon which will translate to English just by CLICKING.
If you prefer not to download the Google toolbar, you have the option to click the link on the Google search page.
http://www.google.com/language_tools?hl=en
....this is very helpful to know. And it works!

September Tisket a Tasket Block Finished...ONLY 3 months to go!

My Scottish 'tail'...this block not only was scorched with my iron, it has quite a story.

I really wanted to make a pink poodle instead of the Scottie as I have a Bichon Frise, cousin to the poodle. But Mac, my DH wanted me to use the Scottish dog fabric I used for wee puppy instead of my buying MORE fabric!

Ms MacIntosh was so nervous about being late for school, she ate one of my 'pink' apples which caused her pink spots. And Marlee, our bichon was jealous of Mac's pink coat! She is happier now as she has a puppy to play with.

p.s. I made a deal with Marlee, gave her a blueberry facial and posted her photo in my Flickr 'photostream'...can't you just see the jealousy? I told her we will include her in next block...maybe. I am seriously thinking of doing a bichon for my Canadian version of the July block...
p.s.s. shhh...please don't tell Marlee the basket won Second prize blue ribbon!

I scorched my applique block with an IRON!

I had an accident with my quilting project just minutes away from completion, and I just about had a fit. I was pressing the block for photo and I accidentally scorched half of the block with my iron! I also wanted to let other members know what I did worked in case this happens to them.

I immediately ran to my computer and performed a Google search for removing iron scorches`, however most procedures were for removing scorches from iron itself, but this was more drastic...I had literally 'roasted' my finished block!

Several methods recommended hydrogen peroxide, but I did not have any in my house tht I could find. It was pouring rain out (whenever I sew, it RAINS!)I immediately ran to the store to purchase hydrogen peroxide.

I used a trial piece of fabric first to test if dye would run, but color did not run, so then I nervously tried HP solution directly on my finished block. Amazingly this removed the entire scorch from the fabric. Removal only took minutes! My DH had just come home and he wondered why I was so upset and suggested I CUT around my entire applique and stitch on a new piece of fabric. I had thought of immersing the entire block in tea to give it a vintage look...but all my HOURS of work had just looked so fresh and bright just minutes ago..)C:

Actually there is no water mark or any hint of my 'roasting' block nine. I was so relieved my block looks almost new again. I vow I will never use an iron directly on my applique block again.

If this happens to any other members, I am quite confident you can remove using the hydrogen peroxide method I found on Google.
Thank you Google for saving my hours of work!

Slideshow of some Barbie Doll Outfits I have crocheted 2004-2009

What's in YOUR project Bag?

Pat Sloan's newsletter sounds like FUN! So I joined. Check out what Pat writes:
"What's in YOUR project Bag?

I'm having such a GREAT time with my project bag I decided to issue a challenge! I want to see what's in YOUR project bag..include the bag and some contents!!!

We are loading photos at flickr CLICK HERE and chatting at the Quilt Mashup Forum... CLICK HERE.

There are some REALLY cool ideas, and some SUPER funny ones!!! Post your photo and be in the running. I'm giving away fabric bundles.. and maybe something else... mmmm... you don't want to miss out do you?"

...and the Mad Hatter's challenge has been extended...to September 15th but please check out the awesome entries already. You can always sign up for the next challenge she is planning!...read more here

" a brand NEW swap loaded and ready for you to play! I used the Turkey Tracks block because you'll have blocks by November. And I decided on a Red/White/Blue theme for them! Roberta made up the blocks to show you how awesome they will look. It's EASY applique .."