Pumpkin Beastie's

Vera is a Pumpkin Beastie - just because she's a beastie does not mean she is without manners.   This will be the first series of dolls I've created -  I did a Google search for pumpkins and was fascinated by the many colors so when I am done I will have a yellow, orange, white, green, blue & maybe a black Pumpkin Beastie too.   I am looking forward to making the blue beastie and maybe a gentleman or two!! 

Anyway Vera is about 7 inches tall and made with mostly vintage fabric and paper clay.  Her dress is an old log cabin quilt top with lots of odd colors & fabrics - these are dreamy, faded, last rose of summer colors.

Halloween is my absolute favorite holiday of all time.  One day each year I get to wear what I want & no one questions or comments on what I am wearing - Halloween is definitely for the fashionably challenged!!  Candy's not bad either....................  

Tullah

I know 2 posts in one week - I am certainly surprised beyond belief!!  I love Tullah's face, I love her hair- braided Warm & Natural cotton quilt batting.  Is it bad that I love my dolls?  Tullah has been a WIP for a very long time.  She was a frou frou fairy for awhile & then a  prim angel.  I think she just wants to be a boho, hippie bippy, tree hugging, sun tea loving Earth Mother.  The cat's name is Ponder and the lamb (once she has ears she will look like a lamb) is Bix.  Bix is a little on the ornery side, her fleece is not as white as snow and who in their right mind would follow a child to school?? (can you say Child Protective Services???) & Seriously - stay inside all day being quiet & still or spend the day outside gamboling about bucolic fields and meadows?  No brainer - Bix chooses frolicking!!  As for Ponder, she was named after a Terry Pratchett character, a wizard.  Ponder considers herself a fine candidate to be a Cunning Folk Companion.  She has been studying the Eglantine Stuebingglassmore Book of Familiar Studies for nigh on 67 years now.  (you get extra credit for using "nigh on" in a sentence) She specializes in Cunning Folk Recognition, Penumbral Light Location and Star Placement.  Historically Cunning Folk have not ever been known for their fashion sense so identification is not all that difficult.  Now the location of Penumbral Light that is a very delicate and serious matter, not often mastered by cat's as young as Miss Ponder.  These ladies all reside in a very small village filled with very curious folk.  Nether Beck sits on the edge of a dark forest, because all great fairy tales start out on the edge of a very dark forest..........

Thanks for stopping by & May all your Wild Alice Dreams come true!!

So here is my yearly post...well almost yearly.  I am working on quite a few dolls a pumpkin, cat, lamb, cow and maybe another cat.  The pumpkin girl is very frou frou - not sure what that is about.  I am much better at ugly than pretty.  Anyway her bodice & sleeves are made from old silk & linen that was dyed using avocado skins.  The fabric turned such a lovely shade of old pink - I can't for the life of me remember where I read it.  I threw the skins of 3 avocados in water with the fabric and about a teaspoon of salt & boiled it for about 10 minutes then let the water cool.  The wool & silk took the color the best.  I thought the cotton would have been the darkest - it came out the palest - still beautiful though.  Her skirt was a 1920's ball gown with a hand painted skirt. I used part of the underskirt & the lining.  I think her name will be Pom?

Gnome Sweet Gnome or There's Gnome Place Like Gnome

So I saw all these really cool Gnome Homes on Flickr and thought I would try creating one on the tree in my front yard.  I made a little mock up and used tacky glue to stick it on the tree.  Well it's been several weeks and several severe thunderstorms latter and the "mock up" is still in place. Who knew..... The paper bag mushrooms are a bit worse for the wear.  I added another mushroom with yellow polka dots.  I think I'll add some Gnome laundry and maybe a mailbox too.  Eventually I'll change out the door & window as well.  This is really fun!!

Thanks for stopping by!!

Thinking of summer

 A long time ago Alice knew a lovely woman from the deep south, her name was Miss Froufrou (yes I made up the Froufrou part) she wore flowery dresses made of chiffon and huge picture hats with long ribbon ties.  She always wore her dark red hair piled in curls on top of her head.  If you were going to create a poster of a true southern belle and you were 17 & living in New Jersey Miss Froufrou would be your poster child!!  Miss Froufrou had a really pronounced southern drawl.  She would say things like "I feel liaake the laaaasssssst rosssssse a ssssssumma".  She always spent a lot of time on her S's.  Alice wasn't sure what that meant but she liked the way it sounded, so dramatic and well... flowery.  It spoke to Alice of a romantic time gone by, of plantations and beautiful dresses, of handsome and mannerly young men and mint julep on the lawn.  Alice didn't like mint but it sounded soooo romantic.  Anyway - many years later Alice moved to Virginia & then Alice too felt like the last rose of summer.  There wasn't anything the slightest bit romantic about it.   Some things are best left to your dreams.
ohhh and Miss Froufrou was from Cape May which is the southern most city in New Jersey........