Tuesday 25 December 2018

Happy Christmas!

Monday 24 December 2018

Advent Dolls

24th December 2018
I thought I should end with a baby, well two babies. The right hand one was from eBay and the little one from a charity shop. They live together on top of a doll sized wooden trunk in the back room, so are happy to be let out for Christmas!
Here they are crawling.

Sunday 23 December 2018

Advent Dolls

23rd December 2018

This wooden head is another of my favourites. He belonged to Andy's Dad, and used to stand on top of one of the bookshelves in his study. I wish I had asked him where the head is from, but I never did. He makes me think of a classical Greek character. I think he is for a puppet rather than a doll. 

Advent Dolls

22nd December 2018

 

 These two are from the antique shop in Greenwich. They are made on top of what look like old tins, and are not really in a good state. Their arms need re-stringing. I think their faces are so beautiful. They make me think of "Jane Eyre" and "Wuthering Heights", or possibly, "Gone With the Wind".

Friday 21 December 2018

Advent Dolls

21st December 2018 
The first topsy turvy dolls I came across were story telling ones, such as those with a wolf and a Little Red Riding Hood. I find them clever in how they are constructed, and have not ever made one, so don't exactly know how it is done. I have a collection of three graduated size black topsy turvy dolls, with bright cotton dresses and headscarves. I thing they are from the Caribbean. I got them at different times, and they make a nice group. I was trying to find out more about them and came across dolls that are black and white. Then I found information in different places about why they were made originally, which was for use by slave children. There are differing theories about how they were used. I refer you to this interesting article, and this one for some theories. After reading about these dolls, I was lucky enough to find one on eBay for the very reasonable price of £4! She is a Perrotti doll from the 1950s or 60s, and is similar in style to Lenci dolls, probably because  one of the Lenci designers moved to the Brazilian company at some point. 
I love the felt flowers and trim on the dresses, and the faces are so sweet. 



Thursday 20 December 2018

Advent Dolls

20th December 2018
 I saw a doll like this on eBay and either didn't win her or didn't try. She was one of those dolls made from a printed cotton pattern. I decided to make my own. She is cotton fabric, painted with gesso then acrylics. Her hat is the result of finally working out how fingers on gloves are made, but not actually making any gloves! I was looking through an interiors magazine a while after making her, and in some photos of a woman's house, spotted the exact same doll on her mantle piece.


Wednesday 19 December 2018

Advent Dolls

19th December 2018
These are my favourite Christmassy dolls. Especially the two biggest with their red boots and folky costumes. They often stand around the tree, and this year will stand on it.



Tuesday 18 December 2018

Advent Dolls

18th December 2018 
Two little felt dolls from a lovely toy shop in Amsterdam. 

Monday 17 December 2018

Advent Dolls

17th December 2018
This doll is from a local mental health charity shop which always has the best stuff and is very cheap. It often has dolls and I have found some great ones there. I think that this one is the kind of doll which would give doll dislikers the creeps. She even gives me the creeps a little with her vacant stare!

Sunday 16 December 2018

Advent Dolls

16th December 2018
This is another of my favourite dolls. She is a present from Linda Sue for my birthday two years ago. She has a very delicate face which is around her neck like a scarf, although it must originally have been on her face and has deteriorated. Remnants of the paint are still on her under face and I think she is beautiful. She has a very wise look.


Saturday 15 December 2018

Advent Dolls

15th December 2018
A cute doll card I found when tidying up the other night. No details on the back about her.

Friday 14 December 2018

Advent Dolls

14th December 2018
This doll is not the sort I usually collect. She is a bit too Victorian china doll for me. However, I didn't buy her. I had just taken a load of stuff to the charity shop, and dropped it all off at their back door. As I was leaving I saw her in the big wheelie bin at the back of the shop, so I saved her! She had a quite horrible dress on, so I didn't keep that. She has a lovely face and came with a doll stand. One day I may get around to making her some clothes, but until then she is happy to be wrapped in this lovely piece of velvet. 
  

Thursday 13 December 2018

Advent Dolls


13th December 2018
Please look away now if you are at all offended by nudity.
This little witch made me laugh one day in a charity shop, so she came home with me!
Shocking!

Advent Dolls

12th December 2018
Three little Chinese acrobat dolls. Their hands are sewn together so that they can grip their legs for tumbling purposes. Another eBay find.

Tuesday 11 December 2018

Advent Dolls

11th December 2018
Part of my collection of souvenir Scottish dolls. They are the closing eyes type of doll. Probably mostly from the 60's and 70's. I remember them in their little cellophane tubes. Although they are all similar, there are no two exactly the same, like snowflakes!

Monday 10 December 2018

Advent Dolls

10th December 2018


This week at school, our story is Little Red Riding Hood, hence today's choice. I have had this lovely doll for quite a long time. She was made by Vanessa Valencia of 'A Fanciful Twist' and is another of my favourites. (But don't tell the others!) 

Sunday 9 December 2018

Advent Dolls

9th December 2018
Another doll with a function today. A pen who will stand on your desk to cheer you up, though she actually stays near to the other dolls, preferring their company to mine! She is a Pylones product. I love going into their shop to see the latest whimsical things their designers have come up with!

Some more Tavistock pictures too. It rained all weekend, but it was that soft, misty sort of rain that I really like, and it made the town look even more beautiful I think.
 The Frog Prince was cosy in his knitting and sewing shop. 
 I just loved how the fish monger looked.


Advent Dolls

8th December 2018
Another wooden doll, this time in the form of a 1920's waitress, all ready to brush the cake crumbs from your table. I have only seen one of these-this one, and was happy to find her on eBay. 

We went to Devon this weekend, to stay in an amazing hotel which is a Tudor manor house. On Saturday we visited Tavistock, which is a very pretty town. As well as a great market, it also has a lovely old hotel called The Bedford. As it is Christmas, there were two huge wooden toy soldiers guarding the door. 


Advent Dolls

7th December 2018
A little late this weekend, as we were away.
This is one of my most precious dolls. She belonged to Andy's Mum Jean, and used to sit on the whatnot which we now have. She is quite frail in the knee area, and one of her lower legs falls off if I am not careful. She is a peg wooden doll and is probably 19th century. These type of dolls originated in the Netherlands and Germany. Children would be given them unclothed, and then make their clothes from scraps of fabric. Perhaps this little doll needs a dress!

Thursday 6 December 2018

Advent Dolls

6th December 2018


Today's pictures are from'Princess Mary's Gift Book', published in 1914. Sales of the book raised money for The Queen's Work for Women fund, which supported women's employment during World War One.

Wednesday 5 December 2018

Advent Dolls

5th December 2018
This is 'Scary Dolly', as named by the man in Hastings from whom I bought her. I love her face-she looks more scared than scary to me! 

Tuesday 4 December 2018

Advent Dolls

4th December 2018
This little boy is a modern doll and lives in one of my dolls houses. He is a Djeco doll and his Mum and Dad are called Gaspard and Romy, but I am not sure what his name is. He has quite a traditional bedroom with old fashioned toys and no technology as yet. Most importantly, he has a big cuddly teddy bear.