Museum 2011 Fundraiser & Drawing~

Not only is it that time of year, its past that time of year, I'm just slow at getting the new thermometer up! You will see it in the sidebar on the right, and has been tallied retro-actively. When we reach the top, I will hold the drawing, and this year, the premium will be a 12" Queen Anne type dollye of the winners choice~ as in, YES, a custom sculpted dollye just for them :)

Keeping my things here in tip top shape and stored properly is a difficult, and expensive task. Proper storage is just as important, if not more so, than display, in order to keep our precious bits of history around for future generations to study and learn from. Isn't the photo above captivating? This is the eye of one of my most coveted early wooden dolls here at the Museum~ she is a very early 18th century, possibly late 17th century, wooden fashion mannequin, sometimes referred to as the all elusive "Pandora Doll". Wooden dolls are extremely environmentally sensitive, as the wood, tho very old, still will expand and contract with changes in temperature & humidity. This year I am aiming high for a new climate control unit from Micro Climate Technologies in Toronto, the MCG4. I will be able to install this unit in my large glass display case, which will be the new permanent home for the early wooden above, as well as several others.

You can help bring a new MCG4 unit to the gallery by making any Diamond K Folk Art purchase, or by clicking the donate button in the sidebar~ please, please, do consider it. Every 25.00 in donation or purchase will earn one entry into the giveaway drawing. Words cannot express my gratitude to my readers, patrons and visitors. I am blessed, humbled and honored to care and share whatever I can, of our heritage with anyone who wishes to learn & be inspired.

5 New Dollies Tonight on the TDIPT Mercantile

If you have a moment, I hope you will stop by and say hello, 7 pm CST :)

And then there were.....SEVEN! Spring is here, officially at our little farm. Mamma Meisie popped out twins last evening at 7.30...I had been out sitting with the girls alot yesterday, and we talked about this.....and of coarse, the second I come in to get supper on, a neighbor driving up the canyon stops to say "uh.....do you know you have twins?". typical. They are big and healthy

2 boys. hopping and jumping around like popcorn this morning.

Mamma Kate, my sweetie, has been so uncomfortable as of late, could hardly get up or down, stumping around so stiff....reminded me of right before I had Pip...she started at 10pm, and around 1am we had triplets. Of coarse, this time, things didn't go so smooth, and I had to help, but the end result was all for good~ and Tressa was so excited

First we had just a hoof, just one, not two, and as much as I could feel, I felt no head, no other leg...just SO much parts and pieces all in there tied in a big knot. We had one hoof for just about 2 hours, when Kate was in much distress, as was I, I felt the baby had to have been dead, and so out she pushed & I pulled, SIDEWAYS, bent in a U...and that little bugger got straight up and is just as healthy as her brother & sister~ GOD BLESS!

Directly after, out came 2 hoofs and a head, except when it too became stuck and wouldn't budge, I realized that it was a front leg, and a back leg, so back in they went, and as soon as I straightened them out, out they came, well...not exactly as quick as a rocket, but pretty close. And in just a few minutes, we had 3 screaming little kids, small, but all happy and really mobile... they were up and about alot quicker than Meisie's were.

Here she is, the 'Sidewinder' I have named her....as all of Kate's family are named after movie stars, and all that kept coming to mind was Gene Wilder in the Frisco Kid, with his 'Sidewinder'.....

And here are our anxious onlookers~ been sitting here plastered to the fence all night, wanting to know whats going on! Lumpy, little Dixie, Yetti and his boy 'Jack'....who is almost as big as his Mamma Blanket who is out of the picture.

~ ~Welcome Welcome little Strangers~

La Petit Courier Des Dames, 1 April, 1836~

"There is, perhaps, nothing more difficult of attainment than the art of dressing well. The graceful adjustment of drapery, the perfect harmony of colors, the correct adaptation of the coiffure to the countenance; even the choice of the slipper and neatly-fitting glove, require a degree of taste and judgement that would surprise the un-initiated......

An eye as accurate as that which guides the painter in his task, a fancy as brilliant as that which inspires the delicate visions of the poet, are required to perfect that most fascinating of all earthly objects-- an elegant and well dressed woman. "

*Little Merrit Alsop would be pleased to meet your acquaintance at the TDIPT Mercantile, along with Mirwana, Bagg, Livy & Holley, at 7pm CST , April 14, 2011.

Constructing Marguarite's 17th century Embroidered Smock......

For those of you who are constructing a smock along with me, we are on to construction. Some are embroidering all their pieces first, depending on the blackwork pattern....I am staying true to the original c1575-1600 smock held in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, so my next step is to construct the body, so I can have a zillion seams to cover with my powder blue filament silk....YAY! NOT~ I have found embroidering these weensie motifs really challenging, they are so small, and all being the same, sorry to have to admit, but extremely boring to work. So much so, I was elated to stitch seams!

The original smock is made of a fine linen...I am using ramie for this one~ still a 100% natural fiber, and it is so thin and soft....just perfect for this scale I am working. Its basic construction is a rectangle for the front, one for the back, 2 small rectangle pieces that cover over the shoulders, 2 sleeves, and 2 sleeve underarm gussets. That's it~ very simple. I am making mine a little different, because I want it to look like it was pieced from scraps, AND, doing this will give me the lines I want in the front for my embroidery to go over, so I wont have to mark it. The original was indeed embroidered all the way around, but my Marguarite's will only have the vertical embroidery on the front seams.

So first, I am making up my front panel, which consists of 6 narrow widths, once this is finished, I will trim my back piece to the exact same width, and we will be on to the next step. I am using an awesome white Londenderry linen thread weight 100/3, just doing a back stitch, then will trim off one side seam allowance and turn to flat fell them, so there will be no raw edges. If you like, staying true to period, you can also turn and hem the edges of your pieces, then whip them together.

Queen Anne Dollye on eBay this evening & my latest Obsession.........

I listed a special girl on eBay this evening~ you can see her on eBay by following the link in the sidebar to my eBay Specials ;) I also wanted to share my latest obsession with you all~ cause if you know me, you will know I adore bunnies!

Ohhhhh just look at them all! Aren't they just the sweetest lil things? I am so proud of my daughter Tressa www.from-my-hands.blogspot.com ~ she made up the pattern herself and is crocheting like wildfire. She is always making little things to sell at school and such, and I think these are the best things she has made yet. If I had enough money, Id buy them all (yes, she makes me buy them) She is most defiantly taking advantage of me, but honestly, I don't mind Little twins she made me, one with a carrot, the other with a radish. These are much easier to take care of than real bunnies....tho they seem to be multiplying just as quickly...............

Mirwana~

A waye up to the attic little dollye lived, always hidden, always alone, longing for a new pet to steal her away... to drefs her and smother her with kifses. Years would pass, she still sat at the sill snug up against and gazing out the wavy panes of glass beyond the cobblestone streets and gardens below. Bound to the olde darke manor houfe, she had weaseled through and carefully repacked each and every box more times than she could remember. She loved the way the wide planke floors creaked softly when her feet patter'd across them. The smell of scent....and soot. She knew every nook and cranny, every crack in the daubed walls....every stick of straw. Her once cunning and fashionable drefs, now long worn through, had been unpick'd and resewn, unpick'd again and cut down and restitched again and again, until only precious bits of the cotton print remains. Her hair is quite long now, and a bit tussled....but why comb it~ there is no one to care if there is a spiders nest within.....and perhaps a spider would make nice company after all?

Waiting........

still and silent she waits,

dreaming to be stolen away and smother'd with kisfes