Spring Showcase 2009....Inspirations

I sometimes hear a person say that they cannot find inspiration.....and have set out on a journey to find it. Secretly I am always thinking, 'how very sad'. I mean, for someone to be so blinded that they must go on the hunt for something to inspire.....when I feel the best inspiration comes from what is around us every day. I am inspired by so many things, I couldn't keep track if I wanted to.

Having 4 children is certainly an inspiration! My smallest, Pip, she loves to swing! She never tires of it, she could swing all day long, every day! We have had a terrifically mild winter so far here in southern Colorado. My Ma called week before last to tell me it was still snowing in Washington....to which I then had to get my camera and take a picture of Emma, playing outside in sandals, shorts, a tank top and the winter hat Grandma had made her....cause it was 70 something degrees here!

Spring....just thinking spring thoughts brings to mind this particular 18th century Fragonard painting...

I get to daydreaming about what it really looked like in the 18th century....I imagine the colors were spectacular. I could sit all day and daydream....which can serve as an inspiration all in itself! Sometimes I will be thinking about something so hard, my body will go into the autopilot mode, and half way thru doing the dishes, I will realize, 'Hey~ I'm doing the dishes!'

So I'm getting off track again....of which I do alot these days for some reason, but one thing that keeps coming back to my mind while I watch Pip swing, and Emma in her Spring clothes, and how I love the colors of the spring flowers.....is that Fragonard painting of the beautiful las on her swing......pay no mind to what those mischievous fellows are up to.....there she is just swinging away..............

Then I happened upon this wonderful antique doll, with her dress made entirely of shells! Do you have a guess at what my Spring Showcase will be this year?

Do drop by the TDIPT Mercantile this Jan 15th to find out! Until then, here is a little sneeky peek

It's time to play..............

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! Did you get anything special???? I mean.....that extra special something you have always wanted? Maybe you did ~ you just don't realize it yet! One year for Christmas, 1981 to be exact, Santa brought me a kit to make a dollhouse. I had always wanted one~ with lights and everything! It was a Greenleaf dollhouse kit~ all plywood that had to be punched out, sanded, and put together

I was 10 years old that Christmas.....and I can still remember being absolutely obsessed with building my new dollhouse! I had the entire dining room table all a mess....wood and glue and pieces everywhere......I can still see and hear my Pa walking thru, putting his hands on my shoulders and softly saying... "Do a good job now~ don't wanna rush" ....and when it came time to put the shingles on, I just could not go to bed until every last one was put on! I got the shell built before I had to go back to school, and a little at a time, I would work on my dollhouse. Id pick up bits here and there.....and spent hours and hours pouring thru Pa's Train catalogue, cause they had 1-1 scale wood mouldings in it too........

So Pa~ I have always taken your advise, and I hope that 27 years wasn't rushing it too much!

So come on in and play ~ will you?

I cant believe I finally have it finished~ just finished the porch railing today, and can call her d*o*n*e! Now I can spend the next 27 years finding and making neat little things to go inside! I have always thought of my house being an 1880 era farmhouse....but fell in love with the painting of the ship, so that is over my mantle, and I think the folk living here must be part of the Sea Trade....

My Ladye ( A beautiful one of a kind dolly by Marcia Backstrom) loves to sit at the window up in her bedroom and work on her sewing....I think she must be watching the horizon for her husbands ship to come sailing into port.... her sewing room is up in the tower.

Her Bodo Hennig treadle machine looks just like my White that I have here...........hmmmm, maybe the Ladye is 'me'

One of her little kittys, Curly, is wiggling and stretching on her bed. I made this quilt in 1987.

Heater is stoked with coal and warming up the bathroom for a nice long soak in the tub (I made all the furniture in the bedroom, bathroom, dining room, kitchen and parlour)

The olde pump organ has been the center of many a celebration

I think the dining room table is the first piece of furniture I made, its been so long I cant remember. I CAN remember the drawers of the sideboard are filled with teensy silverware!

My Ma made me the little crochet doily so long ago~ she was surprised the other day when I told her I still had it

Ohhh my kitchen~ a bit sparse....I need to get some food for it! I have always wanted an olde stove like this to cook on....was looking at one the other day, and at a price tag of 8 grand, looks like this is the only one I will ever have!

An attic just would not be complete without a beautiful wedding dress


Ladye keeps her dressing table so nice and neat....wonder what is in those drawers?


Thank you for stopping by to play! I absolutely love my Greenleaf Pierce dollhouse, and would highly recommend one to anyone as a gift that will last a lifetime!

Working dress......

Of all the wondrous treasures of costume that have survived to this day, I, and many others, hold the simple garb of the working man in highest regard. Even more precious to me, is that of a child. This is what a person wore every day, plain clothing that was worn until it was too small or too worn out, then was remade into something smaller, and then remade into rags or used as stuffing, or precious bits picked off and used in quilts and patchwork~ aprons, pockets, sewing roll ups~ you get the idea.....and especially a wonderful print such as this. BUT somewhere along the line, this little pinafore wasn't worn out, nor was it cut up for use in something else. These are the rare....no........super rare treasures that every now and again, let us peek into everyday living of our ancestors.


Children often wore a frock, or pinafore, over their clothing to keep them clean. ( Notice the placement of the stains in the very first picture~ perfectly in line with my mannequin's hands. Evidentally children have always wiped their hands on their clothes!) In the 18th century this was basically a rectangle of cloth, cut with slits for the arms to go thru, with maybe a drawstring at the neck. very simple. This pinafore is c1830. It could be made from an earlier piece of fabric, as the design has been hand painted to make the greens of the leaves. This was printed on a roller, then yellow was hand applied with a brush over the blue, to make green. It is entirely hand stitched in weensie teensie stitches~ some of the smallest I have seen.....20+ to the inch on one side only.


Beautiful print, and aside from a couple dark stains on the front, in immaculate condition


Original drawstring back, with a single carved mother of pearl button about 5" down from the neck. This button is original, and matches the other two, one on each sleeve cuff.


25" from neck to hem, this would have fit a child of 4 to 5 years old....maybe a bit older if they were very tall and skinny. The sleeves are very full, including the armscyes, which would enable them to fit over the large gigot sleeves of a young child's dress. This could have been either for a boy or a girl





The back opening button closure is reinforced on both sides, as are the armpits....which is quite interesting


Here is a closeup~ a double layer triangular piece stitched directly below the armscye on the inside. Also notice that instead of being placed right sides together and stitched, to attach the sleeve, both the upper sleeve's, and the pinafore's edges have been turned under and stitched neatly, before they were attached. No raw edges to unravel, someone certainly had years of hard wear intended for this when they lovingly made it. Realistically speaking, this was probably a favorite pinafore, and given the high child mortality in the early 19th century, the wearer most likely passed away, and this was kept for Dear fond remembrance.

Merry Christmas!

Dearest Friends and readers, can you believe another year has passed already? There are so many things that have happened this year in my life, so many to be thankful for....a few things I would like to forget forever. I have met so many new kindred spirits this year, in short, a Blessed life I do have, and I couldn't be happier. I wish all of you a Happy and SAFE Christmas~ not only do I wish for all your dreams to come true, I wish you a marvelous New 2009~ filled with family, happiness, good health and whatever it is that will make your spirit glow.

Pet Nelly is busy helping the dollys prepare for their little Christmas party tomorrow on Christmas Eve. There will be quaint music, and all will dance round the tree in the candlelight. We will sing my favorite 'Wexford Carol', and possibly embide in a little eggnog and sweets. After tucking everyone in to bed, I like to sit and gaze at the Christmas tree, all the little lights on it lit up, with no others. I love how it glows softly, and never seems to change! This is my favorite time of Christmas......

Pet Nelly will be offered in my ETSY store soon. She is a c1760 Queen Anne, antique brown glass eyes, and large pompadour 'do' of auburn mohair.

Beauty spots, real pearls.....and a silke ribbon stomacher she has

Sweet quaint little silke shoes too...

Until then, let the festivities of the season begin!

Dollys Dollys Dollys

I have been working working working ~ and thought I would share one of my more traditional, primitive 18th century Queen Anne dollys with you. I have made her special for Christmas and used only antique bits for her wardrobe, which are all fully removable for play , and include knit stockings, silke garters, little matching latchet buckled high heel shoes, petticoat, drefs, little stole and bonnet. I really Love making dollys!


Click on the picture to make it bigger, and you can appreciate the red top stitching on the back seams of her drefs. I made her bonnet out of a precious c1820 bit of hand embroidered sleeve cuff, with a mull crown.
'Dollye Bonnet' wears several strands of the absolute weensiest 1mm genuine turquoise beads around her neck, and antique brass ear bobs. As with many years of play on the original dollys, poor thing has bumped and chipped off the tip of her nose....I think it adds much character to her winsome portrait.....and her c1840 antique glass eyes

I love her primitive profile, very simple. I made her gown from the most perfect late 18th to early 19th c red toile. There are so many wonderfully reproduced cotton prints at the quilt markets, that do give a correct period impression, but there is just no substitute for the charm and aura a thing of age acquires over its years

I am working on another primitive Queen Anne dolly especially for my ETSY store, so if you like Dollye Bonnet, I think you will really like 'Pet Nelly', and hope you'll check back to meet her soon!

In the means, I wish you all a Very. Merry. Christmas!

Wont you Come....



To the TDIPT Mercantile on the 15th of December and meet Emily?


It has been cold and snowy here, and "I" had planned to make a prettiful winter dollye........but Emily had a difference of opinion......

She says she does not particularly care for the cold and snowy months, but would rather spend her time in the late Spring and earlie summer. She has picked a beautiful blue fondue ombre stripe for her pretty fan front gown, and pearls pearls pearls! She is always elbow deep into the jewelry drawer.....I just could not say no. I hope you can find time to stop by, and do say 'hello'

Wanted.... a HOME to call my own!

Anyone who knows me, knows that I specialize in early American children's basket purses. I love them. I have studied them for years, and am always on the hunt for wonderful new pieces. Well....its really nice to go hunting and come home victorious! I thought Id share my latest triumphant find....first, was this little cdv of a girl holding one. But not just any purse...hers has a HOUSE painted on it! By her bonnet, and this being a cdv, she most likely stood for her photograph around 1865-7ish. Its not hard to see why her Mama couldn't tell those big blue eyes 'No', when asked if she could have a pretty painted basket purse! Of all my years of scouring and searching, I have never seen another with a house! Christmas has indeed come early.....so I thought.

Not a week after acquiring that image, I was offered this little basket purse~ I couldn't believe it! One in the flesh, with a house. There are no words for my excitement! Sophie is so kind to hold it up for you to see~ it is painted both front and back with a pastoral scene including a white house with red roof & black windows, large green tree to its right, and all is set nicely into a tri color green landscape. The hinged lid is painted in blue dots. You can sort of see the other basket Sophie is holding, about 3x bigger. This one is meant for a smaller child, like the age in the cdv above. This basket is not exactly the same as in the picture above. Look closely and it has a band of openwork above the house, this one is solid....but, the house painted is nearly identical. I have examined the cdv thru my loupe, and the house has the exact number and placement of the windows, same colors and shape, the only difference is this one has a tree. The painter is most definitely the same, adding fuel for my argument that these purses were made, painted and sold commercially.