May Ye a Blessed Easter Have~

   Rejoice in life and family, and all the things that Bring Joy to your being~

New Dollys Available

Little Petit Four Ladyes

  Oh  Happye Daye!
Some new dollys are available in the Diamond K Folk Art Blog Shop~ just follow the link to the right to meet them

Santa Fe al la Todos Santos

 Sundaye Sweet Sundaye.....

  To continue our Santa Fe weekend, we started bright and early with last day of Bead Fest~ just like their mother, my children's favorite booth was the Kabba Brothers~( you can see the hanks of antique micro beads to the left of the snake beads), Josh bought a strand of the larger ones on the left,  and after wearing them to school all this past week, he is the envy of all his friends...

 Along side the Plaza in front of the Palace of the Governors Native American Indians sell their hand made treasures~ and when I say treasures~ I mean treasures! To be able to lay one's blanket out, the sellers must be/ have certified Native American made goods, and have been hand picked from a slew of contenders to sell there that day~ so each day you will find something different.  It is a great Honor to be able to sell there, and I felt, an ever greater honor to be in the presence of such great and talented people.

 We walked thru so many of the shops~ I wont even get into the 2,000.00 fur coat Emma wanted to try on.....a real favorite of the children was "Mama's Minerals". We have arrowheads and fossils on our property, so I knew the children would like this store when Janice took me in it on Saturday~ but they absolutely were in awe~ we probably spent over an hour in here, and even then I was nearly dragging them out....

  See the look on Josh's face~ every two seconds he was gasping and saying "WOW~ look at THIS...WOW~ look at THAT!"

  My babes are getting so big~ don't know where the time has gone. Don't you love the street side? As far down as you can see, is this wonderful long covered corridor, and every now and then a doorway to break up the solid adobe

 Here it is from across the street, a few doors down. It reminds me of a plain brown paper wrapped package....so plain on the outside, but holding some wonderful surprise inside!

 Taking a left thru one of those plain doors, one is transported into a beautiful hidden courtyard, or Plaza~ around which there are fabulous fabulous shops! Who knew Willy Wonka lived in Santa Fe...and went by the name of Hayward Simoneaux, the owner of Todos Santos!

  What is Todos Santos? The most wonderful little hole in the wall Chocolate shop ever!

  Just looking at the door, one cant really tell its a candy shop...but it looks Santa Fe Festive, and kind of reminds me of a fancy pinata~ a little peek beyond the door and the most marvelous surprises await you!

  He carries chocolates and candies from around the world~ and makes his own fantastic gourmet confections~

  everything is wrapped so pretty~ its just the most fabulous place!

 When I went with Janice I brought home these sweeties~ the chocolate sardines a gift to the children from her~ the other two I admit I bought without knowing what was inside them~ you know how I love a pretty package!

  The green paper wrapped metal tea canister was full of chocolate covered orange peel (oh my~ must. get. again.)...this is what was in the little box. We had to have a lottery and draw names to see who got what as no one could decide~ Josh got the mushroom that was filled with caramel in the stem, with a hard toffee cap...Tressa got the peanut butter egg with real edible gold leaf....Pip got the little chocolate nest and Emma drew the coveted bunny~ it was so cute she didn't want to eat it at first....he didn't last long after the first nibble tho.  Husband got the silver Jordan almond in the center.

 Of coarse Josh had to bring home something from Mama's Minerals~ its a Selenite Tower~ I think it looks like the Cryptonite from planet Crypton in the original Superman movie!

What a wonderful day we had~ can't wait to go back again and visit the Museums...and shops of coarse!  I love this picture...some would say they look wore out...but in our family, this is exactly what is looks like to be "Poop Tucker'd" as Pip says! 

New Life for an Olde Girl

26"  C1850 Kloster V Glass Eye China

When we parted last, as you recall, Olly was merrily trying out eyes. Not shown in my post before, was a set of early pupiless black pinch backs, what she would have originally had most likely.  She does look happy in them doesn't she.

   Both of us really liked these blues ones~ so we decided to give them a try. If set in correctly, eyes can be removed quite easily~ no big deal. Problems arise when dolly has been to Hospital previously, and her Dr. did not know to use plain plaster ~ and instead, used any one of a number of permanent fixatives~ I have seen a mache head filled to the brim with....construction adhesive of all things! There is no getting that out~ not ever~ and it makes an otherwise light head so heavy it endangers its own self, making the doll top heavy and more likely to fall over and break the head or other parts of the doll.

 I use plain ol Plaster of Paris~ not much is needed~ after setting the eyes, plaster is placed over the back of them just enough to hold them firmly in place~

  I use a spoon and puddle the plaster over the back of the eyes, picking up dolly many many times to check and be sure the eyes have not moved. When all is well, she will sit and dry for several days. Now the plaster sets quite rapidly~ within 30 minutes one can pick her up and have no fear of anything moving....but it does stay damp~ so I be sure to let the head set face down on a pillow, with neck open to get as much air flow over the plaster as possible. Before the head is put back on the body,  the cavity is stuffed with tissue paper~ not super hard, but quite firm.

  Here is Olly with her new, olde blue eyes, on her body that she came to me on~ a vintage body~ very nicely made, but quite new. No character what so ever. Above her you will see a wonderful olde all original body that is perfect for her~

  Her replaced china arms are very nice~ quite quite nice actually~ she could have once had china arms and legs, but I dont think I have ever seen a glass eye china with original china arms/legs. The leather ones show years of holding hands and having tea~ they are worn but so full of life still~ I adore them!

  I guess the only thing that really bugged me about her vintage replacement body was the legs~ what can I say, I am a Virgo and little things can drive me absolutely insane!  One can immediately tell the legs are new by the fact there is no wear on the bottom of the feet...no wear on the back of the heels from years of sitting. If you look at the arrows, you will see a tiny bit of wear....on the outside of the shoes~ well...at one point in time they were correctly to the outside~ whoever used them for this body put them on the wrong leg! That is amazing to me and just drives me crazy!  So no question~ this body is history! Out with the new, in with the olde!

  Olly got her new olde eyes, and her new olde body and had a wonderful time chatting it up with the girls for a week or so....but ultimately in the end, she really liked the early pupiless eyes best, so thats what Mommy gave her

  Her delightful little smile is ever so much brighter now, having her olde self back as it should be~

So proud of my Graceful Ladies~

  I am so proud of my new bunn feet! Here is a set while in process of being gilded~ before being burnished~ they are so awesome!

  I have always admired this type of foot~ not big and bold like so many of the bunn feet are, but very graceful and petite~ the most delicate looking of all feet I think. The above casket was sold by Christies in 2010~ I really like its feet~

 And this is a photo of T.98~1967 at the V & A Museum~ I like how the casket looks elevated above the feet~ so my design is kind of in the middle of these last two~ with long graceful neck and curvy body but still retaining a nice fat pot belly base

  Here they are installed on my Thistle Threads Flat Top casket. To me, the feet are just as important as the cabinet, they can either add to, or detract from the overall period impression

  A side view affords a look at their sleek profile. I like a more Roman Gold or matte,aged look to the finish, so did not burnish them to a high gloss after applying  22k gold leaf.

 My daughter thinks they look like chocolate drops, which, I guess they do~ just the kind of chocolates I like~ no calories!  Hand turned from maple and so smooth~ if you decide you would like to have a set, their finish is so buttery smooth, no sanding or gesso base is needed before gilding.  I call them my Graceful Ladies~ so pretty and curvy!

Of coarse my double casket from Thistle Threads is getting a set too~ I may flute these, I havent decided yet~ need to finish my flat top first!
 If you really love them and would like to purchase a set, you can find them in my Diamond K Folk Art Blog shop~ just click the link to the right.

2015 Bead Fest Santa Fe

Heaven on Earth!

What a fantabulous trip! This past weekend I drove down to visit a Dear friend, Janice, and attend the 2015 Santa Fe Bead Fest. To say it was a totally awesome trip would be an understatement~ I had the greatest time! There's nothing like staying up all hours of the night talking about embroidery and stitching! Friday I took my flat top casket in to Better Music Boxes (also in Santa Fe) to have the tempo adjusted~ Rick played the organ for me~ he is such a gifted musician~ what a treat!  Also got a first hand look at the machine Steve engineered that Rick uses to tune the combs, I regret not taking in my camera with me to share it all with you all~ after my appointment there I was off to see Janice before going to the Bead Fest Saturday.  Above is a view of the famed St Francis Cathedral just off the Plaza that was only a block from  Bead Fest. The plaza has been in use since 1601.....so I was right at home in the center of so much history!

 We were one of the first ones in on Saturday morning, which was nice to be able to navigate around before the crowds of people filed in~ in less than an hour, I can honestly say there were so many people, it was like being crammed in a jar of sardines.

 It was really a great show~ there were vendors from all over the world attending. Tables and tables of pearls~ glorious pearls~ with every bead you could imagine someplace amongst them

There were items for all budgets~  from dollar tables to tables like this one, crammed with piles and piles of rare and precious gems. The tray here in the foreground was filled with Laramar~ the large round strands were going for 600.00 each. They were really really gorgeous!

 My most favorite vendor was by far the Kabba Brothers~ based out of Hollywood, they are from Africa and import rare antique beads~ anything from Venetian glass, Baltic amber to African snake vertebrae (my sons favortie~ he brought home a strand!)  Just look at these gorgeous beads~ I could have stayed at his table the entire show

 Speaking of antique Venetian glass~ these are a gift from Janice ~ arent they the most glorious things! Soooo special, weensie little striped Venetian trade beads~ they will hold a special place on my flat top!

 I did pick up a few wonderful, tiny antique beads with my flat top casket and perhaps another beaded basket in mind~ all from the Kabba Brothers.  The tiny green stripe trade beads are so hard to find, I bought all he brought!

 Soo Yummy, here are some blues. He had mostly blues to choose from, which was really a treat, since blues are the hardest colors to come by now days

I cant wait to use these for something wonderful!  I had such a great time on Saturday, got back home around 10 pm that night, totally wiped out....and then got up Sunday morning, packed up the children and went back for another round~ just wait until you see the Chocolate Shop!

New Olde Eyes for Dollye

Some things just really bother me.....

 This olde girl's eyes have driven me crazy from the second we met~  Not only are they set all wrong~

 But they are at least three sizes too small, hastily replaced who knows how long ago along with her body. She is an early girl~ a wonderful  large mid 19th c pressed K.V. china head, nearly 7" tall with size 14 in black paint inside the shoulders~ and since on a replaced body  I have no bother taking the head off and removing these horrid eyes!  It is insensitive repairs like this that I really don't understand~ how could someone put in such small eyes one can literally see inside her head all the way around them? Poor girl~ Mummy will fix you all up.

  After removing the weensie sleep eyes, on lead  rocker no less.... here is a view of inside her head~ you can see if you look close, the seam where the back of her head was cut out to cut the sockets for her original glass eyes.

 We have spent this cold rainy day inside having some fun, trying on all sorts of different color eyes~ I really like this pair~ all of the eyes we have tried are period correct, antique eyes~ any of which she could have had originally.  We are trying for color~ I am just holding them in with my fingers, while taking a picture with my other hand, so they tend to be a little wonky pupil wise.

  This set is a brighter blue that really makes her look happy and cheerful

 This blue is the latest of the colors, the tone works well with her skin tone, but so many dollys have this color eyes....

  The brown I really like too, one doesnt see many brown eye dollys...  The first picture is the letter A color below~

Here you can see how subtle the color change between them is~ feel free to comment and let me know which color is your favorite!!