Sunday Jan 31st

Good morning guys, I took yesterday off, no computer and no real work so I could hang out and just relax with the gang here :o)

The snow fell more during the night Friday, leaving enough snow for the kids to all have their fun in it and enough snow to make driving a hazard. It wasn't a ton of snow, maybe an inch or two...but it was enough to wreak havoc down here. For you guys who live up north where it actually snows, I know just over an inch of snow is a ridiculous amount but here in the south, a tiny bit of snow is a big deal. Since we have lived in the Memphis area, we have noticed we get snow at least once, maybe twice a year. I mean enough snow to make a snowman...it sticks around for a day or two but then it melts away. Case in point, by Tuesday I believe they are saying the temp will be up into the 50's so any snow still around by then will be gone. Needless to say, we still have some today so I am sure the kids will be out in it...we have lots of neat icicles hanging around out there...makes me think of the awesome artist Andy Goldsworthy If you haven't seen his documentary called Rivers and Tides you would enjoy it. I know we all did when we saw it years ago...my oldest artist kiddo was especially intrigued by it.

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Tomorrow is a new month which means a new giveaway will begin. I haven't figured out a name for her yet, but I promise you all will love her :o) All the info you will need to win her will be up tomorrow.

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Friday was busy. I think everyone was happy with the way things went down so I think I am going to keep the same routine going.

Monday...Clothes

Wednesday...Customs

Thursday...Flickr Preview

Friday...New Shop Cuties

I will have another 5 dolls to post this Friday. I have a ton of funky yarn in all sorts of colors for some incredibly cool hair...you'll like them :o) You will be able to see them on Thursday.

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I think That's it, folks are starting to move around here and I need some coffee :o) We'll see you guys tomorrow.

Stay warm and cozy

Peace

Friday Jan 29th

Good Morning folks.

It's upload day...yay! I finished Star last night and her pics are on Flickr now. The whole gang will be uploaded to Etsy today at 5:00 pm CST. Its been hard, but I am holding to my promise not to hold or reserve any of them so they are all still very much available and will be tonight.

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I made some changes to my shoes...changes for the better. Many of you already know that I am always looking for ways to improve. Recently I have been fixated on the shoes :o)

We all make them from felt and while felt is a wonderful, natural material, its just not sturdy enough for me, and well let's face it, after a while of being played with by little hands it gets all pilly.

This has bugged me for some time so I began trying to play around to find a way to make it better. I have found it...

Here are the new shoes...

They are felt lined and the soles are felt. The outside is cotton fabric. The cotton makes them as sturdy as the outfits they are made for yet still remaining all natural and soft. The result is a pair of shoes that fit well and will last for a very, very, very long time :o)

Also, this has opened up a whole new realm of fashion possibilities :o) I now have an unlimited array of shoe options for every occasion. SWEET!

The shoes in the image are my booties or ankle boots but I am working on versions of ballet slippers, mary janes and boots...and wait 'till you see the fairy shoes later today :o) I might even come up with sandals at some point...perhaps closer to summer :o)

I just wanted to share the latest improvement I have made.

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The poll is closed. Thank you for letting me know your thoughts, I think you will see that I have taken your recommendations to heart :o)

I will continue to make the mermaids both with permanent tails as well as a new mermaid princess that will come with a removable tail and extra dress so she has something to wear when she comes aground.

The fairies will have removable wings unless someone asks specifically that they be attached permanently for a custom :o)

Thanks guys.

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That's it for right now, I have things to get to today...we have a big winter storm pushing thru here right now, we are snug and comfy at home watching the freezing rain and sleet fall hoping it will soon switch over to snow...at least enough for the kids to play in for the day cause it will be melted in 2-3 days :o)

Have a great day, I will be back at 5:00

Peace

Flickr Preview

OK Guys, I have four of the five girls for this week uploaded to Flickr. Coral, Nova, Aurora and Luna are on the Flickr site. The last girl Star is going to be finished tonight.

The pics should be on the scrolling thingy to the right now.

Enjoy,

nancy

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SON!

Today is my second child's Birthday...He is now 14!

Wow! That's hard to grasp.

Its seems as though overnight my chubby baby boy went from being a baby who banged all day long on my pots and pans with a wooden spoon, then turned into a little boy who used my ottoman with rollers as a surf board in our living room to a teenager who plays drums and guitar, loves skateboarding and music and video games and is taller than me. He has to lean over to give me a hug :o(






Its funny, on his day both hubby and I are cooking for him all day :o) He has a laundry list of foods he wants which means I am spending the day in the kitchen :o) Hubby is currently making him pancakes this morning.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SON!

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Before I sign off for the day...at least until or so...I thought I would let you all know that I will be uploading some pics tonight to Flickr for a preview. I will not be holding or reserving any of them this week so what you see tonight will be there and available on Friday for the first person to snag them :o)

I am off for now...lots of baking to do :o)

Have a great day!

Had to show her off...

Want dreads? :o)

It's official...I am in love :o)

This little girl is one of the customs I am finishing up to be listed tomorrow. I had to show her off.

She has a full head of gorgeous hair mixed with some of the most awesome dread yarn I have seen yet.

Imagine this with some unique twists to it as well as some fairy wings and ensemble and you have a pretty good idea of what to expect on Friday :o) bwahahahah

Monday Jan 25th

Good Morning folks!

I hope you all had a great weekend, we had some lousy weather here but nothing too scary.

I worked over the weekend on the clothes to list today. The pirate costumes were just not coming together so they will not be listed today. I am going to work on them this week and hopefully they will be set next week. The vests and hats are an issue...but I'll get it worked out :o)

I will be uploading the clothes today starting at 5:00 pm CST.

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We have some good feedback on the poll...thanks for letting me hear your opinions. I have taken it to heart and suffice to say, I think you all will be happy this Friday :o)

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I think that is it for today. Its monday so we have lots going on...time to get off the computer for me :o) I will see you all later today.

Peace,

Nancy

Friday 22

Good morning all...

Thanks for all the messages about my new girls. I think they turned out adorable, its great to see you all agree :o)

I put up a poll (to the left) for you to let me know how you would like to see my enchanted friends from now on. I am wondering if I should start making them with removable wings and tail fins so they can be "regular" folks from time to time. I see some of you have already voted...thanks. For those who haven't yet, go ahead and let me hear your opinion. If I need to change things up, I will :o)

OK, today, or later this afternoon, I will be lsiting the three girls from flickr along with a few customs. I am wrapping up work on Clover and Lilly's sweaters this morning. Clover has a lime green sweater and Lilly has an orange one.

I will have more shop dolls for next week. You will see why not so many this week when you see the customs listed :o) Next week is a bit lighter so I can make a couple more shop cuties :o) I got some of the new yarn in and I am dying to use it :o) There will be at least two enchanted friends next week, Based on the outcome of the poll, they would be very different :o)

More dress ups are coming too...I have been seeing a pirate ensemble in my head for days now :o) I am going to have to see if I can translate it into reality this weekend :o)

Well, that is it for now, I hope its not too rainy where you are...then again, I do like the odd rainy day :o) Have a great day, and don't forget to let me hear your opinions :o)

Peace

Flikr

Well, the three shop girls I had been working on this week are listed on Flikr. They should be rotating on the side bar now :o)

They will be listed tomorrow afternoon along with a bunch of customs :o)

I think they turned out wonderful...

Wednesday...already

Ya know, I have been meaning to sit down all week so far and post something. I just never seemed to get around to it. With the normal chaos and hullabaloo around here the time just never really presented itself.

Well, I finally have some time so I figured that while I have this bit of semi-quiet time (the older kids are not downstairs yet so it's just myself and my "littles" hanging out...oh and their dollies too of course :o) ("the littles" is our code name for anyone under 9 around here)

Yesterday was just one of those days, you know the ones, when you are trying to focus and get something done but something inside just will not turn on. You sit and stare at the same paragraph for 30 minutes until you realize you have no idea what you are looking at. It was like that. I must have read one particular math word problem my DD was working on at least five times before it occurred to me that my focus was shot. Really though, why do we care how fast John will arrive somewhere if he takes a shortcut that takes 15 miles off of his trip but drives 4 miles per hour slower...I remembered that much at least :o)

Say it with me...word problems are the worse. Toss in some long division, fractions and solving for y and woohoo we have a party!

OK, I'll stop whining about math. I could go on for hours :o) That is why math and science are hubby's domain while art, literature and history are mine :o)

Today is starting out better. After sleeping with a dolly's hair in my face all night then being poked and whispered to for about 30 minutes by a little voice saying "wake up. I want chocolate milk" I was able to spend a few minutes hanging alone with the younger kiddos in relative quiet.

DS (13 stb 14) just woke up ...he comes down the stairs like a freight train. Seriously, he is the only person who is unaware of how big he is. He has grown so much in the past year. He still moves around like he is a little boy, but he is physically taller than I am :o) (Both of my older kiddos are now taller than I am. I am becoming the smallest person in the house ) When he comes downstairs, his first stop is always the kitchen. This kid is always eating food, preparing food or looking for food. His brother (12) is right there holding his own...not quite to the point of his older brother yet but we can see it coming.

DD (15) is still sleeping...with her teen dog :o) This dog thinks she is a teen girl...really. She even has emo days. The two of them would sleep all day if they could, then they would be up all night. Its OK though in a bit the others will head upstairs and as the wild rumpus begins, the two of them will get up and join the rest of us :o)

As for me, today I look forward to taking the four older kids out for "coffee" this afternoon. We'll hang out and hit some art supply stores as well as a bookstore or two then head home. Hubby gets to stay home and play with the "littles".

Hope you all have a great day...enjoy your "littles" they become "big folks" way too soon.

Have a great day...

Friday Jan 15

Good Morning All...

Hope you are having a good day. Its all busy and loud and funny here...typical morning :o)

I wrapped up some customs this week, I still have some work to do for the last one this week, she and her dressup will be ready tomorrow :o).

Next week is a whole new set of customs to work on. Yay!

I will be working on some more ballerina outfits. I cannot say how many I will list for sure yet but I do know there will at least be one pink and one purple...yep, purple :o) More really cute outfits as well.

For new dolls...

Today I am listing Noah and Autumn. It took me a bit longer to finish Noah than I thought but he is finally ready to go home :o)

I am working on a 12 inch baby doll and a couple of 16 inch dolls (both girls) as well as an aqua mermaid. I hope to have these listed throughout this week. Some more 12 inch dolls are coming as well...we will see if we can get to them or not this week.

We are busy working on the new website. Well making the old one actually work :o) I am absolutely in LOVE with the graphics :o) The images celebrate childhood in a real heartfelt way...I am pretty sure when you see them you all will agree. The new site will make it easier to order customs as everything will be there in plain view for you...no more paging thru hundreds of sold dolls :o) More news on that when we are ready...

Well, I guess that's it for now, I hope you all have a great day.

Monday Jan 11

I thought I would show off a couple of girls who are ready to go home that I have been working on.

Aisha's girl here...

She wanted a ballerina dress up too so I whipped this ensemble up for her :o) I am in love and I honestly don't know why I haven't made one earlier. Our QC crew are enthralled :o) Suffice to say,this outfit is completely approved by Rory and Shannon :o) and is now on their "gotta have" list.

Side note...for those not too familiar yet, Rory and Shannon are my two youngest kiddos they are 8 and 6. I call them my Quality Control (QC) group because they help me to make sure the things I make are sturdy :o) they do a lot to inspire me :o)

This is Sue Anne's girl. She will be going to one very lucky granddaughter real soon :o)

New this week?

There will be more mermaid dress ups listed today for 16 inch dolls as well as this awesome pink faerie dress up for a 16 inch doll.

I have more dolls for the shop that I am working on this week as well as the customs I have listed. Check out Flikr to see some pics. I am working on another autumn faerie this week :o)

Well that is about it for today...I am off to list some items in the shop.

Peace and warmth to all :o)

Thursday Jan 7 :o)

I have to come up with some snappier titles for my blog entries :o)

OK, so I promised a list of the customs for this month in order of when I intend to work on them and have them completed. I am listing them by weeks, which means that your doll will be complete by the end of that week. The weeks are starting on Mondays and ending on Sundays :o)

Here goes...

Remaining customs for Week of 1/4/10

Cathy 1078

Mumznewaddiction

Week of 1/11/10

Wormandwool

Cararaetullio

haemama

monpetitepoupee

Week of 1/18/10

Alitx99 (2)

Joeschmo

Mamabeargerhlin

Week of 1/25/10

Yvette

Redlebosch

Rosiemama

If you all have any questions convo me. As of right now this is the schedule. I intend to be sending off the last custom for the month by the 29th :o) Pretty busy, eh? You guys are awesome...you all are keeping me busy.

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On another note...I am wrapping up the sweater instructions...hopefully they will be ready soon :o)

I had a request for a ballerina dress up...been working on that, and it should be available shortly as well.

Another item that is new...Faerie Dress ups :o) Here is a picture of the first one. This is for a 12 inch doll and I will be listing it tomorrow. I am hoping to get a 16 inch one done in the next day or so...to maybe list on Monday or tomorrow if I can get it done today :o)

Anyway, it looks like that is it for today. It snowed here last night...not enough to be fun but just enough to be a bit white outside.

Have a great day folks...

Peace.

Tuesday, January 5

Looks like this year is going to be a busy one...busy is good :o)

I just wrapped up the photographs for the sweater instructions I have been working on...now all I need to do is sit down long enough to finish writing them out :o) So by the end of this month sweater knitting instructions will be available...Yay!

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Here is the first custom doll for 2010 for Rachelle. I am soo in love with her hair. The colors are gorgeous and the extra long "princess length" is wonderful.

She has the cutest sweater and ensemble featuring the "Sprites of Tillbrook". Way too cute.

She will be ready tomorrow.

January 2010...First Posting of the new year :o)

Happy New Year everyone! We all hope you had wonderful times with friends and family. The down time was a welcome change around here.

Here we are at the start of a new year...its cold outside. Some times I really like the winter, while others....I am pretty excited about what this new year will bring. I have lots of images in my head of things to make...hopefully I will get to them all in time :o)

January is pretty busy for me as well as February...my custom orders are sold out and I have opened up the March slots...busy, busy, busy. We have a move coming up too. You all will probably not notice it at all aside from the change of location on my Etsy front page :o)

We have our winner for the December giveaway...

CONGRATULATIONS GRACE!

Thank you for reminding me of a time long past in our family when hubby and I were young, new parents with one little baby and not many material possessions at all. Enjoy that time, it goes away too fast and the babies grow all too quickly into bigger kids then young adults :o)

Thanks so much to all the rest of you who entered, I really enjoyed reading your posts... They sounded so wonderful :o)

I am not sure if I am going to get around to a giveaway for January. We might just have to wait until February. Of course, I will post when I know what we are doing so stay tuned on that one.

Anyway, with all of that, I am off to update the shop and pull up the shutters on a new year :o) If you wish to know what is coming up, check out my Flikr app on the blog here. Images of the dolls to be posted will show up there at least a day prior to them being listed.

Have a great day. Here's to an awesome start to a new year!

Peace,

Nancy