HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Wow!
 I can hardly believe 2011 is over and we are heading into 2012.  Anyone else feel as thought this snuck up on them?

This dolly world we travel in is a very intense world.  It has made this past year to be a real exciting one.  I can honestly say I have run the full gamut of emotions from truly, deeply enjoying what I do to seriously considering closing it all down and going back to just being a homeschooling mom to six awesome kiddos.

  I know many of you have been right there with me and have been thru many of the same things...and we are still here :o)  I think we can be grateful for that...I know I am.  We have witnessed amazing feats of charity, compassion, strength and love from others, the kind that bring sweet tears of joy to your eyes...and then on the darker side, some of the most breathtaking cruelty any of us have ever seen.  

Its amazing how something so simple and so sweet could generate such powerful and opposite emotions. But that is indeed the nature of art...to be able to touch people so deeply both in a positive and  negative way. When looked at in this light,  I am truly blessed to have been able to create something that can touch the hearts of people in such profound ways.

Now, all of the ups and downs aside, I have to tell you I LOVE what I do...ups and downs and everything in between.  I love to create new little beings.  I love to see pictures of these sweet creatures being loved on by the little mamas and papas.  I love working with my sewing mamas.  And I love that this tiny little business is able to generate an income for these special, sweet ladies to be able to work from home while raising their precious little families.  I look forward to what is still to come and seeing what this little business becomes when it grows up.

Looking back, we introduced several new creatures this year.  Amberwings, Mystical Mamas, Familiars and our Storybook Characters but my absolute favorite of all has been our Mama Mades.  Working with and chatting with you awesome ladies has been pure joy...seeing many of you go from being a wee bit hesitant to a confident mama jumping into her second or third dolly...has truly been wonderful.  Seeing the pictures of and hearing the stories of the little folks loving on their blank, faceless dollies has been so so sweet.  Your sweetness and joy has given me so much this year.  

Thank you.

Looking forward, I am excited about what this new year will bring.  I have lots of new ideas for you that I think you will like.  The first of which we already kicked off...

Customs

We will offer custom slots every month on the first Tuesday of that month (this is posted on our calendar page)  These slots will be for the month following.  So for example, on Tuesday Jan 3, 2012, we will offer up several custom slots to be completed during the month of February 2012.  We will not go two months in advance or more, because we just do not want to be booked that far in advance.  These Custom slots will be uploaded regularly each month.  The majority of them will be buy now listings at a set price...occasionally we will put them up for auction...depending.  Not sure on that one yet, we will have to see.

Mama Made

Looking further into our calendar,  Mama Made items will be uploaded each week on Monday.  I will announce the time as we go, but it will always be on Monday. This includes all extra clothing as well.  RTG dolls will be uploaded every Thursday. For now we have set the time to fluctuate between 4pm central and 8 pm central.  If it appears we need to change that we will.  Preview pics will be up on Wednesdays.  I will try to get a more regular time on that one...for now, let's just say sometime Wednesday afternoon.

Stuffed Animals

I plan to bring those in more regularly.  I am working on new patterns for new types. I am also trying out different things in an attempt to bring their pricing down to a reasonable level.  As for how many each week? This is a tricky one, I need to find the right mama to work on them...so until I find her,  they will be sporadic. Basically put in uploads as I myself can get them made.  I know this mama is out there somewhere :o)  and I am pretty confident I will trip over her one day soon.

Blog


One of my goals this year is to put a little more work into this blog.  I think its wonderful to share things that happen around here each week with you.   FB is very immediate but it doesn't allow for a good long chat :o)

Online Helper

Another addition, my old friend and helper Mel is coming back on to help out on FB.  She is gonna be our resident FB cheerleader and helper thru uploads.  There really is not enough time in the day for me to get all I need to get done AND be on FB as much as is needed.  So she has jumped in to help out.  She will also take on the job of maintaining a list of dollies up for rehome and helping to facilitate them.  She will set that all up when she is ready...glad you are back with us mama.

FB VIP's

This is a new thing that we thought of as a neat way to thank those folks who are there and have been there all along.  This is specifically for you :o)  That is all I am gonna say about it for now,  in another week I will make a new post all about it to let you know exactly what it is and how it will work...I think you will be happy about it :o)

Finally,
I want to tell you all THANK YOU!  

From the bottom of my heart and soul.  Thank you for all of your support, enthusiasm and encouragement.  Thank you for being with us all and for helping us create this little business that has grown so much and has been able to make precious friends for big and little folks.  Thank you for helping me to create a little business that is able to pay some absolutely precious mamas to work at home while snuggling their nurslings.  

We would not be here if it weren't for all of you and all of your wonderful support...THANK YOU!

Have yourselves a wonderful, safe and happy New year!  May your new year be filled with peace, happiness, love and light.

Peace,
Nancy and all of us in the Mclaughlin home and at DFH

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New Year...New Look

In the spirit of always searching for ways to perfect my craft,  I decided I wanted to play around with my body patterns.  It's a never ending search to expand and perfect to push forward and see what comes from it all.  It is also incredibly fun to imagine up a new little being then try to work it out to make them in real life.

So after weeks of toiling away, working and reworking, I have come up with a perfect example of what I was trying to achieve.  I am pretty excited to show this off to you :o)

I wanted to stay with a one piece body style,  for sturdiness.  So the body and legs are all one piece.  There are some basic changes to the body sewing in order to allow for easy sitting.  Having the dolls able to sit has always been a must for me.  There is a whole lot more machine sewing on these guys.  

The feet are sewn in two pieces.  They are still rounded, but they are a bit longer than the usual upturned rounded toes.  This means a whole lot of different shoe options :o)  I have several ideas for really cute boots and sandals already being worked out.

The arms are more floppy but still sewn deep inside the body.  They have a full free range of movement without feeling as though they could be pulled off.

Their measurements are the same as our older, simpler style 15 inch body.  They are just more able to be moved about realistically.  Like I said, I am pretty pleased with this new style...I hope you all are as well.

This body style will only be available as our RTG or Custom style.  The simpler style bodies will remain the Mama Made style. 

Introducing...Mama Mades

Custom Dolls...

I know a lot of you have been thinking about custom dolls.  I receive numerous emails nearly every day from folks who have a very specific doll in mind and are looking for a custom slot. I will be honest, I would never have enough time available to get around to making as many customs as I receive requests...yes, it's that many. 

On my end, I cannot tell you how much fun I have been having these past couple weeks working on fewer dolls which gave me a chance to make them extremely special.  I think its fairly evident though :o)  I truly have so much fun playing around at my own pace, knitting and making new things for each doll. This is something I do not get to do very often because of the amount of time involved in making 20+ dolls each week

I spent a great deal of time thinking about these things lately.  

How to strike a balance between work and family.  How to find a way for mamas and papas to get the exact doll they have been wanting in time for a special day, birthday or holiday.  How to get to the point where I am only working on a super special few doll each week.

Well, I think we have found a solution...

Introducing...

"Mama Made"

"Mama Made" is the best made...we all know this :o)  

So What is it that we are talking about?  Mama Made is how we are gonna help you to get the exact doll you want..with just a little bit of extra effort on your part :o)  

Here is how it will work...

First, we have basic unfinished dolls :o)
This is exactly how they will come to you...a quality handcrafted adorable canvas waiting for your special touch.

We start by selling the blank bodies all fully assembled in 5 basic colors...Peach, Light Tan, Golden, Dark Tan and Chocolate.  Our initial line will be 15 inch bodies.
(Over time, if this goes well,  we hope to include 12 and 10 inch bodies as well.  Not right away though.)

Each body is made exactly like a DFH using the same perfectly tied and shaped heads.  Our expert sewing mamas will assemble these with the exact same eye for detail.  What is different?  Well, each Mama Made has a special Mama Made tag :o) 

The bodies come blank.
No face, no belly button, no clothes and no hair.
This is where you will come in...and don't worry, we will help you thru it step by step with full instructions and input on how to properly place your eyes and mouth.
You will not be alone :o)
We will have a special online, password protected online forum where you can get all the info you need from the ladies and myself as well as post pics of your progress and share this progress with other mamas making their special dollies.  Access to this page will be granted as soon as your Mama Made is on its way to you :o)
We want to make this fun and have a great community feel to it.

Next, we have hair.  

Of course you need access to the best yarns available for doll hair.  

We will offer the basic yarns we use for our own dolls....yep, the exact same yarns.  Boucle, dreads and mohair.  Both dyed and undyed (yep for those of you who wish, you will be able to dye your own).  Of course any art yarn will be up to you to find, but I think we can recommend some pretty awesome spinning mamas who could hook you right on up :o) 

How to attach the hair?  

You can choose any way you desire.
We will offer three basic ways with full instructions and input.
First, you can go the easiest route and simply sew the yarn into strips and then attach them directly to the head.  

Second, a little more labor intensive, you can attach a crocheted cap (we will have plenty of caps available) and attach each strand one by one using a latch hook.  Not too difficult but a lot more time consuming than the previous method.  

And finally third, a hybrid option...sew strips on top of the cap using our own DFH method..the one I used before I made the switch to our all over hair. 

Clothes...

We will have every article of clothes available..undies, shoes, pants, tops, pjs and dresses as well as the occasional dress up ensemble like fairies and mermaids :o) so you can dress your dolly however you wish.

We think this is a seriously wonderful opportunity for all of us.  

First and foremost, it is a wonderful way for you all to get a completely custom doll at the time you want it, without paying custom prices....sure, it will cost you your time and energy. 

We will give you top quality handwork...everyone knows our quality is exceptional and made to last.

With a little help from us, you will be able to make a special heirloom best friend for your sweeties.  

You have the luxury of taking your time getting each item...no need to rush to get it all at once...unless that is what you wish to do.  You can choose whether to use our yarns or get your own...you can buy our clothes and accessories or make your own.  

On my end,  I will be able to slow down a great deal and only make a small number of extra special dolls.  I will also be able to put the main focus of my time into my family again.

My sewing mamas Jo, Jess, Kristin, Kathy and Cherie all get to continue doing what they really enjoy. 

Like I said...win/win 

We will have our first launch of Mama Mades this week on Thursday in the morning.  They will be on a whole new page of their own with a cart system of their own...It will all be linked thru our website.  I will post a direct link on FB as soon as they go live.

Here is the cost break down:

Unfinished fully assembled 15 inch body $95.00

Crocheted caps $10.00
Hand dyed yarn in hanks of 100 yards to 125 yards will range between $20.00-$25.00 depending on the yarn used.
We will offer undyed hanks and cones of the same yarn.

Clothes:
Dresses $20.00
T-shirts $10.00
Pants $10.00
Undies $4.00
Shoes $20.00
Pj's $20.00

All other special outfits will be priced as our regular pricing that is all posted on our website under the FAQ section.

OK, that is it all broken down..I hope I didn't miss anything :o)  We are all pretty excited about it all...we hope you guys are as excited as we are :o)

Monday 9/5

Good Morning everyone!

I hope those of you in the US are having a fun, relaxing holiday weekend with your friends and families.

I wanted to take a moment to let you all know of some things we have been working on implementing behind the scenes here at DFH.

First up...

Hair

Earlier in the year, we started making Familiars.  Their hair was different than our usual dolls, it was made in a wig style.  It's crocheted as one piece with each hair strand pulled out stitch by stitch while its being made.  This is a fairly complicated stitch to learn, not one that a novice can pick up and perfect easily.  It takes some time to learn but the end result is positively stunning. The technique creates a full head of hair without being bulky.  It allows the hair to truly be styled every way imaginable.  

Over time, we changed over our Littles to have this same type of hair.  We call it All-Over-Hair  because we simply cannot find a better way to describe it :o)

For the first half of this year, I was the only person who was able to make these wigs so we reserved this style of hair for only a small grouping of dolls.  I wanted to do more with this.  So over the past couple months, Kristen has been working away behind the scenes learning this technique and perfecting it.  I am thrilled to say she got it down perfectly :o)

It is impossible to describe it to you clearly enough.  Here is a picture of the back of the head 

These strands are not latch hooked into a cap.  They are the cap :o) 

Here is a picture of it all styled up in pig tails

Crafting these little creatures is a learning and growing experience.  Over time, your style evolves naturally.  You improve things to make them better, and as you perfect new techniques, you add those in.  

This is one of those techniques.  

I am thrilled to say that from here on out,  all of our dolls will have this type of hair.  

Now,  a note about stocking...

"Pop In The Shop"

We have decided to start uploading a random group of RTG dolls (about 4)  every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  These will be random and no advance notification will take place on FB.  However, a watchful eye would be able to spot them on our flickr page the night before they are to be uploaded....just saying. 

The time of their upload will be random.  They will be posted in our Etsy shop that is linked directly from our website.  These dolls are available for purchase for whoever happens to pop by when they are up.

How will you know when there are some up?  Well,  you pop by the shop and see :o)  This little sweetie is one of the gals up today

Now, we have lots of customers.

Many who love the super fast RTG uploads one night a week so let's address that issue.

"Rapid Style RTG"

For those of you who love the super fast style uploads, we will still be doing our regular Thursday night RTG uploads.  Preview pics and all.  We will always set aside at least half of the weekly upload dolls for this style.  This week we will have 11 dolls for you. Preview pics for them will be posted on Thursday morning.

OK,  that's it for this morning.  I think I covered everything I needed to.  Thanks for reading :o)  have a great day everyone!

A Week at DFH - Thursday

Thursday

Well, we made it to Thursday, and I have been able to keep updating the blog each day :o)

Today is of course upload day which means lots of little behind the scenes things to do like prepping pics and prepping the upload listings themselves so they are all ready to go tonight.  

We also have a ton of other things going on with the dolls for next week...of course.

Today is head making day :o)  sounds weird, I know. 

 As many of you know,  Mr DFH has been making each and every one of the heads for our dolls for the past 2 years.  

He has the stronger hands for pulling that string really hard to get it all tied up nice and super tight.  He stepped in a couple years ago to help me out.  Making the heads is probably the most important aspect of making the dolls.  They have to be firm and well formed.  

Robert is pretty good at it.

In December of last year, he began training our son Hunter on how to do this task.  

Some of you guys will remember Hunter used to make all our wooden buttons :o) 

He wanted to do something else so he could earn some more money for a programming laptop as well as a set of new drum heads for his drum set and various other equipment related to music (he's a pretty awesome drummer and guitarist)  We had plenty of little things to do so Robert got him involved working with him.  

The two of them have been working together all year :o)  

Connor has recently decided he wanted to learn how to do this too so he sits and hangs out with them while they are working...training :o) 

He spends the time making everyone laugh (sometimes almost to tears).  

I guess you could say Connor adds the comic relief to our day :o)  

Yep all our heads are made by the McLaughlin guys right now :o) 

Next, of course is the making of those noses.  

That job is all mine :o)  I put each and every nose on each and every head.

Sometime today I will also start sewing on faces to the doll for next week.  

We also have all the various other day to day tasks around the house...schooling, driver's ed etc, etc, etc...the movement never stops around here.

This particular Thursday is also a pretty momentous day for all of us.  

Today is the initial launch of our new ad campaign with Mothering.com.  Yep, if you go on over there, our ads will be running in the forums area.

Here is one of them...

We're pretty excited about this new stage for us...I still cannot figure out how we got here, but here we are :o) 

OK...so I am off to make some breakfast for all of us before our day officially begins. 

 Have a great day everyone!  

We will see you all later tonight for the upload.

A Week at DFH - Wednesday

Wednesday

Is it Wednesday already?  The days kinda fly by.  

So, what happens on Wednesdays?  

Well, lots of last minute prepping of the dolls.  Hair trim and style, cheeks blushed, clothes put on so they all look gorgeous for their public debut later today.  Actually, I got that done late last night so I get some down time this morning to type this post and get some supply ordering done..yep it never ends :o)

Also, behind the scenes, we take the yarn that has been dyed up and plot out what we need for the next week.  

Here is a pic of some of the yarn dyed up yesterday...

Sometime in the later afternoon, our very own super crochet mama Kristen comes by to pick up and drop off.

Here she is...

Another super adorable mama, huh?

Kristen is amazing.  She is a super talented, super sweet mama of 2 adorable sweet heart girls.  She has never batted an eye when she shows up and I show her something I whipped up and ask her to figure out how I did it ( cause I am awesome at writing things down)  :o)  She smiles, goes home and gets on it and in literally no time at all, she is sending me pics of her own version...yep, she's pretty awesome.  Wait till you all see what we have been cooking up for you all in the coming week or so...you will see just how awesome Kristen is at crocheting...and you are gonna LOVE it.

Kristen is expecting her third kiddo right now, she has been pretty sick so she has not been her usual active self.  She had a difficult day yesterday so we are hoping she rests today and continues to do so for however long it takes her to rest up.  

Hear that mama?  Rest, nap, don't forget to eat, then rest and nap some more...oh...and drink some water :o)  we want you whole, energetic, healthy and happy.

OK so what else?  hmmm more training, dying and various other tasks.  Preview pics will be up later this afternoon around 4:00 pm central.

I think that about covers it all.  I guess I'd better get on some of my stuff now.  Have a great day, see you all later today with the previews.

A Week at DFH - Tuesday

Tuesday.

Another day another bunch of work to be done :o)

OK so Tuesdays,  are filled with lots of little tasks yet to be done.  

Today,  we will start prepping the dolls for this week's upload.  Trimming hair and last minute clothing changes because when laid out, I realized I wanted to go with a different look  (I tend to do that a lot..and yeah,  folks LOVE it when I do that). 

The absolutely wonderful mama of three adorable little people, Jess comes over to pick up and drop off. 

Here she is...

How adorable eh?  

She is so super sweet...all the ladies are.  She is an amazing sewer and don't even get me started on her three little cuties...seriously,  it is really hard not to just hug them to death when you see them...they are so PRECIOUS.  

Jess is extremely creative.  Right now she is taking it a little easy since she has a newborn (oh my gosh, he is absolutely squeezable) but as soon as she is ready, we will be tapping into that creativity to come up with even more fun things for you all so stay tuned for that.

This is what she picks up...

And, this is what she drops off...

Jess is pretty awesome :o)

So what else for today?  

Lots and lots of yarn to dye in prep for Kristen tomorrow, a few faces sewn onto a few dolls while I am waiting at the dentist's office as my three youngest get their teeth cleaned, sewing a couple last minute items, and wrapping it all up with Driver's Ed class for my 15 year old son. 

Yep, it's a glamorous life.

From time to time, the subject of getting a space to work from has come up.  

I guess you could say we could do it now and would grow into the space, so why not?   

After seriously mulling it over, I think it all comes down to the fact that if we had a space, we would need to have folks in it all day long working.  Including myself.  I would then be away from my family all day.  Since we homeschool, this would completely alter our lifestyle and that is something I am not willing to do.  We made the decision long ago to live a certain way and it is important to Robert and I that we continue to do so.  

So why not have a space and have someone else be there while I come and go?  

It's a pretty simple answer, I am not willing to have someone else do something I am not willing to do myself. I realize that there will probably come a time when we will absolutely NEED to move into a space...for now, it's not so much a necessity.  For now, we made the decision to keep plugging along like we are, growing our little troop of work at home mamas...and keeping them work at home mamas.  

It's pretty cool working this way, I mean think about it...

  We are not contributing to pollution (no mamas driving to work means no car exhaust), no time lost commuting and no stress of sitting in traffic.  By not spending the money on a space, we can use that money instead to hire another work at home mama or two :o)  DFH gets to grow with the help and expertise of happy mamas, putting all that positive energy into making our creatures.  And best of all,   these ladies get to spend precious time with their growing families. 

It's win, win

OK,  so that's it for today...I had better get some work done, that yarn is not going to dye itself :o)

Have a great day everyone, see you tomorrow.

A Week at DFH - Monday

  This week I will give you a run down of each day so you will get a chance to meet all the folks involved with making these wonderful creatures every week.  These are some pretty awesome folks,  you guys are gonna love them :o) Let's start with today

Monday.

This is the day Mr DFH processes the shipping. 

He's pretty organized so he makes it look easy. 

 Little known fact about Mr DFH,  he works from home full time as an IT geek :o) (he loves it when I call it that)  Anyway,  he spends his Monday doing conference calls, taking care of some sort of technical stuff on his computer (no, I do not know a better way to put that)  processing the shipping and of course helping out around here with the kiddos and all their various needs and issues.  Yeah, he's pretty awesome.

As for me,  I spend the day putting on all the noses and prepping bodies to go to the ladies for assembling as well as prepping for training (if any is going on that day)  This is also my day for planning out what exactly we all are gonna do for the next week both for the shop and the family.  Hair combos and clothes for this week's dolls are chosen and plotted out.   Types of dolls are also plotted out for the next week and lists are made with the head and body sizes. 

There is also the time set aside doing some sort of school related work with the kiddos...music classes, math, reading...you get the idea :o)

Sometime, in the afternoon The awesome and super sweet Jo comes by.

Here she is :o)

Isn't she so cute?  Jo is a rockstar...seriously.  She is a stay at home mama to two absolutely adorable and busy little guys, Blake and Chase.  Seriously, these two guys are absolutely precious.  Her hubby is really awesome too and a super cool dad.   (had to add that in :o)  She has a degree in economics...yeah she's pretty doggone smart :o)  

Jo comes by with about 12 bodies she spent the previous week assembling.  She also picks up another 12 to work on throughout the rest of this week as well as all the wool and various other supplies she needs.  I told you she was a rock star :o)

I cannot tell you how sweet she is and how cool it is to know her.  She's a perfectionist, making sure every stitch is perfect..but you guys already know that :o)

Another little behind the scenes helper, Brenna.  

For those of you who don't know yet, she is my gorgeous and super talented oldest daughter :o)  She's 16.

When she is not volunteering at In Sync Wild Cat Rescue, tooling around in her car or just plain hanging out, she is my side kick.  On Monday, her job primarily is to give me weird looks :o)  just kidding. She wraps yarn to be ready to dye.  

She will be starting college in January..so her schedule will be even more full by then.

This mama is Sissy.

Sissy is an awesome friend and neighbor who jumps in to help with just about everything as needed :o)  She is a stay at home mama of 4 awesome boys...three are nearly grown (24, 16, 15) and one little guy Tyler, is 4.  Tyler is way too cute and every bit the younger brother :o)  Seriously, all four of her boys are amazing.  

Sissy,  has helped me out with just about every aspect...she is always good for a laugh or two.  Today she is going to start taking over the animals and toddler doll assembly.  Thanks to her stepping in, we will be able to make sure there are some every week...she's pretty cool :o)

Later today,  I have a new mama coming over so she can train...in a month or so she will be ready to introduce to you guys :o)

OK, that is the list of things that happen on Monday :o)  I guess its time for me to get started on some of my work.

Thanks for reading today,  see you all tomorrow :o)

Update

It recently occurred to me that it has been a really long time since I sat down and put an update out there for you guys to let you know about our progress.  So many things have happened it's hard to pick a point to begin.

Let's go with the small things first.  My studio area is finally organized.  (yay!)  I know, it sounds so silly to put it down as an accomplishment, but for me, it really is.  Its kind of a signal to my subconscious self that things have changed.  There are a lot more people than myself involved on a regular basis in making these amazing creatures so setting up areas for everything so others can jump in and not have to find me to ask me where something is, is a huge change.

Along with this change, is the extremely difficult task of getting used to coordinating other people.  OK, let me just say,  business was NOT my field of study.  Personality-wise I have always been the type of person who worked alone and pretty much did what I wanted to when I wanted to do it.  A wee bit of an anarchist deep inside...come on, that cannot REALLY be a surprise to anyone :o) 

 I don't think I need to say that having a regular crew around makes it necessary to begin doing all kinds of things I never liked to do.  Things like, planning ahead...this took a great deal of retraining my brain to stop working in the here and now and move into the week or two out mode...my ladies and family can tell you this has not been easy.  Lots of talking to myself like a crazy person, writing things down and forgetting where I put them and the inevitable dropped ball (by yours truly)  :o)  

Deadlines...learning to be ok working within the confines of a tight schedule is NOT as easy as it seems. I now have a lot of respect for all of you who do this on a regular basis.  I still bristle a bit when I realize that I am now on a tight schedule where certain things MUST be done at certain times. There is always that little voice inside whispering to cut and run.  Just go and play for the day or the next several days...or a few months...you get the idea.

Learning to work from a business mindset.  I can tell you this was and is the MOST painful part of the whole process.  Did I mention I am NOT a business type person?  Balancing budgets and planning material purchases so that we always have enough materials around to continue working along, is a lot of work.  Thankfully, hubby is real good at that, so he does most of that for me.  Which is good because to be honest, I would rather be doing ANYTHING else.  This is his handy work :o)  he's so organized

Yep, that is the whole gang from this past Thursday night's upload :o)

Having a crew who depends on this business for income changes everything.  Its kinda like that transition we all went thru from single person to parent.  You were plugging along, taking care of your own needs, living your own life and all of a sudden, you have this person who is dependent on you to make sure their needs are met as well.  It is your responsibility to give them the tools they need to accomplish the basic things they need to.  In doing so, they end up having the freedom to live the lives they want.  Every one of our DFH mamas depend on this little business.  They all work from their homes on their schedules.  I get to see their sweet little kiddos when their mamas come by to drop off and pick up each week...I LOVE this part :o)  They depend on their incomes to help their families.  We depend on the work they all do to help our little business grow.  And all of us depend on your support so we can continue to do this. It's kinda cool if you think about it :o)

Starting out, I never had the mindset that we would end up here.  Never intended to start a business that would be such a huge part of the daily lives of myself and my family...not to mention such a huge part of the daily lives of so many other folks.  When I stop to think about it, its kinda cool to have this little group of work at home mamas, working away.  Looking back, I honestly cannot say how we got here.  Looking ahead,  I am pretty excited about what is still to come. To use one metaphor, its like a roller coaster ride...kinda scary at times but a whole lot of fun. 

Now, let's talk about dolls :o).  We are up to 20 dolls each week and sometime in the next week or two we will be up to making 22-25, plus 3-4 Critters.  This is huge guys.  I used to think I never wanted to get to this point but here we are.

It's funny how things change like that.  I can honestly say that this particular change is solely due to the super awesome sewing mamas I have around me (as well as my oh-so-amazing family) who work their creative fingers away each week helping to pull all this together for you all.  These folks are wonderful..I cannot tell you enough how fantastic they are.  I will introduce you all to them one by one next week in a group of daily blog posts that will take you thru our week one day at a time.  I am pretty excited about introducing you to the whole gang.  Seriously, they are all some pretty awesome folks.

OK,  that's it for this post.  I thank you all from the bottom of my heart,  it's been such an awesome ride so far,  I cannot tell you how thankful I am for this whole experience so far.  Have a great weekend.

Peace & Love

Nancy

Customs

Congratulations Jennifer E!

In response to the many requests for customs I have received, I have decided to take one custom at this time.

Here are the details:

You will get to choose hair, eyes, skin color and clothing style.

Skin: I will send a picture of your choices

Eyes:  pretty much any color you choose, as long as it is available to me

Hair:  I will send you an image of the natural color yarns you can choose from.  Dreads, nubby and boucle yarns can be hand dyed if that is what you want.  Please keep in mind that hand dying or kettle dying is not an exact process so sometimes the colors will be darker or lighter.
As for hand spun art yarn, if you wish to have hand spun yarn used, you will have to purchase the yarn and have it sent directly to me.  Before doing so,  please send me a link to the yarn so I can see the weight and let you know exactly how much you will need.

Familiars:  All animals must be chosen from the patterns we already have on hand. At the current moment, we have a horse, unicorn, frog, snake or dragon-fly

15 or 12 inch Clothes:  For girls, you may choose from either a play dress, sundress or t-shirt and jeans.  You can also add leggings or bloomers.  Undies and shoes will be chosen by me based on what fabric was chosen for the clothes.
For boys, you may choose a short or long sleeved t shirt, jeans, pants or shorts.  Shoes and undies will be chosen by me.

Mystical Mama clothing:  These will be chosen by me.  I will match them to the hair colors chosen. The mama will come wearing a dress, wings, undies and shoes.  The baby will be wearing a diaper and sleeper.

Littles Clothes: Girls come wearing a sundress and undies.  Boys wear a t-shirt and jeans or shorts.

Amberwing Clothes: These will either be a petal dress or tunic and pants and wings.  They will be made from batik fabric. I will choose this fabric to coordinate with the doll's hair.


Sweaters can be hand knit for you for an additional $35.00.  I will choose the yarn color to go with the fabric chosen.

Extra outfits can be added a la carte.  These will be subject to the fabric we have on hand and will be billed according to our regular pricing list.

Pricing

15 inch doll -  $300.00
10 inch Little - $250.00
12 inch doll - $300.00
12 inch Amberwing - $300.00
Familiar set - $400.00
Mystical Mama - $500.00

The slot will be given lottery style.  I will contact the winner thru email so be sure to include an email address when posting.  Full payment for the basic doll, including shipping, must be received in order to secure the slot. You will have 24 hours to complete this part otherwise the slot will go to the next person in line.

After that, you will have my full attention working on this.  I will communicate with you thru emails as we go thru your options.  Please allow 2-3 weeks for completion.

If you would like a chance for this slot,  please comment under this post.  A name will be chosen this evening (8/20) at 9:00 pm central time.  

Babette

Congratulations to her new mama!

Babette is a 15 inch tall girl by Dragonfly's Hollow.

$195.00 USD plus shipping

Please post below if you wish to purchase

Her skin is cotton interlock knit and she is stuffed with pure cleaned, carded wool. Her hair is 100% wool hand dyed yarn. Her eyes and mouth are hand embroidered with cotton floss.

She is wearing a gorgeous sun dress, panties and hand crocheted shoes. 

Like all our toys, she is made exceptionally sturdy to last a lifetime of play.

Small parts, not intended for small children under 3 years of age.

Her new mama will be chosen from the names who entered at 10:00 am central US time on Friday 8/19

Bailey

Congratulations! to her new mama!

Bailey is a 15 inch tall girl by Dragonfly's Hollow.

$195.00 USD plus shipping

Please post below if you wish to purchase

Her skin is cotton interlock knit and she is stuffed with pure cleaned, carded wool. Her hair is 100% wool hand dyed yarn. Her eyes and mouth are hand embroidered with cotton floss.

She is wearing a gorgeous sun dress, panties and hand crocheted shoes. 

Like all our toys, she is made exceptionally sturdy to last a lifetime of play.

Small parts, not intended for small children under 3 years of age.

Her new mama will be chosen from the names who entered at 10:00 am central US time on Friday 8/19

Bindi Scarlet-Flower

Congratulations!

Bindi Scarlet-Flower is a 12 inch tall Amberwing by Dragonfly's Hollow.

$175.00 USD plus shipping

Please comment below if you wish to purchase her

Her skin is cotton interlock knit and she is stuffed with pure cleaned, carded wool. Her hair is 100% wool yarn. It is all natural 100% wool of course. Her eyes and mouth are hand embroidered with cotton floss.

She is wearing a cute tunic top, shorts and undies. Her wings are brocade fabric and are fully detachable

She has a small vial containing fairy dust around her neck.

Like all our toys, she is made exceptionally sturdy to last a lifetime of play.

Small parts, not intended for small children under 3 years of age.

Her new mama will be chosen from the names who entered at 10:00 am central US time on Friday 8/19

Ben

Congratulations!

Ben is a 15 inch tall boy by Dragonfly's Hollow.

$195.00 USD plus shipping

Please post below if you wish to purchase

His skin is cotton interlock knit and he is stuffed with pure cleaned, carded wool. His hair is 100% wool yarn. His eyes and mouth are hand embroidered with cotton floss.

He is wearing a cotton interlock knit T shirt with short pants, underwear and hand crocheted shoes. 

Like all our toys, he is made exceptionally sturdy to last a lifetime of play.

Small parts, not intended for small children under 3 years of age.

Her new mama will be chosen from the names who entered at 10:00 am central US time on Friday 8/19