Dragonfly's Hollow

Cinderella

2012-02-01T15:35:00.000-08:00

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

...They took her beautiful clothes away from her, dressed her in an old gray smock, and gave her wooden shoes. "Just look at the proud princess! How decked out she is!" they shouted and laughed as they led her into the kitchen.

There she had to do hard work from morning until evening, get up before daybreak, carry water, make the fires, cook, and wash. Besides this, the sisters did everything imaginable to hurt her. They made fun of her, scattered peas and lentils into the ashes for her, so that she had to sit and pick them out again. In the evening when she had worked herself weary, there was no bed for her. Instead she had to sleep by the hearth in the ashes.

And because she always looked dusty and dirty, they called her Cinderella.

One day it happened that the father was going to the fair, and he asked his two stepdaughters what he should bring back for them.
"Beautiful dresses," said the one.
"Pearls and jewels," said the other.
"And you, Cinderella," he said, "what do you want?"
"Father, break off for me the first twig that brushes against your hat on your way home."

So he bought beautiful dresses, pearls, and jewels for his two stepdaughters. On his way home, as he was riding through a green thicket, a hazel twig brushed against him and knocked off his hat. Then he broke off the twig and took it with him. Arriving home, he gave his stepdaughters the things that they had asked for, and he gave Cinderella the twig from the hazel bush.

Cinderella thanked him, went to her mother's grave, and planted the branch on it, and she wept so much that her tears fell upon it and watered it. It grew and became a beautiful tree.

Cinderella went to this tree three times every day, and beneath it she wept and prayed. A white bird came to the tree every time, and whenever she expressed a wish, the bird would throw down to her what she had wished for.

Now it happened that the king proclaimed a festival that was to last three days. All the beautiful young girls in the land were invited, so that his son could select a bride for himself. When the two stepsisters heard that they too had been invited, they were in high spirits.

They called Cinderella, saying, "Comb our hair for us. Brush our shoes and fasten our buckles. We are going to the festival at the king's castle."

Cinderella obeyed, but wept, because she too would have liked to go to the dance with them. She begged her stepmother to allow her to go.

"You, Cinderella?" she said. "You, all covered with dust and dirt, and you want to go to the festival?. You have neither clothes nor shoes, and yet you want to dance!"

However, because Cinderella kept asking, the stepmother finally said, "I have scattered a bowl of lentils into the ashes for you. If you can pick them out again in two hours, then you may go with us."

The girl went through the back door into the garden, and called out, "You tame pigeons, you turtledoves, and all you birds beneath the sky, come and help me to gather:

The good ones go into the pot,
The bad ones go into your crop."

Two white pigeons came in through the kitchen window, and then the turtledoves, and finally all the birds beneath the sky came whirring and swarming in, and lit around the ashes. The pigeons nodded their heads and began to pick, pick, pick, pick. And the others also began to pick, pick, pick, pick. They gathered all the good grains into the bowl. Hardly one hour had passed before they were finished, and they all flew out again.

The girl took the bowl to her stepmother, and was happy, thinking that now she would be allowed to go to the festival with them.

But the stepmother said, "No, Cinderella, you have no clothes, and you don't know how to dance. Everyone would only laugh at you."

Cinderella went to her mother's grave beneath the hazel tree, and cried out:

Shake and quiver, little tree,
Throw gold and silver down to me.

Then the bird threw a gold and silver dress down to her, and slippers embroidered with silk and silver. She quickly put on the dress and went to the festival.

...We all know how the rest of the story goes, so I will leave it at that.

This lady was pure joy to work on. It took me two weeks...she is truly a one of a kind creation. I put so much heart and soul into her, I have found it impossible for me to put a price on her. For this reason, I have decided to put her up auction style in our Hyena Cart shop. We will let you decide her price.

She comes with her full peasant ensemble consisting of chemise, brown lace up overdress, brown felt shoes, a white apron and knit head scarf...that also doubles as a shawl. She also has a tin bucket and a small hand knit cotton was rag to do her chores with.

She has two friends, white birds with glass beads for eyes. They are made from wool felt and stuffed with pure wool.

Her gorgeous ball gown is made from satin fabric with pure silk freestyle stitched around the bodice. It is embellished with silk flowers and glass beads. The ensemble also has hand crocheted shoes as well as a super luxurious hand knit cape that ties at the neck both are embellished with glass beads. She also has a head band made from braided wool and embellished with silk flowers and yes, glass beads.

Her auction will go live on Friday at 12:00 noon (central US time) and carry thru to Monday at 12:00 noon (central US time) I will post a direct link to it all on Friday.

FB VIP

2012-01-04T06:35:00.000-08:00

Introducing

FB VIP

What is it?

This is our way of saying THANK YOU! to those of you who have been around supporting us for a long time, to reward those of you who are here publicly cheering us on. It's also a way to get those silent folks...an incentive to jump in and join the conversation.

How will it work?

At random intervals, I will pop onto our FB page and just choose a person who I see, one who has posted or "liked" recent and past posts on our page.

One who I have seen around often.

I will then send a private FB message to that person with a thank you note and a special one time use VIP Code that will allow the person to call dibbs on any doll as well as give them a code that will take 20% off of the doll at checkout...

yep 20% off.

How's that for a thank you?

You get to pick your dream doll out of any upload and get 20% off! Full instructions on how to redeem it will be included with the note.

So, how do you get chosen?

It's pretty simple, really. All you have to do is be active on our FB page.

Post on our FB page, even if it is a simple "like" of a post, that will do. But you have to do it often and regularly, not just once in a while, or once a week...often.

Post, post, post.

The more often I see you on the page, the more likely you will be chosen.

Also, since the code is sent to you thru FB, you have to allow messaging so be sure to do that. If I cannot contact you privately, you will not be chosen.

When is it gonna start?

Today.

The first person will be chosen and messaged later today after the preview pics have been posted.

**Please note**

The FB VIP privilege is not transferrable. It can only be redeemed by the person it was issued to.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

2011-12-31T07:47:00.000-08:00

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

New Year...New Look

2011-12-27T12:28:00.000-08:00

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

2011-10-10T17:24:00.000-07:00

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

2011-09-05T07:48:00.000-07:00

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

2011-09-01T07:15:00.000-07:00

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

2011-08-31T08:37:00.000-07:00

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

2011-08-30T08:59:00.000-07:00

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

2011-08-29T07:43:00.000-07:00

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

2011-08-27T08:17:00.000-07:00

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

2011-08-20T06:09:00.000-07:00

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

2011-08-18T19:48:00.004-07:00

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

2011-08-18T19:48:00.003-07:00

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

2011-08-18T19:48:00.002-07:00

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

2011-08-18T19:48:00.001-07:00

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

Brenna

2011-08-18T19:48:00.000-07:00

Congratulations! to her new mama!

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

$195.00 USD plus shipping

Please comment below this post 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 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

CONGRATULATIONS MELI (Jam Clothing Co)

2011-07-21T10:20:00.000-07:00

Looks like Iris is all yours :o) Sent you a message thru etsy

Iris - a DFH Critter :o)

2011-07-20T15:28:00.000-07:00

Yep, decided to call these Critters...why not? lol

This here is Iris.

She is 8 inches tall by 10 inches from nose to backend :o)

Her body is cotton velour, super soft. She is stuffed with pure cleaned, carded wool. Her hair is a mix of hand dyed and bulky weight yarn

Her face is hand embroidered.

Her horn is made from brocade fabric.

Yep, she has a DFH tag :o)

She is $60.00 USD plus shipping and taxes if you live in the state of Texas.

If you would like to buy her, comment under this post.

Only once please.

I will leave the comments open until 12:00 pm central 7/21 (decided to go with this time to allow our overseas folks to have a chance) A name will be drawn from the posts here and a message will be sent requesting pp email and address. If your name is chosen, you will have until 5:00 pm to pay in full.

If by 5:00 pm the invoice is not paid, she will be put back into the upload group and uploaded at 9:00 pm central time with the rest of the dolls this week.

Good Luck everyone!

Amberwings

2011-06-02T06:46:00.000-07:00

If you look up what they are, you will find that they are a small, thin dragonfly. Kind of fitting don't you suppose?

A few months ago I was chatting with a sweet friend and she gave the name Amberwings.

From the moment she said the word I knew the name was special and it would only be fitting for a very unique little creature.

Thanks so much for the inspiration Jams.

I would like for you all to meet the

Amberwings.

These sweet creatures stand at 12 inches and are thinner than our usual 12 inch cuties. They have long legs and slender, longer arms. Their hair, aside from being very colorful, is made in the style of our all over hair. Each strand of hair is pulled out loop by loop, one by one as the cap is being made. The result is hair that is mutli-stylable and one piece.

They are all wearing adorable fairy petal dresses made using fabrics that highlight the colors of their hair. Their wings are dragonfly shaped and made out of shimmery brocade fabric. Each little creature has a small bottle of pixie dust that they wear around their necks by a thin leather cord.

Let's meet them one by one, shall we?

First up...

Allura Moonglow

Allura is a very timid fairy.

Sweet and delicate, she has a way about her that makes you want to pick her up and hold her which is just fine with her as she loves to hug and snuggle.

Her hair is a gorgeous mix of all the colors of a wildflower garden.

She adores wildflowers and has been known to wander and lose all track of time when she comes across a field full of gorgeous springtime colors. So she needs care and monitoring to make sure she doesn't wander too far.

Amber Jewelstar

Amber is very much the big sister.

She goes about caring for the other fairies around her, tending to scratches, sneezes and all manner of questions that the younger fairies will bring to her.

She loves to draw and paint. She could spend all day creating new works of art to hang on the walls.

She spends the evening watching over her friends, always there to help calm a bad dream or snuggle closer when needed. She has the ability to hug away the pain of cuts and scrapes.

Nixie Timbersprite

Nixie is a friendly outgoing girl.

She's easy to get along with and can bring out a smile on anyone's face. She loves being by water of any type but her absolute favorite body of water are waterfalls. The sound of the steady flow of the water falling can lull her into a quiet calm mood. She has been known to sit for hours by a waterfall and daze off into the mist.

Nixie is a wonderful story teller. At night, after the sun has set, she will sit with her friends and tell them stories of far away places and marvelous journeys.

Ember Rainflower

Witty and outgoing, this little girl is always doing something.

She has a wonderful sense of humor and can be quite mischievous at times. She loves to make her friends giggle so much that their tummy muscles start to ache a bit.

She is always climbing up into trees or playing in the garden. She loves to play hide and go seek as she is an expert at finding wonderful hiding places.

Though she is very active most of the time, she does have her very sweet side. At night when the sun is low, she loves to snuggle up close and listen to a story as she drifts off to sleep to dream of the many adventures she will have the next day.

Amberwings are very special little fairies.

Each one is unique and full of their own special characteristics. They love making new friends and are particularly loyal to them.

Each one has a small jar of fairy dust. They use this to help make tears turn into laughter, boo boos hurt a whole lot less and of course to chase away bad dreams.

Travels with Lunette

2011-05-10T07:19:00.000-07:00

This is Lunette

A sweet doll making friend of mine made an adorable doll. She has decided to share her with many of her fellow doll making friends :o) myself included

So this sweetie was packed up and sent off to her first destination...in Alaska. She will slowly make her way around the globe from the US, to Europe and Canada and finally Australia.

Each of us will have a period of time to enjoy her and will add something of our own unique making to her.

So fun!

We are tracking her progress on a special blog that was created for her. Here is a link http://travelswithlunette.blogspot.com/

Drop by occasionally and follow along :o)

DIBS!

2011-04-25T08:38:00.001-07:00

“I call dibs!”

Remember that one?

We wanted to do something that would both be fun and rewarding for you guys as well as help us to grow. So this is what we decided to do.

“DIBS!”

Yep, it means what you think it does. One person will be given the right to call dibs on their dream doll out of one upload. This means that that doll is theirs alone for purchase. We will send you a paypal invoice to pay…no upload angst or stress.

Here is how we will do it:

“DIBS!” every 100 – every time we reach another 100 followers on fb, we will draw a new name and mail out the card.

“DIBS +10!” every 500 – this drawing will have a twist. The dibs winner will also get a discount of 10% off of that very doll…uh huh

The drawing winners will receive a Dibs card in the mail. The card will have their name on it as well as their one of a kind, one time use code. You will have 12 months to use your dibs code.

Each dibs winner is allowed to purchase ONE doll of their choosing ONE time from any upload. It is not transferable. It is only valid for the original winner.

To Enter:

Send an email to

dibs@dragonflyshollow.com

In it be sure to include:

Your full name and complete mailing address. Make sure this info is correct.

We will have our first drawing when we reach 2100 followers

To Redeem:

Every Wednesday we post preview pics on our page of the dolls to be uploaded the following Thursday evening. If you are a dibs holder and your dream doll is in that upload, you simply send us an email with your name, shipping address, Paypal email address and dibs code along with which doll it is you wish to call dibs on. Shipping info and dibs code must match our entry records.

We will pull that doll from the upload and send you a Paypal invoice for that doll. If you are Dibs +10 holder, the price will reflect the discount.

You must notify us by 9 am central time on the day of the upload if there is a doll you wish to call dibs on. This way we can be fair to everyone else and let them know that a particular doll will not be available that day.

You will have 24 hours to complete the transaction. If after 24 hours, the transaction has not been completed, the doll will be released for sale to anyone else.

Stoney & Kit

2011-04-20T10:12:00.000-07:00

Introducing Stoney and Kit.

Stoney is a cave dwelling faerie and Kit is his best friend.

We first spied them last fall when our family took a trip to New Mexico and visited Carlsbad Caverns.

Impish and playful, they love to flit about peeking in and out of the formations, playing with children who visit the cave. Of course, this gets them into trouble with the elders...as everyone knows, faeries must stay out of sight of human eyes. Stoney and Kit could care less about all that, they only know it is fun to fly around...sometimes if you sit very still and listen closely and quietly, you can hear them giggle. But you have to be very quiet in order to hear them.

During the daytime hours, they spend their time in the cave snuggled up together napping and entertaining themselves with games and mischievous stunts.

In the early evening right around dusk, as the bats take flight into the darkening sky, you just might be able to spy Stoney as he peeks out of the mouth of the cave, Kit is usually nearby flitting in and out all around the area her pal is hiding in. Since Kit is a bat, she can come and go in front of humans as much as she likes, Stoney has to wait till it is too dark for human eyes to discern the difference between a bat or faerie. Once it is completely dark, he leaps into the sky and the duo spend the evening frolicking and flying about. They love the feeling of the cool night air on their skin as well as the crystal clear desert night sky full of shimmering stars.

So, how does one go about spotting faeries or their homes?

Well, the simplest way is to view the world thru the eyes of a child :o) It is difficult to see these magical things with adult eyes but a child's eye can see them everywhere. With very little effort, they are capable of spotting the mystical and magical that is all around us all the time. So my suggestion would be to have your young ones search for it first and then show you where it is :o) Once they point it out to you, it becomes clear as crystal.

When we go out into natural areas, our younger kiddos have always made it a sport to try and find faerie hollows everywhere we go. They search the base of trees and hillsides. They know that a faerie hollow can be anywhere and they are usually very cleverly disguised

....some day I will tell you all the story of the faerie apartment tree we found in a giant redwood tree just south of San Francisco :o) That will have to be another time....

CONGRATULATIONS ANNEDVD!

2011-04-16T08:47:00.000-07:00

Congratualations go out to Annedvd who posted this on April 15 at 8:55 am...

I just showed her to my daughter and she said her name should be Sparklelized Since that is not a real word, I did the best I could on the spelling.

Annedvd@hotmail.com

April 15, 2011 8:55 AM

The random number generator pulled number 47

Our giveaway Little will be heading home to live with you guys...

Thanks so much to everyone for entering. This was fun...we will be doing it again really soon

DFH 2000 Facebook Fans Giveaway!

2011-04-15T08:30:00.000-07:00

Its time to have some fun!

We reached 2000 fans (well 2000+) on facebook. In order to celebrate and say THANK YOU! We designed this cutie together.

She is going go home for free to one of you. If you want to be in the running for her here is what you have to do :o)

Post a comment right here under this post. Be sure to leave a way for us to contact you (email addy is good) because we cannot give a cutie away to someone we cannot contact :o)

She doesn't have a name yet so if you have one for her, go ahead and put that into your post

The giveaway will be open for the next 24 hours so tomorrow (Saturday 4/16) at 10:30 am central US time, we will tally the comments and use a random number generator to pull a number and that lucky person is her new mama.

It is open to everyone everywhere

Only ONE entry per household...Please do NOT have other folks post for you either. We want to keep this fair for everyone.

Good luck everyone! Thanks so much to all of you!

Congrats to Jaime!

2011-04-15T08:10:00.001-07:00

The number generator chose number 4...molly will be listed in the shop as reserved just for you.

Molly 15 inch tall Dragonfly's Hollow Girl

2011-04-14T19:47:00.000-07:00

Molly 15 inch tall Dragonfly's Hollow Girl

$180.00 USD plus ship

If you would like to purchase her, post a comment. At 10 am central Friday 4/15 we will choose her new mama using a random number generator. You will then have 24 hours to complete the transaction.

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

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

She is wearing an adorable dress made by Molly's Playground and panties. Her shoes are hand crocheted with some wonderful yarn.

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.

To Grow or not To Grow...

2011-04-12T08:24:00.000-07:00

This has been the huge question on my mind for months now.

Its been a few years since I set up my tiny shop on Etsy (September 2008 to be exact). Things were way different back then. I would post a doll or an outfit or whatever I felt like making and sometimes it would sell by the end of the day and other times the item would be around for several days until their new mama would come by.

(Feb '09 rainbow gnomes with bag) :o)

It was pretty calm and each sale resulted in a new friend. Back then I would chat via convo with anyone who popped by. I got to know some really neat folks that way...many of you are still around to this day. I love that :o)

The dolls have changed a bit over the years..they became more refined as my technique improved.

(March '09 Mia)

(June '09 Cordelia)

Over time, things got a bit more hectic :o) I began listing more dolls and they began selling out sooner. All of a sudden we were selling out instantly. I learned new terms like RTG, Angel-ing and rehome.

To say I was caught off guard by the whole thing would be a major understatement. I was still in old school mode...I would chat with everyone over days thru one message after another. In this new realm, there was no time for that any more.

I would get convos all the time from folks seeking a doll. Many folks turned to customs as their only avenue of obtaining a doll since they were simply not fast enough to go thru an RTG upload. If you wished to have a custom, you merely sent me a note and we would work out the details together. It took some time before I was able to admit that I was simply unable to do that any longer.

Through it all, I would on occasion, think about what direction we were heading in and if we wanted to go there or not. Yeah, I foolishly thought I could control that back then :o)

This little shop was growing. Word of mouth was spreading and new folks were finding us every day. There was a lot more pressure to make more dolls. So, I got a little help from family members and an odd friend here and there and we upped the amount of dolls each upload. The demand grew even more and the dolls continued to sell out in seconds.

I started to feel stress...lots of stress. I would wake up early and start working away and literally collapse in the evening exhausted. I had way too many customs to work on and new requests kept coming in. I really hated saying no, it really did break my heart to read some of the stories folks sent me about why they needed their special doll. Most of the time I would squeeze them in...which only added even more stress and work. My hands were scarred, callused and swollen regularly. My wrists would hurt and ache every day. OK my whining session is over :o)

Around late October of last year, I decided that I was in desperate need of a break so the decision was made to close up shop at the end of November for the entire month of December. The plan was that this period of not working so hard will give me a break and allow me to jump back in again in January. It would give my hands and wrists the needed time to heal and allow me precious time with my family.

We closed up shop on Dec 1st and took a vacation. Yes I did do some work during that time, I made dolls for friends and family. I stayed in contact with folks and got some really awesome notes from you guys. All in all, the break was a great thing to do, it gave me time to think about where we were and where we were heading.

Hubby and I sat down and talked about this. We got more organized and had our website set up.

In January we opened shop again. I have to admit, I was a bit nervous as to how it all would go down...we had been out of the loop for a month. How will this first upload go? I know, silly. The dolls sold out instantly and it seemed as though we had never taken a break at all. We settled in and got to work.

Now thru this all the question of how we wish to grow has always been there. Do we want to grow to the point where lots of other folks were making the dolls? Do we want to keep it small and only make what I can physically make each week. If we bring more folks on, what work would they do? What steps am I personally willing to hand over to someone else? (hehe, that's actually the biggest question here) How would we go about training them so that the quality does not drop and I am comfortable with what they are doing? And more importantly...Would I be able to step back a bit and give other folks the space to actually do the work for me?

These questions have caused lots more questions and every time I would think about them it would get too complicated so I would stop and move on to something else :o) I would go back and forth in my head to slow things down or to pick things up...I know crazy.

Meanwhile, without any real help at all, this little business was growing...way beyond what I first imagined possible and far into a realm where I was even able to imagine. It seemed that the decision was already made as to our growth, I was just one of the last folks to know about it :o) Our little shop had taken on a life of its own and like a child, was growing healthy and strong all on its own. Like a child though, it needed some guidance and assistance.

This all leads me to where we are today. We have decided that we will go ahead and help this little business grow into whatever it wishes to become.

I sat down and figured out a way to train new folks for a more permanent help crew. Taking little steps, over a period of time, they will be able to assume a more regular role.

I have an awesome gal (Kristen) helping me out crocheting the caps for the hair now. She is wonderful...she picks up new yarn every week and drops off a bunch of caps at the same time :o) Soon I will sit with her and show her how to make the boy hair (something I am sure she will pick right up and be a pro at in no time).

As for the bodies...for a person to be able to make a doll body that is quality enough for us to sell, they must first sew a minimum of 20 - 30 dolls. For some folks its more and for a very, very tiny group of people, its less. They need time to learn this skill...and I know that me being the perfectionist that I am, its no easy task for them. They will spend weeks working side by side with me as they learn to hand sew and properly stuff the bodies before any of their tiny creations are up to par enough to be integrated into our uploads. The heads will always be done by us (this part will never change) ...this way we will be able to guarantee that we will maintain the DFH look you all love. As each person reaches the point where their bodies are being used, I will introduce you to them one by one :o)

Now for clothes...this seems to be the tricky part for us right now. I also have not done much searching as I am busy training every Saturday. For now, we will continue with help from clothing makers and we will have a clothing upload of our own once a month...this way we can sew mermaid sets, fairy wings and footies and various other items in groups so that more folks can get them at a time. At some point, I am sure an awesome clothing sewer will fall into my lap...I'll stumble into her somewhere odd I have no doubt... and then we can have her take over much of that work and be able to have regular clothing uploads each week. We'll get there :o)

What will I be doing? Well, each and every face of course...and hair...lots of hair...and everything else :o) I will have more time to play with dying yarn for more awesome hair. I also hope to have more time to actually be able to get around to designing new cuties for you all. I have so many ideas running around in my head of neat creations, it will be great to be able to make them finally.

Yep guys, we're growing :o) We have finally come around. For me, I feel excited about this. I know when I first listed that very first dolly to sell on etsy, I never imagined it would become what it has become. For that I have to say, THANK YOU to all of you. Seriously, you all have been the driving force behind this growth. Without your encouragement and support we would not be at this point today.

We are so glad you all are along for the ride.

18 years... :oP

2011-04-08T08:18:00.000-07:00

This Sunday (April 10th) hubby and I will be celebrating our 18th year being married. Wow! I know its cliche but it really does not seem that long.

We have been a part of each other's lives for over 20 years. We met in Japan as very young Marines...yep I was in too :o) How else would a girl from the northeast meet up with a guy from So Cal while in Japan? :o) We were about 19 and 20 years old...mere babies. Did I just age myself? lol

Its funny, we started out as friends hanging out, then as orders moved us to separate coasts, we were mail buddies. This morphed into a trip to visit and eventually to us getting married. Robert has been a friend in my life for so long now, he is still my best friend.

I wish I had pictures to show you, all the images we have need scanned and I just do not have it in me right this moment to go find some and scan them then resize and upload lol I will leave that for another day.

Its been a wild ride for sure. We've lived all over the US. Starting out in Southern California and moving thru South Florida, Massachusetts, Northern California, Tennessee and Texas. Six awesome kiddos, multiple pets both tiny and large, and a whole lot of adventures and new friends along the way. Its been pretty eventful and I would not change any of it.

If anyone would have asked me years ago how I saw myself being today, I would certainly not say celebrating my 18 anniversary :o) but then again, I would not have said I would be a dollmaker either...life has a way of making things happen. So when asked where do I see us in another 20 years? hmmm not really sure. Our ultimate goal...to be the retiree couple sitting on the shore at the beach with our feet in the water watching the waves crash to shore and other folks children play all around them. How it will eventually play out is anyone's guess :o)

So how are we celebrating this year? We're heading out today for a weekend trip. We will do some camping and of course go to the opening weekend of the Scarborough Renfaire. What better way to celebrate than to be with our awesome kiddos and each other just having a fun time.

Have a great weekend, we'll see you all when we get back :o)

Riley's New Mama is Jennifer Bohlen

2011-03-19T08:12:00.000-07:00

The random number generator chose post number 5.

Congrat's lady! You are going to love her.

Riley - 15 inch tall Dragonfly's Hollow Girl

2011-03-18T08:10:00.000-07:00

Riley - 15 inch tall Dragonfly's Hollow Girl

$180.00 USD + ship

This is Riley. She is a 15 inch tall Girl by dragonfly's Hollow.

Her skin is cotton interlock knit and she is stuffed with pure cleaned, carded wool.

Her hair is made from a mix of mohair and hand dyed dread style yarn.

She is wearing a sun dress, coordinating pants, panties and a pair of coordinating shoes.

Like all our dolls, she is sturdy and exceptionally made. Ready for all adventures.

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

She will be posted here for the next 24 hours for a comment style upload. If you are interested in buying her, simply comment here under this post. At 10:00 am Saturday 19, we will use a random number generator to choose her new mama. At that time she will be listed in our Big Cartel shop as reserved for her new family. You will then have 24 hours to complete the transaction.

Good luck,

CONGRATULATIONS KAILA!

2011-03-01T10:11:00.001-08:00

The random number generator chose the number 56! Congratulations!

Giveaway

2011-03-01T10:02:00.001-08:00

Our giveaway is officially closed. We will now go thru the process of choosing the winner from the 287 entrants...good luck

Dragonfly's Hollow CUSTOM GIVEAWAY!

2011-02-28T10:53:00.000-08:00

Due to unforeseen circumstances, our original giveaway has been cancelled. We are sooo sorry to all of you who entered. We did however promise a free custom doll so we have decided that in keeping with our word, we will still do a giveaway...however, we have decided it is only fair to alter the original guidelines and open this up to everyone. So...
TO ENTER...simply comment under this post. Be sure we have a way to contact you.

Tomorrow March 1st 2011 at 12:00 pm (noon central), we will compile the names into a numbered list and run it thru the good ole random number generator. We will then notify our winner.

Rules and guidelines...

ONE ENTRY PER HOUSEHOLD

PLEASE NO ANONYMOUS ENTRIES we cannot give a dolly away to someone who we cannot contact, so please be sure to post in a way that will allow us to contact you.

THIS CONTEST IS OPEN TO EVERYONE EVERYWHERE overseas folks, this includes you too :o) Dragonfly's Hollow will pay for shipping

THE CUSTOM DOLL will be either a 15 inch, 12 inch or Little
THE CUSTOM DOLL is subject to basic guidelines for customs. The doll will come wearing one outfit consisting of top, bottom and shoes. Outfit will be of our choosing. Hair yarn is to be chosen based on available materials (we have a pretty extensive amount of artsy as well as to be dyed yarns on hand)

Good luck everyone!

Thyme - Cait Paige

2011-02-16T08:22:00.001-08:00

Anise - Hanna

2011-02-16T08:22:00.000-08:00

Rue - Jennison-bec

2011-02-16T08:21:00.001-08:00

Saffron - Angelica

2011-02-16T08:21:00.000-08:00

Thyme - 15 inch tall Girl - $195.00 USD

2011-02-15T07:59:00.002-08:00

Say hello to Thyme.

She is a stunning 15 inch tall girl.

She has cotton interlock knit skin and is stuffed with pure cleaned, carded wool. She is sturdy yet snuggly.

Her hair is a mix of super soft mohair, hand dyed dread style yarn and some funky strands of hand spun art yarn tossed in. It is soft and very long.

She is wearing a dress made by Molly's Playground along with coordinating shoes. She also has a hand knit sweater made specifically for her.

Like all our dolls, she is sturdy and exceptionally well made. She is ready for her new home.

Small parts, not recommended for small children under the age of 3

Anise - 15 inch tall Girl - $195.00 USD

2011-02-15T07:59:00.001-08:00

Meet Anise.

She is a 15 inch tall adorable girl.

Her skin is cotton interlock knit and she is stuffed with pure clean, carded wool. She is firm yet snuggly.

Her hair is a mix of super soft and supremely thick boucle yarn that has all been hand dyed. The coloration is truly one of a kind.

She is wearing a dress by Molly's Playground and a pair of coordinating shoes. She also has a hand knit sweater made special to match.

Like all of our dolls, she is sturdy and exceptionally well made. She is ready to meet her new best friend.

Small parts, not recommended for small children under 3

Rue - 15 inch tall Mermaid Princess - $195.00 USD

2011-02-15T07:59:00.000-08:00

Sat hello to Rue.

She is a gorgeous 15 inch tall mermaid princess.

Her skin is interlock knit and she is stuffed with pure cleaned, carded wool. She is sturdy yet soft and snuggly.

Her hair is a luxurious mix of hand dyed dread yarn and hand spun art yarn in soft shades of lavender and pink. It is soft and full and very long.

She is wearing a cotton velour tail fin and coordinating swim top. She also has an adorable dress made by Molly's Playground along with some coordinating shoes to be worn when she comes ashore :o)

Like all our dolls, she is sturdy and exceptionally well made. She is ready for her new forever home.

Small parts not recommended for small children under 3

Saffron - 12 inch tall Girl - $165.00 USD

2011-02-15T07:58:00.000-08:00

This is Saffron. She is a 12 inch tall girl.

She has cotton interlock skin and is stuffed with pure cleaned, carded wool.

Her hair is a mix of various weights of 100% wool yarn as well as some funky bits of hand dyed sparkle yarn to add some extra flair to her hair. Its is incredibly soft and very long.

She is wearing a play dress with jeans and coordinating shoes. She also has a hand knit sweater made special for her.

Like all of our dolls, she is sturdy and incredibly well made. She is ready to go to her new home.

Small parts, not recommended for small children under 3.

New Year, New Look

2011-01-02T20:15:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to everyone!

This is an exciting time for us...our new website is up and running. We have new ideas for creations for you all so stick around.

Last year was an amazing year for us...it was crazy, hectic and overwhelming at times but it was also amazing and absolutely awesome. I cannot tell you how amazing it is to be able to create little beings that bring so much joy to little folks...and older ones too :o) All I can say is thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of you amazing support and enthusiasm.

We look forward to the coming months and all the great times ahead...thanks so much for being along for the ride.

Here's to 2011 being another awesome year.

Peace & Love,
Nancy

CONGRATULATIONS VANESSA VICENA!

2010-10-11T07:18:00.001-07:00

Congratulations to Vanessa and her family. Our giveaway girlie will be heading home to live with them. They have named her Mya.

DRAGONFLY'S HOLLOW GIVEAWAY!

2010-10-09T06:15:00.000-07:00

This giveaway will start today Saturday Oct 9 and end Monday Oct 11 at 9:00 am central US time.

Alrighty let's get this started :o)

Here is our girl all ready to go to her new home. She is 12 inches tall with light tan skin and very long dark brown hair that is a mix of bulky weight and boucle yarn. She also has some funky bits of purple and turquoise mixed in for color.

So how do you go about winning this girl? Well...

1) Post a comment on this post on this blog. If you have a name for her in your mind that would be good to post as she has no name yet.

****only one post per day****

2) Post on the FB page under any one of the posts about her. There are several as we worked thru her details on the FB page. There is also a new posting of her on the page to make it easy for you. I will make sure that she remains visible on the front of the FB page throughout the giveaway weekend.

IMPORTANT...When you post, please be sure I can link your blog ID with your FB name...case in point, if you post here under pixietoes and post on FB as Karen Smith, I have no way of knowing the two are related...and since posting in both places is necessary, this could disqualify you. So please in one of your posts either this one or the one on FB, please let me know that the two names are yours :o) Also make sure we have a way to contact you. You can turn on the ability to accept messages thru either your blogger account or your FB account...or just post email if that is ok with you.

The giveaway will end on Monday morning at 9:00 am. The winner will be chosen randomly and then notified. We will announce the winner both here and on the FB page when we receive confirmation from the winner.

Good luck everyone....

CONGRATULATIONS TIA!

2010-08-02T06:49:00.001-07:00

Our winner has been chosen

Tia McFarlane...congratulations to you. She is coming home to live with you.

Thanks so much to everyone who participated.

JULY GIVEAWAY!

2010-07-28T06:59:00.001-07:00

Here she is....our adorable giveaway girlie for this month. I think she turned out wonderful...someone is gonna be one lucky mama for sure.

Let's kick this thing off...

This giveaway will start today, Wednesday the 28th of July and will end on Monday, August 2 in the morning. The winner will be chosen thru a random number generator and will be contacted that afternoon.

Here are the rules....

1) Post on my FB page under any one of the posts regarding the creation of this girlie...there are several and you must post at least once. (the link is on the left side of this blog page)

2) Post here on this blog post. The giveaway will last for several days so you can enter once per day if you like...please no more than one time per day.

Things to remember...I MUST have a way to contact you if you won. Also, I will be matching up the winning name to the FB posts, so be sure there is a way to connect your blog name to your FB name.

That's it...Good Luck everyone...

CONGRATULATIONS MISHA!

2010-06-30T18:06:00.000-07:00

Congrats go to you, our purple lady is going to be living with you.

JUNE GIVEAWAY!

2010-06-30T10:03:00.000-07:00

OK, the giveaway is officially closed. the winner will be announced at 8:00 pm central time tonight...see ya all then...

Nancy

JUNE GIVEAWAY!

2010-06-28T08:07:00.001-07:00

OK, here she is in her entirety :o) She is all set to go to her new home so let's get this giveaway started :o)

As you see she has all her clothes but she still needs a name...

Here's how we are going to work this...the giveaway starts today on Monday June 28th. On Wednesday June 30th at noon central time, her new mama will be chosen. To be the lucky mama, you must ...

1) be a blog follower as well as post on my FB page in any of the previous chats about her.

2) post here on the blog post with a name for her...do not forget to make sure we have some way of contacting you.

****Please only post once per day on this blog post****

OK, that is about it...let's get this started...

JUNE GIVEAWAY!

2010-06-15T17:44:00.001-07:00

Yeah, its been a while :o) we are currently working out the details for our giveaway cutie for the month of June. Here is how it will work this month...

Visit our FB page at http://www.facebook.com/DFHDolls and jump in on our conversations about the design details...we are designing this one together this month so we want to hear from everyone. Anyway, jump on in and play along until she is complete. Once she is finished and ready to go to her new home, I will post here on this blog and you will have three days to enter to win...pretty simple.

So...

1) join our FB page and share in the creation

2) when the contest is open here on the blog, enter your post to win

in order to win, you must have posted at least once on the FB page during the creation of our girl as well as post here on this blog when the official giveaway begins...

See you all on the FB page..

Nancy

CONGRATULATIONS TREE

2010-04-19T06:49:00.000-07:00

The April giveaway has ended and one happy mama haas been chosen....

CONGRATULATIONS TREE! your post on April 16 was the chosen number. Summer will be heading to her new home shortly.

Thanks to all the other folks who entered to win. There will be another giveaway next month so be sure to be ready for that one. Perhaps next time could be your turn :o)

APRIL GIVEAWAY!

2010-04-05T06:56:00.000-07:00

Here she is. Our little girlie who will be given away to one lucky new momma.

She doesn't have a name yet...that is up to you :o)

She is 12 inches tall has light tan skin, light blue eyes and hair made of golden yellow and darker golden streaks with some whimsical strands of bright pink throughout

This giveaway will go from today April 5 thru Monday, April 19. The winner will be announced right here on April 19 in the morning.

RULES....

1) Be a blog follower

2) Post here on this page

2) Submit once per day and when you do, make sure to put a name for her.

The winner will be chosen randomly thru a number generator.

That's all. Happy posting :o)

Nancy

Saturday April 3

2010-04-03T07:16:00.000-07:00

Its been quiet around here lately...I know. I have some plans to fix that :o) The giveaway for the month of April will begin on Monday April 5...right here. So drop by then to check it out.

See ya all then...

I have Internet!

2010-03-17T06:35:00.000-07:00

Good morning all, the move went well and smoothly...as smoothly as it can :o) We still have all the unpacking to do but at least its all where it needs to be. It'll still be at least a week before I am totally back to normal I am sure of it.

Well, off for coffee then unpacking....yay :o)

Oh and before I forget...

HAPPY ST PATRICK'S DAY!

A couple of pictures

2010-03-10T08:07:00.000-08:00

As we are packing up I keep finding things that remind me how much has changed in the 4 years we lived here. I thought I would share a few pictures...

This first one was taken the first summer here. The kids are all so young....still goofy but gosh! Rory was still a baby :o)

One of the things we will remember about our time here is the tile wall at the Cancer Survivor's Park here in Memphis. We helped an artist friend make many tiles for this amazing work...It was an awesome experience...especially seeing it all in place like it is now.

If you are ever in Memphis you have to stop by :o)

OK....that's it for playing around today...more packing stuff to do...

Saturday March 6

2010-03-06T08:25:00.001-08:00

Well the first ever "First Friday" went well in that even though we didn't have enough to fill the need, the dolls went to new mamas. For those who didn't get a chance this time, take heart, the mamas who were able to snag one this time will not be participating in the next one, so indeed, your turn will come. Also, we are seriously working on being able to make more dolls to at least come closer to the amount we need...we'll get there so hang in there :o)

We are packing and prepping more for out move. I am wrapping up work on 6 customs that will be completed by Tuesday. I will be listing those as they are finished rather than wait for Wednesday to upload all of them. So those of you who I am working on this week, I will email when your cutie is ready to go home.

I think that is about it. I have a couple of custom cuties to upload right now. I will put some pics of them up on FB.

Have a great day

First Friday...March 5

2010-03-05T06:06:00.001-08:00

Good morning all. Today is our first "First Friday" :o) I am pretty excited about it as I hope this will help out a bit for the new comers.

The preview will be at noon on the FB page... http://www.facebook.com/DFHDolls

We are packing up the house bit by bit lately...the move is coming down to the wire...yay! We are all soooo ready to get going :o)

After tonight's upload, I will wrap up work on the customs to be finished before we move. As those are complete I will upload them and ship so there will be some uploaded tomorrow and pretty much every day until Tuesday :o)

I am off to get some coffee...I will see you all again around 12

CONGRATULATIONS IZZY'S MOM!

2010-02-28T07:05:00.000-08:00

CONGRATULATIONS to IZZY's MOM!

Your "Starburst" will be heading your way as soon as you contact me and let me know where to send her :o)

CONGRATULATIONS! and Thank you to everyone who participated...this was the best giveaway ever...

Thank you!

Friday Uploads

2010-02-26T10:07:00.000-08:00

Afternoon folks. You all have been quite busy posting for the Rainbow gal. Very cool.

I just uploaded the pics of the gang for tonight. Drop by the FB page to take a peek.

Timeline for March...

2010-02-21T08:06:00.000-08:00

OK...my custom folks for March...I spent the week contacting and convoing with you and I will be sending a timeline to you today.

The biggest news for March is that We are moving between 3/11 thru 3/19...During this time I will be working on my hand sewing (hair, faces, assembly, etc) so work will keep going, I just will not be online to upload again until our internet is connected. So, there will be no upload during the weeks of 3/12 and 3/19 but we will be back to normal again the following week :o)...more than likely sooner, just leaving wiggle room.

RTG Shop dolls will be listed on these dates

Friday 3/5

Friday 3/26

and every Friday from there :o)

Yes, it is a 2 week break...sort of :o)

I will update on my FB page and shop as well as here when I am back online...so if you have any questions be sure to get them to me by 3/11 :o)

This is not very stressful for us. We have moved a lot (one of the upsides and downsides of having a hubby who is a well known and gifted technology geek) so we have this all down to a science...plus we are returning to the DFW area and since we used to live there, we know how that all works out...we also have some cool friends to look forward to hanging with again...YAY!

That's it for now...

Friday Upload Day...

2010-02-19T10:22:00.000-08:00

Images are uploaded on the FB page...Use the button to the left to go peek. See you all later at 8:00 PM cst for the shop upload

Thursday Feb 18

2010-02-18T05:50:00.000-08:00

Good morning everyone. I hope you all are staying warm.

Today is supposed to be preview day but I have decided to do that on Friday instead. In the past, I have uploaded images on Thursday evening only to upload more images on Friday...I think changing the upload day to Friday, will save me the time of doing it twice.

So, the preview will be uploaded on my FB page tomorrow (Friday) before 12:00 noon CST. Plenty of time before the actual evening upload yet late enough to make sure everything is complete on them.

See you all then...

Monday FEB 15th

2010-02-15T11:57:00.001-08:00

Hey Guys, I put images up on the FB page of the clothes to be uploaded tonight :o)

We now have 757 comments or entries for our Rainbow gal as of today...yay!

Nancy

Saturday Feb 13th

2010-02-13T08:56:00.000-08:00

Hope you all are having a good day. We finally have some sun...yay!

Well, the FB page is launched and I am gaining folks as friends so it looks like that is off to a good start. I discovered the picture uploads yesterday...very easy and faster than Flickr. I like it better. I think that this week I will do the preview upload onto the FB page and we can see how that goes. If it works out well, then I will continue to post them there instead of Flickr....I am trying to make it so that you all are not hopping all over the web for me :o)

I put a FB link on the left hand side. I am rearranging a bit so things might look a bit different for a while.

I think that is it...I am gonna go and have some fun while the weather is nice...have a great day everyone!

Nancy

Friday Upload Day...

2010-02-12T14:09:00.000-08:00

OK, so I finally got to get the full images onto Flickr of the crew to be uploaded tonight in the shop. I think they all turned out wonderful :o)

You will notice that there is a new guys...his name is Cody. I wasn't sure if I would have his clothes done in time for today but I was able to do it so he will be listed tonight with the girls.

My FB page is started...not much to see yet :o) I look at it, get lost then find something else to do :o) I promise to get it more set up but for now, here is the link to the Dragonfly's Hollow Page...

Facebook - Dragonfly's Hollow

Don't laugh too hard...I know there is nothing there yet...consider it like an empty apartment :o) I am still moving in :o) Any...and I mean ANY input would seriously be appreciated.

OK...that is it, I feel like I have been online all day long :o) I am going to go and try to get some other things done before the big uplaod tonight.

See you all at 8:00 CST

Nancy

Thursday Preview

2010-02-11T18:18:00.000-08:00

OK. I finally got thru my convo's and uploaded the preview...scrolling to the right :o) I even finished up my custom uploads for this week...

Yay me!

:o)

Wednesday... Feb 10th

2010-02-10T09:52:00.000-08:00

Hope those of you who are struggling with this whacky winter weather are staying warm and cozy...those of you who are enjoying warmer, snow free climates... :oP~~~~~~~

:o)

This weather has thrown me off a bit so my customs for this week will be listed on Thursday evening instead of tonight. This is only gonna be for this week...it'll be back to normal next week.

******************************************

Uploads...

I have received numerous requests to change my upload time... 5 pm my time is the middle of the day for some of you...oops.

Anyway, after hearing some requests I have decided to change the upload time to 8 pm my time...so that means that for you guys on the east coast it'll be at 9:00 pm, Mountain Time zone... 7:00 pm and Pacific Time Zone... 6:00 pm

Hopefully that will take some of the stress out of it all and allow other folks to have a chance.

This will start this Friday.

I think that is it...I am off to do some sewing. Have a great day.

Nancy

We got SNOW!!!

2010-02-08T08:39:00.000-08:00

We woke up today to this....

I know for lots of you, this is nothing but for us, its a LOT of snow. Seriously. Yesterday it felt like it was about 60 degrees outside. Overnight this all fell :o) It's funny, the kids and I were stunned this morning when we saw it...they are all out there in it right now having a blast.

How cool!

Sunday Feb 7... :oD

2010-02-07T07:29:00.001-08:00

Good morning guys,

Yesterday was sort of a day off for me...It felt good to just hang out and rest. Whew! Friday was mad. You all emptied the shop in about 2 minutes...wow! Thank you everyone...seriously. I am amazed and humbled by your enthusiasm for my work...thank you.

This week is another busy and full week. I will have another 4 or 5 really cool dolls on Friday as well as the customs that will be listed Wednesday. I am not going to have a clothing upload this week on Monday. I have to get caught up on some other things first but next week will be back to normal :o)

I am working on a Facebook page this week...my DD is helping me out on that one :o) I'll let you all know when its up.

I guess that is it for today...have a great day

Nancy

Friday...Upload Day!

2010-02-05T12:54:00.000-08:00

Afternoon Guys,

I just uploaded final images of the gang onto Flickr. They should be passing thru the scrolly thingy now :o) I was hoping for some sun to help take some awesome pics but alas the sun is not out today :o) I think I was able to compensate though and I got some good images for you all to see how awesome they all are.

Anyway, check them out...at least now you can really look at them before the upload later.

Don't forget...upload begins at 5:00 pm CST

See you all later...

Nancy

Thursday...Sneak Peek

2010-02-04T15:07:00.000-08:00

OK, the girls are up...I think some of you already know that :o)

I love the colors this week...very deep and rich indeed :o) The four bigger girls are fairies with adorable outfits of course and Nixie is a mermaid. I am wrapping up their clothes tonight and tomorrow there will be way better pics...promise. Hopefully we'll have some sunlight.

Anyway, take a peek. Listing on the shop is tomorrow at 5:00 pm CST. I think I might have figured out a way to get the uploading done faster this time so tomorrow it shouldnot be so long between uploads :o)

See you all tomrrow.

Nancy

Wed Feb 3rd...

2010-02-03T09:16:00.001-08:00

I need to start coming up with snappier titles for my posts :o)

Hey Guys, the link for out giveaway is off to the side now. I wanted to let you all know I am seriously enjoying your names. I intentionally am not posting on that page because I don't want to skew the numbers or have my number be the one accidentally chosen :o)

You all are so creative...very cool. The Amethyst name made me think of jewels which made me think of a whole group of precious gem fairies...thank you for that one. I can see them in my mind already :o) Now... to find the right colors of yarn for them.

To answer one question...If you have posted once with a name and you are posting again, no need for a new name...unless you want to.

I am off to wrap up work on three customs that will be posted later today. Have a great day everyone.

Nancy

Monday Feb 1st

2010-02-01T06:21:00.000-08:00

2/28 THE GIVEAWAY IS NOW OFFICIALLY CLOSED

the winner will be notified shortly

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Good Morning everyone!

It's the start of a new month and the start of a new giveaway :o)

Here she is...

She has no name yet, as that is something you guys are gonna do :o)

She is a 12 inch tall rainbow fairy with removable wings made from silk brocade fabric. Her dress is a fairy petal style dress made with all the colors of the rainbow. It ties around the neck like a bathing suit and has a small velcro tab around her waist. As usual, she is made from all natural materials...cotton interlock skin, wool stuffing, cotton floss embroidery and wool yarn.

Her hair can be styled many ways...

Here is an image of her hair down to show off the fact that her hair was meticulously sewn down in the patterns of a rainbow :o)

I think she turned out cool.

Now, how to get this girl for yourself...the giveaway rules are pretty simple...

1) Be a registered Blog Follower

2) Leave a comment on this post with the name you would like her to have.

Pretty simple, eh? Oh please don't forget to make sure there is a way to contact you in case you are the winner...

You can enter a comment at least once a day for the whole month...Yep, you can submit more than once :o) the more days you are listed will help your chances as the winner will be chosen by a random number taken from the number of entrants.

The giveaway will run thru the month of February so the winner will be announced here on Sunday, Feb 28th.

That's it. So let's kick this thing off...

Good luck to all who enter...

Peace,

Nancy

Sunday Jan 31st

2010-01-31T06:45:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-29T07:23:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-28T15:36:00.000-08:00

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!

2010-01-28T06:36:00.000-08:00

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...

2010-01-26T10:18:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-25T08:47:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-22T05:52:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-21T15:38:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-20T06:45:00.001-08:00

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

2010-01-15T08:03:00.001-08:00

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

2010-01-11T08:28:00.000-08:00

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)

2010-01-07T08:04:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-05T08:32:00.001-08:00

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)

2010-01-03T07:03:00.000-08:00

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

Last Shop Day for 2009

2009-12-18T06:32:00.001-08:00

Well, its been a crazy year for the shop. Hectic and amazing. I have to say its pretty cool that my little creations have caused such a buzz...yay!

I am closing up the shop today once the last little guy is picked up. I'll reopen it on January 2nd and I'll have to hit the ground running. My custom orders are sold out for the months of January and February...already :o)

Looks like next year is going to be quite busy :o)

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I didn't post pics yesterday of our day at the Memphis Zoo...or as we all jokingly have come to call it..."ttttthe annnuuual ddday at the zzzzzooooo" as we all shiver from the cold :o)

Our oldest was a Christmas baby and she is an animal fanatic...as well as an amazing artist :o)...so every year, when asked what she would like to do with the family for her birthday ever since she could talk her answer would always be..."The Zoo!" So every year in freezing cold weather (what could arguably always be one of the coldest days of the year) we are all at the zoo walking around, the upside, its always empty on that day...wonder why :o)...so it seems like the place was opened just for us :o)

The birthday girl herself in front of the wolf enclosure...sketch book in hand

A rare moment when Rory was with dad...she's usually glued to me :o) but dad has strong shoulders to carry her on :o)

The wolves are a new addition to the zoo this year

All in all, it was cold...of course, but I honestly wouldn't have wanted to spend the day doing anything else :o)

Dec 15th

2009-12-15T05:11:00.001-08:00

Whew! Its been real busy around here. I have been feverishly working 7 days a week for the past 2 months...that's a lot of dolls :o)

I am finally coming to the end for this year though...a few more orders to go :o) January is already pretty full now so we are stating on February. Busy, busy, busy...

Today is a huge day...My oldest is 15 today :o( My sweet baby is almost all grown up (I say this and she is already taller than I am) To celebrate, she and I are going out this morning for "coffee" then we will all go to the Memphis Zoo to see the new exhibits (she loves wolves) She wants to round out the day with pizza and a movie while hanging out with us :o)

Happy Birthday Baby!

Happy Day of Peace and Harmony! :o)

2009-12-06T08:31:00.000-08:00

Today is technically my b-day but I have decided instead to celebrate it as our "Annual Day of Peace and Harmony" :o)

It has started out well...the older folks are all being kind and peaceful with one another. The younger ones are doing their best to test it all :o)

As for me, I will be spending the day enjoying all the peacefulness...and harmoniousness :o) with lots os snuggles and hugs :o) I am off to enjoy a cup of coffee with my awesome hubby who made me the absolute best card I have ever received :o)

I hope you all have a wonderful day of peace and harmony too :o)

Nancy

Sage...

2009-12-04T08:27:00.001-08:00

Sage...

Could she be any cuter? :o) Sage here is number two of the faerie crowd :o)

Fortunately for Sage, she is going to a home she will share with Amber.

The faeries have my imagination whirling...I am working on a winter faerie and of course there will be a rainbow faerie and lots of different flower faeries...Yes, I am having fun...

Anyway, I had to share her with you all.

Have a great day :o)

Amber...

2009-12-02T09:14:00.000-08:00

I am so happy with how this little girl turned out :o)

This is Amber. She's a little autumn faerie...

Her wings are brocade fabric and sewn onto her back. Her dress is made from several individual autumn colored leaf shapes sewn together to make the skirt.

She is exactly how I saw her in my mind...Her sister faerie who is green will be ready by Friday...

Happy December!

2009-12-01T07:43:00.000-08:00

This is the BEST month of the year!

Lots of great things going on...Christmas and New Year's are just two of them :o)

My oldest is turning 15 this month in a few days (on the 15th)

On the 6th we will be celebrating the "Annual day of Peace and Harmony". A small note...I stopped celebrating my own B-days and have now changed it to the "Annual Day of Peace and Harmony" Its the one day a year when everyone in the house gets along peacefully and only displays love and patience for one another :o) OK, yeah there is some faking going on but hey...with teens to littles around here...peace is peace :o)

I am seriously looking forward to lots of cookies and crafts around here :o)

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Seeing as how December is such an awesome month, I have decided that the giveaway should be equally cool...at least close :o) So here goes...

This month's giveaway will go from today until the 31st (sorry it won't be ready for a Christmas gift)

What is it you ask?

A Custom 12 inch doll and a natural wood doll high chair made by my oh so talented hubby :o) He is the one who makes all my buttons :o)

This is his shop www.woodwerx.etsy.com

The doll will come with one 12 inch outfit. You get to choose skin, hair, eyes and ensemble. He or she will be made in January...early.

This is an image of the chair...

So, how do you get to win these two cool items?

Well, first be a blog follower :o)

Second, I think this month I want to hear about fun things you do during the winter or Christmas time.

Don't forget to leave a way to contact you so I can notify you if you are the winner.

So with that, let's get this kicked off for this month :o) Let's hear some fun things

Nancy

And the winner is...LELAN :o)

2009-11-30T11:51:00.000-08:00

The winner this month for our lovely little cutie is Lelan.

Our girl's new name is Li-Ming...

Congratulations Lelan...Enjoy her :o)

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I finally finished all the custom orders for November...whew! It was a lot. I have a few orders I am now working on and I might be able to squeeze in another one or two...I'll know more in a day or two.

I am pretty excited about this week. I have been working on all new Faeries and I finally have it all worked out :o) So, I will be listing two faeries this week. One is autumn colored, the other is green...her name will be Anise. Not sure about the Autumn toned one yet. Anyway, they will be awesome :o) If they turn out half as gorgeous in person as they are in my head you will LOVE them :o) I will post pics of them when they are done...promise.

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Today I am taking the day off to play :o) We're making wool felt garlands of gingerbread men and snowmen and some cookies...I love this time of year :o) I will get back to work tomorrow :o)

Until next time, have a great day :o)

Nancy

Monday 23rd

2009-11-23T11:41:00.001-08:00

Whew! its been a lot of work these past few weeks :o)

Here is what I am working on this week...

Reitz

CWaldroff

Kenzyfrenzy

Axtasha

Seashell517

Aehill00

I will be wrapping up work on 50ftqueenie and Amypizzutibrown

What can I say...its busy :o)

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I posted Ariana today in the shop...

Sorry... she was spoken for within 5 minutes. I will be posting her sister on Wednesday...she is red and as yet does not have a home destination :o)

This week wraps up the customs for this month. From this point, I will be working on shop dolls only for the rest of the year. There should be lots or choices for you all :o)

Update...Hilary & Lisa's Girls

2009-11-19T11:57:00.001-08:00

Here is Pearl.

She turned out so cute.

Her little mermaid dress up...

Lisa, your gal has some of the most awesome hair :o) I love it.

First outfit...
2nd outfit and 3rd outfit...

The tree fabric was not quite enough to put together a whole dress so I added the green. Her shoes are done and I am working on her sweaters.

Today I am working on Amypizzutibrown's guy as well as the 16 inch Blonde doll for the shop.

That's it for today...

New week...lots more dolls :o)

2009-11-16T11:35:00.000-08:00

Its been quiet from me, I know. At least I have been productive :o)

I am enjoying the names you all are putting out there for our little gal...keep them coming :o)

Here's what is going on today...

Knit sweater for Rosiemama :o) and finish the pink mermaid's hair for Cindy. Lisa, I will be working on your sweaters over the next couple of days :o)

For the week I am working on these customs...

Ribboncandyhairbows

Amypizzutibrown

Hickoryhardscrabble

Kenzyfrenzy

Reitz

and a shop cutie that will be hold for Jameesteele

I intend to get two more dolls listed in the shop who are not as yet claimed :o) Drop by the shop to see their details.

Whew! Its busy :o) I will try to post something again this week...

November Giveaway!

2009-11-11T07:19:00.000-08:00

OK. She's a bit late but here she is :o)

Meet our little cutie for November.

She is 12 inches tall and is made from organic cotton interlock knit fabric in a light tan shade and stuffed will clean, carded wool. She is lightly weighted with a pouch filled with sand sewn deep inside her belly. She has black mohair hair set in two high baby pig tails. Her almond shaped eyes are black.

Her onesie is made from yellow cotton velour fabric.

She has a star print flannel diaper. The closures on her clothing are velcro.

So what do you need to do to win this cutie you ask...well, if you notice, she has no name yet :o)

So we're gonna have you name her :o)

To be in the running to win her you must...

1) Be a blog follower

2) Come up with a name for her and then post it as a comment here on this blog in this posting.

Please be sure to leave some sort of a way for me to contact you when the contest is over.

The giveaway will end on Monday November 30.

So, with that, Lets kick this off...happy naming.

Peace,

Nancy

November 9

2009-11-09T06:07:00.001-08:00

Thought I would share the images of the finished cuties from last week.

Here are your trio Meg...

Liz's girls...

Isabel's sweetie...

Charlene, your guy is finished...just waiting for his sweater :o)

Denise, just waiting on his clothes.

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This week is going to be another busy week. The customs I will be working on re for...

lisapark1818

julierolf

jamiedalyrimple

hiddenhilldesigns

aktacdol

myfourkids

On top of these, I will be posting a 12 inch girl today sometime with ruby red and brown hair named Madeline. I will also be working on and posting a tan skinned brown haired girl very similar to Sabrina and Serafina...still working on a name for her. I hope to have her up by Friday.

I have the November giveaway doll standing by :o) Actually, she is waiting for her clothes. I will try to get those done today so that maybe we can start that giveaway tomorrow. I will keep you posted on that...it all comes down to time :o)

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I have received lots of inquiries lately for customs or even shop dolls. I know the shop is a bit empty right now, but hang in there guys. I promise to have lots of awesome cuties to choose from in an array of colors. This week is going to be the last week this heavy with customs so you will begin to see more dolls next week...promise :o)

So, with all of that, I am off to work on some friends :o) Enjoy your day