Happy Valentine’s Day!
Author: paulawalton
My name is Paula Walton. I’m a working craftsperson. I’ve been self-employed since 1986, when I started selling the items that I make under the name A Sweet Remembrance. Among other things, I am a doll maker, a dressmaker that specializes in reproduction women’s and children’s clothing, maker of spun cotton ornaments and holiday figures, and a freelance designer. Upon occasion I write magazine articles and am a Craftsperson in Residence. I teach and do demonstrations quite frequently, plus I was previously the director and curator of a small museum in Connecticut.
The Litchfield County Times Monthly – February 2014
Big thank yous to both Alice Tessier and Laurie Gaboardi for the very nice article and lovely photos of our home and my studio that appear in the current issue of the Litchfield County Times magazine section.
If you’ve read the article and find a few things printed in it confusing, don’t worry, it isn’t your memory playing tricks on you! Take the article with a grain of salt & don’t believe everything you read. 🙂 No, I didn’t change my name, nor did I suddenly split into triplets, Paula, Pamela, & Paul! Early American Life did not suddenly scrub my name off of 25 of their Directories of the Top Traditional Craftsmen in America (I’ve been juried into the EAL directory 29 times, not 4). You cannot see photos of our home on Early American Life’s website, Facebook page or Twitter Account. You can see them on one of my blogs, Paula Walton’s 18th Century Home Journal. In spite of these errors and a few more wrong facts and misquotes, it is still an engaging write-up. If you would like to read the article and see the accompanying photos, follow this link.
Wet Paint!
… a few more photos of the doll I’m currently working on… she won’t look this shiny once her paint dries.
Another Snowy Day…
Yesterday brought another snowstorm to my corner of New England, making it a good day to spend in my studio while small white flakes drifted furiously down from the leaden sky.
I love being able to look out my windows and watch the snow while I work. It’s very peaceful and makes me think about the other women who have lived in our house. I wonder whether they enjoyed sewing and doing needlework on similar snowy days….
Today is Red Shoe Day!
It is a bitterly cold snowy day here in Connecticut! Far too cold to try to keep my studio warm enough to work in. Instead I am seated in my parlor, hand stitching tiny red shoes. My parlor is a cozy place to be on a winters day, while a frigid wind teases at the two-century old window frames and blows tiny gusts of icy cold air into the room to remind me why I am glad to be indoors. 
Making little shoes is a delicate, slow project, just right for this time of year. I am making two pairs of red shoes, each a bit different, for two very loved a cossetted dolls. They should be finished in time for the dolls to wear them for Valentine’s Day.
A Cold and Snowy Start to the New Year
Here in New England 2014 has begun with a clean slate of swirling white snow. Today’s high temperature was 9 degrees, which made it a challenge to keep the studio stove stoked with enough wood. You know that winter has the world firmly in it’s grasp when the kerosine in your oil lamp turns to ice!
I Have a New Article in the Winter 2014 Issue of Prims Magazine
I received my advance copy of Prims Winter 2014 issue right before Christmas. Today I finally found a few moments to sit down with a small friend and look over my article, while we shared a cup of tea and a slice of the wonderful nut roll that Mary sent me for Christmas.
You can read all about my portrait face New England rag dolls when this latest issue of Prims goes on sale January 1st. The dolls featured in the article are ones that I made for my Izannah Walker doll making class. They are variations on the class patterns, that allow class members to create additional types of cloth dolls. All told I made five different variations of my patterns for my students. Two of the dolls with painted cloth faces appear in the magazine. The patterns are free for class members and instructions for making the dolls are posted on the class site.
Last Minute Christmas Gift Crisis? Gift Certificates Available for Dolls & Dresses
If you need a wonderful last minute gift for a very special doll lover in your life, I have gift certificates available for custom made Izannah Walker dolls and for custom made Izannah doll dresses too! Call or email me to order – 860-355-5709 or paula@asweetremembrance.com. I can still email the certificate to you for you to print and wrap before Christmas.
Meet Hope
I’d like to introduce you to Hope a very special doll that I have been making for Susan. Hope is the last doll that I’m shipping out before Christmas this year. She is a quiet, demure girl with auburn wisps of hair that frame her sweet face. Susan chose a dark brown print fabric with a madder stripe for her dress, that compliments her hair and complexion. She has bare feet, with hand stitched toes, tall stockings made from a vintage lady’s sock and red leather shoes with pinked edges and silk ribbon ties.
Merry Christmas Susan!
A Christmas Doll for Marilyn!
With just a few days left before Christmas, I thought you all might like to see photos of Marilyn’s Christmas doll (don’t worry, I’m not spoiling the surprise, she knows all about the doll and planned it so that she would have her before Christmas). 🙂
I was planning to mail this doll to Marilyn on Tuesday, but a heavy snowstorm got in the way and delayed her departure by a day, giving her one last chance to romp in the snow before heading west to her sunny new home. The post office has done a wonderful job of transporting her, and at last check she has reached Arizona and should be arriving at her new home very soon!
12/21 – Update: Good news! Marilyn’s doll arrived at her new home safe and sound. She is settling in nicely on her new settee and making friends with a very sympathetic teddy bear from Maine. They are busy chatting about their travels from New England to the great southwest and making plans for the best Christmas ever! Thankfully this doll turned out to be everything Marilyn was hoping she would be. Something I always worry about when my dolls leave the studio to venture out in the world 🙂
Izannah Walker Journal 