In her recent past, this early Izannah Walker doll lived in an 18th century house, surrounded by a large family and an extensive collection of antique dolls. We recently welcomed her into our household. Hopefully she will feel at home, even though the pace of our days may be a bit quieter with fewer children, grandchildren, and dolls filling our lives…
Once again the earth has turned and November has come at last, drifting in on gently falling leaves and soft, warm rays of light… More than any other month, November causes my soul to ring with echos of the past, and my thoughts meander to the people who have lived in my house and owned the things I love before me. I dwell and marvel at small girls, turned to woman, with babes of their own, who played with the dolls I cherish. I glory in the vibrant creativity of quilts, pieced by other hands and passed down through the years, to warm loved ones… Days and hours slip away and gently flow into the past, where I allow myself to linger for a few brief hours, lost in a daydream of past childhoods. ❤
A meeting of long lost sisters… You can easily see the strong family resemblance in these dolls that range in size from 20 to 14 inches.
The newest member of my antique Izannah Walker family.
I love the proportions of this larger doll…
❤
A doll to love and cherish…
Chainstitch embroidery encircles the neckline, armseyes, waist and hem of her dress.
19th century perfection.
The dolls are happy that Lily is still visiting us 🙂
Family photo!
❤
Making toast on a cool November morning, where it has been made countless times before in the past 225+ years… Using the toasting fork made by my son Blair, bringing a bit of the past and the present full circle…
I wasn’t really planning on splitting the Halloween Party into 3 posts, but WordPress is being a little bit cranky and overexcited tonight… So here is the third installment of our party!!!
Halloween Dresses
These dresses will all fit most of my 18 inch reproduction Izannah Walker dolls. If you are interested in buying any of the dresses, especially dress #3, you should measure the waist and top of the shoulder measurement of your doll.
SOLD Dress #1 – Sort straight sleeves, made from an antique black floral mourning print cotton. Drawstring closures at the neckline and waist. $200.00 includes free priority mail shipping to any US address.
Isabeau is modeling dress #1
Dress #2 Is the same as dress #1, except it has short gathered and frilled sleeves. $200.00 plus free priority mail shipping within the US.
SOLD Dress #3 is more fitted than the other 3 dresses. Made of orange “cheddar” print antique fabric with black vining “branches” and red “berries”, trimmed with black velvet ribbon. This dress will close with three orange painted milk glass buttons and button holes. I have not made the button holes or sewn on the buttons yet, so that I can slightly adjust the fit of the dress if necessary. $250.00 with free US priority shipping.
SOLD Dress #4 is probably my favorite! It is a true “make-do” dress, pieced together from two different antique “cheddar” orange fabrics with a false hem of a third coordinating antique fabric. One drawstring around the neckline and three drawstrings at the waistband, gives this dress an adjustable fit. You will find this method used in late 18th and early 19th century infant and young children’s clothing. It’s immensely practical! $240.00 with free priority US shipping.
Treat Bags and Box
I have one set of four cotton mesh treat bags in a decorative Halloween box. $28.50 with free Priority Mail shipping within the US.
If you are interested in purchasing any of the dresses or the set of treat bags, email me at paula@asweetremembrance.com. Paypal, or credit cards and orders by Monday to ensure delivery before Halloween. Checks and money orders if you don’t mind waiting for delivery…
Zombies???
Don’t be frightened, that isn’t a zombie graveyard full of body parts… it is just “work in progress” dolls ❤
Treats!
The dolls have worked up quite an appetite showing you around my painting studio, crafting crepe paper costumes, sending Halloween greetings and modeling the latest in Halloween fashions! Now it is time for refreshments. 🙂 Hot, buttery popcorn, sweet crunchy caramel corn, tart, crisp apples and hot spiced cider!!! Yum….
And now it’s time to say good night! We are so happy you could come celebrate Halloween with us 🙂
I hope you enjoyed the doll’s Halloween Party!!! I love Halloween and all of the seasonal delights of autumn. Can you tell? Gathered in antique wire egg baskets are some of the pumpkins from my garden and Osage Oranges from my Bodark trees.
* To enlarge any of the smaller photos, simply click on them, which will also show captions.
** I’m sorry for the slow posting tonight and for breaking the party into 3 parts. WordPress was being very difficult, so it was a bit challenging to get the Halloween party online.
Everyone is here! It’s time to get the party started…
Making Costumes
Isabeau has decided that she should help all of the dolls and party guests make costumes. She got out our collection of Dennison Boogie Books for ideas, along with the crepe paper, Dresden trims and lithographed scrapes…
making costumes
so many choices…
Isabeau wants to be a pumpkin!
That was fun! It’s time to put the craft supplies away. We have so much more to do…
Halloween Greetings
The dolls all want to wish you a very Happy Halloween!
Ladies in White… are they ghostly visitors, tip-toeing among the tombstones? Or are they Count Dracula’s brides??? Eliza Jane, Memory and Ismay are having trouble deciding between themselves… but either way they want to wish you a hauntingly beautiful Halloween!
Ladies in White… are the ghostly visitors, tip-toeing among the tombstones? Or are they Count Dracula’s brides??? Eliza Jane, Memory and Ismay are having trouble deciding between themselves… but either way they want to wish you a haunting beautiful Halloween!
Zanna is usually the mildest most even tempered of dolls, but her devilish side is peeking out tonight as she sends warm Halloween Greetings your way!
Hanna wishes you all over flowing goodie bags and treats galore!
“BOO!” from Izzybelle to you!
Isabeau wishes you spooky, spine tickling chills and thrills this Halloween!
Haunted Halloween Fashions
I have a tiny stash of hoarded antique orange “cheddar” and black mourning fabrics just perfect for celebrating Halloween, but not so “costumey” that they can’t be worn year around. I’ve fashioned some of my favorites into dresses to fit my 18 inch dolls. I have four dresses available for sale, just in time for Halloween!
Welcome! We are so glad you could come!!! Come in and let us show you around. 🙂
Welcome! As with everything else in my life, my new painting studio is a work in progress. Hopefully next year there will be a colonial flower garden in front of the studio.
Make yourself at home. Feel free to look around! The dolls have been busy decorating all day. 🙂
Isabeau, Eliza Jane, Ismay and Memory are in the kitchen finishing up all the last minute party preparations…
Isabeau, Eliza Jane, Ismay and Memory are in the kitchen doing all the last minute preparations.
Little Izzybelle is watching out of the window to see who is coming next!
Here, let me take your coat. The party will start in just a few minutes. 🙂
Next Saturday evening, October 22nd, you may hear knocking… followed by small giggles coming from your pc, laptop, tablet or phone. Don’t be scared! It will just be all of my little Izzies coming to trick-or-treat. ❤ They would very much like it if you would join us here on http://www.izannahwalker.com for their Haunted Halloween Hour at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
As promised her are photos of Marti’s doll. She’ll be leaving here soon to start her trip home. ❤
A special order doll for Marti, made from my Anna mold.
Marti’s doll loves helping in the garden. She has such a green thumb!
The original Anna is standing on the right side of the photograph. Luckily she is here for a tiny bit of restoration work, so she could pose with her young offspring 🙂
Anna’s slightly chubby body makes her seem more childlike. I love her slight shape varation <3<3
To enlarge any photo and read the captions, just click on the image. The early morning sunlight was bouncing off the walls in my studio, creating a bit of glare on Anna’s paint so it does look slightly shinier in the photos than it does in person. Over time as her paint continues to dry and cure it will become more matte. ❤ Anna is sooooooo excited to be traveling to her new home and her sister Izzybelle. ❤
We’ve come to the end of our day. My dolls and I hope you have enjoyed joining in our celebration of Izannah Walker’s birthday. They’ve had a very active day with all of their friends. Now all the dolls are getting sleepy and ready for bed… Isabeau wasn’t quite sure where everyone was going to sleep tonight. Since Cloe was such a big help this morning, she offered to rearrange the beds, so that there was a place for all of the dolls.
Even after Cloe moved all of the beds around, Isabeau still wasn’t sure that there was room for everyone… “maybe we should have gone up to the attic to get Izzybelle’s little old bed” she fretted.
The Annas overheard her and offered to sleep in the kitchen on a pallet… I think I heard them whispering something about a midnight snack…
and now as the sun goes down it is time to kiss all the dolls good night, tell them to sleep tight and dream of tomorrow…
Even More Izannahs…
Just a sneak peek for Marti of her own little Anna. I’ll post more photos of her in the next day or two and then she will be off to her new home…
Halloween is one of my favorite holidays! The dolls and I had such a good time preparing for Izannah’s birthday that we have decided to do a little something special for Halloween too. Please visit us here on www.izannahwalker.com on October 22nd when the dolls will be trick or treating!
Did you miss parts 1 – 5 of today’s birthday posts? Simply scroll down the page to see what you missed. Remember: You still have until midnight Eastern time to enter for a chance to win one of 18 party favors that I am giving away. See part 2 for details.
“Hannah, you and Ismay made a wonderful cake! It’s beautiful!” “Just in time, I hear all of our friends arriving.” “Eliza Jane, you and Ismay can go on up to the parlor. I’ll take off my apron and bring the cake up.”“Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Izannah…”“Make a wish!”
You may enlarge the photos and see the entire image by clicking on individual photographs in the montage.
The recipe for this year’s cake came from American Cake by Anne Byrn.Ismay, Zola and Hannah made an Appalachian Apple Stack Cake, with moist buttermilk layers and spiced apple filling. The story, which I am very fond of, goes like this; each family invited to a wedding would bring one layer of cake, all of the layers were stacked together to form the wedding cake. I’ve also heard this cake called a prairie wedding cake and have seen reference to each family bringing a different flavored cake layer. ❤
At 7:00 p.m. I have a few new dolls who would like to make your acquaintance. I hope you will be able to come back to meet them and then return one final time today at 10:00 p.m. Eastern time for our bedtime post. 🙂
The kitchen is buzzing with activity, as Eliza Jane, Ismay, Zola and Hannah try to finish all their last minute tasks. “Hurry, hurry our company will be coming soon!” “It’s almost time for the party to start!”Eliza Jane has offered to iron all the doll’s party dresses. She is by far the best at ironing, she never scorches the fabric!Hannah has just taken the last layer of cake out of the oven. It smells so good… The entire kitchen is filled with the aromas of cinnamon and spices ❤Zola is turning the cake layers out of the pans to cool. As soon as they aren’t so warm, Ismay is going to spread sweet, tangy apple butter between the layers, then dust the top of the cake with powdered sugar.“Eliza Jane can you see the clock?” “What time is it?” Oh my, we have to hurry up!” “We need to get the cake finished and give Izzybelle her bath!” Eliza Jane, you keep ironing. Zola, you can take the cake out to the table in the yard, and Hannah and I will bathe Izzybelle.” (Ismay can get a bit bossy at times)
IZZYBELLE GETS A BATH
Being a doll maker’s doll is a lot like being a shoemakers child, you always come last… You may remember how terribly bedraggled Izzybelle was when she arrived on my doorstep a couple of years ago. I finally found just a handful of moments to start cleaning her and making her appropriate replacement arms and legs. Once upon a time Izzybelle was a charming, small example of one of Izannah Walker’s dolls. She was loved, played with and almost used up, then sent to the Martha Chase factory for repairs, so that she could be loved and played with some more. I own several dolls, and have seen and restored a handful of others, that were refurbished by the doll makers working for Martha Chase.
Izzybelle has been in desparate need of atention.
Little by little I slowly cleaned years of dirt, grime and what looked like possible smoke damage away from her head and shoulders.
Poor Izzybelle, someone got quite carried aaway with bright red paint! Her lips and both eyes were lined in red.
Little Izzy is looking better, but there are still some very stubborn bits of paint reamaining from when she was re-painted at the Martha Chase factory…
I love Martha Chase dolls, but I have to admit that as I attempted to remove the stubborn Martha Chase factory re-painting from Izzybelle, I was thinking VERY dark thoughts…
Now you can catch a glimpse of what Izzybelle looked like earlier in her life. I still have more restoration work to do, but now she truly looks like a tiny Izannah Walker doll one again ❤
I have made Izzybelle appropriate restoration arms and legs. I still need to color match them to her newly cleaned paint surface, then stuff and attach them.
“Izzybelle, your bath water is almost ready. Hannah is heating the last kettle full on the stove right now.”“Izzybelle, time to hop in the tub!”
“Make sure you scrub behind your ears and between your toes.”
“This bath feels so good! Why didn’t you make me take one sooner???”
Even Splotches, the barn cat is curious to see what the dolls are doing today. If you are too, please come back around 4:00, 7:00 & 10:00 pm to see the rest of their adventures.
