Sophie and Mae have the same size bodies as my 18 – 1/2 inch Izannah Walker dolls, so all the girls can share clothes.
Thank you so much for coming by to see Sophie and Mae. Both of them are now sold.
Sophie and Mae, the two portrait face New England rag dolls that were in my article in the Winter 2014 issue of Prims are back home, in all their Sunday finery, just in time for Easter! Sophie and Mae are two of the five flat face head variations that I made for my Izannah Walker doll making students. Class members can use the five different heads with their Izannah class patterns. The bonus patterns are available to class members through the class discussion site free of charge. Follow this link to read more about my Prims article.
Now that the girls are back from California, they are ready to find new homes. I’ve just listed them for sale on my website. If you are interested in buying either of them you can go through the secure automatic checkout at http://www.asweetremembrance.com or you may call me 860-355-5709 or email me paula@asweetremembrance.com. Shipping is free to any US address and lay-away is available with terms to fit your budget.
Sophie
SOLD Sophie shows off her magazine debut.
SOLD Sophie is dressed in a pink and black print dress made from antique late 19th century fabric, a petticoat with lavish pink crochet trim and a cap made from antique crocheted cotton lace. Her face, head and shoulders are painted with artist’s oils.
Mae
SOLD Mae and her photo spread.
SOLD Mae’s face, head and shoulders are painted with artist’s oils. She is wearing a silk plaid dress with cartridge pleated skirt and velvet ribbon trim, a white scalloped petticoat, black hand knit socks and handmade brown leather shoes with purple silk laces.
Sophie, Mae and I Wish You a Happy Easter!
“This would be a good hiding place for the chocolate eggs!”“I wonder where Sophie hid those eggs???”
The girls and I are getting ready to take to the road on a trek to the UFDC convention in San Antonio.
There are busy times ahead! I have been invited to exhibit at the Doll Artist’s Showcase, on July 19th, at the United Federation of Doll Clubs convention in San Antonio, TX. The Doll Artist’s Showcase is new to the convention this year and is being held in the sales rooms during Public Day. Wild days and nights are in my future for the next few months as I prepare for the convention. I’ll be taking along as many dolls as I can make between now and then, plus I’ll have fabric sample books with me and I’ll be taking orders for custom made dolls.
Both of the dolls I’ve been working on from my latest mold are finished and ready to find new homes. This is a long post with many photos, so scroll down to see them all. You can enlarge any of the photographs by clicking on them. If you are interested in buying either doll they are both posted for sale on my website Paula Walton’s A Sweet Remembrance – Plain & Fancy Hand Wrought Goods, or you may email me at paula@asweetremembrance.com or telephone 860-355-5709.
Isa #1 has been SOLD. Thank you so much for coming to see her.
Isane 2 has been SOLD.
The original Isane, or Isa for short. The name Isane has a German origin and means “strong willed”. I bought this antique Izannah Walker doll from Edyth O’Neil, a charming strong willed woman, who lives in an area of Texas that was settled by German immigrants, so the name just seemed to fit her. Edyth called this doll Patience, but that was the name of one of our family cats, so a rechristening was in order.
ISA #1 – SOLDSOLD
The paint on this doll’s face has the aged, worn look that you will sometimes see on the paint of certain papier-mache, wooden and cloth dolls. The base skin paint is intact and smooth, but the the paint on the lips, cheeks and hair has rubbed away from a lifetime of play, and dust and dirt have collected in the depressions and corners of her features. No doubt left over from her adventurous days of making mud pies. I was trying for a very refined look of age on this doll. I know for certain that the original Isa had very little paint remaining on her face before one of her recent owners covered her with brand new paint (prior to when Edyth – then I bought her) . I wanted to acknowledge her worn and rubbed off paint. I also decided to use the Izannah owned by the Worthington Historical Society* as my inspiration for what her paint could have looked like when it was intact. When I combined those two themes, this is what I got!
SOLD
SOLD
NOW SOLD -Isa #1 is wearing a plum and white print dress made from antique cotton. The dress has full gathered sleeves, and double, graduated, growth tucks. It fastens in the back with a drawstring at the neck and an antique plum colored milk glass button at the waist. Her underwear consists of matching split pantalettes, a long chemise and a petticoat, all with scalloped hems. The tops of her black painted boots are also scalloped. Tiny delicate tatting edges the neckline and sleeves of her chemise. To protect her fair complexion from the sun, while she is picking strawberries in the garden, Isa is wearing a sunbonnet made from a piece of antique plum colored fabric that has never been washed. I decided to not to clean the fabric so that it would retain the original sizing, which adds stiffness to the bonnet. Her hair is painted in ringlets, two in front of each ear and five along the back of her hairline. SOLD
SOLD
SOLD
SOLD
Isa #1 looks ever so much nicer in person. Her delicate coloring and very old looking paint do not show up all that well in photographs. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about her. She is $1350.00, which includes her bonnet and free, fully insured, postage within the United States. She may be placed on lay-away, or she is ready for immediate shipment. ISA #1 HAS FOUND A WONDERFUL NEW HOME. IF YOU WOULD LIKE A SIMILAR DOLL, YOU MAY PLACE AN ORDER FOR ONE. ALL ANTIQUE FABRICS ARE ONE OF A KIND.
ISA # 2 SOLD
SOLD Isane #2 is a very sweet girl with the look of a younger child. Izannah Walker’s dolls were usually painted with very pale, almost white, skin or with a warmer flesh colored paint. I decided to paint this doll with the darker coloring. I left tiny, subtle bits of her stockinette visible on her face. The weave of the stockinette can only be seen upon close inspection and I love the way it looks. Being able to see the weave of the fabric reinforces the fact that this is an all cloth doll and it is one of the details I love seeing on some of Izannah Walker’s original dolls. You will see areas of worn and rubbed paint, as well as subtle variations in the paint color that denote places where the oil from tiny hands would have touched her during her imaginary past life. This version of Isa has short wispy hair around her face, with a close cropped fringe at the nape of her neck.
She is dressed in a wonderful thin olive brown and Prussian blue cotton print dress. The dress has one growth tuck in the skirt, and two tucks in its sort frilled sleeves. Antique cotton tape forms a drawstring at the neck of the dress and the waist is closed with a mid-19th century, blue painted, milk glass button. Her chemise and pantalettes are made from antique lace trimmed linen and her petticoat was fashioned from an unworn baby’s flannel petticoat with embroidered, scalloped edges. I had been looking through scores of images of antique Izannah Walker dolls prior to painting Isa #2 and some of those photographs showed dolls wearing blue shoes. I took a bit of license and used the inspiration of those blue leather shoes when choosing the color for Isa’s painted boots! Isa #2’s bonnet is made from a wonderful antique brown and white print cotton fabric. I’m making the bonnet optional on this doll because I have many other brown dress fabrics that it would also look great with. Around her wrist is a tiny chain that keeps her sewing scissors near, so that she can always find them when she needs to snip a thread. She is priced at $1250.00 and you may add the bonnet for an extra $100.00. Free, insured shipping to any U.S. address is included and of course she can be placed on lay-away if you need to. Feel free to contact me with any questions you have about this doll. You may purchase her by calling 860-355-5709, emailing paula@asweetremembrance.com; or fastest and easiest of all, by clicking here and going through the automatic checkout on my website.
Isa #2 is really much better looking in the flesh… or should that be cloth??? 🙂
A Few Additional Notes
Before anyone asks again, no I don’t have a bonnet pattern for sale. 🙂 I cut both of these bonnets free hand. The plum colored bonnet comes purely from my imagination, aided by years of collecting antique bonnets and looking at even more examples in photos, at antique shows and shops, and in museum exhibits. The brown bonnet is based on a tiny antique doll’s bonnet that I purchased last year. When making bonnets I take into account the amount of antique fabric I have available, then hold the material up to the doll and start snipping away with my scissors!
Why all of the petticoat scallops? It’s been cold and snowy here in Connecticut, which has made me long for red flannel petticoats. A week or two ago I brought out my favorite example, which has a scalloped flounce around the bottom, and that along with the contents of my antique white linens bin inspired the scallops on the girl’s underthings.
*If you would like to read more about the exquisite Izannah Walker doll in the collection of the Worthington Historical Society I suggest you peruse the article about the museum in the February 2013 issue of Antique Doll Collector magazine.
Instead of following the yellow brick road, I followed the freshly cleared path, to…and fro…
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.
The foot of new fallen snow, on top of the snow from the last storm, obscures some of our second floor windows.
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….
In a panic for a perfect last minute present? Now you can put a gift certificate for one of my dolls or an extra doll dress under your tree!
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.
My gift certificates feature images of antique paper dolls that have been altered. Illustrations of my Izannah Walker reproduction dolls now replace the original paper doll heads.
These two dolls are finished and looking for a loving new family. Both dolls are now sold and looking forward to traveling to their new homes.
10/23/13 – I want to add that these may be the only dolls, other than already scheduled custom orders, that I will have finished before Christmas.
Naturally I will try to make one or two more before the end of the year, but as of now I am pretty tightly booked.
The other thing I forgot to say is that you may put these dolls on lay-away, just like everything else that I sell.
As promised, here are photographs of the two dolls I currently have finished and available for sale. They are listed for sale on my website Paula Walton’s A Sweet Remembrance. You may email me at paula@asweetremembrance.com or call 860-355-5709 if you have any questions about the dolls or would like to see additional photos.
Isabeau #3 SOLD
A sweet, demure 17-1/2 inch tall doll from my Isabeau mold. She has two ringlets in front of each ear and five curls at the back of her neck. Her black painted boots have scalloped tops. She is currently dressed in a knee length chemise with gathered lace ruffles at the neck and sleeves, a petticoat and pantalettes. The black dress she is shown wearing above and below has been sold, so here is your chance to pick your favorite style of Izannah dress and choose an antique fabric from my stash. Contact me with your color preferences and I will email you photos of dress fabrics. Her adoption fee, fully dressed, is $1250.
Anna #3 SOLD
Anna #3 is a smaller 16-1/2 inch tall doll. She has short wispy hair in front and in back. Her dress fabric comes from an 1830’s dress which was remade in the 1890’s and has provenance. I’ll send a copy of the note that came with the fabric along with the doll. the rest of her wardrobe consists of a hip length chemise, pantalettes, a petticoat and painted boots with scalloped tops. Anna #3 can be yours for $1250.
A family portrait… The doll in the pink dress has been sold.
I spent all day Sunday exhibiting at the Jenny Lind Doll Show in Southbury, CT. I had a chance to meet some wonderful people and spend the day talking about dolls, dolls and more dolls! Surprisingly enough in all my years of doll making I haven’t ever done a doll show before. I used to do bear shows and of course I’ve done more folk art shows than I can count, plus wholesale shows too, but this was my very first doll show. 🙂 It was a pure treat to be in a room where every single person knew who Izannah Walker was! *
This is a photo of Mary with all of the dolls I have made from the mold of her Anna! I loved being able to show them to her and to get an update on the real Anna’s latest adventures. Coincidentally a woman who was one of the previous owners of Mary’s other Izannah Walker doll, Pauline, was selling dolls just a few tables down from me. What a small world!
I have to say thank you to Mary Goddard and her husband Chris for all of their help on Sunday! It was fun to see them again and have a chance to talk. Mary also brought me the most amazing Halloween treat, tiny crepe paper and scrap ornaments that she made for my Halloween feather tree 🙂 A huge thank you to Joy Gaiser too, for booth sitting so that I could shop and take a break. Joy is a true friend and so good to me! I don’t know what I would do without all the wonderful people in my life…
* My husband answered the phone this morning and was somewhat bemused to be asked “Is this Izannah Walker?” Completely deadpan he handed the phone to me and said “It’s for you.” 🙂
Surprisingly most people at Sunday’s show were interested in custom made dolls, so I do currently have some
completed dolls available for sale. I’ll try to get photos taken and get them posted sometime later today, but
first I have to harvest the pumpkins and pick the last of this year’s raspberries. Frost is on its way tomorrow
Izannah Walker Journal 