The class is now 13 years old I can’t believe how fast the time has flown by. When the class first came out my class member help site was on Ning… for all of you who were early members I’m sure you remember how crazy and chaotic that eventually became when Ning kept repeatedly announcing, and then retracting, that they were shutting down all of their small users. If you used the Ning site you will also probably remember how chock full of information it was, most of which was sparked by class member’s interests and requests.
In recent years the class member support has moved to a private facebook page, as new members have purchased the class. I know that most of you long time members don’t really need much in the way of help these days… You’ve mastered the class and no longer need to ask questions, but just in case you have missed chatting with other dollmakers who are working on reproduction Izannah Walker dolls, or if a stray question or two has popped into your head, you may still ask to join my Izannah class help group! Once a student, always a student. It’s super simple, just message me through my facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ASweetRemembrance to let me know you’d like an invitation to the group, be sure to INCLUDE THE DATE YOU PURCHASED YOUR CLASS, and that’s all you have to do.
Activity on the class member support page ebbs and flows. Sometimes it is very quiet and then suddenly it will pick back up again. At the moment there are a few new students who are eagerly waiting for their class materials to arrive.
Tilly J. Lamb and I are both spending our days making dolls in preparation for our annual Izannah Walker Birthday Celebration on September 25th & 26th, 2020
I haven’t sent out a newsletter in quite some time… the one overwhelming thing I most want to say is that I hope you, your families and loved ones are safe and healthy. This has been such a very sad and difficult year for our world.
I debated with myself about whether or not to write my annual Autumn Newsletter, but in the midst of such very unsettled and stressful times I find that I need a few happy, fanciful things to think about. Tiny bright spots that make life feel a bit more normal and remind me of better days. So I decided to go ahead and write, hoping that you might feel the same and be interested in a bit of studio news and upcoming events.
The dolls and I are busy making plans to celebrate Izannah Walker’s 203rd birthday on September 25th. I started writing my Izannah Walker Journal ~ Paula Walton’s Doll-Making Notes blog in January, 2009. The little Izzy’s and I have been celebrating the anniversary of Izannah Walker’s birth on my blog for ten years! Since my first birthday post on September 25th, 2010!
I’m getting a rather late start on preparations this year. I have to admit that since March I have been feeling much too antsy to make dolls… I have needed to do more physical, less detailed work. To be up and moving all the time rather than sitting… I have been throwing myself into taking care of my little remnant of an 18th century farm. My life is going through a lot of changes at the moment and one of the things I am exploring is the feasibility of farming on a very small scale, so I have been growing a few experimental crops and trying out new plants. I’m not at all sure that farming is in my future, but it has made for an interesting, busy, exhausting spring and summer. I have also been concentrating on taking care of my family and making things for them. I have made masks, masks, and more masks. Not nearly as many as some people I know, who have been donating them on a large scale, but I have still made a fair number ~ about 75 so far, with more requested and on my to do list. My concentration on family has included making toys with my granddaughter and sewing clothes for her first year of school.
Now, just finally, I am feeling as if I can return to making dolls, creating spun cotton fancies, and all the other art and handwork that I love. Apparently I am not alone in this, as I have recently been seeing comments and posts from other artists and craftspeople remarking that they too have not been able to work on their art and creations for months…
I am very, very honored to once again have been selected by Early American Life as one of their top traditional craftsmen in 2020. This marks the 41st time I have been juried into their prestigious Directory of Traditional Craftpersons. One of my dolls was featured in their August 2020 issue.
Reminder
Both the Spun Cotton Ornament Class and Izannah Walker Doll Making Class member help sites have moved to private facebook groups. If you are a member of either class and would like an invitation to the group please email me. You must be a member of facebook to use the private facebook group.
In Closing Thank you all for your interest in my work for all these years. I have enjoyed getting to talk or correspond with so many of you! Knowing you has enriched my life. I hope that I have been able to add just a bit of fun, whimsy and knowledge to yours!
I’d like to leave you with this recipe for Birth-day Pudding. It is the recipe that the dolls and I baked for our first Izannah Walker Birthday Party in 2010, and what we will be making again to celebrate this year. It is very easy and quite delicious! You don’t even have to be a doll lover to enjoy it ~ lol!
Butter a deep dish, and lay in slices of bread and butter, wet with milk, and upon these sliced tart apples, sweetened and spiced. Then lay on another layer of bread and butter and apples, and continue thus till the dish is filled. Let the top layer be bread and butter, and dip it in milk, turning the buttered side down. Any other kind of fruit will answer as well. Put a plate on the top, and bake two hours, then take it off and bake another hour.
This receipt (aka recipe) is from Miss Beecher’s Domestic Receipt-Book by Catherine E. Beecher. Catherine Esther Beecher was born in 1800 in East Hampton, Long Island. She founded the Hartford Female Seminary in 1823 as well as other schools for young women in Ohio, Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin. She wrote A Treatise on Domestic Economy (1841) and Miss Beecher’s Domestic Receipt-Book (1846).
Notes:
After buttering my dishes I dusted them with sugar, before layering in the bread and butter.
I cut the crusts off my bread, as the pudding was for a special occasion, but you certainly don’t have to. I saved the crusts as a treat for the wild birds in my yard. You may also save them to make stuffings, bread crumbs, or croutons.
I chose cinnamon, mace and nutmeg as my spices.
I baked my doll sized pudding in a custard cup, which would also be nice if you want to bake yours in individual portions.
I preheated my oven to 350 degrees and baked my puddings for 15 minutes, then I reduced the oven temperature to 250 degrees and continued baking for the remaining 2 hours and 45 minutes. I removed my doll size pudding from the oven after 30 minutes of total baking time. Your baking time is going to depend a lot on the size of your dishes and the thickness of your pudding, so check your oven fairly frequently. It’s also a good idea to put a cookie sheet under your dish, because my pudding bubbled over as it was baking.
Here is the program that I did for the Beyond All Limits Virtual Doll Convention that is being held right now on facebook. All the dolls were very excited to have virtual visitors come for tea ❤
Do you know about the Virtual Doll Conventions that Rachel Hoffman has created on facebook? If not you have been missing something wonderful. Some of you may remember that I have participated in previous VDCs. What you may not have heard about is that Rachel has put together a wonderful free convention that begins next week, as her way of giving something to everyone in the doll world, at a time when we all need to have a break from worry, stress and bad news. ❤
So all of the little cloth girls and I would like to invite you to join the convention, it’s FREE all you have to do is register. Then come for a virtual visit to my front parlor, where we will sit together and I will tell you a tale about Izannah Walker and her dolls. We’ll also talk a bit about mid-19th century clothing and undoubtedly a few other things as well, just as we would if you came to call in person. ❤
Click here to register – Virtual Doll Convention Registration. It is completely FREE! The convention is held entirely on facebook, however if you don’t use facebook you will still be able to see the videos on YouTube, but you will miss out on some of the fun downloadable souvenirs and the watch parties.
Works in progress… The very first three reproductions of Charlcie. ❤ When finished they should be 23 inches tall!
As many of you probably know, I’ve been busy working on reproducing a very special Izannah Walker doll to coincide with the June Virtual Doll Convention
Here is a tiny update on how my first reproductions of Charlcie are coming along…
The two part molded cloth heads have been joined together, then sewed onto a fabric shoulder covering, which was then attached to the doll’s torsos. As of late yesterday afternoon they have had four very thin layers of oil color applied to their heads and shoulders, and have the color blocked in on their eyes, cheeks and eyebrows. None of the fine details have been painted on their features yet. Painted curls and three more layers of paint on all the “skin” areas still to go! ☺️
I’m very happy to be one of the sponsors for the June Virtual Doll Convention. If you’d like to know more about the convention click here:
I can’t believe how fast the time has flown by. When the class first came out my class member help site was on Ning… for all of you who were early members I’m sure you remember how crazy and chaotic that eventually became when Ning kept repeatedly announcing, and then retracting, that they were shutting down all of their small users. 
If you used the Ning site you will also probably remember how chock full of information it was, most of which was sparked by class member’s interests and requests.
It’s super simple, just message me through my facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ASweetRemembrance to let me know you’d like an invitation to the group, be sure to INCLUDE THE DATE YOU PURCHASED YOUR CLASS, and that’s all you have to do.
Izannah Walker Journal 
