Just one short week until I’ll be packing all the dolls to take to the convention! Still lots and lots to do!!!
Getting Ready for the UFDC Convention – Work in Progress
Category: Shows
On the Trail to San Antonio – I’m Headed to the UFDC Convention in July!
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.
I hope to see you there!
A Nice Day at the Jenny Lind Doll Club Doll Show
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! *
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
night!
Good Night. I Hope to See You in Southbury Tomorrow!
Look For Me at The Jenny Lind Doll Club Doll Show on Sunday, October 20th
On Sunday I will be exhibiting at the 25th annual Jenny Lind Doll Club Doll Show at the
Crowne Plaza hotel, 1284 Strongtown Road, Southbury, CT. If you would like more
information about the show you may call Joan Falvey at (860) 628-8896 or
203-598-7600. The show runs from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Admission for Adults is $6.00 and $1.00 for children. There is a coupon for $1.00 off
your admission here http://www.az-ps.com/dollshowusa/Events-CT.htm .
I will have a few new dolls available for sale, plus a wonderful selection of antique Izannah
size doll furniture. I will also be taking orders for custom made dolls
and will have examples with me of most of my dolls for you to see in person. I’d love to see
you there!
Happy 196th Birthday Izannah! My Celebration SALE Starts Now!!! (this year’s sale is over ~ thank you !)
Today marks the 196th anniversary of Izannah Walker’s birth. She was born in Bristol, Rhode Island on the 25th day of September in 1817. You may read more details about Izannah’s life in this post. I wish I could invite you all over to my house for cake and silly party games, but since I can’t, I’m doing the next best thing and having a SALE to celebrate the occasion and to say thank you for being such wonderful customers, students and friends. It is such a great pleasure to know other people who love Izannah’s dolls as much as I do!
From 9/25/13 – 9/29/13 all of my reproduction Izannah Walker dolls, additional custom made dresses and accessories for your Izzy, Izannah Walker doll clothes patterns and Izannah Walker Doll Making Classes are 10% off. This sale applies only to items ordered from September 25th through September 29th, 2013, the discount is not available on prior orders. As always, all items may be placed on lay-away with terms to fit your budget and shipping is free to any United States address. I generally just have two sales per year, my Izannah Walker Birthday Sale and my Christmas Sale 🙂 So don’t let this one pass you by.
Three Finished Dolls Available
I have three very special dolls available for this years Birthday Sale. One of them is created from a brand new mold that I made from my friend Mary’s Izannah Walker doll, Anna. Thank you Mary!!! Anna is 17 inches tall, so she is a smaller size than my other dolls and has the look of a younger, chubbier child. All three of these dolls have very aged appearances, befitting young ladies that were made early in Izannah’s doll making career. They each come with two elaborate dresses, full of wonderful little details to delight the heart of any dress maker, a chemise, pantalettes, petticoat and necklace.
Isabeau #1 SOLD – Thank you so much for stopping by to look at her! Please contact me if you would like to order a custom made doll similar to this one.
Isabeau #2 – SOLD Thank you!
Anna #2 – NOW SOLD THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR LOOKING. Even though this one is sold you may order a custom made Anna style doll, and if you love these dresses I have enough fabric to make another set just like them.
Are you wondering where Anna #1 is? In the very near future she is going to be living with Mary, her older sister Anna and all of her Walker cousins in Vermont. Members of my Izannah Walker Doll Making Class may read about my adventures in making Anna #1 in a continuing series of posts on the class member site.
To see photos of the original Miss Anna, follow these links:
Photos to Share of Mary’s Antique Izannah Walker Doll
A Visit with Anna
I am a much better doll maker than I am a photographer. All of the girls look so much nicer in person. If you would like to see more photos of any of the dolls before placing an order, just ask. To purchase any of these dolls please visit my website ASweetRemembrance.com or alternately you may email paula@asweetremembrance.com or call 860-355-5709.
Time worn, well loved dolls are the ones that kindle the fiercest love in my heart, but I know that some of you dearly love newer, more pristine dolls. Don’t despair, I would be happy to make you the Izannah Walker doll that inhabits your dreams and has captured a place in your heart. Call or email me to place a custom order, 860-355-5709 ( 9:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time) or paula@asweetremembrance.com. I do have a bit of a waiting list for custom work, so the sooner you order the better.
Click here for a quick guide about my three different styles of dolls.
Custom Made Dresses and Accessories For Your Doll
Email (paula@asweetremembrance.com) or call me (860-355-5709) about prices and available fabrics for custom made doll clothing and accessories. Simple dresses made from antique fabric start at $200 apiece. More elaborate dresses with a greater number of tucks, fuller skirts, rows of ribbon or lace trim, embroidery or more costly antique fabrics run from $250 -$275 and may go upwards. Handmade leather shoes are $75. Any custom order is 10% off during the sale. Scroll up to see the new style of dress that I made for Anna #2. The fully lined dress has a slim cut bodice and sleeves, with a cartridge pleated skirt and velvet ribbon trim. The cost of an identical dress is $295, if the dress must be fully lined, or $275 for one with a lined bodice.
Patterns and Classes
If you would like to order a pattern for a full set of clothes to fit one of my 18- 1/2 inch Izannah Walker dolls click on this link.
I don’t have a pattern available yet for smaller size clothing to fit Anna.
To read more about my Izannah Walker Doll Making Class by Mail follow this link to my website, where you may also order the class. The class comes with unlimited support, plus a class member only discussion site that features extra bonus material and patterns, including five different flat faced heads that work with the rest of your Izannah class patterns so that you can create a variety of different cloth dolls as friends for your Izzys! Sophie and Mae, two of my dolls that I made using the flat faced patterns will be featured in the Spring 2014 issue of Prims magazine.
Time For A Party
After trying on all their new clothes and posing for their photo shoot, the girls and I spent some time in the kitchen baking Izannah a birthday cake. We all agreed that it was the perfect treat to celebrate the birthday of our very favorite doll maker!
The recipe for the cake came from The Best of Shaker Cooking by Amy Bess Miller and Persis Fuller. I chose this recipe because it is one that would have been in use during Izannah’s lifetime and is filled with apples, the perfect seasonal fruit for an autumn birthday. I picked apples to use from our oldest apple tree. It is a very firm, late season cooking apple that I have never been able to positively identify. We grow our apples organically, so they are not picture perfect, but I’m sure apples just like these would have been a familiar site to Izannah.
Apple Cake
from Shirley Shaker Village
1/3 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1-1/3 cups flour
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
3 apples, peeled and chopped
1/4 cup currants or raisins
powdered sugar
ground cinnamon
Cream butter and gradually add 1/2 of the sugar, beating well. Beat egg with remaining sugar, add to first mixture. Sift in flour, salt and baking powder alternately with the m ilk. Flavor with vanilla. Add apples and currants or raisins. Beat well to mix and turn into a well-buttered 9 inch cake tin, square or round.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar and cinnamon, and bake in a moderate oven (350 degrees) for 30 minutes. Makes 1 cake.
Fabulous Finds
I have been finding the most wonderful things recently on my shopping forays to the flea market and various other locales. My latest trip on Sunday to the Elephant’s Trunk and the Jenny Lind Doll Club’s annual Doll Show were no exception. Since I just returned last week from a whirlwind shopping trip to Bella Vista, Arkansas with 11 other women, you would think I would be all shopped out 🙂 Apparently not so!
I was very excited to find strands of bone beads at the flea market. They are going to make wonderful Izannah necklaces and are available in more colors than the coral beads I have been using. The bone beads are also just as historically accurate as the coral. So now you will have your choice of both types of beads.
I’ve been frantically stocking up on all of the appropriate antique fabrics I can find. It’s going to be a long winter with many fewer shopping opportunities. I’m trying to make sure that I have enough fabric on hand to dress the dolls I will be making from now through early spring. The only drawback is that it’s making me feel a bit like a squirrel putting away nuts for winter 🙂
My shopping list, when I headed out to the doll show, consisted of one item – hand knitted doll socks. Upon arrival at the show I very virtuously purchased numerous pairs of lacy knit stockings (they are the one and only item of apparel that I do not hand make for my reproduction Izannahs). But then I got a bit sidetracked! I happened upon a fantastic German wooden doll, dressed in indigo prints.
Her clothing is old, though not as old as the doll herself. I’m estimating that her current ensemble dates to 1890-1910. Her pantalettes and chemise are probably original to the doll, which was made in the first part of the 19th century. Soon the wooden doll was carefully wrapped in tissue and residing in my shopping bag. To make sure that she didn’t feel lonely, I added a pair of tiny bisque pincushion dolls, a 1920’s Japanese bisque doll, a vintage spun cotton ornament, two tiny wooden Noah’s Ark dogs, and a pair of vintage evergreens to keep her company.
Inspiration
Last month, when I went to the Harwinton (CT) Antiques and Design weekend, I happened across this fantastic portrait. At the time I had just spent several days painting scallop topped boots on what felt like an entire army of tiny feet and sewing yards and yards of gathered white ruffles and lace. Finding this painting felt like the hand of fate.
We’ve hung the portrait in our parlor, so that she over looks the wing-back chair and Sheraton sewing table, where I sit in the evenings to do my hand sewing. That way whenever my thread tangles, I have to rip out stitches, or just generally need a bit of encouragement, I can look up for inspiration. This tiny girl is a gentle guide to the look and feel of long past childhood, that I strive to convey in all of my dolls. I am so happy to have found her!
A New Birthday Dress
Carmel, California was one of the stops on our west coast vacation. Naturally I couldn’t go to Carmel without a shopping trip at the Carmel Doll Shop. I had a wonderful time browsing through the shop.
Michael and David were fantastic, even though they were away at a doll show, they arranged for one of their employees to come let me into the store. Thank you Samantha, you made my shopping a treat.
My find of the day was a great button front brown print day dress/morning coat that is just the right size for my 18 inch Izannahs. Every girl deserves a change of clothes :). Take a peek at my first antique Izannah modeling her “new” birthday dress.
Ironically the show Michael and David were doing was in Bellevue, Washington. We had been in Bellevue the day before and knew about the Doll Show, but I decided not to try to squeeze it in before we flew out to San Francisco. If I had known they were there I would have managed a brief stop on the way to the airport 🙂
We rounded out our day in Carmel by having tea at the Tuck Box teashop and buying licorice at the Cottage of Sweets (they have more than 50 varieties).
Since this dress looks so perfect on my Izannah, I’m planning on making a pattern from it, which will hopefully be ready for sale sometime next year.
Online Show Open at www.paulawalton.com
***Thank you to everyone who came to the show last year in 2011!!! I hope you are enjoying your purchases. I’m not doing an online show in 2012 because we are having a wedding in the family instead. ***
The show is open! Hours – Friday, June 24th at 8 p.m. Eastern Time through 10 p.m. Sunday, June 26th.
The show includes dolls, antique bears and toys, vintage and antique cooking items, small handcrafted treasures plus a few surprises for sale on a first come basis. So don’t wait!
The show is posted on my blog, www.paulawalton.com. You will be able to view the show by visiting paulawalton.com from 8 p.m. Eastern Time on June 24th through 10 p.m. Eastern Time June 26th. If you see something you would like to buy, you can either email me at paula@asweetremembrance.com or call me at 860-355-5709, please no phone calls before 9 a.m. or after 10p.m. Eastern Time. I will be accepting checks, money orders and Paypal for payment. You may also place items on lay away. If you would like to pay using Paypal, I will invoice you. If you wish to pay with a credit card, you may do so through Paypal as a guest – you do not have to open a Paypal account.
As always everything, except carousel horses and large pieces of furniture, will include free shipping. If it is possible for you to come pick your purchases up in person, then I will subtract a bit from your total 🙂
I will be posting additional items throughout the weekend, so check back 🙂
Click on these links to go right to the show:
Antique Children’s and Doll’s Furniture
Want to see more??? Visit my main website for more of my work.
Izannah Walker Journal 