Many thanks to all of you for your thoughtful notes and expressions of sympathy. I truly appreciate all of your kind words more than I can possibly say.
REMEMBRANCE IS THE SWEETEST FLOWER THAT IN THE GARDEN GROWS…
Laughter and tears are the lights and darks that make up the patchwork quilt of my life. These past few weeks have been filled with sunshine and shadows, but most of all love. Thank you for your friendship. Plus a huge additional thank you to all of you whose dolls I am working on, your kind understanding has taken a tremendous weight off of my shoulders.
BACK AT WORK
While I am not totally back up to my regular pace yet, I am back at work. So please feel free to call or email me with any questions about your doll orders and classes. New things have been continuing to happen in my studio. Yesterday Hannah joined my Izannah Walker doll family. I already have molds of her in progress, so in the not too distant future I will be making reproductions of her, which will bring the number of original antique Izannah Walker dolls that I can reproduce for you up to ten.
Due to a death in the family A Sweet Remembrance is closed until sometime next week. I will check email as I am able to and telephone messages when I return to work. Thank you so much for your patience and understanding. ❤ Paula
I’ve just finished this custom order doll for Sally.This 18 inch tall, all cloth doll, is the third reproduction that I’ve made of my antique Izannah Walker doll “Ismay”.
A fortunate find was this antique linen with a crochet edge, which makes the perfect finish at the top of her arm coverings.Her split pantalettes are the first layer of clothing that goes on over her antique natural colored linen “second skin”.Next comes her chemise.A scalloped hem petticoat is the last layer of her undergarments and echos the theme of her scallop lace trimmed chemise and pantalettes and her scallop topped boots.Her pantalettes peep from underneath her dress skirt.Sally chose a wonderful antique ,25 inch wide, Civil War era paisley print cotton for her dress. The fabric is in remarkably good condition for a 150+ year old textile. This small blue “Persian pickle” (my favorite term for paisley) is a particular favorite of mine, with just enough tiny minor imperfections to show it’s age, but overall sturdiness. Notice the dress fastens with an antique cotton tape drawstring at the neck and an antique blue rimmed milk glass button at the waist.
I don’t think I’ve mentioned it before, but when you see posts like this one on my website they are usually ones that I post so that the doll’s new owner can look over all the final details and let me know if there is anything they would like changed on their doll. Once any alterations are made and I get the OK, then I send out the final invoice for the balance of the payment and ship the doll. Occasionally I’ve already emailed a few photos to the doll’s new “Mom” and do one of these larger photo posts to tide her over until the doll can arrive. 🙂
My newly made reproduction doll is shown here with two small antique friends. My goal is to make beautiful, accurate reproduction Izannah Walker dolls that will look right at home with your antique dolls and furnishings and blend perfectly into your collections.❤
The original Ismay, on the right, is a very early example of one of Izannah Walker’s dolls. My reproduction custom ordered Ismay, on the left, is a faithful recreation of the original, with custom details specified by her new owner.Ismay and her new namesake…Ismay takes a few moments to introduce her new little sister to the rest of her family, and a special friend.Four old & one new 🙂One last group photo…Sally’s doll stops to visit with another one of my reproduction Izannah Walker dolls, this one made from a mold of my friend Mary’s doll, Anna. The funky shadows on the side of her face are from the candle stick 🙂
Lately,if I have a poured and dried composition head sitting around in my studio, when I’m ready to begin painting one of my pressed cloth heads I will paint them in tandem. It always feels like the painting goes much faster when I’m painting more than one head at a time. 🙂 I’m not at all sure that is actually true, but it is convenient and I do get to cut down on the number of brushes I have to wash!
Once again I am honored to announce that I was chosen for inclusion in Early American Life’s Directory of Traditional American Craftsman. The August 2015 issue of EAL, which includes the directory, has just been mailed to subscribers and should also be out on newsstands soon. This is the 32nd time I’ve been in the directory, many years in more than one category, and each and every time has been just as thrilling as the first! It gives me such a warm feeling to know that the highly knowledgeable jurors, made up of museum professionals and other experts, have closely examined my work and named me as one of the top craftsmen working in my field(s).
Young Miss Isane traveled to Delaware earlier this spring to take part in the EAL directory photo shoot at Winterthur Museum. She had a wonderful time posing and exploring Winterthur. Now that she has returned safe and sound, she is looking for a new home to call her own.
6/22/15 UPDATE SHE IS NOW SOLD Isane is 18 inches tall and is one of my all cloth, reproduction Izannah Walker dolls. She has two painted ringlets in front of each ear and a row of five more along the nape of her neck. Isane has bare feet, with stockings sized down from antique socks, and two pairs of hand made leather shoes – one to match each of her dresses. She is wearing a chemise, pantalettes trimmed with pintucked ruffles, a cotton petticoat and an embroidered woolen petticoat. Her floral printed white dress is modeled after the dress worn by the Izannah Walker doll owned by the Worthington, Ohio Historical Society. I am excessively fond of that doll and she was my inspiration for this Isane.
Her second dress is made from prussian blue and olive brown print fabric, with short ruffled sleeves and a growth tuck in the skirt. All of her clothing is made from antique fabric, laces and buttons. A signed copy of the magazine will accompany her to her new home. Isane may be adopted for $1675.00. Insured shipping to any United States address is free of charge. If you live outside of the U.S., exact USPS international mail shipping charges will apply. As always lay-away is an option. ❤
This doll has been sold – thank you so much for coming to look at her. If you have any questions about Isane, or would like to purchase her please email me anytime at paula@asweetremembrance.com or call me at 860-355-5709 during east coast business hours.
“See? Here I am in the August 2015 issue of Early American Life!”
“Oh no! It’s starting to rain! Hurry and take the photo.”This is Isane before she left for her spring break. She went to Delaware to visit Winterthur Museum and take part in the Early American Life 2015 Directory photo shoot.‘I love it when you come to play with me. I hope there will be someone to play with at my new house!”“I love you Isane.”Playing is such hard work. It is time for babies and dolls to take a nap!
For the past week my dolls and I have been entertaining a most delightful house guest. She is a little doll that belongs to my dear friend Susie, and she has come to stay with us in the hopes that a New England summer will give her a clear complexion, bring roses to her cheeks, and a sparkle to her eyes.
The girls are just sure they are long lost cousins, or perhaps siblings separated at birth.. See the close family resemblance!The girls have become such fast friends that Isabeau feels like she has a new little sister. Our visitor is right in between Isabeau and Izzybelle in size, so she is the dearest confidant of them both. They have spent countless hours giggling secrets into each others ears. ❤Rain, rain, go away! Come again another day! “Whatever should we do today?” “We must think of something fun to entertain our guest!” “I know, let’s take turns reading aloud!” “I know the perfect book. Let’s read Emma! I always think of Emma during June when the strawberries are ripe. “
After the girls came up with a plan for the afternoon, they quickly scurried to find their India Rubber Shoes, so that they could run out to the garden in between rain showers and pick strawberries.
India Rubber Shoes, like these made by the Boston Rubber Shoe Company used to protect small feet during damp weather. To read more about the fascinating story of India Rubber in early New England visit this site http://www.jmisc.net/jm980331.htmOnce the girls returned from the garden with their berries, they quickly settled down in their favorite chairs. Izzybelle was very proud of all of the strawberries that she gathered!“Ismay you should take the first turn. You have such a lovely reading voice!”“Emma, chapter one, page one…”At the end of the day our small visitor gave a sigh of pleasure. “There is only one thing that keeps this from being the perfect day… I wish all of my sisters and family at home could be here with me. I know that they would have loved reading and feasting on strawberries just as much as I did. Oh how I miss them all!” “Then I know just what you should do” said Ismay. “You need to write them a letter and tell them all about our day!”
This post is especially for Susie and the doll family that lives with her. The girls and I hope that the rest of you enjoyed it too
Were you wondering what ever happened to the beautiful papier-mache doll that I was restoring several months ago? She has finally gone home. ❤ I had planned to return her to her owner at our March doll club meeting. Unfortunately the weather interfered with our meeting, which was cancelled due to snow 😦 I couldn’t attend the April meeting because I was out of town, so this doll got to stay with me until May. She was a perfect house guest!
Here are a few photographs of her after I did some minimal restoration. Just enough to let her beauty shine through, without erasing her age and grace.
I’ve been in Nebraska for the past two and a half weeks. My siblings and I, along with our various spouses and offspring, were having an estate sale to sell all of my dad’s things that he didn’t move into his new apartment and cleaning up his house so that he can sell it. I’m currently about half way back home. I’ll start catching up on emails and phone calls and be back to work on Monday. Thank you all for your patience ❤
Izannah Walker Journal 