Happy July 4th!!!
Thank You Early American Life! ~ Isane Has Returned From Her Photo Shoot at Winterthur and is Now Sold Thank You So Much for Looking
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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.
You may see more photos of Isane by clicking on this link.
Whiling Away a Rainy Summer Afternoon, or A Day Spent With Jane Austen & Strawberries…
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.
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.
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
Intrigued about the connection between Jane Austen’s Emma and strawberry season? Then you may want to peruse this blog post http://austenonly.com/2010/01/27/austen-only-emma-season-mr-knightleys-strawberries/ . It is equally as fascinating as the post about India Rubber Shoes 🙂 http://www.jmisc.net/jm980331.htm
Lovely Large Papier-Mache Doll Repaired & Ready to Return Home
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.
Thank you for stopping by to visit!
*Read more about this doll here https://izannahwalker.wordpress.com/2015/03/13/a-wonderful-large-papier-mache-doll-in-need-of-a-little-loving-assistance/
Mother’s Day
I hope you all had a wonderful Mother’s Day!
I’ll Be Back at Work on Monday
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 ❤
A Few Tips for Those of You Using My Izannah Kit to Make a Doll
In November I started selling an Izannah Walker Reproduction Doll Making Kit, in addition to my existing Izannah Walker Doll Making Class and my fully finished reproduction Izannahs with authentic pressed cloth heads. My kit makes it possible for those of you who do not want to sculpt and make your own molds to try your hand at making a reproduction Izannah Walker doll. ❤
Is it just the same & every bit as good as an all cloth reproduction Izannah? No it’s not, but it is easier to make and it does cost less. 🙂 So that makes it a great alternative for some of you! My kit isn’t for beginners. It’s a simpler method of making a reproduction Izannah Walker doll, with an appearance that is faithful to that of the original dolls, but is still a challenging and rewarding project!
If you have already purchased a kit, here is a video with a few additional helpful tips. If you have been thinking about buying a kit the video will give you a good look at what is included, and what your options are. If you just enjoy seeing some of my reproduction Izzys then you will also want to take a peek. And for those of you who’d like to see what my office looks like, the video has you covered too! 🙂
If you have any questions about my kits, classes or dolls please feel free to contact me at 860-355-5709 during east coast business hours or email me anytime at paula@asweetremembrance.com.
Wishing You a Happy Easter!
Wishing you all a very happy Easter weekend!
Need a bit more Easter eye candy? Click here to see a previous Easter post.
post script…
Were you wondering if Miss Zanna arrived safe and sound at her new home in time to celebrate Easter with her sisters? Take a peek…. all of her sisters and a dear old family friend have made her feel particularly welcome and well loved ❤
A Wonderful Large Papier-Mache Doll in Need of a Little Loving Assistance
Today I have been rendering a bit of loving assistance to this damaged, but still beautiful papier-mache doll. I’ve been asked by her owner to stabilize her condition, more than restore her. I have glued the very large crack in her head and started repairing the holes in the back of her head. Her antique underclothing is currently soaking in a solution of Orvis and distilled water. The idea here is to conserve the doll with a very light touch. I’m doing just enough to keep her together and stop her from deteriorating further, while allowing the story of her life and enchanting time worn appearance to shine.
This doll has a very nice hand sewn body, with magnificent fingers and hands!
Come back to visit next week to see how she looks when I’m finished working on her…
More Photos of the Two Painted Composition Heads I Currently Have Available for use with My Izannah Walker Doll Making Kits
3/11/15 2nd update – both heads are now sold. Thank you! The sun is being much more cooperative today and providing nice soft light, just perfect for taking photos! Photos have been something of a challenge for me lately, due to the 2+ feet of snow cover outside my door. Not only has it made it impossible to take outdoor photos, but I can’t even open the barn door that I would need to walk through to get to all of my lighting equipment! Yes, I do actually own professional photography gear 🙂 , even if my photos don’t look like I do! – LOL
Sooooooooo, a few minutes ago I took additional photos of the painted heads that I posted yesterday. I wish I could show them to you in person, because they look so much richer and more vibrant when they are right in front of your eyes. They have a very subtle aged paint surface that does not show up well in photographs. Actually the best way to see the paint surface is to go over to my eBay auction and use the zoom feature on the first photo of doll head #2.
HEAD #1 SOLD
Same information as yesterday’s post: If you are interested in purchasing this head please email me at paula@asweetremembrance.com or call me at 860-355-5709 during east coast business hours. The head sells for $375.00 with the full kit or $340.00 if you already own one of my Izannah kits or classes.
To enhance the baby like look of her face, I chose a rather uncommon Izannah hair style for her. The Carmel Doll Shop once had a magnificent antique Izannah Walker doll with hair painted similarly. If you frequent their website, you may remember her. She was dressed in an amazing off white dress with a great deal of white braid work trim and she wore a necklace of white beads. This hair style has very short wispy center parted bangs, with little fringes of hair at the temples brushed towards the face and six ringlets at the back of the head. Six is a very unusual number of long curls for an Izannah Walker doll, it is much more common to see five or seven. The large Izannah that I reproduce has nine.
HEAD #2 SOLD
I’ve listed this head as Buy It Now on eBay. Click here to view my auction listing. SOLD
If you would like to see more photos of these two composition heads, simply scroll down the page to the previous post.
UNPAINTED HEADS
If you are feeling adventuresome, I have one Izannah Kit, with an unpainted head up for auction on eBay and I also have another kit with an unpainted head in stock and ready to ship immediately that may be ordered through my website.
Izannah Walker Journal 