Izannah Reproduction Doll Class · Izannah Walker Reproduction Doll · Where to Shop

Yuletide Sale

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I love this time of year!  In honor of Christmas I have put all of my reproduction Izannah Walker dolls, Spun Cotton Ornament Classes, and Izannah Walker Doll Making Classes on sale through 12/31/10.

The base price of my dolls is normally $1500, but if you purchase a finished doll or place an order for a custom made doll during the sale the base price of the doll will be $1050.  That’s a savings of $450, or 30 %!  The sale price for the Spun Cotton Class is $110 and $220 for the Doll Making class.

If you have been thinking about buying one of my reproduction Izannahs, this is the time.  I don’t anticipate offering them at a lower price anytime during the upcoming year.  Each doll takes between 85 – 95 hours to make.  That’s two forty hour weeks, plus overtime.  🙂

You can view and purchase the finished dolls at www.asweetremembrance.com. Dolls currently in progress can be seen here at the Izannah Walker Journal.  Call me at 860-355-5709 or email me at Paula@asweetremembrance.com with questions, to place a custom order, or to reserve one of the dolls I’m working on. Custom orders require a 25% deposit.

I’m happy to offer lay away for any purchase, usually for four months, but I’m pretty flexible so if you need longer, we can work that out.

Izannah Walker Reproduction Doll

A First Glimpse at My Newest Dolls

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Here are photos of all the dolls that I’m currently working on.  All of my reproduction Izannah Walker dolls are on sale through the end of December to make them especially affordable for Christmas.

This doll is spoken for, but I would be happy to make another one just for you.

SOLD This doll is sold, but you may order a custom made doll just like her!

This doll is now sold and will soon be on her way to her new home.

She doesn't have hair yet, but I plan to give her a center part and soft waves.

I know everyone always says this, but they look ever so much better in person.  After all I’m a doll maker, not a photographer!

Check back to watch these dolls come to life.  If you’d like to purchase one of these dolls now, before I get them finished, you will be able to choose all of the final details and clothing.

The base price of my dolls is normally $1500, but if you purchase a finished doll or place an order for a custom made doll from 12/1/10 – 12/31/10 the base price of the doll will be $1050.  That’s a savings of $450, 30 percent! Dolls with bare feet, or clothing that is especially elaborate and/or made from antique materials, cost more.  Accessories such as bonnets, pockets and outerwear are additional. I am happy to offer layaway.

Email me at Paula@asweetremembrance.com or call 860-355-5709 if you would like to reserve one of these dolls,  see more photos, have questions or to place a custom order.

Izannah Walker Reproduction Doll

I’m All Thumbs Today

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I spent a goodly portion of the day today making hands.  Fifty-six fingers, fourteen thumbs and a coating of gesso later, here they are drying in front of the fire.

Izannah Walker Reproduction Doll · Where to Shop

Dolls Available for Christmas

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This week I’m working on eight dolls, which with luck, will be ready in time for Christmas.  Two of the dolls are boys, two are black and the other four are girls.  All of the dolls are 18 – 1/2 inches.

Here is a sneak peek at one of the boys.

I firmly believe that everyone should have a doll for Christmas.  In order to help make that happen I am offering special pricing on my Izannah Reproduction Dolls during the month of December.  The base price of my dolls is normally $1500, but if you purchase a finished doll or place an order for a custom made doll from 12/1/10 – 12/31/10 the base price of the doll will be $1050.  That’s a savings of $450, 30 percent!

Email me at Paula@asweetremembrance.com or call 860-355-5709 if you would like to see more photos, have questions or to place a custom order.

Doll Clothing

The Frugal Dressmaker

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This week I followed in the steps of many dressmakers before me.  I used the scraps leftover from a two piece reproduction c.1860’s woman’s dress to fashion a child’s gown from the same period for one of my dolls.  Frugal seamstresses have been making dolls and their clothing from bits and pieces of fabric culled from other sewing projects for centuries.  I thought you might enjoy seeing  photos of both the dresses together.

The doll and the dress are shown on an early Rhode Island press bed. The coverlet on the bed is a 19th century purple and white handwoven linsey woolsey with a center seam. To the right of the bed is one end of an antique Amish quilting frame.

The fabric is a plaid silk taffeta.  Both gowns are lined in brown polished cotton and trimmed with black velvet.  I cut the skirt of the doll’s dress on the bias and cartridge pleated it to the waistband.

The doll pictured here is sold.  She’s on lay-away.  The doll size plaid taffeta dress is available.

Doll Clothing · Izannah Walker Reproduction Doll · Where to Shop

What to Wear???

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Hmmm… decisions, decisions.  What to wear today???  Pink, brown or cheddar orange?

This doll is currently available with any one or all of the three dresses shown here.

For more details please see her full description on my website, or feel free to call 860-355-5709 or email me paula@asweetremembrance.com.  I would also be happy to answer any questions you might have about placing a custom order, or be happy to chat if you’d just like to say “hi”.

 

Izannah Walker Reproduction Doll · Other Types of Doll Making · Stray Comments

Heads Will Roll (or at least wobble around a bit)

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After being gone on vacation for slightly over a week, I’m now back home and back to work with a vengeance.  Currently I have six new heads that I’m working on.  One of them, and the rest of the doll to go along with it :), is already sold.  I also have a stack of bodies in the works and I’m busily stitching away on three dresses and two straw bonnets.  I’m not sure if I’m energized after my trip or just in  panic mode because I’m behind schedule!

Either way, my vacation was excellent.  I flew to Omaha, NE, to visit family and to meet up with my sister and 13 other female friends for a road trip to Arkansas.  Once in Arkansas, we shopped for two days at ten craft shows.  Two of our favorites are War Eagle and Belle Vista.

New Moravian Church Doll
Antique Moravian Church Doll

My shopping was somewhat limited by the size of my suitcases and carry on luggage.  You’d be amazed by what you can cram into a suitcase if you really try!  Some of my finds were even doll, or at least sewing, related.  I bought a fairly recent Moravian doll from an antique mall in Omaha and I purchased lace and some fun sewing themed necklaces in Arkansas.  I also bought many, many other things…  Even a wood pecker bird house, which did fit into my carry on suitcase.

Doll Clothing · Reference Materials

Inspiration!

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Looking for some fashionable  ideas for your Izannah’s fall wardrobe?  Antique paper dolls are a great window into the past when you are researching historically accurate clothing.

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Today is Studio Delivery Day – or Yeah! I’m Finally Getting More Work Space!

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Earlier this summer I ordered a studio building from Klotter Farms and today was the big delivery day!  When you live and work in a 220 year old house, space is sometimes an issue.  Not that our house isn’t quite large, it’s over 3000 square feet of living space, plus an attic and a cellar, but we use every single bit of it.  So coming up with a larger studio was somewhat challenging.

After considering all the alternatives, I decided to buy a custom-built outdoor structure from Klotter Farms in Ellington, CT.  Since we already have three barns, outbuildings are a way of life for us.  For any of you thinking “OMG, why doesn’t she just work in one of the barns?”, obviously you haven’t spent much quality time in an 18th century barn lately. 🙂

Because we wanted to place the new studio into the 10′ x 24′ footprint of a former chicken coop, I was limited to a 12′ x 20′ building (we were able to come out an extra 2′ to the front).  This is an improvement over my current 8′ x 14-1/2′ workspace.  It’s not going to solve all of my space problems, but it is going to help.

I’m going to move most of my textile related items into the new studio, including 13 of my 14 sewing machines.  Then I plan to turn my current, smaller in-home studio, into an office (where sewing machine #14 will live – surely everyone needs an emergency sewing machine stashed in their office, right ??? 🙂 ).  Eventually I would like to buy another building to use as a greenhouse/painting studio.

I have to say that watching the building being delivered was quite interesting!  Today was not the ideal day to do anything outdoors. The forecast was for high winds, heavy rains and flooding.  Think monsoon season and you won’t be far off.  Warm, steamy, humid air and pretty much constant, heavy rain.

We were told to expect the building to arrive between 7 – 8 a.m.  The cat did his part, by waking us up at 6:20.  We didn’t exactly leap out of bed, but we were up and moving before 7:00.  As it turned out, the trucks didn’t show up until almost 9:00, which gave us plenty of time to mop up the flood waters in the house!!!  The massive amount of rain caused  the ceiling in my front parlor to leak like a sieve and my laundry room to flood.  I quickly ran out of dry towels and containers to catch all of the rain in.  What a morning! Just as I was getting the worst of the water mopped up, I looked out the window to see my studio sitting out in the road in front of our house.

The next hurdle we encountered in our path was that the studio was loaded on the truck facing the wrong direction.  So the delivery guys had to unload it right in the middle of a near by side street and then load it back on the truck from the other end.  This went much smoother than you would expect.  It turns out that getting buildings on and off of trucks is no big deal, if you know what you are doing.

It only took about four hours for two guys to move the studio into place, pop up the roof and nail it into place (they deliver it folded flat) and finish putting on the trim.  It was amazing! It’s not exactly “instant studio”, because it did take Brian a couple of weeks of hard work to prep the site, and now that the building is here we have to finish the interior – it’s not really Where Women Create material yet :).  However,  we are ready to move on to the next phase of my studio adventure – the electrician!

Everybody keep your fingers crossed that we don’t wash away.  We are supposed to get even more rain tonight, tomorrow and tomorrow night.  I’m starting to feel like Mrs. Noah… has anybody seen my pair of unicorns?

Antique Izannah Walker Dolls · Izannah Reproduction Doll Class · Izannah Walker History · Izannah Walker Reproduction Doll · Where to Shop

Happy Birthday Izannah Walker

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Today is the 193rd anniversary of Izannah Walker’s birth, September 25, 1817 – February 15, 1888.  Happy Birthday Izannah!!!

You made exceptional dolls and I think about you whenever I look at my own dolls that you made.  Even after all this time and all the loving hands they have passed through, they still have the power to enchant everyone who encounters them.

The girls and I decided that we needed to have a celebration today in honor of Izannah.  I baked a Birth-day Pudding and plan to spend the day making a new batch of molded heads.

In case you would like to celebrate with us, here is the recipe for the pudding:

Birth-day Pudding

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.

For any of you that would like to celebrate Izannah’s 193rd birthday by learning how to make dolls like Izannah made hers, I am having a special sale on my Izannah Walker Reproduction Doll Making Class by Mail. The class is on sale through tomorrow, Sunday September 26th at midnight, for $193.00. Its regular price is $250.00.

If you would rather celebrate by buying a finished doll, please contact me this weekend, September 25 & 26, to order your own custom-made reproduction Izannah Walker doll.  I will give you a discount of 30% off of my normal prices, for any doll that you order today or tomorrow.

Email me at paula@asweetremembrance.com or call me at 860-355-5709 to describe what you want your doll to be like (distressed, pristine, fully dressed, au natural, boy or girl, accessories, etc.) and I will be happy to give you an exact price quote before you place your order.  Because of all the variables that you may choose from it’s very hard for me to list prices, and I found out that people were getting confused, so call me or email me and I’ll talk you through the ordering process.  Remember lay away is an option 🙂 !