Paula Walton’s doll-making notes
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Today Tillie Lamb, Sarah Alice, and sweet Isabeau stayed inside to decorate their house with Valentines as a surprise for their sisters, who were outdoors playing in the snow. While the other little cloth girls went sledding and built snowmen the self appointed decorating committee cut out paper hearts, placed Valentines on their sister’s pillows, and addressed cards to their friends. They even made Valentines for their dolls ❤
❤
❤
❤
❤
Today has been another busy day for the little cloth girls. Not only is it Halloween, but the first hard frost of autumn is coming tonight. That means there were many extra chores that had to be done before the sisters could celebrate one of their favorite holidays.
Hannah and Eliza Jane stayed in the very tall house to continue sewing on their new fall dresses in between baking sweets for Halloween. The whole house was filled with the sweet aromas of pumpkin, cinnamon, and sugar as both little cloth sisters dashed around the house in their petticoats (which made it much easier to work for them to help each other with dress fittings in between their baking.
Out in the gardens Isabeau, Zanna, Ismay, Tilly Lamb, Charlcie, Sarah Alice, Emma Blue, and even Izzybelle worked as hard as they could picking the last, tomatoes, herbs, and vegetables. Just before dusk they took out their garden sheers and cut all of the remaining flowers for pretty bouquets.
Eight tired, but happy dolls slowly walked back to their very tall house, ready to join their sisters for sweet Halloween treats, and just perhaps a trick or two. ❤
The Izannah sisters and I wish you all a very Happy All Hollows Eve!
It’s been a beautiful cool, sunny autumn day at the doll’s very tall house, as all of my little cloth Izannah sisters celebrated the 206th birthday of the extremely talented woman who made them.
There were many scrumptious things to eat, which they all agreed looked even more delicious when served on their new set of china. As I am sure you can imagine, sweet little Izzybelle was very excited to see what their shared birthday present was! The sisters thought that receiving their very own pair of tiny dolls, that look very like much like they do, was a wonderful gift. Their birthday dolls were made by Lolly Yocum of Laurelleaf dolls.
Since Hannah, Sarah Alice, and Isabeau did so much baking for the party on Saturday, Tilly Lamb and Charlcie took over the kitchen today to bake blueberry jam cake, and set out the pies and shortbread for the party.
Meanwhile, up in the bedroom Sarah Alice was trying her best to get Izzybelle to stop trying get an early glimpse of their birthday present, and to keep her neat and tidy for the party…
Eventually Izzybelle was persuaded to tie her sontag, straighten her dress and stop trying to peek into the parlor. Then Sarah Alice hurried her downstairs, before she could get into more mischief…
At long last all the the party preparations were finished. The little cloth dolls gathered around to parlor table to sing Happy Birthday, light a birthday candle for their beloved dollmaker, and feast on far too many sweets… (I didn’t try to stop them, because after all such a special day only comes once a year and they deserve a special treat).
Thank you for joining us for this year’s birthday party! We hope you have enjoyed it ❤
Happy Birthday Izannah Walker!
Welcome to my annual Izannah Walker birthday celebration here at my Izannah Walker Journal! This is the 14th year that my Izannah Walker dolls and I have been having our own little parties to pay tribute to the wonderful dollmaker who created them ❤ We are so glad you have come to join us!
Due to the unrelenting rain that has been persistently falling for days I have made the decision to split my birthday post into two parts. The second half of our party will be posted on Wednesday, September 27th at 9:00 p.m. Eastern time. It has been much too wet for all of the little cloth girls to commute out to their very tall house today!!! So this evening we’d like to invite you all to read about the doll’s party preparations…
Tomorrow evenings release of my newest dolls will be happening as scheduled. Three of my handmade reproduction Izannah Walker dolls will be offered for sale here at 9:00 p.m. Eastern time (September 26th, 2023)
HAPPY 206th BIRTHDAY IZANNAH WALKER part 1
Saturday, September 23rd…
Isabeau and Sarah Alice spent the morning looking through the vegetable gardens, to see what lovely fresh vegetables and berries they could find… As they filled their garden baskets with the last of the herbs, tomatoes, patty pan squash, sweet corn, raspberries and blackberries they talked about what they should cook for this years birthday party. Izzybelle’s tomatoes have been thriving this summer, so it was no surprise that there were still more than enough left to make into something, but what??? They quickly decided that it needed to be something festive, that felt at least a little bit special. “Isabeau do you remember that recipe for tomato pie that we found tucked into the back pages of our cookbook?” asked Sarah Alice. “Do you mean the one with all of the grated cheese in it?” replied Isabeau. “Yes” said Sarah Alice. After a bit of reflection, and a few minutes of frantic activity spent chasing down a half dozen tomatoes that had rolled out of her basket, Isabeau agreed that tomato pie sounded just right to serve as a light supper at the party.
Both little cloth girls were quite thrilled to find one last autumn bunch of rhubarb out in the back garden, which they immediately resolved to make into pie as well. One sweet and one savory!
Throughout the long afternoon spent in the kitchen Sarah Alice, Isabeau and Hannah managed to bake both pies and a batch of shortbread cookies, while they prepared the doll’s favorite Saturday night supper ~ Boston brown bread, baked beans, and hot dogs. As they cooked they were also able to agree on what kind of birthday cake they should bake… It was a lovely afternoon in the doll’s house as the sisters talked, giggled and cooked the afternoon away
❤ ❤ ❤
You are cordially invited
To visit http://www.izannahwalker.com
On Monday, September 25th, 2023 at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time
to attend my virtual celebration of Izannah Walker’s 206th Birthday!
The little cloth girls and I hope that you will come visit us as we throw our annual birthday party in honor of the amazing dollmaker that created them.
Following the grand birthday celebration…
On Tuesday September 26th at 9:00p.m. Eastern time
(8 p.m. Central, 7 p.m. Mountain, and 6 p.m. Pacific time)
I will be offering a few of my handmade, historically accurate, reproduction
Izannah Walker dolls for sale.
For the particulars about how my sales work please read below. Thank you!
How to buy one of the dolls that will be for sale on September 26th, 2023 ~ this is the IMPORTANT part, so please read this!
I’ve been trying to keep buying my dolls as straight forward and easy as possible. I started out by simply saying that the first person to email me and request the doll would be it’s new owner. Straight forward and right to the point… What could go wrong? LOL ~ As I found out quite a few things could! There have been a few “hiccups” along the way… So in order to keep it all simple and easy please read and follow these directions, which will allow me to mark the dolls that sell “sold” as quickly as possible, collect the buyer’s payment and shipping information right away, and just generally get each doll on his or her way to their new home as quickly as possible. Plus it will also let everyone else know exactly what dolls are still looking for their new home. ❤
In a perfect world I would have the time, money, and energy to completely re-do my website and have automatic inventory control that would allow me to list one of a kind items. Until that magical day happens I appreciate your patience with my current selling policies. Thank you!!!
All of my dolls are sold on a “first come” basis. To purchase a doll email me at paula@asweetremembrance.com , in your email specify exactly which doll you wish to buy . Please be aware of how much the doll costs BEFORE you send your request to buy. You are welcome to ask questions, but please note that asking a question is not the same as making a commitment to buy and will not “hold your place in line” if someone else asks to buy the doll. Checks or money orders are preferred, Paypal is also accepted for payment. Free priority mail shipping & full insurance to any U.S. address. International orders ~ exact postage + $25 handling fee to help off set the extra time required for international shipping ~ check with me to make sure your international address is one I ship to. No shipping to Russia.
Isabeau and Sarah Alice have come up with their own personal tips as well ❤
Today is the day I will be posting the schedule for my annual Izannah Walker Birthday Celebration, so be sure to check back here to my Izannah Walker Journal later today, or visit my business Facebook page Paula Walton’s A Sweet Remembrance or asweetremembrance on Instagram
This afternoon James, Emma Blue, Isabeau and Sarah Alice gathered in the parlor to make Valentine’s for all of their friends ❤
The rest of the little cloth girls were down in the kitchen, with the door firmly shut, though occasional giggles could be heard, along with the delicious smells of sugar and chocolate…
SWEET JAMES is A RARE 17 INCH IZANNAH WALKER BOY WHO IS AVAILABLE FOR SALE. HE IS IN ALL ORIGINAL CONDITION & COMES WITH A LARGE HANDMADE WARDROBE. SEE THE FIRST PART OF HIS STORY ON PAGE 18 OF THE FEBRUARY ISSUE OF ANTIQUE DOLL COLLECTOR. THE CONTINUING TALE OF JAMES’ AND HIS WARDROBE WILL BE IN THE MARCH & APRIL ISSUES. $46,000. I AM HELPING JAMES FIND A NEW HOME ❤ INQURIES AT PAULA@ASWEETREMEMBRANCE.COM 203-313-5973
The dolls and I wish you all a very Happy Valentine’s Day ❤
Today I’m Celebrating 13 Years of teaching my Izannah Walker Dollmaking Class !
https://asweetremembrance.com/category/classes-by-mail/
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.
Happy dollmaking everyone! Today and everyday!
All the little cloth girls and I were so glad that you could join us yesterday, as we celebrated the 205th anniversary of Izannah Walker’s birth! It was a joyful day in the doll’s very tall house! Today is much quieter, since there were plenty of English muffins left over for breakfast and quite a bit of cake for dessert too. The doll’s also received another birthday delivery from Mr. Twigg and his faithful horse and wagon. Thankfully this parcel was much easier to bring inside.
This evening’s after party is a chance to sit back, relax with friends and chat about all the tea party particulars. ❤
The Little Christening Pincushions Shown Throughout the Doll’s House
If you have been curious about the small decorative pincushions that Sarah Alice and Isabeau were making you will be able to read more abut them in my upcoming article about the history of infant pincushions, titled Welcome Little Stranger which will be in the December 2022 issue of Early American. The article also include instructions for making some of your own. The all three versions pictured, as well as other larger pincushions are included in the article.
Baking for the Tea Party
Sourdough English Muffins
Yes, I did make really tiny sourdough English muffins from scratch, then cut and toasted them in a hot skillet! The jelly and jams that the dolls served at the tea party were also homemade, wild violet jelly made from the violets that I picked from my farmyard this spring, black currant jam made with currants from my garden, and peach jam made with peaches from a local farm. I added a generous pinch of cinnamon to the peach jam to make it taste like peach pie. If you’d like to make your own English muffins I suggest the King Arthur recipe, which is the one I use. I made my own sourdough starter using wholewheat flour. When I bake these sourdough English muffins I use at least 50% wholewheat flour. https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/sourdough-english-muffins-recipe
Prairie Stack Cake
Tillie Lamb’s Gingerbread Layers
This is the recipe that I used for the gingerbread layers of the doll’s latest birthday cake.
Rum Gingerbread
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
2- 1/2 cups flour
1- 3/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup molasses
3/4 cup hot water
1/4 cup rum
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves
Combine butter, sugar and egg. Stir in dry ingredients alternately with the molasses, water and rum. Pour into a buttered 9 x 12- inch pan and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. You may substitute buttermilk for the water and rum.
Pumpkin Cake and Spice Cake
Here is the hand written recipe card that I copied from my mom’s recipe for Pumpkin Cake 40 years ago. The recipe for the spice cake came from the Better Homes & Gardens New Cook Book that she gave me in 1975. I substituted raisins for nuts in the spice cake because the dolls and I like it much better that way.
Cake Frosting
Use your favorite cream cheese buttercream frosting ❤
Alphabet Cookies
Fun Fact
I had to open eleven out of twelve individual packs of Mini Alphabet Cookies to be able to spell Izannah! Surprisingly there were abundant “I”s and “Z”s. The letter that took the longest to find was “N” followed by “A”. I purchased the cookies at Aldi.
The Mysterious Delivery of the Large Wooden Settle
At the end of the birthday celebration the unseen Mr. Twigg leaves a large wooden settle at the front of the doll’s house. Mister Twigg is the little cloth sister’s neighbor who runs a delivery service along with his trusty horse and large wagon. Mister Twigg delivered my birthday present to the dolls. The settle was lovingly made by Seth Tudor, Tasha Tudor’s son. It is 1/3 scale and is a miniature version of a settle that was in Tasha’s house. He makes them in three different scales. This particular size will also work for American Girl’s dolls. The three drawers on the bottom are functional. I’m fairly sure that you can reach him through https://www.tashatudorandfamily.com/ , though I contacted him through the Take Peace Facebook group that I am a member of.
The little cloth girls and I will be painting their settle a custom color once the girls stop squabbling over exactly what that color should be!
Flowers
All of the flowers came from my gardens ❤
One Final Surprise!
The dolls were quite thrilled when Mister Twigg came again today to deliver a parcel. It was a lovely birthday present from their dear friend Kay, who often spoils them with holiday gifts ❤ Thank you Kay!
Thank You for being a part of our twelfth annual Izannah Walker Birthday Celebration ❤ ❤ ❤
It is my pleasure this evening to introduce you to two charming young Izannah sisters who are looking to venture out beyond the confines of the very tall house & find loving new homes of their very own. In addition to offering these sweet cloth girls for sale I also have one party dress for sale. ❤
How to buy any of the items for sale tonight ~ this is the IMPORTANT part, so please read this!
I try to keep buying my dolls as straight forward and easy as possible. In order to do that please read and follow these directions. All of my dolls are sold on a “first come” basis. Email me at PaulaASweetRemembrance@gmail.com , in your email specify exactly which doll you wish to buy . Yes this is a different email address than you used to purchase dolls before. I’ve added it so that purchase requests only will show up in the inbox. Be aware of how much the doll costs BEFORE you send your request to buy. You are welcome to ask questions, but please be note that asking a question is not the same as making a commitment to buy and will not “hold your place in line” if someone else asks to buy the doll. Checks or money orders are preferred, Paypal, credit cards are also accepted for payment. Free priority mail shipping & full insurance to any U.S address. International orders ~ exact postage + $25 handling fee to help off set the extra time required for international shipping ~ check with me to make sure your international address is one I ship to. No shipping to Russia.
Both of this evening’s dolls have a special alphabet body covering or “second skin”. It seemed appropriate for autumn and the beginning of the school year. I’ve always been charmed by these illustrated letter prints, which are most commonly seen on antique china dolls. This fabric print is also some times known as an “educational print”, and if you search for them you will find quite a few different ones on the bodies of a variety of antique dolls.
DOLL A. Isane $1595.00 SOLD
This Isane is approximately 18 inches tall. She comes fully dressed in a handmade chemise, pantalettes, petticoat and dress. Her brown print dress has extra fullness in the skirt and two graduated growth tucks. The sleeves of the dress are also tucked. All fabrics, lace and buttons are antique. PLEASE NOTE I am offering this doll for sale now, but it will take approximately a week to ten days for her to ship. Perhaps you noticed that she has two left arms! Sadly this is not the first time this has happened to me. When I started sewing her together I made the startling discovery that she didn’t have a right arm! lol So I am going to have to make her one and multiple coats of paint are going to have to dry before I can ship her.
I try to keep buying my dolls as straight forward and easy as possible. In order to do that please read and follow these directions. All of my dolls are sold on a “first come” basis. Email me at PaulaASweetRemembrance@gmail.com , in your email specify exactly which doll you wish to buy . Yes this is a different email address than you used to purchase dolls before. I’ve added it so that purchase requests only will show up in the inbox. Be aware of how much the doll costs BEFORE you send your request to buy. You are welcome to ask questions, but please be note that asking a question is not the same as making a commitment to buy and will not “hold your place in line” if someone else asks to buy the doll. Checks or money orders are preferred, Paypal, credit cards are also accepted for payment. Free priority mail shipping & full insurance to any U.S address. International orders ~ exact postage + $25 handling fee to help off set the extra time required for international shipping ~ check with me to make sure your international address is one I ship to. No shipping to Russia.
Doll B. Isabeau $1595 SOLD
Party Dress $295
Made of antique fabrics in a classic mid-19th century child’s style, this party dress features extra fabric, a growth tuck, and contrasting fabric bands. It will fit my 18 – 19 inch reproduction Izannah Walker dolls as well as antique Izannah Walker dolls of the same size. The neck band is 12.5 inches, finished waist is 8.5 inches and the skirt length is 8.25 inches.
I try to keep buying my items as straight forward and easy as possible. In order to do that please read and follow these directions. All of my dresses are sold on a “first come” basis. Email me at PaulaASweetRemembrance@gmail.com , in your email specify exactly which dress you wish to buy . Yes this is a different email address than you used to purchase dolls before. I’ve added it so that purchase requests only will show up in the inbox. Be aware of how much the doll costs BEFORE you send your request to buy. You are welcome to ask questions, but please be note that asking a question is not the same as making a commitment to buy and will not “hold your place in line” if someone else asks to buy the doll. Checks or money orders are preferred, Paypal, credit cards are also accepted for payment. Free priority mail shipping & full insurance to any U.S address. International orders ~ exact postage + $25 handling fee to help off set the extra time required for international shipping ~ check with me to make sure your international address is one I ship to. No shipping to Russia.
Thank you so very much for coming to see my latest offerings and for attending this year’s Izannah Walker birthday celebration!
Paula
Izannah Walker Journal 