Remember how this is supposed to be my crafty blog?? Yeah, me neither. But, I finally crafted something! Since the boys were in Texas, the Amazima dolls were all shipped off and the movers had done the heavy lifting…I decided to spend Christmas day working on a project I’ve been wanting to do since summer! I spent a fun day doing nothing useful at all—as you can see from the piles of boxes in the background. But I did finish up the dollhouse and I’m really tickled at how it all came together!!!

Of course, now I need to finish making that family I keep meaning to finish. But I have a couple of weaving projects to do for a friend before I do any more toy making. The Ostheimer family can live there for now.

It’s moved into Walker’s room now and I can’t wait for him to get home tomorrow and see it!!

Interestingly, the little bit that I’ve done of unpacking, it’s almost annoying to bring more stuff out. I’ve lived with streamlined belongings for a few months—even after the massive decluttering. Everything was out in boxes in the garage, and oddly, except for one or two small things—we didn’t miss the stuff! I’ll definitely be unpacking with caution and with an eye on a large pile to go off to the good-will!! And that goes for Mr. Walker’s stuff. These past few months he hasn’t even noticed that 80% of his toys were packed away. He asked after his blocks and that was it. I will be unpacking the boxes of toys with caution.

Hope you all had a fun Christmas and this time tomorrow I’ll have my baby boy back and spending his first night at our new house! Yay! Then we get all day Monday to hang out together.

Well, the boys are in Texas and I’m settling into my new home with Pete the cat. I’m contendedly getting snowed in and don’t mind at all. I have my fuzzy friend, a little food and caffiene, a whole house to unpack, and enough uninterrupted time to finally finish the dollhouse! I’m taking a break from cutting out windows. It’s been a long time since I’ve used the scrollsaw! I’m just sayin’!! So not as many cute little details, and they’re a little more wobbly than intended…but I wasn’t going for straight with sharp corners anyway, so we’ll call it organic, right?!?!

It’s kind of relaxing doing Christmas on my own. Different. Time for reflection about the changes that have happened over the past year. Next year will be very different, that’s for sure. New home, changes to the family dynamic, new professional endevours – well, an attempt anyway! Very different.

I hope everyone has a safe and Merry Christmas (or winter celebration of your preference)!!

Ok, so back to sewing with wood.

Final tally ended up being 420 dolls! I’m so excited that we finished with a cushion!

Thank you to everyone that contributed time to this project. It’s been something I’ll never forget. I’ve had several very kind emails letting me know about the impact that this project has had on their lives and families simply because it brought them into contact with Katie and her life and work. The ripple affects are pretty amazing.

And the trigger was something so trivial: I was surfing for photographers in my hometown to suggest one for my new niece’s newborn photos. I fell in love with RiaLee Photography and scheduled a session for my own son. I wasn’t able to get the photos done after all, but while stalking Ria’s blog and her gorgeous pics, I stumbled onto some she took while on mission this summer. I saw the little girl with the baby doll and thought I might make a few for kids that get sick and need a little comfort…something very small scale. The rest is history!

Thank you so much for helping me make this happen! And thank you Katie for sharing your story and allowing us to help out in this small way!

Merry Christmas!!

(Now I’m off to hurry get through this work day so I can rush home and pack because tomorrow is MOVING DAY!!!!)

Just a quick note before the morning rush begins: it’s been a long week, but it ended in a stuff-a-thon yesterday with a friend and my husband. We got them all stuffed quickly. Then I spent the evening stitching them up. I’m sending another box full (75 dolls) today and that brings the total to 350! Since the ministry now has 400 sponsered children, I’m going to keep plugging away this week and get to at least 400. I know I can do it though because there are 32 dolls out there with friends and co-workers being finished, and I’ve got another 15 or so waiting to have their back stitched up, plus a handful of miscellaneous ones that needed a bit of repair before being stuffed. TOTALLY do-able!!

Thanks everyone!!

The push is on. For those keeping track (me), we got another couple of batches of dolls in from Jade (super cute and I really need to take a picture, but the daylight is gone) and my super-seamstress extraordinaire, Elisabeth (who I’ve never met, but love dearly because she keeps sending more and more dolls!) So shipped off are 275. Plus another 8 between Jade and Elisabeth, and the 6 more Elisabeth did this weekend = 288.

A little bit of outsourcing to volunteers that couldn’t be here but still wanted to help, will cover another 30 or so. 7 finished by volunteer hands today while I determinedly sewed away. Looks like 327! And I’ve heard rumors of a few more that might be done over the weekend.

I finished cutting out all of the pieces first thing this morning and started sewing away. I think I’ve gotten into the swing of it—seems to be going more quickly than a few days ago! Maybe that the caffiene talking.

Just in case you ever wondered…125 dolls = 1625 individual pieces of fabric. Most of which are cut in double thickness…but still over 800 bits to trace and cut! Embarrassingly, most of that fabric came from my stash of scraps that were a little too big to throw out. So this was good for the decluttering as well!!!

By the weekend, we should be at just stuffing and stitching shut. I’ll try for a doll-stuffing party. And then, it’s time to get ready for Christmas!!! Luckily, this year, I did most of the Christmas stuff REALLY early so there’s only a couple of hours worth of work left. Have I mentioned that I’m going to spend my solo-Christmas catching up on sleep? Lots and lots of sleep. I’ll synch my schedule with the cat. He seems to have it figured out. Nap nap nap. Play. Nap nap nap. Supper. Play. Nap nap nap. And when I get tired of sleeping, I can unpack boxes.

Once I’ve recovered, the projects on the horizon:
*Vanilla Bean caramels (take 2 — this time, I won’t burn the candy or myself hopefully)
*Assemble super secret gift baskets
*Finish Walker’s annual super secret project
*A custom batch of felt food (after Christmas) for an etsy customer
*Two custom card-woven belts for a friend. I’ve got to dust off my weaving skills! It’s been a long time since I’ve done it! Especially with the words woven into the pattern.

Oh yeah, and move, settle in, unpack, etc etc.

That ought to take me through December and January!

I finally reopened my little etsy shop again. I’m not making any new dolls at the moment (BUSY!!!) but I has some really cute ones already made so I dusted off my shop and put them up for your Christmas shopping pleasure! I’ll enjoy getting back to (regular) doll making after we get moved and settled in again.

One CUTE (if I do say so myself) little girl:

And a couple of boys plus squishy dolls:

The brunette is gone, but the blonde and redhead are still here. And there is a mix of the smaller squishy dolls. You can see them in the shop.

I’m looking forward to getting back to etsying again after the move. I have several half-finished dolls…but I don’t dare open that box—I’ll get sucked in and I just don’t have time right now!

Hooray! The doll fairy visited! A batch all the way from a Craft Hope participant in Uruguay!

And another big batch from Elizabeth! THANK YOU!!

We’re at 275!!

Some new arrivals in the Gallery! We’re up to 252 in hand and I’ve heard rumors of another couple dozen on their way. I’m cutting out and sewing for dear life in the next week. I know I can finish these. It might be a few late nights, but they’ll happen. Thank you so much for everyone that’s pitched in and done a few more. You’re invaluable!!!

I have another huge box ready to ship to Amazima ministries this week. With luck and a little caffeine, I’ll fill another by next weekend.

Here are our CUTE new arrivals!

We’re back home after a really nice Thanksgiving with my family in ND. I came home to a big box of Amazima dolls! I’ll take pictures of those later today along with the other couple that have come in. The plan later today it to cut out as many dolls as I can stand and start putting them together.

We completely skipped the Black Friday madness of getting up to shop at 4am. But we hit the mall for a few minutes so that Walker could see Santa. Last year, he needed a little bribe. Santa gave him a sucker and helped him open it AFTER the photos were taken. This year, he marched up and asked for his sucker. *sigh* But he did great for the photos!

I hadn’t quite believed how much he’s grown this year until I saw the Santa photos side by side.

Here he is last year at not quite 2 years old:

And here is this year at not quite 3 years old:

No more baby there! He’s all independent big kid now.

In anticipation of decorating a new (to me) home…I’ve been shopping on etsy. Love it! The combination of vintage and one of a kind is so much fun! And it’s very budget friendly—though as my wish-list grows I’m realizing that I’ll be doing this project gradually. So…since I don’t want you to buy my wish-list stuff (mine mine mine!)…here are a few of the goodies I already picked up!

For my room:

A beautiful mixed media painting by Sheryl Spratt Designs. (Have I mentioned how cool it is to be able to afford ORIGINALS on etsy?!?!?! Cuz it is!!! Ok, some of them are hundreds of dollars, but a lot of things are in the $20-$60 range plus shipping.)

From beh-jat. Her other collages are really amazing too. I wanted the pop of pink for what I had in mind, otherwise it would have been really hard to choose!

From Finding Fabulous. I really hope the green is this color in person—the frame is what caught my eye! UPDATE: It wasn’t quite the color I wanted in person, but she was terrific and understanding and let me return it. Definitely shop here! Great customer service!!

So that’s my room. And for the kiddo I found just the right inspiration in the vintage section! I can’t quite decide which is my favorite yet but it’s lots of fun!!! I think mix of vintage and his natural toys will be a really nice combination.

How cool is this spaceship from Recycled Wares??? I don’t care if it’s missing pieces and doesn’t work. If it did have all the pieces, I’d never be able to afford it!

I LOOOOVE these bookends from Vintage Eye. The seller seemed to think they were girly lions despite the manes. But I grew up with the Oz books and I recognize the Cowardly Lion when I see him–fresh from the Emerald City!!! Now hopefully my dad will let me raid his stash of old children’s books for a few to put out with these fun lions.

Walker flipped when he saw this train from Two Little Friends Very cute and she says it still runs perfectly. That will make my little boy very happy.

Oh…and one last thing…I haven’t bought this, but it’s a print she offers regularly and I’ve loved it for a year!

If you’ve never seen the prints at Sarah Jane Studios…you need to. If you’ve got kids or have ever been a kid, they’ll make you smile.

I’ve never really had the resources or opportunity to decorate to my taste before–I’ve always just made due with what we had and kept things pretty neutral. It’s interesting to find out what that taste is now that I have the chance! I’m learning that while I admire certain things, I can’t quite make myself comfortable living with them. Even though I want fun and eclectic, I also want a certain amount of symmetry and clean lines. In my head I’ve found a balance. Now we’ll see if it really works when put it into action!!