Bramley - the apple girl

When I was small many a good time was had nipping over the neighbors fence to sneakily pinch an apple or two, my sisters as lookouts - excitedly skipping about under the tree as I hurriedly stuffed the fruit in my pockets. We were always caught and scolded for our thievery, but I have to say the excitement around apple picking time and autumn in general has always remained.
Now my mother has her own little orchard, and every year me and my boys like to spend an afternoon or two collecting apples, ready for pies and crumbles, or even just to top our morning porridge ( its getting chilly over here in England now )
This year we have been joined by a dear little doll named Bramley. Named after a true traditional English apple, and just as sweet!

Bramley is a 15 inch doll, made from quality natural materials.
Her skin is sunkissed de witte cotton and  she is stuffed with sweet devonshire wool. She has long wefted mohair hair in a beautiful autumn auburn shade. Like all of my dolls, she has lots of features, tiny ears, a sculpted chin, eyebrows, a swirly belly button and peachy bottom!

 Bramley was only too pleased to scramble up the apple tree, tucking fruit into the little pocket on her apron, stopping now and then to take a bite out of the rosiest ones!

This little lady requested warm comfortable clothes, She is dressed in a little lace vest, with matching undies, a three layered Irish linen skirt, trimmed with cotton lace and fastened with a wooden apple button, wool felt leaf shoes, socks, a pure wool jumper and linen apron ( with pocket for apples!)

Some of the apples in our orchard were a little heavy for Bramley to hold, so I have crocheted a little basket, and needle felted three tiny apples - just the right size for dainty little hands!

Bramley the apple girl will be looking to join a new family on Monday, please do visit my shop for her listing - it will run for 48 hours - here is the link: Bramley
Thank you for stopping by my blog!
Lots of love Scarlett xxx

Toran's Doll

 By 8.30 we are up, fed, washed, dressed, house squared up for another day and children are starting to ask for another breakfast! We did playdough at 9.00, drawing at 9.30 - then snack time, today was one of those non stop days - and I should know on days like today where my boys are feeling rather busy - I wont be busy doing dolly work!
Nevertheless I am always the optimist and while both boys enjoyed an indoor picnic I thought I would try to sneak away for a little sewing, but no sooner was the machine threaded, two little faces appeared  "can we help" Toran chirps - eyes sparkling, fingers already busy twisting dials and switching the light on and off. After a little debating we compromise that if he can sit very still and not touch, he may watch me - I have a pair of little leather boots to sew this morning for Goldilocks and it is too fiddly for little hands. Now he tried very hard, but it is just too tempting for a nearly four year old boy to fiddle, to empty tins of thread, to NEED to sit on your lap, or help you with the machine pedal. The game was up, I looked at the tangled mess of stitches on the boot ( no doubt some tension had been helpfully adjusted) and decided to cut my losses, pack away and hope to maybe try again at bedtime. It was just as I switched off the machine that Toran turned to me and said " But Mummy I absolutely need to learn to make dollies! " Oh my sweet boy - hands turned out, shrugging his shoulders, he just wants to play! It's so easy to get caught up in all that I should do, all that I have to do - but today I realised what a special thing it is that my boys watch me work, to see that I can provide for them at home -  to inspire their own creativity. 
And so today Toran learned to make a doll. He knew immediately what he wanted to make, and really impressed me with his patience!

Stuffing his dolly with wool

choosing silk for dolly's eyes

the table got quite messy!

sewing ladybird spots

It took most of the day, with quite a few breaks for tea and biscuits, but the look on this boys face when his very own doll was finished was priceless! Mr ladybird is about 5 inches tall, has a little removable knit tunic, hat and wool felt shell which ties on with ribbons

 ( just in case mr ladybird wants to become something else someday)

Toran and his new best friend are already adventuring in the garden -

 its been the most productive doll making day ever !

Edward Bear

Oh Edward! When Mary asked for a little brother I don't think either of us expected such a mischievous creature! But even though you wear big bear foot boots, and are earnestly practising your growl - there is less Grizzly than Teddy about you my Edward Bear!

Edward is like all good boys should, mostly busy messing around, noseying into things that he shouldnt and running at the mention of a hair comb! He is truely a playful little cub!

Like his sister Mary, Edward Bear is made using my new 12 inch baby pattern from beige laib yala cotton and stuffed with devonshire wool. He has a sculpted bottom and floppy poseable limbs allowing him to sit and pose with ease. He features a gently sculpted face, tiny ears, eyebrows, and swirly bellybutton. His hair is whispy crocheted dollymo mohair.

Edward wears a knit jumper with alpaca teddy motif, matching undershorts ( which together make a nice pj's set ) cotton plaid trousers and pure wool knitted bear foot boots.

For when Edward needs to be a real bear he also has an organic cotton plush teddy romper suit with hat - and though he prowls around trying to scare his sister - I think he looks adorable in it! Though I'd never tell him, he is so proud to be a real bear!

Edward is ready for adventure and will be looking for a new home tonight at 6pm EST via short auction in my shop along with his siter Mary and some lambkin friends. 

For the rest of his photos please do visit my gallery

Due to Edwards fine mohair hair he is best suited to gentle play with an older child, or cuddles from an adult collector

A little lost lamb

Sometimes a doll will live in my heart for a long long time, quietly, patiently waiting for a time of their own. It is a joy like no other to realise these gentle souls from simple wool and cloth.

Mary is just so, a doll which encompass all that I try and impart, all that I hope Ladybird Dolls to be. 

A delicate face which in one moment look full of mischief, 

and in the next you could almost have sworn you saw a little lip quiver. 

In truth my craft owes a lot to the humble sheep, their beautiful wool lends itself to warm naturally hypoallergenic stuffing, giving my dolls a comforting huggable feel. Breeds such as teeswater and wensleydale produce incredible long lustrous locks which I use for dolls hair, 

and wool felt makes for durable doll clothes and mini dolls. 

I have longed to make a little doll inspired by sheep, a doll of understated, meek and mild beauty. 

Soft, gentle and kind - this is Mary...

Mary is 12 inches tall, made using my new baby pattern for a doll which will sit with ease, has flexible limbs and can be easily posed. She is made from beige Laib Yala cotton and stuffed firmly with sweet Devonshire wool. Her hair is crocheted from natural white dollymo mohair.

Mary is gently sculpted with a tiny mouth, chin, full cheeks and features wee ears and embroidered eyebrows.

Mary is dressed in pointelle cotton undies edged with lace, a cotton jersey shirt, pure Irish linen dress with little lamb pocket, merino knit shoes fastened with mother of pearl buttons, and a wool tweed and lace headband. All clothing items are made to measure entirely from my own patterns.

Naturally little Mary needed some warm lamb clothes too!

Her romper suit and hat are sewn from organic cotton plush 

and are just right to stay warm and cosy at bedtime.

Mary will be looking for a mama tonight at 6pm EST ( Sat 9th August ) via short auction in my shop along with her brother Edward and some lambkin friends. For all her photos do visit my gallery.

Due to her delicate hair fiber and buttoned clothing Mary is recommended for gentle play with an older child, or to be admired by an adult collector.

Meoldy, Harmony and Lyric

Oh my girls I have dreamed of you for so long! 

It has been a while since I last made some larger dolls. Over the last few months I have been working on a new pattern for baby dolls. I wanted to create something lifelike - resembling a little one who was just reaching that wonderful age of discovery - learning to co-ordinate themselves into a crawling position, able to sit easily and unsupported - with heavy floppy limbs that could be posed just like a real baby. And so Melody, Harmony and Lyric were born.

These babies are 19 inches long, lined with wool felt and gently weighted to give a snuggly baby feel.

Let me introduce you to each of them!

 

This is Melody - the eldest of the three girls, and by far the most bossy! She is kind hearted and full of fun, but I have to say she has a stubborn streak! She is a girl who know her own mind and is always the first to try something new - needless to say she was the first to start crawling!

 

 Harmony is the middle sister, gentle and quiet, content to watch the hustle and bustle all around her. She is a little shy at first, but is soon won around!  She is the cuddliest of the three girls too, 

and just loves to snuggle up in her blanket with her dolly.

And last of all there is baby Lyric, the youngest sister. Chatty and cheerful, this little girl always has a smile on her face! Lyric started talking practically as soon as she was born - and honestly hasn't stopped! She babbles and coos in her own special language to her dolly -

 who of course understands every word!

My girls are excited to travel to new homes, but to keep them company I have made each a little doll, at just under five inches tall they are just the right size to cuddle up with, though usually they are up to mischief!

I seem to always make dolls in threes, perhaps it's because I am one of three sisters, each doll taking on a little personality of each of us. Doll making is a mysterious thing, ideas drawn from the depth of your soul, from happy memories of summers passed playing, from sisters squabbles, a vision becomes a sketch and sketch to stitches and before long a face somehow familiar is peeking up at you - not quite what you visioned, not quite what you sketched - but exactly as they were meant to be.
I'l never tire of that magic!

Melody, Harmony and Lyric will be available to adopt tomorrow, Saturday 28/06 at 6pm UK time
( 1pm EST ) in my shop (link)

Delicious Elderflowers

I look forward to this short season every year - eagerly keeping an eye on the hedgerows for the first signs of those fluffy white flowers. This year my father and I gathered blossoms from their tree in the garden, it was a beautiful clear day.

It is best to pick flowers on a bright sunny day

This year I decided to try something new - I usually make a simple cordial with my flowers, but this year I have brewed some elderflower champagne.
As with most of my kitchen efforts, there was no recipe as such, and a good deal of trusting to luck!
My flowers filled an eight litre maslin pan, which I filled with water, threw in a couple of cups of sugar ( about 700g ish ) and the zest and juice of two lemons  Then let nature work it's magic!

 I was convinced that nothing would come of this simple potion - but sure enough after a few days sitting in the kitchen - tiny bubbles began to form!

Two weeks later I have six bottles of elderflower bubbly! I think it will be the perfect celebratory drink to enjoy on our first night in our new home - now to begin packing!
Happy Summer everyone!
Love Scarlett xx

Digger the Fox Boy

So you may well of heard stories of boys raised by wolves, but I bet you have never heard of a boy raised by foxes!
Digger has come to me from the wild wild woods, with a gleam in his eyes, sharp ears and a bushy tail. He is bold, fearless and full of fun and loves nothing more than to scamper through the ferns with his baby fox friend looking for fir cones.

Digger

Little Fox

Digger is most at home in the woods

When they are both quite worn out they each have a cozy place to sleep, fox baby even has a tiddly felt fox toy to snuggle up to - I truly have never made anything so tiny!

A room of my own

With cozy autumn patchwork quilt

Even little fox has his own nest bed

The smallest fox you ever saw!

And as a little something for Diggers new mama - I have made her a dear little fox sculpture - in a jar! I think it might just be tiddly fox's mother!

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend,
love Scarlett xx