Heather and Fern

Oh what a beautiful view, a highland stream bubbling over slate, sparkling granite - 

past banks of rich moss and heather. There is such romance, such magic in the hills of Scotland.

 It was this enchanting landscape that inspired my latest doll, 

please may I introduce Heather - or Hettie as we know her here.

 

 Hettie is confident strong willed child, determined and fearless in her adventurous games, she is always the one to encourage others to try puddle jumping, or hedge climbing, yes indeed she is a free spirit! But  at the end of the day tired and happy, she loves nothing more than snuggling up for tea and toast, cuddling her wee baby doll Fern, while we read tales of brave knights and dragons.

 

 

Goodbye my brave Highland girl, I hope you journey to see those Scottish hills someday xxx

The blue and the green

Hello my loves, I hope you are all keeping well, for this post I would like 

to take a little time to introduce you to my dear little friend, Flo.

Now you will all know how much I love my work, making dolls nourishes my soul - allows me  such freedom to express my creative side, but there comes a few days each month where my studio falls a little quiet. My dollies all adopted, snuggled in their boxes and beginning their own adventures, I have to say sometimes it is a little lonely. It's at these times that I hold my sweet little Flo and look into her kind eyes, give her a little squeeze and feel better! I only have a couple of dolls that live here with me, Flo was made by the incredibly talented Daria of Petit Gosset Dolls and don't tell the others Flo, but your my favorite girl!

My dearest Flo made by the incredibly talented Daria at Petit Gosset Dolls

Her sweet gentle face always makes me smile

The last week has not been easy, we have had to say goodbye  to a dear member of our family. Though we all feel such a sad loss, it has been good to take a little time away from my studio to focus on home life. The peaceful beauty of Dartmoor, the suns gentle warmth reminds me how fortunate I am to be here, to have my two kind and loving sons and a strong and supportive family.

Fun on Dartmoor

Flo loves adventures on sunny days

It's a big wide world out there Flo

 So Flo has spent the day with me and my boys today picnicking in the blue and the green - remembering good times. Tomorrow maybe I will begin to sew another doll, it touches my heart to think that someday this new doll, just an image in my mind right now - will be held by little hands and offer a comforting cuddle, soft understanding eyes will  let a child know they have a true friend.

What a wonderful place to be

I wish you all a wonderful week, full of all the simple joys, smiles and laughter.

Scarlett xx

Babes in the woods

 Here in Devon we are very fortunate to have some beautiful woodland. Each season brings a different palette of colours and textures, there are many dear little animals that call these woodland their home - nature truly provides so much inspiration! So imagine my delight when I was asked to create a pair of woodland children! Naturally my imagination ran wild and over the last few months, me and their new mama have become good friends as these sweet siblings have developed, I just know they will be so loved in their new home!

Anyway - without further ado, please meet Aven and Colle

Aven has beautifully soft Tibetan lamb hair in rich mahogany, tipped with russet and gold like sunshine through autumn leaves.

She wears a cotton print dress with woven woolen trousers, knitted boots, 

a pure wool felt fox coat which fastens with a large ceramic leaf button - 

oh and the tiniest terrarium necklace - with needle felt toadstool.

 Aven's mama loves snails so it seemed only right that Aven should have her own pet! 

Made from a real snail shell with a needle felt body 

little snail just loves to cuddle up in a leafy nest when not out adventuring!

 

Aven is a little shy - just like a real fox,

but once she has gotten to know you her true playful nature is revealed!

Colle is my little wolf pup - adventurous and always looking for trouble!

Colle wears a pair of moss green courdroy trousers, a little grey t shirt, wool knit boots and his wool felt wolf coat - naturally when he heard that his sister had a pet, he looked up at me 

with those deep grey eyes, lip quivering - yes yes yes ok - you can have one too! 

Colle chose a needle felt mouse as his buddy and has named him Squeeker.

I do hope these two will write occasionally - I have grown ever so fond of them! No doubt they will have a great many adventures and be able to tell some good stories!

Farewell my loves, say hello to all your ladybird friends in your new home for me!!

A welcome to spring time

Oh how I love the springtime! The gentle warmth of the sun waking up the first flowers, the little lambs fresh to the world skip in the field across the way and we pinch back a few hours of daylight! It feels so good to throw open the doors for little boys and dollies to go out and play!

Over the last few wintery months I have been working on a special doll, filled with all my hopes and dreams of spring, please meet Odelette.

She is a 16 inch girl of soft pink and fresh greens, 

inspired by some of my favorite flowers - sweet peas

Her hair is soft wefted mohair, hand dyed by myself in gentle pink and hazy purple tones, she quite likes to tie this back with a string of crochet sweet peas.

She has mossy green eyes, embroidered eyebrows and fair skin. Odelette is able to sit easily by herself, has a sculpted bottom, and a tiny belly button too. 

 

 She will come with two full outfits, the first is a cotton/organza dress with secret pocket front, a cotton/silk knit cardigan, woolen wrap lace shoes and glass drop necklace

 ( oh and little pink undies too!)

The second is a liberty sweet pea print dress, with beaded heart lace shawl 

and matching beaded shoes.

Odelette will be searching for a loving new family with her Podling baby. A seven inch bundle of whispy haired cuteness! Wrapped snug in his little knitted pea pod sling Odelette can carry him wherever she goes!

Odelette shows podling baby all the new spring flowers

Oh how she loves her Pea Pod baby

I do hope that wherever they travel these sweet dolls will bring with them the joys of springtime, they will be available to adopt together at the Enchanted toybox on April 7th (shop)

For all of their photos do pop over to my flickr account (gallery)

The Princess and the Pea

What a charming little story! The search for true love, an unlikely princess and that pesky little pea!

It is one I have always enjoyed, and remember my father reading to me and my sisters when we were very small, from a large old volume of Hans Christian Anderson tales.

My husband and I over the last few months have worked together on this project, combining our efforts to create this dear little princess play set.

 I have to admit that my hands did not play much part in the making of the bed, although delicate stitches and attention to detail seam to come naturally to me in my needlework, I am a little heavy handed and lets say over enthusiastic when it comes to woodwork - I was the girl in woodwork class who was happily sawing away whilst the rest of the class listened patiently and planned their projects - I suppose I just get a little carried away!

This little princess has a set of four mattresses, filled with soft squashy wool and tufted with wee wooden buttons. She has a patchwork quilt and a lacy pillow.

But for all this fine bed linen, poor princess can still feel that tiny little pea underneath!

Princess herself is 10 inches tall, has full flowing mohair weft locks, tiny ears, belly button and a sculpted bottom meaning that she can sit unaided. She has two outfits, one to represent the windswept maiden that arrives at the castle door - made from layers of cotton and lace, and another more suited to a true princess, layers of pure silk, hand dyed in her favorite colour - pea green!

I have so enjoyed creating all her additional extras, her little diamante tiara, tiny woolen slippers, but my favorite I must say, is this!

My husband has designed and created our very own version of The Princess and the Pea story book. Professionally printed, this dear little princess is the star of her own story and has had much fun posing to recreate the tale for our photographs! Vincent is a graphic designer by trade and has a real passion for story telling, it has been wonderful to work alongside him on this project, I'm sure the first of many!

The Princess and the Pea play set and book will be available on Saturday 1st of March via short auction on the Dollishop Facebook group.
dollishop link

Aurora and Luna

  I wake - two little eyes peeking at me, nose squished to mine and a beaming smile. It is some tender hour of the morning, dawns gentle light just peeping through the curtains, but we are wide awake, and I carry my little one snuggled in my dressing gown downstairs to make a pot of tea.
We wander out to the french doors, sure enough there is a our little pussy cat waiting patiently to be let in, he tiptoes in as we open the door and step out into the morning, the dew on the grass twinkles with the stars of the night just passed and the moon faint and dream like still lingers in the sky, she has stayed just long enough to kissthe sun good day.
At this still, quiet time I am perfectly happy, my mind clear of cares - drinking in the peace before the day takes hold.
It seems symbolic to me, reassuring that moon will follow sun, like a little one follows her older sister, time will pass, things will. change, but this one thing remains true.
And so this small moment is my inspiration for Aurora and baby Luna.

A very proud big sister

 Aurora is the largest doll I have ever made, I wanted to make a doll big enough to be a big sister, to be able to hold a new baby. She measures a very tall 26 inches! This morning was bright and sunny and of course Aurora needed to go out, like most of my dolls, she cant stand to be kept indoors too long!

Enjoying some early spring sunshine

Silky mohair curls

Aurora's hair is a mass of wild mohair curls, the silkiest softest fibre you could ever hope to work with! She was a little concerned when baby Luna was first born, " Psst Scarlett.. Her hair is all white! She has no purple at all! " she exclaimed, " Well you see, Aurora" I explained " Luna is brand new to the world, as she grows and she finds who she is, her own special colours will start to shine through too, just like yous are" Aurora thought on this a moment, and decided that yes she would be happy to wait and see what Luna's colours would be.

Dreaming

 Making a doll so large has been a lot of fun, her limbs are long perfect for posing and cuddling ( all of these photos were taken without the use of props, pins etc - the dolls hold their poses together very nicely) Her arms and legs are sewn in at the seams so are very durable and flexible. She was quite content running about in the nude, but well I thought it best if she had some respectable clothes to wear too! Designing her outfit was a joy, linen, Liberty prints, cotton frills and lots of pretty buttons!

She has a peachy little bottom

and a little belly button

knit mary janes and socks that are forever falling down!

Pretty cotton frills

A handmade ceramic button

 Luna, cuddly newborn that she is, has slept a lot of the time, wrapped in her little embroidered blanket. Every now and then her little eyes would peep open from under her whispy white hair - just to check we are all still there, a little sigh and she would snuggle back down again.

Wrapped up warm in her baby blanket

Tiny little boots

She may be small but she certainly has style!

Luna has a little pale blue nappy, lined with soft ( and absorbent ) bamboo velour, a jersey shirt, cotton playsuit and some warm winters knitwear, all finished with tiny mother of pearl star buttons.

Aurora and Luna will be searching for a forever loving home together because like morning to night, dark to light - they could never be apart.
Their price is £300 and they will be listed on Saturday in the facebook group Dollishop :
Dollishop link

For a little peek into my inspiration behind these dolls, do pop over to my pinterest board:
Aurora and Luna board