VictoriAnnie's is Now on FACEBOOK! For a complete collection of . . .

Steam Punk n Lace!

 . . . . .   VictoriAnnie's previously sold items that were listed on eBay!   Feel free to browse----just click the Facebook Badge included in my sidebar.

The ensemble to the left is a VictoriAnnie's exclusive, completely designed by me except for the Top Hat, for which I used a pattern from MHD Designs.  The model is the ever woeful, Ellowyne Wilde, for who I've recently added for my couture creations that fit her 16 inches, as well as the sassy little school girl, Delilah Noir!

I have unfortunately, temporarily closed my eBay store, due to the fact that I can't justify the expense, since I can't keep it stocked.  My items just seem to fly off the shelves more quickly than I can replenish the stock!  No complaints there, at all.

Detachable Sleeves and Gathered Hem

 Ellowyne is shown here with the sleeves removed and the skirt bottom gathered into a stylish bubble.  The fascinator which adorns her hat, is also detachable and can be worn in her hair, instead.  I'm really very excited about styling more ensembles for Ellowyne, though as in any other craft, I am at the disposal of my muse to grace me with fashion ideas.  I refuse to cookie cut my items, so I've put myself on a pretty short leash in creating strictly one-of-a-kind items.  Some of my items use the same patterns, but none are ever exactly alike.

In this Steam Punk and Lace ensemble, the dress is created from a created fabric piece.  The lace and batiste were joined in the lace to lace, lace to fabric method, creating an original heirloom item for Ellowyne from vintage lace and the addition of streaming silk ribbon and hand turned silk ribbon roses.

All of my ensembles are completely one of a kind and I often find myself adding to them as I go along--as in this Steam Punk and Lace ensemble.  I find that each is an experiment in itself.

Gantlet gloves with Gold Rivets and Silk Ribbon Ties

Here I show Ellowyne with the fascinator detached from the Top Hat and simply attached to her hair for a different look, altogether.

Her fingerless gantlet gloves are fitted with gold rivets through which, golden silk ribbon is laced and tied to fit securely.  Where applicable, nearly all of my creations combine silk ribbons and/or thread and silk ribbon embroidery. 

Occasionally, I will not be completely satisfied with an item because, though it may look nice, it just doesn't pass my own critique.  When this happens, I stitch and assemble another and include both with the order.  The buyer of this ensemble received two sets of gantlets;  The original set and the replacement set.

A couple of Groups you my be interested in joining:

WildAboutEllowyne, a wonderful Yahoo Group where you can exchange information, ideas and other fun stuff.

And,  there is Ellowyne's Ennui, a fun place to go to keep posted of new items and fun things to do.

Please follow me on Twitter and Facebook to stay notified of newly available ensembles for Ellowyne Wilde, Delilah Noir and of course Riley and occasionally, baby Ellery.

Hugs,

Saundra Romijn
VictoriAnnie's

 VictoriAnnie's Reopens!


Ahhh . . .  at long last,   Thanks to the combination of all my learned crafts, VictoriAnnie's has recovered and reopened with her own  line of clothing handmade and tailored for the little Riley doll sculpted by Helen Kish. 

If you love doll collecting, Riley is definitely one to own.  Or, own several Rileys to dress and stage.  She will steal your heart with her precious face, diminutive size of 7.5", and perfectly proportioned little girl body.  Riley's artistically poised limbs, though not articulated,  make it possible to position her in many poses for artistic photo shots.

Over the past several years, I've learned more than a few artsy crafts and have combined them all in the creation of one of a kind items for Riley.  I truly get a kick out of creating these little masterpieces of silk ribbon, paint and ink on fabric, styled into little ensembles, most of which I stitch together on my wonderful old antique Singer 99-13.  A gem of a machine that has taught me the patience needed for creating tiny clothes with tiny stitches!

VictoriAnnie's comeback has become very successful, as you see, there is nothing in my newly opened Ebay store.  This is because I'm sold out and am busily sewing and recreating new items to replenish my stock.   I love to offer a variety of styles to choose from.  All of my items are hand sewn, many made into one of a kind works of art with the addition of beautiful silk ribbon embroidery.  I also offer the occasional crocheted ensemble. 

Also offered within the store,  is my Trademark line, "Fairy Tale Frocks", VictoriAnnie's specialty line of clothing for Riley.  I print my own fabric with fairy tale themes and whimsical designs, often incorporating hand stamped images and ribbon embroidery.  I also get a kick out of putting together cute period pieces, my most recent being an outfit for "70's Riley" with jeans, vest, gauze blouse, backpack and a beaded headband.  Though you may find ensembles from the same pattern, there is no way I can duplicate any one outfit, so all of my items and one of a kind for the true collector.

Each outfit is a complete ensemble, never less than 4 pieces.   I love sewing for this tiny collector doll and each piece is intricately stitched, all seams and hems finished by serger, zigzagged, over-locked or pinked.  All will always be completely described to include whether paints or inks are used and what types of ribbon work for embellishments.  All of my creations (unless otherwise noted) are made of natural fabrics of cotton, silk, wool or rayon (or combination thereof).

To see my recently sold items, you can go to Ebay and do an advanced search using my Ebay ID, Auldenglish to see a few sold or completed items only.  To see new items, which are always coming soon, simply click on the link below, which will take you to a page detailing some of my store's history and from there travel to my stores page.

You can be sure that if you find my shelves bare, I am busily sewing away on my old Singer to complete more wonderful ensembles.


Hugs and Happy Crafting
Sandi Romijn
VictoriAnnie's



I will soon have a new website opening on WORDPRESS.COM which will showcase my items and offer links to my eBay auctions.


This link is to my old VictoriAnnie's about me page, which I haven't had time to update, to include my new offerings..  However, it will give you some insight to my past interests and offerings of reborn artistry and infant clothing.


Ebay About Me 


VictoriAnnie's on Ebay

Well, . . .and . . .so . . .

. . . . . here I am , awakening it seams from a long winter sojourn since October and from November, when the cold and snow began, (I mean snow, Snow, SNOW -- there are still mounds in Baltimore, unrecognizable beneath the black city smuck settled atop) -- kept me sequestered within and in.  And, I've definitely wandered far and long from the yellow brick road, but well, not always lost!

 

While "in",  and during one of my many researching expeditions, (and my love for dolls), I ran across this wonderful little Riley by Helen Kish (do look her up on the web) Helen Kish dolls.  The next thing on my mind was making clothes for this little tiny 7 1/2" wonder. So, I've been at it, making her clothes, and I just love it.  Very intricate, detailed stitching from my antique Singer 99-13 (you can get the tiniest stitches from this little honey without the computerized settings.  I've found that -- new?, just isn't always better for everything).  Negotiating and navigating around the tiniest of curves and angles to produce perfect tiny bodices and sleeves, is best controlled with a motor and hand wheel, definitely not the place to test your speed! It is however, the ultimate test of patience!

I've made quite a few little whimsical outfits; poor little Riley is getting a messy head from trying all the clothes on, poor baby.  But, the up side is that VictoriAnnie's will once again open on Ebay (I need to find a place for these clothes) with Riley's outfits, many sets including my own originally designed accessories and vintage, stamped and printed designs.  

(There will also be a few hand made Victorian inspired heirloom items with vintage lace insets from Victorian and antique designs, full size, not for Riley! There are after all, limitations with the size of garments! Tea anyone? :)

I have lots of work to do to open my storefront again and Riley has lots of photo ops ahead to prepare for her runway listings.  We will definitely keep you informed of the opening day!

Down the Not So Yellow Brick Road . . . .a trip to grungy scrapping.

So,at first, I thought and thought about style and where to go with it and my mind was so centered around the typical little whimsy style for children, or all those bright and cheery layouts that well, really just didn’t do much for me.  Don’t get me wrong, I think cheery is great, but the whole clean page thing just isn’t for me.  I like antiques and nostalgia, running across old yellowed artifacts and articles.  I enjoy seeing  a bit of age to an olde photo or olde brass collectible.  It means someone thought  of it enough to cache it away for prosperity.  It was someone’s important memory.  I get to gaze upon something  important to them in their life long ago.  Sooo . .

. . . .imagine my delight when I ran across the king of Grunge!  Though leaning toward the dark side (I kind of like that too, though), his style definitely fit right in to my criteria.  Not only would this art style fit into my “Once Upon a Time” theme for my grandson (the little PRINCE), but it also was an almost comforting feeling that in this one area, at least I did not need to aim for perfection.  And, what little boy wouldn’t appreciate bits of leather strings and smudges in his little life story?  It means the little guy will be able to touch it!  A few mistakes here and there are acceptable, if not almost welcome.  I mean, really!  This guy Tim even has mistakes built into his stamp designs, so this is just right up my alley. ( I save the bright and cheery pages for  his Great Grandmother).   


I accidentally tore hole in the paper for the card above, and I thought, ooops.  But instead of trying to fix it it, I made the hole bigger and let it work for itself.  Grunge is just so forgiving!

My little "Inchies", books with 
inspirational quotes.

        

I eventually was lucky to find the "All Things Tim", Yahoo Group though I haven't been able to do anything but make quick visits while still trying to tie up loose ends to my "Story Book Gown".  But, shortly after I joined, I got to participate in a project that included the newly released grungepaper.  That was lots of fun and I received back some wonderful art.  If you like stamping and scrapping and are into to the grunge look and feel, Tim Holtz is definitely the place to visit!

(No, I'm not on his payroll!)

Tim Holtz

"Once Upon a Time and . . . . .other scrappy things.

 

There was a time when scrapbooking never really appealed to me.  That is until my daughter became pregnant (who shouldn't have been, but would be), and I realized that this would be the one and only grandchild I shouldn't have, but would.  And somewhere down the road, and on the phone with her, we discussed various ideas on keeping a journal and photographic record of the little tykes adventures in the world.  (I get to think like this because, well, I'm a grandparent!)  His parents may not think this way, but I'm finally the one who gets to sit back and watch, and spoil him as I see fit whenever I can.  So to me, his life will be a series of adventures.  I knew I wanted to chronicle his life into something I could share with him without it being boring.


It finally hit me  that a Fairy Tale would be the best route to carry him through grade school.  But, what to do since all the fairy tale stuff was aimed at little girls.  Then I ran across the "Once Upon a Time" album by "DCWV", did a little looking around and brainstorming, and came up with an idea that would work for a little boy.


So, here are some pics of the pages made for him so far (that was interrupted by the making of the Story Book Gown).




And by the way and along this road, I ran into grunge and with the help of a guy named, Tim Holtz who now owns shares of my bank account (heh,heh), I fell in love with my brand of scrapbooking and ATC and card art.  I make the  stuff, he makes the bucks!
















Books within a book and lots of things to touch and hold after he gets beyond the grabby stage.

Everyone has a make believe role throughout the story based on real life events.

The cover on the mini book above is made of that wonder stuff, called "Grungdpaper".

And, here you can see another use for Grungepaper in replacing those cheap flimsy paper "splines" that come on some albums.


It makes a very sturdy cover for all those exposed album pages, that can be decorated any way you wish with titles, names or volume numbers.


So, like my life, this is just another work in progress, each of my hobbies shifting over to make room, one for the other as needed.