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. . . . . 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!
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
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.
The Life and Death of VictoriAnnie's on Ebay---or, the beginning of my tumble "Down the Craft Whole".
She started out innocently enough. As we all do, when we find something new and interesting. We hesitate, meander around until we find firmer footing, then take hold and run with it.
So, VictoriAnnie's opened on Ebay and offered her Fancy Victorian Styled Home Decor to the public with all its flourishes of silks, satins, laces and bullion trims. Beautiful pillows and runners lined her shelves graced in the light from the old fashioned windows. For a good while, things looked pretty good. But then, alas, her time began to fade under the immense competition building around her.
Her beautiful wares collected dust, the light through the windows no longer gleamed off the beauty of her fabrics, and her windows grew dim. VictoriAnnie, sadly turned the little sign 'round in the door, gathered her wares; Then, with a slight smile, placed them here and there, 'just so', in her little parlor, where they were naught forgot!
For, VictoriAnnie knew, this was just the beginning of a journey . . . "Down the Craft Whole"!
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