Pippi in Spring and Off to Oz

 Please meet Pippi and Mr. Nelson.They are pretty much the reason why my end of the wire has been rather silent...so sorry, dear friends! The long winter days have been spent in sewing, felting, beading, painting, and dyeing fabrics with lots of help from my girls for Miss Pippi!Now she is ready to welcome springwith great Anticipationof New Adventures awaiting!
  (almost 11 inches)  Here are some of her details... Her long thin legs were almost too cute to cover with Longstockings!But, because she is Pippi, she insisted on mismatched stripey stockings.      Pretty green underpinings to keep her warm in her new Swiss home....yarn ties were temporary... 
  Often while I was busy with the children, Pippi helped out  cleaning up after the endless piles of messes made in the Doll Roomand elsewhere in the house. So, I fashioned a tidy little Lace Apron for her to wear as a heartfelt  *thank you*.     And she asked for a sturdy Pink Paintbrush Broom to clear out cobwebs.      My daughter and I nunofelted a lace Day Dress with fine, soft woolsdotted with a variety of tulle and lace fragments.  
 
The underside of the dress was painted and glittered for Pippi's planned trip to Oz.  Because she likes to travel light, we figured this was the best wayto send along a Party Dress for Emerald City.She wishes to meet Queen Ozma,and I have no doubt that she will do exactly that!   Her seafaring father sent a bag of jewels to help with the trip,and here they are encircling her (attached) Slippers.  
 This is an Essentials Bag sewn according to her precise specifications.  Nelson can comfortably fit inside, if necessary. 
  I think he is scared of the flying monkeys in Oz.  
  Since this Pippi is a faerie, she has wings...and they can surely outfly monkey wings any day of the week.        So, Nelson has decided to go along to Oz afterall.



  
(4 inches tall, not including his tail)

Mr. Nelson is fully poseable and wears the tiniest of handmade buttons, a bendable furry tail, and an embroidered beanie.  
     He can stand on his own, but prefers sitting on Pippi's arm.  He says the view is better from up there.   After their Saturday photo session yesterday, I found both of them standing at the kitchen window this morning waiting for me to put the coffee waterkettle on to boil..With a sentimental yet excited glint in Miss Pippi's eye,she was waving goodbye to me.Packed and ready to go to Oz by way of Switzerland...    Farewell, my little friends.I wish we could come along too.You were a work of love and will be greatly missed......Rose

Pippi in Winter

(yellow cast from evening, indoor lighting)










To help me not miss Pixie Andrew too much, a new Pixie has come to visit.A funny little girl...altogether asymmetrical.She is an impossible mixture of mischief and sophistication. This picture is of her face before carrot red braids are added, and before her little monkey companion climbs up into her arms.Her name is Pippi, and she prefers mismatched longstockings too! Hopefully this child will be finished in a week or so and as soon as she is,  I will post portrait pictures for you to see!   
  Life steadily moves along here inside the house, one day leading seamlessly into anotherin my familiar homey landscape.  But outside...well, that's a different story.This winter has been an everchanging diorama outside the windows.Grey blue skies and buckets of rain.Heavy fog, hail and sleet.Even a surprise visit from the sunthat stretched a rainbow across the empty corn fields in front of our house.
  Yet, in all the blustery, erratic winter weather, there were no snow flurries! But finally the wild birds wintering in our little community alerted us  that snow was on the way. And snow it did for a few short but brilliant days.  Everything here at the farm looked whitewashed, pretty and new.  
  The guineas were not near as anxious as the children were to go play in it.  Of course  they made the chickens venture out 'first,to investigate this strange, cold stuff falling all over their yard.   
  Then they sent out the ducks.(Although the ducks insisted it was their idea first.).  
 School was cancelled and soon anything with wheels was pulled out and filled with children...  and dogs...!    Finally, everyone headed for the barn to warm up after an afternoon of wagon racing, snow people buildingand snow ball throwing. 
  The chickens never did report back to the guineas.  Rather, they headed to the barn, too, and waited it out with the goats and the rabbits. 
   A perfect end to a snow filled day was...snow ice cream, ofcourse!     Back out in the barn,  our goat Joe was really curious about all the goings on...  I am adding this picture because his expression reminds me of myself, poking my head into your studio windows from my side of the computer!  

Dear friends, please know that your visits are all so precious to me.
  Like Joe, I poke my head into your blogrooms,
 but unfortunately words do not flow from my fingers easily late at night.
  Very often, I will leave quietly without a word. 
But my heart lingers behind, wishing you well in your artistic endeavors.

Happily, my Doll Room schedule is full right now. 
 To find the time to devote hours needed for dollmaking,
 my computer time has been sacrificed.   
 But I will be faithful to post pictures of my all Little Ones for you to meet
 and hope they bless you
as your own creativity always uplifts my spirit!

The thoughts that you take the time to leave here are read with much affection
and are so appreciated.
Please forgive me for not being able
to do the same for you right now.

Thank you so much for visiting my little corner of the world!
until later...always love, Rose