Tales From the Doll Room Book!

Christmas orders for Jemima's Storybook are closed.    Thank you, my dear friends, for generously supporting my first humble efforts at bookmaking! much love, Rose          Tales from the Doll Room is the result of a lifetime  filled to the brim with good and bad experiences, remarkable family, faithful friends, and all sorts of art forms attempting to interpret everything in between.    Writing a Storybook is a thought that has been drifting around  since those youthful days spent lying on the attic roof, making up stories in my head to while away the long hot midwestern afternoons.   Well, here it is...my first Storybook...               What a journey this has been.   Much different than dollmaking, that's for sure!   If all the kinks have been ironed out, I hope to begin mailing copies  somewhere around the first of December.   Just in time for Christmas! The book will be self-published. Which means the books will be ordered directly from the publishers on request...customer request. So, the turn-around from order to home might be a bit longer since I would like to handle the shipping myself for quality purposes. Most importantly, I want to personalize each and every Storybook before it opens up in your hands and in your Imagination.           Meet Jemima! She is a very Determined Little Girl who expects a Two-Wheeler  from her mother for her 7th birthday.   But, the elephant in the room is... the actions she chooses to prove her point  are exactly what is preventing her from getting her point across! Instead, she receives a toy elephant named Talulah who innocently turns Jemima's priorities upside down.   I have read this story to my own children, and the lessons we have discussed from it abound. Probably because using the visual and emotional aspects of dolls tends to get their attention! Jemima and Talulah's story demonstrate values such as... responsibility, respect, appreciation, consequences,  and above all...how you treat others often comes back on you! Gently illustrated by two very sweet little dolls.   The love of dolls and their World of Childhood transcends age, gender and culture. I think that is why we all love them so much... they help us speak the same language!             Would you like a look inside? Come along with me for a preview...  


                  







... you'll never guess what happens next ...

     

Annika!

   Hello Everyone!  Since last we visited, summer has come and almost gone. Wow. It seems as if I have been stuck in fast forward.  But somehow in the midst of this whirlwind, a new little friend has emerged from the Doll Room.Actually, she is a best friend of someone you all are very familar with.  Can you guess who?!While working on her, it was inevitable that I would began pondering what it means to be a best friend. I have decided it is a tragic thing to go through life without having one.Or without being one.  *To have a best friend, you must be one*That is the definition of Annika.  . 


This child was gifted with a solid and secure childhood,... she likes to keep her feet on the ground.   

  But keeping up with Mr. Nilsson and Pippi involves tree climbing...even though Annika is really not fond of being out on a limb and up so high. With lots of practice, though, she has grown to enjoy it.  (Sort of)






"Annika dresses like such a girly girl."(Pippi quote)Such is pink underpinnings, matching pink leggings, clean white lace ankle socks with well fitted black sandles. 

  Even at her young age, Annika is a pensive soul.
She talks about half as much as her best friend, which is helpfulwhen your dearest friend does most the talking.  


 Of course...Both girls love a good party.Birthday party that is.The right dress is a crucial ingredient for the success of any momentous celebration.    



Annika does not have wings, but there's a good chance that thesebig  blue polka dot sleeves might just catch a breeze and carry her over the rainbow to Pippi's house.And right into Sari's (Pippi's mom) heart!.  I am in love with this doll.  (12 points of SJD friendly articulation, 5 " tall) Thanks to my time spent with her this summer, being a best friend is something I want to do better! .  " A friend is one to whom one may pour out all the contents of one's heart, chaff and grain together, knowing that the gentlest of hands will take and sift it, keep what is worth keeping and with a breath of kindness blow the rest away."
- Arabian Proverb   Thank you so much for visiting!  love, Rose

Gabi's Pippi

Look who has returned to the Doll Room!

I was overjoyed when asked to create a special birthday present from one sister to another.
The request also included a pair of white bloomers to be worn under a dress similar to Karli's.

Oh, the joys of dollmaking...

being granted the artistic room to tailor-create an original doll

to uniquely fit an original individual.

This little Pippi measures 5 3/4 inches .

She is an SJD with 14 friendly joints of silicone :o) !

For so many reasons, Pippi is a beloved character of children and adults alike.

She is a personification of a child who does everything upside down and backwards,
and who somehow miraculously comes out in one piece at the end.

Waiting ... for the seamstress ...

Night Time is the only Time my house is kind of Quiet.

Here Pippi and I are listening to the quiet noise of children sleeping.
How much do you want to bet I wore the same expression on my face?!

Her long carrot colored pigtails are braided from the finest of fine silk (much like spider webbing)
 and can be styled in button hair bindings on formal occasions.

Such as...

 Outings to the Konditorei of course!(Konditorei is the German word for a pâtisserie and confectionery shop). Always a Happy Event.Can you spot the Smiling Buttons on her shoes?  Just imagine what her bucket basket is brimming with ...Naturally, a bounty of delectable goodies, all hand crafted by my daughter Angi,who is, by the way, opening a Shop with some such goodiesfor REAL Pippis very soon! Very Soon!  
  Sewing this dress provided a handy excuse to finally learn how to make ribbon roses.
   This is a glimpse of my Pippisize flower garden next to the Pump House.Pippi is sitting on a small stump filled with a gangle of Mother's Days posiesproudly planted by my youngest son this last May.   



  Such a sweet handful...














 ...and as you can see, this Pippi child loves to pose!    




 
Finding joy in the simplest details of life is truly an exceptional quality, don't you think? 




Pippi Forever!

Thank you, thank you, dear Gabi, for graciously allowing me some quality Pippi play time...   love, Rose   p.s. She is now nestled comfortably in her Travel Case.  Oversized buttons with pink rag ribbons secure Pippi and her wardrobe for her long journey Home.

Adi, a Forest Baby

       


  Hello everyone!    Have we really not talked since the middle of winter...  It seems like it's only been been a moment or two.   I can hardly believe that Spring is here in full bloom  and winter is now all wrapped up in memories.    Memories made of long winter hours spent bent over my desk laboring the hidden details of dollmaking.  Hours that passed by without my even knowing.   Do any of you ever get lost in the details?!             Details like jointing.     Honestly, I am shamed to tell you that ball jointing stymies the nontechnical area of my brain.  And since there seems to be no technical area there at all, ball jointing evades me.     In my Doll Room right now sits my efforts at sculpting a winsomely beautiful BJD girl.  She has had to grow used to living with me, because she is not going anywhere.  Her body parts are not near as pretty as her face...sigh.   So, I am content to watch from afar  the tremendously awesome BJD artists who have mastered the art of sculpting perfectly matched doll body parts.   I am one of their greatest admirers.    In the meantime, I have been carrying on with my own little jointing configuration. In the form of...how should I say it...  ..an SJD...silicone jointed doll.  :)             Please meet Adi, a Forest Baby, my first SJD.               She is 8 inch scale, measuring 6 inches in a curled up position, and has has 14 points of friendly articulation, including her wrists and ankles.                    Although her movement is hindered by layers upon layers of permanent clothing, she is still able to cuddle down into her moss bed comfortably.    Her legs and arms are sculpted of Apoxie for strength and durability,  built around an armature of silicone cable with other assorted things to help her hold her pose.                  Adi's head, hands and feet are sculpted of Cernit and Fimo.  Detailed with genesis paints, earth powders and chalks.           Tiny elven slippers, too.        A  baby needs a cradle.     This winter, cabin fever was often cured by spending afternoons walking through the forest.  One such afternoon, my sons found a beautiful large knothole   next to the remnants of a campfire.   After cleaning and adding moss, the shape of a heart appeared!    The cradle base is the sawed off end piece of a small log from my husband's wood yard.    A small branch serves as a dowel to secure the knothole to the wood base.   Overall, the piece measures 8 inches tall by 11 inches long.                If the forest were thy nursery,  it's canopy the shade,   If ancient stumps formed thy cradle, and it's moss the bed made, If fallen leaves became the quilting, with tiny acorns for thy play.... ... I would gladly make the dream she flies on, a forest-grown bouquet.               My forest grown bouquet.     I hope to show you next a miniature Pippi who is also an SJD :) in a moment or twoooo...           love, Rose  

Little Monkey Shoes for Big Monkey Business

To tell you the truth, I was not looking forward to updating my last post
because it was so very meaningful to my daughters and me.
However, thanks to a pretty pink lace Valentine that came in the mail... 
...here is Part 2.

 

Our family celebrated Valentine's Day a little bit differently this year.
  We decided to hand deliver our cards in person and become part of the greeting.
  
So, early in the morning all 11 of us headed out with a pile of fancy cupcakes
 and a stack of handmade cards for grandparents, neices and nephews and grandchildren houses.
 
Our travels took us to four nearby towns.
 
In spite of the distance, we took our time, 
 sharing lots and lots of hugs while everyone enjoyed the cupcakes.
  It was a wonderful day. 
 By the time we pulled back into our driveway that night,
 we were all rather sad that our day
was drawing to an end.

But it was not over yet!!

 
Checking the mailbox, we found nine tidy little envelopes
with lovely old fashioned cards inside. 
Sent from my grandchildren to all the children in our van.
  We just loved them...
Then, underneath them we found a pretty pink envelope handmade from lace paper.

It was addressed from Finland!

 Ofcourse, you can guess who was the first to ask to open it. 
And when she did she cried out, "Look...Pippi is wearing a new dress!"


She sure was!
 What we found inside will tell you the rest of the story...

   
  



 Best of all, we finally were to meet beautiful Sari!   



 I would like our Valentine Greeting to be special delivered to Sari as well. Carried along the way on a wee pair of monkey shoes! 
   They measure a  mere 3/4" long and are light as a feather.     In spite of their size, they are made to endure some serious monkey business.     Little felt soles to cushion mischievous little monkey feet...     Topped by a pair of blue corduroy trousers to keep a small Monkey warm on a cold winter's walk down a snowy lane.      And here is the Monkey to wear them!A young Mr. Nelson...  
He would like Sari and Pippi to be his Valentine...Every Day!  Now, even though Nelson has two-tone wild monkey hair, I can assure you, he has been on his best behavior here.  My own little Pippi has kept a close eye on him. ( Actually it was the other way around) 





Nelson's travel case is ready and waiting...Soon, Pippi will have a new friend to show around her colorful and cozy home. Thank you, dear Sari, for being the icing on the Valentine cupcake and the hug at the end of a long day.  We will be sending great BIG love back to you in the person of a 3 inch monkey.Be watching for him to arrive on your doorstep!

Now, before I disappear back into the Doll Room,
I wanted to show you a little someone who emerged quite unexpectedly!

Immediately following the holidays, I started a few new projects,
with the intent of developing them one by one once Nelson was done. 
 Five hopeful little heads on white apoxie armatures, waiting their turn.
I have been wondering who they might be.

 Well, all except one...

Here's the first look at a Woodland Winter Baby.

Her face is not yet entirely painted.
   She still needs much more attention to her bunting
 as well as putting the wooden knothole nest together. 
But once I send Neslon along home, I shall tend to her.

  Then there is that little auburn haired girl looking at me right behind her....

Please come by again...you just never know who you might meet here in my corner of the Rainforest!

until we talk again...

always love, Rose