Happy 2009!

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,

The flying cloud, the frosty light:
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind,
For those that here we see no more;
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife;
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.

Ring out the want, the care, the sin,
The faithless coldness of the times;
Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes,
But ring the fuller minstrel in.

Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.

Ring out old shapes of foul disease;
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.

-from "In Memoriam"
by Alfred Tennyson

I wish all of you an abundance of Peace, Love and Joy in the new year!

Eliza Jane

So here is Eliza Jane, Bethany Bunny's younger cousin. She is a smaller version of my old fashioned bunny pattern, made again from a recycled wool sweater that I felted. I love making these!

Boughs of Holly

I just finished a couple of new Holly Pixies this weekend. I love the vintage look of this fabric!
And I've finished another snow pixie as well and added them both to the shop.

These are probably the last pixies for the year since I want to try and make at least one more bunny and crow girl before my last show this weekend. After that I'll need to concentrate on cookie making. Heaven forbid that even one type of Christmas cookie not make it onto the cookie platter! There might be a revolt! :) So look for a cookie recipe next time! Yum.....

Fa La La

Some little seasonal elves visited me today!


We're starting to get in the spirit around here! And, as we do every December 1st, we pulled down our vast collection of Christmas books so I'm happily perusing all the old favorites. Of course they are all kids books...well except Dickens ...because I just can't resist a great kid's book! ( Actually I have a hard time resisting books in general) I had to start with Big Susan by Elizabeth Orton Jones which, since its main characters are dollhouse dolls, is at the top of my list.


This is such a sweet story about love and the power of imagination and if you have children... or are just a big doll lover like me... I highly recommend it.
I promise to share some of my other favorites in the days to come, but in the meantime I'd love to know, what are your favorite Holiday/Christmas books?

Catching up!

Wow I have so much to cover today! I have been incredibly busy with commissions...never a bad thing!...and I've let some stuff pile up here. So let's see if I can get a little caught up!

First I was given this lovely blog award:

It means “This blog invests and believes in ‘proximity’[meaning that blogging makes us 'close' - being close through proxy].”
I like that! Thanks so much Teaching Handwork!

Second I've been tagged twice! First by Alteredevents and then by Archetypal Theater with the "seven little known things about yourself" tag. Now I've done this one a couple of times already but since I have lots of new readers perhaps it's time again, So...

1. I'm named after Cinderella...yes really!
2. I don't eat mammals but it really doesn't bother me if other people do.
3. On the subject of food,since reading Barbara Kingsolver's marvelous book "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle", I've really gotten into eating as locally as possible. We grow a garden, belong to 2 CSAs (community sponsored agriculture) with local farmers, and are weekly visitors to the nearby farmers market. I even trade dolls for food!
4. I'm a country girl at heart but I feel totally in love with Paris and felt more at home there then I have ever felt in a city...including the one I live in now.
5. I've recently become a huge fan of cello music...and if you want to hear something really cool listen to the bluegrass band Crooked Still . Cello and bluegrass , who would have thought it!


6. I'm terribly shy! I'm good at hiding it, but art shows where I have to stand there and sell my wares are torture for me.
7. I don't ever pass on tags...it goes along with my incredible shyness so I am always the weak link in these things!

Hide and Go Seek...and New Dolls

I've got a big show tomorrow and I've made several new pieces that I'm just dying to share! But first, I promised to tell you about the promo game that the NaturalKids team is starting on Monday...actually I think Rebecca does a better job of explaining than I could, so if you go here you can read all the details. So go...read...but come back!

Okay, so you're back now and ready to see my new pieces? Great! The first is Bethany Bunny. Ever since I started felting sweaters I've been thinking of turning some of that nummy felt ...yes I said Nummy...into an old fashioned stuffed animal. The kind that I always wished I had as a kid. So I messed around trying to find a pattern and as usual ended up making my own. I just love her!

The jointing buttons are wooden and made by Jenn over at The Button Shop. Her outfit has shell buttons up the back and is removable and she can stand on her own too!! I made her tail from angora yarn for a little touch of real bunny :)

And this is a doll that arrived full blown in my head about a week ago and just would not let me rest until I had made her! Sheesh, I love crows but this one was driving me crazy...meet Sylvia the crow girl. She is of course holding some shiny objects in her hand...er...wing. Once I got her started she flew... so to speak...together and I'm already planning on some cousins and siblings for her...crows do like to flock. Soon I'll have my own storytelling of crows!

Autumn Reverie

We went to the mountains last weekend to hang with dear friends, enjoy some rockin' music, and of course visit my favorite fabric shop. The drive up was breathtaking...

The leaves were past their "peak" but that's when I think they're the best, I love the darker hues. I took all these shots from the car, but it was all so lovely that I couldn't take a bad picture. The light was filtering through the trees casting a golden glow, the sky was cobalt blue, and the leaves were falling in a slow motion dance. It was simply magical.

It's a very busy time of year here at the Nest. The holidays seem to collide head on with all the biggest art shows and of course all the end of term school stuff...it's enough to make one's head spin! But lots of new designs are getting made so look for new dolls to be introduced next week! I'm also participating in a fun discount promo with the NaturalKids Team that starts Monday and I'll have more info posted on that this Friday. Lots to look forward to and in the meantime I'll leave you with another autumn snapshot...