Saturday, April 30, 2011

Stained Glass Windows ......................

I thought I'd  show you some church windows by Sigmar Polke (13 February 1941 – 10 June 2010) who was a German painter and photographer.

These windows are based on the traditional Gothic cathedral window but instead of using glass Polke has incorporated thin slices of Agate.



What I love about Polke's windows is the colouring.....the teals, greens, pinks, blues....fabulous.

Pictured below is one of the windows while still on the bench in process. Some of the other agate windows are in the background finished but in the studio, pre-installation.
These windows were created for and installed in the Grossmünster Cathedral in Zurich.

All the images were obtained from Google images so I'm not able to assign credit to the correct photographers.

Take care:)



Friday, April 29, 2011

DIY Royal Wedding Sampler.......

Bugs and Fishes has a free cross stitch sampler for the Royal Wedding.....

I nice little souvenir for those of you who would like to remember the day.

Take care:)

The Royal Wedding.......

I don't know about anyone else but I had a Grace Kelly moment when I first saw THE DRESS.

I loved it:)

And, what did Princess Beatrice have on her head? I'm not sure what to think about her hat.


Thursday, April 28, 2011

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Some News About Doll Designer........Judy Pilgrim-Stewart..........

I received this lovely comment on my post of April 21st regarding Judy Pilgrim-Stewart and her Jenny Dolls that I thought I would share......

Dear Mary Ann,

I grew up in Winnipeg as a young girl in the '70's, and I owned (and still do) a Jenny Doll. For years every christmas and birthday I ordered and received a beautiful victorian style dress or outfit which Judy Pilgrim Stewart designed made by hand in her magical attic. I have a wardrobe of about 15 outfits, it was a great childhood passion of mine, and I am very proud of my collection. I was one of many little girls in Winnipeg in that time who had a Jenny Doll, and collected outfits from Judy. Judy was a wonderful lady, and had incredible taste and flair. All the doll's hats were hand crocheted straw, and she would embroider and knit to scale. She usually made the dolls to look like their owners, but would also make fictional characters like Laura Ingalls and the Little Women sisters.
I still keep in touch with Judy from time to time, as her husband was a teacher at my high school. Judy worked also at the Dugald Historical Costume Museum near Winnipeg. She came back to making Jenny Dolls (named after her daughter) after a long break (my nieces were happy recipients about 5 years ago), but has since quit making them. I have wonderful childhood memories of Judy, an incredible lady with a great passion for craft, design, and history.
regards,
Maria L 

Thank you Maria. It was wonderful for you to take the time to comment on my blog and I was so happy to receive this information. 

Take care:)

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Ann Arbor, Michigan...............

In Ann Arbor, Michigan there are strange and wondrous fairy doors that seem to appear here and there and everywhere in the strangest places.

Isn't that amazing..........I love fairies and this website called Urban Fairies Operations made me smile.




It also made me sad when I read about some the destruction to the doors that has happened.

Anyway, it's a cute site and I'm sure if you have any little ones who like fairies you can look at it with them or maybe you can just look at it by yourself:)

Take care:)

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Easter Weekend doings......

I woke up Saturday and couldn't move a muscle. I had put my back out some how. Oh the pain!!!! But, I had made plans and so I took some extra strength Tylenol and waited.

The pain eased enough for me to venture forth to the 30% off sale at my local Micheal's craft store. No aching back was gonna stop me!

It was quite hilarious actually. I was doing my hunch back of Notre Dame impression as I wandered through the store, occasionally clinging to the shelves for support:) Thank goodness my husband was with me to carry my basket or I wouldn't have made it to the checkout counter.......LOL.

And, I had a $30 gift certificate so with the 30% off I did really well and even better....... my husband paid the balance of the bill.......hee hee:)

I bought lots of stuff and three packs of buttons......of course I would buy buttons.......I'm addicted to buttons:)......and of course my pics are blurry:(

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them but they were too cute.

Then, I went looking for a spring dress for my granddaughter as an Easter gift but I couldn't find anything I liked. I ended up giving a card with money instead. A cop-out I know but I was beginning to fall over with pain in the infant wear department. Why don't they have strategically placed seats for people who are in pain:)

For Easter Sunday we went to my son and daughter-in-laws for a pot luck supper. I made my very easy and delicious manicotti....................
I put a large dollop of Philadelphia cream cheese into my tomato sauce. It gives the sauce a bit of body and thickness.

The food was amazing and we had a very decadent dessert.....it was a crepe cake from an Italian bakery that was wonderful and probably had a gazillion billion calories.

Sorry, no pictures as I forgot my camera but here's a picture from Google images..........
Ours had apples with spices. Almost like apple pie. Each layer had cream and apple. It wasn't too heavy as a dessert and not too sweet. Just perfect.

Now I have to go lie down for a bit .....and then watch the new Upstairs, Downstairs.

Take care.

Friday, April 22, 2011

Happy Easter to you all.......

May all of you and your family enjoy the Easter holiday.

This is a very old postcard that I had forgotten about and just found the other day. It was printed by The Valentine & Sons Publishing Co., Ltd.

A little history......

Valentine & Sons Publishing Co.   (1907-1923)
Montreal, QC and Toronto, ON, Canada
The Canadian office for Valentine’s of Dundee, Scotland. They published souvenir books, greeting cards and view-cards of Canadian scenery. These tinted halftone and collotype cards were printed in Great Britain. Valentine sold their Canadian branch in 1923.


I bought this card, and a few others, in about 1970 from a young man who was selling the contents of his grandmother's house. He had inherited her home that at that time was about 120 years old and it was full to the rafters with family memorabilia that he didn't want. I bet he's kicking himself in the butt now. Imagine, selling all that stuff away to strangers.

Take care.

p.s. I just noticed one of the cards I bought is from 1876 :)

Thursday, April 21, 2011

She's done!........Her name is Victoria.

Yes...... I finished the pancake doll...........which I think is a funny name but descriptive I guess:)

I want to thank all those lovely people who left positive comments about my disastrous attempt at knitting a shawl......but, I  unraveled it and I did it again. I don't have any books on knitting so I went on line and found some videos and I think I did a better job this time around.....

Anyway, about the doll. This is what she should look like.......this is a scan from a magazine.....
Her name is Victoria. I bought the pattern for her in 1981 from Canadian Living Magazine. She was an exclusive design for the magazine by Canadian doll artist Judy Pilgrim Stewart who was the designer of a line of dolls called Jenny Dolls.

There was an article in the magazine about Judy and her dolls. Apparently she was a prolific designer and at the time the article was written she had produced 1,394 dolls and her inventory was growing at a rate of 60 a year!!!!

She graduated from the University of Manitoba after studying textiles, costume design and art history. Her studio was in the attic of a rambling old house on the bank's of Winnipeg's Red River.  She first started making dolls in 1967 with hand painted faces and meticulously researched period clothing.

Her attic loft had a cast of doll characters.......Praline the maid, Lavinia Catchpole the housekeeper, Charlotte the milliner and lovely Blanche the model, all under the strict scrutiny of Madame Clothilde, her workroom supervisor. One of Madame's duties was responding to all correspondence much to the delight of Judy's customers.

Victoria, is a Manitoba pioneer doll circa 1860, named after Judy's youngest daughter. She stands 20 inches tall, with yarn hair and embroidered features.

I never made Victoria all those years ago because there was something about the pattern that I didn't like.  I thought it was her feet but after making the doll I realize now that the legs are not in proportion with the torso. Too short.

Anyway, here she is......

 



Her blouse is made from cotton - Joan Kessler for Concord Fabrics Inc- and her skirt is made from stone washed cotton. She has a petticoat and bloomers with draw string closings. And, she has a shawl made of "Canadiana" yarn by Red Heart.  She hasn't any shoes...yet:)

I don't know what happened to Judy Pilgrim Stewart. I wasn't able to find very much about her or her dolls. I found one image on a re-sale site:


and, on Etsy someone was selling another pattern from Canadian Living Magazine for Anne of Green Gables:
I also found Judy's copyright registration for the name Jenny Dolls but it is now terminated and no longer being used. I find it so strange that such a prolific doll maker isn't mentioned somewhere on the internet.

I enjoyed making this doll.......would I make her again?.......maybe.

Take care.

p.s. I apologize for the poor quality of the pictures. I think I've messed with the settings on my camera. I need to get the son to fix them for me again.......LOL

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Knit, knit, knit.......

That's what I have been doing today........well, maybe I shouldn't use the term knit.

I took two metal sticks and some yarn and I attempted to make a shawl for the doll I'm making. It's the last thing I need to do to complete her wardrobe.

I followed the directions and I managed to get a triangle shaped yarn thingy.

Brilliant innit?........Wait!...........what's that sniggling I hear???

Hummmph......I'll take my metal sticks and go mess about somewhere else then........:)

Take care.

Monday, April 18, 2011

"The Lady Dragon Fly Doll Swap"

A few posts back I mentioned that I was going to participate in a swap at Thimbleprims Studio. I received the pattern  and it looks very easy to make.  I won't give any secrets away but the design on the body is very inventive:)

I took a picture of the photograph on the outside of the pattern package. Not a great picture because the surface was shiny and I was getting feedback............



Yes.....that's a Peak Freans cookie tin behind it......sadly no cookies in it though:(.........just embroidery thread.

Take care.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Why I don't like April.......

Alexander Leo Bonner
born 13 April 1914 Londonderry, Ireland - died 17 April 1976 Waterdown, Ontario, Canada

I started my genealogical research to find out about my dad's family and so far I haven't found much. Research in Ireland is fraught with so many difficulties. I press on and some day I'll be successful. He knew all about it, his family, but he never talked about them.

Ah well, I never asked the right questions:)

Take care.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Hello Saturday......

It's a griege day here today........wet and cold.  There are quite a few robins out in the backyard taking advantage of the wormage.......and a couple of very bright red cardinals.

It's the kind of day to cuddle up and read a good book........or in my case blog here and there and everywhere:) I was also doing some embroidery. I found some cute free vintage patterns for little Scottie dogs.......

and, this funny one.....

Take care.

Friday, April 15, 2011

Friday, Friday.........

I took this picture to show you my work table when it's messy..........I usually show it when it's nice and neat:)
And, I'm working on her........

She needs clothes and hair and shoes...she's very stern and proper looking isn't she? I better get it right or I'm in for it I think......eeek:)

She has a little bit of history behind her too:)....I'll tell you when she's done.

And, someone read my blog......OMG!!!!......and wanted to know what happened to the pink Kitchen Witch and what does she look like?..........ooops........she is WIP:) She will look kinda like this picture below but in pink......and, not so blurry and she won't be holding flowers or wearing a straw hat......and, I think she may have red hair......but the rest of her will be the same except pink:)

That's it for now.

Take care:)

Thursday, April 14, 2011

I won a giveaway.......

One blog that I love to visit is Artfully Amusing. The blog owner is Laura who is an amazing artist and I have learned a lot from her blog.

Her blog features not only Laura's ATC's but the work of other artists, altered art, collage art, tutorials, free downloadable images and best of all monthly art drawings where you can win something amazingly beautiful..........Little Girl Blue

Yes!!!!!!....I won this in the March draw:)

I'm afraid my photographic skills do not do it justice.
 
Thank you Laura...I hope I win again:)

Take care.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

An amazing needle felter.....

It's a Felted Lorisnail by Davina Behin Jones. Isn't it cute?

 

You can find more of her work here.

Take care:)

Monday, April 11, 2011

Cats and Boxes..........and some free Softie Patterns:)



More funnies here..........Simon's Cat

And, a very silly Deva here.........


I found a site that has a few cute freebies..........The Shishi Girl.......on the right hand side of her page you'll see a list. Here is one of her designs...so cute:)



Take care:)


Sunday, April 10, 2011

Rainy Day pursuits.........

I found this site some time ago and book marked it for future reference.

The Whimsical Realm of Phee McFaddell

It's a nice child friendly site with stories, crafts and wonderful colouring pages like this.....

I used to like to colour on rainy days when I was little:)

However, I was thinking that some of the sketches would look nice embroidered and then framed for a child's room.

Take care.

Rain, rain go away................

We are having the strangest weather today. Lightening, thunder, torrential rain then hail. I guess spring is finally here.


Have a happy Sunday:)

Take care

Friday, April 8, 2011

Little Suzettes and their Bleuettes.........

I don't know if this would be of any interest to anyone but I have found a website for Bleuette clothes patterns. Most of the patterns are in French but if you are a fairly experienced sewer you should be able to adapt the patterns without much difficulty........and then there is always Google translator:)

Let me explain:)

Bleuette was a doll (about 10 - 12 inches approx) that was made between 1905 and 1957 by the Society of French Doll and Toy Makers. She was developed and sold by the publisher of a girl's magazine called La Semaine de Suzette.  

Bleuette was one of the best dressed dolls ever:) She had a huge wardrobe. More than 1,060 patterns were published over the 55 years Bleuette was available.

Here is an example of a pattern.......here.   I made that coat for a little teddy bear. It was very cute.

The site is called........The Blue Door.

These clothes patterns can be used and adapted for any size vintage doll that you may be making.

When viewing the patterns I found it preferable to sort by style.

Hope this is helpful to someone out there:)

Take care.

Just fooling around......

Mousie went shopping in her new hat:)



Have a good weekend.

Take care:)

Thursday, April 7, 2011

A found treasure.......

In a previous blog I had mentioned that my dad had a second hand book stall in a weekend antique market in Dundas, Ontario. He loved to rummage....... going to auction houses, garage sales, estate sales.....you name it.  He was particularly drawn by the mystery boxes that sometimes were up for grabs. Buy the contents of a box sight unseen.......that type of thing.

Not all of his mystery box purchases were successful. I remember one box that contained vintage roller skates.....all for the left foot:)

I think he always secretly hoped that he would find some lost treasure of unimaginable value. 

He was also a collector of old photography equipment. He loved black and white photography. I do too.

When I found some Chicago Tonight news footage about an unknown photographer by the name of Vivian Maier and a treasure trove of her work discovered by a young man named John Maloof....... I thought of my dad........Oh my........he would have loved to find something like this:)

Vivian Maier news video

Her images are brutal, invasive, compelling and a whole bunch of other adjectives.......a time capsule. And, best of all....they're in black and white.

John Maloof, who discovered this treasure has a blog if your interested in following his story.......

Vivian Maier - Her Discovered Work

and to see more of Vivian Maier's work that he has posted.

Enjoy.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Lady Dragonfly Doll Swap.........

I'm going to do something I have never done before which is always a good thing.

I'm participating in the "Lady Dragonfly Doll Swap" hosted by Cindy of Thimbleprims Studio.

The pattern we are going to use is a new one by Cindee Moyer called "Damselfly". It looks like a very different and interesting pattern so I thought I'd give it a try...........why not!

I really like Cindee Moyer's work because I think she is a unique and innovative doll designer. It should be fun:)

While I was ordering the Damselfly pattern I just happened to order another one called
Painting Her Roses Red.......Cindee's take on the Queen of Hearts......heehee.

Take care.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Carolee Creations........

Cara of Carolee Creations has recently set up a blog and a new website.

Her new website is found here......... SewSweet Dolls.

And, her new blog can be found ......here.

Visit and see the really cute dolls that she designs.

Take care:)

Fabric Flower Basket Tutorial.....

From Sew-Whats-New.....here:)

1911 Scotland Census......

Today is the day that the Scottish census for 1911 is to be released. So you know what I'll being doing if and when they finally activate it. I have already checked with some of my friends in New Zealand,Australia and Great Britain who have waited and waited. But, so far nothing:(

Take care:

Monday, April 4, 2011

Red & White Quilt Show.....

You may have already seen this but I thought I'd show it anyway:)

This was a show of 650 quilts owned by New York City collector Joanna S. Rose. They were shown in the Park Avenue Armory in Manhattan from March 25 - 30, 2011. The show was sponsored by the American Museum of Folk Art.



Take care.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Tush Cush anyone?........

One of my favourite bloggers is Madame Samm of "Sew I Quilt" and "Stash Manicure".  She always makes me smile:)

Her guest blogger today on Stash Manicure is Amy Bradley of Amy Bradley Designs and they are offering a free pattern for a Tush Cush.....LOL.........here.

What's a Tush Cush you ask?..........go look and see:)

Take care.

p.s. Before certain people ask......as far as I know, Amy is not related to me:)

Friday, April 1, 2011

April Make-It Challenge.....

I'm ahead of myself this month.....

A Country Chicken Shelf Sitter


This is my interpretation of a pattern from Crafts Magazine - July 1983.

The designer was Jane Dillon of Dillon Dolls.

I used some of the Garden Market fabric and partially filled the body with "beans" used for bean bag chairs.

Simple and silly.

Take care:)

I Got Mail!!!!!!..........

Do you remember the giveaway I won from Fabric Addictions? Well, the package arrived and I'm thrilled at all the goodies I received.

The suspense....
and,...the reveal.........:)
Fabric........and a beautiful feather
A pair of hand made fairy wings.......
and lots of trim... ribbon, lace, feathers, flowers, mohair for hair.....


and more ribbon and trim, amazing beaded braid (enlarge the pic to see), beads, and bling......and some vintage pictures for ATC's.

You can see that I received loads of goodies that I can make lots of stuff from....the first thing will be a fairy for those wings.

I'm going to have so much fun:)

Take care.