Spun Cotton Ornaments and a Cozy Kitty

Due to wonderfully encouraging customer response, I have been busily working on more spun cotton ornaments since my last post (as my doll parts still sit patiently waiting).  Below are pictures of my latest spun cotton creations - all except the bunny holding the Easter basket sold before I got the chance to post them here (some traveling as far as South Korea… that was exciting!). If you see one that you like but missed, custom order inquiries are welcome.

I had fun doing some shopping on Etsy last week as well.  My little Trooper has been happily snuggled up in a cozy new cat bed that I bought for him from mimi0201.

Trooper is the baby of the family, and he likes to have his very own bed in each room of the house. Until last week, the living room was the final room he was missing a bed in… and I knew that he needed one there when my husband set his empty backpack down on the rug, and Trooper snuggled up on it like it was a bed. He seems very pleased with the switch to his cushy, fleecy new spot.

And speaking of needing… or shall I say kneading… I also picked up this adorable card from Pet Scribbles for my hubby for Valentine’s Day. I absolutely love it, and her customer service was amazing!

New Ornament Designs Abound

It’s unexpected sometimes where a creative journey will lead you.  I think this as I look over at two unfinished dolls that are still waiting patiently to be painted and clothed.  It seems that ornaments completely took over my time during the holidays… when I was originally thinking I’d be making a lot of dolls… and that I am just now thinking about getting back to my doll making again.  I have taken a few baby steps getting back into it by beginning my Izannah Walker doll workshop… well, okay.  I’ve cut out the pattern pieces and traced them onto my fabric.  :)  I hope to get a bit more done this weekend, and perhaps paint and clothe one of those patient dollies sitting on my work table.

But for now, I have bunches of new ornaments to share.  Chenille dog ornaments for small dog lovers with a pug, a terrier, and a little mutt in the set; two sets of chenille St. Patrick’s Day ornaments, and another new spun cotton ornament.  I have yet another mostly-finished spun cotton Easter rabbit ornament that I will also be offering for sale soon.  All of the ornaments below are available now in the Old World Primitives Etsy Shop.

Valentine Cats, Easter Bunnies and a Chick

This weekend I reluctantly packed away my Christmas tree and ornaments and all of my santas, belsnickles, lights, garlands and other Christmas decorations and bid them farewell until the next holiday season.  I am always a bit sad to see all of them go.  My very favorite Santa doll will be staying put all winter long because he’s just too fun to pack away so soon.  But, now there is room to start bringing out some Valentine goodies.

This week I added two new sets of chenille ornaments to my Etsy shop - a new set of cat ornaments and a new set of Easter ornaments.   I made each set versatile enough to be multi-seasonal too if you’re like me and like to stretch out each holiday season as long as you possibly can.

I am also excited to announce that I will be offering a new line of spun cotton ornaments in 2010. My first offering has sold already (photo below), but more will be added to the Old World Primitives Etsy Shop soon.

I still have some primitive dolls to finish up as well - they have been sitting neglected in my little studio for too long now and will be getting some more attention this week. And in just one more week, I will also be starting on another new adventure - learning to make Izannah Walker style dolls, courtesy of Dixie Redmond’s Izannah Walker Workshop. I cannot wait to get started learning how to make these beautiful antique style dolls. If you would like to join me, a link to the workshop is below. I am sure it will be both challenging and great fun!

Inspiration is a Family Affair

This Christmas, after the gifts had been opened, Christmas dinner eaten, and cookies consumed at the big family dinner table… my Dad had one more box to open and share with me.  Since he knows that I like to use antique postcard images as faces for my chenille ornaments, he brought out a few stacks of his recent acquisitions.  I enjoyed looking through all of them and selecting some to borrow as much as I enjoyed hearing the story of how he had scavenged them from the site of an old home that was slated for demolition.

Some of them were inscribed with notes from the sender in English, and some in German.  Some were never sent, and many had 1 cent stamps on them along with postmarks from the 1902 - 1907 range.

Many will provide the inspiration for new ornaments in 2010.  Happy New Year to all!

Happy Holidays!

Wishing you and yours a happy and safe holiday season!  I am excited that we should have a white Christmas this year - the foot of snow that fell here last weekend hasn’t done too much melting yet.

On to my exciting news that I have to share - I am honored to have one of my chenille angel ornaments featured on the cover of the Winter 2009 issue of Celebrate 365 magazine.   I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of my copy of the magazine to get a peek at what is inside as well.  A picture of the cover is below.

I also have two new sets of two Valentine’s Day ornaments to share.  Both sets are available now in my Old World Primitives Etsy shop. These little Victorian ladies are made of chenille with crepe paper skirts.

Decorating for Christmas… Crafting for Valentine’s Day

December is such a fun and festive month here… I love decorating my primitive twig tree, each year with a few more new ornaments than the last.  I always keep some pine scented candles burning throughout the month to make it smell like we have a real tree.  As I unwrap my winter folk art decorations and place them about the house, each one brings smiles and gets me in the Christmas spirit.  Below are a few peeks at my primitive Christmas decor this year.

I have also been working on some new ornament designs for next year, beginning with Valentine’s Day. I added a new set of vintage style chenille cupid ornaments to my Old World Primitives Etsy shop today. They are ready for the season of love with their Valentine hearts and arrows.

A Primitive Doll Named Emily

I have managed to complete one of the work in progress dolls that I posted about last week, and get her added to my Old World Primitives Etsy shop yesterday.  Her name is Emily, and she decided that she wanted to wear an outfit with a bit of a festive feel to it for the holidays.  Here she is below, after her paint had dried, but before she was antiqued, getting ready to get dressed.  Her skirt is made from reproduction mid 1800s fabric.

Here is Emily all completed, demurely posing for her photo.

Her friends will be joining her soon… but for now it’s back to work on completing a few more orders first for me.   Have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

New Kitties and Works in Progress

I added a new set of kitty themed chenille ornaments to my Old World Primitives Etsy shop this past week - a set of 3 calico cats with paper Victorian scrap faces.  I have some hanging from the feather tree on my mantel and looking quite festive.

This holiday season has been keeping me quite busy with wholesale orders, but I am determined to complete some new dolls that I have been working on by the end of the coming week.  Below is a peek at them as works in progress, sitting behind and beneath a small sea of Christmas ornaments that I will be packing up tonight.

I hope to be showing these dolls completed very soon.

Snowman Ornaments and Quilting

I added a new set of chenille Christmas ornaments to my Old World Primitives Etsy Shop today - a set of 3 snowmen wearing red scarves.

They are all ready for the winter weather to begin! I’m not quite ready yet though… there are still plenty of veggies hanging in there in my gardens that I am hoping will ripen before the first frost.

I hope that everyone enjoyed their Halloween weekends!  I spent my Halloween with family and friends in beautiful Lancaster County, PA.   We made our annual trip to Cherry Crest Farm, did some shopping (I added the most wonderful new handmade folk art piece to my collection), and enjoyed our favorite local edible treats.  Lancaster County also happens to be the quilt capital of the USA, and during our visit we stopped into The People’s Place Quilt Museum. It was here that my husband Max finally came to appreciate the beauty and artistic merit of quilts… and decided that he just had to try making his own!  He bought a quilt kit in a local shop with the materials and instructions necessary to make a 22″ square wall hanging quilt.  I showed him how to use a sewing machine (for the very first time, believe it or not) and then he was off - and look at what he completed in his first day of both sewing and quilting.  I have to say, I am pretty impressed!

I can’t wait until he makes us a nice Queen sized quilt for our bed after finishing this one! Does anyone have any recommendations for designing your own quilt?

Chenille Christmas Cat and Dog Ornaments

I added two new sets of chenille ornaments to the Old World Primitives Etsy Shop today, especially for cat and dog lovers (like myself!).

They can be used as feather tree ornaments for Christmas or everyday, and would also make nice handmade wedding favors.

While starting to create for Christmas, I am still enjoying counting down to Halloween!  Last weekend I went to a spooktacular Halloween costume party that featured some truly out of this world decorations and interactive displays.  Below are some of the photos that I took during the evening, including pictures of the *least* scary decorations. In one room, the walls reached out and grabbed me… twice!