Primitive Folk Art by Old World Primitives
Handmade Primitive Dolls and Ornaments
I just received my Fall 2010 issue of Celebrate 365 magazine in the mail and I am drooling over all of the wonderful talent on each and every page! There are so many unique and creative Halloween goodies in this issue – I would love to have one of each in my collection. This is the cover of the issue:
And here is a peek at pages 18-19, the spread that includes three of my sets of vintage style chenille Halloween ornaments – I am so honored to be featured here!
And a closeup:
I am busily assembling a cast of characters for Halloween this week… the last spooky spun cotton ornaments and chenille Halloween ornaments are below. The spun cotton witch kitty will have a sister tomorrow.
I have a few new dolls in progress too. I am excited to use my new antique shop finds – grungy old buttons and antique lace – in some primitive creations.
A view inside my parents’ new lakefront cottage in Westport, Canada.
The view from the Adirondack chairs in the cottage’s front yard.
A really dramatic sky on the Upper Rideau Lake just before a storm.
Another dramatic sky on the Upper Rideau Lake… this one was a sunset.
I have been all over the place since my last post… oh gosh, where to start. I’ll start with the embarrassing part first – my husband and I attempted to move for the second time within three years, and our plan flopped once again. We have been trying to move from the suburbs to an older farmhouse in the country… something that I always thought was my dream… to live in a 1700s or 1800s farmhouse decorated like one of the homes I have so often drooled over in Early American Life magazine. But our attempts to move have taught me that this may not be my ultimate dream after all. The country escapes that we found ourselves pursuing were still just a little too “more of the same,” albeit in less developed areas. We don’t have the big bucks required to completely “get away from it all,” and we just couldn’t find anything that was quite enough away.
So now we have a new plan in mind… bear with me here, as this may sound crazy… to save up enough money to REALLY move into the country… or rather, a step closer to the wilderness. We are going to save up, purchase a motor home, sell our current home, and pursue the freedom of living full time on the road, camping at remote, wild and beautiful spots along the way. This is an idea I have been toying with for 6 years now, but I never thought I would be able to make it happen. I felt too entrenched in my current way of life despite how much I wanted to give this a try. But now, if we can save enough to make this plan feasible… there is a new goal in the horizon.
So. I’ve wasted a ton of time this summer house-hunting, packing… and then un-packing (ugh!), but I’ve still managed to get some new dolls and ornaments created, and to do a bunch of gardening and pickling too.
Do you think my tomato plants are happy?? 😀
And now I invite you to meet an extreme primitive doll named Nadine, and a primitive witch make-do named Hexe:
Plus my newest ornaments in spun cotton, spun glass, and chenille:
All of the new creations above can be found in my Old World Primitives Etsy shop.
The unofficial start of summer is here, so I have decided that I must get out of my gardens and back to the creating table. There are many dolls and ornaments in progress that are calling for my attention! Here is a look at the spun cotton ornaments that I have added to Old World Primitives Etsy shop since my last blog post… yes, I am already preparing for Halloween!
And this is Laura, my latest primitive cloth doll with a sculpted Paperclay face – she is traveling at the moment, preparing for her feature in a future issue of Prims magazine. 🙂
I have been working ever so slowly on my Izannah Walker doll class, which thankfully has stayed open long enough for slow pokes like me. This is where I am at with my doll now – her sculpting is done, and I am ready to apply her stockinette next. I think that perhaps I have been hesitating with moving onto that step for so long now because I’m a bit nervous about messing her up!
I have been eagerly anticipating the arrival of the newest Stampington & Company publication, Prims Magazine, in my mailbox for some time now – so I am very excited that it’s here! As I tore the box open and began thumbing through the pages, I found myself impressed not only with the quality of the magazine and photographs (nothing less than what you’ve come to expect from Stampington if you are already familiar with their publications), but completely wowed by the quality of the artwork inside. I feel truly humbled to be included in the premier issue amongst so many artists that I have admired for a long time now.
Pictured below is the magazine cover and a peek at the two page article that my doll Rebecca is featured in.
Since my last post, I have also added a bunch of new goodies to my Old World Primitives Etsy shop, including spun cotton ornaments, a set of 3 patriotic 4th of July chenille ornaments, and two primitive black Halloween cat dolls (yes… I am starting to think Halloween already!).
I find old, forgotten, abandoned places to be great sources of intrigue and inspiration. Yesterday was spent hiking through the Pine Barrens of New Jersey with my husband, exploring the solitude of the woods and the ruins of Brooksbrae Brick Factory. The factory was built over 100 years ago but never operated due to the owner’s untimely death, and the site it was built upon has now returned to forest on land that is now located within a state park. Abandoned railroad tracks ran parallel to the old factory site.
The site of the old Brooksbrae Brick Factory ruins reminded me a bit of a site near the house I grew up in where my brother and I used to play. A factory that had been built there in 1897 exploded and burned down the year before I was born, and the lot remained vacant throughout my childhood. My brother and I used to go there to pick giant cat tails to use as “jousting poles” while we pretended to be warring knights astride our bicycles.
Since our last visit here, I had the pleasure of once again attending the Antiques in Long Valley show in Long Valley, NJ where I scored my beautiful blue antique chimney cabinet last year. This year the show was just as amazing as the last… there were so many wonderful goodies that I wished I could have brought home with me. The booth where I bought my cabinet last year was once again filled with wonderful pieces of furniture and many Sold signs. This year I was on more of a budget than last year, but I did manage to come home with two finds that I am really pleased with – a small and extremely primitive hand forged shovel…
…and an antique German spun cotton ornament to add to my collection. The technique used to make it is different than I have seen before, so studying it will also assist in my education process as I learn this old technique.
I am continuing to really enjoy where my journey into spun cotton has been taking me. Below are my newest spun cotton creations that are still available. I am also archiving my designs on a new spun cotton ornaments page of this blog. Custom orders for designs you may have missed are always welcome.
And finally, I have some progress on my first Izannah Walker style doll from the workshop that I am taking. It has been hard to tear myself away from my current obsession with spun cotton to work on her, but I’ve gotten a bit completed! I have her torso sewn and stuffed, and her head with shoulderplate stuffed and pinned onto the torso.
After sewing the shoulderplate in place, I shall begin sculpting her face – I will share how I do with it in an upcoming blog post.
I will end for now with a big thank you to Cathy of the always-inspiring One Pink Goose for presenting me with the Sunshine Award, which is awarded to bloggers whose positivity and creativity inspire others in the blog world. I am honored!
I have found my way back into doll land this week and I am pleased to introduce my newest creation, a new primitive doll named Leticia. She is a good witch made of cloth with a sculpted Paperclay face. She is entirely hand painted and antiqued. Her skirt is made of lightly stained olive calico fabric with a tan flannel waistband. She wears a matching tan flannel witch hat and has two tiny black seed bead buttons on her hand painted shirt. She is available in my Old World Primitives Etsy shop now.
I have also been making some new spun cotton ornaments since my last post… more will be on the way soon, too. Below are my newest designs – the two cat ornaments are available, and the angel ornament is sold.
And now I am off to work on balancing the time I spend making dolls and ornaments more equitably… and to get working on my Izannah Walker workshop doll! I have my enormous booklet of instructions all printed out, and, brushing off any feelings of intimidation, I am going to get started on my doll today. I will try not to let all of the ideas that I have for new creations distract me too much (paper dolls will be in the works soon…).
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!
