Antiques, Spun Cotton and Izannah

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 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!

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!

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.

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!