Time Flies When You’re Going Bonkers

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 bit “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.

Welcoming Summer

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 the second 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!

A New Primitive Doll Emerges

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…).

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.

Meet Medea, the Primitive Witch

I just updated the Old World Primitives Early Work Mercantile shop for our September 1st update… and as promised, I am now sharing the full view of the scary witch that I previewed here last week.  She is my Early Work Mercantile offering this month.

SOLD, thank you!

This primitive witch make-do primitive is 21″ tall, and was created using a Kentucky Primitives pattern.  Her name is Medea, and she would make a spooky addition to your primitive Halloween decor!

Also, my final upcoming vacation notice for the year – I will be on vacation September 4th – 12th. All orders received by 2:00pm EST on Thursday, September 3rd will ship before my vacation begins. All orders received between September 4th – 12th will ship on Monday, September 14th.

My Latest Antiquing Finds and a Sneak Peek

Since my return from Canada I have been busily preparing Halloween dolls and ornaments for my first foray into the craft show world, coming up in October. So I have many new creations in the works, but most will be held aside for the show for now.  I do have some wonderful new antique show and shop finds to share though – some will become part of my show display.  I found all of these pieces up in Canada.  I would have brought back even more items, but my parents beat me to a few of them… when we go antiquing together, we always seem to go after the same items!

I would also like to share a sneak peek of my September 1st offering for Early Work Mercantile – she is a very primitive and scary witch.

Check back next week to see more of her!  I will try to squeeze in some new Etsy offerings soon too.

It’s Not Easy Being Green

The canning continues in my backyard garden center… and despite the copious amounts of pickles that my cucumber plants have been producing, my husband has decided that he hath not enough cucumbers for his brine. He has therefore been attending our local farmer’s market each weekend to buy up all of the small cucumbers for sale there so that we can pickle them, too.

Behold the gallon jar.

I would also like to introduce my newest primitive folk art creation – a Halloween frog witch doll, created using a fun Soft in the Head “Frogette” design. She is ready to cast spells and enchant hearts. Available in the Old World Primitives Etsy Shop now.

SOLD, thank you!

And finally, an upcoming vacation notice – I will be on vacation August 8th – 15th. All orders received by 2:00pm EST on Friday, August 7th will ship before my vacation begins. All orders received between August 8th – 15th will ship on Monday, August 17th.

Crows, Canning, and Collecting Antiques

After a weekend spent getting most of the windows in our home replaced (and moving everything in each room out of the way… and then back into place again… and then cleaning up the mess), I finally had time to get a new primitive crow doll that I finished making last week listed on Etsy today. She is 19″ tall including her witch hat, and was handmade by me using a Veena’s Mercantile pattern.

SOLD, thank you!

The canning of all those pickles in my last post has also begun! I’m boiling the salt water for jar number 3 already, which I will add to a jar stuffed with pickle cucumbers, fresh dill from our garden, garlic, and horseradish root to make Polish style cucumbers in brine.

Once the lid is sealed, we ferment them for 1-2 weeks, and then open and eat! We’re already eating jar #1 – delicious! (Or shall I say, bickering over who gets to eat the last pickle from the jar… after which my husband drinks all of the brine.)

And finally, I went antiquing last Thursday at the Chester Antique Mall, and have some photos of my finds to share. I set out wanting to find a piece that could function as an end table for next to our living room couch, and that is exactly what I came home with. I also found a fabulous lopsided, slotted iron spoon to add to my collection.

Halloween Goodies & Kutztown Folk Festival

Can you believe it’s just about July already? This year has just been flying by. I have been busy working on new creations lately, and just finished updating my Early Work Mercantile Shop for our July 1st update. My offering this month is a primitive witch make-do, which I created using a Kentucky Primitives pattern.

SOLD, thank you!

I also added a new set of 3 vintage style chenille Halloween ornaments to the Old World Primitives Etsy Shop, and will be adding a bunch more Halloween ornaments (both chenille and cloth) soon too.

On Sunday I also had the pleasure of attending the Kutztown Folk Festival in Kutztown, PA for the first time and I enjoyed it so much, I can’t wait to go back again next year! The festival included over 200 crafters both selling and demonstrating their crafts, and the quality was just amazing. There were SO many things that I wanted to buy! It was hard to stick to my budget and leave with just a few small goodies, but it was really fun and inspiring to see so many high quality crafts. There was also a quilt barn filled with over 2,500 handmade quilts, many of which I wished I could bring home with me too. We also sampled lots of yummy food and drink including the homemade fudge that I am snacking on right now, looked at the many exhibits, listened to some live folk music, and watched a thatched roofing demonstration. A few of the pictures that I took at the festival are below.

And finally, a big thank you to everyone who voted for my extreme primitive black cat doll in the Etsy Americana Decor Voter Poll! She was featured in a Storque post announcing the voter favorites and is now included in the Americana Folk Gift Guide.