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.

spun cotton bunny ornament

vintage style chenille St. Patrick's Day ornaments

vintage style chenille St. Patrick's Day ornaments

vintage style chenille dog ornaments - the set includes a pug dog and a terrier

Happy Holidays!

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.

Celebrate 365 magazine - Winter 2009

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.

Victorian style Valentine's Day ornaments

Victorian style Valentine's Day ornaments

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.primitive folk art cloth and clay doll

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

primitive folk art cloth and clay doll

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.

Vintage Style Chenille Christmas Ornaments

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.

primitive dolls as works in progress

I hope to be showing these dolls completed very soon.

Primitive Witch Hat Box

Today officially feels like fall here in New Jersey – we had to turn the heat on for the first time since last spring, and the green leaves outside my window are finally starting to get some red and yellow tips.

Yesterday I updated the Old World Primitives Early Work Mercantile shop for our October 1st update with a primitive witch hat box.  The witch hat is made of painted, stained muslin adorned with a strip homespun and bit of dried flowers. The box is made of painted, stained paper mache.

primitive witch hat box
primitive witch hat box

Does anyone have their Halloween costume ready yet?  I do, since I’ll be wearing mine already next weekend to The Witches Ball.  I’m going to wear my very favorite handmade Halloween costume – “Tragic Alice” by Heavy Red.  My Mom will be joining me as a fairy!

my Halloween costume

Vintage Style Chenille Christmas Ornaments

Today I am taking a short break from furiously preparing Halloween orders and show inventory to share the newest addition to  the Old World Primitives Etsy shop – a new set of 3 vintage style chenille Christmas ornaments.

chenille Christmas folk art ornaments

Each Christmas ornament is made of chenille, Victorian Santa and vintage Christmas images printed on card stock, and a mini frosted Christmas tree.  They are the perfect size to use as either feather tree or Christmas tree ornaments.  They also make great gifts, and come packaged in a clear cellophane bag tied with a bow.

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.

primitive folk art witch make-do

primitive folk art witch make-do

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!

antique show and shop finds

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.

Early Work Mercantile September sneak peek

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.

gallon jar of cucumbers in brine

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.

primitive folk art frogette doll

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.

Primitive Folk Art Witch Mannequin

April 2012 Update: due to the tremendous response that this item has received on Pinterest, I am once more offering this creation for sale in my Etsy shop.

My newest creation this month is a primitive witch mannequin make-do that can function as a spooky pin-keep or a unique addition to your primitive Halloween decor. This piece is 21 1/2″ tall, and was created using a Hudson’s Holidays pattern. I enjoyed getting to use some of the beautiful 19th century reproduction fabrics that I recently purchased to create this witch mannequin.

primitive folk art witch make-do pin keep

primitive folk art witch mannequin