Primitive Folk Art by Old World Primitives, Author at Primitive Folk Art by Old World Primitives

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!

spun cotton ornament

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. 🙂

primitive doll

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!

izannah walker doll

Published in Prims Magazine

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.

Prims magazine feature - The Life of Cloth and Clay

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!).

Inspiration in the Pine Barrens

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.

New Jersey Pine Barrens

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.

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…

primitive antique 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.

Izannah Walker Doll Workshop progress

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!

sunshine blog award

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.

primitive folk art cloth and clay doll

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.

spun cotton ornament

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…).

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.

spun cotton ornament

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 in his cat bed

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!

Pet Scribbles handmade greeting card

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.

spun cotton rabbit ornament

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.

antique postcards

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.

antique postcards

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

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.

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.