Whew!

Tonight I am knitting a cardigan and shoes for a 19" custom doll. And tomorrow she's in the post.... my very last custom of the season!
This season has completely gotten away from me and I'm anxious for down time. Tomorrow I'll share that custom doll and a few other I've already mailed out but for now I just wanted to pop in and share this wonderful tutorial from my friend Lucinda.

Isn't this stunning?! I hope to find time to make one myself this weekend. Have a wonderful evening, friends!

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I've come across a handful more of pocket doll repeats in my customs so they are ready to ship for you! And here is a free shipping coupon for you, too; FREESHIPDECEMBER Now I'm back to my work... actually beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Wheee!!

Update

Taking a brief break from regularly scheduled customs to bring you a couple of ready to ship sweeties. While taking an inventory of what had been made and what we still needed I realized we ended up with these two repeats. I love them! If you are interested in them they are available in the 'Ready To Go' section of my shop. PS.. the USPS first class in the US deadline isn't til the 20th of December.
And here's a gang of custom little ones about to go out.

OK, must get back to it. Happy St. Nicholas day!

Anticipation

Will St. Nicholas be visiting your home tonight? My girls are eagerly awaiting the morning and I'll be making a few small things to fill their shoes tonight. Here is how we celebrate. How are you celebrating tomorrow?

Giveaway and Review of Dalai Mama Patterns

Comments on this giveaway are now closed. Thanks to all who entered!

I have a wonderful giveaway for you this week from Maria of Dalai Mama Patterns. Maria makes the sweetest sewing patterns designed for dolls. I had the pleasure of trying out one of her patterns this  weekend. I made this little sundress for one of my own dolls... a boo-boo doll that I decided to keep.

The pattern is Sophia and Julia. I didn't have time to make the little romper but can't wait to as it's super cute!
The pattern is very simple to understand and is chock full of color photos to guide you along. The doll wearing this dress is 19" and she looks great in it!

Now let's hear from Maria herself.

 
Please tell us a little about yourself.

I've been a creative person my entire life- I'm not a huge fan of the term "artist", and "craftsperson" doesn't exactly describe what I do either.  I just really love to work with my hands and have been lucky enough to earn a living income doing so for the last 10 years.   I was a goldsmith in my previous life, but these days I'm primarily a stay at home mother to a marvelous little two and a half year old.  After leaving my full time gig in jewelry when I had my daughter, I started teaching community college and adult education classes in metalsmithing at our local arts center a couple nights a week. I also have a small repair and custom jewelry business that I run from my home studio.  In the summer months, I love camping with my family and puttering in my garden. The rest of the year, I think, eat and sleep skiing.  

How did you get started making children's things?

Before my daughter was even born, I started using independent designers' PDF patterns to sew dresses for her- they were so much better than the commercial patterns I grew up with and I loved the idea of supporting other crafty folks like myself.  A couple years later when I finally found the perfect waldorf doll for her, I went searching online for sewing patterns to make her doll a suitcase full of outfits.  I figured it was a great way to use up tiny pieces of fabric that I had been hoarding or to upcycle clothing that I couldn't bear to get rid of.  When my search for patterns came up mostly empty-handed, I drafted a few myself.  Each pattern I made worked better than the last and before long, I had amassed a huge collection of clothing and a mountain of tissue paper pattern pieces.  I realized I had a unique product developing before me, so I found some freeware for vector editing (line drawing, drafting, etc) and went to work digitizing my pattern pieces and writing instructions.  A couple months later, I opened up shop on etsy with 4 designs  and the rest they say, is history.  

What inspires you?

My students, who continue to produce beautiful work with their basic skills and limited understanding of their materials.  There is a lot to be said for simplicity.  Also my friend Kathleen, a clothing designer who creates couture fashion from recycled cashmere sweaters- her talent as a seamstress and her color sense are second to none.

What is your favorite thing to do together with your children?

I'm extrapolating a little bit, but I am so excited to teach Summer how to ski this year.  I've been an avid skier my entire life and I cannot wait to share this love with her.  I also love dancing with her- she's got some serious moves and she's always been the life of the party.


Here's what Maria is offering one lucky reader;  winner's choice of 3 of her patterns, up to a $20 value.

To enter, simply leave a comment on this post.

For more entries;
Add Dalai Mama Patterns to your Etsy favorites
Like her on Facebook
Like This Cosy Life on Facebook

Want more entries? For every friend you refer to Maria's Facebook page you get one entry. For it to count they must LIKE and POST on her timeline letting her know you sent them.

This giveaway is open worldwide. I will draw a winner randomly December 11, 2012.


Interested in me hosting a giveaway for your shop? I love being able to give free/no strings attached exposure to my fellow WAHMS. Feel free to use the contact form at the top of the page to drop me a line.

What's Going On

We are just as busy as little elves here! And by we I mean my mother, sister, and I. Yes, This Cosy Life is growing and expanding just a little bit. There is also a sweet friend of mine who's whipping up some tiny caps for pocket dolls to get me through the Christmas rush (Thanks, Bev!).
By the way, Facebook is going through some, ahem, changes as well, so you will begin to find more shop updates here, as Facebook just isn't getting the job done too well anymore. I do hope hope it won't bother my regular readers too much... that's assuming any of you are still getting my feed as I've neglected this poor space too much in the last few months.
 
I believe the new year will bring many positive changes and advances for my little business and I love to be able to share that with you all. It certainly is strange to be a 'boss' over my own mom, though!


Here's a new guy we worked on over the weekend. His name is Jingles. He's already found a home but I am taking just a few customs for elves like him to be made and shipped out next week.If you'd like one feel free to drop me a line. they are $70. And I hope the gals and I will be able to whip up a few that are ready to go, as well.

Oh, and I'll be back tomorrow with a little giveaway for you. So stay tuned!

Pinecone Fairies

December is finally here! As you can imagine, as a doll maker I'm knee deep in making for the holidays right about now. But I'm still making time to start a few festivities around the homefront, too.

My dear friend Lucinda made a new tutorial last week that the girls and I just had to try. In our new place we have no evergreens, but that's OK, because we  saved up some pinecones from last year. And our acorns are too small but thankfully a friend of ours has some lovely enormous caps so all we had to find were some wing appropriate leaves.

Zoe and I worked on one together and Kaiya (our new resident crafter) worked alone. These were so much fun! I was out of the small beads for the hands so we left off wrapping the arms. I think we'll have to gather up some more supplies and do this one again. The girls even made a couple without the hanging string for play.




Here are more from another NC mama.
Love the use of the poplar seed pods and sweet gum balls.



  Do you have any fun projects you're working on for the holidays?

Giveaway From Mosey Handmade

Comments on this giveaway are now closed and a winner (Rebecca Vanderburgh) has been contacted.

Hello again! I'm breaking my (busy) silence with a special giveaway for you all.
This giveaway come from mosey handmade.... co-owned by Jes and Stephanie. Sit back with a cup of tea or coffee and enjoy their gorgeous photos while you get to know them a little better.

Please tell us a little about yourself.

mosey handmade is a team of two crafters ~ Jes Anthonis and Stephanie Martz. We met in highschool and became quick friends, we used to publish a zine together.

A few years ago we reunited and have been crafting together ever since!  Steph is an art teacher and Jes has her own Waldorf Inspired school, Morning Glory Garden.

We work together as a team creating everything on mosey.From ribbon to the colorways we chose it all carefully and we put it all together with as much love as we can muster!

 

How did you get started making children's things?

Jes: We both grew up making all kinds of crafty things with our Mama's, and then became teachers, so it seems like the perfect marriage of both!

Steph: Yes, and I've always been a fan of children's vintage aestetic which we try to bring into the color pallette and playfulness of all we make for mosey.

 

What inspires you?

Jes: We are very inspired by the families and children we make things for. Of course we are also inspired by Waldorf Early Childhood education and all the beautiful wooden and wool toymakers out there.

Steph: I think we are a mix of natural materials and a bit of vintage styling...which makes perfect sense given who we are.

What is your favorite thing to do together with your children?

Jes: Right now we have a new baby & a toddler, so finding that special time with my older daughter is really important. She calls everything crafty "Mama's Knitting" and she has been especially interested in sitting at the electric sewing machine! When we were making Halloween costumes I let her run the pedal while I did the sewing, she had the BEST time! Other than handwork we love to go to our local story hour and meet up with friends there!

Steph: I love to find things for the children that they will love, little surprises and treasures. Especially if it's thrifted! Also singing and dancing!

 

So what are you offering one of our lucky readers?

We are giving away a mosey handmade Birthday Party Pack!

♥ The mosey handmade Party Pack ♥ includes:

 1 Birthday Crown 1 Personalized Birthday Bunting 6 Award Ribbon Party Favors

 ☆ All wrapped up in one of our hand dyed playsilks ☆

To enter this giveaway all you have to do is leave a comment on this post! 

For more entries; (Leave a comment for each additional entry.)

Add Mosey Handmade to your Etsy favorites

Like Mosey Handmade on Facebook

Refer a friend to their Facebook page (each friend must LIKE and POST on their timeline letting them know you sent them... one entry per friend referred)
Follow their blog 
Share this giveaway... anywhere!

Like This Cosy Life on Facebook

Giveaway is open worldwide. A winner will be drawn randomly on Thursday, November 29th.

This and That

Hello again! My work and homeschooling are keeping me quite busy at the moment. So, while I hate to be so quite here, I'm so grateful for the tasks that are feeling my days.
Are you making plans for Halloween? Are you completely ready for Halloween? I'm not, at all. Zoe has told me she would like to be a cat. Easy enough. Not sure about the other two yet, but we'll get there.









But we have visited the pumpkin patch and carved our pumpkins. Kaiya carved hers all by herself! And she's beginning to look a bit like a grinning jack-o-lantern with those missing teeth. Hehe! Zoe lost her first last week. She was so excited that the tooth fairy would finally be visiting her. Then the Kaiya lost another the following day. Needless to say, the tooth fairy has been hopping!

 Hey, have you entered to win Lucinda's beautiful gnome house yet? Get your entries in before Halloween and don't forget to refer your friends to her Facebook page for extra entries.

Giveaway and Review of Willodel

Comments on this giveaway are now closed.

Hello again, friends! I've had a very busy couple of months and don't foresee that letting up anytime soon. Business is booming, homeschooling is marching on and we all are very well. But I wanted to come in for a bit to host this wonderful giveaway for my sweet friend Lucinda. If you don't remember her from her past giveaways here, Lucinda is the very talented artist behind the Etsy shop Willodel.
We are very happy to own some of her work. A set of furniture....

These pieces are amazing! Many of them are one solid piece and they are very sturdy. My husband has stepped on a couple of the chairs and they broke cleanly, no splintering and, after a little craft glue they are as good as new!

Lucinda offers the furniture is a coupe of different sizes to fit your doll house. We chose the larger size and they work perfect for our Plan dolls and other various bendy dolls.

The bendy doll above is made by Lucinda, not the purple baby (tooth fairy present!) or cradle.

A co-sleeping family catching their zzz's in Lucinda's bedroom set.

Lucinda is a true artist and strives to be gentle to the earth in her work. From her Etsy shop; "Willodel is a shop filled with lovingly hand made items meant to delight the heart, inspire the imagination and foster creativity for all who are wanting. Willodel embraces everything natural, as Nature gives the artisan both material and inspiration, it becomes inherent in the work to protect, sustain and revere the environment that is the source of it all.
I have been making delightful, functional & eco friendly homes for birds, toads, fairies and gnomes, out of found wood and recycled materials, for many years.......time tested and loved by all."

The superbly crafted and simply beautiful toys and animal homes Lucinda makes are just magical and the kind of thing that is treasured and passed down through generations.

These are homes one can dream in! Looking at her little gnome houses just sets my imagination into work. Couldn't you imagine little gnome sand fairies really making their homes in there?



To add a little magic to your desktop....
 

Today Lucinda is generously offering one of her wee gnome homes to one lucky reader (acorn gnome and sheep not included)!
*Please note; due to the high cost of shipping this item, the giveaway is only open to US and Canada residents.*

 To enter simply leave a comment.

For additional entries;
Add Lucinda's Etsy shop to your favorites
Like Willodel on Facebook
Like This Cosy Life on Facebook
Share this giveaway on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest
Refer friends to the Willodel Facebook page (you will  receive one additional entry for every person you refer that a)'likes' Willodel and b)leaves a  comment on the Willodel page letting us know who sent them) 

This giveaway will be open for 2 weeks.. I will announce the winner (drawn randomly) on  October 31st (Halloween!).

Our homeschool is in full swing right now and we are enjoying returning to a more steady rhythm. This year I'm loosely going by Donna Simmons' first grade curriculum.

A wise old owl sat on an oak,
The more he heard, the less he spoke,
The less he spoke, the more he heard,
Why aren't we all like that wise bird?
From A Child's Seasonal Treasury

Our school/dining space is all set up and the girls enjoy it so much.

The little ones work on modeling with beeswax, sorting jars, and other activities while Kaiya and I work on her lessons.
 
Our first handwork was to make felt cases for our recorders. I cut them out but she sewed hers by herself and put on her first button!


 


Zoe gets a little one on one time with me as we bake whole wheat rolls together.
Bean bags... Kaiya sewed half and I made the others.
Their favorite time of the day is handwork. Really, they're my daughters.. would you expect any less?! Zoe quickly picked up finger knitting while Kaiya and I sewed and then began working with wool I sheared from our sheep. Of course, I've had to sell them since we moved, but I'm so grateful to have these bags of wool left to remember them by. Kaiya cleaned and carded a little bit of it and will use it to stuff a little pillow. This week we will make her own set of knitting needles and then began to knit! I think you all know this mama is looking forward to it.
 
 At the end of this week I will start up the Waldorf homeschooling link up again. Hope you all will join in. Have a great week!