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?