A Winner

He's not quite finished yet but I am ready to call a winner for him. Congratulations to Stephanie K.! I am still knitting on his hat and tiny shoes and will have him ready to go in just a couple of days.

Thank you to everyone for entering and sharing!
Also, about giveaways here on This Cosy Life....  I would love to host one for you, too. The only requirement is that your site/blog and what you are giving away is a good fit for my readership. I ask nothing in return; if you want me to review I can but that's entirely optional. It's mutually beneficial and I love being able to showcase other crafty mamas! Use the contact tab up at the top of my page to get in touch with me.

A Bed For Dolly

OK, just one more handmade birthday post, I promise... at least for this birthday!

This time not by me though, other than the rag doll which you already saw. My parents, actually, teamed up to make this sweet bed set for River. My dad made the bed itself and my mom the bedding. I gave them pretty short notice, asking if they'd do it just at the beginning of this week, but I think they did such a  great job! My dad wants to make more but he's not totally happy with it yet, he just didn't have the time to go back and do any of it over.

I gave my mom a handful of fabrics from my stash to make the quilt. We don't exactly have the same taste in fabrics and I wanted to make sure it was super fun and girly! I would absolutely love to have a quilt for my own bed like this.





She's feeling cosy, I think.





It was a project they both enjoyed working on so I think I'll be working on setting up their own selling space on Etsy. Mom's going to work on some more felt birthday crowns like she made for the girls, and probably some various quilting, which she loves to do. I'm really excited to see what all they come up. They're both retired and eager to focus on this creative outlet and to supplement their fixed income. And I'm just happy to help!


PS Last chance to enter to win this 7" doll... I'll call a winner tomorrow!

Dolls

As promised, a few pictures of the rag doll I made for River's birthday. And, if you scroll past you can check out the little dude that in the works for my 7" doll giveaway.

I just loved working on this girl so much that I'm going to play around with a Waldorf type rag doll pattern. That is, head shaped in typical Waldorf fashion, interlock 'skin', but still lanky and floppy and will probably keep the butt panel I used to make this one sit and leave the 'hands and feet' unshaped.

He said 'I want this one!' And now that River's birthday is past I can knit for him and have him ready to travel to a new home next week.

 

If you've not entered this giveaway yet you'd better do so right away; I'm drawing a winner this Monday!

A Birthday For a Three Year Old

The birthday girl has finally settled down for the night and, I think it's safe to say, boy, it's great to be three! She tried to shimmy out of my bed quickly this morning but then the sister rushed in and there were presents and a birthday crown and the day just started out right for her.

What a sweet, happy-go-lucky girl we are blessed with and what a happy day she had. She's been singing 'Happy birthday to meee!!' all day. So excited!

Her mama-made sweater... I used the In Threes pattern.

I don't know... not sure if she loves her dolly or not...

I mean, what do you think? She said "she can talk and she can play peek-a-boo!". Seriously, this is why I love making dolls. I'll share some better pics of her tomorrow.

But being three doesn't make her any less mama's baby. Just look at that tummy, will  ya? I just want to eat her up!
The birthday is not completely over yet. My parents will come over tomorrow with the bed my dad made for her doll and we'll have homemade pizza, as she's requested, and the cake, of course.

Be sure to check back in with me tomorrow. I'll post better picture of the rag doll and will have progress pics of the giveaway doll, too. Have you entered yet? Only two more days!

Working On....

What I'm working on today....

River (my littlest) turns 3 tomorrow, as I mentioned the other day. So I'm working on a rag style doll for her. Yes, it's tomorrow and I really should be further along. But I had this vision in my of a thin, lanky, and floppy body and it's taken me a few days to get it where I want it. And then the hair... I'd only done felt hair for rag dolls before so it's taking some getting use to to sewing the yarn down to a flatter head than I'm used to. I do love how's she's turning out, though.

I assisted the sisters in making pipe cleaner dolls for her. Kaiya found the idea in a kid craft book. So cute! I've got to pick up some more beads because they've got plan to make many more.

Now I'm back to that dolly!

Right Now

It was actually cold when we went out to play today! A nice change, I think, from the 60-70 degree weather we've been having. I went out on Sunday to lunch with my parents and could not believe there were actually buds on quite a few trees! I will be sad if the frost gets them, as I'm sure it will. Knitting, knitting, knitting.... a nice diversion for now. River has a birthday (3!) coming up this Friday and I'm enjoying working on a few things for her. This is my fist time making the 'In Threes' pattern and I just love it. I'm also planning a dress to go with it, some essential oil scented play-dough , fingerless mittens, and a rag doll that my dad is making a bed for and my mom is making the bedding for. A sweet, handmade birthday that I think she will love.
   Kaiya is working on something for her, too. I love to see her stitching away!   These are our winter days right now. I hope you'll share yours!

It's a Boy!

It's been decided (voted upon, actually) that the little giveaway dolly will be a boy! I'm actually really excited to do a boy for a change. Since I began making these dolls not too many months ago I've only had the chance to make a couple of boy dolls. I'll have to do a bit of dreaming, though, before I find out who he'll be. But he's already started picking out hair ahead of me. I really can't blame him; it's cold and dreary out right now!



So be sure to get your entries in. And if you follow me on Facebook you'll have lots more opportunities!

Marvelous Monday Giveaway

Comments on this giveaway are now closed and the winner will be announced shortly. Good luck and thanks for participating!

That's right, a Marvelous Monday, indeed! Mine's barely begun but I have high hopes. And for the first time in too long, I've got a giveaway for you, from me!

I made the little one below a week or two ago and completely stopped right here. She just isn't exactly right. After the holidays I revamped my 6.5" doll pattern.... made it longer (by about half an inch) and leaner. her legs are longer, feet are bigger. The arms are longer, curved and more flexible. This is the second doll I made from the new pattern (Miss Muffet, above, was the first). I under-stuffed the tops of her arms, making them just a bit more floppy than I'd like them to be and, even though it's the same pattern, the legs came out thicker on this one, and I'm just not happy with that

 

So I've decided to make her as a giveaway doll! Here's how she looks right now, but over the next two weeks I'll work on her a little along and update here with progress pics. I'm not 100% about what I want to do with her yet but I have a few ideas. In two weeks I'll call a winner and she'll get to come and live with one of you. Sound good?

Here's how to enter; leave a comment on this post. Just one comment per entry, but that's the only one you have to do.
For more entries;
•Follow this blog
•Like This Cosy Life on Facebook
•Share this giveaway on Facebook with everyone you know and for everyone that likes my Facebook and then leaves me a comment there letting me know that you sent them, you'll get another entry. Make sense?
•Share my Facebook updates. Share by clicking 'Share' above the comment box so that I will be able to keep up with them. Otherwise I won't be able to see you shared and it won't get counted.

*Giveaway is open worldwide. For your entry to count you must first leave me a comment here. Please don't forget to leave me a way to contact you!

Winner will be drawn randomly in two Mondays, January 28th, 2013.

Post Holidays

All Christmas decorations have come down and been put to bed again til next year and a few winter things have taken their place (salt dough stars the girls helped me make). This week we've taken up our school work again. I will admit we'd gotten quite behind as I've been struggling to find the place my work will take amidst mothering/homemaking/homeschooling. But that is just something I will have to continue to work on til we find a rhythm that works for all of us. I have been learning that trying to 'do it all' only hurts us and some days certain things just have to take precedence and other things other days. That's a rhythm unto itself and something I am learning not to resist.

I took a brief holiday break and now am back at it....working on coming holiday things. I do love Valentine's Day so much. Working on things for this one really brings me joy.
So, that about sums it up... back to school, back to work, staying cosy, and enjoying the slower pace.

Little Miss Muffet

The very first is a new collection of 7" dolls... Little Miss Muffet.
 
Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet
Eating her curds and whey,
 
Along came a spider,
Who sat down beside her



And frightened Miss Muffet away!





She stands 7" tall, her body is sewn with cotton interlock fabric and firmly filled with clean sheep's wool. Her hair is a crocheted cap of mohair boucle and is fully stylable.
She can sit supported and her arms are flexible. She wears underwear, shoes, cotton dress and a handknit pinafore. The pinafore closes at the sides with wooden buttons so she is not suitable for children under the age of 3.

She is in my Etsy shop, awaiting adoption, for those who are interested.
I'm very excited to be working on this collection. I have several more to come from nursery rhymes and will follow them, naturally, with fairy tales.