I Have Two Favorites

I have made two dolls that absolutely make my heart sing... I mean, I love them all. I won't create something I don't love. But then there are dolls that you look at their sweet little faces and it's like seeing one of your own children. The first was Celia. Sigh.... Celia was hard to send away. And now Miss Anouk. Maybe it's because, like my mother pointed out, she resembles my own Zoe.

Anouk got her name while I was watching Chocolat. I didn't actually mean to, just found myself calling her Anouk while I watched and worked on her hair. I think it suits her, though. She is the first made from a new pattern. She has more little details than any doll I've made before. I had resisted the details, preferring to keep them simple and traditional. But I'm feeling more like stretching myself as a doll maker; trying new things. And I like it!


Anouk is a 12" Waldorf doll. Her body is sewn from cotton interlock and filled with wool. Her hair is a crocheted cap of mohair. She comes with a cotton top and pants, cotton panties, and wool shoes with a wooden button. She is available through my Etsy shop.

So, Everything Changes

Dear friends, I want to send a GREAT-BIG-THANK-YOU out there to all of you that stopped by to offer me support and encouragement over the past couple of months. I have been so overwhelmed by the generosity of spirit I've been shown.

And here we are, my little ones and I, in our apartment. We moved in a couple of weeks after I last posted and told you all of the separation. I got unpacked very quickly and we proceeded to feel around around for the best rhythm we could find. We're still working on that. My girls are taking their dad moving out really well, but not as well the time they have to spend away from me.
If you've been following my blog awhile you may remember that my husband and I were separated once before. We had been back together for a year and a half but were separated the 2 previous years. What can I say? I gave it everything I had but in the end he just wanted something else.
Anyway, though I've been a single mom before, it's different this time because I had an enormous amount of help from my parents before and we lived just beside of them. We moved away from there this past September and, though I could have gone back  I chose to do it completely independently this time. It's just something I need to do.
But it means I spend a lot of hours working. I'm still working from home, making dolls and toys, but it's not just to bring in  a little extra income anymore. My parents do still help me by watching the girls during the day, Monday-Thursday and my mom (who homeschooled my younger siblings and I) has taking over their schooling. I have very mixed feelings about the whole thing. I miss them, they miss me. There have been some behavior issues with the two littlest and Kaiya has let me know very directly that it is not acceptable for me to work when they get home.

 But, we do love it here in our apartment very much. There's a ton of light in here (a must for me) lots of closets, a playground right outside our door, and a little balcony for my herb pots and the girls to step out on whenever they want. We're right in town and we like being able to walk to the grocery store, a first for us.

We're doing really well. I mean it, even me.