Christmas decor

 

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I can't believe it's almost Christmas already! Seems like it was just July.  I've been working for about a week decorating our house for the upcoming Christmas tour of homes here in my tiny city of Port Gibson, MS.  It is a lot of work, but I throughly enjoy doing it!  The morning temperatures here get you in the spirit of Christmas (low 30's) but by afternoon it will be 70 here.  I was born and raised in Northern Ohio and remember lots of snow, so it is still a bit hard to get used to Christmas when it is fairly warm. It was even worse when we lived in Miami!  Anyhow, here are some pics of the house decorations. I have one more area to complete, the kitchen/family room, and will post those when finished, hopefully today!  One "glitch" i did not really anticipate; my cat Bella is going crazy with the Christmas tree ornaments and loves eating the red berries on the artificial tree and arrangements!  I did buy the shatter proof ornaments, thank goodness!   Anyhow,  I am itching to get back out into my doll studio!!  I have a French fashion doll outfit to complete for one of my customers from New Orleans, and then I will be starting new dolls. Can't wait!  Anyhow, I hope all of you have a wonderful holiday season.

Delilah and Flora

Hi everyone!  I'm sorry I haven't posted anything lately, but I've been busy filling the last orders from the show I did in July!  And now with the holidays coming quickly, I am having to stop the doll making a while to start decorating the house. As I have said before, our house was built in 1835, and we occasionally have tours coming through or special events. This December 8th and 9th, we will participate in a Christmas tour of homes so I have to really get busy.  I am just finishing up new window treatments in my breakfast room, and then on to getting the Christmas trees up!  We don't decorate as much as we used to when we had the bed and breakfast, but it will still be pretty.  I'll try to post some photos of the decor when finished. 
   Here are two of my latest dolls. As you have probably noticed, I love everything to do with the Civil War era and most of my dolls reflect that. 

DELILAH

 

I love this civil war reproduction fabric for Delilah's dress that I found on line.  The design of the dress is very typical for young girls of the era, and for many years to come.  I made her little side-buttoned boots of soft leather.

I found this wonderful little quilt in an antique shop, which blends beautifully with her dress.  Delilah is going to a new home in New Jersey very soon!

 

 



 

FLORA

 

Miss Flora is dressed in a homespun plaid dress and also has hand made leather boots. As all of my dolls , her head is paperclay over cloth and is oil-painted and antiqued.  I saw an old tintype of a little girl of this era which inspired me to create Flora.  I imagined her sadly thinking of her father or brother who was far away fighting, and hoping for his safe return to his family. 

A dear friend of mine suggested something to me the other day that I thought would be a great idea.  After the holidays, when I start on more dolls, I am going to post a series of photos and descriptions of the doll making process from start to finish.  I think some of you might enjoy seeing how the doll progresses from the idea to the finished piece.
  In the meantime, I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season!  Even though my husband Doug has to in for a little knee repair surgery in the next couple of weeks, we are hoping to drive down to Miami for a few days to visit his two daughters before Christmas.
Doug and I both had careers there; he is a retired Homicide detective from the Miami Dade police department, and I was a forensic scientist doing DNA analysis for 16 years. It was a good career, but I am so much happier now, creating beautiful things instead of seeing the very worst you can imagine.   Will talk to you all soon in 2013!!!