Monthly Archives: August 2015

News & New

I find that it’s a lot of work selling things on eBay. I spent most of the day yesterday gathering items, photographing them, and writing up the eBay listings, not sure if it’s worth the work for the little things, especially if they don’t even sell. We’ll see what happens. I may have lots to donate to Good Will. I think that it is worth it for the larger collectibles as these would not be appreciated (most likely) at Good Will, and that would make me sad.

I spent the this morning packing up five dolls that will be in their new homes very soon. That will make a total of 8 dolls that have started new chapters in their lives: Big Ann Estelle, Lark, Song, White Rabbit, Tamsin, Avery, Zsu Zse, and Anjali. I’m sure they are (or soon will be) very happy to be away from me where they spent too many days not doing much of anything; I am hoping their new families are happy with them too.

While these 8 dolls were very bored with me, there are others who are very, very busy. Here’s Gina with a new ensemble called “Pink & Plum Encore”. I used the smaller rose print which is second from the right. It is a shade deeper and the roses are smaller, but it is from the same fabric collection.

Just for fun, here are the two ensembles side by side. Because we are getting nearer and nearer to cool autumn weather, I made a slouchy beret for the new set.

The sweater and beret set are hand knit with mohair/silk lace weight yarn. The sweater is embroidered with two mirrored image rose bouquet motifs in coordinating colors. The slouchy beret has its own rose motif too.

Gina’s skirt features a deep tuck which overlaps fine English cotton Cluny lace with two hand made rayon bows sewn equidistant from the skirt’s center. These bows match the waistline ribbon tie on the dress. Gina is wearing light pink cotton Lycra tights to keep her legs warm. Sorry, they are hidden by her boots at this camera angle.

For more information on Gina’s “Pink & Plum Encore” ensemble, please visit my “Available for Sale” page at cindyricedesigns.com.

Talyssa’s “An Autumn Rose” ensemble is still available. My Talyssa is getting a bit giddy because she is anticipating that this will be hers to keep. Let’s not make her too happy; if she’s not sitting around naked I will not be motivated to make her anything new because she looks way too cute all dressed up.

If you’d like to bring this ensemble home for your Talyssa or Mei Mei mention the words “sorry Talyssa” in your contact form or email to me and I will give you a discount of $20 off of this set through the end of this week (through 9/4/15 only).

Here’s Talyssa for another look at “An Autumn Rose”.

Bye for now and thanks for reading!

Hugs, Cindy

“An Autumn Rose”

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Summer is winding down. Do you feel it where you live? Boy, did I feel it this yesterday morning! I wanted to take a few more pictures of Talyssa modeling her new ensemble and I couldn’t wait to get back inside, although it probably didn’t help that I was barefoot!

Talyssa’s sweater is knit with Knitpicks Diadem. It is a single ply yarn which I found to be quite a challenge to knit with. The threads in each strand of yarn did not want to stay together (and there were a lot of ultra fine silk strands), so I had to be extra careful to get all of it on my needle with each stitch. It did get easier as I progressed, but knitting this sweater probably took twice as long as it would have with a plied yarn. On the plus side, this yarn is very silky and soft; it is made with mulberry silk/baby alpaca fibers. The photos don’t show how the sweater shimmers and shines.

The headband can be worn like an ear warmer or like a typical headband. Talyssa is modeling it both ways.

I really enjoy fall, but the end of summer always makes me feel a bit melancholy. How does the end of summer make you feel?

For more information on Talyssa’s “An Autumn Rose” ensemble, please visit my “Available for Sale” page at cindyricedesigns.com .

This Past Week & Looking Ahead

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I wonder… do your days and weeks fly by fast, fast, fast? I try to hold onto each day, but it just seems to slip through my fingers before I can get a hold of it, and before I know it the entire week is over.

So, I am wondering, what did I accomplish this week that is out of the ordinary? Anything? Well, here are a few things that happened… ordinary or not.

This week I added a link to my Instagram account. The link is located within the right column’s paragraph below my photo right here on this blog. I am trying to keep my Instagram photos casual and different than those you will see elsewhere, so you might want to follow me, or if you don’t have an Instagram account you can click that link every now and then to see what I am up to. Here is the link to my Instagram account too. My Instagram is still very small and new, but everything takes time, right? I only have 5 followers right now, so if you follow me I will greatly appreciate it!

I spent the entire day on Thursday photographing my next set of dolls that are looking for new homes. There will be 5 of them on eBay tonight and will start as the other two auctions are ending. Thanks to everyone who is willing to bring my dolls into their homes; it helps me a lot knowing where they will be going. Here are a few preview photos.

Kish Tamsin is one of Helen’s bent leg vinyl babies who fit nicely with the 14″ Chrysalis girls. She was very attached to Song (who is up for adoption now) and spent her time in Song’s lap while living with me. Wish I had a photo to show you of the two of them together, they were so cute.

I have 5 Riley and friends dolls. My daughter has fond memories of Riley and Tulah, so I am keeping those two dolls. I have decided to part with Avery, Zsu Zse, and Anjali. All three have had a successful modeling career with me, so are used dolls and quite nude as their outfits are long gone. It was very heart breaking to me was when I pulled Avery from her storage box and saw that one of her thumbs had a brownish stain. I have no idea where that came from and had never seen it on her before. Boo hoo, poor thing! A little doll manicure is what she needs.

Aside from a few rubs on their vinyl, Zsu Zse and Anjali are in good shape. Their hair has been taken out of pigtails and braids, but can be put back to its original style.

My last doll that I am putting up for adoption this week is the only doll that I have ever bought from a local doll shop, long since closed; all my other dolls have been purchased online. It is funny, but when I purchased her I had no idea what her body would be like underneath that rabbit costume. The costume was stuffed with fiberfill and it looked like she was a stuffie with a vinyl head and hands, but I bought her anyway. She is the 12-1/2″ White Rabbit doll, companion to the 16″ Alice in Wonderland from 1996. Now that I have read Helen Kish: The Artist and Her Dolls by Louise Fecher, I know that The White Rabbit is part of Helen’s first multi-jointed vinyl dolls and is the Jesse sculpt (a boy doll). I made a few dresses for this doll, but mainly used her (or him) as the Easter Bunny for the Riley and friends line. Oh, Kish and Company graciously restrung her for me a while back, so her elastic is nice and fresh.

White Rabbit’s 2-piece bunny costume is made out of a nice wool felt and has a fluffy bunny tail. I didn’t use the vest when White Rabbit was acting as the Easter Bunny.

To be taken to my eBay “items for sale” page click to the photo in the right column. These 5 dolls will be available for bidding at 9:00 pm CST, tonight.

Also this week, I finished knitting Talyssa’s sweater in Diadem, a super luxurious (mulberry silk/baby alpaca) single ply yarn, and yesterday I completed the embroidery on it. Working with a single ply yarn did get easier after I got used to it, but I cannot say that I would buy more single plied yarn. It is very slow going as you have to be careful to catch all of those threads with every stitch. With multi-plied yarn each strand is twisted together, so it tends to stick together. On the plus side, the sweater is very soft and slightly fluffy with a beautiful sheen from the silk. Her new ensemble will be available very soon.

I have to share this one last photo with you. It was about 7:00 in the morning and this little bunny was enjoying an apple that had fallen from our apple tree. I had to take this photo from inside the house, so I didn’t scare it. It had already seen me however, and had stopped munching.