Author Archives: Cindy Rice

About Cindy Rice

My wonderful husband, my beautiful daughter, and I live in northeastern Illinois with our two sweet chihuahua boys. For as long as I can remember I have loved dolls and making things. I got my first Barbie when I was only three years old! My mom sewed for my Barbie dolls and taught me how to use her sewing machine when I was only seven. I cannot believe she let me near that needle, but she did. Not having enough money for my clothes habit in high school and college led me to start sewing all of my own clothes. There were so many fabric stores around back then and fabric was so inexpensive. I would wait for the 99 cent pattern sale and go crazy. Sewing for myself continued well into my 30’s. (I even made my wedding gown and bridesmaid dresses.) Shortly after I got married I left my full time graphic design position and started designing cross stitch patterns. I called my company “The Lilac Studio” and sold my botanical patterns at trade shows, through distributors which sold to retail shops, and mail order. My most popular pattern, “A Bouquet of Pansies” sold 5000 copies and won a J&P Coats Golden Needle Award! I was also featured in various cross stitch magazines and designed special projects for the magazines. When my daughter was born I didn’t have the time needed to cross stitch and design patterns all day long so I let my pattern design business slip away. And then I started discovering dolls again and I now had an excuse to start buying them. The only problem was that they were for my daughter and not for me. I soon discovered all of the adult collectors out there and decided I would be one of them. I started small at first, collecting Mattel Kelly dolls. Soon I collected over 100 Kelly dolls! After Kelly, I discovered Helen Kish’s Riley and Tonner’s Ann Estelle. I have since learned to knit doll sweaters and love an excuse to knit so most of my doll outfits include a sweater and/or hat. I love creating miniature outfits for dolls and enjoy sharing them with others. Currently I create doll ensembles for Ruby Red Fashion Friends, Kish Bethany, Dianna Effner's Little Darlings, Wilde Imagination's teeny tiny Amelia, Kaye Wiggs BJD, Boneka 10", Linda Macario's Penny.

Chicago Botanic Gardens, Last Day

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This is the last installment of photos from our visit to the Chicago Botanic Gardens. Unfortunately my photos only take our visit up to approximately the halfway point, sorry. My camera battery was starting to lose its charge (I need a second battery) and I wasn’t sure I was getting decent shots, so I put my camera down and just experienced the gardens in real time.

After we left the English Walled Garden we passed by a hillside planted with zinnias, black eyed Susan, and those lavender fluffy annuals you see at all of the garden centers in the spring. Sorry, I don’t know what they are, never paid attention to them. Maybe you know? This hillside is covered with daffodils and tulips in the spring!

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I love zinnias and black eyed Susan and have grown them before, have you? The zinnias growing on the hillside were all the red variety. The photo above shows another variety of lavender flower growing amongst the two stars. I cannot recall the name of this one either.

black eyed susan 023 At the end of this hillside garden, my daughter spotted a squirrel in a tree. The little guy drew us both over to it. We were careful as he didn’t seem too afraid of us. When I lifted my arm he thought I had a treat and started to come over to me, but he was still cautious. I didn’t let him get too close, and luckily had nothing to feed him.

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At first, he seemed to be hiding behind a branch, but quickly came out to see if we had any treats.

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We worked our way towards the Japanese Garden which is on three tiny islands with only the first two open to the public. An arched bridge carries you over to the first and largest island. This garden is flowerless and a place I never appreciated until a few years ago. It is very orderly and is supposed to be peaceful. I’ll bet that on a weekday you can get the full effect of this garden, but on the weekends with little ones running around, nope, didn’t happen.

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One of the highlights of this garden are the two structures that are connected by a neatly raked sand garden and well placed rocks. At one end is a hut with built in table/chairs. At the other end is a little look out structure. In the spring this space is filled with cherry blossoms!

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I thought this bark was interesting in the Japanese Gardens. Sorry, I didn’t get it’s name.

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Well, that’s all from our midsummer visit to the Chicago Botanic Gardens.

Everyone have a great day! Bye for now!

Today It’s the English Walled Garden

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I was going to wrap up my posts from the Chicago Botanic Gardens today, but I have too many photos yet to show you. So,… here is day three, and there will be a day four.

Today, I am going to show you photos from the English Walled Garden. This is perhaps my favorite garden of all; I could easily spend the day here with my knitting basket. It’s a cozy space made up of six rooms, with peaceful nooks for sitting and listening to water sounds, brick walls and walkways, shady apple trees, climbing vines, and pots of scented geraniums. You can even reserve this space for receptions. Here is another link for more information about the English Walled Garden.

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These lilies were in full bloom underneath an apple tree. They caught my eye as they were quite striking being a pearly white with burgundy outlines on the center petals.

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english walled garden 955 If you looked closely you could find sweet peas growing amongst other plants.

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Violas were blooming underneath another tree. A few blue morning glories and clematis were climbing up a trellis.

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Out in the bright sunshine was a plethora of red cosmos as well as happy daisies.

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Pots of scented geraniums lined each side of the many sets of steps. I rubbed the leaves between my fingers and tried to distinguish the different scents. Luckily, the pots had tags as I got many wrong.

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I am used to see cut Gerbera daisies with straws on their stems to keep them upright. These Gerbera daisies had no problems standing up straight at all. They were a vibrant red orange color.

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One of my favorite flowers, tiny lobelia, was growing in pots.

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These delphiniums appeared to be iridescent. They are beautiful, but seem to be so delicate. As I was standing by the flower bed taking these photos, a stem snapped in two.

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I spied quite a few different varieties of apple trees in the English Walled Garden.

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As we were leaving the English Walled Garden we noticed these grapes climbing on the brick walls.

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One thing I realized while visiting this garden is that at one time or another I have grown many of these flowers in my own simple flower gardens.

I hope you enjoyed visiting the English Walled Garden at the Chicago Botanic Gardens with me.

Bye for now!

More Botanic Garden Photos & Gracie Too!

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A happy Monday to you all! Today is feeling like July again, hot and humid… and it’s still morning. It will be a scorcher later!

Gracie was a little sad this morning since she was the first to lose her new outfit. Talyssa graciously let her try on her “Garden Surprises” set. I think she looks cute in it too. I didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, so I said they look equally beautiful and sweet. Who do you like better in this ensemble?

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This ensemble is still available on my website. Here is the direct link to the sales page.

Here are some more photos from our visit to the Chicago Botanic Gardens on Saturday. My post from yesterday can be found here. Today I have photos from the first gardens we went to as well as some entrance shots. Enjoy!

After walking through the initial building where you’ll find a gift shop, information counter, and cafe, you will walk across this bridge to get to the gardens.

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You can see the cafe’s terrace from this bridge.

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The Crescent is the first garden you see after crossing the bridge. It is made up of curved terraced flower beds . Over the years I’ve seen many wedding photos being taken here.

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Next, we turned left and visited the Heritage Garden. It is made up of more curved flower beds as well as circular ponds which are full of water lilies.

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Next, we visited the Rose Garden. On the way there we walked down walkways with huge hydrangea gardens. I have serious hydrangea envy right now. Aren’t they beautiful!

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