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.

(Almost) Real Time Friday

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I wanted to pop in and say hello to you all and wish you a great weekend. We are having a stretch of beautiful days. Maybe the sun is here to stay? I can only hope that’s the case. Sunny days are very uplifting for me. I hope that you are having a stretch of beautiful days also.

Popping in to say hello means sharing a few images of what’s happening around here. I have an ensemble finished for the Little Darlings. And, it’s not pink, blue, or lilac . . . surprise, surprise!

I snapped this photo of Gina this morning and the other two following from our photo shoot yesterday.

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I’ve been working on something for Patsy… yes, again, lucky girl. This ensemble started with the hat. I originally crocheted this hat to go with “My Blue-ming Garden”, but it wasn’t right for it. This hat actually fits Patsy better anyway. Would you believe that I could only find in my stash two fabrics (other than dots or solid white) to coordinate with this hat? (Guess I need to buy more blue. lol) I know that I’ve just used this fabric for the Little Darlings, but it is perfect for our dear Patsy, and she fell in love with it. The Little Darlings ensemble focused on pink accents and Patsy’s will focus on blue with the pink being secondary. I plan to knit her a mohair sweater in warm white.

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Here are a couple of photos of fabric that arrived within the last few months. I’m saving this for fall ensembles. I think that this is the tiniest rose print that I’ve seen using so many colors.

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I get a thrill when I see such cute selvages on fabric. I’ve never actually made anything with them, but Lollyqquiltz has quite a few ideas about what to do with them. A tote bag, little girl’s skirt, more ideas, can be found on her blog. Cute, right!

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Thanks for visiting with me today. Bye for now!

“Beauty in Blue”

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Today, it’s Gracie’s turn to model a new ensemble for you.

Gosh, I just love looking at this beautiful doll! I think she is my favorite sculpt of all of Kaye’s dolls.

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Gracie looks very delicate in blue, don’t you think? Really, though, I don’t think that there is a color that she wouldn’t look beautiful wearing.

Gracie’s sweater is hand knit with a merino/bamboo yarn blend. The winter white sweater is soft and has some body to it. The blue rose motifs are embroidered to work singly as little bouquets and to also work together to form a well balanced asymmetrical composition on the sweater. I chose natural wood beads as buttons to help pick up the natural colors in the dress’s background.

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Waistline darts help to fit Gracie dress at her waistline. A hand dyed light blue silk ribbon ties around the waist.

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Gracie has picked a simple little bouquet of blue blossoms for you. Her bracelet is made with mother-of-pearl beads and seed beads. A cobalt butterfly and heart dangle from the bracelet.

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Isn’t Gracie a beautiful doll! Do you have a favorite Kaye Wiggs sculpt?

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Gracie’s “Beauty in Blue” ensemble will be available tonight (May 17, 2016) at 7:00 pm, CST. View the “Shop What’s New” page at cindyricedesigns.com at 7:00 for more information on this set.

“Blue Skies for my Roses”

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Along with Gracie, Patience had a modeling gig yesterday. (I’ll show you Gracie later.) Yes, we had sunshine and our family room was nice and bright, perfect for picture taking.

We also had frost yesterday morning! What!!! Hey, it’s mid May, Mother Nature, you’ve got your months mixed up! Hopefully, she will come to her senses soon.

Anyway, back to Patience and her new ensemble. I called this ensemble “Blue Skies for my Roses” because sunny, blue skies is what our roses need to bloom gloriously and that is what this fabric reminds me of.

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All of the color in the dress made the embroidery fun to do too; I think I used 7 different colors of floss. Patience’s tiny sweater is knit with merino lace weight wool. The peachy/ivory glass bead buttons are the perfect tone for this sweater; they blend with the light yellow/peach rosebuds.

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I used various flower buds in pastel warm pink, glass pearls, and Delica beads to decorate Patience’s floral headband in an asymmetrical composition. The flower buds and beads are all neatly sewn and secured onto the headband. The headband ties at the back of Patience’s neck.

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The bouquet and bracelet are equally colorful in pinks and neutrals. Streamers of pastel sky blue silk ribbon float around the flower stems.

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Patience’s “Blue Skies for my Roses” ensemble will be available tonight (May 16, 2016) at 7:00 pm, CST. Check my “Shop What’s New” page at cindyricedesigns.com for more information.