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.

Back in My Studio Again

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Hello my dear reader friends. It’s been a long week away… yet again. My dad passed away last week, and so, I was with my family. I had actually planned on visiting my dad as he wasn’t doing well, but upon touching down in Florida I got a feeling, which proved to be true. He passed the night before. Since I had such an early flight no one wanted to tell me the news until I got there. It’s funny, but I had no idea, no feeling, until we landed. And then, it was like a veil was lifted, and I knew. It is still so sad to talk about, but I wanted to share with why I’ve been away.

Here’s a photo of my dad, with my brother and I, taken in the mid 1960’s. You can see how much we loved our daddy.

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I may be a little slow getting back to normal with my dolly things, but I am sure going to try. I was playing around a little today with Penny and some new wigs and eyes that arrived while I was away; that was fun.

Thanks for reading. Bye for now.

The Past Seven (or so) Days

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I’ve been hogging the limelight with new ensembles all week long, so here are some casual shots from the week that you might enjoy looking at.

As you can see, I am still in a pink mood. Aren’t all of these pink rose prints lovely? A couple are new and three of them were used last year, but I still have LOTS more to make more dresses with. I like laying them out in a little collection for a few days.

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The peach pink rose print pictured above is being made into a dress to go with this cardigan for Patience.

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After my last couple of embroidery projects I was left with quite a mess. It’s all cleaned up now, but I’ve begun a new mess. 😳

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Here is Lucy’s dress in progress. You are looking at the wrong side that’s why it is looking so washed out. It is a lilac-y pink rose print. Here is Lucy wearing the dress. One of the mohair sweaters that I knit in January will be embroidered to go with this dress.

I needed a little bit of cheering up on this dreary Monday morning; Lucy did the trick.

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Lucy borrowed the carrot red mohair wig from Penny and wears it quite well too. I’m not sure who wears it better. Below is a picture of Penny during our photo shoot for “Pretty in Purples”.

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Bye for now! Have a great week!

Another Little Sweater Dress…

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I made Penny another little sweater dress. This time it is in a yummy purple shade which reminds me of fuchsias and orchids. It is a bright color, but not gaudy or garish. This color is a medium dark shade, so the natural color of the wool probably tones it down. Anyway, it is one of my Peruvian Highland wool pinks/purples that I am in love with, and it looks beautiful on Penny with her carrot red mohair wig.

I ended up trimming this wig down quite a bit, and it’s still long. I love it on her now; it’s very soft, shiny, and luxurious feeling. If you want to read about this wig in an older blog post, click here. Isn’t she cute? She’s waving hello to you.

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For the embroidered bullion roses I chose paired shades of lavender, cool pink, and pink. This color yarn looks beautiful with lilac and bluish violet.

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