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.

Frost & Flowers

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Happy Sunday everyone! Hope your weekend is going well.

I worked diligently on Patience’s Christmas outfit yesterday and only have to make the tights before it is ready for photo taking. Yay! Next, is a Christmas outfit for Patsy. (See, she is getting some attention!) I think after that I will make something for Amelia Thimble. Sorry, no doll photos today.

Last Friday was my anniversary. I woke up to this bouquet of roses from my husband. There were 5 or 6 different fall-ish colors and types in the vase, so pretty, and they smelled wonderful all day while I worked. My husband and I enjoyed dinner together. We had sweet potato chili and cornbread. The chili was cooking in the slow cooker all day, so the house smelled yummy. I put a little cinnamon in my chili, just half a teaspoon, but it sure makes the house smell nice.

We had our first frosts yesterday morning and this morning. This morning’s frost seemed heavier than yesterday’s. The icy grass looks so white, like snow, and it is sooo cold. I guess it is time for cold weather since October is more than half over already.

As for the melons, these tiny ones got hit with frost. I did pick the two largest last week, one was a cantaloupe and the other was a honeydew. (They were seedlings that sprouted from store bought fruit in our compost pile.) The fruit was ripe, but quite flavorless and almost bitter. My brown thumb lives on!

Bye for now and thanks for reading.

Getting Sidetracked and Silly Mistakes

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I got all the way through knitting this Santa hat for Amelia Thimble before I realized I was following a pattern written for the Little Darlings. (I do things like this ~~sometimes~~ often.) Now you would think, no problem, Gina has a new hat. Nope, the problem is that it came out much smaller because I was using lace weight yarn and the sized needles that I normally use for knitting Amelia’s things. So what I have is a Santa hat that is too small for the Little Darlings and too large for Amelia Thimble. Does this sound like a Goldilocks and 3 Bears dilemma?

Now I’m off to see which (if any) doll this will fit. Kish Alisha? No, too small. Pukipuki Sugar? No, too big. Kish Riley? Just right! Anyone interested in a Santa hat for Riley?

As planned, I took my photos yesterday… evening, right before it got too dark. Remember my morning photo of my three girls who were standing around waiting for the photo shoot to begin?

Well, I mistakenly or stupidly thought that the f-stop of 6.3 would be okay. No, it wasn’t okay. I think Gina’s photos might work (just barely), but Millie’s and Sugar’s are most definitely not useable. Their faces are in focus, but their clothing is not. They are smaller, so I shot the photos from a shorter distance, it’s funny how that works. Since Sugar is the smallest doll, her photo are the worst. The embroidery on the waistline of her dress is even out of focus. Time for a do over on those two.

Hopefully, today will go better. I started Patience’s dress, the pieces are cut out, but not sewn. Bye for now, I need to get to work and stay on track today.

Christmas Making is Progressing

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I feel that I am finally getting in the Christmas spirit here in the studio. How many weeks has it taken for me to seriously get in the spirit?

Right now I have three dolls in their Christmas ensembles all waiting patiently for photos to be taken. And, speaking of Patience I am working on something for her too.

Here are Gina, Millie, and Sugar all decked out for the holidays. I originally had Gina in a Santa hat, but this ensemble seemed too dressy for it. I like the organza bow in her hair much better. I didn’t have my lighting all set up, so this was taken with the over head florescent lights and a tiny bit of early morning light coming in through the west facing window. You can get an idea anyway. I thought they looked cute all together and wanted to show you.

Maybe I’ll get photos taken today and maybe I’ll get sewing on Patience’s dress, or maybe both!

I hope all of you have, or are having (depending on where you live), a wonderful day!

Bye for now!