Author Archives: Cindy Rice

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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.

“Garden Wishes” for Millie

When I think of pretty summer colors I think of pure semi-bright color and this print is full of those shades.  The grass green fabric background is so fresh—perfect pink, light blue, lemon yellow and pure white add to this lovely summer palette.

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garden wishes 931Millie’s cropped cardigan is knit with pink bamboo yarn and embroidered with two mirrored image bullion rose motifs.

garden wishes 2 980Millie’s set of flower hair ties gives a fun and quirky look to this summery outfit.  They can be tied in pigtails, braids, or in sections of hair.

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garden wishes 952For more information on Millie’s “Garden Wishes” ensemble, please visit the “Available for Sale” page on cindyricedesigns.com .

“Lavender Rosy Garden”

I am someone who loves the purples–lavender, lilac, violet, purple, plum, orchid, mauve (although I got burned out on this last color in the 1980s) and I am someone who loves roses, so this new ensemble for the Little Darlings practically created itself.  Just kidding, of course.

Jeanne, at the blog, I Dream of Jeanne Marie, started creating a yummy lavender dress for American Girl dolls a couple of weeks ago and looking at her pretty lavender outfit got me itching to make something in this shade right now too.

a lavender rosy garden 905I have this rose fabric in four shades and two of them are purples.  This rose print reminded me of my grandma’s pillowcases that she always used.  I wrote about that hereHere is Patience’s rose dress made from this fabric in a red violet shade.  This lavender print is a bit bluer than Patience’s ensemble.

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a lavender rosy garden 917It was a bit tedious getting both rows of lace to line up perfectly, but I am happy I took the time to get it perfect.  The double rows of lace make this ensemble dressier, I think.

a lavender rosy garden 921I knit the sweater out of lace weight mohair/silk and embroidered two mirrored image motifs on the front.

a lavender rosy garden 902For more information on this ensemble for the Little Darlings, please visit my “Available for Sale” page at cindyricedesigns.com .

“Strawberry Picking”

Strawberry picking is so much fun even though it is a lot of work filling those baskets to the top. But maybe that’s because too many strawberries get eaten before making it into the baskets.

I haven’t been strawberry (or blueberry, or raspberry, or apple) picking for years and years and years.  It was always something that I enjoyed doing when my daughter was young.  For sure, it is an educational experience for the little ones.  They get to see how the berry needs to be a blossom first, and then with the help of bees, will start to become a strawberry.  They see the color changes it goes through before it is ready to be picked and eaten.  And, if they eat one before it is ripe, they can taste the changes too.  So very interesting…

Here in northern Illinois/southern Wisconsin the strawberries aren’t ready for picking .  They are just about ready, but not quite yet.  Maybe we’ll get out to pick a few this year.  This is where we go to pick our strawberries.

I got a bit nostalgic while creating this outfit for Talyssa, so I retreated to our photo albums to find when we last went strawberry picking; it was 2003!  My daughter was dressed in her strawberry top and pink shorts from Gymboree.  I don’t remember being so “event coordinated,” if you know what I mean.  Oh, and I had on a top that perfectly matched her shorts.  Sheesh!  At least my husband wasn’t wearing pink.

strawberry picking 2 831This brand-spanking-new strawberry print (I couldn’t wait to use it!) came in pink gingham and aqua gingham too.  The sunny yellow gingham appealed to me the most, so I chose the yellow.

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strawberry picking 822It was fun creating the little accessories to go with this set.  The little strawberry is a mini stuffy with beads and a crocheted top.  Talyssa can hold the berry by the loop.  The crocheted basket will hold the strawberry too.  I had the strawberry charm in my bead drawer waiting for the perfect fabric.  Those little aqua bead blossoms matched the blossoms on the fabric oh, so nicely.

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The tiny berries worked perfectly in bullion stitch embroidery on the sweater.  I embroidered them in pink and red to match the dress.

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