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.

What’s Up with White?

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White is in the air. Is it the snow? Is it the endless stream of cloudy days?

Last week I got this idea to knit up some Amelia dresses in different whites using different fibers. Then, I thought it would be fun to crochet up some springtime hats in white as a basic to go with lots of different colored dresses. Jeanne over at I Dream of Jeanne Marie posted about her white American Girl doll dresses on Friday (1-30-15). See, it’s all about white.

Giving a person who loves color an exercise of working solely with white is very difficult. I realized that when I design an ensemble my number one thoughts are about color and how to coordinate all of the colors together. When I started working only with white I had to think of other options such as texture and embellishments. It took me a while to get in the swing of things, but I eventually figured it out and learned a few things from this exercise.

It’s funny though, by the time I got to the fourth hat I had to sneak in a bit of pink.

From left is “Floral Easter Bonnet”, “Pearls & Lace Easter Bonnet”, “Bit of Pink Easter Bonnet”, “Silk Bow Easter Bonnet”.

For more information on Amelia Thimble and Izzy’s Easter Bonnets please visit my “Available for Sale” page on cindyricedesigns.com .

Something (New) for the Little Darlings

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Have you ever had a project that just didn’t seem to get totally and completely finished, which for me means getting it onto my website? “Cozy & Bright” for the Little Darlings is “it” for me. This outfit was made and I even took some photos way back….yes, before I went on vacation…in the summer!!! When I got back from vacation I felt this frenzy to make fall outfits, then Christmas outfits, then some Valentine’s Day outfits. Which brings me to where I am right now. I thought that if this poor ensemble for our Little Darlings didn’t get on my website now the Easter and spring season would push this one aside once again.

So without further ado here is Gina (finally) modeling her “Cozy & Bright” outfit for you.

And, no, it doesn’t look like this outside now. I wish…!

For more information on “Cozy & Bright” for the Little Darlings please visit my “Available for Sale” page at cindyricedesigns.com .

A Sunny Day

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Well, I’m calling it a sunny day because the sun was out for about an hour this afternoon. It has been such a cloudy winter that one hour of sun cannot go unnoticed, can it? I was sitting in my studio finishing up a cardigan for Talyssa when the latent sun made it’s fleeting appearance.

Anyway, cloudy days are a good thing since Groundhog Day is 8 days away. Besides, I don’t think there have been many days in either December or January that the groundhog would have seen his shadow here in northern Illinois. Will spring be early or has winter not really started yet?

I’m counting on an early spring…a very early spring! How about you?

Here is Amelia Thimble modeling her “sunny” yellow dress/hat set which is just perfect for today’s bit of sun. The knit dress has an embroidered wreath of roses encircling the dropped waistline and her crocheted hat keeps the sun out of her eyes.