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.

“Summery Days” for the Little Darlings

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Summer days…wish they could go on forever, don’t you? My Little Darling, Gina, is wearing a new ensemble called “Summery Days”. Bright white cotton and cool blue and violet hues with a touch of pink make this ensemble clean and crisp, perfect for this time of year. And…just in case a cool breeze starts to blow there is a lacy sweater knit up in a tonal baby alpaca/silk blend yarn with tiny pink rosebuds embroidered at the shoulders. A very delicate look for our sweet Little Darling girls.

More information on this set can be found on cindyricedesigns.com

Violas or Johnny-Jump Ups

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Sow a packet of Violas one time in your garden and every year they will gift you with more and more tiny plants without any ~~work~~ help from you. What I find so fascinating about these tiny pansy-like flowers is that one basic heirloom variety begets many different color combinations. So, if you are a pansyaholic, enjoy shades of purple, and love surprises in your garden throw down a packet of these in the spring and enjoy for years to come.

The violas growing in my garden inspired me to create this little dress for my Fairyland Pukipuki Sugar. I used bullion stitch, colonial knots, lazy daisy, back stitch, and oyster stitches to create the embroidery on this hand knit lilac bamboo dress.

For more information on Pukipuki’s viola dress please visit cindyricedesigns.com.

The Littlest Rosebud

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We have two of the tiniest rosebushes that I have ever seen. Both are in bloom right now and have the prettiest pink rosebuds. The roses are so small…well, they are doll size. To get in the spirit of things Sugar (Fairyland’s Pukipuki) donned her pink dress with embroidered roses and is ready to show you one of our “doll size” rosebuds.