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.

My Christmas Dresses are Ready

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Hello, friends. With this season being so busy for everyone, me included–zero Christmas shopping and baking has happened so far!–I’ve decided to make all of my Christmas dresses available at once. Tonight!

At 7:00 pm CST tonight (December 5, 2019) there will be five new ensembles ready for you–just in case you’d like to shop. The details for each one will be located under the ‘Available’ tab above. To purchase (7:00 pm or later, please) fill out a Contact form and let me know which one(s) you’d like.

Here is a preview of what will be available along with the price of each. Priority shipping for the larger doll’s ensembles and first class for the smaller ones will be added. For multiple purchases I will combine shipping, but may add insurance to the shipping cost. As usual I ship to US addresses only.

frosty festivities 254

“Frosty Festivities” for the Little Darlings, $250

stripey and sweet 175

“Stripey and Sweet” for the Little Darlings, $230

an elf to help santa 208

“An Elf to Help Santa” for the Little Darlings, $240

holiday sweety 2 990

“Holiday Sweety” for Amelia Thimble, $95

bringing home the tree 2 237

“Bringing Home the Tree” (includes wagon and tree), $115

If you have any questions about these ensembles either before or after they are available for sale I’ll be happy to answer them.

I hope your having a great day! ❤

“Cozy and Cute for Christmas”

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My Little Darling Gina is dressed up all warm and cozy. She is looking oh, so cute in her new sweater dress ensemble for the holidays.

cozy and cute for christmas 132

Gina cannot wait to tell you more about her new finery this evening (December 4, 2019) at 7:00 pm CST. This one-of-a-kind ensemble will be available, along with all of the details, on its own page at this time. You can find the page located under the tab titled ‘Available’. If you’d like to add this ensemble to your Little Darling’s closet please send me a contact form (located under the ‘Contact’ tab filled in with your details.

Shipping only to U.S. addresses. Thank you.

❤

A Festive Thanksgiving Weekend

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Hello to you all, and depending on where you are in the world good morning or good afternoon. It is early morning here in northern Illinois, and it is foggy this morning. We haven’t seen but a fleeting peek of the sun since last Tuesday. We are getting used to these dark and dreary days.

For the Thanksgiving holiday we drove to my brother-in-law’s house which is 4 hours away. However, it took closer to 5 hours to get there as traffic on Wednesday was a bit crazy–no surprise as it was the day before Thanksgiving. We headed south and drove around the city of Chicago. As we left the city the rain started and didn’t stop the whole way. The big story, however, was the wind. I drove for a little bit and it took concentration and effort to keep the car on the road–very tiring.

2019 traffic 4811

We woke on Thanksgiving morning to a light dusting of snow. It was so pretty, but didn’t last the day. My brother-in-law and his family live on a beautiful lake and this is the view from the main floor of their home.

2019 morning snow 4812

The kitchen was a busy place on Thanksgiving; everyone lent a hand getting dinner on the table. Our three girls all sat at the breakfast bar and us ‘old people’ sat at the table.

We had green beans, roasted squash, mashed sweet potatoes and white potatoes, cranberry cilantro relish, stuffing, salad, bread, and of course turkey and gravy.

2019 buffet dinner 4833

2019 table 4835

For desert we had pumpkin pie, berry pie, apple turnover, and pumpkin cheesecake! I couldn’t decide, so I tried them all!

We arrived back home yesterday evening. The traffic wasn’t bad. That’ll happen today! Ugh! I am sorry for all of you that have to travel today–not fun. Tomorrow it is back to school and back to work.

I will be having my Christmas ensembles available for sale starting this week. I am not sure which day that will start, but keep an eye out if you are interested in a new ensemble for your Little Darlings, Pukipuki, or Amelia Thimble.

Enjoy your Sunday friends! ❤