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.

“Blue Skies and Sunshine”

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“Blue Skies and Sunshine” is my newest creation, and it’s for Gracie, a Kaye Wiggs MSD.  Gracie arrived in March and I’ve been keeping her busy ever since.  This is the 6th outfit I’ve made for her!  If you’d like to see everything I’ve made just for her you can view her Flickr album here.  I’m having fun creating for, and photographing this beauty.

This new ensemble is the 5th colorway I purchased in this fabric–I loved it that much!  I didn’t initially purchase the yellow, but later on I decided the sunny yellow colorway was another “must have”.  Isn’t this the sweetest rose print?  I think this style of fabric (soft and feminine) is my absolute favorite style, not that I can pass up the “cute and colorful”.

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Kaye Wiggs, Millie, got two ensembles in this print, ivory and blue.

The Little Darlings got three:  pinky pink, lavender pink, and ivory.  Since I didn’t yet have Alice, Gina and Lucy modeled these three.

If you’d like to see the posts from each of these past ensembles click on the following links for each title:  “Cutie in the Garden”, “Spring Princess”, “Rosey Princess”, “Sweet Princess”, “Pink Happiness”.

Now let’s get back to Gracie’s “Blue Skies and Sunshine”.

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Gracie’s cardigan is knit with wool/angora yarn in its natural color.  This yarn is soft and feels a little bit like petting a soft bunny.  The embroidered rose bouquet motifs mirror each other and pick up the colorful motifs in the dress print.

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Gracie’s crocheted hat is made with three fibers in yellow and whites, bamboo and cottons.  The crown features a band made with a coordinating rose print.  A hand made double bow made with hand dyed rayon ribbon and delicate ecru cotton English Cluny lace decorate the side of the hat.

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The brim can be worn up, down, or at an jaunty angle.

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Gracie’s accessories include a crocheted drawstring purse (filled with a little surprise), a bracelet with an adorable flower basket charm, yellow cotton panties, and anklets.

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“Blue Skies and Sunshine” will be available tonight (August 9, 2016) at 7:00 pm CST, cindyricedesigns.com.  Please visit the “Shop What’s New” page at that time for more information.

 

“Just Peachy”

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Summertime means peach time!  Who loves peaches?  In my opinion, peaches (and other summer fruits) are one of the best things about summer.  Do you agree?

Miss Patsy is feeling mighty peachy today.  It’s her turn to model my newest ensemble, and I think she likes it.  Look at that smile…!!!

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Patsy’s hand knit cardi and crocheted beret are made with natural colored bamboo thread. This ensemble started with her beret.  I originally made it for my Little Darling, Alice, from a pattern I had made for the Kish Chrysalis dolls many years ago.  Here’s that VERY colorful beret.  I don’t think I’d make it this colorful again—I had 30 ends to weave in.  Ugh!

When I was knitting this beret for Alice I thought it would end up too big, so stopped a couple of rows short from what the pattern said to do.  (I’ll have to try again to make it for the Little Darlings.)  It ended up being a tad too tiny for Alice, but looked perfect on Patsy.

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The sweater has a sprinkling of blossoms in colors from the dress print.  I added tiny opal colored seed beads to the centers of the salmon blossoms so that they would pop.

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Patsy wanted a tiny drawstring purse to complete her ensemble.  I had the exact shade of cotton thread.  It matched the hand dyed rayon ribbon used for the waistline sash and the hand made bow on the beret.  I love the the light peachy pink mixed with the pure peach and salmon.  Patsy’s tights are a more pastel version of peach.

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Patsy’s euphoria wearing her new ensemble didn’t last long as Sophie wanted to try it on.  As you can see it looks cute on Sophie too.  Sophie’s coloring actually is better suited to this ensemble, but don’t tell Patsy that.

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Patsy’s (and Sophie’s) “Just Peachy” ensemble will be available August 7, 2016 at 7:00 pm CST, cindyricedesigns.com.  Please check the “Shop What’s New” page at that time for more details.

“Li’l Summer Imp”

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My elfen little Penny by Linda Macario is here to show you her new summery ensemble.  She has a brand new sundress, embroidered sweater, and cute coordinating accessories.

For me, this is the perfect time of year for a cool true blue in a medium shade, and this print matches Penny’s beautiful blue eyes perfectly!  She’s ready to play in the garden and discover what’s new.  Hopefully, she’ll find some yellow roses growing in the rose garden.

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Penny’s wool sweater is embroidered with two motifs that coordinate with the dress’s print.  Would you believe I went through ALL of my beads looking for this sweater’s buttons?  And, I have A LOT of beads; I was ready to give up finding the perfect ones.  These lemon yellow translucent large seed beads were a find, they’re perfect.

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Penny’s sundress is a new design for her.  I added the halter tie to fall at her shoulder/arm joint to accent her cute round shoulders.  I love using crocheted chains for tying hair ties, and in this case, the halter strap.  The crocheted chains stay tied nicely and are easy to untie, even when in a knot.

The asymmetrical yellow rose on the bodice is balanced by the hand made white ribbon bow on the skirt.  Penny’s hair tie matches this bow too.

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Penny is wearing boyshort panties, so she can play without a care in the world.  They have tiny embroidered flowers on each leg for a feminine touch.  Penny’s little flower, magic wand, or lollipop is totally hand made with glass beads.  A white bow was secured with needle and thread when I added the silver toned heart charm.

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Penny’s “Li’l Summer Imp” ensemble will be available tonight (July 31, 2016) at 7:00 pm CST, cindyricedesigns.com.  Check the “Shop What’s New” page at that time for more details.