Category Archives: little darlings

“Apple Orchard Darling”

Hi all! Happy Saturday to you! It’s early morning here in northern Illinois, and it’s gray and dark outside (a storm is approaching), but warm and cozy inside. I love the fleeting bit of time “before the thunderstorm”.

Yesterday I showed you a few photos of my two Little Darlings in their apple themed ensembles. This morning I’d like to show you Lucy’s, “Apple Orchard Darling” in more detail.

Here’s my smiling #3 sculpt Little Darling by Helen Skinner. Doesn’t she have the sweetest face?

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This fabric caught my eye because of the 1930s shade of green used for the greenery. I love this vintage green! It’s like the green used for jadeite. The bits of pink in the print were an added bonus; I had the perfect pink pindot to use for an accent.

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I custom mixed and dyed the wool for Lucy’s sweater. I wanted a pastel shade of the green, so the red embroidery and greenery would pop. I love the soft pastel green—it’s so much fun to “invent” my own colors. Bullion stitched apples line up along the bottom of the sweater’s front sections, and pink and off white blossoms float along the neckline. Both side mirror each other.

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I love Lucy’s apple leaf hair ties. They’re a fun accessory for her pigtails. A pop of red was needed, so I knit Lucy a scarf. It can be worn multiple ways.

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The little apple picking basket is crocheted with hemp cord for a rustic feel. The shape of the basket fits Lucy’s hand nicely and the loop fits over her thumb. (A clear elastic band placed over the handle and doll’s hand will secure it, just in case.) The basket is filled with a juicy red apple, flower blossoms, and paper leaves from the apple and maple trees. It is early in the apple picking season, the flowers are still blooming and the leaves are still green. ❤

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Lucy’s “Apple Orchard Darling” ensemble will be available on Sunday (August 21, 2016) at 7:00 pm CST, cindyricedesign.com. Please check the “Shop What’s New” page at that time for more details.

The storm is here! It’s coming down in buckets!

Bye for now, and thank you for visiting.

“Pink ‘n Plum Sweetie”

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It’s Lucy’s turn to model something new for you. She has been quite patient, I must say. She hasn’t had a turn since early May.

Back in June Lucy was already wearing a new dress and waiting for me to return from Florida so she could model the entire ensemble for you. Well on the way home from Florida (we drove) we found out that Alice would be arriving very, very soon. Lucy wanted to welcome her with open arms, so gave up her new dress to Alice. Isn’t Lucy the sweetest Little Darling ever!

I love this fabric.. and I think lots of you did too! I used it about the same time last year for an ensemble and then quickly made another in the smaller scaled, but same color way fabric. It turns out that this fabric is PERFECT for the pink mohair yarn I often knit with, so I decided to use it again. Lucy wasn’t around last summer, so this is all new for her! Doesn’t she look happy!

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This time I made a longer sweater, so the dress is a drop-waist style. You can see my first “Pink ‘n Plum” here, and “Pink ‘n Plum Encore” here. I changed the waistline sash from ribbon to lace, and added a bow to the headband. Lucy has a drawstring bag (which she LOVES!) instead of a little bouquet. All in all, she one happy girl.

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During our photo shoot Lucy and Alice wanted some photos taken of the two of them. Then, Gina wanted to try on Alice’s new outfit, so I took some outdoor photos of Gina. Most definitely, we had fun!

First, it’s Lucy and Alice modeling together.

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Then Gina tried on Alice’s outfit.

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I thought Gina looked adorable in “Chic Not Shabby”.

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Lastly, a hug for Gina from Lucy!

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One last look at Lucy in “Pink ‘n Plum Sweetie” which will be available tonight (July 24, 2016) at 7:00 pm CST, cindyricedesigns.com. Check the “Shop What’s New” page at that time for more information.

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Bye for now! Thanks for visiting!

“Chic Not Shabby”

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More purple creations are coming out of my studio! This one is in neutral shades. The wool is almost taupe, but it’s not. The purple in the dress is a neutral grape shade with a touch of neutral pastel pink in there too.

The great thing about neutrals is that they go nicely with a lot of other colors. Do you know what it means to call a color neutral? It means that it is made up of all three primary colors. If a neutral color has only a touch of one or two of the primaries it may not even look like a neutral, but it still is considered one.

When I was in college we made hundreds of paint chips using red, yellow, blue, and white. Did you know that if you have the correct red, yellow, and blue you can make any color under the sun? We made colors all the way around the color wheel and then we made the neutrals. It was an assignment that most art majors hated with a passion, but I loved it!!! I still have all of the paint chips I made too.

I think that with Alice’s golden brown eyes and blonde/brown hair she looks beautiful in neutrals, don’t you?

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The embroidery on this sweater wasn’t as easy peasy as it might look. I tried four different shades of purple before I found the correct one for the colonial knot flowers. They are such a tiny part of the embroidery, but they needed to be right. At first, my color choice was the darkest shade in the dress, then I went a shade lighter, then I picked a basic lilac. They all disappeared into the knitting, and didn’t accent the roses at all. Finally, I picked a bright pink violet which was bright enough and light enough to make the roses pop. The greenery color needs to be just right too, but I got lucky picking the correct shade right from the start. Yay!

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Alice loves her beret. Her favorite part is the ivory colored rose bead; she thinks it is the perfect touch.

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Alice’s “Chic Not Shabby” ensemble will be available tonight at 7:00 pm CST, cindyricedesigns.com. Check my “Shop What’s New” page tonight at that time.