Tag Archives: effner

“Sunshine Darling”

My Little Darling, Gina, is here to show you what I completed for her this past week.  This color palette was totally outside my comfort zone—no pink, blue, or anything in the purple family.  If you look back at my past photos most of what I make contains one or more of these colors.

This ensemble started out with the yarn.  I pulled a skein of melon colored heathered wool out of my stash (probably on a cloudy day) and HAD to knit a sweater with it ASAP.  It is not orange, but a wonderful shade of melon with flecks of very subtle pale lemon-y yellow throughout.  I happened to have this lovely fabric by Sandy Gervais (Moda Fabrics) in my “recently acquired favorites” stash.  PERFECT!

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(Please pardon my horribly wrinkled backdrop.  It’s on my “to do” list for ironing.)

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Aren’t the colors in this fabric fresh, bright, and summery?  I love this fabric (even though it contains no pink, blue, or anything purple)!

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I wanted to mimic the open feeling of these roses as depicted by the fabric’s designer.  I used tiny seed and Delica beads sewn onto the sweater first, and then made bullion stitches around the bead clusters.

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Gina requested a flower cutting basket (just like Lucy’s) out of natural hemp.   You can see the ensemble with my first flower cutting basket here.  These crocheted baskets are perfect for  a bouquet of long stemmed flowers.

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The bouquet isn’t attached to the basket, so the Little Darlings can also hold the bouquet separately.

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Gina’s wide brimmed hat is crocheted with three different fibers and edged with a matching melon colored cotton.  A hand made wool felt bow decorates the under side of the brim.  She is sunny day, spring/summer ready!

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Gina enjoyed our sunny day outside during her photo shoot.  We found a shady spot underneath the apple tree for some great shots.

“Sunshine Darling” will be available Sunday, May 22 (2016), at 7:00 pm, CST.  Go to the “Shop What’s New” page at cindyricedesigns.com at 7:00 for more information on this one-of-a-kind ensemble made for Dianna Effner’s Little Darling dolls.

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“My ‘Blue’-ming Garden” and Away with the Blues

I am happy to say that my mood is no longer “blue” and the sun is shining for the second morning in a row.  Thank you for all of the uplifting and helpful comments the last couple of days.  It’s been fun hearing from you.

I picked a bouquet yesterday with creeping Charlie (yes, it’s a weed and my husband didn’t think it was funny), phlox, and forget-me-nots.

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The title of Lucy’s ensemble was quite easy to come up with.  Outside of the obvious, it’s blue, and everywhere I look outside I see shades of blue/blue violet blossoms.

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Here is Lucy!  She is all ready to stroll around the SUNNY garden paths and collect some flowers to make mom a bouquet for Mother’s Day.

This ensemble ended up having more hand made pieces than what I normally make for an outfit; it was quite labor intensive.  As I was working on this outfit for the Little Darlings, I felt it needed a hat, and then I felt the sweet little crocheted slippers would be perfect… so I went with it, and just kept on creating.  Do you like it?

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The hand knit and embroidered mohair/silk lace weight sweater really is “light as a feather” and so soft.  The motifs that I embroidered on the sweater coordinate with the dress print.

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Lucy’s crocheted hat is made with three colors of cotton and two different weights.  I wanted it to have the feel of a straw hat, so included a camel color.  It is delicately embellished with cotton lace, silk ribbon, blue blossoms, and seed beads.  I fussed with the bow to get it to lay “just right”.  Everything is carefully hand sewn to this hat with Fray Check added to the ribbon edges.  I love how this photo shows off Lucy’s cute profile.

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Lucy’s flower cutting basket is crocheted with hemp.  Her flowers can lay in the basket or she can hold them.  They are secured with a clear band and silk ribbon.

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I love these girls in ballet styled slippers.  Their legs are so graceful.  I made these soles out of a matching tan to pick up the natural colors in the hat and basket.

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Gina’s drop waist styled dress is simple and perfect for a garden stroll.

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Lucy had to have matching panties… a hand dyed and tied silk ribbon to match her dress!

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Lucy’s “My ‘Blue’-ming Garden” will be available tonight (May 3, 2016) at 7:00 pm CST, cindyricedesigns.com , link is on the “Shop What’s New” page (at 7pm).

It’s Twofer Thursday!

Alas the week is nearly over… already, and I haven’t gotten either of these new ensembles for the Little Darlings available yet.  So, I’m offering them both at the same time.  Yippie!

First up is “My Favorite Roses”, a lilac sweater dress ensemble.  I picked my favorite pastel colors to embroider these roses.  Aren’t they yummy?  Both Lucy and Gina are here to model this sweater dress ensemble for you.

Bamboo sweater dresses are the perfect knits for warmer weather which we all are having, or wishing for at this time of the year.  This is the fourth bamboo sweater dress that I’ve made for the Little Darlings.  Last year I made one in natural, pink, and white.  If you want to reminisce about those sweater dresses you can click on the names of the colors.

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Next up, is “Spring Beauty”.  I love this little cardigan so much better now.  I feel that all of the motifs are well balanced with each other and each one is a nicely composed bouquet.  Yay!  If you want to see how it used to look go here.  This sweater is knit with lace weight baby alpaca/silk yarn.  It is VERY soft!  I made the neckline a bit wider with a lace pattern edge.

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Gina is modeling “Spring Beauty” for you.  I took advantage of our beautiful pink magnolia bush in bloom for a few photos with Gina.

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“My Favorite Roses” and “Spring Beauty” will be available Thursday, April 21, 2016 at 7:00 pm CST.  Check the “Shop What’s New” page at cindyricedesigns.com.