Tag Archives: Talyssa

“Summertime for Play”

Hi there! Happy July first! We are about a week and a half into a new season–summer here in the northern hemisphere. And, I am enjoying it immensely.

Talyssa (my fair skinned Kaye Wiggs MSD) has a new ensemble to welcome summer 2022. The fabric I made her dress out of is called ‘Children at Play’ by Sarah Jane. It got me thinking of all those summers when I was young.

How endless the days seemed back then. All the glorious days of playing outside, having picnics, going swimming or running under the sprinkler, staying over at grandma’s and grandpa’s house, picking vegetables from the garden, and of course playing with dolls. They went on and on and on. Those were the days, right? *sigh*

Talyssa is enjoying those days now. She and her stuffed puppy dog love to wander around the garden and look for butterflies fluttering to and fro.

Talyssa’s dress is sewn with a Sarah Jane cotton print. The full skirt is embellished at the hemline with white cotton Cluny lace. A spring green satin ribbon ties around the waist and tiny green buttons are sewn on at the back bodice.

Crocheted leaf hair ties swing freely at the base of Tayssa’s braids as she plays outside.

Talyssa’s cardigan is knit out of melon colored wool. The front and side yoke is embellished with flower-shaped sequins sewn on with embroidery floss. Green leaves are embroidered in lazy daisy style. Green glass beads can button up the cardigan if there is a chill in the air.

Talyssa’s toy pup is embellished with a matching yarn bow and a butterfly button sewn onto her paw. Talyssa wears nylon bobby socks and matching panties which are embellished with a silk bow. Her white stretchy seed bead bracelet includes two charms, a butterfly and a heart (to show that this set was made with love for Talyssa).

I hope you are savoring this time of year. Now that I am older summertime seems to fly by in a flash. I am trying to slow each day down by enjoying each and every minute.

Sending hugs to you from my dolls and I. 🤗 Talyssa sends you many hugs! 🤗🤗🤗 So where does the new season find you? I’d love to hear what you’re up to!

Thank you for stopping by!❤️

A Letter to Santa

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Hello! Do you have memories writing letters to Santa? I don’t really, but I’m sure I did write to him at some point. Santa was very magical to me until I was about 10 years old. I never figured it out myself–my mom had to break the heart wrenching news to me, and I really was devastated. I was assured he would still visit and leave gifts, as I had younger siblings, but that didn’t matter as much as the magic being gone. 😥

Talyssa is a believer and I will never tell her otherwise. This sweet girl wrote the nicest letter to Santa this year. Talyssa would love a puppy, and only if it is okay with her parents. (After all, they are the ones who will do most of the work, right?) Talyssa then ends her letter with a P.S. offering her help to Santa, that is if he needs it.

Talyssa has donned her Santa hat and festive attire so that she can be ready just in case she hears back from Santa asking for her help.

The dress fabric was purchased last year and is called “All the Trimmings” by Maywood Studio. Talyssa’s cardigan is my pattern and was made longer with a bit of a-line shaping. Let me know if you’d like the particulars on how to change the pattern. I hand dyed Knit Picks Preciosa to this pretty cherry red. Bare Preciosa is used for the hat’s band and pom pom.

Have you started any holiday decorating yet? We will be visiting the tree farm and putting up our tree is two short weeks. Unbelievable!

I’d love to hear about your holiday preparations going on now or soon to be.

Sending hugs and warmth during these darker days in the northern hemisphere.

❤️🤗🧡

“Garden Delights” & “Nature’s Surprises”

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I hope you all are having a great summer weekend. We are enjoying beautiful summer weather here in northern Illinois. The humidity is low, the sun is shining, and for July the temperatures are staying on the cooler side.

Yesterday, I got my promised Mother’s Day visit to the Chicago Botanic Gardens. We usually go either at the beginning of the growing season or towards the end in late August, so this time was a little different.

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Today I’ll show you the photos from our first stop at the gardens. Please excuse the quality of my photos; it was a very sunny day. The Butterflies and Blooms exhibit was moved this year, so we actually noticed it and decided to check it out.

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This exhibit is a large screened in enclosure with butterflies flying all around. Flowers that butterflies particularly love are planted everywhere.

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The butterflies will land on you too. I was told that they seem to love white the best. I was wearing a darker colored top, so they left me alone, but landed on my daughter’s shoulder.

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These little feeding stations are set up throughout the exhibit. I think these two are dining on banana.

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The chrysalises are purchased and hung on wooden dowels until the butterflies emerge. Here is one that is almost ready to fly free.

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This visit to the Butterflies and Blooms exhibit at the Chicago Botanic Gardens was perfectly timed (not planned though) to show you Talyssa and Gracie’s new ensembles. I don’t usually make two at the same time for Kaye’s MSDs, but the fabrics are from the same collection and begged to be made into coordinating sets, so I did just that. I hope you like them. By the way, both sets are the same size so can fit both the 17″ and 18″ MSD bodies.

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As you can see, Talyssa found her own butterflies in the garden.

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And Gracie, found a little house wren that she befriended.

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Gracie’s “Nature’s Delights” and Talyssa’s “Garden Surprises” ensembles will be available tonight (July 10, 2016) at 7:00 pm CST, cindyricedesigns.com. Check the “Shop What’s New” page at that time for more details.