A little corner of Maileg handmade happiness...

Oh Maileg! How I love you!

Maileg, designed by Danish artist Dorthe Mailil, uses such beautiful, soft-to-the-touch fabrics like washed linen and velour, I love their color pallete, and their textures and their fine detailing - whoever is manufacturing these marvels, great job! Ooh la la! So very nice!

So, quite recently the Maileg Ginger Family (size 1) arrived and have since moved into a happy corner of my bedroom, where I shelve my baby wraps and where my daughters have discovered them and are happily play play playing - but I've made it clear these are MY dolls and things and not to be interspersed (lost) around the house, lol.

Not sure if there will be house painting soon, though I fully intended to paint the 'floors' originally, now I'm thinking I may need to upgrade the wood shelves (floors) from simple pine to a nicer, harder wood. Probably sooner than later. But it's sure nice to see this 'dollhouse' taking shape in my funny little corner.

In case you are interested, the Ginger kids have vintage Ginny doll beds (Strombecker) that can stack into bunk beds if you prefer, and the Ginger parents have a nice old doll bed that fits them beautifully. The dark step back kitchen cabinet is an old Boyd's Bears one, and the dresser is also Strombecker.
All the bedding I sewed from my collection of fabrics and am quite pleased with the result so far.  Yay for Ebay and for vintage quality that lasts and lasts! I think Maileg is of the same category, these are timeless toys that will last and last, becoming family treasures.

I made some modifications on these dolls, because they were quite stiff and unable to pose how I had imagined. In fact, the pic of 'Dad' online showed him with a line of stitching at the knee but when he arrived his knees were solid and unbending, so I added a line of stitching to all of their knees, so that their legs would bend, and did the same to their elbows, even carefully opening some seams partly and removing some of the polyfiber fluff inside so the arms would not be quite so stiff... I used a tiny  ladder stitch to close the seams back up... I also removed and re-sewed back on all of their arms, except the mom doll, who for some reason was constructed differently and her arms move just fine, and did not need any modification at the shoulder, just the elbows.

I plan to post more pics soon, but for now, enjoy!
<3 p="">Autumn

Old toys made new - Vintage Fisher Price Pull-a-Long Lacing Shoe

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe...She had so many children she didn't know what to do!

See the old woman in the shoe? :)

So she gave them some broth and she gave them some bread, 

and she gave them all kisses and sent them to bed.*

Here is one of my favorite things to do - to make old toys new again, and fun again, for my kids. And for me I suppose! So here is a vintage Fisher Price Lacing Shoe.  I love the old graphics on the litho stickers -but- the peg people that originally came with the shoe were not my cup o' tea. And this is the old woman with soooo many children, right?! Yet originally this set came with only 5 'children', one of which was a dog?!
Ha.  Ok, so since I have 6 kids, my old woman has 10 kids.  Because 10 is 'so many', right?   And they are numbered underneath, for little learners, and also because that was fun and also because it helps me know who is missing after my kids are done with playtime and we are cleaning up.  "Kids, number 5 is missing! It's one of the middle kids, a boy - let's find him!" and somehow, we do find him - the 2 yr old running around saying "Boy, boooy, where AAHHHH yooooou???"  and then we  find him under a couch cushion. Fun.  Now, does this old woman yell or spank or become impatient with sooo many children and all their wily ways? Heck no. She's a real sweetie.  She does send them to bed, though.
Here's one way the original toy looked (notice the graphics feature block people ) :

and here's a different version: (I love these graphics, just not the block people)

and lastly above here's a modern version available today! And look, they kept the old graphics that I like!  Hmm - was nearly tempted to buy this but nah.  For $34 where's the old woman? And you only get 2 kids? Huh? how does that even make sense?  And goodness, ok, these are not choking hazards, so that's good, but good golly these 'little people' are HUGE!





 Well, I'm pleased with how mine turned out.  Glad  I put the time in instead of the money forked out.  Now if we could just find number 9?  "Ooooh Booooooooyy? Where ARE you?! Oh THERE you are boy! Time for bed!"
;D

* original nursery rhyme: There was an old woman who lived in a shoe, she had so many children she didn't know what to do.  So she gave them some broth, without any bread and she spanked them all soundly and sent them to bed.  

Oh dear.

an Etsy Christmas (dolls dolls dolls)

Dolls dolls dolls dolls dolls I've got doll's on my mind and all over my table in my studio and slowly but surely dolls are finally showing up in my Etsy shop - hip hip hooray!!!!!!
Here are some sneaky peeks:

I'd show you my studio but it's a mess - which really, is kind of a good thing! :D

A brief history of Matryoshka, Kokeshi, and Daruma dolls

Matryoshka Dolls...Babushka Dolls...Dolls without arms or legs...Weird, right? But no, we accept this form of doll almost without question.
And a doll inside a doll inside a doll? Neat idea! From Russia, right? A long time ago?  Well, not exactly...

The very first 'Russian nesting dolls' as we think of them date back to just 1890.  And, although we tend to think of them as Russian, they owe quite a lot to Asian doll-making traditions!

Apparently the story goes that Sergei Malyutin, a painter from a folk crafts workshop in the Abramtsevo region visited the estate of famous Russian industrialist and patron of arts Savva Mamontov,...

...and there he saw a set of Japanese wooden dolls representing Shichi-fuku-jin, the Seven Gods of Fortune.

The largest doll was that of Fukurokuju 福禄寿,

a happy bald god with an unusually tall crown. Inside, nested the six remaining deities.

Kokeshi dolls are generally thought to have originated earlier, sometime in the 1600's.  Did you know Kokeshi dolls were/are often nesting dolls too? 

And 'lucky' Daruma dolls! These have no arms or legs because they are created in the likeness of Chinese Zen Master Bodidharma, who meditated in a cave for 9 years, losing the use of his limbs.  He doesn't look too happy.

And check out this progression of sweet-faced young boy to a grumpy old man! Ha!

ANYway, back to my story, Sergei Malyutin was so inspired by the treasures he saw at Mamontov's estate that he began to sketch...

...and he drew a Russian version of the doll. He then had Vasiliy Zvezdochkin carve 8 nesting dolls which he then he painted. The outermost was a woman in an apron, then the dolls alternated between boy and girl, with the innermost a baby.  This set (above) was presented to the Worlds Fair in Paris in 1900 and won a Bronze medal, as well as sparked a worldwide craze for the dolls and created a new Russian icon. 

These were mass produced, and yet I still find them charming...

The wonderful Russian nesting eggs of Faberge, were created during this same period, beginning in 1885...

And today, artists around the globe create their own version of these dolls. Some are wacky, some are beautiful, some are abstract concept pieces...   

this one is by Art. Lebedev Studio...

I too have been inspired by Matryoshkas...and Kokeshi...and all! 

These are some of my Matryoshka Mamas.  I call mine 'mamazakkas'. Like Malyutin, I find I'm more inspired by the idea of family and heritage than by the idea of Japanese deities or Chinese Zen Masters... :) Like many artists today, I am having fun creating my own versions.

The idea that we, the children, are embraced...literally, figuratively...the idea that we go on to embrace our own children...that they are inside us...and we are inside them... is such a lovely, lovely concept. Inspiring, really.

An idea that has legs, after all.  :)

another sneak peek...Matryoshkas!

like little flowers...

See, they're a garden!

And here's a Mama to watch over your pencils and pens...

Only a few more days now till my shop's update! :)