A Year in Review 2019

Although there has inevitably been some new arrivals this year, most have come from charity shops and been real bargains... and of course I have made a lot of dolls this year, which really helped.  The dolls that didn't come from the CS I bought in January before Percy became ill which were on a long term wish list, and a couple that had been on my wish list for a very long time I bought when the opportunity arrived later on in the year.    I'd like to do even better next year on limiting my spending on dolls and doll items.  I will have to anyway as it seems Percy's treatment will be continuing for most of 2020 as well which has come to a bit of a shock to us as we thought the treatment would just be for a year.  So there will still be more dolls that will have to be sold, as well as the ones I still have for sale.  I AM negotiable on them, so if you are interested please don't hesitate to contact me.

Some highlights of the year are:

Henry getting a new head of hair and of course visiting New Zealand 

Finding Kiwi Sindy in an Op shop in NZ...just at the right time, when I needed a 'pick me up'.  She has become a firm favourite of mine.

My £1 vintage Action Man.

The making of Martha the Elephant (and her two sisters for my Mum and Sister) and doing a 50 plus day project with her.

Making my childhood doll Linda her first new dress ever!

Finding sweet baby Natalie for £1.30 in a Charity Shop.  What a high I got from that.

The making of Howard Bear and enjoying him.  

My Tiny Rag Dolls (minus three that were given as gifts)

A Creative Year

My goal this year was to focus on making as much as possible instead of buying.  Sure some buying has happened, but I think I have sold more than I have bought, and I have definitely made more!  I actually amazed myself at just how much I have made, especially considering my Dad's accident and hence my extended stay in NZ, my subsequent ill health and the months it took for a diagnosis and treatment. It has been a truly creative year.  I haven't added all the items up (specifically the amount of knitting and sewing of clothes) so here is a bit of a summary:

Dolls:

22 Tiny Rag Dolls  (I think this is correct! Of which two were gifted to friends, one was a swap)
1 crochet doll
Almost finished carving a Hitty doll
Made a Penny Wooden Doll
Two Cloth Kit dolls & their dog


Creative Critters:

Geoffrey the Llama
Little Pink Pig
Crochet Bear
Crochet Tiny Bear
Barnaby Bear for hubby
Sally the Arapawa Sheep for my DIL
Martha the Elephant
Mavis Elephant
Maude Elephant
Rabbit
Hilda Lawrence,
Howard Bear Lawrence
Leonard (Gifted to a friend for Christmas)
Three other bears.
Tiny Bear (Gifted to a friend for Christmas)
Horse on wheels
Knitted Kitten
Knitted Chicken


Repairs:

Delphine's hair and a new pair of shoes

Accessories:

Home for Martha,
Pumpkins,
Table,
Bed with sheets, pillows, bedspread, blanket & quilt
Hitty quilts
Chair

Clothing:

Various items of Clothing such as coats, dresses, jumpers, shawls, socks, hats, etc... made for:

Sasha,
Gregor
Baby Sasha
Schoenhut - commissions
Lewis
Peggy Sue
Sindy
Tressy
Nancy
Linda
American Girl Dolls
Hitty dolls
Tiny Rag Doll clothing
Other Misc. Doll Clothing
Clothing for Martha the Elephant
Clothing for Howard Bear and friends.


I've also done some scrapbooking, recording my Tiny Rag Doll creations as well as  Hitty Scrapbook.

Not doll or toy related:

Christmas Centrepiece patchwork for son and daughter in law.

I am sure I have probably missed something, and I had hoped to add photos to this listing...may be I will go back and edit this post at some stage in the next week if I get a chance to add the photos.

Creative Weeks 33 & 34

As most of what I made during week 33 was for Christmas presents, I held off showing them until now.

For an IG friend I made this little bear and patchwork quilt.

I made a coat for Howard Bear - whom incidentally I seem to have forgotten to introduce!

I made Howard at the end of November and finished him on the 1st.  When I put Howard next to 'Lawrence' I realised I had made a grave mistake and Lawrence was actually a 'she' and Lawrence was in fact their surname....and so without further ado, let me introduce Hilda and Howard Lawrence (usually known as Howard Bear).

I made Hilda's skirt and Howard's trousers and jumper.

I knitted Little Gem a Christmas dress.

I made a Christmas dress for Natalie, my new baby.

Plus I knitted her some booties and then a romper suit.

For another friend I made a dress for a teenage type doll such as Sindy etc... a little knitted dress for her Nancy Ann Story book doll and a shawl. (I forgot to take individual photos of them)

I made Kiwi Sindy a Christmas dress with some lovely fabric that was on special in John Lewis before Christmas.  

I also made Gorgeous Sindy a Christmas dress.

Lastly I got this fabulous vintage cloth kit fabric sheet for Christmas from a friend. Don't worry there is a fourth arm pattern, it was just loose and I missed it out of the photo.

 I finished them on Friday.

I thought of a really good name for them both, but then promptly forgot it!  Hopefully it will come to me again as I think it really suited them.

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I will try to sum up my 'Creative 2019' if I can before the New Year!  

Creative Week 31

Mainly a bit of sewing on the creative front this week, although not a lot.

A dress for Wren.  I wanted to make her a Christmas themed dress...so not really sure why I chose this fabric, seems, I now need to make her an ACTUAL Christmas dress, or so I have been informed anyway!

I've had this cloth kit Daisy Kingdom fabric for some time now so thought I would finally make up the dress.

It seemed to big for the American Girl dolls and my Daisy Kingdom doll is currently packed away so I tried it on Linda.  I'm glad it turned out too big for the American Girl dolls, as it looks great on Linda and fits her well.

I had another cloth kit fabric so I made that up as well. 

It fits Sienna Saige beautifully.

I've still got to sew up the little Scottie dog and the bag which I will probably do this coming week.

I've done some knitting and sewing for a Hitty Group challenge, but can't show those yet.

I made this bear last week, but couldn't show him until this week once I had given him to my friend for Christmas.  Yes we gave  (and opened) our presents early!.  

I was thrilled to watch the expression on her face when she opened him.  Reactions like that make the creative process of making a gift all the more worth while.

She has named him Leonard. 

I am hoping to make some Christmas gifts this week....that is the goal anyway...whether or not I achieve them is another matter!

Creative Week 29

Some different creativity this week, not quite so much knitting, but mostly sewing and some woodwork.

A little Penny Wooden doll, who  I made from scratch, just waiting on her features and hair.

A dress for Lindsey

A rabbit who currently is wearing borrowed clothes.

A bear called Lawrence. 

I've been admiring some bears on IG and Etsy but can't afford one at the moment due to Percy's ongoing treatment so inspired by them I decided to try and make a similar one for myself until such time as I can.  I just used some materials I had to hand and luckily already had the cardigan made, it just needed buttons and it fits so that was good.  I made him the shorts and scarf.

I'd like to get started on some ideas I have for Christmas gifts this week if time allows...but I may be just being far too optimistic!  We will see.  If I can't get them done this week, I don't think I will be able to. 

Creative Week 28

Not a huge amount of knitting or sewing done this week as we have been busy with other things and in the evening when I would normally knit I have been doing some journalling instead.  

Hitty Mildred had a shawl knitted to match her dress.

I've been working on a Christmas Star quilt - the end pieces have since been sewn on, I just haven't done an updated photograph.  Now deciding how I want to finish it off.

NZ Girls Jill & Shirley have new cardigans.

Much better to be warm when exploring out in the garden.

I'd like to make a few more little cardigans for TRDs.

Hitty Morag also has a new cardigan.

My creative output is probably going to decrease over the next few weeks with the lead up to Christmas and various commitments etc that will occupy my time.  

I've also been thinking about what I want to do next year with the dolls etc...  In the New Year I'd like to get back into writing the Sasha & Gregor stories that I used to do.  I may even go back to posting those on my original Sasha blog, I'm not sure yet.  I really like just having the one main blog, it is much easier for me and I like to have it all in one place, but I also wonder if having a separate blog for them might help the focus.  Just food for thought at the moment. 

Creative Week 27

Most of my week has been taken up with my  A is for.... project which I have already shown so far... but I have also made: 

A little hen 

a black cat

Started a horse...I have since done some more work on this but haven't photographed it yet.

Knitted a squirrel dishcloth

Knitted several tiny cardigans (test knitting a pattern for a friend)

This is one of the cardigans I made - matching NZ Rose's dress.

Fuchsia Fairweather also got a cardigan.

Amelia models one of the cardigans.

Hitty Morag shows off the quilt I made her from the Winter Quilt Swap Squares I took part in.

Amelia how she looks as off last night with her new jacket.

I've also done some more work in my TRD Journal/Scrapbook.

I don't think this coming week is going to be so productive as we have a lot on, but we will see.