Mommy-to-be ???

Okay, I was thrilled with the Happy Family line by Mattel with Barbie's friend Midge and her high school sweetheart husband, Alan, having a baby. I personally think it is a natural and beautiful way to show the normal path of life. Midge is a beautiful Mom-to be. I didn't know that there was another doll sold, #1 in Denmark, back in 1991, simply called The Mother-to-be Doll created by the Judith Corp. I looked it up on the web and found it made the headlines in The New York Times when it started to show up in the stores there in 1992. The mother-to-be is Judy and she was followed by the father-to-be, Charlie. I found these on Craig's List then bought them from a lovely lady named Colleen that bought them originally for a gag gift for a baby shower but her daughter did not like the idea so she put them in a drawer and there they stayed until she decided to clear out a few things. Lucky me!

Their quality and construction is more five and dime, not nearly as good as the Mattel dolls. Judy's arms are very rubbery and Judy looks to be terrified to me, poor thing, with her bright blue eyes staring widely. I don't know if she has that look because of the sized of that babies head or that Charlie looks more like he could be her father instead of her husband or maybe Mr. Rogers... hmmmm... But that's another story...

I thought it was interesting to compare the two dolls side by side. Both are unique and rare.

I look forward to dressing them both in new things made just for a mother-to-be...

Just Chillin' With the Dog

Well, it turned out to be a pretty nice day so a couple of the boys, Ned and Graysten, wanted to take the dog out and do a little exploring. I made them wear the sweaters I worked on while I was sick. After all, I sure didn't want them to catch cold!!

We were having a wonderful time. Hagus, the dog, was very well behaved and seemed to really like all the attention he was getting. Sometimes he seemed to act like there was something out there, watching us... hmmmm... made us a little nervous so we move closer to the house and found a lovely mossy area for some more photos. But Hagus seemed to become more and more concerned acting...

Then Jill showed up in her newest bikini. I thought it was a bit cold to be parading around in it but it seemed to perk the guys right up!

I wanted to get some shots of her before she got to cold, so we took a couple here by the house, and then she wanted to climb up in the rocks when the guys told her they were getting their pictures taken up there! Crazy girl! Before we could say that there might be something lurking up there she was already posed for her first photo! Hagus was really keeping an eye out....

He sure didn't like the smell in the air and he started to growl!!

And THEN!!!!

THE CAT!!!!

Before poor Jill could move an inch the beast was on her! Even Hagus was to scared to move...stupid dog.

But all is well... it was just Harley. She gave Hagus a kiss and moved on when she saw I was taking her picture. She is a bit camera shy.

So the day turned out lovely...♥

Turn of the Century Swimwear for Ken

Well, this was an interesting challenge. I was asked if I could make a turn of the century swimsuit for Ken and after investigating many very unattractive photos of men in their "modest" swimming attire, I came accross this design and thought it was the best of the worst. It has a real working button front and is made with a stretch cotton/lycra fabric. Most of the turn-of-the-century suits were made of wool but I didn't have any so this was the next best thing. The photo shows the man also wore heavy leg warmer type socks. I know, what were they thinking?

I have another design I'm putting together that might be a little better but for now this is all I came up with. I made the sandals too. So what do you think?

The wonderful life of my Grandson...

This is my very active 7-year-old grandson, Isaac. He's the tallest in the class and really pays close attention to his teacher, Sen pi Lance.

Isaac is on the left.

He is taking a short break from karate and enjoying swimming classes as well as music, science, world traveler and chimes, all part of a wonderful program put together through the Vancouver school district for home-schooling kids. It is sort of a co-op with parents and family members and teachers. They provide classes to help round out the education of the children as well as give them the socialization they need. They also give the encouragement needed to the parents as they work hard at home to continue the education.

Here is Ms. Phoebe helping Isaac learn to float on his back. The kids have such a good time and are learning something important that could save their life someday. Isaac says he gets nervous before swimming but the moment he is changed into his swim trunks he is out the door and in the water in a flash!! I got to go be his guest last Wednesday and I sat through the music class and had lunch and then the swimming class. It was wonderful. I wish they would have had something like this when my girls were little.
More and more schools are losing touch with the children. It is programs and wonderful teachers like this that make teaching and learning a joy again, and getting parents involved in this education helps keep the family close. When you know what your child is doing and involved in there less of a chance there will be problems that can't be handled. This has my support 100%.

And it Begins...

Well, here we have the first mowing of the year. I thought it was too wet but Mike couldn't wait to "play" on his new toy. I wish I would have caught him doing cookies in the driveway...oh well, I'm sure it won't be the last time.

The sad part is, just after this little segment was shot, he just got around the corner behind the big rocks and it threw a cotter pin that engaged the right wheel and so the left wheel was pulling the right wheel and it tore up the lawn a bit. Our first mowing and our lawn broke our mower!!

It is still on warranty so they will have to fix it. But what a bother.

I'm Back from the Dead!!!

Hello everyone that has checked and wonder where the heck I have been!! I never intended to let so much time go by and not add something on this blog but I had a little trouble getting much accomplished these past couple of weeks.... Let's just say a nasty cold really wiped me out!

But now I'm back and I have some exciting things to share with you....

First, the weather is not improving much around the dollhouse but it seems there is a lot of "green" growth around, unfortunately it is moss! I think we actually live in a rain forest of sorts! It will be interesting to see what the next few months bring...

Second, I want to introduce some fantastic furniture made by my friend, Ron, who has been a wood crafter and cabinet maker for over 60 years so he is kind of good at it! lol. He makes beautiful and unique tables with different exotic woods. I asked him one day if he ever thought of making furniture for dolls like Barbie and that just got the ball rolling. He made a miniature of his signature side table and Oh my! Check this out!!!

Of course the pictures can not truly show how amazing and beautiful this piece is. It is made from a walnut burl and hand rubbed with oil to bring out the natural color of the wood and the top is designed to "waterfall" over the sides, which means that the wood pattern is carried over the edge. The legs are inlaid and curved. The drawer really works too. All that is missing is the pull knob but that is being worked on. Right now he is putting together a set that includes 2 side tables, 1 coffee table and 1 back of the couch table and when he is done I will be offering it on my website for sale. This is exquisite and not something to be purchased for a child's play, although, it is much more durable then the plastic junk that is available on the market. I would say this is more to the collectors taste to display proudly.

I'll be taking more pictures to show off the set here on my blog and I hope to have more furniture offers in the near future.

Please leave comments on what you think of this piece and the idea of having fine wood furniture for dolls like Barbie. Thanks!!