MAUVE BRIGHT PINK, CROCHETTED HATE, NECK SCARF, FINGERLESS MITTS

Went to a local market to show off more winter gear was a very blowy, cold windy day on the top car park at Park Beach Plaza at Coffs Harbour. Not many stallholders or people came up was more warmer down in the carpark sheltered by the buildings and trees... I learnt something quite interesting people who endured cancer treatments and lost their hair found this type of hat very interesting giving me more ideas on hats to be different. Wearing wigs was very uncomfortable but these hats were very smart and comfortable. I will create more with a wig look about them. It gives me great pleasure to create things that bring great comfort and make people look good as well.... the scarf is like a collar and very soft around your neck it has acrylic and wool blend. The embellishments are of course acrylic giving it a more sharper look....and of course the fingerless mitts just enough to keep you warm and you can do write on paper, feel what your touch and still be warm those very cold days especially in the early mornings and late evenings when the coolness creeps ....They look cool on and you can wear it however you wish. The hat has a long section like a ponytail with a tassel and don't forget the ear flaps you can even put a button on or order it with buttons on.... how cool is that for that cold weather and when you party inside you can wear it how you like...

SCARVES THAT ARE DIFFERENT

Vintage Fluffy Scarf Handmade by me into a frontal design...with Tassels. Colourful in Autumn shades, soft and warm holding the heat in on a cold day. Wear it anyways you wish very fashionable! Set off with fringing a FASHION STATEMENT!

Lovely mobius Vintage Hats turban style but into a hat with brim. Crochetted large flower with leaves that are bendable. A collar scarf with wild loops and crocheted tie with tassels to pull up to the neck to keep warm. Wool blend acrylic blue tonings, scarf can be worn as hat band as well.... can be worn different ways and stored away in a bag easily when on the move..

WINTER HATS, SCARVES AND MITTS

Now with the ordeal all over I have been getting back into it I have created some winter gear

Hat with crocheted flowers, leaves on side flaps with platted sides hanging ends with tassels. Collar scarf covering your shoulders and a tie at the neck.

side and back view you can see the work on it ...leaves are bendable to how you wish to have your look...nice and soft you can roll into a bag when weather changes .

WASTING MY TIME

That's just it I have been wasting time trying to please people with no avail. I had to fix up an old doll
German Doll it had a star sign at the back... Horror story it is! I brought it home it was in a garbage bag she had nothing else to put it in.. took it down to the Barn where I had my German books to identify the markings.. I put it in the corner on the floor under the table thinking it was safe and went the next day to Sydney to do a show.  When I got home she rang me to ask if I started the doll, I had forgotten with many other things to do!! Days went by looking every niche and rooms everywhere nowhere till hubby picked up a garbage bag from the floor as he cleaned the barn.

I FROZE there was she was in pieces the head that is .... the head was poured in paper mache instead of porcelain, which was strange and very thin.  I just didn't do anything I was just so ill, so many tiny pieces. People just looked at me and told me to give her back. I just couldn't do that!  It took me months of patching up with PVA glue and toilet paper would you believe.  The whole of the front face was in pieces, the back of the head was held on with the wig which was so matted and glued to it.

When I got the head together with the air dried clay I then pulled the wig at the back off and glued it together which I already had glued together to hold the front while I was glueing it together. It came together so cracked up but in at least it was together I had to put a layer of the paper clay over the head to hold it together, so I could sand it smooth for painting...

well finally together with air drying paper clay smoothed over, sandpapered then rubbed and rubbed to get it smooth. Hours and days of work... not smooth do it again and again. Also painting over it with a wet brush making sure there are no bumps .

Nearly smooth still a couple of bumps showing so a lot of rubbing with a cloth and glass smooth sandpaper,

Final result I put a hat on here to protect her matted hair, do not wish to touch her anymore after that dreadful experience but she's so smooth eye lashes and eyebrows done, and the lips a quieter red so as not to show any descrepancies. Her right leg was in pieces it was with paper clay after putting the pieces of leg together a lot was missing so had to sculpt it out too. The hat is silk 2 rows of smoking and a row edged with old lace.. it will hold the hair in place which I made a paper mache pate to give it a little height... If the doll was mine I would have made a wig and reset the style. I put red flowers on the shoes to embellish I did have her on a wooden stand and a cellophane protective box over it to keep it from any deterioration but the lady did not wish to have that...She wanted it to sit in a chair in her loungeroom... Maybe the previous breaks on it had a lot to do with what I had to endure??

At least the final story SHE'S ALIVE AND WILL DO A NUMBER OF YEARS MORE!  I couldn't charge the lady for the misfortune and she didn't want to pay much for the leg break which was why she came to me. At least I learned a lot from this experience.....Broken WORSE than my post on OLD AND NEGLECTED. She wasn't neglected just a dreadful accident that she fell on her face!! Well now not a sign scratch or graze? I just can't believe I did it!

FIXING UP THE OLD AND NEGLETED

I just can't get away from my Label the Dolly Lady. People bring me dolls and I have to resurrect them. I really do think of what to do. It may not be the very best but at least they are still alive to tell their story. They have to be looked after with Utter care or else they do die and so does the history of the past.  What is the word ugly.... looking in the Dictionary of years ago it meant cute.... so what does it mean to many people today? When I look at how something was preloved and then handed down to their loved ones, people say oh my why don't you throw it out it's UGLY!

Well here are two dolls I thought resurrected. The mother gave it to her daughter who put it away, then one day going through the boxes she too gave it to her loved one. The loved ones child dropped it, making the mother feel guilty, she didn't want the older woman her mother seeing what happened to her beloved doll. The only doll she had every owned as a child.....I know my mum had a porcelain doll given to her in the late'20's when she was a child and when she played with it a neighbourly girl wreathed it from her arms and the poor thing went flying into the air and hit the ground hard....

I know my mum never got over it? I had only one doll given to me an English Pedigree, I called Mary I still have and my four daughters find her UGLY! That is why I love to do this kind of Artwork turn something UGLY into something Beautiful...

Broken doll moving eyes broken in pieces had to be reset the mama was added by someone and not the the right size

Head painted too streaky the cheeks

put layers on, between a glazed layer cannot be heated or glue will melt

The doll is finished the eys are as was they do move at least you cannot see the breaks does blend very well also created teeth with cold porcelain... could do more hair but it would show up marks.... 

Collectable Porcelain Doll "Hilda"

One of Nataschas latest creations is sweet little porcelain doll which is a reproduction German Kestner doll called Hilda. Natascha poured and fired this 25cm doll , crafting her shape very carefully along with meticulously painting the body and face to create a very collectable item.
To dress the doll Natascha chose crochetted pantaloons and cotton petticoat with lace trim. The dress she crochetted in a dusty pink batiste cotton with a soft pink beret and shoes (with clay soles). The hair is fashioned from mohair dyed coffee brown along with crochetted socks. As an added artistic touch Natascha hand felted a bear to finish the works.
This and other dolls may be viewed on www.curiozityshop.com.au

Doll Repairs Itallian Vintage Doll

As part of our services we carry out DOLL REPAIRS. A recent request to repair and dress a vintage plastic doll was an interesting task which we would like to share with you.
This doll was a post war "Italian" plastic in reasonable condition. We started by stripping the doll and restringing it to enable movement and strength to display quality clothing.
Her hair was intact but needed cleaning and resetting with curlers which when released gave a nice kink to the hair as well as allow her new hat to sit nocely on her head. The doll was cleaned and paint touch up as required to smooth the appearance of the doll.
Dressing than began . We designed suitable underware with flaied petticoat to allow the dress to flow outward. The client chose a base colour od pink which we took liberty to emphasise the colours to make a statement and create a greater value to the doll. Good quality cotton fabric was used (as for quilts we do) in a design by Nataschas Dolls just for this doll (one of a kind). The design we used was a reflection on styles of the past to capture the era of the dolls age.
The hat was styled in a peasant bonnet style made specially for this doll so as to fit the hair and face.
Finally the doll had her face painted in an emphasis mode to give character and accentuate the European era.
We believe we have added considerable value to this doll, we may be viewed on Curiozityshop.com.au

Have a couple of items for sale to Blog .... Farm sitting till daughter is finished with the By-pass.
till the time comes I am going to do the markets and Fairs advertising myself and letting people see what I am doing....

Dolls Sugar Britches with eyes open and Sugar Britches with eyes closed and Baby Gloria

Quillo for child to go to Grandmas overnight or travel with. It is appliqued with Funky Chickens.

Cot size large than a normal travelling quillo, but large enough for cot size or staying over wanting a sleep. Includes separate pillow and folds into a bag you can include your Pyjamas when you stay over. Handy too for an old Person in a home or sitting in a chair watching TV.. Very colourful and easy to wash....Sewn on machine and drawn (freemotioned) around the chickens...

 Quillo folded into a bag with pillow (Pyjamas) ready to travel/visit on overnight stays....

Sewn Collage, stamped, free-motioned, trims, applique, button, stappled to canvas frame....

Happy New Year 2017

I am at the farm contemplating what to do. I had a lot of trouble finding my Blogger, oooh the thought of losing it made me realise how important a Blogger can be and for me to work on it.

2016 had been a tough year indeed. Actually a mother's nightmare but that is another story at least I can sort my creativities out and build a business that I enjoy and have been given a gift so that I can I suppose we cannot have everything perfect in this life. It certainly is a challenge though... I still miss my little Belle at least I did experience a love of a creature my second daughter didn't want and her mate Brucie who died earlier in May so suddenly but she just wouldn't go she loved us so... she gave us the love that my daughter could never show or give....this little creature gave it all.....

It still beaks my heart how the last days she lost all her fur, so painfully thin but she still wanted to be near us, when we warmed up the food her head popped up and she got up waiting, she was blind but she still enjoyed it, even sucking on chicken bones till the last weekend before we came down to the farm she had, had enough and we knew.................... God rest her little soul how strong and loving such a creature of God was to make our lives so worthwhile, such a loss, we have had many dogs, many even Brucie we loved them all but this creature was so damn special yet the day I first saw her I thought my daughter mad to buy this stupid little yappy creatures, little did I know they would tug at heart strings so...... REST IN PEACE sweet Belle I always used to sing to her RING MY BELLE? Even when she was so sick, and when she had the pancreatic attack in Jan, she was on tubes and such in the Vet Hospital ...she fought so hard for her life to live another 11 months........she rang our Bell.....

Am working on my site, bloggers and FB media...........learning how to bring them together......will be in touch....

XMAS NOT FAR

I am doing too much and I am so far away from my Barn I want to go back desperately. Still have learnt a few things up here on the Sunshine Coast. I go for a drive to look at what's cooking here on the coast. I keep thinking things are just not the same anymore?  I like Xmas to have the look of Xmas I have all my Vintage decorations and stuff back at the Barn... I have sat down and made table settings all starting with a humble coaster ... I am not happy with the fabrics they have sold this year so I have used my old stash and kept it as simple as possible to begin with. I have not much room but at least here are some of the things I have done ready to sell,

 In this pic I have a large runner with whimsical Xmas Icons rather cute, six placemats to match with pockets which have your eating utensils, coasters to match and two oven gloves to match too, plain square ones. A whimsical angel to match have sitting nearby.. There are other coasters as well that you twist your wine glass into so when you have had too much you do not make a mess.

 These are cross stitched ornaments, like the vintage days, of classic santas.. then tinsel edging glued on with a hanger for the tree..

                                                                Classic Vintage Santas

                                                         "Green Pod Baby"

Baby in a Bauble

                                                             Xmas Handmade Display

                                                      4inch Vintage All Porcelain Babies

                                                          Whimsey Angel

More Whimsey Angels

I have started late I couldn't find a market or fair anywhere to display what I had done. I did join a group but you had to do what they wanted you to do. I work independently creating my own ideas. I love Xmas I guess going back to my childhood.... Please let me know if you are interested in any of the Xmas items they are for sale.......Or if you want to have a setting made it's very hard at the moment to show off the settings in their right order... I have moved so far away but soon I will be back to the Barn but at least I have made a start.....Xmas is a wonderful time ... Most of the stuff is easy to send or can be picked up.....