Once in a Lifetime....

Some things happen once in a lifetime.

I was about 2 hours into my 560 mile drive home from the Sasha Festival and I saw a billboard for an antique mall. I needed to top off the tank of gas so I figured why not stop. I realized this was the same antique mall I tried to find on my way to the festival. I originally turned right when I should have turned left. This time I went a mile and a half into town and found the store. When I went into the store a little voice in my head said there is sure to be a Sasha waiting just for me. I proceeded to browse the many aisles and got about 2/3 of the way through the store and began to get discouraged. I turned the corner at the back of the store and couldn't believe my eyes...there at the bottom of a locked case was a stunning blonde gingham Sasha with her crayon tube. I quickly went to the front of the store and told the front desk that there is a doll I would like to buy. They did not know anything about Sasha dolls and I had much to tell. She has white stringing and a large silver tag with made in serie england on the back. Her shoes are white with top-stitching and heels. Her eyes look like they have hand finishing and the star pupils. Her lips are very pale. She looks like she has a wide face. She has very thick bangs and very long hair. The only issue was that her face was very dirty. I just gave her a washing and she is lovely now. I found her in Beloit Wisconsin and named her Bella which means beautiful and God is my oath. I especially like her eyes that look almost green. She is wearing a 2011 Festival souvenir dress.

One more cute picture

My Dress a Sasha entry takes Third Place

Here is Annika posing as Chelsea Clinton in the Dress a Sasha Contest. Lots of hand ribbon embroidery and beading adorn the bodice and hair barrette. The pattern was designed by me and I even crafted light pink leather ballet slippers to complete her outfit. It was very fun to create this ensemble.

Kaisley's festival outfit

Here is a picture of the outfit I made for Kaisley to wear at the festival. Purple is a really nice color on a red head.

Springfield here we come! CFA items

I thought I'd give everyone a sneak peak of the outfits I created for the Children's Fund Auction with marvelous Shoes donated by Jean Jensen.

The Story of Mickey-a Hug from beyond.

My Beloved Grandma and Grandpa passed away in the last 6 months. They are the ones who raised me from the time I was 14 months old. My Grandma was the one who instilled in me the love of dolls and would pick up various dolls at the Goodwill, Salvation army thrift store, or one of the many Garage sales she would frequent. I have been tasked with helping to clean out her house and get my many childhood belongings out of there. On Friday I decided it would be a good day to start. I began with the upstairs of the house as that became the dumping ground of overflow stuff that time forgot. I think you know where this is going. I opened a random box only to discover a very beautiful early sexed Sasha baby girl. She has white stringing in her arms and legs and hand painted eyes. They have a lovely lavender shading that I have never seen previously on my other baby dolls. She was a little grubby and has had a bath and hair wash, but I love her even with her flaws. I have named he Mickey after my Grandma (that was her nickname from her roller derby days that stuck with her all her life). The very funny thing is that this was not one of my childhood dolls. I think she picked it up somewhere and put it away for me as I would have been too small for it in the early 70's. Maybe she just forgot about it as I got older. At any rate I feel as if I just received a great big hug from her. Now when I gaze at Mickey I will always remember my Grandma.

Sasha Autumn/Halloween Swap

Here's something a bit different than the norm. My Sasha 'Abby' is modeling a recent creation from Macon Street Studio. I was inspired to create a Gothic look for Sasha. I wanted to keep the sweet yet trendy style that I usually convey in my outfits, but didn't want to get to dark. My thought was what would a 10 yr old girl wear if she were to dress Goth? I love all the possibilities and have a stack of ideas to keep me busy for quite some time. I will be posting my sample boards in the future, but have not yet photographed them.

My Pinafore Entry takes 4th Place

Here is my take on the basic pinafore pattern designed by Ted Menton. I added that Macon Street flair. The boots are authentic Uggs that have been customized to coordinate with the outfit. The hat is my own design and one of my signature pieces that I love to add as a special touch when creating a great look. I will be posting an anatomy of my design in the near future, but thought a few pictures would be fun now.

Shoes for all seasons

Here is a lovely example of a studio style shoe I crafted this past week. It is a very butter soft leather with a suede sole glued on. That way the insole is the ivory leather as well. I hand stitch my shoes for an endearing look. I tried to sew them on a machine but that just did not give the look I desired. Hand stitching is almost therapeutic. It also keeps my hands out of the bag of Doritos. These lovely shoes will be on to their new owner this week.

The busy cobbler

The cobbler has been busy here at the studio. I was challenged to create an Asian style slipper influenced by the wonderful Sasha Puppen book. I crafted the hand sewn slipper from a very soft leather. The wedge heel was created from a cork material. It was sealed with a clear polish. The heel was then glued to the sole with a high quality glue made especially for cork. I really like the way they turned out. They will be on to their new owner this week.