Fall/ Winter 2011 Toddler Waldorf Doll Special!

Do you have a little one with a birthday coming up?  Have you started thinking about Christmas gifts yet?  

For the month of September I am offering an amazing 25% discount on my toddler custom dolls.  With soft cotton velour bodies and a full head of hair, these custom dolls are designed for children ages  2-3 and older.  Normally priced at £50, all preordered custom dolls will be only £38. 

 

What is a custom doll?  It means you get to choose the body colour, skin, eye and hair colour.  It also means that your child’s name is embroidered into the doll (unseen) imbuing it with that special connection that it was made especially for him or her.

 

How does this work? After purchasing the doll via Oast on Etsy or Oast on Folksy I will send you a detailed questionnaire about your choices.  Once obtained I will give you a time frame for when the doll will be finished.  If the doll is for a birthday and not for the holiday season, please let me know as soon as possible.  The custom slots are first come first serve. 

What do I get with my purchase?  Alongside having a doll custom made for your little one, each purchase comes beautifully wrapped with a care book full of instruction on how to best wash, store, and care for your new Waldorf doll.

 

This promotion will run for the duration of September but please remember spaces are limited.  All custom orders will be finished by the middle of November and won’t start again until February. 

Please feel free to contact me prior to purchase if you have any questions. 

Michael Hall Steiner School Mansion Market

This past weekend was my first craft show of the year.  I have decided to focus on Steiner schools this year.  There is a lot of work that goes into craft fairs.  I am learning as I go, but what I picked up last year was that I needed to make sure I had all financial abilities available.  Often times it is the smaller things on your table that will cover your table fee.  

I love fairs a lot.  The interaction with people really is a fun part of my "job".  I love children who come up and ask to hug the dolls, or dreamy partners daydreaming of buying their child a doll one day.  It is very heartwarming. Although selling is important, in a fair it is mostly about networking and product awareness.  I learn what works and what doesn't very quickly.  In some fairs more than others.  

I had a lot of fun with the root children.  We cut a silver birch into rounds and I had felted a cave which they spiraled.  The idea was the cave held the little children as they were working on their clothing and the spiral of birch was the children slowly coming up onto the earth for spring.  You can see it a bit in the first photo.

While I was selling, Dan went on the Early Years tour of the school.  It was fun to see his photos afterwords. It is an inspirational space full of love.  I can imagine Narina playing, growing and expanding in the world there.  There are a few captions under the photos below.

 

Kindergarten Seasonal Table

Narina's artwork on the left. 

The dolls are asleep in their pram, the playsilks hung on pegs.... don't you want to play?

A grain mill!  Dreams of Narina milling her own grain is enough to make my eggs drop by the dozen 

 

ceiling mural

New Dolls and the Girl Who Wouldn't Let Them Go

Last week I made three dolls for children under the age of two.  They are a bit simpler, no fancy hair and flannel cotton for the body.  This makes them more "economical" at craft fairs and these dolls tend to go first.  I think Narina put some juju on them, though.  She was quite taken by them after my outdoor photo shoot and tried to hide them behind her moose.  Then when I approached she ran to the front door, started banging on it yelling "help".  When none of the three sold, I couldn't help that my little girl manifested it! 

Waldorf Wednesday: Nurturing Magic

Things are buzzing around here.  I feel the energy of creation around me as I plug away at my custom Waldorf doll sales.  I am just finishing off my last one for this week and am going to pop them in the mail.  This week our Waldorf Wednesday revolves around creating magic.  Laying the framework for traditions to come. Our neighbours recently moved out. Apparently the women who owned the house liked to do ceramics.  They left a pile of old gnomes, fairies and angels scattered around their yard.   They are really roughed up and somewhat on the tacky side, but where there is tacky, there can also be beauty.  While photographing some of my dolls, I came across a fairy.  In the right surroundings she looks beautiful.  I quickly brought it back to our house and placed it in the snowdrop flowers that were just starting to bloom.  I decided that I would move it around the garden during the year, depending on what was growing.  Every day when we go to the car, we pass the fairy, where I have made a point of saying hello or good bye.  Narina now does the same.  A few days ago when she was collecting rocks in a pot she stopped and ran to the front garden where the fairy lives.  She started to give each stone to the fairy, laying them in front of her ceremoniously.  It was quite special for me.  I can see how this will grow into more elaborate rituals as Narina gets older.  Perhaps this will be the fairy that puts little gifts for her in the giant mushroom for solstice... 

I am having so much fun being a mummy.

Our newest affordable Etsy project!

Sharing the Love

Six years ago we made out for the first time. 
Now we have little Narina sharing lots of love with us on Valentine's Day. 
Time is funny but more importantly, love is magnificent.

This Moment: Within Arms Reach

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

Baby Bunting

I have two Steiner School markets coming up this spring so I am busy trying to stock up on seasonal favourites.  I have been making little Waldorf bunting dolls out of cashmere, or cashmere silk blends, and really enjoying my Narina’s  reaction.  They are so soft and very simple.  I have been building up the difficulty of my doll making since I started.  From the simple newborn dolls through to limb dolls.  It is really fun to go back to a simple face and body.  Perhaps it is also awesome for me because it is the right age for babies under two and a lot of the dolls (limb dolls) I have been making have been for 4+.  I don’t think there is anything better than seeing a child hold and love a doll I have made.  Here are a few photos I took for my etsy site:

 

New Baby!

This is the beginnings of my first full sized moving limb doll.  Its arms are a bit lumpy by the wrists and I need to work that out.  It is only something I noticed  once the photo was taken. Cameras don't lie, and all that.  Because it will be a model for the doll clothing I make, I plan on making the hair rather gender neutral.  I have started working the wig already and can't wait to do the face next.

It is such a wonderful moment when a doll is at this stage.  The personality is just starting to come through.  I have started waiting a few days after I get a doll to this point to see if I can sense the features before I apply them.