Lately I've Been Thinking........

about how much I LOVE dolls!!! All kinds of dolls!! Well, mostly cloth based.....and old or made to look 100 years old. I have always loved dolls, in fact I was 13 when I got my last doll..it was a Madame Alexander Doll......Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm...I still have her and she is all dressed in her pink satin bonnet and pink gingham dress.....but my tastes have changed some over the years. I love the dolls that were lovingly made by somebodies "momma". Dolls made from scraps of old dresses and carefully stuffed by the light of the fireplace while "Pa"

read a story to the young ones. About 24 years ago, I decided to jump into the world of cloth dolls. I developed a series of dolls called Willow Creek Cousins. My dolls were made out of cloth and I dressed them in vintage clothing and vintage leather shoes. I had a special formula I used to prep their cloth faces so I could paint them with oil paints in the primitive portrait style. I often used flax for their hair which I bought from a weaver that lived in my town. I loved creating each one, some in very primitive clothing with slat bonnets and some wearing a fancier fare that was more victorian.....I have a wonderful collection of shoes even to this day. My wonderful mother lived in North Carolina at the time and attended all of the flea markets and sales and found some precious treasures......I have boxes of petticoats, dresses, vintage calico's and shoes........I'm beginning to think that the bug might just be biting again........(by the way....Willow Creek Cousins were sold all over the US...out east, south and midwest...I even had 2 go to the Museum of American Folk Art in New York City!!! How exciting is that!) but along came my own wonderful children and life has been busy....I have enjoyed dressing them up just like I enjoyed dressing my dolls.....but my "living" dolls are priceless! They are now 23,19 and almost 15 so I have a few more hours in my week. I think I feel the doll bug biting again and so maybe it is time to open up those boxes, dust off those shoes and think about creating a whole new group of "cousins"........hum........think I'll just head out to the studio and do a little sketching.....I'll keep you posted and until then.....

Blessings and Peace to each of you dear friends,

Sarah