Little red riding hood

When I was working on this doll, I asked my children what she should be. Aurora, the sleeping beauty, Rapunzel or little Red riding hood. I've to admit they rooted for Aurora, but once I made the hair, with the kind of oldfashioned Germanstyle braids, little Red riding hood was born. By the way, I think she got Bette Davis eyes, don't you? .

At the end of the week the shop will be opened and she's for sale! I'll keep her for a few days to  enjoy the result of my 'hard work.

Doll making

My last post, my nativity scene for 'this week I saw',  disappeared miraculously. But repost a nativity scene after Christmas is as we Dutch call it 'musterd after dinner'.  Christmas was wonderful though. We did some skating on Christmasday, and really, nothing in the whole world can make me happier than skating with my family! Although my two sons playing christmas songs on their guitar comes close.

I'm making a lot of plans for crafting again! Making dolls is something I love to do. I made Molly, a rag doll for Lauren, she still love to play with. I made dozens of doll's clothes and I made some dolls similar like my Snowwhite. I did it without a pattern, adjusting by 'trial and error'. When we were in New York, I visited Purl Soho, a wonderful craft's shop. And there in the windows I saw this little doll from Mimi Kirchner. Made of woolfelt and quite smaller than my dolls use to be, but a bit similar. Purlbee, the blog of Purl Soho even provides a free pattern! I tried it and made this little doll for my niece Livia. I made her also a box with a little matrioskha on it. I didn't had enough felt out of one piece to make the dress, but nevertheless I'm satisfied with the way she turned out.

St. Lucia

I love traditions, even if they're not my own. Today it's st. Lucia's day. In Sweden, the youngest daughter, dressed in white gown with a red sash is the Lussibrud (Lucia bride). She wears a crown with candles on her head and serves saffranrolls to the rest of the family. I can't help wondering how this was done when they hadn't electric candles. A lot of beautiful long blond hair must have gone up in smoke, I guess. We didn't send Lauren to school in a white dress today, nor gave her any saffranrolls to treat. Two tangerines is all she's got, festive enough for a tradition which  isn't ours. What are your traditions in the period of advent, I love to hear...

Waldorf traditions after all

When I was growing up my parents were very involved in establishing a Waldorf school in the place were we lived and everything that came with it. Once I became a teenager I got very annoyed by everything concerning antroposophy. I didn't want to have anything to do with it. To me antroposophy was associated with stale sourdough bread, men in handspun sweaters, women in dyed skirts (we're talking the seventies) and damp cloths as a medicine for almost every illness, all covered with the heavy smell of arnica,which I still can't stand. My parents weren't like that at all, I must add. And then I became a mother.  A lot of routines and traditions from the Waldorf school seemed pretty nice to me, actually...So today, Joseph and Mary, very waldorfy indeed, are making a long yourney trough our livingroom before they arrive at the manger. They are made out of woolfelt and silk. I've whipped them up myself, but you can buy kits like this overhere. The cardboard christmas tree is our adventcalendar from the Wiener Werkstätte. The blue picture is a cyanotype which I bought from etsy, waiting patiently to be framed. And to complete this tour: the rowing man is my husband, on a drawing I made him when he got forty.

Zwarte Piet

Maybe I should have been writing this post  in Dutch, readers from abroad might think we've gone crazy overhere. Whereas Santa has his elfs, Sinterklaas has his  Zwarte Pieten (Black Petes). In the weeks previous to December 5th, children place their shoe at the fireplace and in the night, when Sinterklaas rides his horse over the rooftops ("trippel-trappel"), Zwarte Piet goes down the chimney to put a little present in their shoes. The fact that he's black, is not because of the chimney, but because of his Morish origine. There was a lot of discussion whether this might be insulting for coloured people living in Holland. In Amsterdam they experimented with all colours for the Pieten, but honestly a Red Piet or a blue one, it just not the same.

For all of you who love this politically incorrect but yet adorable tradition, here's my Zwarte Piet as a doll. If you''re interested in making one too, please let me know.

Sneeuwwitje

Zoals hiernaast al hoopvol aangegeven staat, ben ik druk bezig met het opzetten van een webshop. Een hele klus. Ik was een beetje zat van het administratieve gedeelte ervan, dus de zinnen maar even verzet met de het afmaken van dit schatje (als je het zo stelt komt er ineens een heel ander einde aan het sprookje...)