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Welcome to the latest edition of Australian Dolls, Bears and Collectables. There are some wonderful projects this issue, including Kase the adorable reborn, gorgeous Asta the bear, a dress to knit for Elizabeth the BJ doll, a stunning face painting project, Lichen the cheeky cloth pixie, and Part 2 of Fantasy Scene, which will give you plenty of ideas when creating scenes featuring your dolls. Lesley Hurford has written a fabulous article on Sewing Dolls & Related Items, complete with beautiful photographs, and we celebrate Bécassine, the famous French comic strip heroine who first appeared in La Semaine de Suzette in 1905 and became a treasured doll for generations of girls. There’s a delightful story about two Australian dolls, Trudy and Esmeralda, which were created in the 1940s.Trudy, a three-faced…
Dear Ed Thank you for the wonderful story on ‘My doll, Queenie’ (DBC 21.4). The earlier wars were all about the young men, and we don’t hear much about the young women who travelled overseas to help in the war effort. If only Queenie the doll could talk – she would have had some incredible experiences to tell us. It’s lovely that Jane has taken such good care of her Great Aunt’s doll. It has such exquisite clothing. I’m sure Queenie will be a treasured heirloom for generations to come. Sincerely Marg via email Ed: Thank you Marg – we couldn’t agree more. Dear Ed I’d like to pass on my thanks to Colleen Murphy, who created Priscilla in Pink (DBC 21.3). Priscilla has a paper clay head and cloth…
For a child there is nothing more fascinating, enchanting and awe-inspiring that a toy that moves and plays music seemingly of its own accord. Some time ago, while perusing a Theriaults Auction Catalogue, I came across one such wondrous creation. It was made circa 1888 by the French firm Vichy, which specialised in the production of automata or mechanical toys. This particular piece features a beautiful lady doll playing a piano-harp type instrument. Because I love to both research and reproduce antique dolls, I was drawn to the idea of making my own replica of this wonderful piece. The head mould is available – the head used in the original version is a portrait Jumeau lady. The sourcing, acquisition and construction of the rest of the mechanism however, has been…
Two gorgeous little kits have arrived on the market - Mouse Awake and Mouse Asleep by Sylvia Manning. Apart from the babies being such cute little things, you can also get a beautiful little mouse to reborn to go with your babies. The Mouse is available separately or with each Mouse baby kit. The mouse kits are so cute I couldn’t help ordering a couple in addition to the Mouse Awake and Mouse Asleep kits I pre-ordered. They are definitely something out of the ordinary for your reborn doll nursery. Mouse Awake and Mouse Asleep are both 19” in length and the little mouse is 6.5”. Both Mouse baby kits have full limbs that are so much easier for dressing your baby in summer clothing. How cute is that? For…
This year some girls travelled to Lower Portland on Tuesday afternoon as a few extra days were requested after last year’s retreat. We had other girls arriving everyday till Friday. On arrival we organized ourselves in the conference room, putting out all our goodies that we had planned to do over the weekend. All those UFO’s (unfinished objects) that we seem to have in our stashes emerged into the light. We were served a delicious afternoon tea and then settled in for a little sewing before dinner. Dinner on Tuesday night was spectacular and as usual we all had a little too much to eat. We ventured back to the conference room and enjoyed a little bit more time to sew or talk. Some girls retired to bed early and…
Dolls permeate the very essence of Ankie Daanen. According to this talented doll maker, she is never short on inspiration and ‘has more ideas in my head than I can make in my life’. Looking through ‘doll eyes’ at the world, her art has become something that she sees life through every day. While Ankie believes that the basics of doll making is excellent craftsmanship, in her world, it actually goes beyond this. Doll making involves expression and recognising emotions together with using high-quality materials, and for her this means that doll making is a never-ending story. From her home in Spain, Ankie works on her creations daily, trying to make the ultimate doll to communicate everything she wants to say. Describing herself as a ‘workaholic’, she spends about nine…
