best books for bébé

One of the many lovely things about being a mama is getting to read all the beautiful books and play with the toys given to my babe. I've always imagined reading my babies the classics - Goodnight Moon, Where the Wild Things Are - but we're so lucky to have many thoughtful friends who have given M. great books I'd never heard of before.

Our friend Alexis, among an embarrassment of riches, gave M. the hilarious Iggy Peck Architect, which he now insists we read him at least twice in the morning and twice at night.  I thought he wouldn't get into it until he was a bit older, but it has great illustrations and he's captivated by them. Come back from Boston, Alexis - we miss you!  Harvard is not worthy...

You might remember from a previous post that I have a Fairy Godmother who lives in England.  She has spoiled me all my life and now she's doing the same for M.  In addition to giving him many lovely toys, snazzy outfits, his stroller and his snow suits, she has sent several books, my favourite of which is Margaret Wild's Fox for its darkly beautiful illustrations.

Congratulations on becoming Dr. Auntie Mo - we are so proud of you!

My dear, dear friend Rebecca gave M. one of the few Maurice Sendak books a didn't already have, and, like all the best kids' books, it is both sweet and slightly spooky. I was saving it until M. gets a little older, but now that I see how much he loves Iggy Peck, I might bring it out, if only so that I get to read it!

Rebecca also gave M. a Moulin Roty puppet that is so adorable, I've had to resist the temptation to bring it into my studio as decoration.  (I promise I won't be greedy mom - I've even given M. all my very favourite old puppets, stuffed animals and soft dolls.)  Baby, toys, books...it's even more fun than I imagined it would be...

Stands & Orchid Salve

Mr. L and I have made various attempts at doll stands over the years, and while they  worked fine, I was never totally happy with how they looked.  We used wooden dowels and bases, and it always seemed to overwhelm the dolls somehow.  Then my brilliant man came up with a totally new design which is both more practical and quite elegant-looking.  They're handmade from brushed aluminium and can be custom cut for the length of your doll (the doll should be measured from the tips pf her toes to just under her arms). Much more suited to the style of my dolls, I think.  I've added the stands to my Big Cartel shop.  

Another clever thing Mr. L has done recently is resurrect our orchid, which stopped flowering after we left it with a friend for a summer. (The poor dears don't like to be moved.) I had written it off entirely and, I'm now ashamed to say, told him several times should be thrown out.  But he read somewhere that eggshells soaked in black tea was good for the fragile flowers so for two years he lovingly fed it with the icky brew.  The man has saint-like patience.

Finally, I'm getting a lot more time to work on dolls these days.  Mr. L got a new job at the NFB that is great in many ways, but the best for me is that he's only there three days a week and so I'm now able to work a few days a week while baby M. always has one of us here to dote on him.  It feels strange but good to have more time to be creative and I feel very lucky to have flexible work that still allows me spend so much time with my boy.

 

More Prezzies

And this time they were all for me!  February is my birthday month, and Mr. L is an excellent giver of gifts.  This year he gave me a non-fiction book that I'd heard of on the CBC and can't wait to read.

It's the story Shirley Mason, of a woman who was diagnosed with Multiple Personailty Disorder in the 50s, the psychiatrist who treated her (and crossed many ethical boundaries while doing so, including lying in bed with her patient while she administered shock therapy) and the journalist who helped turn the case into an international sensation. I'm very interested in illnesses that are cultural as much - or more - than they are physical. No doubt it will be very unsettling as all women profited enormously from the case.

I've been getting into graphic novels lately, as I've long dreamed about writing one (starring dolls, of course!) This one looks dense and dark, with amazing illustrations.  If anyone has any favourites, I'd love to hear them.

I also got a set of sturdy pliers to replace the dinky little craft store version I've been using all these years.  Psyched about those, but I'm pretty sure you all know what pliers look like, so moving right along...a Ureshii Gift Certificate!  Ureshii makes super cute yet very comfortable clothes that are made to measure; I'm just too old for anything that pinches, itches or digs into unpleasant places, so I insist on comfort so matter how lame that makes me.  Haven't settled on exactly what I'm going to get, but it will definitely include this skirt.

Thank you so much, my love.  I don't know what I did to deserve you, but I'm hanging on for dear life...

Also, a big thank you to everyone who left kind words about my latest dolls, and to those who adopted them.  They are all on their way to their new homes across Canada and the US, and I'm so very grateful that I get to do this. 

Four new dolls will become available this Sunday, February 5th at 2pm EST/ 11am PST. (you can convert that to another time zone here.) You can see photos in the the blog post below, or check out the listings in my Big Cartel shop, where you can also read descriptions and see the prices.  If you would like to receive a reminder by email at the time of the update, you can sign up for my newsletter here.

The Bird Gerhls - Four New Dolls

I can't seem to get away from this bird motif...it wasn't planned, but I will readily submit.  Below are the photos of my most recent dolls, and I'll be announcing the details of my shop update shortly (it's looking like Sunday).  I'll also be posting links to the shop listings so you can see prices and details in advance of the update itself.

Wren lives on a windswept outcrop where she feeds gulls from her hand and mostly keeps to herself.  The villagers think she's a witch.  I guess when you sequester yourself, wear vaguely victorian clothing and talk to birds, you're sort of poking the hive...

Gretchen is taller than every boy she's ever met and stronger, too.  She can only fit swallow eggs on her head, but she's channeling Ostrich all the way.

If there was a ballet called 'Bluebird' it would star Maeve.  But she wouldn't eat wet kleenex or stab the other dancers or get up to any of that other weirdo ballerina behaviour.  She'd make them all a nice cup of tea and offer up embroidered hankies.

Gisele is the weird one, let's be frank. She's a little bit gawky, a little bit of a bird herself. But she's fiercely loyal and can put up her dukes and when she gets into scraps defending one of the Bird Gerhls, she doesn't even get a run in her stockings.

Teeny weeny nests

Welcome to my new blog!  I must say, I love my new squarespace site.  Typepad is great, but for someone like me (ie. neither very tech-savvy nor patient enough to learn), I find squarespace much easier to navigate and it's far more visual when I want to make changes.  I found I was always putting off changing or adding to my old blog because I found it confusing and then got frustrated.  While I still have a bit more content to add and general snazzing up to do over here, I love the new clean look and I hope you'll enjoy it, too.

But on to the fun stuff.  I'm nearing completion of four dolls; I hope to have them finished over the weekend.  I've made a couple of tiny, Alexander McQueen-inspired nests to adorn some pretty little heads. 

I made the eggs and nests and felt somewhat insane doing so, but in a good way.  I've also made a few more flouncy skirts in the style of the tutus I made for the Black Swan ballerinas.  These ones are made from silk organza and I love how they manage to look both froufy and somewhat tattered.

Tata for now...I'll be back with more work in progress photos soon.