Note To Self: Do Not Paint Around A Cat

Hi, Primmies,
I have started a Christmas project tonight. I am making a Santa Sculpture from paper clay and papermache. It stands on a little teensie papermache
round box and is so darn cute I can't stand it!
I started painting the little box (another note to self: don't do this again at
Twelve-thirty in the morning) and learned the hard way to dust and vacuum the craft room before painting, and put away all kitties.
Of course I dropped the little box and when I picked it up, yep, kitty hair all over the wet paint. Ugh, just wiped it off and started over.
Here's the little guy all finished from the Better Homes and Gardens website:

Photo Copyright Meredith Corp.,bhg.com

This will be my first paper clay project. I want to get warmed up before  I make an Izannah Walker doll. They aren't as easy as they look to be to sculpt the little faces. 

Paper clay and Modge Podge are so expensive so I've found lots of websites with home made recipes to make them both. I'm trying a paper clay recipe later today (I need Mr. Carpenter's linseed oil and it's at the job site). I can't wait to see if they come out the same as the store bought.

There are basically two different ways to make the paper clay, with and without tissue paper soaked and squeezed out, and some other things I can't quite remember right now. But I've bookmarked the sites and if anyone is interested I'll look for them and give you the links.

I have a package of paper clay from the store and I'm trying that first, and want to keep some to compare with my home made stuff.

See, if I stuck to ONE thing at a time, these things wouldn't happen to me,

like a furball in my wet paint!

Take care of yourselves,

Susan

Inside The Clutter Of My Mind

(Long Post, girls - you might want to save me for last)


Hi, Prim Friends- 
I've been encouraged by the numerous posts from fellow bloggers about them taking time to think about and do the things that they love.
Do you ever see patterns, fabrics, books, etc., and
just have to have them? And then you don't know what to do first? Or worse, like me, forget that you
even have all of these things unstarted? Well, I've
realized that I could do this the rest of my life and
that's just silly. So I had to pick (and it was really
difficult) just two mediums to concentrate on and
to actually make something.  I don't know how it's going to play out with my physical disability but
I'm going for it!
I see from my 'stash' that my passion lies with all
things fabric, so I chose to begin with cross stitching a sampler, which I did a lot of years ago, and to do
something brand new and a real challenge, which is
trying to make my own version of an Izannah Walker inspired doll:

 a

The sampler I chose to start with is from an original
1732 miniature band sampler stitched by a woman
named Dorothy Allen, Ethan Allen's cousin. I live not far from the Vermont border and I love history
about the Revolutionary War, so I decided to start
with this sampler. Plus, it's the easiest one in the book! 
The reason they are called band samplers is due to the fact that 16th and 17th century looms did not weave fabric any wider than 9 inches in width. In the 18th century the looms could weave a wider piece of cloth.  But the earliest samplers , English as well, were stitched on narrow, long 'bands' of linen.
When finished, this sampler will be only 3 7/8 x
six and 1/2 inches. Dorothy also omitted the letters
U and J and spelled 'samplar' instead of sampler, all three being common for samplers stitched in this time.
Also, her numbers are not marked and stitched in straight lines, she used them in the date, her age and at the bottom with her 'pine trees'.
This book was a treasured gift from my sweet
Mr. Glen Oaks. I have wanted the book FOREVER and I can't believe I finally have it. Another thing that I had wanted to do but never had the money for was to take Dixie Redmond's Izannah Walker Work-
shop online class. Well, Mr. G.O.P. did it again, he
got me the next best thing, Dixie's eBook in PDF:

Unfortunately I can't show you anymore of the
Izannah book like I can of the samplers. This is
Dixie's own book and I don't have permission to
share online.  I also got some patterns for gifts by
another talented artist that I have wanted forever,
Gail Wilson, a published doll maker. She and Dixie
have both been in Early American Life's Directory of Artisans. Wow, these ladies are awesomely talented.
Here is Gail's pattern for an Izannah Girl and Boy doll pair:

Sorry, Mr. Glen Oaks Jr. scanned for me and it went the other way. I also have her pattern for the perfectly round head Columbian Style Doll:

There, that's the right way! Now, Dixie's workshop
takes you through the clay sculpted face and
shoulderplate over cloth doll method. I'm not sure I'm ready for that, so I'm going to start with the
Izannah Pattern above. I will make the girl first and
hopefully the boy will follow. I love to see dolls in pairs of boy and girl. They are usually one or the other sold singly. And to make sure that it's goof proof, Gail includes vellum transfers for the eyes and the curls in the hair that Izannah was known for. I also have the 'cheek pouncer' to make Gail's perfect feathered cheeks. And a set of her oil colors that she mixes for the flesh tone and the other features. And I've got her own blend of antiquing wax for the final step. I don't know, gals, can I do it?
I still have to learn the needle felting dog that Joyce and dear Prudence sent to me. See, I'm cluttered in the head again...
I'm planning on reading where I left off with Dixie's book, I always read through whatever I'm going to make before I start, just like a cooking recipe. The eBook is large so it's going to take a while. The boys are all sick here (cats included), the little guy brought the germs with him from his little sister back in New York. So it's slowly creeping through to the mister and I have a twinge of it. Mostly just a piercing headache over my left eye and temple. They are horribly congested in the chest and head. The coughing is bad, I am trying to avoid them as best I can since I was just sick for weeks. Ugghhh... kids are little germ vessels, poor things.  
I'm going to share some history on samplers with you and I didn't forget about the excerpts from my old cookery book. The boys went to the fish market for dinner items, I hope they have tilapia. This is day two of my weight loss healthy eating plan. It will be broiled fish with a dash of extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkle of bread crumbs and capers, rice pilaf and a salad. This healthy eating ain't bad!
Later, primmies -
Susan

It's Feeling A Little Izzie Around Here(As In Izannah Walker Dolls)

I'll give you fair warning: this post is very long!

Mr. Glen Oaks and I plan to visit the New Bedford Whaling Museum when his son and mother return from Florida the end of the second week in August. Mom is staying for a week, Glen Oaks Jr., will probably go home to New York a day or so after arriving. He's been in Florida since July 4th and misses his mom and baby sister, Izzie.
So, thinking of that (see how my mind works?) prompted me to find out if there were any Izannah Walker dolls perchance in the museum since it's sort of close to Izannah Walker's hometown in Rhode Island. There is!

Isn't she beautiful?

Here is a description of this lovely doll who resides in The New Bedford Whaling Museum:
Walker, Izannah
Date:1848 - 1900
Material: leather, cotton, lace, paint
Dimensions: [H]17" [W]4" [D]
17" from head to feet, 4" across shoulders
DESCRIPTION: The doll has a painted leather head, hands, feet, and body. She is wearing a cream colored, long-sleeved floral print dress (yellow, purple, and blue flowers, green leaves), with high lace collar and cream colored knickers with lace around the bottoms. The undergarents consist of two cream colored petticoats, one plain petticoat, and one petticoat of a thicker material with a stitched border.

Another "Izzie" resides in the Little Compton Historical Society in Rhode Island. This isn't far from where Izannah Walker lived and worked in Central Falls, RI.

Here is the description of this doll as given from the Little Compton Historical Society website:


Izannah WalkerDescriptionMolded cloth doll. Figure of a girl with painted brown hair and eyes. Pink skin. Cotton dress with cream-colored background and green pattern. Cream-colored underskirt with crocheted trim. Brown leather shoes with decorative accent on top of shoes, and fasten at ankle. On metal stand with base. Housed in plastic hood.Datec1860MaterialCloth, cotton, paint, leather, metalDimensionsH-20.75 W-10 D-7.5 inchesMakers markBottom of shoes ”BRU Jne/PARIS”, ”6”Category9: Recreational ArtifactsSub-categoryToyCatalog Number2000.0129ProvenanceGrandmother Snow (see notes)

”Peggy - A little account written by Grandmother Snow” Peggy is one of the rag dolls which were made by two ladies in Providence many years ago. I was born in 1860 and Peggy was given Peggy was given to me when I was a very little girl, so young that I do not remember when I first had the doll. The clothes she then wore were old-fashioned, but long since worn out and thrown out.
I have tried to make her present warded (wardrobe) be as nearly like the original as I could from memory.
The green silk chaillie gown I make from pieces of a dress once worn by Mrs. James Arnold, who lived in the house on County Street, now owned and occupied by the Wamsutta Club. The material probably was bought in France, as such was not made in this country at that time - probably 1850-1860.
The original dress worn by Mrs. Arnold was given later to my Aunt Mary Taber, then made over and worn by my cousin Mary Kempton Tabor, and still later given, or handed down to my Mother, who make a little dress for me of the best goods remaining. This was worn at a later period by Agatha Snow, Edith Snow an Deborah Snow. This doll’s dress is fit only for the purpose of an exhibition - it is so frail and old now. Peggy was given to the LCHS by Mrs. Robert Snow of West Road Little Compton, RI 6/22/70SourceMrs Robert SnowReceived asGiftDate Received1970Image004\2000.0129.JPG

So much wonderful history of this doll. I love how the doll dress was made over and over from the girls' dresses.
Here is another Izannah Walker doll in the Little Compton Historical Society:

This Izannah is from The Wisconsin Historical Society Online Collection:

This is the description of the doll in the blue dress in Little Compton:
Label reads: ”Izannah Walker Doll made of painted cloth put into a mould to create the head, shoulder, arms and legs. Restored in 1986 by Mrs. Elizabeth McIntyre”
Doll has short brown hair and a painted face. She is dressed in a blue checked linen dress with two layers of white cotton petticoats and a pair of pantalettes. She has black painted shoes. She is stored in a clear plastic

My favorite doll is the one in the last photo. She was made between 1855 and 1860. This date is based on the type of clothing the doll is wearing. This wonderful little doll was named "Tillie" by her owner, Alice Kent Trimpey.
She was born in 1864 and lived until 1949. She resided in Baraboo, Wisconsin. Mrs.Trimpey wrote a book
entitled "The Story Of My Dolls".

The clothing on this doll is extraordinary, and looks to be hand sewn and the original clothes. She wears pantalettes that are trimmed in lace and ruffles. They even have tucks such as a little girls would have. She wears two
petticoats; one is made from white wool with hand embroidered hem trim, the second made from a cotton stripe material with a trim made from tatted lace. The dress is a soft blue green with brown and white plaid cotton. The dress is two-piece, a gathered waist and a very deep tuck at the bottom hem. There is even a HOOP at the bottom of skirt. The blouse of the dress has dropped shoulders and and long full sleeves. The neckline is trimmed in black velvet. Her little apron is made from off-white linen trimmed with bands of multi-colored florals on the pockets, the bib and the skirt of the apron.  She has black painted on lace-up boots. She is made of cloth and  oil painted on her head and face with her trademark little corkscrew curls at the back of her neck and in front of her applied ears.
She's stuffed with fiber/cloth and has a wood reinforced body construction. She has joints at the knees, elbows,
her hips and shoulders. Such detail and effort certainly went into the making of this little doll and her clothing.
Just exquisite!

I read somewhere that because there were so many variations of this doll that some might have possibly been
portrait dolls, but no definite proof on this. I'll have to ask Dixie Redmond, she knows just about all there is to know regarding Izannah Walker dolls. She teaches an online workshop for Izzies and you should see the gallery of her
student's work. Go over to http://izannahwalkerworkshop.blogspot.com/ to see the dolls made from her workshop.       They are all uniquely beautiful.
Tomorrow I'd like to do a post on paper mache Greiner dolls and composition dolls from Germany.
Until then, Primmies..