I have a pretty new blog
It will replace my little jenny wren dolls blog
It will be for all sorts of dolly things.
Please come and visit , we have tea and cake and we are just starting to think about Christmas
Monday
After an unusually busy weekend of Kate's hockey finals and Andy's uni stuff and visiting Louis in Hobart,
I am slowly getting my day together.
The washing's on the line, the house has been dusted and swept and all the bibs and bobs have found their way back to where they belong.
The postman delivered my lovely Paris postcards, Christmas gifts I think for my Paris loving sister ( who doesn't read my blog)
He also gave me a parcel containing this lovely book, 'Stitched in Time, a late birthday present to myself.
I do hope my readers from the US east coast are safe and dry.
Have a lovely week everyone
These three dolls, dressed in their best clothes rather than the borrowed dress they are wearing now, will be in the shop on Sunday 28th August at 6.30am.
You can find the time and day for your area here
And it's not too late to register for the Goodie Goodie Gumdrops draw for a preupdate shopping trip to buy the doll of your choice from this week's update.
Edna and Enid
You know when we first bought our home in 1988 I was completely besotted with the garden designs of Edna Walling.
I so wanted to make our garden just like something she would have designed.
I made plans but never really carried them out, I had children instead and life moved on, the garden and trees grew and matured and for the past few years really I have left it to itself and it has suffered.
The other day I was watching a film about Enid Blyton's life and her home Green Hedges featured a lot in the film because she wrote from home.
It wasn't the real Green Hedges because that was pulled down after her death.
By the way the film stars Helena Bonham Carter , one of my favourites but I really liked all the other actors too, delicious Matthew Macfadyen who was of course in Little Dorrit, Denis Lawson who was in Bleak House, Claire Rushbrook who was wonderful as the Nurse and Enid's confidante and two gorgeous little girls Ramona Marquez and Sinead Michael, who played her daughters.
I have actually watched it four times now, just love the costumes and settings and the story.
You can watch it on youtube
Anyway, Enid Blyton was born around the same time as Edna Walling, Edna was born in Devon and moved to Australia via New Zealand when she was 17.
Enid's home, that she shared with her children, was in Buckinghamshire so nowhere near Devon, and Enid the film was filmed in Surrey, BUT the road leading to the house reminded me of the Dandenongs area and Mt Macedon area of Victoria where Edna did some of her work that it set my mind to thinking about Edna Walling.
I just love these turn of the century ( last century) ladies.
My Granny was one of them but her sphere was her home, not books or other people's gardens, but there are so many wonderful women from that time.
So now you see how my mind works and I have actually googled Edna Walling and found many lovely pictures of her gardens many of which were planted around the time my own house was being built.
When I was besotted with her so many years ago I didn't have access to the internet.
I will order some books from the library too and see if her vision still excites me and we'll see what difference that will make to my garden.
ps... and I'll tell you another lady from that time who really interests me is Nan Chauncy, the Tasmanian author.
She had such an interesting life, wonderful!
She had such an interesting life, wonderful!
handmade toys
Buying handmade toys for your children can be very expensive I know.
Part of the reason I started making dolls was because I couldn't easily afford to buy the doll I wanted for my daughter.
That of course was only part of the reason because I have always enjoyed making things by hand especially things that involve needles and thread and yarn and soft cottons and wools and felt.
When Kate was just a baby I went to a Steiner (Waldorf) parenting course and there I found a lovely bunch of like minded people who wanted to help their children have a wonderful childhood filled with nature and colour and handmade goodness.
Some got a little side tracked into thinking they had to buy all the Steiner props to ensure a wondrous childhood but most got the message that it was the atmosphere of the home and the conscious parenting that were the most important.
Nonetheless it is a joy to surround your child with a calm rhythmic home filled with handmade lovelies, handmade by you, by your child and by others whose work is filled with positive energy and peace.
Two books that I loved to use when my children were small and that I am revisiting now that those days have passed are Toymaking with Children by Freya Jaffke and The Children's Year by Stephanie Cooper, Christine Fynes-Clinton and Marye Rowling.
The latter book especially I found inspirational and have used many many times. The children often used this book to make Christmas presents .
The simple line drawings and instructions belie the wonderful results.
Don't be afraid to make toys with and for your children.
Don't think everything you make has to be a step towards becoming a professional toymaker.
Don't think everything you make has to last forever, little paper and string creations can just be for a day, a week or a season and then recycled.
Don't think everything you make has to last forever, little paper and string creations can just be for a day, a week or a season and then recycled.
Enjoy the process and enjoy the fact that there is no pressure for perfection.
You are creating to satisfy your own need to create, to give your child a new plaything and to show your children that it's possible to make toys as well as buy.
You may find new skills or polish up old forgotten skills or add to skills you use everyday.
It's a great example for your children and they will come to believe that mummy or daddy truly can do anything, magic!
Oh and I found a blog that is doing a craft along based on The Children's Year, you might like to take a look
Find your Niche
Niche finishes today.
Can't wait for November Niche because little jenny wren dolls will be there too...
it's been too long Niche my dear, it's been too long.
Kate's jewellery
Kate had her first market for her beautiful jewellery on Sunday.
She worked so hard to get the jewellery made, she is so busy with school and sport and you can probably see that she looks a little tired.
Sunday was also my birthday and she wanted to make my day special so she was up late wrapping my presents as prettily as she could as well as making sure she was as organised as possible for the market
and she had a great day.
She sold lots of pieces and she was very very happy.
I had my dolls there too because she is too young to have a stall on her own.
We are going again in September and I will have some smaller dolls to sell but I think the highlight of the stall will still be Kate's beautiful work.
I am so proud of her.
I knitted dolly shoes and ate birthday chocolates and chatted while she helped her customers.
I have never in my adult life worked on my birthday but this year I did and we had the best day.
( she does have a little shop but she has been too busy with studying for her maths and science test to actually finish listing things. She is hoping to be able to get them done tomorrow night)
Gracie
Last night, when the dolls went in the shop, they all sold pretty quickly except this little one, Gracie.
She sat there the whole night, on the shelf by herself and this morning I did a few new pictures with her, wondering if perhaps my hurried photos yesterday hadn't captured her true spirit.
She sat on the window ledge and listened to the birds and she gazed at herself in the mirror
and tomorrow she will be packed up and shipped off to her new home
because she isn't sitting all alone on the shelf any longer.
goodie goodie gumdrops
It's that time again.
Time for goodie goodie gumdrops.
If you would like the chance to have first choice of the dolls that will be going into the shop on the 14th just email me at littlejennywrendolls@live.com.au to be included in the draw.
If your name is chosen I will contact you on the 13th and you can buy whichever doll you want from this shop update before the dolls go into the shop.
If you don't see a doll that you like well that's OK.
Registration is for this shop update only and you will need to register again for future
goodie goodie gumdrops
to market, to market
This little one has flown off to her new home
Soft pretty colours and a little round face
Lots more dollies to be finished off this week ready for the Longford Makers Market on Sunday and what ever doesn't sell will go into my shop after the market.
We will be three generations on our market stall, Kate is selling her jewellery, I am selling dolls, quilts and toys and Mum is knitting booties and bonnets and scarves and baby toys.
I agreed to have the stall mainly for Kate to sell her creations but it's kind of nice that we are all involved. Mind you we could add a few more if my sister wanted to do some of her mosaic work and my auntie could do some embroidery and crochet and my sister in law could certainly cook something delicious.
Wouldn't that be something?
Found this video of Hobart here, a gorgeous blog full of gorgeous Tasmanian food.
Ah, Tassie.
Now, what's for lunch?
Today we had the pleasure of visiting Mount Gnomon Farm, up behind Penguin on the beautiful northwest coast.
It was wet, it was cold, it was incredibly muddy and very very piggy.
How cute are all these little guys.
Kate had to do a geography project on a farm, we contacted the lovely Eliza and Guy and they graciously shared their little piece of heaven with us.
Eliza took us all around the farm, answered all Kate's questions and all mine and Stephen's too and made us a yummy afternoon tea.
Guy was at the footie.
Please visit their blog to read all about what their wonderful farm
and just how beautiful is Tasmania, especially at this time of the year. If you want to see more of pictures of Tasmania, go here
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