First dolly listings on Etsy!

Hi, everyone!  I hope you are winding down the year in a special way and looking ahead with anticipation to a new year!  I'll (hopefully) be busy crafting in my studio into the wee hours.  I'm planning to focus more on this blog in the new year and to get going on lining up more interviews along with other posts.  I'm writing here today to let you know that I've just listed my first two doll-related items in my Etsy shop, Walnut Hill Handmade.  I'm hoping to branch out this year and sell clothes for both Blythe and American Girl dolls.  I'd love to have you pop over and check out the shop.

I'd also love to have you visit one of my other blogs, Walnut Hill Handmade.  I'm making an effort to blog more there in the new year too.  It's a place where I'll document and write about my creative process, what I've been crafting, and anything else I'm inspired to write about!!  Hope to see you THERE!!

Here are a few photos to give you a little peek at what's listed in the Etsy shop.

Introducing............Ellyn

I'm happy to announce that my doll family has recently grown by one.  I've added an American Girl doll to the mix.  She arrived about a week ago, but I'm only just now finding time to share about her.   I have to say that I'm completely impressed with the quality of this doll.  She is truly lovely and I can't find anything not to love about her.  Her hair is absolutely gorgeous.  I'm looking forward to styling it.  It will be a treat for me since I only have sons.  An extra bonus that she won't scream when I comb out the snarls.

For those of you with lots of American Girl (AG) knowledge, she is a My American Girl, #55.  I wanted to choose a doll that would most likely resemble what my daughter might look like if I had a daughter.  So I chose a doll with hazel eyes and brown hair just like me.  I don't have freckles, however.  If I'd been able to choose a doll with wavy brown hair, hazel eyes, and NO freckles, I probably would have.  But I really liked her and had seen good reviews and beautiful photos of her on other blogs.  I'm so glad I chose her.  I've named her Ellyn.  That's a combination of my middle name and maiden name, at least the way I've chosen to spell it.  As of now, she doesn't have a middle name.  I am SUPER excited to sew for her.  I've already made her a pair of jeans using a Liberty Jane pattern.  I'm going to start selling exclusive outfits for 18-inch dolls in the new year in my Etsy shop.  Ellyn will be my model.  She'll probably be sad that I'm selling all the beautiful clothes she's modelling, but I'll let her keep some for herself too.  Here are some photos I took of her right after I opened her box.  I will take more photos of her soon.

Here she is in her box right before I opened it.  

Close-up to show she's a #55.

Somewhat poor quality photo, but I was snapping this super-quick before one of my piano students arrived for a lesson.  This is how she looked right out of the box.  She still had her hair net on at this point.

Even with the distracting background and less than ideal lighting, you can see how gorgeous she is.  LOVE HER!! 

I'm still here........with new goodies for Talia

I am so sorry I've neglected this blog for almost a month!!  I have a sewing business on the side and have been so busy getting custom orders done for Christmas.  Things are finally settling down a bit and I wanted to pop in here and show you two AWESOME items that came in the mail for me today!  With some of the money from my own Etsy shop sales, I decided to buy Talia (my Blythe doll) a few items for Christmas.  I'm so, so happy with her new items and so glad to support other fine ladies making lovely handmade items.  It was also really fun to tell my oldest son (who loves geography) that we got a package from Great Britain and from Sweden on the same day.  THAT has never happened before!!  

Without further ado..........I present Talia in her new winter duds.

From the Etsy shop, Cannonbelle, in the UK, I ordered Talia a little green sweater.  Green is my favorite color and I fell in love with this sweater as soon as I saw it.  It fits perfectly and is completely adorable. 

NOTE:  I'm still getting used to how to best photograph Talia.  I realized after just adding this to the post that I should have slipped her stand under the sweater so it wouldn't show in the photo.  Oh well!!  She still looks sweet in her new sweater.

From GenePDollShop in Sweden, I ordered this fabulous Christmas hat. I loved the white eyelash yarn trim and the Christmasy buttons.  SO SWEET!! 

Since we just got our first snow of the year last night, I decided to take Talia outside to photograph her in the snow.  Although I'm still practicing how to get good doll photos, I thought these turned out pretty good!   The jeans Talia is wearing in these photos were made by me.  I'm hoping to have some Blythe clothing for sale in my own Etsy shop in the new year.  I'm completely revamping the shop website and blog right now.  I'll be sure to share more about the shop when it's ready to launch in its new format.