A Sweet Thanksgiving Finale

Happy Thanksgiving!  I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful feast surrounded by family and friends.  I am thankful for so many things in my life, including all of my terrific customers and students.

As a virtual “dessert”, to top off all of your harvest sweets, I am having a special sale on my Izannah Walker Class by Mail (click on this link) and my Spun Cotton Ornament Class by Mail (click on this link) from now through Monday, November 28, 2011.

Antique Inspiration

This is the most recent addition to my collection of antique spun cotton ornaments. I think that this chubby checked boy , dressed in red and white crepe paper, is in wonderful condition considering that he has celebrated 100 or so Christmases.

I was delighted to find this spun cotton ornament on Sunday, when I went to the Jenny Lind Doll Club’s annual Doll Show in Southbury, CT.   I wasn’t expecting to see any antique or vintage Christmas items, so he was a wonderful surprise.  I think he is quite adorable,  so much so that I plan to make reproductions of him for Christmas this year.  I’ll also be posting directions for creating a replica on my Spun Cotton Ornament class member only site for all of my students.

Cute from every direction!

Here he is again, along with two tiny vintage evergreen trees that I also bought at the show on Sunday. If you are wondering about the chest he is standing in front of, it's a small 2 drawer antique chest that I painted with mural like scenes of the Peaceable Kingdom.

One Week Sale

If you have been thinking about taking my Spun Cotton Ornament Class by Mail, now is the time!  I’m having a  sale, from today 9/25/11 through next Sunday 10/2/11, all reproduction Izannah Walker dolls, Izannah Walker Doll Making Classes, Izannah Walker Doll Clothes Patterns and Spun Cotton Ornament Classes are 10% off.  This sale includes custom order dolls and as always you are welcome to place items on lay-away.

Shopping at Castle in the Air

Last week I was in California, which gave me the opportunity to visit Castle in the Air in person.  I’ve been buying from them online for several years, so it was a treat to get to shop in the actual store.

They have a great selection of crepe paper, but since I already have quite a lot of their crepe paper in my stash, I limited my purchases to two rolls of white and black Halloween streamers.

Then I moved on to the adjacent display of Dresden trims.  I really went wild there!  They had so many great ones to choose from that it was hard to pick.

You can see some of my shopping frenzy from this action photo Definitely a good time!

Some of my other finds were a few fantastic postcards and yards and yards of 1/8 inch wide velvet ribbon.

We’ve only been home a week and we’ve had Tropical Storm Irene to contend with, so I haven’t had a chance to make any spun cotton ornaments with my new acquisitions (but I’ve dreamed up with some great ideas).  I did manage to work a few Dresdens and a lot of the velvet ribbon into the clothing for my latest Izannahs  

2011 Early American Life Holiday Directory

Spun Cotton Girl dressed in cream colored crepe paper dress, with red and green crepe paper petticoats, pom-poms, and collar. Accented with red silk ribbons.

I am quite honored to announce that I have been juried into Early American Life Magazine’s 2011 Holiday Directory of Traditional American Crafts.  This is the 24th time that my work has been selected for inclusion in the directory and it is still as much of a thrill as it was the first time.  Thank you Early American Life!

The directory will appear in the Christmas issue of Early American Life which will be out in late September.

Spun Cotton Christmas Kewpie with a handmade molded cotton head, red silk scarf and sprig of dried holly.

Are Spun Cotton Ornaments Like Needlefelting? and other interesting search terms…

One of the features of Word Press blogs is the ability to see the search engine terms that people use to find your blog.   I usually glance through them to get a feel for what people are interested in.  The one in particular that caught my eye today was “are spun cotton ornaments like needlefelting?”  I haven’t seen that one before, so for the inquiring soul who entered that search, the answer is no.  Spun cotton ornaments and needlefelting are nothing alike.  People are making some very adorable needlefelted figures, but the techniques used are quite different.

A popular search that has shown up a dozen times  this week, in various forms, is people who are looking for zebra and/or leopard print crepe paper streamers    In case you are wondering, I don’t have a source.  I did buy some quite a while ago from Hobby Lobby, but last time I checked they were no longer carrying them.  ( I never have figured out what to do with the ones I bought – I’m still waiting for inspiration to strike.)

Another first time search that I noticed today is “how do you stiffen crepe paper?”  You can’t really stiffen crepe paper, but by using a spray-on adhesive, you could glue two thicknesses together, which would give you a little more body.  Crepe paper is especially limp this time of year, due to the high humidity.  The humidity will also cause the colors to run and rub off on one another, if you are using two different colors right next to each other.

That is probably enough chit-chat about search engine terms to last for quite some time   But I’m sure that there will be other interesting searches tomorrow and the next day, that will lead people to this site…

Online Show Open at www.paulawalton.com

The show is open! Hours – Friday, June 24th at 8 p.m. Eastern Time through        10 p.m. Sunday, June 26th.

The show includes dolls, antique bears and toys, vintage and antique cooking items, small handcrafted treasures plus a few surprises for sale on a first come basis.  So don’t wait!

The show is  posted on my blog, www.paulawalton.com.  You will be able to view the show by visiting paulawalton.com from 8 p.m. Eastern Time on June 24th through 10 p.m. Eastern Time June 26th.   If you see something you would like to buy, you can either email me at paula@asweetremembrance.com or call me at 860-355-5709, please no phone calls before 9 a.m. or after 10p.m. Eastern Time.   I will be accepting checks, money orders and Paypal for payment.  You may also place items on lay away.  If you would like to pay using Paypal, I will invoice you.  If you wish to pay with a credit card, you may do so through Paypal as a guest – you do not have to open a Paypal account.

As always everything, except carousel horses and large pieces of furniture, will include free shipping.  If it is possible for you to come pick your purchases up in person, then I will subtract a bit from your total

I will be posting additional items throughout the weekend, so check back

Click on these links to go right to the show:

Dolls

Bears

Sewing & Fabric

Antique Children’s and Doll’s Furniture

Fanciful Hand Wrought Goods

Antique Kitchen and Cooking

Want to see more???  Visit my main website for more of my work.