So, What's It To Ya?

Both of these adorable little boys are my grandsons. 

This picture was taken during the Christmas holidays and my grandson (in the red sweater) couldn't get enough of his older cousin. 

I just love to look at this picture. Every time I look at this picture I laugh because I can't help but think my grandson (who is in the red sweater) is saying to everyone "So, what's it to ya?" What do you think?

The Tide Has Turned For My Victorian Doll Patterns!

We promised to let you know from time to time what the results were for our "Should our Victorian "Ladies" remain faceless?" poll. Well, I'm really amazed by this but the tide has turned and the Victorian Doll Poll is running 2 out of 3 against my Victorian "Ladies" doll patterns being faceless. So now 61% feel they should have faces and 39% feel they shouldn't.

As far as the sexes are concerned, 95% of the responders were female (no surprise there) with only ONE lone vote cast by a very brave male. So we've had 40 females voting and 1 male (albeit a very brave male) casting a lone vote.

So now the tide has turned. You want faces. Will it turn back? Only time and more votes will tell.

I'm currently in the process of making and designing more doll patterns. Whether or not they remain faceless is a secret. Do they or don't they have faces? Hmm..... Only their designer (me) knows for sure. Sounds like that old hair dye commercial, doesn't it? Does she or doesn't she? Only her hairdresser knows for sure.

So, the tide has turned! Hmmm, very interesting.

How Can You Not Love These Faces?

I really don't know how you could look at these two and not instantly love them? They are just adorable. Of course, I can't be impartial when it comes to them. They're my grandsons. And, yes they are twins. Today, on February 17th they are having a birthday party. They are one year old today. HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY, BOYS!

One year old. WOW! Isn't that a ripe old age? Wouldn't you just love to be young again? My answer to that would be - I do and I don't. It's not that I want to be one again or fifteen or even thirty-five. I love being the age I am. It's just, sometimes, having more years than I currently might have(I'm on the down side of the half century curve) would be nice. Please don't misunderstand me. I don't want to relive my youth. I just want more time for all the things I want to do. I just don't have enough time. Between my family, my Linda's Blog, my Linda Walsh Originals website, my doll pattern designing, my sewing, my reading, my genealogy, my floral designing, etc. I simply don't have enough time. There are not enough hours in the day.

But, I absolutely had to make time to wish my two precious grandsons a very HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY. Sometimes it's amazing to think of what the future holds in store for them. I'm sure that by the time they are their grandfathers and my age they will have seen so many things and probably done more than we could ever have dreamed of.

So, before the years fly away we just wanted to wish them a very Happy Birthday and sing Happy Birthday to them.

Here goes - Happy 1st Birthday to you!
Happy 1st Birthday to you!
Happy 1st Birthday to our darling grandsons!
Happy Birthday to you!

Grampy and I are sending you thousands of Hugs and Kisses.

XO XO XO XO XO XO XO XO XO XO XO XO XO XO XO XO XO XO XO XO XO XO XO XO XO XO XO XO XO XO XO XO XO

The Story Behind My "Baby Nicky" Doll

"Baby Nicky" was named after my grandson, Nicky, who I affectionately call "Noodles." Like his brother he too is adorable, cuddly, lovable, and has the most enviable head of brown curly hair that you'd ever want to see. I would give my eye teeth, so to speak, for his curly hair. He, on the other hand, would probably prefer my straight hair. Well, boys will be boys, and girls will be girls. We always want just the opposite, don't we?

My grandson "Nicky" was born premature at 31 weeks weighting 3 pounds 1 ounce and spent the first 9 weeks of his life in an intensive care unit. The nurses there were exceptional and treated Nicky as if he were one of their own. In fact, I began to wonder, at times, if they were dragging out his release just because they loved him so.

Fifteen minutes after Nicky was born his Dad took us in to the intensive care unit to see him. I couldn't get over how humanly perfect he was at just 3 pounds 1 ounce. He just looked like a very, very tiny little man. I don't know what I was expecting to see but, he just took my breathe away. Even then he had a full head of brown hair. It wasn't curly just yet but would be within a matter of time.

His Mom, who was my biggest fan besides my husband and my Mother, used to give me all Nicky's baby clothes and shoes for my dolls. I know she was hoping that they would all come back to her in one way or another in the form of a doll for her house. A lot did.

In any event, I just loved all Nicky's little baby clothes. There's just something special about tiny little Reeboks and little denims. I can remember shopping with her one day at a "Baby Gap" store. We went in and just laughed and laughed at how tiny everything was. I just loved all the clothes and so did she. We went shopping several times after that for clothes for Nicky and always came away laughing. Sometimes we bought some. Sometimes we just went to look and laugh.

So, I knew I wanted to create a doll that would remind me of Nicky and his full head of curly brown hair and his most adorable baby clothes. That's how "Baby Nicky" was born. Isn't he adorable? Don't you just want to grab all those curls? I do. In fact, I used to hate it when his father would cut all his curls off. I tried to teach "Nicky" to tell his Dad "Don't cut my Hair!" It didn't work. Maybe someday Nicky will realize how beautiful his head of curly brown hair is and leave it alone. Yeah, sure, Nana! Dream on!

Baby Nicky is a 20" baby boy doll pattern. Nicky is a free-standing boy doll in his pajamas and ready for bedtime. He has an undershirt, flannel jacket with long rolled sleeves and pipe trim, and flannel pajama bottoms. He has round black button eyes, a fabric covered wood head, wood body and wood feet covered with slipper socks. He has long curly brown hair and has a night cap knotted at the end on his head. He is carrying a teddy bear in his left hand and a cherished flannel blankie in his right hand.

Every time I look at the "baby Nicky" doll I can't help but remember how small and tiny "Nicky" was at 3 pounds 1 ounce and think "how precious life is!"

Copyright © 2004 - 2023 - All Rights Reserved - Designed and Written By Linda Walsh

Nana, Will You Make Me A Shirt?

I'm so glad the Christmas holiday season is finally over with and ALL my Christmas decorations are finally put away. It seems like that took forever to do between the snow storms and my Linda Walsh Originals website. But, before I put Christmas 2005 to bed I wanted to tell you all a cute story about something that my 6 year old grandson said.

It was Christmas Eve and we had the family and all the grandchildren over for the day. After we had opened the presents and everyone was just kind of mulling around my 5 year old grandson came over to me and tapped me on the shoulder. I looked at him and he said, "Nana, could you make me a shirt!" I replied, "I'd love to Noodles (that's my name for him). I'll make you one sometime." Well, he replied, "No, Nana! I mean now, like right this very second." I responded, "How can I do that right now, Noodles?" and he replied, "Do it on your machine!" and pointed to my sewing machine.

At first I thought how can I explain to him all that would be involved in making him a shirt and why I couldn't do it right that very second. I decided he wouldn't understand that I needed fabric and would need to buy a pattern or would need to measure him to create a pattern. Then I'd have to cut it out and sew it, measure him, etc.

In his beautiful little mind Nana makes everything else so she could easily make him a shirt. So, I decided that instead of explaining why I couldn't do it right away that I'd hug him and give him a big kiss and tell him "OKAY! I'll try to do it in a minute!" Well, he was happy that I would and then he got distracted (which I knew he would) and was off to play with his presents. For me, I was left with a wonderful feeling that in my grandson's eyes there wasn't anything I couldn't do and that was a feeling I'd remember forever.

"Noodles" was off happy and content that Nana was going to make something special just for him. However, I know that at some point in time he's going to turn to me and say, "Nana, where's my shirt?" If I don't want to disappoint him I'd better get working on it.

The Story Behind My "Elmers Little Boy" Doll Pattern

One of my first posts was "The Story Behind Elmers Little Boy." I thought it would be fun to post it again as it's such a nice story. So, here's the post:

In thinking about what to write next for my blog I thought it might be a good idea to tell the story behind some of the dolls I have created. I'd like to begin with the story behind Elmers Little Boy. So here goes..... My sister-in-laws parents who are in their 80's recently had a yardsale because they were moving into a much smaller house. Elmer (my sister-in-laws father) had an old plastic kewpie doll that had previously belonged to his deceased sister that he had kept I think in his toolbox (I might have that wrong).

In any event, he had held on to this doll for over many, many years. The only problem with the doll was that it had no clothes. He was going to throw it away but decided instead to give it to me. I was touched as I got the sense that this doll had a lot of sentimental value for him. In any event, I decided to take it home and design some clothes for it. I wanted an early american little boy look so I decided on pantaloons, a vest, shirt, and scully cap. Since I had already designed the clothes for his kewpie I decided to design a cloth doll as well. A little while later I took the plastic kewpie doll (with his new clothes) back to Elmer. Elmer was thrilled. It touched my heart to see how happy he was with my gift. Elmer's kewpie doll now sits proudly on the top of his bureau (I think).

I named my cloth pattern Elmer's Little Boy after Elmer's plastic kewpie doll. Elmers Original Kewpie is shown above and my Elmers Little Boy cloth version is shown below. The clothes for both dolls were made from some of Elmer's old clothes that I had gotten from his yard sale. I hope you like both dolls.

My Version - Elmers Little Boy.

The Story Behind My "Brian Snow Buddy" Doll Pattern

The snowguy to the left is called "Brian Snow Buddy" and is named after one of my grandsons. I named him that because he is just so adorable, as is my grandson. He's my buddy, as is my grandson. He's my pal, as is my grandson. He's so squeezable, as is my grandson. He's just so huggable, as is my grandson. He's just so lovable, as is my grandson. He's so......Stop it, Nana. You're embarrassing me. Who said that? "Brian Snow Buddy" or my grandson Brian? Both. Nah! They both love compliments.

"Brian Snow Buddy" is a 5" snowman doll pattern and is actually the first doll pattern in my "stout" doll pattern series. Brian has many more "cousins" from the "stout" family series that are being created as we speak and will be making their debut in the next few weeks.

Brian is a free-standing snowman with a warm & natural cloth body, embroidered face with black eyes, flannel vest, fringed scarf, snow cap with bell , and carries a small I (heart) snow sign. Small bows decorate his vest. His pattern is very easy to make. He is available as an E-pattern snowman doll pattern or print snowman doll pattern.

When I was designing this doll he kept telling me "make me like Brian." I know, you think I'm crazy that the dolls talk to me. It's bad enough that they talk to me after they're created but before too. Well, yah. Anyway, I had to make something that was as adorable, squeezable, lovable and excitable as Brian was as a little boy. Still is for that matter. He had the cutest fiery red cheeks. Talk about excitable. At Christmas time he could barely control himself. Back to the story. So, "Brian Snow Buddy" became the most adorable lovable, excitable, and squeezable snowman around. Go on, give him a squeeze or a hug. He'll love it. So will you.

Brian Snow Buddy just loves the snow, as does my grandson. "Brian Snow Buddy" is strong in body, as is my grandson. He's determined, bold and brave, as is my grandson. He's stubborn, staunch and firm, as is my grandson. He's powerful and forceful, as is my grandson. He's bulky in figure, thick set and corpulent, as is.......OOPS! That's not my grandson. He's a lean, mean fighting machine and I LOVE HIM. Stop it, Nana! You're embarrassing me. Who said that? My grandson or "Brian Snow Buddy?"

Copyright © 2004 - 2023 - All Rights Reserved - Designed and Written By Linda Walsh

The Story Behind "Nellie" - My Victorian Snowlady Doll

Two things today got me to thinking about "Nellie" my Victorian snowlady doll pattern. The first is that it is once again snowing outside. This is the fourth time this week. I'm beginning to think that Mother Nature is out to get us or, at the very least, inundate us with snow.

The second is a comment from my husband. When the Christmas decorations are put away the Winter decorations, also known as snow people, make their appearance. In the front foyer of our house I have a seasonal display. Right now there is a large floral basket with all the winter blue colors and three of my snow people dolls there. The focal point of the winter display is my "Nellie" Victorian snowlady doll.

"Nellie" was named after my husband's Grand Aunt who was born in May of 1889, definitely during the Victorian Era. Or, at the very least, towards the end of the Victorian Era. All I could think of while I was designing her was that "Nellie" had to have been a bit on the shy, defined, and eloquent side. So, my "Nellie" had to be also.

Yah, so? Linda, will you please get to the second reason!!! Okay, okay. You know how I love to get off track. In any event, my husband told me yesterday that he thinks that my "Nellie" Victorian snowlady doll is the best doll I've ever made. Well, I couldn't agree with him more. She really is quite stunning. I have to keep that to myself though as "Nellie" is quite full of herself as are most of the dolls I've made. She just loves to be on display and begged me to show you the new pictures that I've just taken of her so you could judge for yourselves.

"Nellie" is a free-standing 23" tall and is wearing an 1893 Victorian Ladies Street Costume. She has a fancy double-tiered lace trimmed dress, full length double-tiered laced trimmed (inside and out) lined jacket with long puffed sleeves, fancy lace and floral decorated lined hat, lace trimmed and gathered slip, lace trimmed and gathered bloomers, lace trimmed parasol, and lace gloves. Her arms are wire-shaped and covered. Her hair is white with bangs and is fastened in a bun. Her face is partly embroidered and she has a covered Styrofoam head and cloth body supported by a wood dowel and covered wood base. Her fancy hat is tied with a lace ribbon into a bow on the side of her head.

"Nellie" is one of my more advanced patterns and requires a more experienced sewer. It's not that she is "difficult" herself (she told me to tell you that) it's just that her clothing is intricately designed. Her lined coat is adorned with lace both inside and out.

So, what do you think? Is she stunning? If you think so, please don't tell her. Make sure you send me a confidential e-mail. "Nellie" is quite the snoop and if she found out there would be no living with her then. She'd want to be on display year round. And then I'd have "Dollie WWIII" going on in my house. Please, please if you think she's gorgeous let ME know. Just don't tell "Nellie."

Copyright © 2004 - 2023 - All Rights Reserved - Designed and Written By Linda Walsh

Create Keepsake Dolls From Your Kids and Grandkids Baby Clothes

I just got a wonderful package of baby clothes from my daughter-in-law the other day that contained some baby jeans from my twin grandsons. I was THRILLED. Seems like a strange thing to be thrilled by, doesn't it? Not for me. I see old kids clothes and immediately think about the dolls I can use them on.

The reason she gave them to me is that every one in my family knows never to throw away their old socks, flannel shirts, baby clothes, vintage material, fancy dresses, baby shoes, etc. They all know that they should give them to me as I will utilize everything and anything craft related and love to recycle old materials (especially old Victorian dresses).

In my previous article entitled "The Story Behind My Baby Nicky Doll" I mentioned that his mother, my step-daughter, used to give me all his baby clothes and shoes. I just loved this as little baby jeans, pants, corduroys, sneakers and shoes can all be utilized as is or just slightly altered to make some great doll outfits.

Plus, they make for such a nice memento. Every time I look at a doll that I've made that has some one of my grandchildren or relatives piece of clothing I'm instantly taken back to a memory of them. It's just such a nice way to remember loved ones and some wonderful times. My favorite, of course, is old vintage clothing especially Victorian clothes but, second to that, is baby clothes. There's just something about tiny little clothes.

So, I thought you might like to see a few of the dolls I've made over the years for myself or as gifts that were made based on other designers patterns and where I used some of my grandson's baby clothing, brother's clothes, etc.

The first picture DI172 (left hand corner above) is of a 3 foot bear that I made based upon a pattern from Design Farm - Designs by Lori Gardner and Sharon Reynolds. The bear is wearing my grandson's jeans and shirt unaltered. His feet are made from wood covered with one of my relatives socks made to look like sneakers.

The 2nd picture DI162 (upper right) is of a old fisherman that I made based upon a pattern and kit by Courech Creations - Designs by Susan Courech. The old man is wearing light exercise pants from my grandson that I altered to look like a fisherman's wet overalls with matching boots. The flannel shirt is altered from another one of my grandsons and the vest and hat is material I cut from a brushed felt coat.

The 3rd picture above DI164 (above and left) is also an old fisherman that I made based upon a pattern and kit by Courech Creations - Designs by Susan Courech. This old man is wearing a pair of my infant grandson's sweats slightly altered, material from one of my brothers flannel shirts altered to make his shirt, and flannel material for his vest from someone's flannel shirt.

The 4th picture DI030 (to the right) is of a little boy that I made many, many years ago based upon a doll craft book I bought or was given. Unfortunately, I tore the page out of the book and don't know who the author was or who's design to credit. In any event, the shoes are my grandson's infant baby shoes and the jumper is altered sweatpants from someone.

The last picture DI165 ( to the left) is of a hunting and fishing bear. He's wearing a pair of my grandsons unaltered brushed denim jeans, material from one of my brother's flannel shirts, material for his vest from one of my brother's sweatshirt, and cut up socks from someone in the family. I think his bandanna is from one of my brother-in-laws flannel shirts.

As you can see I love to recycle old clothes especially if they create a keepsake memory for me. So, the next time you think about throwing away some old baby clothes think about making a doll keepsake that you can have forever. Memories last forever if you can just remember them. Sounds redundant doesn't it. Let's say, memories last forever, when you have a visual keepsake like a doll to look at and remind you. The only problem you might have is where to store all the old clothing.

My First Doll Pattern Was Named "Linda" - How Appropriate?

If you aren't a reader of my Linda's Blog you might not know that I'm a doll maker and doll pattern designer. I'm also a bit of a genealogy buff. So, I decided to combine my love of doll making and love of genealogy by naming my doll patterns after members of my family - past and present. I thought by doing so that it would be a nice way to honor my ancestors.

In any event, I thought that the first article in my "The Story Behind Each of My Doll Patterns" series should be the first doll and doll pattern that I designed. Her name is "Linda" and her picture is the one at the top of this article. And, "yes" she is named after me. What a surprise? Bet you could see that coming a mile away.

I gave a lot of thought to "Linda" as I wasn't quite sure where and how to begin. Besides being a lover of dolls and genealogy I also have a passion for the clothes of the Victorian Era. I wanted my first doll, my namesake, to be a Victorian. I also knew that I wanted my dolls to be able to stand up on their own.

I'd seen a lot of porcelain dolls which were all very beautiful but, wanted something different. I wanted to design a doll who had a "distinct" personality that was not determined by her face. What I wanted was to create a "faceless" doll. My feeling is that faces overwhelm the dolls personality and, therefore, have a greater impact on her personality. I wanted the clothing, hair, accessories, color scheme, etc. of the Victorian period to determine the personality of the doll.

So, I decided that the best way to accomplish this was to use a wooden ball for the head, a 1/4" dowel for the neck, a 1" dowel for the body, and a wood circle for the base. Her wooden head would be painted with a flesh colored paint. I added a little blush for color. Her arms were going to be wires covered with batting so they were bendable. Also, her hands were going to be made out of old lace, preferably old lace gloves (talk about hard to find).

Batting was wrapped around the wood dowel for padding for the body. If I wanted her to be a little chunkier (what's wrong with chunky?) then I would just add more padding. A fitted slip was added to the lower part of her body and glued to the sides of the fitted circle so she was self-enclosed.

The fun part was that "Linda's" personality started to develop as I went along. Now this might sound a little crazy, but the doll kind of spoke to me as she was being created. If that sounds crazy to you that's okay. I know all my doll making and crafting friends will understand this.

"Linda" wanted to be a prim and proper Victorian so she decided that an 1850 Street Costume would be appropriate for herself. She wanted a lined 2-tier jacket with a 3-tiered lined shawl. She also wanted a lined bonnet, lace trimmed parasol, lace trimmed dress with long lace trimmed and gathered sleeves, lace gloves, lace trimmed slip and long curly blonde hair.

I tried to talk her out of being "blonde" with all the connotations that come with that. She didn't care. It was 1850 after all and they didn't have "dumb blondes" back then. Who came up with that term anyway? I told her that I, her namesake, had straight, fine hair. It didn't matter to her whether or not she looked like me. It was going to be long, curly blond hair or nothing. So, "Linda" had her way. Of course, my Mother would tell you that she was just like me in that regard.

So, "Linda" got her 1850 Street Costume and long, curly, blonde hair. She was well suited to be a prim and proper Victorian "Lady" if I didn't say so myself. Plus, as she tells me, she doesn't look anything like her namesake which she is thankful for. I don't know if I should be insulted or not. What do you think?

Copyright © 2004 - 2023 - All Rights Reserved - Designed and Written By Linda Walsh

Oh, No! Have I Gone Too Far?

Someone sent these in the mail to me the other day. Do you think it was my husband? Maybe it was my sister or brother? Or, maybe it was my mother? Are they all trying to tell me something? Have I gone too far in my quest to collect and create every conceivable kind of doll? Or, maybe they're all jealous of all the fun I'm having with my Linda's Blog? That's it. Has to be!

Now I'm starting to wonder, "Oh, No! Have I Gone Too Far?"

My First Linda Walsh Originals Print Ad

I am so excited. I have to tell all my Linda's Blog readers about it. My very first print ad for my website ran in the Folkart Square Coop ad of Mercantile Gatherings Winter Issue.

I'm so excited and so thankful to Annie at Folkart Square for giving my "Elmers Little Boy" ad such wonderful placement. Doesn't he look adorable? I'm so excited.... I just can't hide it ......(here I go with The Pointer Sisters song, again!) My first ad. I'm going to have to frame it. For posterity purposes, of course.

If you're a reader of my Linda's Blog you may remember that there is a lovely, heart-warming story behind the "Elmer's Little Boy" pattern that I posted previously. If you get a chance please read "The Story Behind Elmer's Little Boy" .

I'm also excited because my very first Business Directory ad also ran in the Mercantile Gatherings Winter issue. See, there I am in the lower right hand corner. That's me - Linda Walsh Originals in the Business & Website Directory of Mercantile Gatherings.

Mercantile Gatherings is a wonderful magazine. If you are a primitive crafter and don't have a subscription to this magazine then you should think about getting one. It's a wonderful primitive magazine that comes out 4X a year. It features various primitive locations, as well as listings and ads for many, many primitive and craft websites. Check it out sometime. I bet you'll like it. Come one! Try it, you'll like it! Now I sound like a cereal commercial?