I Just Love These Cards!

Two years ago when my Mother and I were at a Sewing & Quilt Exposition we came across a booth that was selling these wonderful "Quilt-a-Card" kits. The kits contained die-cut cards and envelopes. The cards were pre-cut stencils that you would pop out. Then you would sew your fabric to the stenciled opening of the card using your sewing machine and a zig-zag stitch. Depending on the design of the card you might then add padding or other decorations, such as buttons, ribbon, etc.

They were absolutely wonderful so I decided to buy some of the kits and make some of the cards for Christmas presents for my mother, sister, and sister-in-law. I combined 6 cards together and tied them in a little ribbon and then wrapped them in their Christmas box. I could tell from the expressions on my mother, sister, and sister-in-law's faces when they opened them that they just loved them. We're a "crafting" family and just love getting handmade items.

Of course, they can't compete with my niece Laura's hand drawn Christmas cards every year but, they were nice enough. Laura's cards are so wonderful that I'm going to tell you about them in another article.

My sister told me that she thought that the cards were so beautiful that she wanted to keep them all herself and would never send them to anyone. I told her that wasn't the purpose but, they were her cards. She could do what ever she wanted with them. To this day my mother, sister, and sister-in-law have all kept their cards. Unfortunately, none have been mailed to anyone else. What a shame. No one else gets to see them. But, hey that's their decision.

Last year when my mother and I went to the Sewing & Quilt Exposition I looked for the "Quilt-a-Card" booth. I was sadly disappointed as they weren't at the show. I had wanted to buy some more. Foolishly, I hadn't kept the original packaging so I didn't know what the company name was or if the designer had a website. I didn't even bother to search on the web as the paper/scrapbooking business is too huge now and I would have gotten thousands of results in a Google search. I resigned myself to never finding the kits again. I left the show disappointed.

This year when my mother and I went to the Sewing & Quilt Exposition (which I wrote about in a previous article on my Linda's Blog entitled "We've Got Sewing In Our Bones!") I was pleasantly surprised to find the designers had a booth again. I was ecstatic. I know. I'm a little crazy!

Plus, they had some new designs. I was in definitely in heaven. Hey, that's me. I love anything related to dolls, genealogy, florals, and crafting. So, I decided that this year some of the Christmas cards that I would be mailing to my family and friends would be my handmade "Quilt-a-Cards." At least this time they would be sent out.

While I was paying for all my card kits (and there were a lot of them) I told the owners that I was thrilled they had a booth again and that I had missed them the previous year. They told me that they hadn't been able to attend the previous year due to some personal issues. I told the owners that I just loved their card kits and wondered if they had a website. Of course, they do. It's called "Paper Creations" and is at www.papercreations.com .

Of course, when I went home I had to go on the internet to check out their website. I shouldn't have as I'll probably be ordering more kits. They have a wonderful website called "Paper Creations and Atlas Coffee Mill." The "Quilt-a-Card" kits are on the website as well as "Quilt-a-Tag" kits, which I'm going to order next. They also have scrapbook kits and paper supplies, etc.

PLUS, they offer online classes almost every day of the month. How GREAT is that! I want to take a class. Of course, I'd never have time to take the class but I do want to. Maybe I can fit one in before the end of the summer.

So, I left the Sewing & Quilt Exposition happy as could be. I'd found my card kits again. All was right with the world. Yeah! I know. It doesn't take much to make me happy. I hope the owners don't mind. I just had to tell you about these wonderful Quilt-a-Card kits.

Our Victorian "Faceless" Poll Results

I've posted a couple of articles on my Linda's Blog during the last year concerning the poll I am running on my Linda Walsh Originals website.

The poll concerns my Victorian "Lady" series of faceless dolls. The question is "Should our Victorian Dolls remain faceless?" For awhile we were running in favor of faceless. Now we are running in favor of faces.

Out of 56 votes, 21 or 37% feel the dolls should remain faceless. That means 35 or 63% feel that they should have faces. Of the 56 votes 1 vote was from a male and 55 were from females.

For those of you that love our "faceless" Victorians I have good news. We will continue to carry "faceless" dolls and I will continue to design "faceless" Victorians. Personally, I love the "faceless" Victorians and love to design them.

But, for those of you who like Victorians with "faces" I also have good news. I'm currently in the process of designing some Victorians with "faces." Something for you to look forward to. Who knows, maybe I'll change my mind and decide that I like "faces" better. Nah!!!!! That will never happen!

Thanks to everyone for taking our poll.

The History Of Faceless Dolls

If you're a reader of my Linda's Blog then you know that I just LOVE research. In thinking about my recent post on my Victorian "faceless" dolls I started to wonder exactly what the history of faceless dolls was. So, of course I had to find out.

I figured that there had to be a history of faceless dolls or, at least, some cultures and norms. Believe it or not but there isn't a lot of information on either the history of faceless dolls or cultures and norms that started such a tradition.

There is some information on two of the most popular and widely known faceless dolls - Amish dolls and Corn husk dolls. And there is the legend surrounding Raggedy Ann and "faceless" dolls. I was also surprised that there wasn't more information on "faceless" dolls throughout history. I thought for sure that they had to have been around for a long, long time.

In doing my research, what I was pleasantly surprised with was the application of "faceless" dolls for so many current charities or organizations. More on that a little later.

Probably the oldest legend has to do with "faceless" Corn-husk dolls. Some say they are the oldest form of doll known in America. The corn-husk doll shown to the right is a picture of a corn-husk doll that is in the USU Museum of Anthropology.

According to Iroquois legend the Iroquois people had three sisters - corn, beans, and squash or the "sustainers of life." The corn spirit wanted to do something extra for her people so the Creator allowed her to create a beautiful doll from her husks which was to roam the earth and bring brotherhood and contentment to the Iroquois nation. The doll went from village to village playing with the children. Everywhere she went everyone would tell her how beautiful she was.

One day this very, very beautiful doll went into the woods and saw herself in a pool of water. She saw how very, very beautiful she was and this caused her to become very vain and naughty. Kind of sounds like my "Celia" doll, doesn't it? Anyway, the dolls vanity and attitude did not sit well with the people or the Creator. The Creator warned her that this was not the right kind of behavior. She paid attention for a while (as all dolls do) but caught sight of herself in a pool of water again and thought to herself how beautiful indeed she was.

Suddenly out of the sky came a giant screeching owl that snatched her reflection right out of the water. When she looked again at the poll of water she saw nothing. This was her punishment. She would have no face and would roam the earth forever looking for something to redeem herself. Iroquois mothers passed the legend and "faceless" corn husk dolls down to their children to remind them that vanity is a bad thing and that they are not better than anyone else.

The Amish have strong religious beliefs which influence their daily lives. Their dress is plain and simple and so are the dolls they make for their children. According to the Amish tradition, the Bible says that you are not supposed to make anything that is in the image or likeness of a male or female. For that reason the dolls are "faceless."

In some Amish homes even "faceless" dolls were forbidden. Instead of a doll the children were given a piece of wood wrapped in a blanket. Since very few toys were allowed in an Amish household, boys and girls both played with the dolls. Both boy and girl dolls were made.

If you were to examine an old Amish doll you might see 4 or 5 layers of cloth on the head or the body. If the doll became too dirty, ripped or worn then it was covered with a new piece of material.

Most Amish women have been making dolls ( faceless and with faces) for their children for generations. This tradition has become a cottage industry for the Amish community. The picture top and left is of a popular "faceless" Amish boy and girl doll.

Over 20 years ago I bought a similar set of "faceless" Amish dolls. My dolls had on burgundy and black outfits but, pretty much, looked like the picture. I would have included a picture of my two "faceless" Amish dolls in this article but I can't remember where they are right now. They're here somewhere.

As far as Raggedy Ann is concerned, one of the legends surrounding her creation is that a little girl was rummaging around her Grandmother's attic and finds a faceless, battered old doll. She brings the doll into her fathers art studio and tells him all about finding it in the attic. He looks at his daughter and the faceless doll and decides to draw a whimsical face on it and then tells her to see if her Grandmother would sew two button eyes on. And so Raggedy Ann was born.

In doing my research on faceless dolls I was delighted to run across some websites concerning the application of "faceless" dolls today and why they were chosen or made "faceless." One of the websites concerned the Children With Aids Project (CWA) which was created by Joy and Jim Jenkins. CWA offers a variety of services to children infected or affected by AIDS. One of these services is giving "faceless" dolls to the children infected or affected by Aids. Why did they decide to make and sell "faceless" dolls. Because AIDS is a "faceless" disease. According to their CWA website, by buying one of the dolls you can support their mission to recruit families to provide loving, caring permanent homes for the HIV infected, affected and orphaned children.

Another article about "faceless" dolls concerned the dolls of Gloria Larocque. She has created 100 or more "faceless" dolls based upon the Iroquois legend that warns young girls about the dangers of vanity. According to the article her purpose, however, is different. Her dolls represent Canada's murdered aboriginal women, a group made faceless not by vanity but by neglect. Her project has helped draw attention to the plight of the murdered aboriginal women.

On the Girl Scouts of South Jersey Pines (GSSJP) website there was an article about a Girl Scout who made and donated 32 faceless dolls to the Pediatrics Department of the Salem Memorial Hospital to help ease the childrens fears of being in the hospital. The dolls were made out of muslin with bright striped and tye-dyed polar fleece t-shorts. The faces were left blank. Attached to each doll was a piece of paper that told the child to "give the doll a face to make it their own."

And, finally, there was article by Brenda Tobias on the Cornell University website concerning Hurricane Katrina and something the alumni did to help the children affected by Hurricane Katrina. A group of 100 alumni got together to sew "faceless" dolls for the children. Doll decorating kits and coloring books were assembled and sent to the children to comfort them.

I think you all know that I, personally, love faceless dolls. Victorians, primitives, country style. It doesn't matter. I love them all.

Why do I love the faceless doll so much? Because I think be being "faceless' the doll can be anything you want him or her to be.

You create the dolls personality to be exactly what you want it to be.

And, as we've seen from the above mentioned articles the application can be heartwarming, meaningful and beautiful.

I'm Being Replaced!

I'm being replaced!" "I'm being replaced!" "You're replacing ME!" the little girl cried.

"No, you're not. I am NOT!" I answered.

"Yes, I Am!" "Yes, you are!" she replied stomping her foot, acting just like a spoiled little girl.

"NO, YOU ARE NOT! And, NO I am not!" I answered. "Now stop this, right now!" "What is the matter with you?" I asked. "You're our Linda Walsh Originals logo. The very image of Linda Walsh Originals. Why, on earth would you think we'd replace you?"

"Because, because!" she whimpered. "Because I saw her?"

"Saw, who?" I asked. "What are you talking about? You're really trying my patience, Little Girl!"

"I saw the Victorian Woman. The beautiful Victorian Woman. The one on the new aqua colored banner. The one you're replacing me with!" she cried. "She's so beautiful I don't blame you for wanting to replace me."

"Oh, for goodness sake, Little Girl. I'm not replacing you. She's not more beautiful than you are. We just wanted a little older image for the new club we are starting. Don't worry. She's not going to replace you. And, don't ever think that you're not beautiful. You are. You're our beautiful Little Girl."

"Oh, Linda. I'm so sorry I bothered you with this. I just saw the poster and jumped to conclusions. She's so beautiful I just thought....." said the Little Girl.

"That's okay, Little Girl," Linda responded. "I would never replace you. I love you. Now, run along."

And, with that the Little Girl ran along to tell the other "dollies" they were wrong. She wasn't being replaced like they said. They got her all upset for nothing. See, Linda would never replace her. They'd see.

So, off she went to the "Dollie Storage Room." But, when she got there what she saw just took her breathe away. The Victorian Woman was in the "Dollie Storage Room" talking to the other "dollies." Everyone was looking at the Victorian Woman. How could they not? She was just so beautiful.

"Who is she? And, what club was Linda talking about?" the Little Girl wondered. "Maybe Doris Marie might know. I'll ask Doris Marie. But, where is she?"

The Story Behind My "Celia's Wedding Dress" Doll

I don't know if you remember the article I posted last year entitled "The Story Behind My Celia's Doll and Doll Pattern."

To remind you, Celia and Elmer are my sister-in-laws parents and have been married for over 50 years. Last year they were having a yard sale because they were downsizing and moving out of their big house into a smaller home. Celia, knowing my love of old material told me I could, basically, have anything I wanted. Whatever didn't sell, including her wedding dress was going to be pitched.

I asked her if she was really going to throw her wedding dress away and she replied, "What am I going to do with that old thing?" I told her maybe she should make a doll out of it for her daughter. At first she scoffed at the idea. Then when she'd thought about it, she replied,"That's a great idea. Why don't you do that for me and give it to my daughter."

So, I told her I would add it to my to-do-list which was already getting to be multiple years to complete. I put it on the back burner.

Well, Celia, is and, I suspect, always has been a bit of a wild child. Just look at the picture of her in her tennis outfit. You can see she's a feisty, full of life, try it once kind of gal. Celia is a ball of fire and I just love her to death. She's over 80 years old and makes me tired.

During the course of the year I happened to be at a church craft show with Celia, my sister-in-law and my mother. On the way out of the church Celia turned to me and said," Linda, do you think you could make that wedding dress doll for my daughter before I die!"

Well, you have to know Celia to know that this was a funny line. Funny, but she meant it. So, I made a mental note to try and get the doll done for Christmas as a present for my sister-in-law.

What I wanted to do was to capture the beauty of the dress. It didn't matter to me whether or not the doll had a face or was faceless. The point was the dress.

So, I sketched out a pattern for the dress and tried to use as much of the original material as I could. Luckily, the dress was still in pretty good shape, as was the veil. Some of the tulle had disintergrated but, a lot of it was pretty much in tact.

If you look at the wedding picture of Celia & Elmer (picture to the left and above) you can see that the dress had a lace bodice insert with lace sleeves, a satin heart-shaped bodice, a satin covered with lace front panel, and satin covered with fine tulle flowing skirt.

The back of the dress had a very long train covered with tulle. There were buttons all along the front of the dress as well as straight up the back. The veil was a cap lined with small pearl beads that had a long section of tulle that would hang down the back and compliment the tulle on the train.

The sleeves were scalloped and had a row of buttons as well. There were two layers of tulle underneath the dress as well. Needless to say there was a lot of tulle and a lot of detail on Celia's wedding dress.

Foolishly I sketched the dress and did not take a picture of it before I cut it up. Why I didn't take a picture, I'll never know. I just didn't. So, when it came time for me to put the doll together I didn't have any pictures to look at. Just my sketch. My sister-in-law provided the pictures for me to use for this story.

Keeping in mind that the sentimentality lay with the dress I wanted the dress to be the focal point of the doll and nothing else. So I decided to make her a self standing, 13" tall, bridal doll without any legs. That way the dress would be showcased. I also wanted to utilize the original buttons for their sentimentality even though they were too big for the doll. I decided that three buttons in the front and two on each sleeve would be good.

I wasn't sure what color Celia's hair was when she was younger and decided because "she's a hot ticket" that I'd give the doll fiery red hair. I also decided that I'd embroider her face, give her a shaped and padded nose, and embroider her mouth with red floss. She might as well be wild all around.

So I started sewing the dress. Everything was going well until I tried to put the dress on the doll. The lace was so old and so brittle that it just started to crumple. YIKES! I had the whole dress together when the lace around the neck just fell apart. What could I do? The whole dress was already together. Tulle underneath, tulle overskirt, train, heart-shaped bodice, lace scalloped sleeves, everything was already sewn together. YIKES!

I decided that I had to add a something to the neck to hold the lace together and had to add a second layer of lace behind the top layer of lace on the bodice that was crumbling. I had no sooner gotten the second layer of lace sewn when it started to crumble. At this point I just wanted to fling the dress. But, I had too much time invested in it and Celia really wanted her daughter to have it.

I had to do something to hold the neck of the dress together so I decided to use some of the satin from the original dress to form a neck band and cover this with a string of embroidered floral lace. I added pearl beaded gathered lace to frame her face. The neck might not look exactly like the original dress but, it worked. At least I could get the dress on without it crumbling any further.

Luckily I had saved her cap veil in tact and could use it as a visual guide for my doll's veil. I used a couple of layers of the crumbling lace from the dress for the cap and supported it with tulle and a row of pearl beads.

When she was finished I decided to add a splash of burgundy and cream silk florals with burgundy and cream streamers for her bouquet. The burgundy was a good compliment to her fiery red hair, red lips, and complimented Celia's fiery personality.

When the doll was finished I wasn't really happy with her. I thought that I had captured the essence of the dress. With the exception of the neck it looked like Celia's real wedding dress. Plus for sentimental purposes it had the original buttons on it.

But, I wasn't happy with the doll itself. I thought she turned out too short, her nose wasn't quite right, and, whether I liked it or not, the collar was too big. However, my sister-in-law loved it and so did Celia. In the end that's all that really mattered.

So my sister-in-law told my younger brother that she needed a curio to showcase her new doll and that became his woodworking project over the winter. My brother moaned and groaned and made it seem like he wasn't amused. But, I know and she knows that he loves making furniture and, truth be told, he loves the dolls. Plus, he's really good at making furniture. So, despite his protesting, he designed a corner curio with lights and mirrored back panels to showcase the back of the dress.

My brother finally finished the curio a month ago and I have to say that despite what I don't like about the doll she looks beautiful in her lighted curio with the mirrors all around. Plus, she really does capture the essence of Celia's wedding dress. And, you can't put a price tag on the joy and sentimentality associated with utilizing the original wedding dress. It is definitely a one of a kind doll.

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

The Little Girl Dresses!

Do you ever get that feeling that things were meant to be? When things are more than just a coincidence? I did, today. And, it had to do with "little girl dresses." Several discussions and designs converged today for me.

What am I talking about? Well, it has to do with some new patterns that I am designing, a discussion I had with my daughter-in-law, and my Grandmother's birthday, which was in June, shopping with my nieces, and my granddaughters turning 21 this year.

My Grandmother was born in 1896 and would have been 110 years old. Unfortunately, she passed away in 1975. While she is not here with us now she has left an indelible impression on me, my life, and my creativity. She has also left me with some wonderful memories. One of those has to do with "little girl dresses."

I must have been 4 or 5 and can remember standing in my room and looking up at the rack in my closet that held the "little girl dresses" that my Grandmother and Mother had bought for me.

They were frilly, flouncy, lacy, filled with tulle underskirt dresses and I just loved them. I could stand and look for hours at my dresses.

I, of course, wasn't allowed to touch them - I'd get them dirty. They were for our best occasions which I was hoping would be that day or the next day just so I could wear the dresses. Inevitably, a holiday or special occasion would occur and I would get to wear one of my dresses.

These were the type of dresses that you would twirl in and they would flounce out. I would just twirl and twirl and twirl in them. Around and around I'd go.

In our family room we had some steps right next to a sofa. When I was wearing one of these dresses I would love to stand on the steps and them jump down into the sofa. As I did my dress would fly up in the air like a parachute and then come landing down on me.

Of course, everyone could see my frilly underwear, leotards, slip, etc. when I did this - but, only for the briefest of moments. My Grandmother would "tsk, tsk" and would give me one of those looks of "that's not a lady like thing to do!" I'd just look back at her and smile. I just had to be me. And, then I'd look over at my Mother and she'd be smiling. She knew I just had to be me, too.

Why am I telling you this? Well, I was talking to my daughter-in-law on her way to work as she was stuck in traffic. She was telling me about her Grandmother who stored everything including all of her "little girl dresses" and all of her dance recital outfits. I told her I would love to see them and that she should never throw them away. I'd just love to takes a picture of all of them in a circle laid out in their glory.

I mentioned to her that one of the best shopping trips I had was a "birthday" shopping trip with my niece when she was about 5 or 6. She was so much fun to shop with. You never knew what she was going to do or what was going to come out of her mouth.

We, literally, spent hours in the dressing room while she tried on every frilly "little girl dress" they had, every outfit, hey - everything in the department in her size. She'd try it on then prance in front of the mirror, go outside to look at herself in the three mirrors, and on and on and on it went.

We filled two racks of clothes in the dressing room that day. When we were leaving we looked at the racks of clothes she had tried on and just laughed and laughed. I think we bought one outfit out of what had to be hundreds that she tried on.

During the conversation with my daughter-in-law I mentioned that my twin granddaughters and her niece's would be 21 this year. Where have the years flown?

I fondly recalled how I used to buy them frilly, fancy "little girl dresses." In fact, some of my favorite pictures are of them in their "little girl dresses" or in their dance recital outfits.

We, also, went on "birthday" shopping or "just visiting" shopping trips. They too, tried on many, many "little girl dresses" and other outfits and we always had a wonderful time. We called them our "shop til you drop" girls shopping excursions.

So what does all this have to do with worlds converging?

Well, right now I just happen to be designing and sewing "little girl dress" ornaments. I just happen to be talking about "little girl dresses" with my daughter-in-law. I just happen to be recalling fond memories of my Grandmother and my "little girl dresses." I just happen to be talking about shopping excursions with my niece and "hundreds" of "little girl dresses." And, I just happen to be picturing my twin granddaughters in their "little girl dresses."

Five generations of "little girl dresses." Of course, my Grandmother had THE BEST "little girl dress" as you can see from the black and white picture above.

So, I thought I would share some of my fond memories with you and share some of the pictures.

I don't think it's coincidental that I love Victorian dresses, that I loved staring at my own "little girl dresses", that I loved buying "little girl dresses" for my niece's and twin granddaughters, and that right now I'm designing and sewing some "little girl dress" ornaments. Nope, not coincidental at all.

My Grandmother has certainly left an indelible impression on me, my life, and my creativity. I hope I have done that with my own granddaughters and nieces.

As for my daughter-in-law, well, she is just going to have to get all those "little girl dresses" and dance recital outfits from her Grandmother. I need a picture for my Linda's blog.

Yup! I definitely need a picture of them in a circle laid out in their glory. "Little girl dresses" all laid out in a marvelous circle. Oh, Karen...............I need a picture of your "little girl dresses!" Oh, Karen...........

Scrapbooks or Memory Books - Sentimental Reminders

Several years ago I used to receive a monthly crafting magazine that I enjoyed. One month I received a notice that the magazine was going to change to a "paper crafts" only magazine from then on. This was just before the scrapbooking craze exploded. I thought at the time that it was crazy. How could they possibly do a whole magazine just on paper crafts. I wasn't into paper crafts and couldn't imagine what their logic was. Little did I know that "paper crafts" was about to become a multi-million dollar industry. Little did I know that years later if you entered "scrapbooks" into Google you'd get 7,860,000 hits.

When I think about it now I have to laugh. Why? Well, because I'd like to say that even though I had no idea how big scrapbooking would become I was still ahead of my time. At least in the sentimentality department. You see, I've been collecting every piece of paper, every card, every memento, etc. that I've ever received since I was about 5 years old. I have everything chronologically stored in what I call my "memory books." At last count I was on Volume #20 and had accumulated 47 years of mementoes. My "memory books" could be considered a forerunner of today's scrapbooks minus all the elaborate cut-outs, stickers, printed papers, etc.

My 20 volume's of "memory books" would be double or triple that number if I had decided to store all of the greeting cards I've ever received since I was 5 years old there as well. They are just too bulky so they are stored in plastic letter sized containers and are filed by year. At last count I had 4 large containers of cards.

Why do I keep everything? A couple of reasons. First of all, I'm like my Dad. I'm a hoarder. I keep everything. Especially anything that's sentimental. Secondly, I love history. My whole life is chronicled in those "memory books." It's so wonderful to reminisce by starting at book #1 and reading through them. Sometimes I have to scan through them to get the date for the year something may have happened. As you get older sometimes you just can't remember exactly when something happened.

I have the pages from my first diary there, my first movie ticket, my first letter. I can see my own handwriting from when I was a kid. I have pictures that my younger brothers and sister drew me or sent me. I have letters from both my Grandmothers and Aunt, who are no longer with us, stored there. I love to re-read them from time to time and think about what they may have been thinking at the time they wrote them. I have cards and letters from my beautiful step-daughter, who is also no longer with us, that I cherish dearly.

I have letters from my childhood best friend when she went away on vacation. I have my first picture booth strip. My first award. I have every wedding invitation I have ever received. Every thank-you card. Every bridal shower invitation. Every baby shower invitation. I always tried to include some of the pictures that went with the events if I had them at the time.

I have my college acceptance letters, my grades, starting with Grade 1, and all my term papers, reports, and tests from grade school through college. I even have my class "notes." The term papers, reports, and tests are stored in separate "memory books" so they are all together. I like to re-read them and reflect upon what I may have been thinking at the time. Of course, upon reflection I don't always agree with my youthful self. Time and age tend to change your perspective.

Sometimes, I wish I had the time to go backwards and create my "memory books" again with all the wonderful supplies they have available today. The problem would be it would take way too much time and - well, my "memory books" just wouldn't be the same. Would they? You see, not only do my "memory books" represent what I saved but each page is sentimental all unto itself for they were created as I was living them. They represent my creative nature during that period of my life. They represent my thinking on what was important to me then and how I chose to present it. So, to go backwards now would be to have an older woman trying to recreate what a 10 year old might have been thinking at the time. It would never be the same and would never be as sentimental.

So, I cherish the "memory books" that I have. Thank you Dad for this trait. Perhaps going forward I'll have the time to create some "memory books" using the wonderful supplies that they have available today. Perhaps, but that would require a lot of time. Unfortunately, that's not something I have a lot of these days.

I Wouldn't Know What To Write In A Blog?

If you are familiar with me and my websites you know that I love blogs and that I have a lot of them. In fact, I've got 7 at Blogger.com, 3 at GoDaddy.com, 1 journal on AOL, 1 My Spaces at MSN, 1 Yahoo 360 page, 1 blog at Bravenet.com, 1 at Tagworld.com, 1 on Return On Affiliate, and 1 at Live Journal.

Why would I have so many blogs. Well, there are a couple of reasons. First and foremost, I love to experiment. Second, they all have different features. And, third, I was trying to see which one might be the best one to use for my grandson.

I haven't tried MySpace.com, IBlogs.com, SquareSpace.com, Blogster.com, Weblogs.com, Myblogs.com, Blogdrive.com, Shadows.com, or Xanga.com yet. But, I will. I'd like to try Typepad.com but I'm too cheap to pay for it when there are so many great blog websites that are FREE.

So, I thought since I was trying so many different types of blogs that I should write about them in a series. That way if you're looking to start a blog you'd know which features I liked the best on the ones that I'd tested so far. Of course, it's all just my opinion of the things that I like. You might not agree or you might be looking for something else. Whatever.

For those of you that are unfamiliar with a blogs there has been a blog explosion or blog phenomenon on the internet during the last few years. Blogs started out as journals for writing down ones thoughts and opinions and have mushroomed into full blown websites used both personally and commercially. Just about everyone and anyone has a blog. In fact, if you type "blogs" into Goggle you will come up with 1,230,000,000 entries. That's a lot of entries for something that virtually didn't exist over a decade ago. Unbelievable.

If you're in business you have a blog. If you're a political commentator you have a blog. If you want to share your thoughts, photo's, adventures, etc. you have a blog. If you have a hobby you love and want to share with others who love that hobby as well you have a blog. If you're a celebrity you have a blog. If you just want to keep track of what's going on in your life and share it with your family you have a blog. If you're a grandparent and want to tell family stories and share pictures you have a blog. If you want to share your opinion of how the country is being run and politics you have a blog.

If you just want to share recipes with your friends you have a blog. If you want to show off your latest creations you have a blog. If you're a commentator you have a blog. If you're a teenager and you want to share your day, your gripes, your pictures, etc. with your friends you have a blog. If you just like to listen to yourself speak you have a blog. If you're in a long distance relationship you have a blog. If you're a global family you have a blog. If you just want to feel like you're part of the internet world you have a blog.

Blogs have become the way to communicate your thoughts, your ideals, your opinions, your hopes, your desires, in effect, your life. They have replaced the lovely tradition of handwritten letters. While I love and cherish the tradition of handwritten letters blogs are a much better way to communicate to a lot of people in a fast paced society. If your blog is made public then they open the world up to everyone else. How wonderful is that? People on one side of the globe can read about the lives of people on the other side of the globe. Amazing. Simply amazing and astonishing.

When I tell people how wonderful blogs are they always comment, "I'm not a writer. I wouldn't know what to write about. I'm not an expert on anything." Well, the GOOD NEWS is you DON'T HAVE TO BE! You don't have to be a writer. You don't have to be an expert on anything. Your blog can be about anything you want it to be. There are no blog rules. There are no blog police. Your blog is just that. It's your blog. It can be whatever you want it to be. There are no right ways and wrong ways in the blogging community.

Come on. It's time you joined the blogging community.

Some Easter Bunny Jokes For You!

Everyone loves cute jokes. Here's a few Easter bunny jokes for the kids:

How can you tell which rabbits are the oldest in a group?
Just look for the gray hares!

How are rabbits like calculators?
They both multiply real fast!

Why can't a rabbit's nose be twelve inches long?
Because it would then be a foot!

What do you get when you cross a rabbit with a spider?
A hare net!

Why did the bunny bang his head on the piano?
He was playing by ear!

Why did the man wear a rabbit as a hat?
He didn't want to harm a hare on his head!

What are four hundred rabbits hopping backwards?
A receding hare line!

What did the rabbit say to the carrot?
It's been nice gnawing you!

And, my personal favorite:

What kind of jewelry do rabbits wear?
14 carrot gold!

Happy Easter.

Happy Easter

Easter - the end of the winter and the beginning of spring. What a wonderful time of the year. When I think of Easter I think of Easter outfits, Easter baskets, church services, and Easter lilies.

My favorite, of course, is Victorian Easter dresses. Second to that is the Easter lily. I can remember coming home each Easter from church with an Easter Lily. I loved them then and I love them now. In fact, I have a garden filled with them along with tiger lilies, daffodils, tulips and day lilies.

The reason my garden is filled with them is because each Easter my Mother brings one to me . After the blooms are gone I plant it in my garden. That way, every year I get to marvel at the sheer beauty and delicacy of its blooms. They are magnificent.

The lily is a symbol of purity because of its whiteness and very delicate form. It symbolizes innocence. It's called the Easter lily because the flowers bloom in early Spring, around Easter. The white lily, or Bermuda trumpet, was brought to the United States from Bermuda in 1880 by Mrs. Thomas P. Sargent of Philadelphia, Pa. It has become the mainstay of Easter floral arrangements and church decorations.

If you have an Easter lily or have been given one make sure that you plant it in your garden. That way you'll see it bloom time and time again. So, each year you can't help but marvel at its magnificence.

We hope everyone has a very Happy Easter.


Graphics - Courtesy of Becky at www.primsandstems.com

"In Your Easter Bonnet, With All The Frills Upon It....."

If you are a baby boomer, like I am, then you probably have many fond memories associated with dressing up in your finest attire (hopefully, new clothes) for Easter Day. I know that I do.

On of my favorite Easter Day pictures is the one to the left. The picture is of my mother, father, older brother, younger sister and younger brother just before going to church on Easter Day. I was taking the picture.

You might be wondering why it's one of my favorites. Well, just look at my older brother's smile - or grimace might be a better description.

And, then, of course there's my mother's hat. It was this big, white, floral, lace, ribbon concoction. Oh, sorry, mom. I meant hat. It was lovely... WINK! WINK!

Every time I look at this picture and my mother's hat I can't help but think about the words from Irving Berlin's 1948 song "Easter Parade."

"In your Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it
You'll be the grandest gal in the Easter parade.
I'll be all in glover, and when they look us over
We'll be the proudest couple in the Easter parade."

If you're a reader of my Linda's Blog then you know that I just love historical traditions. So, of course this got me to thinking about the tradition of Easter clothes and the Easter parade. Where and when did this all begin? Where did the wearing of new clothes come from?

Early Christians believed the week before Easter was a good time to be baptized and called it "White Week." They dressed in new white robes, which they wore during the entire Easter week to symbolize their rebirth and new life. People who had been baptized previously wore new clothes on Easter to symbolize they shared in this rebirth and new life.

Subsequently, Europeans came to believe that a new piece of clothing on Easter Sunday would bring good luck. Old or used garments would bring a year of misfortune. So new clothes became a symbol of Easter. It's unbelievable how many traditions we still have based upon superstition.

It wasn't until the Middle Ages that people in their new clothes began to take walks after their Easter service. This eventually evolved into the tradition of Easter Parades, of which New York's 5th Avenue is probably the most famous.

After the Civil War Easter was known as the "Sunday of Joy." Women and girls who had worn dark colors of mourning during the war decided to start wearing the bright and wonderful colors of spring. Their hats were decorated with fresh flowers. If the fresh flowers weren't available then they would make flowers out of paper, fabric, ribbons, feathers, hairs, etc.

The Easter Parade in New York began in 1860 - the Victorian Era, of course. The elite of society would attend Easter Service at one of the churches along 5th Avenue and then parade down 5th Avenue afterwards to give every one a chance to view their new Easter hats and dresses. I would have loved to have seen that. Some of the dresses had to be absolutely gorgeous. And, of course, there were the hats.

The hats were elaborate and kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger with each passing year. Flowers, lace, bird's nests (that's something I definitely want in my hat), ribbons, etc. were all used to decorate the hats. The more elaborately decorated the hat, the better.

Of course, the first Easter bonnets were worn way before Easter was even celebrated. They weren't even bonnets at all. They were circles of wreaths of leaves and flowers and were worn atop the head to celebrate Spring. The round shape symbolized the sun and the life cycle.

In essence the Easter Parade along 5th Avenue was the forerunner of what is known today as a "fashion show." Many seamstresses would bring their sketch pads with them to the Easter Parade so that they could go back and create knockoff's for their less wealthy clients.

Even as a child I loved Easter. Why? For me it had to do with my fascination for beautiful dresses. My mother would buy me the most beautiful little girl's dress for Easter. I'd have my hat or bonnet (of course), my black patent leather shoes, white lace socks (the tops had to be lace, of course), my white gloves (oh, yes I wore gloves), and my little purse. I don't remember what I carried in that purse. What possible needs did a little girl have. Maybe I kept my candy in there. In any event, as you can imagine I loved it.

The picture to the right is of my older brother and I on Easter Sunday. Just look at my dress. I actually remember that dress. The front bodice had the most beautiful smocking and there were several layers of tulle underneath to keep the skirt puffed out. If you've never worn a dress with tulle you can't imagine how itchy it was. If you look closely my hat was a headband adorned with flowers and I think I was carrying a lollipop. Maybe that's what I kept in my purse. My brother, of course, was all decked out in his finest too. We probably walked around our house for our Easter Parade.

Another fond memory I have of Easter attire is the first year I wore high heels. What a disaster that was. I never got the hand of it and still don't know how women wear them. I kept falling off the side of the high heels. For me, given that I'm a tall women, that was comical to say the least. So flats or shoes with wide heels became my shoes of choice.

As with many wonderful traditions, new Easter outfits are a thing of the past. Some people do buy new clothes and some places have Easter parades as a lark. For me, I will always have the fond memories of my beautiful Easter dresses, and then there's my mothers hat. That hat! She could have had an eagles nest in it. Just kidding, Mom. It was lovely... WINK! WINK!

Who Doesn't Love Paper Dollies?

Image Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Ballerina and Bloomer Girls (Prima Donna) Paper Dolls

Publisher:Littauer and Boysen

Purveyor:Dennison Manufacturing Co. (New York, NY)

Date:1890–1905

Medium:Lithographs

Dimensions:each: 14 3/8 × 6 1/8 in. (36.5 × 15.5 cm)

Classification:Prints

Credit Line:Gift of D. Lorraine Yerkes, 1959

Accession Number:59.616.403a-g

I don't know if you're like me or not, but I like to reminisce about my childhood and the dolls, toys, or items that I loved to play with. In doing so I always say to myself, "Why didn't I save them?" I wish I had saved all of them. Some of them would be worth a fortune today.

Unfortunately, we moved a few times and old toys were discarded. Plus, what child thinks about saving something so they can have it 50 years down the road? None, that I know of and certainly not me. So, all my old toys, "Barbie" dolls, other dolls, and "paper dolls" were thrown away.

Today, with the advent of computerized doll makers and graphics "paper dolls" are making a comeback. You can create your own doll online or in your own graphics program and then print it out on your color printer on cardboard stock. Then just cut it out just like you did as a child. You're all set to play. How great is that?

In the paper, scrapbooking, stamping, and mixed media area there are so many gorgeous paper dolls being created and supplies generated to help you with that. In the mixed media and scrapbooking arena paper dolls are becoming an art form. Some of the creations are just astonishing. 

Plus, with the advent of the computers, paper dolls went virtual.  You can create your own avatar dolls and virtual doll worlds. Over the years I've created a few avatars of my own, like my YoVille Linda shown below:

 

The Linda avatar on the left is the original YoVille (now known as YoWorld) avatar I created back in 2006.  The Linda on the right is the "Punk" version.  DollZ, which is what digital dolls are now known as, are extremely popular with numerous websites devoted to them.  You can create the dolls, create their clothing, their homes, their worlds, their friends, etc.  It's mindboggling.

I would have loved having everything that is available nowadays for paper doll creating when I was a child. I can remember sitting on the floor for hours with my scissors and painstakingly cutting out pictures from fashion magazines, which I used as paper dolls. Or, cutting out the "paper doll" pages from my mother's magazines. Cutting precise lines with the round tip children's scissors was a little difficult if not downright impossible. However, I did my best which is all anyone can ever really ask of you.

Then I would sit there for hours on end using my "paper dolls" and play acting. Sometimes we would have a "tea party." Other times we'd have a fashion show with everyone lined up. Then my older brother would come in an mess everything all up.

Ah, the joys of childhood and siblings. That's an article for another day. Back to the "paper dolls."

On my list of "To Do's" is to create my own "Victorian paper dolls" based upon my own doll designs. The problem is finding the "time" to do so. There are just so many things I want to try and so many things I want to do. My own "paper dolls" is among them.

Of course, thinking about "paper dolls" got me to wondering about their origin. If you're a reader of my Linda's Blog you know how much I love traditions and research.

The who, what, when, and where did mysteries. So, I thought I'd find out the history of paper dolls and the traditions surrounding them. When exactly did the "tradition" of playing with "paper dolls" begin? So, I did a little research.

It seems that paper dolls have a history that is as varied as the paper dolls themselves.  Paper dolls over the centuries have been created for various reasons and in various forms, some of which would not resemble the paper dolls we are accustomed to today.

According to Wikipedia.com, "Paper dolls have been around as long as there has been paper. Faces or other objects were applied to the paper and they were used during religious rituals and ceremonies in the Asian cultures many centuries ago. The Japanese used paper for Origami, artful paper folding, and dating back to 800 AD they folded paper figurines in the shape of Kimono. Balinese people made paper and leather into puppets since before the Christian Era. Other cultures around the world have had paper formations or paper art, including in Poland, where they were called Wy'cinanki. These early types of paper figures differ from typical paper dolls today, as no clothes were made to be used with the dolls."

It is said that Marco Polo may have brought the tradition of using "paper dolls" for puppet shows home with him. The "dolls" were printed on "papyrus" and then glued to sticks to be used as puppets for puppet shows.

Other historians refer to life-size cutouts of "nobility" used during stage performances as the start of paper dolls. Paper dolls first appeared in Paris in the 18th century, during the reign of Louis XV. On the other side of the English Channel during this time period, British printers printed "paper dolls" on flat sheets and added moral stories to go along with their creations.

According to some historians; Paper dolls began in the mid-1700s amongst the European fashion centers of Vienna, Berlin, London and Paris. Here they offered paper dolls with costumes.

For other historians, "paper dolls" began with "traditional" dolls and started in the late 18th century with French seamstresses and dressmakers as a selling tool. They would create 8" tall figures on cardboard with outfits and distribute these to their favorite customers.

In 1810 the first commercial "paper doll" called "Little Fanny" was created by S. & J. Fuller & Co. The "Little Fanny" 15-page book was expensive to buy so it was initially only popular amongst the wealthier families. In 1812 "Little Henry" was published in America by J. Belcher.

Beginning in the 1830s, celebrity paper dolls and "royalty" paper dolls began to appear. In Pioneer America, paper was a prized resource. If children were lucky enough to get paper dolls, they treasured them and saved them between the pages of a book or in a carefully guarded box.

The cost of paper later changed with the invention of mechanical grinding machines, which became a ready source for pulp paper. However it wasn't until 1838 when cheap paper made from wood pulp (i.e. newsprint) was widely used that "paper dolls" was made affordable to the average child. As paper became less expensive and more common, dolls were mass produced on inexpensive cardboard and became readily available to children.

In the 1800's in the United States "McLoughlin Brothers" quickly became one of the largest manufacturer of paper dolls. They printed them on engraved wooden blocks. McLoughlin Brothers was bought in 1920 and is now known as "Milton Bradley."

Until the development of color printing, paper dolls were colored by hand. In America, Civil War widows often earned money by embellishing the printed paper dolls.

Early printed doll clothes did not include tabs for dressing the dolls, as is common with paper dolls today. Instead, children painstakingly attached the clothes with tiny drops of sealing wax. They took great care when they attached their clothes to their dolls so they wouldn't tear the paper doll.

Early paper dolls were available in various stages of modesty. Some came with permanently printed clothes. Others came with multiple layers of clothes, while others had printed underwear and required only outerwear. By the 1800s most commercial paper doll clothes featured tabs.

Homemade paper wardrobes often rivaled the silken fashions worn by real ladies and gentlemen of their respective era. Some artists used bits of cloth, tissue paper and magazine pictures to craft beautiful ball gowns.

And, something near and dear to my heart - During the Victorian era, Godey's Lady's Book, was the first magazine to publish a paper doll in their November 1859 issue. This paper doll was printed in black and white with a coloring page of costumes.

At the turn of the century, department stores soon discovered that paper dolls were the ideal form of advertising. Specially designed dolls appeared in ladies magazines such as the Good Housekeeping, Ladies Home Journal, Ladies World, McCalls, Pictorial Review and Woman's Home Companion.

The most popular paper doll of the mid-20th century was probably Betsy McCall, created by Kay Morrissey. Since 1962, Barbie paper dolls have become the most popular among American children.

Today, "fine art paper dolls" and "paper art dolls" can be found on many websites and are sometimes drawn, painted or printed on paper. They even have their own Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) which can be traded or swapped.  And, if that isn't  modern enough you can arrange a playtime with your avatar and your friends in your own virtual community.

Collecting paper dolls is a wonderful hobby and one I would like to start. If you love historic fashions, ball gowns, personality paper dolls, modern characters, animals, cartoon characters, etc. there is a paper doll somewhere for you.

Paper dolls can be collected very inexpensively, are available for free downloads on many websites as printables and coloring pages, and are available for free in many magazines and ezines.

There are also hundreds of books for sale that include paper dolls of various types and historical periods to cut out and play with.  I have bought several of these with paper dolls dressed in  clothing from the Victorian Era just to see the beautiful dresses.

As mentioned, I played with paper dolls as a child and never stopped loving them. However, the paper art doll creations of today are nothing at all like the paper dolls I played with. They're amazing works of art.

I love the fact that so many of the scrapbooking and mixed media paper doll designers are willing to share their paper doll making making secrets by creating free tutorials, patterns and how-to's for all of us to use.  So, of course, I had to set up a Paper Doll Making Pinterest board to house all the wonderful links I've found.  If you love paper dolls, too, here's a few tutorials, video's and how-to's to help you with creating your own works of art.

Happy paper doll making.

I hope you enjoyed reading about the history of "paper dolls" .

Maybe I've encouraged you to become a "paper doll" collector, too. I know that I'm starting my own collection and, if I could just find some time, developing my own series of "Victorian paper dolls." So, who wants to swap paper dollies with me?