"Letters from home"

This little person has been created in homage to the old-fashioned art of letter writing.  As I was growing up and even as an adult I treasured each letter that I received from someone far away.   I even read historical books that were based on letters two people had written to each other. 

Although our modern day life gives us quicker, easier access to each other -- the letters written by hand were, many times, far more enlightening than a few quick lines in an email.  I knew that the letters I received were meant solely for me and were not written to a social media site.  Just one-on-one communication - sealed in an envelope.

Hand written letters (yes, there was such a thing once upon a time) were treasures that took time and love to write.  Also they often took quite awhile to actually get to the receiver - no instant messaging in 'those' days.  Sometimes, by the time the letter actually arrived, the news was already 'old'.

But still...  I make this little figure, who collects her mail in her pocket.  Perhaps someday it will end up in a box, up in the attic for a future person to discover.

A special thanks to Sherri for this darling little black chair (and two others that she sent to me).

"To send a letter is a good way to go somewhere without moving anything but your heart." - Phyllis Theroux
  

"The Traveler"

"The Traveler", wandering the world's roads.  Exploring far away, and not so far away places. Looking at him he looks a little bit world weary doesn't he?

 

For him it isn't the destination its the journey.   No GPS for this little guy -- he'd much rather carry his trusty maps and figure it out for himself.

He traces each highway and byway with his finger tips deciding where his travels will take him.


" But even if I'm left high and dry at the end of this wild journey, just taking it is a great feeling." - Olivia Wilde

"Nestling"

Like a little bird I have become a nester this summer.  As the bird moves twigs and collections around in her nest, I have also been moving this and that here and there.  It is a good feeling to gather my nest around me -- to know where everything is (well almost everything) and to look once again at the trinkets I've collected over the years.

This sweet girl is my tribute to birds and their nests.  What is more wonderful than watching a bird sitting ever so still on a branch and then taking off in swift flight - wings glinting in the sun?

I've added music for the birdsong that greets us now that summer is here.  The beautiful, natural songs that I can hear from the quiet of our back porch.

"Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul - and sings the tunes without words - and never stops at all." - Emily Dickinson

The 'Fun' Part

I enjoy every part of creating these figures -- but I must say that the hand stitchery and embellishment is my very favorite part.

I have a sense looking at this incomplete figure that it is just that - incomplete, wrong somehow.  The doubts creep in.

Then I take out needle and thread - bits of this and that - and it becomes whole beneath my finger tips.  Ahhh, a deep sigh of satisfaction.

"Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product." - Eleanor Roosevelt

"Waiting"

"Waiting" -- this young woman is just beginning her life.  What awaits her?  She is anticipatory thinking that all things bright and beautiful will be coming her way.  Will someone come along and unlock the key to her heart?  Will each day bring wonder and magic?  All is before her.

I so enjoyed working on this figure - which includes painted fabric, snippets of special fabrics, a couple of my 'trinkets' and of course a few embroidery stitches.  Pure joy!

This figure was inspired by Daryle Cook's 'stuffies' submission in a 2009 issue of "Cloth Paper Scissors". I am so grateful for this guidance back into figure/doll making.

"The world is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper." - Bertrand Russell