Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!
I was busy making fur coats this year instead of pink and red dolly dresses, so I didn’t have much to show or sell this year… Oh well… I sure had fun making those coats and hate to pack my furs away, but I guess I must.
I did receive a few pictures just in time for Valentine’s Day! You’ll love the dresses Sylvia made for her girls… this is what she emailed me…
To you Jeanne and All the Girls,
Happy Valentines ! I made the red dress this year and the blue one I made last year, copying a dress I saw on a primitive painting online! Hope everyone has a great day!
Sylvia from NH
Thanks so much, Sylvia! They are VERY pretty… I can’t decide if I like the red best on Cecile or the navy on Elizabeth! I think it’s a tie! Very nice job on them!
I think I must “wanna be” an Olympian… I never really was any good at sports growing up, but I could do a mean cartwheel…:o) and I was on a softball team when I was in 4-H and at Bible College. But other than that, I think I was pretty dreadful at sports…
One year, when I was probably 9 or 10, I got a pair of white ice skates for Christmas. We had a pond in our front yard (I’ll have to find a picture of it sometime… it was neat!) and that morning when I got those skates, I tried them on… and they were (ouch) really too tight, but I was determined to cram my foot in them and go out to the pond and skate… My toes were so scrunched up in the skates, that when I got out in the freezing temps, and tried to skate, my toes felt so brittle and in so much pain. It was really a stupid move on my part, but I wanted those skates SO much and just couldn’t stand the thoughts of waiting to exchange them. I only actually remember “trying” to skate with them that one time… I probably messed them up just enough that they couldn’t be returned. That was my “skating” debut and finale!
As much as I’m NOT necessarily a “sporty” person, I do love to watch sports… I like to watch baseball, and I’m definitely watching the Super Bowl, and I used to love to watch golf… but not so much anymore. My point is, I’ve been watching the Olympics…all different kinds of events, and I think I like to watch others in whatever sport they are in just because… just because I want to see how they do it and see if they win! I’m a big cheerleader!! I was cheering for Shaun White in snowboarding, Nick Baumgartner in snowboarding, Nathan Chen in figure skating, (WOW!) Jessie Diggins in cross country skiing, Lindsey Jacobellis in snowboarding, Chloe Kim in snowboarding, etc. Yeah, I’ve watched a few athletes… :o)
Anyway, that’s my lead-in to today’s post… Barbara sent some winter pictures and before ALL the snow goes away and the Olympics come to a close, I wanted to share these fun pictures with you! As I usually do, I’ll let Barbara’s email and her comments describe each picure…
I thought I’d better get my pictures in before you get back to sewing, since we’re about to run out of Winter and I know you will be wanting to get on with your Spring sewing. Me too!! I hope I didn’t overdo it – again but you know how these dollies can be when you say photo shoot. I will give a brief description of each picture and if you need to delete any I’ll be okay with that if I can choose. They understand but they do get upset when they don’t see themselves published. Not to mention that more had winter attire than I thought when I planned this.
Wellie Camille got to head for the slopes for the first time to try out her new snowboard. She is really quite good for the first time. Future Olympic material?
Heart 4 Heart Nahji is giving H4H Lilian (aka Lily – hubby’s favorite) a push off in the Wellie sled. Lily looks like she’s scared to death but she really had a great time.
Vintage Ginny is pulling Heartstrings Jacquie and Eden Grace in the sled. They are heading to find out how Heartstring Eva and Little Charming Jade are doing with their snowman building. Looks like the girls have done a great job to me but someone forgot to bring his hat. No one wanted to make the trip back home to get it so I guess no magic hat this year.
Ruby has just given Modern Ginny a push to get her sled started. She kept yelling for Ginny to pick up her head but Ginny didn’t hear her. Fortunately she made it to the bottom safely.
Shirley Temple is giving Tiny Betsy a push off. I love the look on Shirley’s face. Good thing Betsy doesn’t see that.
Sophie has never been allowed to sled down the big hill until this year. Mini Maru Chloe Danielle went up with her to make sure she really wanted to do it. She offered to go with her but Sophie said she’s a big girl now and would be fine on her own. She was.
Paola Reina Cleo Patrice and Liu were ready to sled down the hill when they saw the bigger girls, H4Hs Zelia, Dell and Lauryce and Mini Maru Savannah gathering for a snowball fight so they stopped to watch. They said it was hilarious.
H4H Rahel is Blythe’s skating coach. She is offering her some sage advice in order to improve her performance for future competition. Blythe wants her to hurry so she can put her coat back on. She insisted on wearing her skating costume but ended up wishing she had thought twice about that. RRFFs Sara, Stella and Bella are an appreciative audience cheering Blythe on.
While I was finishing up with this email hubby came in and told me I had a serious problem with one of the girls. He said she had fallen face down in the snow and needed help. It was Liu. She and Cleo had been waiting to sled down the hill and I guess it took so long Liu collapsed from exhaustion. We rescued her and didn’t even have to call the EMTs.
Thanks, Barbara
Thank YOU, Barbara,
How fun this was to see your girls being Olympians! I HOPE some of them won blue ribbons!
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
Another fun post tonight!
Sylvia, the gowns you made are beautiful! It seemed I could see the details a little better on the blue one, but that could just be my monitor.
Barbara, I really enjoyed all your pictures, and the stories that went with them!
Jeanne, I’ve always loved ice skating, and your story made me laugh. I ice-skated as a child, starting with four-runner skates (two sets of short runners, one set of two under the toe and another set under the heel–very stable!) and then two-runner skates (one set of full-length double runners, maybe 1/2″ apart) before graduating to figure skates later on. I was never very good, but I enjoyed it!
Now I have to tell you, we “yoopers” are pretty proud of Nick Baumgartner! He’s from Iron River, Mich., about 93 miles from where I grew up, in the Upper Peninsula! (U. P.–hence, “yoopers”)
I think you may have mentioned where you were from before, but it just clicked for me. A very dear friend of mine was from Detroit. She worked with me in Houston but then retired and returned to Detroit. She had a cousin who lived in northern Michigan (still in the mitten). When we went to visit her one year that’s where she was so we got the privilege of visiting northern Michigan. I loved it. An August day and we still had to wear sweaters when we took the water taxi to Mackinac Island. I loved eating in the restaurants with the windows open. I grew up without A/C and love open windows where it’s possible and it sure was there. Then we went to the Soo Locks and really enjoyed that. It was 4th of July and we took the dinner cruise that later stopped across from the fireworks. It was a magical experience. Since we were in the midst of a drought here in Texas and no fireworks were allowed we felt blessed for the opportunity. Not only to see a dear friend who was like a grandmother to my children but to experience some of the best of Michigan, including Frankenmuth. My friend passed away a few years ago and we haven’t been back since that one time but I’d love to do it all over again and this time include a visit to the UP.
Hi Barbara,
As I’ve told Charlotte before, I’ve always thought of Texas and Michigan as second homes. Texas for family heritage and Michigan from summer vacations. We been through the Soo Locks a couple of times and Frankenmuth is really neat. You need to get up to the UP. We vacationed a number of summers in st. Ignace and Mackinac Island. Also Charlevoix and Paradise.
Texas has lots of beautiful country as well. My great-aunt Lydia (maternal grandmother’s sister, Lydia doll name fame) lived in Kerrville and was the governess to the Moody children in her younger years and then a surgical nurse, my other great-aunt lived is Pasadena, great uncle in Rosenberg, and my grandmother was born is Welcome. We went to Frederickburg and Galveston each trip. I’ve seen The Alamo and El Paso. (Marty Robbins, anyone?)
Oh, I forgot the most important UP comments. Can’t miss the lilac festival on Mackinac or getting Murdick’s fudge. We always ate at The Galley restaurant in St. Ignace and various places on the island.
It is lovely out around Kerrville. Governess to the Moody children! Wow! When I first moved to Texas I lived in Pasadena and then Sean went to San Jacinto Junior College and lived there for a few years. Since my days in Pasadena I’ve been moving west a little at a time.
I forgot to mention I get the Bronner’s catalog each year. They have a lot of great stuff and since I can’t make a trip to Frankenmuth every year, it’s the next best thing.
Dear Charlotte, I wanted to let you know that your namesake, Charlotte Noelle, wanted me to tell you that she wishes you a Happy Valentine’s Day and she hopes you get a box of chocolates. Oh course, she is wishing that SHE will get a box of chocolates, which of course she will not (smile).
So fun to wake up and see the wonderful dolly pictures and to hear your story of your ice skating g adventures, Jeanne! I too, was not much in the athletic department, and skating was never my forte, but we did have a pond on our property when I was growing up and skating we did! Not so much me, but my sisters did!🙂. Charlotte, I too, had two-runner skates when small! And congratulations on your win on that darling coat and dress combo!
Sylvia, your gowns are beautiful and you are an excellent seamstress! I too, had to look closely to see the details on the red dress, but they showed up beautifully on the blue one. I love those tucks, and the bows over the shoulders. What elegant dresses!
Barbara, what a darling set up you have, and oh my goodness, all the dolls to dress! I had an enjoyable time reading along with the pictures all about the adventures of your “Olympic Crew”! You have a great sense of humor! You might be happy to know that my Betsy finally has a snowboard just like Camille’s! It’s so nice to have a dining room table to set this all up on, but also would not be good if you needed the table for a holiday dinner! Thank you so much for sending the pictures, and you even gave me some ideas along the way!
My Betsy Is asking if your Betsy’s snowboard is actually for Wellies or did you find something else for Betsy? Thanks for your compliments on my winter set-up. It’s never exactly like I hoped because I always think I’m going to have a bigger area to work with than I do. I have a dining room and an eat-in kitchen so I always have one table I can use without having to worry about leaving things up for a few days. The lighting in the kitchen is better than the dining room for photography and, truth be told, we usually eat in the living room on TV trays now that the kids are gone, so no stress there. I love sharing ideas. I “borrow” a few myself.
Barbara, in answer to your question, Betsy says, yes, she has a Wellie Wisher Snowboard! It fits her perfectly!
By the way, I love Frankenmuth too! A wonderful town, with an old German feel and a huge Christmas store!
Looks like I changed my name to Li da! Not really, I just don’t press the “n” hard enough! Still Linda!
The RAMS 🐏 🐏 🐏 WON! Probably not of interest to anyone East of California, but we’re happy in Southern California! I was superstitious enough to wonder whether it being the Year of the Tiger 🐅 might interfere with the Rams 🐏 winning.
I’m with you, Jeanne, on the skating abilities. Fun to think about being able to do it.
I agree with the commentary above about the details of the dresses, Sylvia. I didn’t see them at first. As somewhat of a seamstress myself, I can’t figure out how the bodice was constructed. Very beautiful in both colors. I wonder whether the details would show up more on white fabric?
Wonderful job, well done on your scenes, Barbara! You do have an amazing selection of dolls in different sizes to dress and set up. The pictures are great and so detailed. I think Chloe Danielle is wearing my favorite outfit, the one with the zebra print and puffy white vest. Thanks for taking the time to share these wonderful pictures and stories with us.
I love the outfit too. I bought the outfit for Wellie Camille but when she got her snowsuit for snowboarding, she generously allowed Chloe Danielle, who is a newcomer to the family and doesn’t have anything other than the summer dress she came in, to wear the outfit so she could participate too.
First, Happy Valentine’s Day!
Well, ladies, because I have absolutely nothing good to say about football and the NFL, I was tempted to not say anything today as I know the majority of folks don’t think like I do about them. BUT, we have wonderful picture submissions by two very talented and dear sofa sisters, so here I am. You ladies are rock stars.
Sylvia, your dresses are exquisite simplicity. Absolutely gorgeous and perfect colors on both girls. Thanks very much for sharing. I hope you and your husband are fully recovered. NH has had quite a winter. In some ways, I am dreading coming back in 4 years or so. But, Peterborough is a wonderful town and our oldest son and his delightful wife are there. I think you and I should try to connect.
Barbara… setting up those kids of so many sizes to do the things you wanted them to do must have been a real exercise in time, patience, and perseverance, but what fun for us to see the fruits of your labor. Your kids look toasty warm and having the time of their lives. So fun to see Tiny Betsy. I have one somewhere. Liked her ever so much more than the larger one that I know so many of you love and have. You, Susette and Linda really went to town to share with us. Thanks for publishing them, Jeanne.
As for skating, Jeanne, we had ponds nearby where I grew up within easy walking and we skated quite a bit. Skates that are too tight make feet get so cold and miserable so fast. I could “feel your pain”.
May you have enjoy a lot of love today. ❤️😊
Somehow “all” became “have” in my closing. May you all enjoy a lot of love today. There! ❤️ And happy anniversary to Joy and her other person of 46 years. ❤️❤️
Ack! You spilled the beans. Thanks and hope you have a wonderful Valentine’s Day! 🙂
I adore my Tiny Betsy. She is what I wish all articulated dolls could be. She has a little Baby Grand piano that she sits at perfectly since her knees bend quite easily. I can sit her on the bench, put her one foot on the pedals and her hands on the keyboard and she looks very professional. I do wish she had come in a larger version. I love my bigger Betsy but she isn’t articulated.
Sally, We are doing fine even though it did take a while. That would be fun to connect, you are coming back to NH in four years. I will be 90 but of coarse that is just a number.
Indeed, Sylvia. Just a number. So happy to hear that recovery is finally complete. See you in four years! 😊
Sylvia’s girls look wonderful in the beautiful dresses she made. Love the solids, tucks, and bows on the shoulders. Wow, they will be right in style for so many occasions. Sweet Valentine too.
So glad to see Barbara’s pictures. I was wondering how she was going to transform the table into a bunny hill. Turned out great. So many fun things going on with the girls and their great winter attire. What a great idea on Blythe’s pond. Her form is fabulous. 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing all of your girls. The scenes are perfect and capture the action going on so well. 🙂
As to Olympic Winter sports, my favorites are skiing and skating. Since I grew up in the coastal region of CA, we did not have snow, but we did have a rink and a few hours drive brought us to the slopes. Loved skiing and skating too. Sports that involved a ball, were not for me, but I did enjoy dance and song leading in high school. Hope Team USA gets some gold! They deserve it.
Wishing everyone a wonderful Valentine’s Day! 🙂
Oh, and I ordered RRFF, Josephine. I think her look is fabulous. 🙂
Very happy 46th anniversary to you and “other person”!!!
Happy 46th Anniversary to you Joy and “other person”.
Joy, Happy Anniversary commemorating 46 years of wedded bliss! Just how and when did “other person” get that name??😊
St. Louis!
Why did my comment go through before I was finished???
Jeanne, I can relate to your story about wearing your ice skates, only my pain was the initial putting on of my skates but that was because they had to be tight for support. At first they were hard to tolerate until I got use to them. Once past that pain, I was fine. I can’t imagine your poor little toes swished like that so you must have been determined to enjoy skating. I loved skating and admit I was pretty good at it for an amateur.
I missed writing yesterday so I want to thank the girls for their wonderful and fun pictures. Susette’s girls on the snow hills of her home were enjoyable.
Aline, it was fun to see your little granddaughter play with your dolls and it was nice to see your girls all dressed up too.
Laura, your family keepsakes are so special. You are lucky to have had many saved and passed down to you. The doll is exquisite! I know how you cherish those heirlooms.
And today, Sylvia, the two dresses on Cecelia and Elizabeth are really beautiful. The detail shows up more on the navy dress but both are very pretty. The red dress is perfect for Valentines Day.
And Barbara, love your snow scenes with your Olympian girls having fun playing in the snow. Each scene is adorable. Even the dolls can have fun in their warm outfits in winter. Hope the skater in her little outfit got into a blanket afterwards… maybe with some hot chocolate!
Thank you all for the fun photos yesterday and today!
Thank you so much for your sweet comments, Paula.
First I wanted to thank you, Kathie, for your kind comments for your kind comments. I hope someone appreciates your antique items.
What gorgeous dresses, Sylvia! The red is my favorite and I love the bows you added to the shoulders.
Funny about the skating, Jeanne. I’ve been on ice skates maybe three times and they were all for grade school birthday skating parties. We weren’t close enough to a rink for me to really improve.
As far as winter Olympic sports my favorites are figure skating and skiing. I like snowboarding also, only hockey does nothing for me.
What wonderful photos, Barbara. All your girls are dressed so nicely and look like they are having a wonderful time. Loved seeing all the smaller scale dolls and all your details. Thanks so much for sharing them.
Wishing all the Sofa Sisters a Happy Valentine’s Day!
Barbara I loved your pictures and the comments. Sam loved them too. I was looking at them on my lap top and the pictures weren’t very clear so hooked up my (very old but much larger screen) monitor and they looked fabulous. I loved your pictures too Sylvia, so clever to copy from a painting!
I haven’t been actually watching the Olympics but do follow on the news which (of course) tends to major on NZ competitors. It was fantastic to see Zoi Sadowski-Synnott win New Zealand’s first ever gold medal in the winter Olympics at only 20. she got silver last Olympics when she was only 16. We’ll be watching for Nico Porteous to improve on his previous silver, he’s the same age. Incredible talent.
Happy Valentine’s Day to all my sofa sisters!
Sylvia your dresses are absolutely beautiful in both colors. I could see the details better on the blue but in person there would be no question.
Seeing the wonderful pictures of clothes some of my sofa sisters have made is really making me itchy to get back in my sewing room. I’m getting close but it’s obvious I won’t have anything Valentine to contribute. But I still have a few dolls that could use an Easter ensemble and that’s not till late in April.
Jeanne, your skating story is both hilarious and sad. The first thing I thought of when you said the skates were too small was that your feet were going to freeze. It’s too bad you couldn’t take them back. My first experience with ice skating was on a pond at a farmhouse down the road from where we lived. The family who lived there allowed everyone in the neighborhood to come skate there. Our development was carved out of some of the land from that farm. They no longer farmed but kept the house and the piece with the pond. My first skates were hand-me-downs from my cousin. They were hockey skates and I hated them. Finally my parents bought me my first pair of figure skates and i loved them. In PA we often went to the Poconos to skate on the lakes with our church youth group. And one time we had ice on the roads, and we couldn’t wait to put on our skates and skate on the street in front of our house. There have been a few times when my kids could have done that here in TX, but they didn’t have skates.
Thanks so much for the wonderful compliments on my “Snow Much Fun” dolly winter outing. I actually dressed them over a couple weeks. They said it was cold enough that they were okay standing around in their winter clothing until after the photo shoot. I did sadly leave out mentioning a couple of the dolls and I’m sure I’ll hear about it. In the picture with Shirley and Tiny Betsy, Skipper and Stacie are checking out the snowman Eva and Jade built. I keep Skipper and Stacie for my granddaughter to play with when she comes. I usually don’t include them in pictures, but I found those cute winter outfits for them and they wanted to show them off. I’ll find some way to apologize to them. Maybe new spring outfits.
Something came to me this morning that I thought I’d share. Most of my sofa sisters seem to have larger dolls but several of us do have smaller ones. I get a Thomas Kinkade calendar each year. I get the one without the verses on it so the pictures are clean. Every year I throw the past year in recycling. I was looking for a backdrop for something for my smaller dolls and looked at my calendar and the picture for this month was perfect. I started looking at the other months and found several others that would work. Lots of scenarios to work with just looking at the pictures.
We caught part of the Super Bowl. We didn’t have a dog in the hunt this year, but Dionne’s grandfather passed away recently and his favorite team was the Benghals. Wish they could have won for her.
Dear Barbara, I love your photos. Your children are certainly talented. I think they all deserve medals, or at least cookies (laugh).
❤️❤️HAPPY VALENTINES DAY SISTERS!❤️❤️
My feet hurt just reading about your skates Jeanne. I had a
Pair of 7 1/2 skates and wore and wore them….it took an hour on the bus to go to the skating rink..and those skates did start to hurt…the next pair were 9 !🥴
Sylvia your AG dresses are fantastic…love the pleats, the lace trims and the bows at the shoulder. I should use more solids…I always seem to go for the prints. The solids seem dressier somehow.
Barbara…I don’t know where you get the time or patience for setting up your Dolly scenarios. I had to laugh at several of the pics…your humor comes out in the poses and the way they look at each other! Loved the snow ball fight and Shirley pushing Betsy….and the snowman builders….and the skater and the sled. Could go on and on!
Enjoy the day everyone
Dear Jeanne, I have a similar story but it was with the Girl Scouts. I spent the entire evening, wearing skates that were too small, and holding on to the side of the rink fence. It was the same with me. It was my first AND last foray into ice skating. I knew I was never going to be a Dorothy Hamill (laugh).
The big news of the day is that my Corinne, Madeline, arrived today and is as pretty as her pictures. The necklace is perfect.
My mom owned the only skates in our family, and I think they too were too small. However, she kept them as keepsakes all her life, so they must have meant a lot to her.
All the pictures today are special. My M-G and Cecile would love the first dresses. Several of my dolls would happily join the fun of the second set.
My computer changes the opening screen every few days. Scenes from all over the world are featured. Almost all are beautiful. Frequently the are scenes from New Zealand. I always thin of Anne and how fortunate she is to live in a place that beautiful.
Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone.