A perfect bedside table for my dolls, another great yard sale find

 

I found this fantastic jewelry box at a yard sale,  for only $2, the drawers open and can hold doll items like underwear and jewelery . You can reuse any jewelry box that is doll height as side tables and full dresser. You can often find them in thrift stores and under $5!

This one is so adorable I have to keep it for myself.  Such a great deal and pretty too!

As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com 

Funky furniture from Allysaraeinc's family Etsy shop

 I found this fun Etsy shop called http://www.etsy.com/shop/allysaraeinc . This family run shop offers a really funky fuzzy green bed and couch sets. The bed only $42.95 comes fully assembled and with bedding. made from hardwood and the bedding is quilted.

I also loved the couch set perfect for your dolls living room! Also comes fully assembled with your choice of the green pillows shown or your choice of super cute zebra print ones

If you are not a huge fan of pink take a look at this set in Green

You can also choose the Zebra print pillows with this set only  $39.95

This shop also offers sleeping bag sets for $18.95 these sets are fully padded and soft brushed cotton.

The family has been making doll clothes and sewing for years. "Mom" tells me
"My father is a wood worker and my mother is a seamstress so growing up my sisters and I have always been able to let our imaginations go wild. Allysa and Kristin, and I have always been very creative. We started making doll furniture and accessories as soon as they had baby dolls"
I always want to know how people get started selling on Etsy and http://www.etsy.com/people/allysaraeinc started selling doll furniture because of the multiple relatives and friends asking to buy thier items for their own daughters.

"We enjoyed it and people loved it, so why not? We've had a lot of fun being able to sew and create doll furniture together , We have done a few local craft shows with our doll furniture, but what we really enjoy is selling on etsy.

As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Beautiful Hand Sewn Dress by SewCrazyArmywife

I received the most amazing handmade HAND SEWN! Dress from http://www.etsy.com/shop/sewcrazyarmywife 
What amazed me about this incredibly cute and well made dress is that it is almost entirely hand sewn, this dress has been made in such a traditional way and yet is so stylish and modern. I loved it!

Almost every item from http://www.etsy.com/shop/sewcrazyarmywife is stitched by hand. With precision and care from a long lost art. That shop owner Eva learned from her grandmother  years ago.

With hand stitched items as gorgeous as this Red Satin stunner, the time and care require to create such an exquisite piece is hardly reflected in the cost of this gown only $15.00 which also includes a hand made glass diamond and pearl necklace.

 

This dress I have had my eye on for quite some time, I love it, the color the detail  screams classic and sophisticated. 

"Beautiful taffeta dress in a deep purple, with an antique deco-etched white shell buckle at the waist sash( which I got at an estate sale and happened to be the perfect size for this dress). Skirt sides were done on machine, but the rest of the dress was done entirely by hand. Closure at back done with hidden silver-colored metal snaps"
Offered also for $15.00 such a great deal!

 

I love the color and simple style of this dress

as well as the pattern (as you can tell I am partial to it!) of this one

Simple and strapless! I wish it came in my size! Eva will also add straps to this dress if you would prefer.
I love that this shop offers such great items for American Girl Dolls at such great prices!


As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Canada has a new line of 18 inch dolls Sears exclusives

The Christmas wish book is here and Sears is offering new 18 inch dolls for the holiday season.
Well to be honest I got the Christmas wish book in the middle of August, I love getting this book, I love this time of year and highlighting and dog eared pages of the wish book are a time honored tradition on my side of the family my sister Bre-Anne got hers first three days before me in Montreal where she lives and here I am seeing the photos from the catalog over Skype. So I could find out what my Niece Trinity wanted for her birthday in December.

Sears now has a line of 18 inch dolls that look much better then the line they had this time last year though two of the "new" dolls look like they have been repackaged  and dressed from last year.
These new NEWBERRY dolls are Katie, Allie, Lily, Emma, Brooklyn and Noelle.

They have the price point of $29.99 and are stylishly dressed. To be honest with you I like the look of them better then the Our Generation ones Zellers in Canada (Target in the USA) sell. These dolls remind me of the Journey Girl dolls.  Especially Emma who really looks like Meredeth I am not actually convinced they are not the same doll.

 

 

Emma looks so much like Meredith don't you think?

 This is Lilly in the Red outfit

The one doll that really caught my eye was Lily, though I did not like her outfit I do like the her facial features. She is very much my favorite.

The line sears carries also offers the "Clip on Chair" which looks very much like the sweet treat chair fir $29.99 and their own version of the hair styling chair also $29.99.  The best deal and the item my niece is getting for her birthday is the "Mini Scooter" that looks very similar to the AG one, as it is only $19.99 and Sears offers a ship a gift option I ordered it and had it shipped to my sister in Montreal to avoid the delay or the disappointment of them being sold out.

The American Girl Scooter,

and the Newberry Scooter.

The most beautiful item in their collection has to be the Newberry Horse and Sleigh, for $129.00 you get the holiday sleigh complete with with sliver sleigh bells, that any girl would love and the most beautiful black horse the brush and a blanket for the horse are included. I am so kicking myself for not buying the one from Toys R Us that was white and on sale for only $49.99 when I was in Palm Springs. If I had room I would have loved to have this set.

I really like that there is a line of affordable 18 inch dolls in Canada, however having both American Girl Dolls and a Maplelea Doll I know that there is no way that the quality of the dolls hair would be comparable but I do think this would make a very nice starter 18 inch doll. To order these dolls you can shop on line at www.sears.ca or you can call 1-800-267-3277. You can find the dolls on pages 740 and 741 in the 2011 Christmas Wish Book from Sears.
As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

A perfect place to sit! A great new Pattern for an easy to make chair.

I made this fantastic and fun chair from a new pattern by Doll Tag Design called Square Chair
it is available from Liberty Jane's pattern site and is a great investment at $3.99

I was so excited to get this pattern and was so thrilled to see how easy it was to put together, I cut it out and put the entire thing together in an hour and a half. Start to finish and I used items I already had in my craft cupboard which is also a bonus.
As some of you may know I have a few nieces I sew for, so I have spent the better part of today cutting out one each for them for Christmas and of course a few for myself.

 

I truly believe that this is the perfect doll chair and any doll lover would love to have one. They are also a really great starting sewing pattern, a great one for Mother and Daughter or Grandma to work on together.

Doll Tag designs also has several other great patterns on the Liberty Jane Pattern site including a Round version of this chair!

The Round Chair  

 The Ballet Sweater

The School Sweater


Each of these patterns are only $3.99 and a great investment for your doll play collection.
I can not wait to give my nieces their own special chairs for their dolls on Christmas Morning creating them each their own special doll chair tailor made to their favorite colors and patterns will make for a magical Christmas gift giving experience, knowing  I am giving them something homemade and from the heart! To find any of these patterns you can click on the highlighted words and be taken right to the Liberty Jane pattern site.

As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Girl Scout outfits for Ameircan Girl Dolls from Emily Rose@home

In Canada where I am from we have the Girl Guides. Some of my fondest memories of my mother was the time we spent together in Brownies and Girl Guides. I loved belonging to my brownie troupe and our weekly meetings, My mother ran our group and I loved earning my badges. It was so great to have time with my mother especially given the fact that I had 3 other siblings at home and mom and me time was not always easy to achieve, but my mother made time.I loved all the creative things we did, how we helped out our community and the leadership tools that I learned. Oh and I loved my uniform! (I was a girl who dreamed of going to private school so I could have a uniform.) The photo above is me as a brownie in about 1982. My brother Chris was a Beaver (before scouts here they have Beavers)

 

Here I am as a Girl Guide a few years later, I loved it!

My neighbors to the south call their Girl Guide Program Girl Scouts and have the same rich tradition that has been handed down for generations.  I remember a cloth doll I had when I was a brownie, that I loved, it was so special because it had a matching brown uniform to the one I proudly wore to brownies!
Emily Rose@home consultant Susie Hyde shared with me some photos and information about the wonderful outfits available for our 18 inch dolls that are an incredibly detailed replica of the real thing!

These outfits from EmilyRose@home cost just under $20 and are so adorable!

They also offer a junior girl scout uniform   for $18.99

The dolls look even cuter with the outfits on in person!

The detail is truly amazing on these outfits. No detail has been over looked on these outfits.
Now if they could come out with the doll sized Girl Scout Cookies to share that would be so amazing!
As with all my posts I would love to hear from you please leave me a comment or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Three months until Christmas Eve....I am thinking a Doll "snuggie" may just be the perfect gift!

 

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas... "

Well at my mall anyway, I know we have just gotten back to school out of the way and now the shops are starting with the Halloween and Christmas decorations. Let's look at this in a positive way and start thinking and shopping ahead to avoid the holiday stress!

Ever since the Snuggie Craze took off I have seen them fly off the shelf for adults, kids and pets a like, now the dolls can have some of that cozy time!

I found the most adorable doll sized "snuggies" from a shop called Aunt Bees Old Sew N Sew on Etsy. I have featured her before with her Hawaiian shirts and shorts last month and fell in love with the doll sized "snuggies" only $8 

I love that you can contact Aunt Bee through her Etsy shop and request a color or patterned fabric for your doll "snuggie"

I love the look of the doll "snuggie" and the feel of polar fleece. I hope you will take a look at Aunt Bee's old sew N sew 

and the many wonderful items she has in her shop.

I had to ask Bee of Aunt Bee's Sew N sew how she came up with her doll snuggie pattern and she said "My daughter received a Texas Longhorn Snuggie for Christmas last year and she said "Hey mom, you should make one for a doll." So I did and it turned out really cute if I do say so myself."

I had to order one for myself!

As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Meet Meg creator of MicheDesigns and the new Wizard Robe Pattern available from Libberty Jane Pattern

One of my readers Lily let me know about this great Etsy shop called http://www.etsy.com/people/MicheFinds  the lady behind this shop Meg, turns out to be one very talented lady in our Doll world. In addition to her Etsy shop Meg is also the creator of the new Wizard costume you can purchase through Liberty Jane at http://libertyjanepatterns.com/2011/08/wizard-robe-pattern-for-ag-dolls.html 
Meg also has a You tube channel www.youtube.com/user/charmed031584  and face book page www.facebook.com/#!/pages/MicheDesigns/248813741812320?sk=wall

Meg very kindly shared with me a bit about her love of American girl dolls and how she started out in the doll world.
"I have had AG dolls since i was 11, but just started designing for them when I found my old AG dolls in my parent's basement storage last year.I started by fixing them up and have bought several since. i currently have 9 AG dolls.
I have 2 young boys and also watch 2 brothers during the day, so my dolls are sort of my "girlie time." I told my husband that for every year I don't have a real little girl, he has to buy my a new AG doll...he's gotten me 2 so far!

I found out about etsy and the huge "doll couture" phenomenon through Liberty Jane Clothing and Patterns in the fall of 2010. I found their website randomly while searching for doll clothing besides AG brand. when I saw the LJ design contests, it took me 3 months to get up the nerve to enter! once i got the 1st entry posted on YouTube, the feedback was very encouraging and I ended up posting 16 more design entries for both Liberty Jane and Britlyn Madison over the next few months. I received 4th place in my first LJ contest, and one of three 1st place spots the second contest.

About a month after I started entering designs, i decided i wanted to give sewing my own doll outfits a try. i had never sewn before, but I downloaded a few free patterns from the LJ website, and started handsewing (i didn't have a sewing machine yet). i got through my first tee shirt and 2 pairs of jeans before my husband broke down and bought me a sewing machine for my bday! I was really nervous to try using it (i am technologically handicapped), but once I got started, it was love at first stitch :D
I love making one-of-a-kind fashion outfits like something I could see wearing myself. I also make all my own doll jewelry, which is a lot of fun as well! my biggest seller were the Wizard Robes. they were my first pattern I created on my own. they got so popular, it felt like that was all I was doing so I now have the pattern listed for sale on Liberty Jane's pattern site. that felt like a huge acheivement so go from finding their website and being in awe of the outfits, to being part of it myself!
I also just listed my first outfit on ebay. I started the bid at $0.99 and advertised it through both youtube and dollabee. I have several other etsy outfits advertised on dollabee and facebook as well. www.dollabee.com  is a great website idea!

M youtube has been the biggest advertisement to date though.I post all my outfits there in video format and get feedback within 5 min of uploading! I have great subscribers and have made many young girls with talents of their own! It's great to get feedback from that 9-16 age group to see what will sell. once I got a good idea of what girls and even mature collecters liked, I started posting things on etsy (which I also found out about through youtube).I also gave away a free outfit by me (MicheDesigns) when i reached 200 subs on youtube. I am giving away another free outfit when i reach 400 subs...almost there!!! the winner is drawn at random from amongst my subscribers.

I want to thank Meg for sharing with us her experience and talents in the doll world and hope that you will check her out on Youtube, Etsy and Dollabee!

As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave your comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Knitting the Old Scotish Way! for American Girl dolls

I found this great Etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/people/jacknits  that offers adorable modern knit patterns for our American girl dolls.

 

I love this so much! Trendy and easy to make!

I love these dresses. Patterns only $5.00

Jacqueline Stewart Gibb is a  62 years young lady who was born in Edinburgh  Scotland and lived there untill she was 12 when her family was due to move to Vancouver Island under the "government assisted passage" scheme for tradesmen but due to her grandfather's illness she never made it to Canada. A year later she moved to Stevenage,a "New Town" in Hertfordshire,England which is about 30miles north of London.

Jacqueline tells me "I had learnneed the art of knitting at the age of 6 from my grandmother and it still makes people smile when they see me knit the "Old Scottish Way" with the right needle tucked under my arm for support. I loved knitting for my dolls and soon I was knitting my own designs for every doll in the neighbourhood in exchange for bits of wool, buttons,sweeties ,crayons and drawing paper.Later in life my daughter's doll clothes were the talk of the school with everyone wanting doll clothes "like Kerry's mum makes"! So my school fete days were very popular with my doll clothes stall"

I had to know how she came to make clothes for our American Girl dolls and Jacqueline says after she had a 37year career in banking and when she  took early retirement at 55  needed to do "something else" so out came the dolls clothes patterns. Jaqueline says  "but they were all so "old fashioned" and after searching this wonderful thing they call the "Web" I was still so disillusioned with all the dull, boring patterns that I switched to knitting Aran cardigan sets for newborn babies and selling them on e-bay. I had a few yarn oddments so started knitting for dolls as well to my own designs that I thought were a bit more up to date. E-bayers kept asking me where I got my patterns from and wanted to buy them,so I thought "let's give it a go".
I wanted to know if there was a line of dolls like American Girl dolls in the UK and how she found her model to create her patterns to fit 18 inch dolls.She found her doll in the UK on this site http://www.mydollboutique.co.uk/precious-day-girl-doll-elisabeth-2011-567-p.asp

"There were a lot of American and Canadian buyers of my Aran items that also bought American Girl Doll clothes on-line so I started the search for a doll model.However there is no such thing as a CHEAP American Girl doll so I typed in 18inch dolls and found Elisabeth who is an 18inch Gotz Doll from their "Precious Day" collection.She has been my inspiration and I can't stop looking at my teenage niece and her friends clothes and thinking "Elisabeth would look good in that".I lay awake some nights with ideas popping in and out of my head and can't wait to get up in the morning to put the thoughts on paper. There are a few more designs in the pipeline but I have made a resolution that I can't start something new until I have finished knitting my current project."
I can not wait to see what Jacqueline comes up with next!Stop by and take a look at Jacqueline's shop on Etsy at  http://www.etsy.com/people/jacknits

Picking up my knitting needles, as we speak! I need to start practicing!
As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenwmowen@gmail.com