'Want to come and play at mine?'

Do you know the poem Warning by Jenny Joseph? It's the one that starts,



"When I am an old woman I shall wear purple..."



Well this poem was the inspiration behind a doll I made for my mum for Mother's Day a couple of years ago. The doll's called Jenny - what originality of thought!!! I followed the poem as closely as possible but with one or two amendments to make her personal to mum. Rather than 'satin sandals' I gave Jenny brightly coloured, patterned wellies as mum loves jazzy wellies and has several pairs for walking the dogs in. The black tights are because at the time mum used to wear black opaque tights all the time. And the hat was meant to be one of those inca-style woolly hats with the tassels cuz she wanted one of them.



Since then I have made several more for mum's friends when they've hit BIG birthdays, altho' not as detailed as mum's. I just thought I'd post some pictures of her to show that it's not all belly dancing. :0)





Aren't kids toys these days fab?! We have just swapped bedrooms with kiddie as you know, and while I've been getting her new room straight I've been looking at some of her stuff. I know a lot of it is merchandising for films and TV but even so, the detail is fab. I wish I was a kid again.



Having said this, sometimes older stuff is better. A couple of years ago we decided to get Evie a Barbie house for Christmas. But, when we started looking, the actual Barbie stuff just didn't seem as good as the Sindy equivalent I used to play with as a child. Everything was moulded in plastic. There weren't proper sheets and pillows on the beds and it was ALL Barbie pink!! So, I hit ebay with a vengeance and bought Sindy stuff instead. The next few photos will appeal more to the girlie girls amongst you. A definite trip down Memory Lane.



On the roof terrace - fame comes to the house as The Sugababes are visiting Barbie.



The dining room and lounge where Sharpay and Troy from High School Musical are chillin' out.



The sumptuous boudoir with four-poster bed.

Me and daddy bought the house and a couple of rooms of furniture, then other family members paid for another room or two each.

We have some brill, if rather blurred, photos of me, mum and sis playing with the house on Christmas Day. The urge to push Evie out of the way so we could play was strong! Oooh cruel mummy!! Bet you wish you could come and play now, don't you? hehehe

So the other thing I mentioned last night was a competition. While lurking in Blogdom a couple of days ago I found this link. Basically your need to design a pair of baby booties using Michael Miller fabrics through Craftzine. The prize is a Singer sewing machine. I confess I haven't read any further than that yet as I've got a couple of other things to sort out first but it looks great.

It's awful to realise how 'out of it' I am with regards to patchwork, etc. I had never heard of Michael Miller until I saw this contest, but searching for him on eBay quickly showed me what I've been missing. Yummy!!

One of the 'other things' I'm sorting out is the doll swap I'm taking part in. Meecrafty drew the swap partners names last night and I am paired up with I'm a Ginger Monkey. How fab! Her dolls are lovely. Take a look at her blog and Flickr pages. However, the pressure is on now to make something for her that will be as good. I have a month to design, make and despatch the dolly. My thinking cap is very firmly on my head!!