Hi Everyone,
I have been restoring and costuming dolls most
of my 50+ years of life. I first fell in love with the old dolls when I was about 6 years old. My grandmother would take me with her when she
went to help out or visit her older friends. I was a quiet child and they would let me hold their large old bisque Kewpies, and
German dolls from their childhood. Then my Grandmother showed me her Simon Halbig baby and promised him to me when I
grew up. He is still my favorite doll.
One year I traded my new Christmas doll for
a friends old Patsyette. Then Grandpa bought me my first Ginny doll and Grandma began to teach me to sew. We spent many
wonderful hours making doll clothes. By the time I was 13 years old, I was making all my own clothes and had begun to sew for
the public.
I have been professionally restoring and
costuming dolls for over 25 years. I have worked on many wonderful dolls.
I am also a public school teacher. I teach
technology applications in a computer lab to students in grades 2 - 5. So, I have
lots of fun. I also try to keep over 300 computers in my school working, which is a lot of work.
I had a porcelain doll studio and taught
porcelain doll making for about 10 years. My students and I won many awards in competition during that time.
Also during that time, I won both the Seeley's Rolf Erickson Award for original doll sculpture, with my Rumpelstiltskin, and Seeley's
Millie Award for antique reproductions with my Heubach sisters. I made a limited edition of 25 Rumpelstiltskins, but didn't sell
all of them before I quite my doll studio. Someday I would like to dust off the molds and complete the edition.
| Doll restoration is a real labor of love. It is messy, time consuming, and just plain a lot of work. But, some of us are devoted
enough to bringing our dolls back to life that we do it anyway. It is so rewarding to take a doll that is destined for the trash heap
and restore it to it's former beauty. Here are pictures of two of the dolls that I have restored. |
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