Community Chat

[Enufstuff]

@2sisters      Thank you very much.

                    I did love my Toni doll. She was my favorite,

          until Ginny came along , the following year.

          I had so many dolls as a child and Toni and Ginny

          were the only ones that I kept forever.

                    Since childhood, I have always enjoyed making

          things and have been very detail oriented. My mother was the same, paying attention to the tiniest detail, whether it was in sewing, knitting or crochet.

                  She even knitted a tiny sweater for my 8"Ginny doll. It is brown with little yellow squirrels on it. I still have it in my Ginny collection. She created it, by making her own knitting pattern for the intarsia squirrel design. Unfortunately, it is made from real wool and moths have feasted on it.

[Enufstuff]

@EastCoastGal    Thank you very much.

                      I appreciate the fact that you also, like @SportyShorty07 and myself, are a detail oriented artist. Some might call us perfectionists. But, if we put so much time and effort into creating something, we want it to be aesthetically pleasing. Sloppiness will not do! That is not acceptable to us artists. Details matter.

 @EastCoastGal   Your homemade chocolate candy must have been scrumptious! I can appreciate how you would want your packaging and even your bows , to be just right.

                     Presentation is important and that is what attracts

customers or makes a pleasing gift. The quality of the product is what brings them back for more. That is wonderful that you made candies for three years. People must have loved your creations.

                     Good quality chocolate is one of my weaknesses.

I have only made a few different kinds of candies over the years, just for myself and family. But, I would not want to mass produce any. Chocolate needs to be tempered and just right to work with. It can be messy to work with too. It takes patience and being able to work quickly, before the chocolate cools. Working with chocolate is an art.

                    There are two very high quality chocolate shops,

nearby, that make handmade chocolates. They ship their

delectible delights, across the country.

                   One is Harbor Sweets in Salem, MA. The gentleman who started this small company,in 1973, began by making Sweet Sloops at his home in Marblehead, MA. His business grew and he moved his production to a small shop in Salem. Last year, they opened another shop in Beverly, MA.

                   They offer many more unique candies now, along with Sweet Sloops, with beautiful packaging and each candy piece wrapped by hand in gold foil. They are also sold in some other shops, one being The Paper Store. Harbor Sweets, in my estimation is the best handmade candy sold. It begins with the highest quality chocolate and all the best ingredients. The packaging is perfection. It is not inexpensive, but worth every penny. I have given many gifts of Harbor Sweets.

                 The other high quality chocolate shop, is Prides Crossing Confections, at Prides Crossing, Beverly, MA.

Their candies are what we think of as traditional, hand dipped chocolates. They are famous for the best turtles around. You can get them in dark or milk chocolate with, pecans or almonds, cashews or macadamia nuts, so delicious. They also make the best fudge in many flavors. They make dietetic, sugar free candies, too.

                They also use the highest quality chocolate for their hand dipped, creams, caramels, crackers, and dried fruits. They offer so much more and lovely treats for each holiday. They also have jars of some of what we remember as penny candy.

Those candies, they do not make, and they are not a penny.

               After having candies from these shops, I can no longer eat M & M's or cheap Hershey candy. I do eat an occasional Mounds bar, Dove or Ghirardelli chocolate.

              Enough about chocolate.  Your little Christmas trees

sound adorable. Did you sell them at craft fairs or give them as gifts?  Back in the 70's, I made little pinecone Christmas trees.

I didn't sell them, they were just for me or for gifts.

           Using a styrofoam cone, I covered it with tiny pine cones and decorated with tiny hand painted Della Robbia fruits, from Italy. Those beautiful fruits could be found at high

quality craft stores, before stores like Michael's and Joanne put them out of business with their cheap plastic Chinese imports. 

 

          Back then, I also made large pine cone wreaths, decorated with larger Della Robbia fruits and gave those to family as Christmas gifts.

          In the late 70's and early 80's I had a gift shop with all hand made things, that I and two of my aunts made. Later I turned that shop into an antique shop.

         In the later 80's -90's I made and sold things at craft fairs. The desire to make things, has always been in my blood, as far back as I remember. In the 2000's I started making jewelry with sea glass. I sold my pieces at home parties and by word of mouth. I also gave many pieces as gifts.

      When I was little , I remember telling my mother that I wanted to make things, but I wasn't given any resources to do that. I did have art supplies. In high school, I started sewing dresses for myself and I did'nt even have a sewing machine. It was all by hand, and I had no patterns. My aunt who sewed a lot, gave me fabric. When my three daughters were little, I made most of their dresses, some jackets, capes and a coat.

       When my girls were young, I was a Blue Bird leader for Campfire. I loved teaching the little girls different arts and crafts. I saved everything, from Leggs containers, salad dressing bottles, jars, egg cartons, colorful wire, yarn, etc., to use for projects. I taught the girls how to do embroidery.

     I love how you enlarged Toni's picture to see the details. I love the different lace designs and you can't see them in a small picture.

    I have a wide screen monitor for my desk computer and pictures of Toni are my background. I change them by season. Right now, Toni wearing her  Strawberry Pink and Chocolate Confection is on the screen. She is 10" tall on my screen. The actualToni Doll is 14" tall.

    Four of my Toni Dolls are 16" dolls. I have 15 dolls in my collection. Some of them are packed away. I don't have any in the 19" or 21" sizes.

    In a few days, Toni will be wearing a new dress in the next posting.

[On It]

@Enufstuff I just don't know how you do it! Every fabric choice, every detail is perfection. Including your childhood memories makes each outfit even more special.

[shoekitty]

I saw a few vintage patent leather belts for women on eBay. 13.00 bux. Could you make a belt from that or brown vinyl fabric at store. Toni looks cute as she is. I have made dolls belts, well actually little bear belts for muffy van deer bear, and it ain't a pretty sight..  lol. Toni is so pretty and thanks for the photos the dresses are lovely.  We sure did dress in those days, huh?  Have you ever made little matching handbags?

[Enufstuff]

@On It   Thank you very much for your compliments and taking the time to post here. 

        I'm glad that you are safe in Texas, but I'm so sorry about the devasting fires that have caused so much destruction, where you live and now the threat of floods.

        I feel so badly for all the people who lost homes, all the wildlife lost and so much acreage of nature lost.

        It is not just the destruction, but how the fires affect the health of so many people, like yourself, with respiratory issues.

I hope that you are well, after going through that terrifying experience.

        If you are on the boards again, I will be posting another Toni creation, tonight or tomorrow.

[Enufstuff]

@shoekitty   Thank you for your suggestions.  I did consider using vinyl, but that would be too thick and not the right scale for this doll. 

                    I spent over $80.00 on all the materials to make this dress and I am done with that project. I actually did make a little belt, using the satin ribbon and a small mother of pearl buckle, that I purchased from a vendor on Etsy.

   But, the little round buckle competed with the lace V on the front of the dress, so I decided that the satin bow blended in with the dress and had a better look. I'll use that belt on a future dress.

    I have not made handbags for Toni. I have only seen one original Toni doll dress that had a matching handbag. I don't want to make hats or any other accessories either.

   I have been working on another outfit for Toni and will post it tonight or tomorrow.

[shoekitty]

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@Enufstuff wrote:

@shoekitty   Thank you for your suggestions.  I did consider using vinyl, but that would be too thick and not the right scale for this doll. 

                    I spent over $80.00 on all the materials to make this dress and I am done with that project. I actually did make a little belt, using the satin ribbon and a small mother of pearl buckle, that I purchased from a vendor on Etsy.

   But, the little round buckle competed with the lace V on the front of the dress, so I decided that the satin bow blended in with the dress and had a better look. I'll use that belt on a future dress.

    I have not made handbags for Toni. I have only seen one original Toni doll dress that had a matching handbag. I don't want to make hats or any other accessories either.

   I have been working on another outfit for Toni and will post it tonight or tomorrow.

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Shoekitty said,  I wouldn't be making hats or purses either. The work on the dresses is so intricate. I don't know how you make those tiny puff sleev. Omg. Can't wait to see new outfit. 

[SportyShorty07]

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@EastCoastGal wrote:

@Enufstuff 

l always look at details too like @SportyShorty07  does! I didn't catch the half dots all around the bottom of the hem though! That makes all the difference when you match like that... just like on clothes we buy for ourselves! 

@EastCoastGal You have a great eye for details too!  I love looking for the details in @Enufstuff 's Toni creations- I like to put on my reading glasses to see even more details. She really is such a gifted artist .  We should make Enuffstuff fan club t-shirts!