Monday, July 07, 2008







A lot has happened since my last post: let's see - oh I got shingles. Not pleasant. Spent ten days dragging myself from bed to couch and back again but almost feeling normal now. At least I got some reading done. I don't know how I missed it the first time round, but I got stuck into The Heart Garden by Janine Burke - a book about Sunday Reed and her home/gallery, Heide.

When the gloom lifted, Em and I went to Patchwork On Central Park - despite the name, it's in East Malvern, not New York. What a great shop. Okay. When I say "Em and I", I really mean ... Em went and got coffee while I drooled over trim and fabric. I knew I was really on the road to recovery when I made some Black Apple dolls. It's such a great, simple pattern. I'm saving these gals up for gifts. In the end I painted their faces instead of using floss. Talk about stress. I used a tiny brush and just a lick of paint and held my hand really, really still - worked out fine.
The eyes on the little Japanese mouse? bear? gave me the idea - so did Jam Fancy's beautiful dolls.

5 comments:

Kirsty said...

They look gorgeous Fran. That little Japanese mouse/bear looks very One Red Robin don't you think?

Hope you're feeling much better!

Christine said...

Those dolls look awesome!! They are the same shape as the Black Apple Dolls but their beautiful faces are definitely your own style. You could sell those! Great job~ Miss Blondie is my fav:)

Anonymous said...

Nice work Fran! Shingles - that's sucky. *Sigh* Patchwork, nice :)

SadieandLance said...

Holy cow you painted those faces on?? Really? They are amazing! And how good is that black apple pattern,s he rocks that lady.

Anonymous said...

Adore your Black Apple dolls - wonderful work!

The little bear is Cherabushka (hope I spelt that right) - a very beloved character from Russia.

Love Jamfancy's dolls too :-)

Some Books I've Really Enjoyed

  • Apples For Jam by Tessa Kiros
  • Saturday by Ian McEwan
  • Philip Larkin: A Writer's Life by Andrew Motion
  • The Bell Jar by Syliva Plath
  • Ex Libris by Anne Fadiman
  • Stasiland by Anna Funder

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