Making My Bed video

Posted on February 21, 2021 by Salley Mavor

My husband Rob and I are pleased to announce the release of our new 8 minute documentary about making the artwork for my picture book, MY BED. It’s an inside view into my process and motivations, showing in words, video, and photos how I approached the project from start to finish. I hope that you enjoy the film! Please feel free to share it with your family and friends.

8 minute documentary about how Salley Mavor made the artwork for her picture book, MY BED.

We had planned to produce the film earlier, to coincide with the publication of the book in September. But, there were so many other pressing things to do, such as prepare for the Bedtime Stitches touring exhibition, which included building frames for the artwork. Now that the exhibition is traveling (It’s going to the Cedarhurst Center for the Arts in Mt. Vernon, IL Feb. 28 – May 2, 2021) we could concentrate on the film.

Thank goodness for the quiet of winter! I don’t know how I would survive without the pace of the external world slowing down for a few months every year. Over the past several weeks, we focused our attention on writing and recording the script and sorting through a gazillion photos and videos. Our good friend Bonnie Simon, who produces Maestro Classics: Stories in Music kindly agreed to help edit the script and be the narrator.

We had about 3 years of material to review. I’ve documented the process in photos from the beginning and Rob took videos during the last year or so. I constantly pestered him to stop what he was doing and come take a video of me working on different stages of the process. He had to set up lights and other equipment, so it was no simple task. Even though it was a nuisance, he filmed some good shots that added a lot to the movie. The following photos appear in the movie at different parts of the storytelling.

To make the animated title sequence, we set up a camera facing down at a table top. We were a stop-motion animation team – I moved the pieces of thread little by little, while Rob snapped the camera.

We also filmed an arrangement of found objects from my collection. It was a simple slide, not stop-motion animation this time. That would be whole other movie!

Rob did a marvelous job editing the movie on his computer. He started with the speaking parts to set the timing and then added photos and videos that corresponded with the narration. After he had completed a draft of visuals and sound, we sent it to Matthias Bossi at Stellwagen Symphonette for the musical underscore. They wrote the music and sound effects for our film Liberty and Justice and we were thrilled to work with them again.

Rob and I are excited to share the fruits of our labor with you! The Making My Bed video can be watched and shared on YouTube here.
Autographed copies of the book, MY BED are available in my shop here.

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Bed book peek: title page

Posted on February 10, 2021 by Salley Mavor

For the past 3 years, I’ve shared the process of making the illustrations for my new picture book My Bed. Even though we all stayed home, it feels as if we’ve been on an international journey together, into the homes of children around the world. To date, I’ve written 45 posts about different aspects of how I made the book, including double page spreads and animal spot illustrations. Every time I write a post in this series, I think that we must being nearing the end. Then I discover more digital images in forgotten folders. So, it looks like there’s enough material to keep the Bed Book Peeks gong for for a bit longer. To see a complete list of posts in the series, please go to this page.

Update: Signed copies of My Bed can be ordered in my shop here. Watch this 8 minute documentary about how I created the illustrations for the book.

Today’s post is about the title page. Unlike the lush scenes inside the book, which totally fill up a page and a half, this artwork was made to float on a white background. I thought of it as a minimal stage set, with a few props and a window suspended in space. That way, the book designer had the flexibility to adjust the positioning of the pieces to accommodate the type layout. I also requested an open area on the page for drawing a picture and signing the book.

BED: I built the bed’s head and foot boards out of beads and wire. To hide the shiny wire and make it blend in with the bead color, I covered it with embroidery floss. After making the basic frame, I sewed the bead rungs inside the wire.

I made a mattress out of felt, sewed the boards to the head and foot of the bed and added bead legs. The bed is foreshortened to give the illusion that the foot board is standing upright.

The foreshortened bed is easier to see in this side view.

I made a tiny child, who I tucked in bed, with a pillow and a star covered quilt.

Window: First, I constructed a window out of felt and beads. Then, I fashioned a valance style curtain out of wire wrapped with pink embroidery floss. I filled in the the curtain loops with cross hatched embroidery floss, which was like weaving a lattice topped pie.

Rug: I chain-stitched a smiling sun on a green felt rug, to contrast with the night sky in the window and the star covered quilt .

Lamp: In keeping with the celestial theme, I made a lamp out of a star button to put atop a bedside table.

After the bed, table, window and rug were photographed for reproduction, I needed to find a way to display the them in Bedtime Stitches, the exhibition of original artwork for the book. I decided to mount the bedroom set along with a larger star, which I made for a different part of the book.

I arranged the items on the green felt in the center of the back cover illustration. You can see how I made the border in another post here. I couldn’t just leave the open areas plain, so I doodled a bunch of chain-stitched curly cues.

The touring exhibition of original artwork for MY BED, SALLEY MAVOR: Bedtime Stories will next be at the Cedarhurst Center for the Arts in Mount Vernon, IL, Feb. 28 – May 5, 2021. This is an opportunity for the public to see up close the fine detail and 3-dimensional quality of my bas-relief sculptural embroideries. The show is currently booked at several museums through June 2023 with the possibility of being extended into 2024. The current tour schedule is listed on this page. Interested museums are welcome to contact me for information about hosting the exhibition.

Bed book peek: Dog

Posted on February 5, 2021 by Salley Mavor

Today, I’m happy to give a behind the scenes peek at how I made this dog, which is used as a spot illustration in my new picture book, MY BED. The story about children’s sleeping places in different cultures around the world was published in Sept. 2020. A touring exhibition of my original embroidered artwork for the book is traveling around the United States. Salley Mavor: Bedtime Stitches will next be shown at the Cedarhurst Center for the Arts, in Mt. Vernon, IL from Feb. 28 to May 5, 2021. The tour schedule is listed here.

Update: Signed copies of My Bed can be ordered in my shop here. Watch this 8 minute documentary about how I created the illustrations for the book.

The dog joins all of the other animal icons on the book’s endpapers. If you’d like to see posts about making the other animal icons for the book, please follow the links below: Rooster, Camel, Parrot, Elephant, Goldfish, Cat, Duck, Sheep, Rabbit, Cow, Crocodile, Giraffe.

Forming the dog: After drawing a simple dog shape, I bent a pipe cleaner to match the outline. Then I wrapped the legs and tail with embroidery floss, using the same technique that I teach in my how-to book of doll projects, Felt Wee Folk.

Backing: I sewed a felt scrap to the back of the pipe cleaner, cutting the felt to fit as I stitched around the whole body.

Padding: I padded the inside of the body by layering and sewing small scraps of felt inside the pipe cleaner edge. It didn’t matter what color the backing and padding was since it’ll be hidden inside.

Body front: At this point, I must have been so engrossed in adding the top layer of felt that I forgot to take photos until the whole body was covered. So, I’ll try to explain what I did. I cut out a piece of felt that was about 3/8″ bigger than the dog shape. Then, I folded the felt over the pipe cleaner edge and stitched it to the backing. To make it nice and tight, I went around several times, until the head and body where clearly defined. I cut and stitched the felt closely around the legs and tail to make them fit.

Ears, nose, eyes: I stitched a mouth with embroidery floss and sewed on seed beads for an eye and nose. For the ear, I cut out a separate piece of felt, edged it with blanket stitches and sewed it to the head. I chain-stitched a collar and sewed on a bead for a dog tag.

Fur: The dog’s body looked rather plain, so gave it a furry texture using mending wool. I’m glad I kept a collection of vintage cards that were found in a relative’s dresser drawers. They’re from the days when people actually darned moth holes.

Tail: To make the tail look more tail-like, I covered the wrapped pipe cleaner with other stitches.

The dog appears on the back cover of the book. You can see a previous post about making the border here. Stay tuned for more peeks behind the scenes!

New cards in the shop

Posted on January 28, 2021 by Salley Mavor

I am happy to announce that three new cards have just been added to my Etsy Shop – Self Portrait, Felt Pins and Cheese Straws (Recipe postcard). During 2020, more customers visited and purchased items from the shop than any previous year. It helped that my new book, MY BED came out and that an image of Birds of Beebe Woods went viral on Facebook and Instagram, sending flocks of fervent birders to my site.

After years of requests, I finally got around to designing a note card of Self Portrait: A Personal History of Fashion! It took so long because I couldn’t decide which portion of the spiral to zero in on. I knew that the figures would get lost if the whole image was printed on a small card. So, I cropped out a section with fashions that viewers consistently remark on – the peasant blouse, patched jeans, alpaca poncho and granny dress from the 60’s and 70’s, as well as the dolls that years when my children were physically attached to me.

To enter my Etsy Shop, please click here.

The original Self Portrait will be heading south this spring, to the Upcountry History Museum in Greenville SC, where it will be included in my exhibition, Salley Mavor: Social Fabric. On display will be a variety of pieces I’ve made over the past 20 years that interpret the theme of social connectivity. The works explore cultural diversity, migration, fashion, the natural world, and a range of social narratives, from the everyday to topical subjects. The work will be at the museum for a nice long stretch, from April 3 – Sept. 12, 2021.

Another new card, Felt Pins shows a collection of pins I made out of felt, beads, buttons and wee folk dolls about 20 years ago.

The felt pins were featured in the 1st edition (2003) of my how-to book, Felt Wee Folk: Enchanting Projects, which had directions for both wee folk dolls and several felt items. if you’re interested in this earlier edition, C&T Publishing sells print-on-demand and e-book versions of the book here. The newer all-doll 2nd edition (2015) of the book, Felt Wee Folk – New Adventures is available (with extra goodies) in my Etsy shop.

Felt Wee Folk: Enchanting Projects (2003)

There’s also a new 5 x 7 postcard version of Cheese Straws, which is available as a smaller note card as well. The scene pictured is from my newly refurbished doll house, which you can find out about on my blog here. Both the postcards and note cards have the recipe for making cheese straws on the back. I’ve written about the best cheese straws in the world on my blog here.

To order cards, please visit my Etsy shop.

Bed book peek: giraffe

Posted on January 19, 2021 by Salley Mavor

Shall we start the year with something cute to counteract the fact that everything in the world seems to be spiraling out of control? Good, now that we agree on a diversion, I will show how I made the giraffe for my new book, My Bed.

Update: Signed copies of My Bed can be ordered in my shop here. Watch this 8 minute documentary about how I created the illustrations for the book.

I’d originally picked a giraffe to go with the illustration set in Africa. But, then we narrowed it down to the country of Ghana, which doesn’t have giraffes. I started researching other possible animals to go along with the scene. Fortunately, sat next to man from Ghana in a restaurant, who told me about wild life in his home country, including crocodiles. So, I switched to a crocodile instead. My ignorance about the African continent almost caused a gaffe similar to what Delta Airlines went through when they chose an image of a giraffe to represent Ghana in a tweet about the World Cup in 2014!

I was able to use the giraffe on another page, though. It appears with the other animal icons on the end-papers and as a spot illustration on the text panel in the second to last spread in the book, which isn’t set in any particular part of the world.

To start, I drew a simple sketch of a giraffe and bent a pipe cleaner to form the legs. Then I wrapped them with embroidery floss, using the same techniques I teach in my how-to book of doll projects, Felt Wee Folk.

From there, I built up the body and neck with felt and more thread wrapping.

While studying photos of giraffes. I noticed that their spots are made up of a complex combination of shapes and patterns, that fit together like paving stones on a garden path.

I used chain stitching to make the spots, which has become my favorite way of filling in areas. I sewed the spot covered piece of felt to the giraffe’s body and neck. I covered the back with a mishmash of stitches, which stretched across to hold the front piece tightly in place. There was no need to make the back look pretty. After all, art is an illusion.

To make the mane, I sewed a length of wire along the giraffe’s neck and wrapped it with thread.Then, I blanket stitched a few rows of “hair” along the wire mane.

It took several attempts to make the giraffe’s head, which had a combination of funny looking, yet endearing features. Not only do giraffes have horns and long ears, they have prominent eyes, an oddly shaped nose and a smiling mouth. That all had to be reduced to a few stitches, beads and wire.

For the tail, I sewed on a looped section of wire, which I wrapped with thread.

When I sewed on the head, it actually looked like a giraffe!

If you’d like to see posts about making the other animal icons for the book, please follow the links below:
Animals – Rooster, Camel, Parrot, Elephant, Goldfish, Cat, Duck, Sheep, Rabbit, Cow, Crocodile, Dog.

Looking back at 2020

Posted on December 30, 2020 by Salley Mavor

As we bid adieu to 2020 and look ahead to a hopefully brighter 2021, let’s review the posts published here during this most unusual year. They are grouped by topic, including a miscellaneous category at the end. I wrote about a variety of subjects, including how to make cloth face masks, a wee folk tribute to RBG, and a series of stories about refurbishing my dollhouse. A big focus of the year was the publication of my new picture book MY BED and the debut of “Bedtime Stitches”, the touring exhibition of original artwork for the book. Over the past few years, I’ve shared the process of making the illustrations for the book. There’s more to show, so I’ll continue the series into 2021.

One thing I’ve noticed about life during the pandemic, is that it is more socially acceptable to exhibit introverted tendencies. It’s become quite normal to do as I’ve always done – stay home and basically keep to myself. I hear that people miss going to bars. For me, going to a crowded bar is more of an endurance exercise than an enjoyable activity. Why did it have to take all of this disruption, hardship and tragedy on a world-wide scale for me to fully realize my potential as a semi-reclusive eccentric grey-haired stitching lady?

Even extroverts are feeling awkward these days. An entertaining New York Times article talks about how even extremely outgoing people are feeling uncomfortable socially, “like eighth graders attending a school dance for the first time.” The article’s author has some insights on the subject, if you can get past the rampant name dropping of fashion world personalities that a clueless baby boomer like me has never heard of.

Winter, especially January has always been my favorite time of year, when the hubbub around us slows down and we are free to move inward, with fewer distractions. Come to think of it, this year of Covid has felt kind of like January all year long.

For the past few years, I’ve been very busy promoting my new book, MY BED and its touring exhibition and I’m anxious to get back into making mode. During the cold months ahead, I’ll be working on a new piece with a winter theme. If it goes well, I may do more scenes that reflect the other seasons — spring, summer and fall. This project isn’t for any purpose other than to celebrate the natural cycles of life on our planet. I’m looking forward to becoming so totally engrossed in the process, that time stands still.

2020 in Review

Pandemic
A Virus Free World
This Little Piggy Stayed Home
DIY Cloth Face Mask Video
Introverts Have the Advantage (includes “Confessions of a Homebody”)

Doll House Stories
Doll House Stories (part 1) History
Doll House Stories (part 2) Wallpaper
Doll House Stories (part 3) Kitchen
Doll House Stories (part 4) Re-upholstery
Doll House Stories (part 5) All Moved In

Celebrity Tribute Dolls
The Greta Effect
RIP RBG

Polly Doll
Polly Travels Close to Home

Cape Cod Museum Exhibition – Once Upon a Stitch
A Few More Weeks
Scavenger Hunt
Lace Bombing

My Bed Book
Bed Book Peek – Cow
Bed Book Peek – Back Cover
Bed Book Peek – Ghana (part 1)
Bed Book Peek – Ghana (part 2)
Bed Book Peek – Ghana (part 3)
Bed Book Peek – Ghana (part 4)
Bed Book Peek – Crocodile
Bed Book Peek – Mongolia (part 1)
Bed Book Peek – Mongolia (part 2)
Bed Book Peek – Mongolia (part 3)
My Bed Is Officially Launched!

Bedtime Stitches Exhibition
Bedtime Stitches at the Cahoon Museum
Bedtime Stitches Tour
Play Village

Shop
Greta Cards Are Here
Hand-Painted Wee Folk Faces
Shop Update

Misc.
To Teach or Not to Teach
The Red Chair
Library Community Art Project

Play Village

Posted on December 13, 2020 by Salley Mavor

I made this modular play village when I was a student at RISD around 1977. It was a project for one of my favorite classes, where we were encouraged to explore the concept of toys. It wasn’t necessarily about making toys for children, but rather playful art objects. Looking back, I can see that the teacher’s goal was to stretch our imaginations beyond tradition forms of illustration. At this point, I had already started working in 3-d, so this class was an opportunity to play, play, play! In this class, I made paper vegetables and a layer cake out of a stack of Reader’s Digest condensed novels, which I cut into a circle with a band saw and decorated with piped sugar frosting. They’ve since gone by the wayside, but I still have the play village!

I’m writing about the village now because it’s included in my exhibition “Bedtime Stitches” at the Cahoon Museum through Dec. 19. That’s just 1 more week! Click here for hours, registration and Covid safely information. The village is one of several extra items that will only be shown at the Cahoon and will not travel with the touring exhibition of 18 original framed sculptural embroideries for my picture book, MY BED. To see the schedule of participating museums, click here.

My friends Glen and Susan sent this photo after they went to see the exhibition yesterday. Don’t they look handsome and color coordinated, masks and all? I made them this pair of dolls when they got married a few years ago.

Now back to the Play Village:
I can’t remember the class assignment that triggered the notion of a modular village, but I do remember making it. The whole idea was to create a town, with buildings, grass, river and road sections on squares that could be moved around. To begin, I talked my way into the school’s wood-shop where I got help using a table saw to cut 1/4″ thick Masonite into 3″ squares.

I covered the squares with fabric, using green flannel for grass and black velveteen for the road. Even back then, I didn’t trust glue and relied on stitches to make a tight fit.

I constructed the houses out of mat board and then made sides and roof pieces out of fabric. I used my Singer Featherweight to top-stitch ribbon windows and rows of rickrack roof tiles.

I hand embroidered the bakery sign and hand stitched the buildings to the fabric covered squares.

The trees are made with ribbon covered wooden dowels, with stuffed fabric balls on top. The base is a wooden button that had a hollow big enough to fit the dowel into. Since they’ve stayed together all these years, I must have used glue.

I also used glue to hold together clay beads for this equestrian statue. That’s only because I couldn’t figure out how to sew the beads together without a maze of threads showing.

I most likely used cardboard to form the car’s basic shape and stuffed the hood to make it puff out in front. The wheels are clay beads – you can see the insulated wire axle sticking out. The seat lining and fenders are made with velvet ribbon and the steering wheel is a plastic miniature car wheel.

The people are simple beads sewn and glued together.

The baby carriage is made with plastic toy car wheels, hooks and eyes and black wire. There used to be a baby inside, but he got lost.

I hope that you enjoyed this closer look at the village. It’s brought back a lot of memories that make me grateful for the remarkable teachers at RISD who help ignite the unique spark inside their students.

Bedtime Stitches tour

Posted on November 29, 2020 by Salley Mavor

The first showing of the Bedtime Stitches touring exhibition is coming to an end, with just 3 more weeks to go (through Dec. 19) at the Cahoon Museum in Cotuit MA. So, if you’ve thought about going, but haven’t yet, please get yourself over there before it’s shipped off to Illinois! (See the tour schedule later in this post). I recommend registering ahead, as the museum has protocols in place to ensure a safe and welcoming experience for their visitors, with timed entry in 1 hour intervals and required face coverings. Click here for hours, registration and Covid safely information. There’s a free Open House on Sunday, Dec. 6th from 10:00 – 4:00.

One visitor who made the trip from 2 hours away described her experience this way, “Having not been in a museum, post office, etc. since March 13, I debated coming down, but I felt very safe in that BIG room and with the COVID19 protocols and limited # of people allowed in per hour.”

Reviews of the exhibition have a similar theme, all pointing out the comforting and uplifting effect the artwork has on people. The headline of the Falmouth Enterprise article read, “Bedtime Stitches Provides Cozy Respite From Tumultuous Year”. And Artscope Magazine‘s review starts off saying, “The genius of Salley Mavor’s meticulously realized imaginative worlds is just what we need right now.”

Some people have gone to the museum more than once, returning 2 or 3 times with family and friends. Visitors have left comments like these – “What beautiful sensitive artwork to soothe the soul.” and “It’s so beautiful, with such warm qualities, something we need so badly now.” Hearing these kind of reactions makes me feel that all those years of stitching were worth it.

The “Bedtime Stitches” exhibition features 18 original sculptural embroideries that were used to illustrate my new picture book, My Bed: Enchanting Ways to Fall Asleep around the World. The book is available wherever books are sold. Signed copies are in my shop here.

Before I framed each scene behind glass, I added fabric borders and signed them with my initials and the year 2020. I completed them all before 2020, of course, but that’s the date when the project was completed and the collection was published in a book.

Currently, the Bedtime Stitches exhibition is booked at 7 museums through May 2023 and more could be added. I wish I could wave a magic and send it all over the country, but I’m limited by how many years I want to keep the collection in circulation, as well as reliant on the interest and financial support of museums and curators. If you want the show to travel close to where you live, please talk it up with a museum in your area. Enthusiasm from local members of the community can make a difference. That’s how the Pacific Northwest Quilt & Fiber Arts Museum in La Conner, WA heard about the opportunity and booked the show for 2023. Museums are welcome to contact me for information about hosting the exhibit.

The exhibition includes a series of panels showing the process of making the artwork for MY BED.

BEDTIME STITCHES
A touring exhibition of original bas-relief embroidered illustrations by Salley Mavor for her new picture book, MY BED: Enchanting Ways to Fall Asleep around the World.

Sept. 11 – Dec. 19, 2020 at the Cahoon Museum, Cotuit, MA.
Feb. 28 – April 25, 2021, Cedarhurst Center for the Arts, Mount Vernon, IL
Sept. 14 – Dec. 31, 2021, New England Quilt Museum, Lowell, MA
Jan. 22 – May 8, 2022, Upcountry History Museum, Greenville, SC
June – September 2022, Brick Store Museum, Kennebunk, ME
Fall 2022, Historical and Cultural Center of Clay County, Moorhead, MN
Feb. 1 – Apr. 30, 2023, Pacific Northwest Quilt & Fiber Arts Museum, La Conner, WA
Additional locations will be added when they are confirmed.

The Cahoon Museum has published the sweetest little booklet that makes a nice keepsake of the exhibition. The Booklets are 6″ x 9″ soft cover, full-color, 16 pages. It’s full of photos and information about the exhibition, including images of works only on view at the Cahoon. See what’s in the book here.

Shop update

Posted on November 22, 2020 by Salley Mavor

During this time of year, the big oak table in the center of my studio becomes a processing center for my Etsy shop. This is where I fill orders for signed books, cards, posters, and doll making supplies. 2020 has been the busiest year ever, which could have something to do with people spending more time at home because of the pandemic. There certainly has been a renewed interest in my how-to book Felt Wee Folk as well as doll making supplies (painted faces, faux flowers and fairy hair). Customers are also taking advantage of the opportunity to have my new picture book, My Bed personally inscribed to their friends and family members.

I’ve recently added 2 new cards, Reindeer Ride and Cheese Straws (includes recipe), which would make fun Holiday Greeting cards. They’re available in packs of 4 and 8.

After a photo of “Birds of Beebe Woods” went viral among bird watchers on Facebook, my shop was practically cleaned out of bird cards! More are on the way and they’ll be back in stock Dec. 2. I’m happy to welcome this group of self-described bird nuts into the fold. They bought a lot of posters, too, which are in good supply.

There are many note cards with wee folk characters and fairies in a variety of scenes, which are sold in packs of 4 and 8, with different mixed sets available. Free shipping for cards and posters in the US.

For doll making supplies, I sell wool fleece fairy hair, faux flowers for fairy skirts and wings and hand-painted wooden faces. Please visit my Etsy shop!

wool fleece fairy fair, painted doll faces and faux flowers

To keep up with new posts, subscribe to this blog (top right column on the home page). Your contact info will not be shared. If you’d like to see more frequent photos tracking the projects in my studio, please follow me on Facebook and/or Instagram.

Doll house stories – all moved in

Posted on November 15, 2020 by Salley Mavor

In this final part 5 in the Doll House Stories series, you will see the completed rooms in my newly refurbished doll house, along with its wee folk inhabitants. The house, which I built in 1975 while in art school, is on view in the exhibition “Bedtime Stitches” at the Cahoon Museum in Cotuit, MA through Dec. 19, 2020.

In addition to showing the original illustrations for my new picture book MY BED, the Cahoon Museum is displaying many rarely seen creations from my art school days to the present, including this doll house. These extra items are only included in the Cahoon Museum show and will not travel in the touring exhibition.

Since “Bedtime Stitches” opened in mid-September, I’ve heard from many people who’ve gone to see the exhibition with their children, grandchildren, parents and friends. One woman said, “After our visit, my husband said it was the best day of 2020.” Another wrote to say, “It feels like your art is the antidote to, I don’t know, maybe most of the rest of the world.”

I’m so glad the show will be up for another 6 weeks (through Dec 19), so that more folks can make the trip to see it. Not only has the Cahoon Museum done a beautiful job presenting my work in the gallery, they have protocols in place to ensure a safe and welcoming experience for their visitors, with timed entry in 1 hour intervals and required face coverings. Click here for hours, registration and Covid safely information.

Part 2 (wall papering) — Part 1 (history)

For the past few weeks, you’ve seen several posts about the doll house. Here’s a list if you’d like to review them:
How the house was used over the past 45 years – part 1 (history)
Before and after shots of wallpapering – part 2 (wall-papering)
The process of making wee folk characters – part 3 (kitchen)
How I re-upholstered a 1930’s era sofa – part 4 (re-upholstery).

part 4 (re-upholstery) — Part 3 (kitchen)

After arranging the furniture and figuring out who would live in the house, I moved the whole setup into the basement so that Rob could photograph it. He also made a little film, which pans from room to room throughout the house.

For the soundtrack, Rob recorded crickets and other night sounds outside. In the middle of summer, he sat on our patio with a microphone and headphones, listening in the dark, with the moon above.

I hope you enjoy this little house tour.

It was so much fun working on the house over the summer! I probably wouldn’t have taken the time to indulge in something so seemingly unimportant, if not for the deadline to get it fixed up for the “Bedtime Stitches” exhibition. But, after allowing myself the luxury of “playing house” again, I feel connected to my younger self – The child who spent blissful hours engrossed in creative play, the 13 year old who kept her love of dolls a secret and the self-conscious art student who lay in bed thinking about decorating her new doll house. Throughout my life, I’ve been on the same search – to find ways to make what I imagine into something real to share. And it makes me happy to share it with you!

What are they making in the kitchen? Cheese Straws! This cozy scene is printed on a card with my family recipe for cheese straws on the back. Cards are available in my shop.