Imaginations at Work!

It is a strange habit of mine..this seeing of faces in all sorts of things. Back when I was younger, my grandfather used to show me "faces" in everything from tree bark to flowers. There were faces in clouds and there were faces on buttons. There were faces in my oatmeal and faces in dead leaves. At first, I could not see them, but then he would patiently point out eyes, nose and mouth until the face came into view. Now I see faces! Everywhere! Today, a small piece of plastic wrap was crumpled up in a ball on the kitchen table. The sun beaming through the window made this plastic look just like Alfred Hitchcock! Oh my! I could not get a clear photograph of Mr. Hitchcock but it made me think of another face I had recently seen in my window. This one I did photograph! It started one day when I was out near the driveway, I stood absentmindedly looking at my house. Then I saw it..or rather him. There was a man in my house! I could perfectly see the profile of a giant through the window. My goodness! I know that I have a very active imagination but there he was as clear as day..in my window. Now curiosity will always get the best of me and cause me to investigate. I walked toward the house fully expecting whatever was causing the silhouette to become out of focus. It did not. I pressed my face against the window screen and had to start laughing! It was not just one thing that was causing the silhouette but a whole slew of items. From the position that I was standing, I was actually looking through one window, across the room and through the screen door. Beside the door stood an old hat rack that had accumulated all sorts of items. Among these items was a pair of binoculars, the binocular bag, several straw hats, one cap, and a short handled scoop net used for catching minnows. They were just haphazardly thrown onto the hat rack but at the right perspective and from a distance, formed a very distinct profile. The man in my window! A giant of a man to be sure, but still he was in my house! Oh, what would we do without vivid imaginations! The world would be so boring!

While speaking of imaginations..meet Belina. Belina is the second of a series of ragdolls that I am making. I introduced you to Agatha a few days ago and thought another introduction was in order. Where Agatha is quite the tall gal at thirty inches, Belina is rather petite. She is a mere fourteen inches tall, but what she lacks in size she makes up for with spunk. With her bright orange feather boa and gleaming gold headband and necklace, she appears to be ready to walk the Red Carpet! Yes..I admit..the imagination is soaring lately!

Agatha is born!

Ahh..a new birth in the family! I suppose some might say that I am having the "empty-nest" syndrome or maybe others would say that I have way too much time on my hands. Actually, neither. I do miss my children now that they are grown but not to the point that I would call it a "syndrome" and I surely do not have an excess of time. I just like to create! So create I did! Let me introduce you to Agatha..she is my latest attempt at subduing the crazies that live in my brain! To start with, I must tell you that I do not sew and the body of this little lady was sewn by my lovely daughter. She is one of these talented people that can take a piece of fabric and whip out a complete outfit in a matter of hours..that with no pattern! It amazes me to watch her and I admit that I do so with a twinge of envy..oh, how I wish I could do what she does! Personally, I would be terrified to attempt such a feat! But back to Agatha..darling daughter sweetly agreed to sew the body parts and shortly thereafter presented me with a bag full of arms, legs and torsos! As you can see, these body parts can be made from the scrap pile..making use of all the odds and ends left over from earlier projects. The more mismatched and brighter the better! So let the fun begin! All I needed to do was stuff, assemble and decorate. Anyone that knows me well will tell you that I compulsively collect anything that can be possibly used in a craft project. I have boxes of "useful" junk. Into these treasure boxes, I dove with such enthusiasm that I literally lost track of time. Ohhh! Flowers! The perfect thing to go in her hair! These flowers were remnants of my daughter's wedding bouquets..we just needed the stems for her bouquets. (We sort of "beheaded" the flowers and threw the blossoms in one of my boxes.) In another box, I found curly hair from angels we made years ago, and feather boas from some costumes my daughter made for a local theater production. Bottles of paint..yes, definitely needed for the face..glue to attach things..fiber for stuffing..all wonderful items that could be used for my doll! Hopefully these dolls will allow me to clear out a tiny portion of my burgeoning mounds of treasures and trinkets! The imagination ran amok and in a short time Agatha was born. I think she is quite the adorable lady with her feather boa and flower adorned hair! Now to work on her sisters!