Practical Magic Blog Party

I have had a great time making two little dolls for this blog party.

Well...yes! dolls! what did you expect from a doll maker after all?

So I made little Gillian and a little Sally.

I have made my own dolly interpretation of a scene I found enchanting.

I hope you will like it.

I wish you all a happy Practical Magic Blog Party!!!
Don't forget to pause the music in the sidebar before playing the video.

Thank you Anna and Justina for hosting such a delightful blog event.

I cannot wait to visit everyone!

I jump on my broom and whoooooooooosh!!! Here I come!!!!

Just click on the picture to visit all the other blog friends. Easy! hmm?

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A little video for the ADO Quarterly challenge ;-)

It has been a long while since I've last made a little video!

This little dolly, you have recognised I am sure!

A long time ago I wrote my own adaptation of her story . I have always been intrigued by the tale of the Little Red Riding Hood.

The original tale was very gore and had nothing much to do with the Grimms or Charles Perrault's versions.

These photos were taken after I made the video. She had a little hair trim as you will see.

This animation is very short, but I hope you will have fun watching it.

This is my little contributuion to the ADO quarterly challenge :the Grimms fairy tales.

You can go to ADO page by clicking on the picture above.

Don't forget to stop the music in the sidebar! ;-)

Making a doll with Papillon Bleu UK

Not so long ago, once back from my holiday, Sophie, the most adorable little girl ,came home to meet AliénorE (don't forget to check her Facebook page here if you haven't done it yet) . I offered to show her how to make a doll. That day I was preparing a doll for Dale who had made a beautiful mattress for Aliénore's bed. Sophie followed all the steps of doll-making very carefully and managed to make her very first doll. It was a magical day for both of us.

We went to stretch our legs for a little while . Every doll maker needs a break as it requires a lot of concentration you see. So I took her to one of my (and Christopher Robin's!) favourite places.

Once back home and our dolls finished, we played a bit with AliénorE's bedroom.

This is the doll I sent to thank Dale!The little doll is sitting on the mattress made by Dale for AliénorE.

A few days later I received the most exquisite card from Sophie!

It was so cute I had to share it with you.

So, not so long after I received the card, I invited Sophie again. We had a fantastic time together. I asked if she wanted to try to make a mini Susan (which is the doll I make during the workshops) with me.

As usual, Sophie proved to be very meticulous, eager to learn more and very patient. All the good qualities required for a doll maker.

Her mini Susan was gorgeous! She matched with Sophie's school uniform look!

And below, you can see my own mini ones. And if you wonder why they are called Susan ( in fact, it is Robert who pointed it out) click here.

I might soon put a template and all the instructions on my Etsy store very soon, if you wish to learn to make one too! Do you think this would be a good idea?

And speaking of ETSY, I am working a lot on the doll making at the moment.

;-)

Hope you are all fine out there dear blog friends.

And please don't forget: CARPE DIEM.

Bye for now!

Australia Part 3: The Wedding!

Time to celebrate dear blog friends! This is the final part of our trip in Australia.

First, let me introduce you to Jack and Erin who had travelled all the way from England to be page boy and flower girl!

On the wedding morning, they enjoyed having breakfast in the garden with Rosie and Aliénore .

It was still Winter remember.

Rosie and Aliénore were excited to try an Australian hat. They also tasted Vegemite but didn't like it at all.

Now, time to get ready !

See how Jack and Erin looked wonderful in their outfits.

Aliénore made friends with the 2 flower girls. She had a special dress made for the occasion but she decided to keep her Ugg boots all day long...

Yes indeed, Aliénore looked very pretty that day!

But hard to compete with the bride's maids who looked absolutely stunning in their beautiful dresses.

On their belt , they had a delightful brooch shaped as a Lily symbol of Angers ( France) where my sister was born .

Then it was time to help the bride...

Yes...my sister.

There are no words to describe what I felt at this specific moment.

In front of the church, the sun was high in the sky and everybody was waiting for the beautiful bride to arrive.

And here she was.

Time to enter the church!

Well, well, well...here is Aliénore sitting near my Grandmother.

And two delightful little faces! Ruby and Zoe. Beautiful daughters of my Australian cousins.

The ceremony was a special moment that I will keep in my mind.

Look! This is he first time my sister shows her cute little face to the world as a Mrs!

Ante, her husband , was extremely proud.

I was the first out of the church as I didn't want to miss this precious moment .

It was good to see how my sister was loved.

Aliénore congratulated the bride.

Meanwhile, the flower girls were having good fun playing with the water in the fountain.

Cheeky!

Later on, in the evening, it was like in a dream, with flowers and candle lights.

The champagne was good and the cakes were delicious and all of a sudden...

... when Laure and Ante danced their first dance, they were surronded by a heavenly mist and this is when we saw...

...THE ANGELS!!!!!!!!

Here they were!At last! Not in the sky, nor in the Luna Park but here: surrounding the Groom and the Bride with their genuine love.

And the party went on and on .And one after the other, the angels fell asleep.

Angels and dolls do get tired after such a long day, you see.

And the day after, we celebrated more, and sung and laughed until late in the night.Oh how I loved the strong smell and taste of the black coffee.

And the day after that, it was time for me to leave and fly away.

I left behind me my sister , my family and Rosy who wanted to spend a bit more time with Erin.

My sweet Aliénore stayed with me. She was strangely quiet during the whole journey.

I will never know what she had in her mind during the long flight back to England.

She never told me.

She silently looked at the clouds each time she could.

Always in her thoughts.

And this is how our journey in Sydney ended dear blog friends.

But there will be many more stories to share with you.

We hope you had a good time reading this one.

I dedicate this story to my little sister Laure ( who I love more than words can say) and her very lucky husband Ante.

I wish them all the luck, love and happiness in their marriage.

Australia Part 2:Sydney (an explosion of colours)

I apoligised for not having posted earlier but it was just too difficult to choose the photos I wanted to present. I think that this is so far the post with the most photos I have ever shown. It was good fun preparing it, I hope it will be the same for you to read it.

Aliénore told me that she was rather pleased to notice that living with your head upside down the globe did not seem so different from being in England.In fact, it was a real relief for the little doll.

One morning I told her we were going to the city. Aliénore was so excited . On the bus to Sydney, she could stop looking through the window and didn't want to miss a thing of the very exotic surrounding.

We first went to the sea food market where we could buy and eat all the fresh product of the sea and delicious local fruits.

Yummy!

Then , Aliénore went to Circular Quay where she was she couldn't wait to see Opera House and the beautiful bridge .

What a sight! and in the distance, something cought her eye...There seemed to be a Luna Park!She was determined to find the way to go there.And you know how determined Aliénore is.

Ss she tried to find the way. She visited The Rocks which has a very rich historical background. There were delightful stores and the little doll was amazed by the colourful windows of Sydney.

Aliénore also discovered some of Ken Done's amzing paintings.

He's always been my favourite Sydney artist .

Then we had a long stroll in the streets of Sydney.

It was nice and warm and yet it was still Winter over there!

Then we arrived at Darling Harbour.

Aliénore wanted to go in the water taxi.

Then later on, as she was in a shopping mood, she bought a pair of trainers and...

...a pair of original UGG boots that were perfect for her!

She felt like a true Australian girl!

Then dark came with the night revealing all the beautiful lights of the city and we were still determined to find the Luna Park.

After a long walk, we finally found it!

When we entered the Luna Park, it felt like being swallowed by a giant mouth.

Aliénore was a bit scared at first.

Once inside, it was truly magical.

This was just the perfect place for Aliénore who thought for a moment that she was in Heaven. Still no angels though...

Then, Aliénore's eyes started closing slowly. She fell asleep in my arms so I walked away.

It had been a wonderful day and yet, ther was still another big moment to celebrate: the wedding.

When I was walking away, I looked back and thought that we were lucky to be in such an extraordinary place and decided that I wanted to enjoy every single day of my life as if I was a little doll in a Luna Park.

Carpe Diem dear blog friends.