Primitive Folk Art by Old World Primitives
Handmade Primitive Dolls and Ornaments
I found a new treasure to take home with me at the 26th annual Antiques in Long Valley show today – an 1890s German putz sheep. He had such a unique face, I couldn’t pass him up. It has more of a chalkware look than the typical composition face look.
I am busily assembling a cast of characters for Halloween this week… the last spooky spun cotton ornaments and chenille Halloween ornaments are below. The spun cotton witch kitty will have a sister tomorrow.
I have a few new dolls in progress too. I am excited to use my new antique shop finds – grungy old buttons and antique lace – in some primitive creations.
Since our last visit here, I had the pleasure of once again attending the Antiques in Long Valley show in Long Valley, NJ where I scored my beautiful blue antique chimney cabinet last year. This year the show was just as amazing as the last… there were so many wonderful goodies that I wished I could have brought home with me. The booth where I bought my cabinet last year was once again filled with wonderful pieces of furniture and many Sold signs. This year I was on more of a budget than last year, but I did manage to come home with two finds that I am really pleased with – a small and extremely primitive hand forged shovel…
…and an antique German spun cotton ornament to add to my collection. The technique used to make it is different than I have seen before, so studying it will also assist in my education process as I learn this old technique.
I am continuing to really enjoy where my journey into spun cotton has been taking me. Below are my newest spun cotton creations that are still available. I am also archiving my designs on a new spun cotton ornaments page of this blog. Custom orders for designs you may have missed are always welcome.
And finally, I have some progress on my first Izannah Walker style doll from the workshop that I am taking. It has been hard to tear myself away from my current obsession with spun cotton to work on her, but I’ve gotten a bit completed! I have her torso sewn and stuffed, and her head with shoulderplate stuffed and pinned onto the torso.
After sewing the shoulderplate in place, I shall begin sculpting her face – I will share how I do with it in an upcoming blog post.
I will end for now with a big thank you to Cathy of the always-inspiring One Pink Goose for presenting me with the Sunshine Award, which is awarded to bloggers whose positivity and creativity inspire others in the blog world. I am honored!
This Christmas, after the gifts had been opened, Christmas dinner eaten, and cookies consumed at the big family dinner table… my Dad had one more box to open and share with me. Since he knows that I like to use antique postcard images as faces for my chenille ornaments, he brought out a few stacks of his recent acquisitions. I enjoyed looking through all of them and selecting some to borrow as much as I enjoyed hearing the story of how he had scavenged them from the site of an old home that was slated for demolition.
Some of them were inscribed with notes from the sender in English, and some in German. Some were never sent, and many had 1 cent stamps on them along with postmarks from the 1902 – 1907 range.
Many will provide the inspiration for new ornaments in 2010. Happy New Year to all!
Since my return from Canada I have been busily preparing Halloween dolls and ornaments for my first foray into the craft show world, coming up in October. So I have many new creations in the works, but most will be held aside for the show for now. I do have some wonderful new antique show and shop finds to share though – some will become part of my show display. I found all of these pieces up in Canada. I would have brought back even more items, but my parents beat me to a few of them… when we go antiquing together, we always seem to go after the same items!
I would also like to share a sneak peek of my September 1st offering for Early Work Mercantile – she is a very primitive and scary witch.
Check back next week to see more of her! I will try to squeeze in some new Etsy offerings soon too.
After a weekend spent getting most of the windows in our home replaced (and moving everything in each room out of the way… and then back into place again… and then cleaning up the mess), I finally had time to get a new primitive crow doll that I finished making last week listed on Etsy today. She is 19″ tall including her witch hat, and was handmade by me using a Veena’s Mercantile pattern.
SOLD, thank you!
The canning of all those pickles in my last post has also begun! I’m boiling the salt water for jar number 3 already, which I will add to a jar stuffed with pickle cucumbers, fresh dill from our garden, garlic, and horseradish root to make Polish style cucumbers in brine.
Once the lid is sealed, we ferment them for 1-2 weeks, and then open and eat! We’re already eating jar #1 – delicious! (Or shall I say, bickering over who gets to eat the last pickle from the jar… after which my husband drinks all of the brine.)
And finally, I went antiquing last Thursday at the Chester Antique Mall, and have some photos of my finds to share. I set out wanting to find a piece that could function as an end table for next to our living room couch, and that is exactly what I came home with. I also found a fabulous lopsided, slotted iron spoon to add to my collection.
This weekend I went to the 23rd annual “Antiques in Long Valley” show in Long Valley, NJ and left with a fantastic find! I purchased a circa 1870s chimney cupboard with original dark blue paint. I think it is a rare and beautiful find and am very excited about it. Plus, it fits perfectly into the empty spot in my blue living room next to a barnwood cabinet that I have been looking to fill.
There were so many other items at this show that I wished I could have bought too – I could easily have left with a U-Haul filled with goodies if I had the means. There was absolutely no junk at this show, and in some booths I wanted just about every item in them. I just missed a lovely antique doll with a lithographed face that was in excellent condition – a dealer at another antique store that I shop at got to her first, and is keeping her for her personal collection.
My Mom picked up a wonderful late 19th century German cloth doll with a tin head. I told her that if she didn’t buy her, I was going to have to (and I had already spent enough!). The doll still has a tattered, aged piece of paper pinned beneath her clothes with a handwritten note of who she once belonged to.
I found the most delightful 1800s infant cradle while antiquing yesterday. It has square nails and original paint that is in remarkably good condition. I plan to use it to display a grouping of my primitive dolls.
