New Doll..Two Sides to Every Story and Every Girl

My new topsy-turvy Cinderella doll. She is made from cloth and then painted with several layers and varnished for a smooth almost wood like appearance.

In all her finery she wears a dress of dupioni silk in the palest of blues adorned with handmade rosettes and vintage ribbon and lace. In cinders she wears a dress made of humble cotton patchwork from a vintage quilt top.

There are two sides to this girl!

Back details

Handmade tag

Her lovely purse which contains an important message from you know who!

Don't get caught up in the evening and forget....

Good advice for any girl.

Summer Pleasures

I haven't been too diligent about keeping up my blog this summer. It is so darn hot right now that I have lost all motivation for anything. I lay around with the dogs on days like this. Actually, I would like to be laying around with the dogs but no such luck. My first born is home from college with his film degree in hand and ready to start the next phase of his journey. I had an exhausting day school shopping with my teenage daughter for her first day of high school. So, looking into my garden and finding this beauty was such a pleasure. I love dahlias even though they require digging up in the fall, they reward you with such gorgeous blossoms. This one is called "Bonny Blue" even though it looks pretty purple to me. Of course, folding clean crisp vintage linen off the washing line is like a religion to me. I call my clothesline my "temple". Do not disturb me out there!

On another note, I had the chance to visit this lovely shop in Guild, New Hampshire a couple of weeks ago. If you love wool this is a mecca! They really cater to rug hookers and braiders and their selection of hand-dyed and over-dyed wool is wonderful. I did come away with a little bundle and some packets of dye to try some dying of my own.

Aren't these colors luscious!!!

Stone Collecting

I am a sucker for stones. I never met one I didn't like. This little section of Cousin's Shore on PEI is like paradise for me. My daughter and I recently went stone hunting and came away with lots of smooth wonderful stones. She would ask "how about this one?" Oh yes, that's a beauty. We have to have that one. We don't take too many as to leave plenty for others to find.

Maybe I'll try my hand at crochet like the gorgeous stones here. Or just keep them by my side like a little stone garden at my fingertips. There is something very peaceful about touching and rearranging these stones. Perfection in a smooth round cool package.

Scenes from Prince Edward Island

I thought I would take you on a little tour of one of my favorite villages on PEI: Victoria by the Sea. This lovely little town is located along the southern coast of Prince Edward Island over looking the Northumberland Strait.

There are lots of tea rooms on the island revealing a decidedly British influence. This is one my favorites. I just love the vibrant island colors and sweet lace curtains, not to mention the window boxes bursting with geraniums.
This is a traditional island home with typical PEI colors. Notice the lovely painted details above the rounded dormer windows.

This sweet dory window box was found outside Olde Lovely, a cute little shop located in Burlington (5 minutes outside Kensington), PEI. If you have the chance, be sure to visit this beautiful shop and visit with Cyndi, the owner. Tell them Maminka Girl sent you!

More journal pages

A few more pages from my Journal of Interest: Permission to play Blind contour drawing...haven't done this since college.
Mixing styles: very old vintage pages mixed with modern day advertisements

I reworked this title page but am still not happy with it...don't like my handwriting but I still love that quote. And it is so true.

Journal of Interest

Here's a peek at my Journal of Interest which is an E-Zine workshop I have been taking with Teresa McFayden.

It was made by "deconstructing" an old book and using the covers..great idea! I was excited to find this old illustration of a mother scrapbooking with her children.

Inside cover above. One of my favorite quotes for the title page.

O Canada!

Happy Canada Day. I have been doing some art journaling this year. I thought today would be a good red day in honor of Canada's birthday. How nice that we are here in PEI which is the birthplace of the confederation don't you know. Now how about some nice weather for the fireworks on the beach this evening? Dreaming of blue skies

Prince Edward Island...the green island

My art journaling is VERY raw compared to some of the gorgeous art journals I see out there but the whole point is to let loose and not worry about that. I recently signed up for this "Journal of Interest" class taught by Teresa McFayden of Paper Bella. Maybe I can make some improvement and learn some new tricks.