Lavender Cherries (christmas gifts for you)

I love this time of the year when the weather is rough and the days are short. We live in a little cottage and there is not always a warm fire place waiting for us when we come home. I do like our hot water bottles and think that they are a great invention.

But nothing is more cozy than warm cherry stone cushion and I have to admit that I have sort of fallen in love with that idea I came up with a few weeks ago and think that you might, too ;-)
These cherry stone cushions will not only spread a lot of warmth and sweet summer scents in your home but also a lot of cheerfulness (as you might see on the pictures ;-)Each of the cushions is made of a pillow case made of cotton fabric, ribbons, crocheted cherry appliqués, embroidered Lavender Cherries on the front and the Fröken Skicklig tag on the back. Inside there are two cushions, one of them is filled with organic cherry stones, the other one is filled with organic lavender with an elastic band which keeps both of the cushions together.

You can use the Lavender Cherries either cold or hot. For using them cold, place the cushion with the cherry stones for a while in the freezer, then attach the lavender cushion and put over the pillow case. To use the Lavender Cherries hot, place the cherry stones cushion either in the oven or in the microwave and heat it up until it is hot enough. Then attach the lavender cushion and put over the pillow case.
I love how the scent of lavender and of dried cherry stones fills the room while my toes get warm and my tensions vanish and I so much appreciate the click-li-clack-li sound of the stones. It does not only smell like summer, it also sounds like summer, a joyful little melody...

Lavender Cherries are a great gift for your toddler´s tummy, for your brother Marc who always needs something to cool his bruises after football, for aunt Claire who´s sciatica is often causing problems, for your little nephew Gabriel who needs some calming scents when brought to bed, for your friend Anna´s bad stomach and for your cousin Holly who regularly has cold feet (and who detests heating blankets due to the risk of fire).
Last but not least to mention the Lavender Cherries as a great gift for yourself in the middle of winter when the cherry trees in your garden are bald and the lavender and all the other perennials are covered with snow.

The Lavender Cherries´ size is 23cm x 14cm/ 9.1" x 5.5" and weigh about 330g. You can find them in my Etsy shop (which will be filled peu à peu with some treasures as promised) and cost each 35 USD (that would be 25€) plus shipping from Sweden. There are two sorts of these cushions, one with turquoise appliqués and the other one with lime green appliqués. Each of the Lavender Cherry cushions comes with an instruction sheet.

I have already shipped four of them today to arrive in time before Saint Nicholas´ Day, but there are still some left which were meant to be for the market which I cancelled. So welcome at my shop!
I will now enjoy some late evening tea and a little bowl of cherries, hand-picked and dried in the warm July sun to remind us of the pleasures of summer. It is so nice for us to be able to keep these precious moments - in many ways, as dried cherries, as scenting lavender, as three little freckles that are still left on someone´s little nose as a memory of summer in the middle of winter...

Joyful thoughts to you,

Juliane

P.S. Thank you for your heartwarming comments and emails after my yesterday´s post. I appreciate every single line and it made me happy to read all your wise and lovely words!

Christmas Decisions

We have had a calm weekend here in Höör, Southern Sweden. It is another way of socializing than in Berlin, where we have our second home.

I am cycling from thrift shop to thrift shop, from the fabric store to the yarn store. I pass by the tourist office to have a fika with the girls there... I find some lovely spots in private gardens and have nice talks with the owners about using their place for some new stories for dolls waiting to be photographed... I am baking every day cakes and cookies and plaited almond loafs for friends, for the family, for craftsmen and for customers who pop in for F and for me.

We got a new kitchen, it was a mess for several weeks, now it is the bathroom´s turn - but on our kitchen table there is always something freshly baken, scenting hyacinths and a candle against the Swedish winter gloom. And a mountain of muddy wellies in our hall while the rain is dribbling against the windows and the wind in the chimney is howling. All that sounds cozy, eh?

It really is and I very much appreciate being here right now, even if the weather is cold and grey and rainy. The nicest thing is that I can take things a bit calmer now while everyone else is preparing like mad for christmas.

The reason for me being that calm is that I made an important decision I wanted to share with you:

As some of you know, I have had a troubled time recently. One year ago I got the diagnosis fibromyalgia, a chronic pain disorder, and I needed several months to get used to that new situation of having a chronic disease. The bad thing of course is that I had to pause from theatre for a while, at least on stage, but I will continue with that part of my work in 2010 which feels very nice. The good thing growing out of that situation was to focus for Fröken Skicklig (which I wouldn´t have had the time for if working 100% for theatre as I did before). Looking back I think it was the best which could happen in such a not so great situation.

The last weeks I wasn´t doing that well and time was running. I have always managed to ship dolls in time so that they would arrive before birthdays (or as now: before christmas) and I am glad that the ones of my customers who are doll collectors stay patient and have a lot of understanding that the orders for children always go first.

I really enjoy the work I am doing, even if I am not feeling so well, I can at least sit and crochet and take things a bit slower. Actually I had reserved November as a month of preparation for the advent fair, but I am still sitting here to finish all the custom orders for christmas. Plus I had a class in doll making which always needs some days of preparation and postprocessings.

I do have boxes filled with little treasures - but still there wouldn´t be enough for a three days market. So what could I do? Instead of cancelling the doll making class (which I found very important to have) I cancelled the advent fair at here in Skåne/ Sweden at Bosjökloster instead. And you know what? I am very happy for that decision! It would have been nice to attend the Skånska Juldagarna but it is just too much at the moment. I also emailed those who already told me that they wanted to come from Denmark and Sweden - I am sorry for cancelling everything that short in advance.

And of course it is nice to meet people in real life, but that I do already in my classes (where there is so much more time to talk and to socialize). And I venerate the work collegues do who sit every night and prepare for the fairs... But although I do cut out several things at the same time, I could never sit a whole evening and sew 300 lavender sachets or 80 fabric strawberry cupcakes - massproduction is not my cup of tea. I would simply find it boring to just do straight seams and to stuff twenty doll limbs during one evening just to prepare for a fair. I need my time and I take my time for developing stories behind the things I am creating - and that is no judging, that is just my personal way. I need some time to connect with e.g. a doll and can´t produce five dolls at the same time. Which might be a bit stupid, I know, because it saves precious hours when you do the same steps at once.

I run my little company for being my own master - and for having less stress when I am not feeling very healthy. It is great that I can decide how and when I am working - it is a real luxury, if you ask me. Still I have some things prepared (which were meant to be for the fair) and I will add peu à peu a few items to my Etsy shop. Some dolls might be finished around christmas - but I am sure they will find a new home even at the end of this year or at the beginning of the next year.

I hope you´ll understand this decision. For me it feels very good, now that I have much more time for both my orders as for family and friends. I have been working for many years during the pre-christmas season with theatre performances, so it really feels this year like ah, how I enjoy Advent with all the preparations, scents and candles. Without a bad conscience I can sit now in the evenings and read theatre texts, I can think in some other dimensions than just dolls and fabrics. It will bring some fresh air so that I will have some space in my head to think of new perspectives for 2010.

And it feels also good to have the chance to give myself some calm to take a walk or just to sew something for us. Guess how many unfinished projects we have waiting here! Cushions and curtains, skirts and coffee cozies - it is a shame to do that much for Fröken Skicklig, but our own home gets so very little at the moment ;-)

There were a lot of lovely emails and letters that reached me during the last weeks to give me some support when I was not doing well. I also want to thank my dollmaker collegues Sanne and Micha for their wise words who have made it easier for me to chose the right way at the junction.This decision means also that I will have the time to write some tutorials for little crafting projects and also some nice recipes and show them here on my blog for you. There might be even another challenge (I know, there haven´t been a lot of giveaways recently, but I was just too exhausted). I do hope you will pop in - so that we can spend some time drinking tea together and doing something nice for christmas.

A long post for one important decision ;-)
What did you decide to make this time of the year less stressy and more enjoyable for you and your family?

A bright smile from Höör,

Juliane

The Sisters of the Dawn

For Ess and Ee

Every morning I passed by a little park on my way to school. Don´t loiter, mummy said (as every morning) and I tried to not be late. But every morning my satchel got so very heavy when I crossed that park and then I needed to pause a little by the bench which stood next to the maple tree. And every morning I saw them, the Sisters of the Dawn.

Their hair was as fair as wafts of mist, their cheeks were rosy as the morning sun, their eyes as blue as the wisps of clouds when the night has gone and the dawn has come.

Every morning I took down my satchel and tried to stand as still as I could. Every morning I closed my eyes and I pricked up my ears. And after a while the sound of cars was vanishing and the noise from the school yard was fading away. Even the birds were silent while I was standing there with my eyes closed. And then I could hear them chuckle and when I opened my eyes again, I could see the Sisters of the Dawn coming out of the thicket.

They gathered some rose hips and some blackbird feathers.

They gathered some maple leaves and some beechnuts.

They gathered the first beams of sunlight and the balmy morning breezes which tickled their noses.

And every morning I stood as still as I could and watched them play and I forgot about all the cars and the schoolyard and that mummy said I shouldn´t loiter.

The Sisters of the Dawn clothed themselves in delicate dresses made of rose petals and feathery cobwebs.

They clothed themselves in sighing and giggle.

They clothed themselves in the warm scent of soil and the meekness of the morning dew.

And every morning I watched the Sisters of the Dawn bouncily dancing in the piles of yellow and brown leaves.

Every morning I watched the Sisters of the Dawn balancing on the moss-covered stone wall.

And every morning I watched the Sisters of the Dawn play with little pebbles and snail shells and chestnuts. And every morning I saw that they were never wearing any shoes. And never any cardies or scarfs. And it was autumn already, summer had gone and every morning mummy put on a warm hat onto my head (which I then stashed in my satchel as soon as I turned the corner).

The first time I saw the Sisters of the Dawn was in September after we had moved. It was a foggy early morning and I was on my way to school. The school was a new one and so was the way and mummy had said goodbye early so that I would have enough time. But then my satchel got so heavy when I could hear the noise from the schoolyard behind the park. And then I had to take a little pause by that bench under the maple tree. And while I was standing there, the Sisters of the Dawn came out of the thicket.

From that day on I saw them every morning on my way to school. Sometimes I had to wait a little while and close my eyes while standing by that bench under the maple tree. Sometimes I could hear the Sisters of the Dawn already when I entered the park. And then I tried to be as quiet as I could, watching them play. And that I did every morning until it was mid-November.

It was a wednesday when I came home from school and they had rung from the headmaster´s office. I could hear mummy sighing and saying "Yes, we will mind... indeed..." and "I totally agree... after the move... sure..."

And when we had dinner, mummy looked very grieved and then she asked me why I always was late at school and she cried and I was crying, too.

And in the evening there was a phone call from grandfather. And then I told him about that park and my heavy satchel and about that bank under the maple tree and about the Sisters of the Dawn. And I told him about my their hair as fair as wafts of mist and about rosy cheeks and bare feet and missing cardies.

And grandfather didn´t say anything else but "Hmm..." and "Aha...". And when I had finished, he was quiet for a little while and then he said: "I think I have a solution for that!" But it was a surprise and I should wait until the weekend when he would come to visit us.

I have forgotten to tell you that my grandfather loves to knit and to crochet and to sew and he always shows me all the tricks and how to make little felted balls with a small bell inside.

That weekend he showed me how to crochet tiny shoes. And while I was sitting on the sofa and crocheting with soft warm yarn, I could hear the rat-attt-tat-rat of the old sewing machine. And guess what? My grandfather was sewing the most gorgeous woolen capes...

When I went to school on monday morning, the cold was nipping and my breath turned into lots of white little clouds and I was wearing mittens and a little package. As every morning I stopped by that bench under the maple tree. But I didn´t close my eyes and I didn´t pricked up my ears. I had promised grandfather to place our package under the bank where the Sisters of the Dawn would find it. And then I made a bee-line for the schoolyard.

When I had left, I could hear a little rustle of leaves. But I had promised grandfather not to turn and look back...
***
I don´t know what the Sisters of the Dawn said or what they thought when they found the gifts me and grandfather had made for them. I imagined that they really would be in for a surprise! I imagined their little blue toes would get warm in the woolen shoes we crocheted. I imagined our the capes would keep the cold wind away. I imagined how they would wrap up well in the soft scarfs.
When I passed by the bench in the afternoon on my way from school back home, I found a yellow leave and two little snail shells. And I knew what that meant and it made me sad:

Dear friend,

thank you so very much for your lovely gifts. Soon winter will be here and we will leave for a place far away from here. We hope you understand.

Warm greetings,

The Sisters of the Dawn

First I was sad, but I understood their decision very well. At the end of November it began to snow and little pond in the park was soon covered with a thin layer of ice. The first days I really missed the Sisters of the Dawn on my way to school. I tried to feed the ducks or make some snow balls, but it wasn´t the same.

***
In January Anna started to pick me up in the mornings and together we walked to school. Sometimes we stop at the little bench under the maple tree and we balance on the moss-covered stone wall. I have never told Anna about the Sisters of the Dawn, but grandfather remembers them still. Next weekend he will visit us and then he shows me how to do cross stitch. I might ask Anna if she wants to join us.

These two little sisters are for Ee and Ess (who in real life have other names than in blogland of course). This order was one of the first requests I got when I started with Fröken Skicklig and it was a pleasure to sit and sew and think of Cee and her two girls in Australia, far far away from our Swedish home.

Since I often get requests concerning the pricing and size: These dolls were about 40cm/ 15.7" high and cost each 130€ plus shipping. I am currently not taking any new orders due to a lot of custom dolls waiting. Next chance to make an order (delivery date during Spring) is in december.

I hope the Sisters of the Dawn arrive well down under and I keep my fingers crossed that they won´t need warm scarfs and shoes and woolen capes. While we are waiting for snow, Australia is welcoming summery days...

I wish all of you a pleasant weekend! And if you pass by a bench under a maple tree, take a few minutes, close your eyes and stand as still as you can. You might hear someone giggle in the thicket...

Warmly,

Juliane

Dockkurs i Höör - A Weekend Glimpse

A few impressions from the doll making class in Höör/ Sweden...The last two days passed by so very quickly. All of us enjoyed the warm atmosphere at Sunnanäng, our local waldorf kindergarden in Höör, where we could spread our creative chaos and where after the weekend some new dolls could see the light of the day.We were a quite international group from Sweden, Austria, Denmark and Germany, it was a great mix of languages, of different backgrounds and common interests. What gave me a warm feeling was to see how well the students connected with each other and that all of us filled the house with so much bright energy.Two days are of course not a lot of time, especially not if you would like to both share a technique as the idea behind. And it is not only the participants who get a lot of inspiration but also me who appreciates all the ideas and thoughts the students bring into the course. This is so very precious - and I therefore always do a lot of preliminary work and sew limbs and bodies on the machine to save time for the participants - otherwise we would definately need four days to get that kind of result...After a long weekend with a lot of work, hurting finger tips and little sleep all of us were exhausted but happy. The pictures above show a few impressions from our course and as so often there was too little time to take a lot of photos while we were focused on the dolls, but you can catch at least a tiny glimpse of what we have done.The wigs by the way weren´t finished in the end (even if it looks so on the pictures), all the dolls had a clerical tonsure at the back - but the students had started to crochet the hair so we could take nice photos. Only Lene surprised all of us by a wig she had crocheted from saturday evening to sunday morning - and it was amazing that she still looked fresh (while me and others had dark rings around the eyes ;-)I would like to thank all of you who took part in this class - it was a phantastic weekend and I am so much looking forward your creations!

I also would like to take a bow for Sunnanäng Förskola, where we could work and for Jenny and Helén from Höör´s tourist office who arranged accomodations for the ones who needed to sleep over. Last but not least an offical thank you for F who always is a bastion of calm when I am frantically preparing...

I guess that some sewing machines are rattling and some knitting needles are clattering now - all these dolls need warm cardigans and lovely dresses to look pretty for little boys and little girls at christmas eve. And I have time now to plan the new classes in 2010 after having finished this course - I will get back with more details asap.

From a rainy and grey Skåne a very warm smile to all of you,

Juliane

Late Nights

An apple pie is in the oven, the fire place is spreading warmth in our house while the rain is pattering against the window.

Tomorrow we will have another doll making class, this time in Skåne, Sweden. We will work at Sunnanäng waldorf kindergarden here in Höör, a lovely and cozy little place, just a few minutes walk from us. I am so much looking forward this weekend, we will be a nice international group and I am sure we will have fun sitting and chatting and sewing.

And if you might think that I am baking apple pies in the middle of the night to have something for us as a late friday evening dessert - nope, that pie is for the class tomorrow ;-) So this night will be a short one, I need to prepare a bit for the course and to keep an eye on the pie (important, really important ;-). I have to weigh mohair yarn so that every student gets enough for a wig, I have to find the long needles somewhere at the bottom of my super-sized suitcase (didn´t manage to unpack it yet), keep my fingers crossed that the tubic gauze size 8 has made it to Sweden.

But all these preparations are great against the little dash of stagefright which I always have, no matter if it is about a shadow theatre class I have to teach or doll making... I love to teach, I really do - and what would work be without that kind of excitement?

I have promised you new stories and there are indeed lots of photos waiting for you, but it will take some days before I will have some more calm minutes to upload all the images and to write longer posts, but you are of course welcome to sneek a little peek with these photos now.

At the beginning of the week I will also have more time to reply to all the emails which reached me during the last days. But I am afraid the apple pie would burn if I would sit now and just type all the replies. And what would the students think tomorrow? Oh, look this crazy woman with burned apple pie, as black as the shadows under her eyes. She doesn´t seem to be very trustworthy, if already the cake looks like that, what about the dolls then??

Would you like that to happen? I guess not!
And that´s why I finish this post now, I can smell the cake already ;-)

Have a nice weekend - and see you within the coming days!

Warm greetings from late autumnal Sweden,

Juliane

Back on track

Thank you so much for all your warmhearted lines for the Queen of Paper, Pillows and Poupées! I have taken off that crown of sickness now and I am happy to be back on track, packing my suitcase for Sweden, giftwrapping cherries and birds and little girls in dotted dresses.The last days have been quite intense and I was very touched when I read your comments and emails about the 9th of November. We came home in the middle of the night, totally frozen after hours at checkpoint Bornholmer Straße and I sat in front of my laptop to read what you had written while the hot water in the bathtub got cold ;-)

Tomorrow on the boat I will have some calm hours to reply to all your emails (also concerning the Dutch courses) and requests, right now I am finishing some orders which need to be shipped before I am leaving. I am looking forward to spending some time at home in Sweden and to meeting some of you at the doll making class in Höör the coming weekend!

Warm greetings from Berlin,

Juliane

Twenty years ago

I was twelve years old when the wall came down. Still a child, but knowing what was going on. I grew up at Gaudystraße in Berlin, Prenzlauer Berg, only a stone´s throw away from the border.

The first wall memory I have is the following: I am two years and a few months old, my brother is a baby and our mother is walking rounds at Falkplatz with him in the pram. I prefer to stay at the sandbox which my mother finds a bit strange since I use to accompany her on her walks.

When I was two years and a few months old, I had big brown eyes and braided hair. And I loved chewing gum. People from West Berlin throw poisoned chewing gums across the wall an older child had told me. Oh, but what if I would find such a chewing gum? If my hand would go down to pick it up while an inner voice would say Stop! Don´t eat it! It is poisoned! and I still couldn´t resist and eat it?

So I decided - very scared - that since I was not able to withstand the temptation of a chewing gum on the pavement, it would be better to stay at the sandbox. And I had started to understand world politics quit early, I guess. Two years and a few months old.

***
Autumn 1989 was intense. Our parents were in the opposition, so these weeks and months were filled by long discussions with friends and collegues around the kitchen table, with demonstrations and prayers at church, with a lot of hope but also despair. And me - soon twelve years at that time - understood that we were in the eye of a storm.

Today I have many thoughts in my mind and we will now go out again into the dribbling rain, pass by Gethsemanekirche and Mauerpark, taking a walk to the former checkpoint Bornholmer Straße, lighting a candle, thinking back and thinking ahead. And we will cross our old playground at Falkplatz where I sat thirty years ago, brown-eyed and with braided hair and a weakness for chewing gum, the earliest wall memory have.

Do you remember the 9th of November in 1989? Where have you been that evening?

The Queen of Pillows, Paper and Poupées

Right now my bed is my castle and I am the Queen of Paper, Pillows and Poupées, reigning my country with a weak and cold hand. And no, I haven´t forgotten you, my true friends and fellows, but I can´t receive you in audience at the moment, I am truly sorry. The only exception the Queen of Paper, Pillows and Poupées does right now is to open her door for a few little maids who pretend they would never! catch anything else but a few freckles and rosy cheeks...

If you wonder what the Queen of Paper, Pillows and Poupées is doing all day long (and why she is unable to receive any audiences) - I have been badly sick now for about one week. Except to the doctor I didn´t take any walks, I am spending most of the time in bed, either asleep or in daze so therefore any blog updates and email responses take time and therefore I haven´t been able to take new pictures of several dolls waiting here to be shipped.The appropriate activities for the Queen of Paper, Pillows and Poupées are of course:

• packing a few packages for customers, writing some lines for little boys and little girls

• crochet little hats, tiny shoes and warm doll scarfs

• folding traditional German paper stars** (about 200 so far, if I have counted right, using pretty giftwrapping paper)

I found out that stabile paper stars are perfect for a loose fill in the packages and a nice surprise, too. Apart from all the other extra gifts such as crocheted mushrooms, hair clips, beeswax candles or lavender sachets which I use to add to any package and which to prepare I am happily spending my reigning-a-kingdom-from-my-sickbed-time with when I am not fevery asleep.I hope I am soon back on track - because next week we are going to have another doll making class in Skåne/ Sweden and I would be bitterly unhappy if I would have to cancel the course. So keep your fingers crossed that folding paper stars is a good treatment!

Warmly,

Juliane

...who will need some days to get through all your emails, but my laptop is patient and so are you, hopefully


**Footnote: I got three emails today saying that the paper stars are a Danish invention, not a German one. They are indeed very common in Denmark and have a long tradition in many other countries, but to be precise - it was Friedrich Fröbel who invented these kind of stars.

Fröbel was a famous German mathematition and pedagogue (one of Pestalozzi´s students) and has had a lot of influence on pre-school education. One of his mathematical excercises for children was this paper star. Therefore we call these stars Fröbelstern (Fröbel´s Star) in Germany and every year I get more addicted, especially when using paper such as the one from House Doctor (and yes, that now is a Danish brand ;-)

Some of you asked for a tutorial - just google paper star and I am sure you´ll make a find. If I manage, I will take some pictues and upload a some instructions for you, it is easy once you understood how to fold the stripes...

When it is raining cats and dogs

Not even with the warm coat?

No.

Oh pretty please, you promised that -
That maybe so, but -

And with a warm scarf and woolen stockings?
Nope!You are so mean! You are no longer our friend!

Well, you see, it is raining cats and dogs. That´s why we haven´t done it today and we won´t do it tomorrow either.

Wahaaaaaa whaaaaahaa (constant howling, crescendo)Wahaaaa whaaaahaaaaaaa (still constant howling, mezzoforte)

Saturday, not earlier, girls! And if you don´t stop with your silly conduct, there won´t be a bedtime story!(howling stops immidiately)

It is not easy to have two little girls at home who wait impatiently for a photo session. Saturday, says the weather forecast. Let´s keep the fingers crossed that the rain stops so that we can spend a sunny hour or so in the garden and to soon be back with a story about
The Sisters of the Dawn...

Lovely dolls (with a little help of Fröken Skicklig ;-)

Just a quick monday post, I wanted to share a photo today of two dolls NOT made by me...

Hendrike was one of the lovely and creative girls who joined the doll making class in Berlin in October and with the advice and the help she got at the course and with the ideas and joy she already had, this was the result:

© by Hendrike Margraf

Aren´t these two girls pretty? Even if one (ehm, is that appropriate to show on a blog? ;-) still is without panties... I was so happy when I saw the result and I remembered the very first email from Hendrike who had tried to make waldorf dolls for her children before. We will solve all these problems, I had replied after I had read about dangling heads, strange proportions and matted hair. And isn´t it great then to see such a result?

I gave Hendrike a short call back before I wrote this post to publish this photo and we talked about what you can get from the doll making classes. Of course, I can show some of the technique, I can give good advice. But the rest is your part and it is amazing with how much joy people make their dolls. So much creativity to be awakened!

My mother is musician and I grew up with the settled conviction that immusicality doesn´t exist. Everyone is musical - and I am profoundly convinced that everyone can make dolls, too. It is just a matter of some help and encouragement, but the major part is your own joy and your own ideas.

Thank you, Hendrike, for sharing this photo with us!

And a monday smile to my dear readers!

Juliane