Benja and her Great Big Clock

Tick-tock-tick-tock. I spy a clock.

Behind the clock, I spy a doll.

Tick-tock-tick-tock.

Shy, introverted, reserved, contemplative, perfectly happy to immerse herself in a problem so deeply that she may not even notice what time of day it is, despite the fact that her very responsibility lies in keeping that time clock ticking away.

Behind the scenes.

Cranking.

Turning.

Rotating.

Benja has a clock and she is caretaker of her clock. It's not an easy job being caretaker. One must be resilient, patient, precise, nimble, and constantly present. Benja would have it no other way. She loves her clock. Her clock is high maintenance, that one. This is a clock that needs to be wound, round the clock (no pun intended). This clock has very low tolerance for imprecision. So precise it is that a penny slipped under it's winder has the effect of minutely adjusting the time by milli-seconds per day.

When the winding is neglected at all, the clock eventually dies. And that would make for a very very sad Benja. So, Benja is ever-present, entirely devoted and whole-heartedly spends her day taking care of her clock.

The creation of Benja and her clock was inspired by Big Ben and the clock that lives at the Palace of Westminster, London. I am enthralled by this magnificent piece of engineering work....it's beauty, grace, near perfect precision, and brilliant design. Here's a fascinating article written in October of 2013 about the process of fine-tuning Big Ben's clock. And if you're even more interested, here's a fun fact article about the bell and it's clock.

Benja is a Wee-Bee Mini Elfcup doll. She stands less than 6" (15 cm) tall. She is made with all natural materials. Her doll skin is made with premium quality cotton interlock imported from Europe. She is firmly stuffed with bio-wool made in Oregon.  Her seams are sewn twice for reinforcement.  Her locks are made of mohair yarn tied into a single braid.  She has embroidered facial features. Her facial structure is sculpted giving her a sweet little face with an itty-bitty chin, round chubby cheeks and deeper set eyes. Her cheeks, nose and various body parts are blushed with red beeswax.  She is a sitting doll with sewn joints that are made flexible for easy movement and changing of clothes.  But, with some posing, she is also able to stand very stable. She also has a belly button and a bum.

Benja comes readily dressed for warm or mildly chilly days. Her vest is hand knit with 100% suri alpaca yarn done up reversed stockinette stitch style to give a warm fuzzy feeling to the fiber. Her top is crocheted with a mohair-silk blended yarn and sewn onto a floral cotton fabric. The back fully opens with nickel-plated hood and eye snaps. Her trousers are made from 100% cotton and decorated with a sweet elastic lace trim. Benja's hat is made from pre-washed, clean repurposed 100% cashmere. Her boots are hand knit with 100% suri alpaca yarn.

Benja's clock is a piece of work. Ok...so this is where I take pause to go get some chocolate....concentration food, you know.

The design of this decorative clock took what seemed like an engineering feat in itself....the calculating, the drawing, sketching, scrapping, measuring, planning, manipulating, detailing, scrapping again, then redoing until all the stars aligned. Whew!

So, here she is. Benja's clock is made from a thick cotton fabric lined with extra stiff interface so that she stands tall and strong. She is stuffed with 100% wool. Her face is embroidered on a neutral-colored linen fabric. The artwork is hand embroidered with high quality 100% cotton floss. The art design of the gears was sketched and drawn by me and then transferred to the fabric for embroidering. By the way, if you're interested in learning how to hand embroider, check out Sublime Stitching by Jenny Hart. There are simple and clear step-by-step pictorial tutorials by Jenny. This is where I learned how to do some basic embroidery stitches. This was my first embroidery project and I found it so relaxing and enjoyable.

The clock was designed with a fun crankshaft that actually does rotate manually to control the movement of the clock hand. The crankshaft and hand are attached by a small magnet sewn inside the two pieces. This was designed for practical purposes of assembly and packaging for shipping. 

Benja's clock measures approximately 16 in. (41 cm) at the base, 10 in. (25 cm) tall and 1 in. (3 cm) thick.

Benja is recommended for ages 5+ due to the nature of her delicate design. The small parts on her and the magnetized items may pose as a hazard for children who still enjoy exploring with their mouths and the clothing closures require manipulation by hands that are adept at extra fine motor skills and can handle small parts with ease. If you are interested in giving Benja a home, she is now available in the Etsy shop.

Coming Soon!

Benja, the clock-keeper.

Gears

They are fascinating, awe-inspiring, intriguing and beautiful. Think of circles, teeth, pressure angle, contact ratio, mating pinion, geometry, radius, circumference, mathematical curves, parabola, ellipsis, bending stress. Is your head spinning yet? Their creation requires cutting, grinding, broaching, forging, casting, extrusion, plastic and metal injection molding. Is your head aching yet? They are built into almost every machine or moveable device you use on a daily basis...bikes, refrigerators, medical equipment, sewing machines, coffee grinders, vehicles, CLOCKS. Tick-tock-tick-tock goes the clock.

Varsa Nabhas

- The Rains!

The word for rain, in Sanskrit, is Varsa. Nabhas refers to the months by which the rains span in India and it means mist, clouds or sky. This describes our little Varsa.

Varsa loves loves LOVEEES the rain. Most people get the blues on dark, foggy, misty, cloudy, rainy days. Not Varsa! Varsa laughs and jumps for joy with giddy-ness. She dresses up in her most favorite yellow raincoat and her colorful rain boots and she rushes outside to dance in the rain. She dances. She splashes puddles. She digs her toes into the mud. She laughs with the pitter-patter of the drops. She climbs. She explores. She doesn't even need a proper umbrella because she just picks up banana leaves along the way and turn them into pretty practical umbrellas. Varsa Nabhas...that's her name.

I love rain. Rain really does make my heart very happy and it really does encourage relaxation or exploration, depending on the day. Since we were so blessed with heavy rain in December, I heard Varsa calling my name. So, here she is. She sports a banana leaf umbrella as opposed to a traditional one. In many countries where manufactured umbrellas are not available or even affordable for some people, natural umbrellas can be made from palm leaves or banana leaves. And truth is...they work just as well. Have you ever been up close to a big and healthy banana tree? If you have, you understand how big and useful their leaves are and therefore, how practical they are for seeking shelter when the rains come.

Varsa is a Wee-Bee Mini Elfcup doll. She stands less than 6" (15 cm) tall. She is made with all natural materials. Her doll skin is made with premium quality cotton jersey imported from Europe. She is firmly stuffed with bio-wool made in Oregon.  Her seams are sewn twice for reinforcement.  Her locks are made of mohair yarn tied into two pigtails.  She has embroidered facial features. Her facial structure is lightly sculpted to give her an itty-bitty chin, round chubby cheeks and deeper set eyes. Her cheeks, nose and various body parts are blushed with red beeswax.  She is a sitting doll with sewn joints that are made flexible for easy movement and changing of clothes.  She also has a belly button and a bum.

Varsa comes dressed for the rain. Her yellow rain coat is made of linen and lined on the inside with a polka-dotted cotton fabric and closes at the neckline with nickel-plated hook and eye snaps. Her skirt is made of a light cotton fabric and supported underneath with tulle. The waistline of her skirt is embellished with a delicate trim and the skirt opens fully on the back with nickel-plated brass sew-on snaps. Her top is made from a cotton knit fabric. She comes with a cute pair of undies made of a cotton knit fabric and lined with a delicate trim. Her boots are hand knit with a variegated Malabrigo 100% wool yarn.

Varsa comes with a banana leaf umbrella made of 100% wool felt. The banana leaf is entirely edged with a satin stitch and there are over a hundred rows of individually and closely stitched lines that characterize the texture of a banana leaf. The leaf measures a little over 12 inches (30 cm).

Varsa is recommended for ages 5+ due to the nature of her delicate design. The small parts on her may pose as choking hazards for children who still enjoy exploring with their mouths and the clothing closures require manipulation by hands that are adept at extra fine motor skills and can handle small parts with ease. If you are interested in giving Varsa a home, she is now available in the Etsy shop.

Introducing Mirette Petit

Zin! Zin! Zin!...A violin! A violin! A violin!

Bach. Mondonville. Strauss. Zeitlin. Spivakovsky. And the females...Pommereul. Jourdan-Morhange. Astruc. Luzzato. Kozolupova. She stands among this league of brilliant and ingenious musicians. She is still young...and small...yes. But, she has had an ear for music from long before she was born. When she was inside the womb, her mummy would often feel the vigorous feet and shifting that occurred when music was around. At the age of 4 months, when she attended mommy-and-me music class, her teacher was impressed that a baby that small could wave her arms and bounce her feet to the rhythm of beats. At the age of one, another music teacher was surprised to see that a young toddler could shake instruments to the beat of the tunes. At the age of two, music teachers would approach her parents and tell them that they think she has an innate talent and a natural love for music and they would encourage the parents to continue nurturing this inclination. Now, at the age of 4, Mirette is a prodigy...a work of nature, in the making.

Her name is Mirette Petit, born into a family with no musical talents or even exposure. Mirette knows no better. She's a toddler, just like any other toddler...playful, imaginative, fussy at times, cries, laughs, giggles at the simplest wonders. On the surface, she's really just like any other ordinary child. But, at the age of 30 months, her extraordinary talent revealed itself when she picked up a violin and imitated the teacher by playing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." Her parents and her teacher were so overwhelmed with surprise. They didn't know what was happening before their eyes. At home she would ask for music...all the time. After the introduction to instruments, she would ask to play with an instrument...all the time. Soon after this, at the age of three, her parents bought her her very first violin. And here she is today, at the age of 4...making her first Christmas solo debut on stage. This is not the first time Mirette has played solo on stage, it's her very first Christmas concert and she is so excited.

Mirette, though she's only 4, has a very talented and opinionated mind. She has a little blue coat that her mummy made her for her 3rd birthday (because she loved blue ever since time unknown). She LOVES her little blue coat and she wears her little blue coat EVERYWHERE. She also has a hand knit beret that she considers her lucky beret and she makes sure to attend every concert wearing this hat.

Mirette was inspired by my love for music. There isn't much that I wished I had experienced differently in life...the good, with the not so pleasant experiences. To me...it's all good that we experience both spectrums and that we embrace the life that we have. However, there is one piece of life that I really really wished I had more of...and that bit is the knowledge to play an instrument. I love, love, love music and I don't think there is much in life that moves a soul more than music. Music to me, is one of the miracles of life. How do sounds come together to form this intangible, indescribable thing we call music that is so beautiful and can stir so much and so many emotions? It's truly amazing...music!

Mirette is a Wee-Bee Mini Elfcup. She stands less than 6" (15 cm) tall. She is made with all natural materials. Her doll skin is made with premium quality cotton jersey imported from Europe. She is firmly stuffed with bio-wool made in Oregon.  Her seams are sewn twice for reinforcement.  Her locks are made of wefted Suri alpaca, a luxurious, ultra-soft and silky fiber.  Suri alpaca has natural crimps and waves in the fiber, hence giving Mirette a full bodied, yet wispy and silky hair. Her hair can can be tied and styled lightly. She has embroidered facial features. Her cheeks, nose and various body parts are blushed with red beeswax.  She is a sitting doll with sewn joints that are made flexible for easy movement and changing of clothes.  She has a sweet belly button and a bum.

Mirette comes dressed for her holiday concert. Her favorite blue coat is made of indigo hand-dyed cotton and lined on the inside with the most beautiful floral design by Su Blackwell (my most favorite paper sculptor artist) on Liberty of London fabric. The coat has a single pleat on the back. Her dress is made of a cream colored linen, lined on the top with a beautiful and high quality lace fabric. Her dress opens fully on the back with nickel-free hand-sewn snaps. Mirette's lucky hat is a hand knit beret made from Rowan Kidsilk Haze yarn, a mohair-silk blended yarn. Her boots are hand knit using Isager 100% alpaca yarn.

Mirette comes with a wooden violin that can be converted and hung as a Christmas ornament. Her violin bow is made from wood and thread. Her music stand is made of wood and can also be converted to a Christmas ornament. The violin and the stand both measures about 5 inches (13 cm) long.

Mirette is recommended for ages 4+ due to the nature of her delicate design and the small parts on her that may pose as choking hazards for children who still enjoy exploring with their mouths. If you are interested in bringing Mirette home, she is now available in the Etsy shop.

I Had All the Intentions...

...of calling on a magical musical forest creature to play for us the violin...or was it the cello? But, instead, I heard a little voice calling me. She was persistent this one. It was a tiny voice that I initially ignored. But, then, she made herself heard. And so, we have this little wee one. Yes, she's small. But, oh, you should hear the music she can play!

She was about to debut today. But, then she told me that I had forgotten a few things which I shouldn't have. And then she insisted that she needed her favorite coat, her lucky hat and she says she needs shoes. I guess she's right. It is cold outside and she can't, not in a million years, perform at a concert without bringing her favorite coat and her lucky hat. How unlucky would that be?

Twelve

This is the 12th day of December. Round the corner is Christmas. To be precise, 12 days. Twelve also happens to be the 12 Days of Christmas dolls that I had intended to put in the shop. After much consideration, I thought it wiser for me to stop after 8 Christmas dolls. International orders will take at least 10 days to reach home. So, after Monday, there is no guarantee that orders will arrive by Christmas time for those who are ordering from abroad, unless the shipment is done by express mail. Additionally, I wish to spend some time making my family some things for Christmas and there is still much to do to make that wish happen around here.

With that said, Ivor was given on "the 7th Day of Christmas." This means that there is one more being waiting to be created. I cannot help it. There are thousands of ideas floating in my head for characters that will come about. If only there were more hours in the day! But, all of those dreams and adventures will have to wait until the bright new year is here. For the time being, music moves my soul and Christmas time brings about many beings made from magic. So, she is there...waiting for her time...

The 8th and final Christmas creation....

Little Ivor had a car...

...E-I-E-I-O. And on his car he had some wheels. E-I-E-I-O. With a wheel, wheel here and a wheel, wheel there. Here a wheel, there a wheel, everywhere a wheel, wheel. Little Ivor had a car, E-I-E-I-O.

He's been obsessed with them since the age of 9 months. Where the attraction, the intuition to gravitate toward them came from, his parents know not. Perhaps it's the wheels, round and black. They say black and white are the colors babies see most clearly early on. Perhaps it's their mobility, their ability to move and roll fast and faster. Perhaps he was simply born to love cars and there is no other explanation needed. Whatever may be the reason, Ivor LOVES cars. Always in each hand is a car. It doesn't matter if the car is big or small, green or red, wood or metal, runs or not. He loves them all. He even loves sharing them with his sister or anyone who is willing to sit and roll them back and forth, back and forth, back and forth with him for hours on end.

You won't find Ivor going anywhere without one of his cars. He goes for naps with them, he goes for meals with them, he goes to the park with them, he goes for car rides with them. On cold winter days, when he takes his sister for sleigh rides, he even takes his cars along.

Ivor tells his mummy and daddy that when he grows up, he wants to race them or fix them or both. He's a strong-willed, keen little boy who has always known what he wants. That's Ivor...small, stubborn, bright, creative, outgoing, playful, inquisitive.

Ivor was inspired by the little man in my life, the big man in my life and a talented British auto mechanic nearest and dearest to our hearts, Mr. J.R.

Ivor is a Wee-Bee Mini Elfcup. He stands less than 6" (15 cm) tall. He is made with all natural materials. His doll skin is made with premium quality cotton jersey imported from Europe. He is firmly stuffed with bio-wool made in Oregon.  His seams are sewn twice for reinforcement.  His hair is made of mohair yarn. He has embroidered facial features. His cheeks, nose and various body parts are blushed with red beeswax.  He is a sitting doll with sewn joints that are made flexible for easy movement and changing of clothes.  He also has a belly button and a bum.

Ivor comes wearing a hand knit beanie made with Cascade Heritage yarn, a 75% merino wool/25% nylon blended yarn. His houndstooth scarf is hand knit with Isager 100% alpaca yarn. He wears a blue and white striped cotton shirt. He has on scarlet linen pants. His boots are hand knit with Cascade Heritage yarn, a 75% merino wool/25% nylon blended yarn.

Ivor comes with a wooden hand painted sled. The sled measures about 8" long (20 cm) and 1" (2.5 cm) tall. And of course, Ivor must have his car along with him. The car is needle felted with 100% wool roving and measures about 2" (5 cm) long and 1" (2.5 cm) tall.

Ivor is recommended for ages 4+ due to the nature of his delicate design and the small parts on him that may pose as choking hazards for children who still enjoy exploring with their mouths. If you are interested in bringing Ivor home, he is now available in the Etsy shop.