AT THE BAZAAR

Momma Cat and her Big Sister Cat had a lovely time at the St. Agatha Holiday Bazaar this year!  Here's a picture of our booth.

Laughing Cat Creative Enterprises booth at St. Agatha's Holiday Bazaar November 2016

As you can see, we had lots of dolls and crocheted animals.  What you can't see are all the scarves, doll clothes, and bags Momma Cat made.  Big Sister Cat made some beautiful Ukrainian dyed eggs, but they are not in this photo because she didn't join Momma Cat until the following day!

Momma Cat had a lot of friends and family members come to visit her at the Bazaar.  It was very nice to see the friendly faces and catch up on all the news! Some of those people she hasn't seen for quite a while.  So, if you're reading this, Momma Cat says thank you for coming!!

Momma Cat found some wonderful prizes at some of the other vendors booths that she 
purchased for Baby Cat, and for herself.

 Every year Baby Cat gets some lip balms from Isla at Wee Mindings.  Isla is a very nice woman who used to live next door to Baby Cat's Mother-in-law Cat! The lip balms are of the best quality, they last a long time, and they come in wonderful flavors.  Here are two of them.

Wee Mindings

Momma Cat found these beautiful earrings made by the sister of her neighbor, Allison.  Momma really loves them, and has been wearing them for several days because she thinks they're so cool!

Momma Cat's new earrings

Momma Cat bought this wonderful birdbath, which is made out of different ceramic pieces all stuck together.  It's totally waterproof and can be left outside year round! Isn't it pretty?!

Momma Cat's new birdbath

Momma Cat really loves it because she loves the little birdies so much.  They will have fun playing in this when the warmer weather comes back! Right now it's in Momma Cat's living room, because, let's face it, it's so wet outside the birdies don't need a birdbath to get wet!!!

One thing is for sure, at a holiday Bazaar you never know what kind of treasures you will find.  So go to a Bazaar near you and find something awesome!

- Momma Cat 

HEARTS FOR HEARTS DOLLS IN NEW DRESSES

Ever since Momma Cat discovered Hearts for Hearts Dolls through Pixie Faire, she's been dying to own one!  She's now up to FIVE!!!!!

Momma has been cleaning them and making new clothes for them, because largely they come to her unclean and unclothed.  

So, here are several of them all dressed up in their new finery.  Momma is working on more clothes for them, but alas, her job takes up too much of her time!

Lillian, Consuelo, Dell, and Shola

 These four girls are all wearing undies, shoes, dresses, and hats all made by Momma Cat!  The only thing Momma Cat doesn't make, so far, are the tights the girls are wearing.  She ordered those from Doll Secrets!  

All four of these little sweethearts will be available for purchase at the upcoming St. Agatha Holiday Bazaar!  Please come and see Momma Cat there if you can!


- Momma Cat

ST. AGATHA HOLIDAY BAZAAR

ST. AGATHA HOLIDAY BAZAAR

You and your family and friends are

invited to come to the annual 

St. Agatha Holiday Bazaar

Saturday, November 12, 9am-4pm

Sunday, November 13, 9:30am-1pm

 

at

 

St. Agatha Parish Hall

7959 SE 15th Avenue

Portland, OR  97202

 

 

There will be lots of handmade items

Yummy baked goods

Homemade lunch

Thrifty Cottage treasures

 

 

Come and enjoy the early holiday festivities. Get your holiday season started off right!!!

 

- Momma Cat

ANOTHER CUTIE FOR THE HOLIDAY BAZAAR

Today Momma Cat finished another dress for one of her Melissa and Doug dolls.  This doll is such a little cutie, and she has beautiful hair.  

Momma Cat made her this little long-sleeved Baby Doll dress from fabric purchased at The Mill End Store, and the 123 Mulberry Street Pattern she bought from Pixie Faire. 

Momma Cat also designed and created the little booties that she's wearing.  Now she's all ready for school, a party, or just a fun play date!

 This little sweetheart will be available for sale at the St. Agatha Holiday Bazaar on November 12 and 13.  We hope to see you there!

- Momma Cat

NEWEST LOOK FOR 18 INCH DOLLS

Well, here's Wren, Momma Cat's faithful model, showing off Momma's latest creation.  

This dress is made from a very soft baby-wale corduroy purchased at the Mill End Store in Portland, Oregon.  The pattern is the Baby Doll dress pattern that Momma Cat bought from Pixie Faire, by 123  Mulberry Street. The shoe-booties were designed and created by Momma Cat herself. They were crocheted using Cascade Yarns Ultra Pima Cotton crochet yarn, and feature a faux-suede bottom.
 

Beautiful Wren, wearing her green corduroy dress

Wren's shoe/booties have a faux suede bottom

Momma Cat thinks Wren is beautiful no matter what she wears, but she is particularly fond of this dress with the little birds on it.  What do you think?  

The dress and shoes will be for sale at the St. Agatha Holiday Bazaar, but Wren will remain with Momma Cat for the foreseeable future!

- Momma Cat

NEW OUTFIT FOR CAMILLE, MY COROLLE, LES CHERIES DOLL!

If you've been following this blog, you will have seen the sweet little Corolle, Les Cheries doll that Momma Cat bought back in July.  She's a little blonde sweetheart named Camille.  

She came with a pair of ballet tights, a leotard, and a dress that clearly wasn't hers originally.  Here she is, just in case you missed seeing her.  

Camille, as she was when Momma Cat got her.

Camille has such a sweet little face, and her hair is just wonderful!  Her only flaw is a small scrape on her forehead.  Momma Cat thinks it makes her look a lot more interesting! You really can't see it in the photos, you have to get up close and personal to notice it at all! 

Well, Momma Cat has busily been working on an outfit for Camille which is totally new, down to and including the underwear!  

Here she is is her new outfit.

 

Camille's new outfit!

Momma Cat crochet a hat, and some little boots, complete with leather-like soles, for Camille.  Then Momma made her a little dress and a jacket from patterns she bought from Pixie Faire. 

The only thing Momma Cat didn't make were the tights, because she doesn't really know how, yet!  Momma Cat bought the tights from an Etsy site called, Doll Secrets
The tights fit excellently, and they come in about 30 different colors!!!

What do you think of little Camille now?  Momma Cat is going to try to sell her at the St. Agatha Holiday Bazaar in November. 

More information about the dates and times of the Holiday Bazaar will be forthcoming in the next couple of weeks!

- Momma Cat

LAURYCE AND SHOLA HAVE COME TO MOMMA CAT'S HOUSE!

You've already seen photos of Dell and Consuelo, Momma Cat's Hearts for Hearts dolls.  But two new arrivals need to be introduced to you.  

Momma Cat was lucky enough to find this beautiful doll, Lauryce, on ebay.  Lauryce is a girl that comes from New Orleans.  That's about all I know, except that she is very beautiful.  She has gorgeous hair and amazing eyes!  

Lauryce from New Orleans

 
Like all the other dolls Momma Cat's purchased, Lauryce is missing some key elements of her outfits.  But, not to worry.  Momma Cat is making new clothes for all of her dolls before she puts them up for sale at the Holiday Bazaar.

Momma Cat bought this gorgeous doll, Shola, recently.

Shola from Afghanistan

Shola hails from Afghanistan.  She also has very lovely and mesmerizing eyes!  Shola came to Momma Cat with no clothing whatsoever, so she is wrapped in tissue paper in this photo. Momma just wanted to show you all how beautiful she is! Momma will be making her a complete set of new clothes as soon as she can!

Both beauties awaiting new outfits

I hope you enjoy seeing all of Momma Cat's new dolls.  Pretty soon Momma will be selling some of them at the St Agatha Holiday Bazaar, which will be 9am-4pm on November 12, and 9:30am-1pm on November 13.  Momma will give more details on that events as the time draws nearer.  Just set one of those days aside so that you can come and see all of us at the Bazaar!

- Momma Cat

CONSUELO FROM MEXICO JOINS THE GROUP!

Momma Cat just received this beautiful doll in the mail today! 

 

Consuelo

Her name is Consuelo, she is from Mexico, and she is one of the Hearts for Hearts dolls.  She is so pretty and is just what Momma Cat needs, so she can make her some pretty new clothes, and shoes!  Consuelo is missing her earrings, but not to worry! Momma Cat knows just where she can get some suitable earrings! The biggest surprise was that this doll actually has her underwear, which is usually not the case!  But that's good, right?

- Momma Cat

HEARTS FOR HEARTS, DELL

Momma Cat bought this cute little doll named Dell from Ebay. Dell is what is known as a Playmates, Hearts for Hearts Doll.  Dell is from America, and she lives in Kentucky.   She very interestingly has one blue eye and one blue/green eye, which adds to her charm, Momma Cat thinks!

Dell from Kentucky

 Momma Cat was accidentally introduced to Hearts for Hearts Dolls when she was trying to find clothing patterns for smaller dolls.  She went onto a website called Pixie Faire
This website has patterns for all different kinds of doll clothes and shoes.  Momma Cat was hooked! But, she also saw pictures of Hearts for Hearts Dolls, and decided she needed to find one to add to her collection.  

Hearts for Hearts Dolls aren't being produced anymore, so they're not that easy to find, and they're not cheap, unless you find them in used condition, usually without their original clothing.  Which, is right up Momma Cat's alley, since she is making doll clothes for sale!  She wants dolls to dress!

Dell has new earrings!

Dell came with a dress, (not original), shoes, and that's about it.  Momma Cat found these little earrings for her down at Hiron's Drugstore in Eugene.  Then she made Dell a pair of underwear, since she was missing those also.  

Finally Momma Cat made Dell a dress out of (you guessed it!) the same pattern she used for her other two small dolls. Even though these dolls are different sizes and have slightly different body types, the dress pattern fits them all equally well!  Who'd have thought that would work?

Here they all are together showing off! Three little beauties!

Dell's dress is cotton, the other two are cotton knit

The poor little things all still need shoes, which Momma Cat will probably end up making herself since shoes for dolls of this size are hard to come by, and they're expensive!!!  But, that's a job for another day!  Momma Cat is tired and needs to sleep!

Goodnight all!  Let me know what you think of my little Dell.

- Momma Cat

COROLLE AND MELISSA AND DOUG SHARE A DRESS PATTERN

Momma Cat has been buying patterns from a website called Pixie Faire
which sells patterns for a lot of different types of dolls.  Momma Cat has recently purchased two Corolle Les Cheries dolls and several Melissa and Doug dolls. These dolls are 13 and 14 inches tall, respectively, and it's difficult to find patterns to fit them.  But Pixie Faire came to the rescue!

It turns out that the one pattern Momma Cat bought that's supposed to fit Les Cheries dolls, and Hearts for Hearts dolls, also fits the Melissa and Doug dolls (with a couple of minor adjustments).  The fit is a little tighter on the Melissa and Doug dolls, and Momma Cat lengthened the skirt by an inch so she'd have a decent hem to work with.  

Here are her two models wearing dresses made from the Baby Doll dress pattern.  

Melissa and Doug, Les Cheries

As you can see, the Melissa and Doug doll is slightly taller, she is also a little bit wider across her chest and hips.  But, since Momma Cat made these dresses out of knit fabric, there is a lot of give to them, and they fit both dolls!  The Les Cheries doll's dress is a bit looser, but still fits well.  

These dolls have very different feet too, although they are pretty close in size.  Finding ready-made shoes for them is difficult, there tends to be few choices, plus, they're expensive!  But Pixie Faire has patterns for dolls shoes too!  So, Momma Cat will be trying her hand at making some for all her new little dolls!  

Momma Cat's had to create a pattern for underwear for her little dolls too, since almost all the dolls she's bought come to her with a bare bum, and no shoes!  What's up with that?  Baby Cat says it's because shoes and underwear are the first things that little girls lose when they play with their dolls and change their clothes!  Momma Cat thinks she's right!

When you get a chance you should check out Pixie Faire and see what you think!

- Momma Cat

WOODEN JAPANESE KOKESHI DOLL

You might be thinking to yourself, what is a Japanese Kokeshi doll?  Well, Momma Cat found out accidentally while she was looking for something else online.  It turns out that a Kokeshi doll is made out of one piece of wood, turned on a lathe, then it's carved (it's arms and legs are not separate, they are suggested by the carving), and painted.  

Momma Cat looked at a lot of them on the internet.  Some are very tiny, some are large, some are very old, and some are very new.  Some are made in China.  Those Kokeshi dolls are not authentic, so don't be fooled!  

Here's the one Momma Cat bought.  She doesn't think it's very old, but she fell in love with the shape, the carving, and the colors.

This doll is about 6 inches tall, and except for the carving details, she is perfectly smooth and beautiful!  Momma Cat loves her!

What do you think?  

- Momma Cat

HOLIDAY DRESSES FOR 18 INCH MADAME ALEXANDER DOLLS

If you didn't already know, all of the Halloween and Christmas fabrics have made their way into the fabric stores already!  Momma Cat loves Halloween!  A trait she passed on to Baby Cat, by the way.

Momma Cat made this sweet little Halloween Dress and paired it with some cute little black boots that she found at JoAnn's.  Here's her little model, Wren, wearing the dress.

Wren wairing Jack Skellington print dress

 The dress is a Jack Skellington print complimented by an orange print with tiny spiders.  Momma Cat knows Baby Cat would really love this dress!  The only thing that would make it cuter is Momma Cat could find some little spider clips for Wren's hair!  

Next we have Wren wearing a beautiful red Christmas dress.  The fabric is red satin with an embroidered rose pattern.  Momma Cat made a dress for herself out of the same fabric a couple of years ago, and won a "Best Of Show" ribbon at the Multnomah County Fair!
  
In this first photo, Wren is wearing her red dress with a hand crocheted cropped red-sparkle sweater, red shoes, with a red ribbon in her hair.  Doesn't she look festive?

Wren, all in red!

In this next photo, Wren is wearing the same dress, this time paired with silver, shoes, a hand crocheted silver-sparkle sweater, and a silver ribbon in her hair.  
 

Wren, in red with silver accents.

It's amazing how a couple of small things can completely change the way an outfit looks.  Momma Cat thinks Wren looks smashing in both ensembles.  But, she wants to know what you think.  Which outfit would you choose as your favorite?

 
 Momma Cat

OLD PORTLAND HARDWARE & ARCHITECTURAL

Just last week Momma and Daddy Cat were walking on SE Tacoma Street, and came across a business that had just opened it's doors!

 They went in because there were a lot of strange and interesting things in the window, and because it was a brand new business they'd never seen before.  

Well, they weren't disappointed!  If you like old hardware, doorknobs, switchplates, and lighting fixtures, then you'd really like this place!  They have all kinds of great things, and since they're new, they're still getting in more stock.  There's a nice little parking lot too, so you don't have to try to find parking on the street.  

The address is: 1667 SE Tacoma Street, Portland, Oregon.  Their phone number is 503-234-7380.  Here's a link to their web-site.  Old Portland Hardware & Architectural  

Momma Cat found a bin of old radio and TV tubes and suddenly flashed on some cute Christmas ornaments she might be able to make from them.  So, she bought 13 of them! 

She bought some cord end jewelry findings and glued one on the top of each tube with some jewelry glue.

 She only painted three so far, because she wanted to see how they'd turn out.  Here they are.

Three Robot Ornaments

Momma cat found some very thin silver cord and she's going to use that to hang them up on the Christmas tree!

If you get a chance to visit the store you will be charmed by all the old fashioned things and their beauty.  The people that work there are very nice too!

- Momma Cat 
 

HELLO KITTY x 2 = FUN!!

Momma Cat just finished another adorable Hello Kitty dress and here's her little model showing it off.

Pastel Hello Kitty dress on 18" Madame Alexander doll

It's a pastel version of an earlier dress that I made for my other doll, Misumi, pictured below with my little model.


 

Misumi, also Madame Alexander,  in Neon Hello Kitty

Momma Cat loves both of her little dolls and thinks they both look adorable in their little dresses.  What do you think?

Also, Momma Cat needs to name her little model.  So, if you have any name suggestions, please let her know!  The sooner the better! It's getting tiresome referring to her as her little model. 


- Momma Cat

OMG! MELISSA AND DOUG!!

Momma Cat has found some more dolls on the internet that she thinks are pretty cute.  They are called Playmates, by Melissa and Doug.  

 The first one is a little blond ballerina, called Alexa.  She is so cute. She came with clothes, but she has no shoes!  Momma Cat is going to make her a completely new outfit, and new shoes too!

Little Alexa

About a week later, Momma Cat found this sweet redhead dressed as a princess, named Larissa.  So she bought her too!  She has no shoes either, but Momma Cat will fix that!  

Princess Larissa

 The Melissa and Doug dolls are slightly larger than Corolle, Les Cheries dolls, but a lot smaller than the Madame Alexander dolls, as you can see in the next picture.

Larissa and Alexa, next to a Les Cheries, an 18"  Madame Alexander in the back

What do you think? Do you like them?

 The reason Momma Cat likes these dolls so much is because they have sweet faces, they are all vinyl, they are very affordable, and they have wonderful hair!  The kind of hair a kid can comb!!!


Momma Cat loves all her little dolls so much!  She can't wait to dress them all!

- Momma Cat

SECOND BATCH OF CLOTHESPIN DOLLS

Momma Cat finished her second batch of Clothespin Dolls last evening, and she wanted to show them to you.  
 

Second Batch of Clothespin Dolls

Next, Momma Cat is going to try to make some dolls into Christmas ornaments!  Keep your fingers crossed!

- Momma Cat

SWEET CLOTHESPIN DOLLS

 

Recently Momma Cat was cruisin' the internet looking for something doll related, and she came upon a picture of some very cute clothespin dolls and a complete tutorial on this blog: http://justsomethingimade.com/2009/04/clothespin-dolls-guest-blogger-post/

Needless to say, Momma Cat fell in love immediately and had to try making some of these adorable dolls for herself.  But, first she had to go buy the supplies at, you guessed it, JoAnn Fabrics and Crafts!!

First she painted the heads.  Daddy Cat made her a wonderful little holder with some dowels in it, so the painted heads would not be touching anything while they dried!

Heads, feet, and bodies, all painted and drying

 Once the heads were dry, Momma Cat was able to paint on eyes, mouths, and cheeks.

Heads after second painting

 While the heads were drying for the second time, Momma Cat cut and prepared the fabric for the doll dresses.

Then Momma Cat took all the doll parts outside and sprayed them with a gloss sealer to protect their paint. 

The next step was to glue the arms (a 4" piece of chenille stem) to each doll body.  Then Momma Cat put the little fabric dresses over each doll body, then tied cute, tiny ribbons around the waists.  

Then it was time for Momma Cat to glue on the feet and the heads!

After all the glue was dry Momma Cat took all of her new creations and arranged them for their first photo!  

Here is Momma Cat's first batch of Clothespin dolls! 

A group of little wooden beauties!

A redhead and a brunette

Mom Cat's first Clothespin Doll!

 Momma Cat was pretty tired after she finished this batch of Clothespin Dolls, but she is already half-way through creating her second batch!  Stay tuned for more.......

If you have a chance to make some of these marvelous creatures, please send Momma Cat  a link to your blog or your email so she can see the dolls you create!  Please don't forget to leave a comment on this blog post.  Momma Cat is always interested in your opinion!!! Thanks!

- Momma Cat

COROLLE DOLLS FOR MOMMA CAT

A while back Momma Cat bought a cute little Corolle Les Poupees doll off of eBay. 

Corolle Les Poupees, (Momma named her Piccolina)

Then she found an adorable Corolle, Les Cheries Camille doll and purchased her.  You may recognize her and Piccolina from previous blog posts. 

Corolle Les Cheries doll, named Camille

Today Momma Cat came home to find a box on her doorstep with this adorable Les Cheries, Chloe doll inside! 
 

Corolle Les Cheries doll, named Chloe

Chloe is in perfect condition and Momma Cat can hardly wait to make clothes for her, Camille and Piccolina! 

 Momma Cat found some really adorable patterns on a website called Pixie Faire! They have doll clothes and shoe patterns  for many different sized dolls!  Here's a link to their web page: Pixie Faire

Momma Cat issure, if you're a doll lover, you will find something there to tickle your fancy!

- Momma Cat

RARE FIND FOR MOMMA CAT'S DOLL COLLECTION!!

Momma Cat won another eBay auction this week!  She has been looking for a redheaded doll, with green eyes.  She's seen several come and go, but finally she got really lucky, and one came up for auction, she placed a bid, and she won!!!!!!!

The problem is that this doll is so beautiful it'll be extremely hard for Momma Cat to let her go when it's time to sell her!  

But, the truth is, Momma Cat has the same problem with all of her dolls!

Well, what do you think?

Rare redheaded Madame Alexander Doll

Sweet little Amanda Maureen

Isn't she gorgeous?  Momma Cat named her Amanda Maureen, after two redheads that she loves!

Momma Cat went into her sewing room to look for some fabric to make Amanda Maureen a dress, and she realized this dress she'd already made was perfect.  She even had some shoes to go with it! How lucky was that? 

This dress matches her eyes!

You probably remember this dress being modeled by another of Momma Cat's dolls in a previous blog.  But, Momma Cat thinks this dress is a perfect match for Amanda Maureen.

- Momma Cat

SHE'S AT IT AGAIN!!!

Momma Cat has been busy again this week.  She has made a few new outfits for her dolls using the fabric she got from Bolt, and some she bought from JoAnn Fabrics. Oddly enough, several of these outfits have a cat theme......

This first one is made from a piece of Hello Kitty fabric that Momma Cat bought a year or two ago.  

Momma Cat's own doll with her new Hello Kitty Dress

 Momma Cat ordered her doll some hot pink ballet flats to match the dress, but they have not arrived yet. This doll is so stunning, she looks good in everything! Her name is Misumi, meaning, pure beauty. 

The second dress was made from the adorable fabric Momma Cat bought at Bolt, a small neighborhood  fabric store over on Alberta Street, couple of weeks ago.  

Beautiful Asian doll with cat print dress

 I know this looks like Momma Cat's doll, but she's not! This is another doll that she purchased from eBay.  She's in excellent condition, and she also looks good in everything!

This last cat print dress is worn by another Madame Alexander doll, who is named Catherine, because she reminds Momma Cat of Baby Cat's dear friend.  

Catherine and her cat print dress

 Now, the real Catherine is a lot prettier, but Momma Cat thinks this Catherine is adorable.  What do you think?

This next outfit is worn by Ruby.  Momma Cat took one look at this gorgeous doll and Ruby was the name that popped into her head!

Ruby in her summer outfit with matching sandals

 Naturally Ruby had to have red shoes and a red dress.  She's such a pretty doll, but she has a few marks on her skin that Momma Cat has not been able to get off.  Still, Momma thinks that some little girl may fall in love with her in spite of her flaws.  Momma Cat did!

 This next dress is worn by another of Momma Cat's personal dolls.  It's a simple little dress with a little spring water-color print that Momma Cat bought it in Huntington Beach, California, while visiting Baby Cat, and Baby Cat's husband.

Adorable doll with an adorable dress

 Last, but not least is a cute little dress made with fabric Momma Cat purchased at JoAnn Fabrics.  The pattern is a vintage style with a full skirt and fitted bodice.

Momma Cat's little "model" wearing her vintage design dress

 This dress was fun to make and it looks great on Momma Cat's doll.  It was a little hard finding shoes to match, but thankfully there are some turquoise shoes out there!  There are several online sites where shoes can be purchased, and there are even some patterns if you want to make your own!  That's a craft for another day!

Momma Cat's little "model" doll needs a name too, but so far she has not come up with a suitable one.  Any suggestions?

- Momma Cat