NEW ADDITIONS TO THE "CAT" HOUSEHOLD

Momma Cat loves dolls!  You all know that by now.  But, what you didn't know is HOW MUCH!

Momma Cat had a Betsy McCall doll when she was little.  But somewhere during the course of time, that doll was given away.  Momma Cat has always wanted to replace her, but until recently, couldn't find an affordable option.  This little doll is exactly like the one Momma Cat had as a kitten, but this doll has a brand new outfit, by Robert Tonner!  She even has little pink shoes!  Momma bought the doll without clothing, and bought the outfit separately.  
 

Tiny Betsy McCall, circa 1960's

What do you think? Doesn't she look smashing in her flowery dress and little pink shoes?  Momma Cat really loves her!


After Betsy, Momma Cat found this adorable little Asian doll, by Madame Alexander, that has her own Panda bear!  She came without her tag or original box.  She and her Panda are in excellent condition!  She has cute little pigtails too!

Madame Alexander Asian doll with Panda

 
 Momma Cat found another Madame Alexander doll on eBay.  This one has a beautiful face and wonderful hairdo, but came without clothing.  Momma is going to make clothes for her eventually.  But, here she is as she came to Momma Cat's house.

Madame Alexander doll sans clothing

Right after Christmas, Momma found this adorable little Peter Pan doll, by Madame Alexander, and she decided to buy him.  He is in perfect condition, with his original box.  He is a welcome addition to Momma's collection, which is woefully short on boy dolls! In addition to everything else, his price was very reasonable.  
 

Madame Alexander Peter Pan doll

Look at him!  Isn't he adorable? She just had to buy him!  I'm sure you'll all agree!

Momma had forgotten about the Nancy Ann Storybook Dolls for awhile.  Occasionally Momma will find one at an antique store, or a doll show.  She has received a couple of them as gifts too.  She found this little adorable on eBay.  
 

Nancy Ann Storybook Doll

This doll is hard plastic, with moveable arms, legs, and sleep eyes.  She came without a box, or her tag.  But, she is so incredibly cute, and in very good shape, it really doesn't matter to Momma Cat at all.  Look at her sweet little face and her pretty dress.  She is very tiny too, at only 5 1/2 inches tall. 

Momma is getting quite a collection of these cute little dolls, but she has yet to find an affordable boy doll to add to them.  Oh well, the quest goes on...........


- Momma Cat

Sweet Surprise for Momma Cat

Today I went for a long walk, it was a beautiful spring day and Daddy Cat and I went outside and walked for a couple of miles.  Then I went to Starbuck's and had a coffee date with my Friend Cat.

While we were talking Friend Cat gave me a silver bag with a surprise in it.  This is what was inside.

Nancy Ann Storybook Doll

Friend Cat was with me the other day when I went to Farmhouse Antiques on SE 13th Avenue over in Sellwood, to buy some handkerchiefs to make doll clothes out of..

My favorite antique store

She's the one that found the little basket full of Nancy Ann dolls.  You may recall that I purchased one that day.  My Friend Cat bought me the other one that I wanted.  Here's a picture of the two of them together.

Almost Twins!

Aren't they sweet?

If you're interested, I think there are still a couple more dolls there, but you'll have to ask where they are at the front counter, otherwise you might overlook them!

-  Momma Cat

ANOTHER NANCY ANN JOINS THE CAT FAMILY!

Today my friend cat and I went to Farmhouse Antiques on 13th Avenue in  Sellwood.  Sellwood is a wonderful neighborhood in SE Portland, Oregon, in case you don't live around here.  We were looking for vintage hankies to make dolls dresses out of.  Beth, of By Hook, By Hand fame has several patterns for doll clothes that you make out of handkerchiefs!  Since I used Beth's Bleuette pattern to crochet a doll, I needed to use her doll clothes patterns to make my doll an outfit or two.   We found many fine hankies in wonderful condition, so if you're looking for some, go there.  They can fix you right up!  Anyway, I digress.

While we were looking for hankies at Farmhouse Antiques, my friend cat spied a basket full of little dolls down low on a shelf.  She exclaimed, "Look at all the little dolls!", then she bent down and picked up the basket and I was taken by surprise.  Inside it were six or seven little Nancy Ann dolls in really good condition.  Not only that, they were inexpensive.  Then, to top it all off,  They were 50% off!  Boy, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven!

Anyway I really scored today.  Not only did I find two really nice hankies to make doll clothes out of (you'll get to see them in a later post), but I found this adorable little doll for only $6.25!

Nancy Ann Storybook Doll

Am I lucky, or what?

If you're ever in this neck of the woods, you should check out Farmhouse Antiques.  It has all kinds of sweet little treasures that I'm sure you'll find interesting.  There's bound to be something there that'll be to your liking!

-  Momma Cat

Momma Cat and Plushpussycat Go To A Doll Show!

What do you think would happen if you combined Momma Cat with Plushpussycat, and sent them to a doll show?

Well, I'll tell you, it was an entire morning filled with  fun!

Momma Cat (doll enthusiast) and Plushpusscat (miniaturist), had so much stuff to look at that it took hours!  Daddy Cat and Plushy's (that's what I'm calling her for short) husband were plenty worried I'll tell you!  But, both lady cats had a good time looking at all the tempting items, and each made a couple of sweet purchases.

Momma Cat bought these two lovelies;

The first lovely is a Nancy Ann Storybook Doll.  That's all we know about her except she was extremely cute and terribly inexpensive.  Momma Cat could not resist.

Nancy Ann Storybook Doll

The second lovely is a Marmie Doll, made by Madame Alexander in the 1950's.  The dress on this doll is reproduction fashioned from the doll's original dress.  But, WE DON'T CARE!  Because Marmie  is absolutely stunning in every way, and our hearts melt every time we look at her sweet little face.

Marmie from Little Women

For those of you that don't already know, Marmie is the mother character in a book by Louisa May Alcott, entitled Little Women.  If you haven't read it, give yourself a little treat.  In fact, read that, and then read Little Men.  I promise you won't be sorry!

Now Plushy bought some cute little things too, and I do mean little, since she's into miniatures.  But you'll have to look at her blog to see what she purchased, because she wants to show them to you herself.  She bought several really cute little items that will work well in her doll houses, or can be used for her giveaway prizes.  So go to Plushpussycat.com and see what our friend bought.

Baby Cat was not available to go to the doll show today because she and Boyfriend Cat are up on Mt. Hood snow-shoeing.  Doesn't that sound like a dangerous thing for a little cat to do?  I told her to fake a leg injury so that she could go to the doll show instead.  But, she wouldn't do it.  She wanted to be with Boyfriend Cat instead.  Go figure!


-Momma Cat

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Little Treasure found in Stars

I was walking home yesterday morning after meeting some friends for coffee, and I stopped in at Stars, a local antique and collectors mall.  This is not something I usually do, but I saw a doll in the window that interested me, so I wanted a closer look.  Then I was hooked, I had to look through the entire store.  Now, this was no little feat.  There are many, many, many wonderful things to look at, even things that don't normally interest me became interesting when displayed in an artistic way.

For the most part I was able to go through the store without finding anything that I wanted, but then I came to a booth with a lot of Mickey Mouse stuff in it.  I used to be a big Mickey Mouse fan, so I had to take a closer look.  Everything there was pretty overpriced, so I was on my way out when I spotted a little treasure tucked far away in the back of a shelf.   I gasped, took a closer look, then I picked it up.

A little sweetie in a Valentine print dress

It was a little Nancy Ann storybook doll!  I couldn't believe my luck!  She was in excellent condition, and unlike the other dolls that Baby Cat and I have made by the same company, she's hard plastic instead of bisque.  The most amazing thing of all was that she was priced under $5.00!  So, I just had to buy her!

I don't have a name for her yet, so if you have one you think will fit her, let me know.

Sweet little face

 So, the moral of the story is, you can find a little treasure just about anywhere if you take the time to look.   And real treasure doesn't have to cost a fortune.



-Momma Cat