The Making

Designing, by which I mean making up one's own patterns, is the most thrilling and challenging part of toymaking. Assembling patterns and sewing the parts together is an exercise in logic and craft. The problem of carving out from a dead piece of fabric a three-dimensional object with a life of its own, personally, gives me a tremendous sense of satisfaction and achievement. Needless to say, there are plenty of trials and tribulations, out-takes as you would call it. But, the end reward of breathing life into something that was once without character, shape or form is the magical part of the experience of designing. For those who desire true creativity, it is an experience that is part of the whole and should not be missed out on.

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.

Welcome 2015

We've had a proper winter here...as proper as it can get near the coast of Northern California anyway.

Days bring skies painted with fog and clouds, beautiful and heavy with rain.

In December, rain down poured on us leaving a much needed saturation of the ground and a filling of the lakes and reservoirs, albeit the destruction that was caused in some parts of the local terrain.

At the end of it all we received many rainbows to be enjoyed.

2015's January welcomes us with cold, cold days and nights and frosty mornings.

And these, my friends, are wonderful blessings. What a fabulous way to start another year of life.

With that said, Scarlet Elfcup is still in her first year of life...9 months old, she is. As it is with babies and pretty much anything that is in it's first year, there is such exponential growth...the learning, the processing, the experiments on what works, what doesn't. Most delightful is watching the change that occurs and being amazed and bewildered by how rapidly it occurs in that first year.

In 2014, several creations were brought to life:

Rainbaby, a creation inspired from our long spell of drought. Though they have stirred and woken to bring us some good rain, we are still in need of more. Rainbabies, I have decided, will always be here. They were Scarlet Elfcup's very first creations and a personal favorite and I will keep them to send along as companions for some Elfcup friends.

Gardien was released early on as a prototype for the idea of pocket dolls. Since then Gardien has evolved into something even more fun and lovely....the Wee-Bee Mini Elfcup.

I love love love making Wee-Bees. So, without a doubt, these little darlings will stay and we will watch them change and evolve yet even more.

As for the rest; Softlings, Owls and Kitties, and the 14" dolls...their future is a mystery. What is for certain, is that they will evolve either into a better version of themselves or into something completely different altogether.

Additionally, I would like to proudly announce that I have baby fever! Yes, friends...it is the fever. As such, some Elfcup baby patterns are in the making. When they will be ready for release, I'm still not certain. But, for sure, they will be coming round the mountain this year.

Let the adventure begin, shall we?!

For You

Please bring a warm drink. Sit down. Relax. Play the music below. It is for you. Enjoy.

Story Telling...

...has a function deeper than that of entertainment alone. It presents life in a new light. It can open the pathway to a wide range of vision and understanding and it can awaken the perception of beauty in things that are ordinary, put magic into days that are hum-drum.

Each Scarlet Elfcup doll or toy is inspired by something deeply meaningful and personal to me or by something that has moved me deeply and greatly. You see, long before the doll or toy is born, there is already a story that has been woven and the story will eventually conceive the being that comes to life. When I write a story for a doll or a toy it is a way for me to share a bit of my understanding of the world, a way for me to send small messages out into the world, a way for me to regard and respect the understanding of other people's perspectives and absorb that perspective back into my own world. And so, I dream, I create, I weave the words, and then I let it be. And most of the time...the story ends there.

But, on some occasions, the story will not just end there. The story will rise once again to show the wonder and mystery that are the elements of life and growth all around us. On some occasions, customers have come back to re-tell their own stories...stories that are deeply personal and meaningful to them...as close to the heart as one can get. It is when these stories are told that we know the world of imagination has come to life. The child or the child from within who has learned to look upon a doll or a toy as something more than mere sawdust and stuffing is inclined to awaken in themselves a treasury of personal tales. Much more, they are able to have respect for other people's treasures and to respect the sentiment that values them.

With all this said, for those who have shared their extraordinary, deeply meaningful and moving stories, I thank you for these stories and for adding that much more beauty into my life. You provide yet another view of the world, painted by the colors from your own.

To all, may your Christmas be filled with love, laughter, and warmth as you tell your stories and as you receive the ones told to you. And may you keep on passing the magic and wonder of it all on to the little ones in your life so that they might also share in the beauty of this wondrous world. Merry Christmas to all. And to all a good night!

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?