Baby Erminka and Ted...

...will be available for purchase via a brief auction through The Enchanted Toybox starting on Friday, May 1, 2015 at 7:00 PM (EST) and ending on Saturday, May 2, 2015 at 7:00 AM (EST). Their starting bid is set below retail value...a good opportunity to bring home the baby and her teddy at a special price. After auction closure, if available, they will be placed in the Scarlet Elfcup Etsy shop at retail value...a good opportunity for those who are interested but don't have an account with Hyena Cart.

To learn more about Baby Erminka and Ted and to see lots more photos, go to their blog post.

The Baby...A Miracle of Life

When I was pregnant with my first child, one of my sisters gave me a picture frame for my baby shower, with the following words etched on the frame:

"Before you were conceived, I wanted you.

Before you were born, I loved you.

Before you were here an hour, I would die for you.

This is the miracle of life."

- The Miracle of Life, Maureen Hawkins

The baby...THIS IS the miracle of life. 

The moment my baby was born, I said to our doula, "I never knew this kind of love existed." It is a kind of love that only a parent has for their children.

I was never much of a baby person, before babies, that is. Then, when I was pregnant with my first baby, I found everything about the mystery of babies fascinating and utterly awe-inspiring beyond anything else....from each stage of the pregnancy to the time of birth to soaking up every second of the newborn days with my children. 

I have two beautiful, healthy, outgoing, happy children and an amazing husband. I am so, so happy in my life right now — it’s the kind of happiness when you look around and realize, this is it. I have everything I’ve ever wanted. And you start to wonder how long it will all last. Because the honest truth is I'm afraid of what comes next. I'm afraid of a life without the delicious weightlessness of a newborn in my arms. I'm afraid of a life without the sweet milk breath of an infant. I'm afraid of a life without the sweet innocence that I see reflected in my daughter's big brown eyes. I'm afraid of the unmerciful speed at which time tugs on my children to urge them to grow and change more quickly than I can blink.

I'm afraid, simply, to move on from the days of babyhood. I'm afraid, because before me is the rapid transforming days of watching my children grow up at lightening speed right before my eyes, seeing dimpled toddler limbs change into thinned out walking legs, garbled words mispronounced, sentences spoken grammatically incorrect...all replaced by startlingly clear, articulate words and formulated thoughts. I see with blinding brightness, the happiness, this time of babies nesting near, days spent around nap times and stories and coloring and play time, safe in our cocoon at home.

I see that this is the best time of our lives.

And, I fully believe that with all my heart.

But, what I'm terrified of is this...if this is the best time of my life....

....how, then, do I leave it all behind?

Out of this reflection on babies, growth, and change comes a creation made from a slightly different "fabric of life." This one is made of threads of life that pull at your heart and soul and make them ache and jolt because it is inspired by the one true miracle of life...the baby. And from the baby is born the parent....a privilege and a responsibility so great that one must endure heartache like no other kind of heartache and experience love that exists like no other kind of love.

With all that said....I present to you....Baby Erminka.

Although she is inspired by the one thing in life that currently brings me great angst and sadness (the rapid pace at which children grow), Baby Erminka actually represents the greatest joy that life can offer...a baby to call one's own.

Baby Erminka is the first of her kind....a 6" Wee-Bee Baby 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 interlock imported from Europe. She is firmly stuffed with bio-wool made in the US.  Her seams are sewn twice for reinforcement.  Her locks are made of mohair yarn tied into two wispy baby pigtails.  She has embroidered facial features. Her facial structure is sculpted giving her a sweet little face with a happy smile belonging on that of innocent infants and toddlers. Her cheeks, nose and various body parts are blushed with red beeswax.  She is a sitting doll with permanently bent knees that allow for a very open sitting position and she has sewn joints that are made flexible for easy movement and changing of clothes.  She also has a belly button and a bum.

Baby Erminka comes capped with an over-sized hand knit hat made of a silk-mohair-wool blended yarn by Noro of Japan and trimmed with a blend of suri alpaca, mohair and silk yarns. Her baby onesie is made of a 100% cotton knit fabric and decorated at the collar with a hand knit trim made from a 100% alpaca yarn. The onesie opens fully on the front with three nickel-plated brass snaps. Her shoes are hand knit and made of a cashmere, silk and wool blended yarn by Superior held along with a mohair-silk yarn by Rowan.

Baby Erminka comes cuddled up with a tiny teddy by the name of, simply, Ted. Ted is the smallest head to toe hand knit creation I've ever made. He was hand knit with a lot of love and joy from a 100% alpaca yarn and stuffed with 100% wooly innards. His sweet little bear face is embroidered with 100% cotton floss. His ears, paws and feet are padded with sprinkles of Liberty of London 100% cotton fabric.

Here's to the joy of being parents...a privilege and responsibility born out of the miracle of life....presented to you in the form of Baby Erminka and Ted.

Scarlet Elfcup is honored to be participating as a guest with The Enchanted Toybox for their May upload coming this Friday, May 1. Baby Erminka and Ted will be available through The Enchanted Toybox upload. More details to come during the course of the week and announcements regarding Baby Erminka and Ted's availability will be made through Scarlet Elfcup's blog and Facebook page.

I would like to send a heartfelt thank you to Angie Fahrenkopf of Violet and Poppies and all the makers of The Enchanted Toybox for giving me this unique opportunity to partake in the pool of beautiful creations produced by all the amazing talent at The Enchanted Toybox. It is truly an honor. Thank you so much.

More to come soon. Thank you and have a lovely evening.

Often Times...

...it takes a lot for dreams to come to realization.

It begins with a concept.

You put down on paper your idea. You sketch. You scratch. You try again. You draw some lines. You erase. You add some marks. You take away others. You keep on repeating this pattern until you're satisfied with transferring what was in your head onto a space that makes it more concrete, more visible.

And even then, somehow, in the dreams it was always more beautiful, more elegant, more fantastical. Such are dreams...they are never perfect in realization. You know this.

But, still, it's worth striving for.

Once the floating thoughts are put into concrete lines in a place where you can see and adjust things, you get to put on paper ALL the visions that you had. There are no limits...in ideology, that is.

Drafts are fun because you get to see what you want...

and then you get to make decisions about some things...how to incorporate structural support where needed, how to sew more creatively, how to change proportions so that things look the way you envisioned, how to attach parts...essentially the beginnings of a puzzle piecing.

Sketches are also so much fun because you get to color. How often do YOU color? If your answer is never...I encourage you to give it a try some time. It's really quite relaxing and meditative. No wonder Tibetan buddhist monks spend countless hours laboring with infinite detail over sand mandalas.

When you color a sketch, it helps give an idea whether the colors and prints you wanted to use will work or not. In some cases, what you had in mind may come out looking better than you thought and sometimes it may come out looking all wrong.

Sometimes, you dwell on the ideas for so long that you're just ready to go...grab the jacket and hat and just head out the door and jump with a leap of faith.

And even then, patience holds fast and you just have to sit on the idea and dwell a little longer...maybe the stash of fabric you had in mind is not the right dash of colors, maybe you need to give more thought on that structural support, maybe you need to work out some more details, maybe you need to spend more time learning a sewing skill that you don't have so that you can make certain parts of your idea come to life...maybe, maybe, maybe, what if, what if, what if....it can go on forever.

At some point you must decide that it's time to jump the plane, free fall and let the adventure begin.

So, here's to bringing this dream to realization.....A Boy and His Gypsy Moth....COMING SOON!



Introducing the 16" Baby Pip

Scarlet Elfcup is proud to welcome a big baby into the Elfcup family...a baby pattern, that is.

Last week, you were given a sneak peak of Scarlet Elfcup's newest pattern presented in a custom creation of Pip & Goosey Mae. Today, I am proud to introduce to you the 16" Baby Pip, a large 16" doll pattern. Out of character for a Scarlet Elfcup doll comes a doll of the large variety. It has been a very long time since I've made anything larger than an 8" doll. My hands are so smitten with the tiny dolls that I can't seem to leave them and had it not been for Little Pip who came to life for a little girl I really love, I think I would want to say that there wouldn't be much room for dolls of the large variety in Scarlet Elfcup's world. But, I should know by now that we never say never. So, here we are...enter the 16" Baby Pip. 

The 16" Baby Pip features a sitting doll that spans an enormous 16" (40 cm) long. The doll is designed to be big, long, lanky, limber and extra floppy. The 16" Baby Pip represents more of a fun, floppy doll than it was meant to represent any realistic features of a true human form hence you'll find that the arm length and legs are longer than the usual proportions found on a real baby or infant. The body is made extra slender in order to create a long, lanky, limber form. Therefore, the torso will nearly fit the circumference of the fingers and thumb encircled around the chest of the doll....just perfect for tiny toddler hands to wrap around.

The doll's seams are double stitched as usual. The Baby Pip has details that include shaped feet (left and right distinguished), hands with thumbs, buttocks and a belly button. The leg proportion is extended a tad to give a long lean structure for the doll and it features the curved knee in order to allow for a very open sitting position, similar to that of young babies.

The Baby Pips will come in a wide array of options in order to suit the needs of all ages. So, they will range from classic Waldorf facial features to heavily sculpted facial features. The hair will also span widely from mohair yarn, suitable for play by little ones to wefted wigs made from suri alpaca or any number of fleece locks, suitable for love by little ones at heart.

The 16" Baby Pip....a big doll suited for play, hugs and snuggles and the one qualification that I like to keep for myself...a doll that still fits in the palm of the hand.

Pip and Goosey Mae

Pip has a goose named Goosey Mae. Pip loves Goosey Mae. Pip doesn't go anywhere without Goosey Mae. But, mostly, they never go anywhere anyway because home is the best and happiest place. On the usual occasion you'll find Pip and Goosey Mae in their backyard, resting in the shade, on the lawn, watching the birds and the bees and the squirrels go by. They like to look at picture books. One day when Pip can read, she's going to read great works of poetry to Goosey Mae...fun and interesting reads such as Mud and Galoshes. Oh joy! Sometimes they even take naps on the lawn, in the breeze, in the shade. It's the best kind of heaven. What more to enjoy in life than this?

I'm going to try and contain my emotions here while talking about Pip and Goosey Mae. In fact, I'm not even sure where to start.

First off, Pip and Goosey Mae are made for a very special family....sweetest family I ever did meet, without having ever met in person. Pip was created and designed whole heartedly for one tiny precious tot that I have had the great pleasure of watching her grow day by day through amazing photographs her mama takes of her. It's been a year of watching this beautiful sweet child grow and change because that's how long I've known this family....essentially since the beginning of Scarlet Elfcup. How lucky I am that our paths crossed.

When I was asked to create a baby doll for N, I was so thrilled. I haven't made anything larger than an 8" doll for nearly a year, I think. I have been so smitten with the 6" Wee-Bee Mini Elfcups that I just didn't think that I would ever go back to making anything much larger than that.  But, when this request came up, I was so excited to be able to make something for N that I had to reconsider the larger doll. In doing so, I took a rather simplistic design that I had of a 14" doll....my first and only large doll pattern that I created last year....and decided that I would reconstruct and change a few things to make it more interesting....not for me, but for little N. So, now I present to you, Pip.

Pip is the first of Scarlet Elfcup's newest line of dolls, the 16" Baby Pip (yes, this new doll pattern will be named after Pip herself). The 16" Baby Pip will be formally introduced in the next couple days. For now, we focus our attention on Pip herself. Pip is a floppy doll. I think that some of my favorite toys were the ones that flip flopped the most. Somehow, I always did and I still do gravitate toward extra floppy things. They're just more fun to hold and throw over your shoulders, under your arm, around your neck. So, I wanted to create something extra limp and relaxed for N because extra limp and relaxed are my favorites and I want my favorites for her. Pip is a sitting doll with sewn joints that are made extra flimsy and floppy for easy movement and changing of clothes. Pip's body construction is extra long, lanky, limber and narrow. Her torso is constructed very slim so that tiny hands can wrap all the way around her. And finally, here's the bit that I needed for myself....a doll that can still fit in the palm of the hand....Pip still does! :)

Pip stands approximately 16" (40 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.  Her seams are sewn twice for reinforcement.  Her locks are made of mohair yarn tied into two adorable pigtails. The wispy look and the color of the hair were meant to reflect that of little N's very own wispy baby locks and beautiful brown hair.  She has a classic Waldorf facial structure with only one minute element of adornment...a dash of embroidery above her eyes. Otherwise, her facial structure is created with the simple beauty of a classic Waldorf doll in order to allow N lots of room for imaginative play. She has embroidered facial features. Her cheeks, nose and various body parts are blushed with red beeswax.  She has a belly button and a bum.

Pip comes with an enviable wardrobe, created for the youngling who enjoys changing of the diapers and dressing of the dolly.

An Easter outfit....yes, yet another knitted bunny hat. I guess Easter has been on my mind for the past month considering that almost every doll I've created since the end of February has had a bunny hat of one kind or another. When she goes home, Pip will attend a birthday party dressed in her best, a sweet cream, pink and linen dress lined at the hem with cotton lace. The dress opens fully on the back with two snap on buttons. Underneath she'll sport a pair of linen bloomers lined with elastic lace. Her shoes are hand knit with a chunky Malabrigo merino wool yarn. Her bunny hat is hand knit with a Malabrigo merino wool yarn held together with a suri alpaca, merino and bamboo blended yarn by Blue Sky Alpacas and reverse stockinette stitch knitted to give the warm fuzzy look.

A play outfit. The top is made from corduroy and a beautiful lightweight floral cotton print. The top opens fully on the back with snap on buttons. Her precious but simple bloomer pants are made from a 100% lightweight cotton. An outfit perfect for running around in the sun.

A brand new, store bought, clean and laundered onesie with floral print made of 100% cotton. A pair of dolly stockings and a pair of dolly socks made of a cotton and synthetic fiber blended material. Two pairs of diapers made of 100% cotton, lined with a polyester/polyamide material to give a fluffy, bulky look to the diaper and sealed with velcro.

Pip comes cuddling Goosey Mae. Goosey Mae is a very personal creation, made because N's mama often refers to her as "goose" or "goosey mae." Sweet Goosey Mae is needle felted with 100% wool roving and stands 7" (18 cm) tall....made just for N and her mama.

Pip and Goosey Mae, everyone.....made just for sweet precious little N and her sweet precious amazing mama.