Scarlet Elfcup's One-Year Anniversary - A Message of Gratitude For Your Kindness

It is Friday, March 20, 2015. It is the vernal equinox. And it is the one-year anniversary of Scarlet Elfcup. It has been an incredible journey. I'll repeat what I've said in my "About" page because it is the core of what Scarlet Elfcup stands for....bringing Scarlet Elfcup to life has not only provided an outlet for creativity but also a home for the gratitude I feel for all of my inspirations, and most importantly, the connections I am making with amazing people from all around the world.

Scarlet Elfcup has given me a place to meet and connect with incredible individuals from all over the globe. Through Scarlet Elfcup I've found a community of people who share in the love of many things....it may be a love for handmade goods, a love for dolls, it might be a love for craft or a love for Waldorf, a love for toys, a love for fabric, yarn, fibers and on and on. It is a lovely world to be a part of. Thank you for this.

Scarlet Elfcup has also truly been a place of dreams and imagination for me...a vessel by which to bring forth the adventures and playfulness in my own world....hence Scarlet Elfcup's mantra "Dreams, Imagination, Adventure, Playfulness for All Ages." It is here that I can drift to times and places in my past, present or future and find beautiful memories of people and places that have entered and gone, gratefulness for who I am today and what I have been given in life, and excitement for what the unknown brings.

Here, I will also repeat what I said in my "About" page because again, it is the essence of Scarlet Elfcup. With Scarlet Elfcup, I've found my place in the world of craft....a place that brings together some of the things that I love....yarn, paper, fabric, photography and books. I invest in this endeavor not only because I love the art of weaving words and images together to tell a story, but because, in doing so, I find myself looking more deeply for the beauty in life and consequently finding it in more places.

The existence of Scarlet Elfcup has been made possible not only by the people who love and support Scarlet Elfcup creations but also by the people who've provided inspiration for homegrown handmade dolls....these women are mothers, business owners, crafters, artists. There are a few significant individuals that I would like to send my deepest gratitude to. It is because of these individuals that Scarlet Elfcup came to life and continues to thrive and grow. 

Brandy Fortune from Pixie Purls, author of Just Like Me Knits - this is where it all started for me. At the end of 2013, while looking for more knit projects, I accidentally came across this book and it changed my entire course of interest. It was through this book that I discovered the beautiful world of Waldorf dolls/dolls made from fabric and it is also where I discovered the makers behind the dolls. One particular maker, Fig&Me, would be a pivotal inspiration. So, thank you, Brandy, for creating this sweet sweet book full of fun knits for the little ones and the little one's little one.

Fabiola Perez, maker behind Fig&Me - it is through Fabiola's blog and her incredible creations that I hopelessly fell in love with the making of these fabric dolls. It was through following Fabiola's own journey that sparked the fire in my heart to dive headlong into this beautiful craft. And this in turn, has had a profound impact on my personal life. Fabiola's creations are nothing less than magical, beautiful and soulful. Fabiola, herself, is also a person full of gentleness, kindness and wit....a creative genius and a savvy business woman. I have told Fabiola all this before and I will continue to tell her for as long as Scarlet Elfcup exists...that my gratitude and respect for her runs wide and deep and I'll always remember that.

Karyn Maizymoo, knitting needle wielder of Maizy Moo Knits - not only is Karyn a charismatic maker of children's and doll's clothing, she is also one of the nicest, kindest and funniest people I've met yet through Scarlet Elfcup. Anytime I need a good laugh I go over to Karyn's nest. Karyn not only runs a successful business of making the most beautiful hand knits for all manner of dolls, but she is also someone whose generosity and thoughtfulness is always meant to boost somebody else's creations or makings. I am grateful to have crossed paths with Karyn.

Now, for the last gift of the week....Friday's gift.....Skye. As the final token of thanks to all for your support, Skye is being given away for FREE. She is the last and final gift of the week....on this day, March 20, 2015 to celebrate with you Scarlet Elfcup's one-year anniversary.  

If you are interested in giving Skye a home to go to for Easter this year, please complete the form below. On Saturday, March 21, 2015 at 9:00 PM (PST) a drawing will be made from the pool of comments submitted via the form and a name will be drawn. 

Announcements will be made on Sunday, March 22 to reveal all the winners of this week's giveaways. Good luck. Thank you and good night.

The form has been removed. Winners will be announced on Sunday, March 22. Thank you for your participation.

Willow Mae

Little child all tucked in bed

Looking like a sleepy head

Stars are quiet in the skies

Little child, now close your eyes.

                 The Sleepy Book, Margaret Wise Brown

Little Willow Mae has a favorite teddy that she likes to snuggle with under her favorite hand knit blanket. But, most of all, she has a favorite daily routine...being tucked in at night by her mama. There is nothing like going to bed at the day's end, tucked in by the person who loves you more than anything in the whole universe. There is nothing like the coziness of the bed, cuddled inside the warmth of a home, made with love by the hands of a mother.

Motherhood...a world filled all at once by the deepest love we can know as human beings and by the greatest aches we can ever experience. The heartaches are all different...for some it may be a longing for a child, just a single child, for some it may be a longing for many many children, for some it may be a longing for doubles, for some a longing for a second, a third or a fourth child, for some a longing for a boy and for some a longing for a girl. In motherhood, there will always be a longing for something that might be missing and it isn't out of ungratefulness for what we already have, but rather out of knowing that bringing life into the world will birth in us the ability to know of a kind of love that we never knew existed before.

Willow Mae 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 two sweet pigtails.  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. She also has a belly button and a bum.

Willow Mae comes wearing her comfy cozy pajamas made of 100% cotton. She also comes with an Easter outfit. Her Easter dress is a sweet, soft rose colored handknit dress made from an angora, wool blended yarn by Rowan. Her bunny hat is hand knit with a 100% fine alpaca yarn and has a cotton floral fabric sewn into the inner ear. Her shoes are hand knit with a 100% fine alpaca yarn.

Willow Mae comes with two tiny favorite belongings, an itty-bitty teddy bear and a sweet lacy hand-knit blanket. Her teddy bear is needle felted with 100% wool roving and he stands 1 inch (2.5 cm) tall. Her blanket is hand knit with an ultra-soft yarn made of a suri alpaca and merino wool blended yarn and measures 4 square inches (10 square cm). Willow Mae also comes bearing some eensie-weensie Easter eggs in a tiny basket. Each little egg was needle felted with 100% wool roving. Each of the eggs measure 0.5 inches (1 cm) long and is the size of the tip of a finger. Willow Mae's Easter basket is handknit from a Japanese kakishibu dyed 100% silk fiber.

Willow Mae.....for a mother....a little girl to call her very own.