Spring Mindfulness

Spring has long been my favourite time of year. Since I discovered nature walking in August 2019, it has become even more special. I hope I will be able to continue to enjoy Spring for as long as I can. Below are my Star Heart Dolls dressed for every season of the year: Spring Joy, Summer Bliss, Autumn Reflection and Winter Comfort.

Star heart and cross line dolls

I was in a bit of a crafting and doll-making frenzy from 2010 until 2016. I really enjoyed making my dolls but ended up with too many with limited opportunities to sell them. I was very much inspired by the beautiful dolls made by Jess Brown. I started with my contrary virtue dolls in 2010 and ended with my diverse Shepherd Bush dolls in 2016. The boy cross-line dolls came along in about 2014. I haven't given up on crafting, but have lost a lot of the energy I had for it. I don't know what the future holds for my craft-work or my craft stall.

Ten Years a Dollmaker

 

I made my first Star Heart Doll in Spring 2010 and I feel that my doll-making days may have come to an end with ‘The Dolly Project’ of Autumn 2020. I sold and donated to charity quite a few dolls in the twenty teens and in 2020 I had about fifty dolls still in the house.

My dolls were inspired by dolls created by Jess Brown, Tiny Concept and Emily Winfield Martin. I have always been pleased with them and their design and still find them pleasing to this day.

In the future I think I will donate more of my dolls to children’s charities. Here are some of my favourite pictures of my dolls from the past ten years.

The Dolly Project November 2020

 

With the announcement of a second lockdown I decided to get on with another creative project I had been putting off. I remember putting plastic boxes of my dolls into our attic thinking that I would sort them out properly in the fullness of time. I decided that the time had now come. In the end the project was less daunting than I thought it would be.

My six original dolls would stay in their cloth bag. I kept a small selection of dolls as a reminder of my doll making days; four big, four medium, four small. Six I gave to my mum to give to charity. That left twelve which I thought needed makovers before they could become gifts.

The pictures above and below are of these makeover dolls. I also decided to knit them an extra blanket. It has been good to work on my dolls again. I have gradually been sorting things out in my house since 2019 and I think this will continue into 2021.

Virtuous Dolls

I don't think I'm a terribly virtuous person, there is definitely room for improvement. However, I find that thinking about the virtues, helps me to be a better person. I became fascinated by the seven contrary virtues as a way of tackling the seven deadly sins, so my first set of virtuous dolls are named after these; patience, generosity, diligence, kindness, temperance, chastity, humility.

The Contrary Virtues

Faith, hope and charity are the theological virtues, they are pictured below.

Faith, Hope & Charity

The cardinal virtues are prudence, fortitude, temperance and justice

The cardinal virtues


There are many fruits of the spirit, my dolls depict nine of them; patience, peace and love; faith, constancy and kindness; joy, integrity and gentleness.

The Fruits of the Spirit

Birthday Doll

I started many creative projects back in 2010. One of the ones I nearly forgot to celebrate was the making of my first Star Heart Doll back in Spring 2010.

The story of my personal arts and crafts renaissance began in 2009 when I first watched 'Kirstie's Homemade Home' and got back into needlecraft and knitting. I also discovered the lovely craft blogs and dolls of Jess Brown, Tiny Concept and Emily Winfield Martin.

My arts and crafts journey took a step forward in 2013 when I took part in my first craft fair and started my blog.

I took part in 14 craft fairs in the twenty teens and hopefully my blog will keep going until at least 2023.

Humility

I started my virtue project in 2007. Since then I have created artwork, writing and crafts, all reflecting the qualities of the various virtues. Humility is sometimes described as the greatest virtue, from which all other virtues flow. Whether it is the greatest or not is debatable, but I still think it is highly important. I use purple to portray humility, as it is the contrary virtue to the vice of pride and pride is often illustrated with a purple peacock.

LIght and Love

These two 'Shepherd Bush' Star Heart Dolls are named after a quote from Martin Luther King.

'Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.'

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Strength To Love, 1963

Faith, Hope and Charity

Faith, Hope and Charity are the three theological virtues. I find they are very useful in helping me to be a better person and helping me to live a better life. To me Christianity has not been about what is going to happen to me after I die, but how to be a better person and live a better life now. I think that trying to live life more virtuously helps me everyday. The most important everyday virtues to me are, possibly, kindness, humility, diligence, love, hope, generosity and temperance.

Aurora's Gifts

These star heart dolls are in celebration of the three gifts the fairy godmothers give Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) at her christening; Beauty, Grace and Melody. The three gifts have also inspired this new digital collage.

Soft Dolly Furnishings

       

These soft dolly furnishings are modelled by Patience, a Star Heart Doll made mostly from material purchased in the Gold Hawk Road, Shepherd's Bush, London, an area well known for the number of fabric shops it possesses. The soft furnishings include a flowerly sheet, linen and knitted cushions, knitted rainbow blankets and patchwork doll quilts. I love knitting and needlework, but because of time limitations I find doll sized projects much more doable.

     

The Four Seasons Star Heart Dolls

My four season star heart dolls developed from my two Christmas Star Heart Dolls, Comfort and Joy.

Winter Comfort is blue with silver slippers and dark hair

Spring Joy is pink with silver slipper and blond hair.

Summer Bliss is green with ginger hair and brown shoes.

Autumn Reflection is orange with blond hair and brown shoes.

Manly and Feminine Virtues

The virtues are for everyone and my ideas for the feminine virtues and the manly virtues grew out of a picture of three girls I drew as a teenager and nothing really deeper than that.

The three girls became Patience, Kindness and Modesty and had their own Star Heart Dolls and cards.

Ins[pired by the girls I then worked on my virtuous three boys, they also have their own cards and Cross Line Dolls. The boys have the names of virtues sometimes used as boys name in their own right; Valiant, Earnest and Loyal.

 

Summer Crafts for St Mary's

 
 I've not had so much to do with the church, or my crafts, this year, but I still wanted to donate some of my lingering makes for the 2018 St Mary's Summer Fete.

    

On her 50th birthday my friend set me a craft challenge, to turn these three items into a selection of knitted purses and pouches. I'll see how I get on; watch this space, but don't hold your breath.

A Book of Dolls

I started making Star Heart Dolls in 2010, before that I had attempted making dolls, but they were not very successful or attractive. I was inspired by the lovely dolls I found on crafting blogs, particularly Jess Brown in America and Tiny Concept in Australia. When I had made 52 dolls, one for each week of the year, I complied my 'Book of Dolls'. Below are a few of the pages from that book. The book has since become the basis for my YouTube video 'A Time for Dolls' which you can find here.