Sylvia's Playhouse

Tonner Jane in Wonderland practices croquet

Jane Alice is a 14" Tonner doll, as are her friends, Betsy and Jane (Tonner club doll). I needle felted the pink flamingo at doll club meeting...a really fun activity that provided almost instant gratification (as crafting projects go). Betsy and Jane are wearing Tonner Pollyanna outfits. Jane now wants to be my Jane Anne (of Green Gables). OK by me!

Sashas with new outfits - July 2007

Sasha Schoolgirl in souvenir sandals from the Maine Festival and an outfit from the sales room (Sheila Foery's). Toddler Iona's romper was made by Mame Harlow, and her sweater...knit by me from a pattern supplied by Dawn Smith.

Sasha Iona's new sweater!

Lion Brand Microspun, sz 3 needles, top-down cardigan pattern for a 10" Ann Estelle. The bottom edge was supposed to be rib stitch, but the seed stitch I knit by mistake kinda goes with the garter stitch front bands. Bead buttons will be added before fall. Maybe.

Snakebite Victims - June 2007

We're a wild 'n' crazy bunch! That's me, the bass player's wife, and the drummer's father settling in for an early summer evening oldies concert in Holden, Mass., performed by Snakebite, the band for which there is no known cure...LOL!

Raking, October 2006...

Kit wore the new hand-knit cotton sweater when she was helping Molly rake up the leaves from the deck.

Fall 2006 - Sasha posing in a bent-sapling wonderland.

Sasha Maria went with me to explore the cool site-specific sculpture on Brown's campus.

There she is!

The saplings make for great climbing.

The Sculpture and the Scaffolding

It should all be finished in a week. They're keeping it up for a few months...it should make an amazing snow fort in the winter.

Me, Monty Peethon, and Bob (aka Duh)

Summer of 2005...We're successfully training Monty, a Bernese Mtn Dog, to be the world's first 200-pound lap dog. He lives with the Connecticut branch of our family, just an hour from us.

Wash Day - May 2005

Found a working Barbie washing machine in the dolly stash, and used it to wash the old GI Joe clothes we found in an old trunk while mongo-ing. Chopped Hair Claire is helping me run the rinse cycle!

Lulie Comes to Our House to Play -May 2005

Cloudland Lulie's outfit is an orange sherbet chenille blouse over pants of the same material that reverse to an autumnal brick red. Her jumper is reversible, too, from a brick-red print to a royal blue playful print. Her outfit has a reversible jacket, too (one arm is shown here).

January 2005

Broke my ankle at work on New Year's Eve. Three weeks later, as a blizzard approaches the Northeast, I sit ensconced with WebTV, tons of books, and knitting, here at "Swamped Yankee" headquarters.

My Cup(board) runneth over...

Some of my dolls found out there were others living in the cupboard, and they forced the doors open and refuse to let me close them again! LOL!

2004: Nellie and Kailey

Kailey found that she liked it when she time-traveled back to be Alice, wearing Nellie's Meet dress. Nellie is happier wearing Samantha's blue play dress, thank goodness..

Proud to be an American Girl!

Fall 2003. The two sweater outfits in the back are Laura Ashley styles. The front row (Chopped Hair Claire, Molly #1, and Molly #2) are all in Pleasant Company outfits. Kit is in a Dollies Dressmaker creation.

Molly and Claire

Molly on the left had had her hair cut before she came to live here. Claire on the right, also had short hair and was very very pale. I added blush and a lip tint with crimson acrylic gouache (applied with a wet cloth, and blended in). (Molly was renamed Jee Hee by her new mama.)

Summer 2003

My Sasha Harlequin and toddler gather with their Sasha friends at the Sasha Festival in Lowell, MA. All the outfits, except for the toddler's, were made by Jaye R. for the Sashas brought by the "Aggie Collettes" (members of a Yahoo AG Collector group).

My mother, Sara Ellen, circa 1920 tending to her doll.

My grandmother was a nurse, and my mother grew up to be a social worker in a hospital.

My mother circa 1924

I think this was taken in New Cumberland, PA when my mother was around 8-10 years old.

Sara Ellen with her dolls

Chopped Hair Claire, renamed Sara Ellen, with an old compo baby in her lap, and a repro Bye-Lo Baby and my new Hitty on the bed. I crocheted the coverlet on the bed (!).

Hitty and Bye-Lo Baby on Sara Ellen's bed.

Hitty is from Robert Raikes' company. I picked up Bye-Lo somewhere (yard sale?). The coverlet was designed and made by me.

My Playhouse 50 years ago!

A friend, my brother, my father, and I (l to r) loved playing with the Lionel train set we had set up in its own room, circa 1952. The dolls had a separate suite, which was so messy, no pictures were ever taken.

Sylvia at Play

This is just the tip of the iceberg.

Memere and Bob

Bob and I have dueling collections: guitars vs. dolls. The winner? eBay!

Me, daughters Dana and Jacey in 1965

Jacey gave me my first doll (modern era) when I turned 50. She rues the day .

Grandkids Aaron and Anja

Nothing like a grandmother with a webpage. These two know where everything is in the playhouse, and won't let us move a thing!

Grandkids Davis and Cassie

My real live dolls. They love Memere and Bob's Playhouse.

Tea for Three

Me, AGOT Amber, Samantha, and my old Blue Willow dolly tea set.

Felicity, my first American Girl

Felicity's ears have been pierced. She was the first play doll I got as an adult, given to me on my 50th birthday in the 20th century.

Amy and Claire

Amy is wearing Jenny's crochet pattern cardigan. Claire is goofing around in a curly wig I got in a box lot at an auction.

Amy

I crocheted "Darlene's Shawl" years ago. It's so loose, it looks like a cobweb!

Amy Close-up

The brooch was my grandmother's silver/marcasite pin.

Kit in the Kitchen

Kit's dress was made by Jaye, for an Aggie Collette (AG-Collectors list) Autumn Leaves Swap. The hoosier cabinet was a Dedham (MA) Doll Show find a few years ago.


Powered by MSN TV
next page