The Widow of Noirmoutier

This is one of my vintage French dolls.

My obsession with collecting dolls and telling their stories

started one spring during one of my pilgrimages

to the festival of St Sara la Kali in the South of France.

Near our hotel was a Saturday morning market

and she had a few dolls.  I bought the most beautiful ones.

The following day we visited another small village

and I found another table with  many many dolls

and the lady offered them ALL to me.  Needless

to say I brought them home.

This doll is a widow doll from the island of Noirmoutier, 

just off the coast of France.  The island has whitewashed

 fisherman's houses with blackened wooden 

windows and shingle roofs.  

I tried to capture the feel of the island in her little handmade cottage.

The main form of employment on the island used to be deep sea fishing.

 It is said that there are up to four generations of widows living on this island,

 at any given time.  They are all widows of fishermen lost at sea! 

 The widows of Noirmoutier are recognised by their black clothing.

You will see that this widow carries the keys of La Chaitelaine, the housekeeper. 

 She is a devoted follower of the Blessed Mother and in her right hand she has a tiny chaplet.

She has a beautiful altar made from shells,

 a tiny cupboard with an iron, a 

copper kettle and some books, as well as 

her trusty black coal stove and red enamel pots.

You will also see that she has a widow's 'set' 

consisting of a widow's Bible and rosary.

The Seamstress

I made another shadow box of course!  I also love to paint in oils and acrylics and mixed media, but my first love are the shadow boxes.  To me they seem like miniature worlds captured in a frame!

This is the shop of a victorian dressmaker.  She is a paperdoll, put together with pieces and parts of paperdoll clothes, a stamped paperdoll head, plenty of lace and porcelain arms.

The shoes are too adorable.  They are a pair of black Barbie doll shoes that I attached two violet roses onto. And a matching handbag! with a navy blue and white madonna on it.

She is standing in her milliner's shop, this craftswoman and seamstress

surrounded by the tools of her trade :  needles adorned with pearls and crystal beads;  a vintage pair of scissors, a mannequin, a dressmaker's mannequin, a mannequin head, a piece of vintage cloth measuring tape, an old key and more. Oh what a graceful time it was! although it must have been very uncomfortable to sew whilst wearing all those layers of lace and crinoline!

The dressmaker's mannequin in the background I decorated with ribbon roses.

She has a mannequin head in her display window with the latest Victorian hat!  I made the tiny little hat from the plastic end of a tassel and I added lace, tiny roses and a very immodest feather!

The lace curtains of the shop is decorated with many gold roses. The shop is wallpapered with victorian paper, lace, ribbons, vintage newspaper ads, a victorian die cut basket of roses.

Please step in and be measured for that special gown! 

If you believe in them, dreams always come true

I am dreaming of travelling far and wide.  Stitch by stitch, thread by thread, I sew together my heart-felt dream.  I know that I have the key to all my adventures, and I am waiting, ready to embark on this  journey.

I am ready and prepared;  all my worldly treasures packed up; picnic lunch ready and my precious Snuggles.  No-one is left behind, not even my darling parakeet.

I am dreaming of Paris in springtime, with love in bloom.  

She is a vintage doll that I bought because of the beautiful detail of her clothing.  Her hair was almost non-existent and bald on top!  Now she is a grande lady, a seamstress, I guess.  After she looked into the mirror and saw the transformation that I gave her, she realised she can be whoever she wants to be and she can do whatever she sets her mind to!  She is starting off with a trip on a train to France, Paris in particular.  Her favourite perfume is Anna Suis!  She has already whispered to me that she intends buying herself a beautiful motor car and travelling on the roads in style!!

Bon voyage!