Uncommon Grace

15 December

Hi friends. It seems I've been away for a whole week! As the weeks go by, I've found myself more crazed and stressed. I haven't even been able to start on gifts for my own family as I've been spending almost every waking hour finishing up doll orders. Tonight I was on the way home from picking up more packing materials and there were some lights that really cheered me, I had just a moment of that real Christmassy feeling, and that was good.

But all that brings me to this: I've decided to take a hiatus from making dolls for sale. I always underestimate the time involved and thereby cause myself and my family a lot of stress. I love the creative process and the finished product, but the stress (this year particularly) has been more than I can realistically handle. My mom has "forbidden" me from making them again, and Sarah has told me that if I'm going to make them in the future, I need to have a business plan in place first. I don't feel comfortable saying that I will never make them again, but I will probably not sell any in 2012.

I do have this one lonely doll who has been waiting for a home for two years, and if you think you'd like one of my dolls in the next year, I urge you to snatch this last one up! If you are interested in purchasing this doll, please let me know by the end of the weekend so I can try to ship her early next week and avoid the worst of the Christmas post office rush. You can contact me at the email address in the left-hand sidebar of this blog.

It's really hard for me to write this post and put this out there, because it feels sad and a little bit "final". I love my dolls. I love sharing my artistic aesthetic and my skill with the world. But the very real truth is that when I have doll orders hanging over my head, I don't allow myself to knit, or sew, or do my homework, or even relax in the evening with my husband without experiencing a lot of anxiety. And that's been an unhappy way to live the last few years. So until I can figure out a realistic way of running this "business" (that I make almost no money from -- too little to even claim on taxes! -- it really is a labor of love, which is why I need to love it) that allows me to peaceably live my life, I just cannot take any more orders. I will definitely keep you updated from this space!

Would you like a doll?

Edited: Wow! All spots are full! Thank you so much! If anyone decides not to take their spot afterall, I'll be sure to post something here should a spot become open. I doubt this will be the last time I'll make dolls, so if you didn't get one this time, be patient! Thank you again, I'm so flattered by your kind words and support.

Oh! By the way, I do have one complete doll already available, should anyone be interested in her.

I have had many requests for custom dolls over the years, and when I've accepted commissions, it's usually been a spontaneous decision and I haven't planned well-enough in advance, so I've had a hard time delivering them on a deadline, making it a mad-dash at the end. I've given dollmaking some thought recently, though. I haven't made a doll in quite a while, and I miss it.

So I've decided to take a limited number of commissions this summer.

A realistic number for me is two dolls in each of the months of June, July, and August, so a total of 6 dolls. Please note that if you would like one of my dolls for the holidays this year, try to get a summer one as this will be the only opportunity. I won't be making dolls in the autumn and winter, in order to better focus on my own family during that time.

If you are interested, please email me at uncommongrace (at) comcast (dot) net. We can discuss payment and doll style from there. I'm excited to hear from you, and to be able to make your handmade doll dreams a possibility! I'll fill the spots on a first-come, first-served basis, so please get in touch soon if you're interested. All full! Thank you so much!

(You can see more of my dolls here, although please be aware that each is one-of-a-kind, and I'm not able to precisely duplicate facial expressions, head shape, etc., though as an experienced doll maker, they are quite uniform. Also note that none of their outfits are precisely duplicable, as it depends on the fabrics available to me right now.)

Quick Announcement

Hi all, thank you so much for your lovely congratulations on the attainment of the doctorate! It has been a long (almost 10-year) road for us, and we feel so relieved -- and elated -- to be finished with it! Much more celebrating to come this week, I'm sure. (Plus it's someone's forty-something birthday next week, so lots of celebrating there, too!)

Anyway, we're back and settled, but I'm terribly sick. I wanted to let you all know that if you've been debating on buying something from my shop, that tomorrow will be the very last day. I'll be taking the shop down after tomorrow to accomodate holiday shipping. So, take a look! I'm not sure if I'll re-list any of the items at a later time -- I'm thinking not, at least for the dolls. So this really will be it! Thanks again for all of your encouragement, enthusiasm, and support of my little venture.

See you in this space, for something entirely different, tomorrow!

The shop is open!

OK, everything is up and running! I apologize that the photos are dark -- it's been that way over the last couple of days.

There are three dolls and four bags available. I'm so excited to be able to share a little bit of my work with you! Find the shop here. Enjoy!

Shop sneak peek

The shop is set to open tomorrow at 3pm EST/12 noon PST! You'll find it here. I'm so nervous and excited!

Note: I am having a technical difficulty with the shop itself. I'll let you know if that isn't resolved in time, but I expect it will be.

Work, work, work

I have had a long day making things. Mostly for my shop, but I took a little break to work on Christmas cards, too.

It's slow going with all the work (why do I sew so slowly?), but the shop update should be on time. I'll give more details on Monday!

The news

I'm popping in a bit earlier today to let you all know about the news I've been teasing you with.

I'm finally going to do a shop! After a few false starts this summer, I actually have some things that will be available in time for the holidays this year.

There will be three handmade Waldorf dolls -- three girls named Addie, Sadie, and Lola.

And there will be at least a couple of bags. (Maybe more than a couple, depending on how this coming weekend goes.)

The opening is set for Tuesday, December 1. I'll let you know all the particulars next Monday (November 30).

I'm so excited that things fell into place over the last couple of weeks for me to be able to offer just a few handmade goods to you for the holidays. A shop has been something that I've wanted to do for a really long time, but it hasn't come together before now. I'm even dreaming of doing more frequent updates in the new year (although I'm trying not to get ahead of myself).

So, see you then! (And every day for the next week, finishing up NaBloPoMo.)

The bag I wanted to keep and some news

I made this bag for a friend back at the end of March (here's another glimpse of it), and I was so in love with it that I only gave it away reluctantly. So I thought I'd make myself another one like it.

And then I thought, while I'm making bags, maybe I can make a stack of them and open an Etsy shop!

I've been thinking about doing a shop for a long, long time, and the time feels right this summer. So, I've been spending some time in my finally organized (but not "finished") studio space over the past few days (I'll be sure to give a tour when things are all set up in there), cutting and beginning to sew up quite a few of these tote bags.

I'll announce here when I'm more sure of the opening date for the shop, but my goal is to have it all ready by Tuesday, July 14. Anyway, I have a lot more ideas up my sleeve for the shop, so I hope to have a few updates over the next few months. I'm excited, and nervous, to test the waters here! Hopefully some of you will find something you like!

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PS: I hope those of you celebrating the 4th of July this weekend have a safe and fun holiday!