Serenity's arms cried out for a baby to hold. The challenges was finding the best material to make the baby from. After a few experiments, I decided felting would be the best choice. I allows the baby to hold onto Serenity without being too heavy or ridged.














I had planned to write on this page after it was painted, but I found it calming so left it as is.

This is a song I used to sing to my third daughter when I was pregnant with her. I found myself humming it while felting the baby so it seemed appropriate to include in the journal.

The song is called "In This Heart" and is sung by Sinead O'Connor.

These pages were created with paint, a glue mixture, and tissue paper.

Serenity came to me with empty arms but was otherwise so complete and lovely that I couldn't add something just to add it. Then it occurred to me that I have never felt so serene as I did after nursing my baby to sleep. The look on the doll's face showed the peace of a mother whose body is flooded by oxytocin and whose heart was full of gentleness and love.

Once the baby was in her arms, I thought perhaps the deepest serenity was feeling safely cradled in mother's arms. All needs met, all love received, sleeping in perfect bliss.

Whether you imagine yourself cradling the babe, or being cradled, I hope these two will bring you some of the serenity they are enjoying.

The scalloped edge reads-

"Breathe....out....in....out....in...out....in....

Raisa, Raisa, Russian Rose

Raisa, Raisa Russian rose

Has a blanket made of clothes

Too old to wear

Repurposed with care

For a traveling lady's repose

The Keeping Quilt

Raisa may be an it girl, but her family came to America from the old country with little more than the clothes on their backs. When those clothes wore out, the aunties and grandmas turned them into a quilt, passing down the stories of the family members with the fabric scraps. Raisa takes it with her on all her travels, bringing the old into the new.

Raisa's quilt is indeed made partly from old clothes, and though it is tiny, it is full of stories. I created it crazy quilt style and hand embroidered every seem. I also added a touch of feathers to her headband.

Audacity Crowned!

Onoma After Talitha

Onoma's frill was cut from felt, sewn on,

and then fabric scales were heat bonded on top.
Onoma's eyes are made from two green beads
and some cool metal looking findings.
(My daughter says these eyes look very reptilian:-)
Accessories are made from a variety of repurposed jewelery
and pieces of a music box.

The teeny tendrills are peacock feathers and the hair is made from yarn and fibers
that were needle felted to give them more of a dreadlock look.

Top of head.

Tiny bottle filled with even tinier stars,

wire wrapped and hung around the neck using knotted cord.

Still no clear gender!

Onoma's story continues...

Onoma's journal is lovely and full of texture.

I added two pieces of handmade paper and distressed them to

match the style of the existing pages.

Tiny silk and satin scales were fused to one page.

Wire was used to fix some small star charms to the pages as well

as a tiny bag of the same stardust Onoma wears around her neck.

Just when it seemed life on the ship had settled into a pattern, something strange caught my attention. The crew had been permitted leave on Ingnatious 4 and Captain Di Seca sent me along to monitor their interaction with the locals. Everything was routine at first, but I definitely felt different under Ignatious' red sun. As the rays struck the scales on my frill, a feeling of invigoration filled my body. This sensation grew with every moment of exposure. I began to find it difficult to focus on my security task, looking instead for excuses to linger in the sunlight.

After several days of planetside diversions, leave was over and the crew prepared to return to the Stone Traveler. I was not the only one reluctant to reenter the black cold of space, crewman Clovis kept us waiting at the launch site. As he finally boarded the shuttle, I noticed an unfamiliar smell. While reprimanding Clovis, two things became clear. One, my senses were clearly heightened after absorbing so many red sun rays, and two, the smell was coming from Clovis. An inspection of his person and away bag turned up nothing conclusive. When I next encountered Clovis on the main ship, the smell no longer lingered on him. I would not catch sent of it again until reporting to the captain's office. There was no mistaking the weird, acrid odor, but Captain Di Seca told me I was imagining things and to leave it alone. My curiosity was peaked. What was that smell? Why did no one else detect it? Was the captain intentionally concealing something from his own security officer? And why was I so altered after exposure to the red sun? Did my native planet orbit a red sun? Could this be a clue to help me find my way home?

Rays of red

Dance over my head

And Fill me with longing

For my place of belonging

(I included a poem from a favorite sci-fi author.)

Playing with the Charming Prince

My part of the fabulous scroll journal contains images

of my work in the same materials as the work.

A little paint, a little paper, some fabric, and a little glitter just for fun:-)

Swamp box for royal comfort.

Two fleur-de-lis for his royal heritage and a lily pad for his amphibian heritage.

The fleurs are satin fused to felt, the pad velvet and satin with beading in the center.

(Fluer-de-lis are stylized lilies, wink, wink:-)

Here is the young prince in his velvet pants and
pleather boots standing next to his box.

Following Robyn's statement "let's play", I took him in a whimsical direction.

His frog feet are fabric that has been heat bonded right to the rigid cast of his original feet.
They fit into his boots so he can "pass".
(It's probably best that he travel without his boots on because I'm not sure how his feet would react to prolonged boot wearing.)

Looking forward to seeing what he becomes next!

ready to mail

page 3

page 2

page 1

Journal cover.

Made from a glue mixture and tissue paper with a fabric binding.
Lots of texture in this journal. Fun to run your fingers over the pages.


Lady Sebastian ready to go on her adventure.
Her final treatment was to use a glue mixture and tissue paper with a little paint to give her a nice color and texture. Maybe one of you will give her another arm:-)
I'll be packaging Monday and mailing Monday or Tuesday.
So exciting!
I can't wait to get Robyn's doll.
Robyn, would you like to drive her over and have a visit?

Lady Sebastian mummy stage

Here she is almost ready. My daughter rightly said she looks like a mummy:-)
I crafted her body over the wire skeleton using a glue mixture and pages torn from the journal.

my doll start

This is the skeletal structure for Lady Sebastian, Amateur Egyptologist. She started with a wire hanger and is resting on her journal which began as a composition book because I love the size and have them on hand. I am in the process of decoupaging everything. One goal I have for this project is to avoid buying anything new, but rather create from my stash. If you're anything like me, you have tons of fabulous supplies just waiting for a purpose. More as I go:-)
Talitha