Christmas Countdown Characters #9

Most of us know about the holly and the ivy - plant symbols of Christmas, but have you heard of "The Story of Holly and Ivy"?

watercolour, pencil and ink sketch - Wilma Simmons

I is for Ivy...

Ivy is the main character in a heart warming 1950's Christmas story by Rumer Gooden.

The Story of Holly and Ivy has the sparkles and sugar of Christmas, the wish fulfilment and whimsy and talking toys. It's also a story about lonely people finding solace in acts of charity, and the importance of taking care of the weakest members of society. A fairy tale with a social conscience. from http://www.goodreads.com/

Ivy is the only child from St. Agnes orphanage not placed with a family for Christmas. Ivy tells the matron that she could go to her grandmother's in Appleton, although there is no grandmother and Ivy wasn't even sure if a place called Appleton even existed. Ivy is put on a train and arrives in Appleton on Christmas Eve, left to explore the town alone.

There is a toy shop in the town, and a beautiful new Christmas doll named Holly is standing in the display window , wishing for a little girl to come and take her home. The only other toy left on the shelf is Abracadabra, an owl with a rather nasty disposition. The owner of the toy shop leaves his assistant to lock up and says he can choose a toy for himself as a Christmas gift. The shop assistant closes the store, and accidentally drops the key in the snow. Meanwhile, Ivy's search for a grandmother is in vain, and she sees the doll in the shop window, Holly is exactly what Ivy would love for Christmas, and the doll would love a girl like Ivy to take her home. Ivy finds the key that Peter dropped but as night falls, she takes shelter in a nearby alley.

The next morning, Ivy returns to the shop to find a distraught shop assistant accompanied by Officer Jones of Appleton Police Ivy realizes that the key that she found belongs to the toy shop , and returns it. The assistant is so grateful he gives Holly the doll to Ivy. Officer Jones, realising Ivy is an orphan, takes Ivy home where she discovers a beautiful Christmas tree and presents, and Mrs Jones just wishing she had a child to enjoy Christmas with. All's well that ends well - Ivy not only has the doll she wished for, but a family! The story ends with Officer and Mrs Jones adopting Ivy as their own daughter. Ivy's story is all about wishing, love and belonging... just the story to invoke the spirit of the festive season.

Fish and Sticks : Art Dolls

This week I've been working on fish and sticks .... The sticks are the message stick art dolls which were very popular, attracting some attention and a few orders at the Wise Women exhibition. Each of the message stick dolls are from the Wise Women series, each with her own personality and message of wisdom, handwritten on a handmade timber tag. I gather the sticks during my walks around my neighbourhood and the tags are made from special bits of timber, some collected by me or my husband or from off cuts gifted to us from another doll making friend whose husband makes bagpipes. These dolls start off very simply with a wrap around a stick, in the general shape of a body. 'Naked" message stick dolls - strips of wadding wrapped around found sticks. Then I usually wrap other layers of fabric, wool, and/or fibres, over which I do some simple embroidery. I sculpt or mould small face masks for these dolls. I really like using "sari ribbon" as w...

Giveaway - Gifts for You on My Birthday

Giveaway Gifts T his week is blog giveaway time! Last week I celebrated my birthday. I’ve had far too many to count the candles, but I had a wonderful party on the weekend with my family - with an indulgent birthday cake, favourite foods cooked by my husband and great company. ( In case you were wondering about the writing on the cake , Por Por = Chinese grandmother) I also got great gifts from my family and friends. There seemed to be a bit of a theme this year – with many of my gifts and cards depicting matryshoka ( babushka) dolls and tea drinking. As it is also winter here in Australia , it was easy for me to decide what I could offer as gifts in this birthday giveaway. All the gifts are handmade by me. Gift 1 - two little fabric matryshoka dolls Gift 2- a little bag made from colourful teapot and teacup fabric . The design is called a jester bag, but it is suitable for carrying s...

From my workshop page....

Current Workshops Offerings Thinking of a workshop for your group in 2022? Art Doll Workshops : - Garden Thread Dolls (one day workshop - WoW -(Woman of Wisdom) - embellished stump doll with either cloth head or clay head. This is an a rt doll workshop .... either offered as a series of workshops or 2 full days days! - Message/Story Stick doll - doll made with found objects and upcycled cloth. ( one day) - Elemental totems - stick doll variation , with sculpture ( one or two days, depending on surface decoration of fabric) TEXTILE AND MIXED MEDIA WORKSHOPS Temari - embroidered wrapped balls in traditional style. - Dipping Into Tea - tea and embroidery on canvas with photo transfer on fabric. ( two days) work by Judith Bee, workshop participant. - Tea Bag sculpture : ...

Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

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