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So here it is, our Christmas/New Year giveaway (with a twist of spring) ... First Place is the Rose Angel with her apron of petals. Decorated with tiny muslin wild roses, the Angel is painted in shades of pink and grey (with a little wild rose motif in the form of a climbing vine) beneath her raggedy cheesecloth drapery.

Her face is handpainted; her quilted muslin wings are removable, just slipped over a button sewn between her shoulders.

Second Place is a handpainted wooden tag, one of our favorite designs (you've probably seen a few of these dangling from dolly skirts before).

Sign Up Below for a chance to win one of these -- two names will be drawn on February 11th and the winners will be announced the same day (just email us your address using the newsletter link if you're one of the winners).

Reggie-the-Crow and Friends (Or, The Bird Blog Takes Flight)

Reggie has some very exciting news to share with everyone --

"I say, hold on there! You promised I would be the one who announced it."

All right, I'll let Reggie himself share the good news....

"Thank you. Now, in reponse to popular demand and the scads of letters pouring out of our mailbox regarding my stunning performance on this blog --"

Wait a minute, I never saw any letters about you being popular --

"Well, you should have. Anyway, I'm proud to announce that Reggie-the-Crow -- that's me -- and my friends now have our very own blog!"

"Full of Action ..."

"Adventure ..."

"Thrills and Chills ..."

"....and of course ........... Education!

(I threw in that last bit in case any young minds happen to be reading this.)

"Plus, lots of stories about me and my family, which is very exciting if you know anything about crows (they're fun-loving birds and great storytellers)."

"See, wasn't it better with me telling them?"

Whatever. You can visit Reggie and his friends at the link below (a new button for his blog will be on the right shortly) for lots of stories, adventures, and general silliness.

Click Here to See Miss Lizzie

Tonight is Miss Elizabeth's big debut on Ebay (for those of you who are interested in seeing all her details in photograph)....
....just click the button above (or the disappearing Cheshire Cat on the right side of this page).

Meanwhile, I'm slogging away on a few new valentine pieces ... and cleaning honeysuckle out of the grape arbors (which results in very stiff hands for a few days). But a tidy garden is worth the effort, right? Or at least an organized, untidy one (hence the very "English garden" flower bed above, with butterfly weed and herbs thrown in together).

Post-Christmas Giveaway

As I'm sure some of you remember, we promised a Christmas giveaway this Nov/Dec ... however, plans changed a little when we realized we were nearing the 100th published post on Cordwood Cabin Primitives....which seemed like an event worth celebrating.

So here's the big announcement post now that we've passed our milestone ... to be followed soon by the post with all the details of how to sign up for our Happy Post-100th Giveaway ... yes, a bit of a pun, I know . Since this giveaway's a post-Christmas affair, the gifts will be a bit more spring-ish than wintery (but still good for Christmas, for those of you who love holiday decorations the best). The pics and sign-up post will be added soon!

Miss Elizabeth Bennet

Miss Elizabeth Bennet is composing a letter in Darbyshire to sister Jane ... full of all sorts of opinions about Mr. Darcy, of course ...

Her dress, inspired by Lizzie's gown in the definitive miniseries, is cut from rose-colored fabric and trimmed with vintage lace; her tiny wire cross is bent wire coated with gold enamel paint.

Her letter to Jane is quite legible (despite a little cinnamon staining around the edges for effect).

Of course, she would love to stay for tea ... does that dreadful Mr. Darcy has plans to be present, too?

Fun Feathers

Birds of a feather .....

... in a love triangle....

The weather has been cold lately, meaning more wood fires (with Miss Pumpkin hogging the best spot in front of the stove).

For some reason, Rowdy insists on sitting in the freezing windowsill anyway, so he can watch the birds hopping through the yard in search of crumbs.

The second Alice was finished yesterday -- she has one of those perfect faces that reminds me of the first Alice doll. Dinah-the-cat is decked out for Valentine's Day, but Alice has a little wooden card all her own (no doubt from some admirer).

Don't Be Late for the Tea Party

The latest Alice doll is something new for me, since I've never really worked in black folk art or black sock dolls (that's R~Mary's department) ... but I couldn't resist trying a faded black muslin look for Alice.

The body is handstitched, with pantaloons and stripey stockings and boots painted on ... she's trimmed with vintage lace around the gown's edges (this is by far my favorite Alice dress -- also, the fanciest dress I've ever sewn).

Her face was the hardest part; I drew it twice before I was satisfied with the proportions and the shading.

Wee White Rabbit is almost pocket-sized -- just tuck him under Alice's arm as they set off for the tea party.

Valentines for Old Times

The "Hard Times, Old Times" ornies are in shades of pink and red for February 14th. The first series of Valentine Angels feature tiny faded red hearts and walnut-dyed wool curls beneath their rusty halos ...

The Cupid Trio is glittery with little red muslin hearts dangling like charms below their wings.