The Whimsy Patch

Mabel and Melinda

Mabel and Melinda, originally uploaded by WhimsyPatch.

Mabel and Melinda are here to make a bashful introduction. They are the first creations from my new line of Stand Alone Dollies and have billowing dresses and weighted bases so that they can stand without being propped. I am also offering the option of having these made as bookends (more weight will be placed in the base.)

Mabel and Melinda are twin sis dollies who own a lovely dress boutique, Darling Details, in the Whimsy Patch and they are responsible for the detail work on many of the dollies' dresses in the Patch, including Mirabel and Rosette. Both gals are excellent seamstresses and amazing with the embroidery needle. Each dress receives hour after hour of tender loving care. These two dollies also have beautiful voices and hope to grace the bedroom of some sweet little angel sometime soon. They write lullabies and bedtime stories in their spare time in preparation for their new vocation.

Mabel and Melinda are available in my Etsy shop! Come visit them there:)

Tawnie, Mirabel and Kali

The girls are headed out for a lunch date at one of my favorite Louisville restaurants, Lynn's Paradise Cafe.  They want to scout out all the ugly lamps and plan theirs for next year's contest.  Tawnie, Mirabel and Kali are also excited about their upcoming trip to Australia and have been shopping for new wardrobes to fill their suitcases.  Until then, they are enjoying the lovely fall breezes and the hint of cool weather that they can enjoy in the early morning hours will sipping on Wild Sweet Orange tea and munching on cranberry lemon scones.

Since leaving the Whimsy Patch, these dollies have become great friends but they actually did not know one another before leaving their homes for their new adventure.  Tawnie and Sweetheart Snail lived in the Whimys Villas and worked as massage therapists in the Spa Patch there.  Tawnie's Cinnamon Scalp Massage was oh-so-invigorating and Sweetheart Snail specialized in the Vanilla Honeycomb massage and dollies would often line up for hours to experience her tender touch.  Mirabel lived alone in the Patch and worked as a journalist for the Whimsy Daily News covering Patch celebrity gossip and up-and-coming trends.  Though she frequented the Spa Patch, she never actually met Tawnie or Sweetheart though they both thought Mirabel looked familiar when they first met.  Kali and Estelle Owl lived far away from Tawnie's and Mirabel's worlds in the Whimsy Woods where they owned a cute little bed and breakfast, Serendipity Siesta, with over a dozen different treetop lofts from which to pick.  Estelle would spend her days making sure the comforters and pillows were fluffed just right, that the whirlbaths had a fresh supply of essential oils, and that the teapots were readied with a supply of teabags for morning and high tea.  Kali would always welcome each guest in the lobby between runs to and from the kitchen where she busily baked quiches, muffins, tarts, and scones for the next morning's brunch (brunch because absolutely noone rises before ten when staying at Serendipity Siesta.)  She and Estelle miss their business terribly and hope to open a new B&B someday.

This trio of dollies was made for a wholesale order.  If interested in placing a wholesale order with the Whimsy Patch, contact me at kimmiek@thewhimsypatch.com.

Squirrel Sisters, Chipper and Sweets

Chipper and Sweets, Squirrel Girls and NOT Kitty Girls (they wanted me to clarify and note that you would know this for sure if you could see their lovely, fluffy squirrel tails in the back,) are spunky, friendly and fun. They enjoy climbing the Whimsy Patch candy trees to pick taffies, collect candied nuts, and enjoy combing the Lollipop fields for their favorite flavored suckers. They are gearing up for Halloween and hope to have a wonderful selection of treats for the Patch Trick-or-Treaters. They absolutely adore Halloween though they cannot nail down what they want to wear.

Chipper, the Big Squirrel Girl, also enjoys making various varieties of candied apples. She works on these year round and sells them in Patch boutiques, candy shops, and cafes. Each little candied apple is quite the presentation as she decorates them with sprinkles, colored sugar, taffy ribbons, and coated candies. She packages them in lovely striped and windowed paper bags and tags each one with her name. You might pay five to eight dollars for an apple but it is completely worth it!

Sweets, on the other hand, spends her extra time sewing Halloween costumes year round. She has a Patch boutique, I Pick Treats!, where she sells her costumes--and for more than a handful of dollars. Her seamstress work is impeccable and she comes up with the most creative costumes. Patch residents go crazy for her Polka Dot Ghosts and Frankengiraffe costumes!

These little gals are available in my Etsy shop. Come check them out!

Banky Bear Boy, Friend of the Monsters

Banky Bear Boy, Friend of the Monsters, originally uploaded by WhimsyPatch.

For all of you who are familiar with the Friendly Monsters, you might have been wondering if they are naturally friendly or have them been tamed? Well, it's a little bit of both. Friendly Monsters are not exactly wild and fierce, but they are a little rowdy and mischievous in their natural state and they require some training before they can be loosed into the cultured areas of the Patch and definitely before they can be introduced into Earth Proper. (You really don't want all of your potted plants turned about and your toilet paper wrapped around your favorite tree do you?) Well, meet Banky Bear Boy. He is one of the many Whimsy Patch residents who live in the Monster Wilds and spending their days instructing the fun loving monsters in the ways of the Patch and Earth Proper, and helping the little fellows to learn some restraint. The trainers act more as mentors and invite the monsters into their homes, teaching them etiquette and polite speech while entertaining them with tea, cooking together, tending to the garden, etc. Banky has been doing this for many years and has trained up dozens of Friendly Monsters. While he loves what he does, he says he's quite ready to hang up his hat and venture into the wider world--as long as you are willing to offer him a spot of tea:)

Banky Bear Boy is available for sale along with a few other new creations! Check him out in my Etsy shop!

Cecily, Tabbie and Kimiko, Together for Afternoon Tea

Cecily, Tabbie and Kimiko (as seen from left to right) have just finished a very successful afternoon of shopping. Tabbie purchased her new hairclip, purse and shoes and is now showing them off. Completely wiped out and tired of aching feet, the three plan to head back to Cecily's pad for a refreshing afternoon tea and propping up of feet.

These three gals can hardly be found apart from one another back in the Whimsy Patch. They are a little nervous to head out on their own just yet and plan to enjoy the next few weeks while the remainder of the Australian crew are being completed. They want to come up with at least three new tea brews--one to be named after each gal pal--to sell in their tea shop. They have become very famous in the Patch for their specialty teas that they sell in their shop, Three's Company with Tea, though you will rarely find them actually work in the shop. They do most of their work after hours and behind doors so that they can spend daylight hours shopping, checking out new restaurants and strolling the streets.

On a more individual note, Cecily wants you to know that she detests coffee and adores italian cream sodas. Rasperry Vanilla Cream is her favorite. Tabbie adores anything handmade--hence the handstitched purse she just purchased! And Kimiko loves to collect all things kawaii--especially stickers. She has a bookshelf with more than ten sticker books completely full to the brim!

These little gals were made for a wholesale order. If you are interested in Whimsy Patch Wholesale, contact me through my Etsy shop or at my kimmiek@thewhimsypatch.com email!

Stay Tuned!!!

I know that many of my regular blog attenders are probably curious about the current state of the Whimsy Patch.  I have not been able to post new work for quite a while and many of the creations made for Renegade--which will be soon appearing in my Etsy shop once they arrive back home---have not even had their stories posted.  (Renegade was much affected by the Hurricane Ike rains so much of my stock will be coming back to me!)  After completing the pieces for Renegade, I planned to get to work on a wholesale order and intersperse pieces made for my Etsy shop.  I decided to work in smaller batches so that I can post more often.  This plan did not work out quite so well!

First, my son started on a nap strike.  This lasted for a week and then Hurricane Ike hit Louisville, KY in the form of hurricane force winds wiping out power for some 300,000 Louisville homes--including mine.  Left without power and a sewing table, I was only able to work on the hand sewing for the pieces that had at least been machine stitched--not many since I had decided to work in smaller batches!  Fortunately, we were able to camp out in my in-laws living room for the week, but my toddler, even though very excited by this odd vacation of sorts, was completely thrown off by the lack of routine.  I had to nap with him every day and only had an hour or two to sew each night.  It was crazy!

Once back home, my toddler began crawling out of his crib.  Suddenly, I realized that his nap strike from two weeks ago had probably been because he had grown tired of the crib.  My dear brother handed down his son's Snoozer Cruiser big boy bed--too cute--and we were able to transition him into this bed.  Nevertheless, all of this took place in the midst of trying to dig out after the storm.  We had tons of cleaning to do and restocking of the refrigerator and pantries.  On the same day that he began crawling out of the crib, he also decided to spill and dump more food and other items than he had in all his toddler days leading up to this one.  Crazy, crazy!  A bit exasperated, I thought I might never get to my sewing again.

So last night, my husband and I prayed.  We prayed that I might be able to settle back into my routine and get to work again.  Today was a blessed day and we were able to get the house back to normal.  By God's grace, my son has settled into his big boy bed.  He loves it!  And I was able to finish some of my pieces.

All this said, I will start posting pieces to Etsy, Flickr and my blog starting tomorrow.  Some pieces that I post will be for the wholesale order I am working to complete and some pieces will be available in my Etsy shop.  Once my Renegade pieces get back, there will be many more!  I am very excited to be returning to the Whimsy Patch.  So stay tuned!

Emo Bear, King of Hearts

Emo Bear, King of Hearts, originally uploaded by WhimsyPatch.

I promised all of the plush created for Renegade that I would blog about them before the fair was over. I guess I should at least take a stab at keeping my promise!

So, meet Emo Bear, King of Hearts. He's quite the lover boy and just happens to have a mad crush on Punky Violet and has absolute determination to win her heart. Until then, he's pining away, writing poetry and lyrics for his emo band, Burning Heart Strings. Just about every adolescent dollie in the Whimsy Patch has a crush on this little fellow but noone makes his world go round quite like Punky Violet. (Unfortunately, she has not seemed to notice him yet--How can she not fall in love with those blue eyes and that smile?) He has broken his fair share of hearts, all in the name of staying true to his heart. He keeps a seperate journal for each of his loves and he has at least one bookshelf full. He says he will not stop searching until his heart is content and he currently declares that Punky Violet has filled that void. In the meantime, he's writing lyrics and working up new Punky Violet inspired collages to fill his walls. Oh, and he's working up a new tattoo design, too.

Rosette the Funky Dollie With a Side of Granola

Rosette the Funky Dollie With a Side of Granola, originally uploaded by WhimsyPatch.

Rosette the Funky Dollie comes from the Whimsy Patch with a little bit of hipster funk and quite a bit of granola crunch. On one day you might find her shopping in a fashionable boutique and then the next she's shopping Whimsy thrift. She has her own little custom design shop, Rosette's Whimsy, where she alters and resells vintage clothes to which she has added her own personal flair. Her favorite motifs include birds, mushrooms, deer and squirrels--anything woodsy. She also enjoys tending to her organic garden, making her own almond milk, and concocting new granola mixes.

Rosette will be added to my Etsy shop in the coming weeks. If you are interested, just convo me or email!

Renegade Batch #2

Yay!!!! I have finally completed and readied all of my plush for shipment. These sweet creations will be available at Renegade Craft Fair Chicago, IL this September 13th and 14th. My work will be available along with that of 30+ other Plush Team members at Booth 70. Check it out! You will not be disappointed.

These little dears are dying for individual introductions but I will have to get to those later. You can expect to see their stories in the coming days now that things are slowing down just a little.