Slowing down is sometimes the best way to speed up.

-Mike Vance

I have had a great time this past year making dolls. The pandemic surely made me more productive and allowed me to dive into natural dolls. Something I had been wanted to do for a long time now. I have been working really hard to support my family economically. I made dolls and patterns non stop just to bring bread to our table. Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy making dolls a lot. I love looking at them finished and playing with them before packing them safe to travel home. I’m always thinking about what I will make next and what new idea I would like to try. Yet this year I have worked so much, I was starting to feel a little worn out. The joy of making a doll was being replaced with the stress of finishing it on time. Every week I would work more and sleep less and my mental health was just going down the drain. So, I’m not sure what happened this month, but I decided to slow down. I started by rearranging, reorganizing, and even decorated my studio. I watched some movies by myself, watched my children play, looked at the sky, paid attention to my surroundings, read a little, and even went to bed earlier than before. Let me tell you, it made a difference. My never ending headaches have gotten much better and I felt excited about making my new doll. I also found out that slowing down made me a much better doll maker. I paid more attention to every detail and enjoyed making the doll so much that time passed by so quickly, I didn’t even noticed it. I missed feeling like this. It was like I was immerse into my doll making, doll loving world. I loved it and I plan to keep enjoying every step of my doll making even though it takes longer, but it also makes me and my dolls better. I am not yet an expert at this slowing down thing, but I am excited to learn.

Now this doll is special. I took my time in changing the design, I made sketches and knew exactly what I wanted for her before starting her. I loved the making and remaking of her clothes and I carefully selected everything from her hair to her shoes. I looked at my notes and sketches, I read some old patterns, watched tutorials and made sure I was making the best possible doll I could. Of course, she’s not perfect. She was made by me, a human, but she is made as carefully and slowly as I could right at this moment in my life. I made sure I enjoyed birthing her. I was supposed to make 3 babies for adoption this week but I could only manage to finish her. She took a little longer than her older siblings, but a lot more details have been taken care of. She also has a sleeping outfit she kept asking me for. That was not planned for but it was a lovely surprise.

Her name is Carmen. Carmen’s body is designed a little different. She has a much wider, rounder belly. She has also been stuffed as firm as I have ever stuffed a doll. She’s still very floppy like her previous siblings but the way the doll is put together has changed also. She’s not weighted because I originally started her as a doll for a child and I usually don’t weight those. As the days passed I realized most of these dolls are not going to children’s hands anyway, so why not get a little more creative, add some buttons and snaps, crochet some shoes and make a magical hat. She’s still pretty sturdy and made with children in mind. However, her clothes are not recommended for small children who still mouth their toys. If you plan to give this doll to a child and would like me to replace snaps and buttons with velcro, please let me know and I’ll be more than happy to do it.

Carmen is a sweet baby girl who loves nature. She loves to help plant trees and flowers. She’s always excited to find special things like seeds, tiny flowers, moths or mushrooms. Since she discovered there are deers in Yucatán, she has been in the look out for one, but we haven’t seen any yet. I hope she can see one soon. Carmen loves vegetables, especially when she helps pick them up. She says they taste better if her hands were the first ones to touch them. Carmen enjoy being barefoot especially in the dirt. She is also a collector of leaves, sticks, flowers, seeds, and rocks. I sometimes I have to steal some and put them back out because it can get a little messy.

Carmen is about 12 inches long (give and take). She started as a toy doll suited for children 5 and up that do not mouth their toys. However, she evolved into a more collector’s oriented baby but she can be made more child friendly if you would like. She’s a natural fibers dolls, filled very firm with clean wool. Her head has been made in the traditional Waldorf style with some needle felting to make it firmer. She has floppy head, legs, and arms. Legs bend at the knees too, and arms bend at the elbows. She’s really easy and fun to pose. Her skin is Heavy weight Laib Yala in light brown. Her hair is a crocheted wild brushable mohair wig cap in a red brown color that has been sewn to her head. Her eyes have been hand embroidered with cotton green DMC thread. Her clothes are made with cotton fabrics, and wool blend fabric.

Carmen is made to be as sturdy as possible. However, small children’s play should always be monitored. Never leave a small infant unattended with a stuffed toy.

Carmen will go home with the following clothes and accessories:

• Handmade diaper with velcro
• Handmade comfy shirt with button snap closure
• Handmade overalls with button snaps
• Handmade head band with bow
• Hand crocheted booties
• Handmade sleep sack with button snap closure made with a pattern by Fig and Me
• Handmade mushroom hat made with repurpose knit.
• A little handmade traveling deer friend

If you would like to see more photos of her, you can see them here in her album.

Here is also a little video of her getting changed into her playing clothes.

Carmen’s adoption fee is 302 USDollars plus shipping. Shipping to Mexico is free and 18 USDollars for the rest of the world.

Priority shipping is 30 USD for the US and Canada. Priority shipping to other countries would need a revised quote. If you would like priority shipping please let me know before hand so I can adjust the shipping price.

If you would like to adopt Carmen, make sure you comment on this post stating so, and make sure the email you enter is your PayPal one. If there is more than one person interested on her, I will draw a name. I will take entries for Carmen until tomorrow Thursday April 8 at 4pm CDT.

By commenting you agree that you are 18 years or older. Please do not comment on behalf of someone else, that is just not fair for others. Once a family has been chosen I will send a PayPal invoice that is due upon receipt. If Carmen gets adopted tomorrow she will ship on Saturday.

Carmen has found a loving home. Thank you so much for all the love you all showed to this sweet baby.

I hope you love baby Carmen as much as I do. Thank you for taking the time to learn more about her.

Hope you have a lovely rest of the week and remember to take it slow and enjoy life simple pleasures.

Read you soon.

Hugs,

Aubrey

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