New to Etsy.com

I recently signed on to Etsy.com and today signed up to be a seller on the site. This website features hand-made items for sale so is a good place to post some of the things I have made. At the moment the listings I am putting up are for items I have made in the past. As I have been cleaning up and sorting through my sewing studio I have come across a lot of items I am ready to part with.

I have many boxes of things I made years ago for craft shows I used to participate in. When I quit doing those shows I just packed up the items that I still had left on hand. These dolls have been sitting here, boxed up in a box of favorite items to keep, for quite some time. I am afraid much of the other hand painted wood items may not be worth much now as that trend has pretty much gone by the wayside from what I can see. I may try to post some of those, but I think most of it may end up going to the second hand store for charity once I am all through with sorting it. My only other option if I cannot sell it on Etsy or Ebay is to give it away, give it to charity, or just toss it out. I've still got lots of boxes and stuff to go through, but decided it was time to start parting with some of it.


The cloth dolls I am now listing are some of the more interesting things I think should still be of interest for other cloth doll collectors. I have thought more than once about just boxing them back up to keep awhile longer, but I have to ask myself why keep it if I don't have room to have them out for display any longer. I have made so many things over the years I have run out of room for display, and would also like to free up some room from my storage area. I am interested in getting back into creating some new things, but feel I need to make room for more first.

I made the white doves as a counter to all the black of the blackbirds in the sunflowers. My sister lived in Iowa at the time I came up with these. We went to visit that summer and witnessed the floods covering and blocking our route to get to her house. We must have driven at least an hour and a half or more out of our way trying to find a road open to get through. The dove symbolizes hope in a stressful and challenging time or event.
The original poem I wrote myself and put on the hand-cut and hand-painted wooden cutout of the rainbow and cloud motif. The poem reads:

Noah & Co. stayed safe in the ark. . . and after the flood on a mountain did park. A rainbow set high in the cloud above - God's promise forever of His abiding love!

I wanted to write something fairly short that I could make fit on the small wooden cutouts while also covering the message of the story of Noah and the Ark and God's faithful promise of hope given with the rainbow. The back side of this small wooden cutout is dated 1994. It's hard to believe it was that long ago when I originally made these doves. I always liked these little doves. Actually I liked all these little dolls, must be why I kept them around for so long. But, it's now time to make room for more things to come.

I looked for dates on the other two dolls, but apparently didn't mark these. I'll sign them before I let them go. I remember I used to hand sign the backs of the heads or on the back side or the back of a leg. The dolls are meant to be used for collector items, not for children's play toys. The garments are sewn on and are not meant to be removeable. Some of the stitching and small parts just are not recommended for children's playthings.

My etsy shop can be found by clicking on the sidebar where indicated, or click here at reenie581.etsy.com to see these and other current items I am selling.