I mentioned in an earlier post that I joined Wendy of Ravenwood Whimzies Spring Doll Challenge… Well, I actually finished it! In good time no less.

I took Wendy’s doll pattern and reduced it to half the original size – I like smaller dolls.  She stands approximately 10″ tall. Since I still had the supplies for fairies out on my table, I decided to make my Spring Doll into a fairy, in pink.  She wears a pink and yellow petal skirt with a yellow felt tunic, pink shoes, and petaled acorn cap. Her hair is made of wool roving.  I inserted pipe cleaners in her arms and legs, which made stuffing easier since she is so small, and it had the added benefit of making her pose-able.  The only deviation from Wendys pattern is on her feet.  Since I reduced the size, I was unable to turn the foot part of the pattern after sewing.  As for her facial features, I went with an Edith Flack Ackley style.  She looks a bit serious, but she’s still cute ;). And here she is:

This doll was so much fun to make. Thank you Wendy for the challenge! …Doll #2 done!

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” – William Shakespeare ~ Romeo and Juliet

I have had wonderful and overwhelming comments from bloggers all over the world by participating in the OWOH Event. One comment in particular from Mervi of Finland made me do a double take. This is what she wrote:

nice to meet you via OWOH,
your blogname sounds “very ugly” in Finnish,
never tell it if you visit Finland! (hint), but you’ve
done such a beautiful things!
Lovely gift!

greetings;-))m

Initially, I was like, “what the heck?” and then my curiosity got the better of me and I had to google the meaning of Lutka in Finnish. Well, here is a link to the urban dictionary definition (my daughter kindly informed me that the urban dictionary is not always right): Lutka in Finnish. Needless to say, I burst out laughing! I told my DH about it, and he also thought it was hilarious. So, I will now clarify the reason I named my blog Lutka And Co. My husband originally comes from Croatia where they call dolls Lutka. I thought it sounded cute, and back when I made dolls(nearly two decades ago), I decided to call my doll making business Lutka And Co. I embellished the logo with cartoonish drawings of two boys and a girl(for my children). Although I currently make jewelry, I kept the name Lutka And Co as a business name. I am now getting back into dolls. I am slowly but surely working on my Izannah Walker Doll, and have a new interest in Blythe dolls. So, Mervi, thank you for enlightening me on the meaning of my blog name in Finnish. I will heed your advice and not bring it up if ever I should find myself travelling through Finland. I hope that the blog name will not disappoint unsuspecting Finnish gentlemen looking for “ladies of a certain persuasion”. They will come to my blog only to find a happily married middle aged mom making jewelry and playing with dolls 🙂 Here are some of my “Lutka’s” that I made in the past:

Oh, I have had some inquiries as to what a cockapoo is. To the left is our temperamental tiny toy poodle Koko, and to her right is Hiro our cockapoo(cocker spaniel/poodle mix) with his favorite rubber chicken toy.