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My little diver!

Chubby girls cuddle better :)

I am from the land down under...

Tiny couple

June

Hi my name is June!

I know mom will be mad, if she sees I am playing with my slingshot at home.

But why does she make one if I am not allowed to play with it?

Look at it, isn't it beautiful? The boys in the neighborhood told girls cannot have one, because it is for boys! Mom said they are idiots (She said, I should not tell them they are idiots though) and made me one.

I am dying to show them my new slingshot, but mom said I am sick and have to stay home couple of days 

For now I can only play inside and get ready for the big day!!!

Barkin

I had been having a hard time recently because of health problems. I was feeling down, was complaining, self pitying …

On one of those days, I went out for a walk. It was a very beautiful winter day, cold yet sunny, ground covered with snow… It was a perfect day. The park near to my place is huge and on the edge of it there are temporary refugee shelters. I saw the smoke coming out of the chimneys, but no person. It must be too cold for them, I thought to myself. There are thousands of refugees living in these houses for months now.

Then I realised how lucky I am, and how many reasons I have to be grateful. I do not live in a country where everything is bombed to ashes, I do not have to risk my children’s life on a creepy boat crossing the open seas looking for shelter. I am free, my family is free. And I wondered how easily we accept all these as granted.On that day, I decided to put a doll on auction. The income of the auction will be donated to a charity organisation helping refugees. Thus I started to work on Barkin. 

Barkin is a little Syrian boy. (He could have been from many other places in the world, as on nearly every continent there are families walking to a secure place with hope in their hearts.) His story is a sad one but a story about hope. Don’t you also think that Hope is something strange? We remember it only when everything goes wrong, than we hope everything will be better again. However, when everything goes well, we forget about hope. We don’t tend to hope everything keep being good. As I said already above, we take everything good mostly as granted. Yet hope is our strength to survive, it reminds us the good in everything and everyone. Hope makes us humans again, hoping and giving someone else hope. That’s why this story is a story about hope, a hopeful story.

Barkin (coincidentally his name means “traveller”) left his country with his sister, mom and dad, leaving grandparents behind. They didn’t have enough money for all, and grandpa didn’t want to leave his country. Grandma felt herself too old to walk through Turkey to the west coast, and she cannot swim either. So she was scared to cross the sea between Turkey and Greece. 

He took a picture of his family with grandparents on it and his little bunny with him. The bunny is not his favourite toy, but it is the smallest. Dad said they don’t have enough space, he should take only that what fits in his bag. His bag is small, thus he only could take the bunny, and the picture. More? No space for more, that’s it. His mother said, everything else they leave behind, they will carry in their hearts. Barkin’s bag is small but his heart is huge. There he can carry his family, his friends, his house, his garden, his teacher Ms. Amira his first and biggest love …

The way to Germany was long. But they made it. As they reached to Germany, he lost his family among the crowd. Germany is very big and he is small. He doesn’t speak German. German people are polite, they welcome him and all other refugees. But it is still not very cosy in the refugee shelters. Full of people, very often very loud. Thus Barkin wishes himself a loving family, a cosy home. He has always been an optimist. Although he is a bit scared, he is sure everything will be all right. He knows he will find his family and meet his grandparents again. He knows they will reach their aim, and they will be secure and free.

After walking all those days they finally reached the sea!

This is it so, the SEA! He hasn't seen the 

sea before. There was not even a lake where 

he was used to live. Is this not impressing!! 

Also scary? No, it is just beautiful. 

Blue till horizon and above that.

He found these woods left on the beach. 

He plays with them, pretending they are a raft.

His dad looks concerned, talking to himself: 

"Luckly our boat tonight will be a better one!"

Barkin! His story comes very soon. For now only a sneak peek.

Here are a couple of my little brooches

My daughter and I were working on our dolls' heads this weekend :)

This little rascal!!!

Simone is ready for the summer!

Guess what: it's a boy!

Here is a handful of pure love

My tiny dolly! She melts my heart 💖

I want babies!!! and am working on a new baby pattern.

We certainly need a new super hero and here is she: Suuuuper Super Lady!!!

When I was a child, our neighbours had a black doll. She sat on one of the shelves in their living room. I really died to play with her. I was not allowed to, neither the daughter of our neighbour. Someone brought the doll from abroad to her mom as a present, so it was very precious and special. 

Couple of years ago, a friend brought a black doll from Brazil as a gift to my daughter. She was unsure if my daughter would accept her, as the doll was black, and my daughter is not. I didn't understand why this should have been a problem. And it indeed wasn't.

My daughter loves her doll, which lives with her other dolls (boy, girl, black, white, pink haired, asian looking) in peace. 

I think children do not make any difference if a doll or a person is black or pink, or purple. I wish we adults would not think in these categories either.

As I was thinking about all these, I thought now it is time for a new super hero. This is the Super Lady. Her Super power is that you can try to cuddle her to death, she won't die. Millions of cuddles cannot destroy her!!!

Elif the Globetrotter is on her way to her new family

A Suitcase doll for the world travellers

Recently an expat mom contacted me. She was concerned about her 6 years old daughter, as they were about to change the country for the sixth time in her six years of life. The little girl naturally has been taking these moves hard, and the mother was thinking if a little dolly as a forever friend could offer her a little bit comfort throughout this situation.

I asked her for sometime to think, as in my opinion, she needed more than “a doll”. It had to be something special fitting to her situation, so that it really could help her.

I could understand the little girl’s feelings, as I left my home to go to a boarding scholl at the age of ten, spending many years moving in between. As I read her mail, I remembered my mom telling me, I was living in my suitcase all those years.

So that was it! A dolly living in a suitcase, who would move with her and accompany her in her travels around the world. Each time they move, she will also move in her suitcase home. She will have her own little dolly, her dog and additional clothes.

The presentation of a doll to a child must be in a special way too that the child accept it.

So I wrote a letter to the little girl from the Queen of the Elves’ Land, sending her the best elf of her world in a magical suitcase to accompany her and be her best friend. She has to put a stamp from each country or city they moved to on the suitcase, and when the suitcase is fully covered, it will turn into a magical gate to the Elves’ Land. 

The mother was overwhelmed with the whole idea. We will see how much comfort this suitcase doll project brings to this little girl’s life. I somehow have the feeling it will help a lot.

Now I am of course looking forward making more suitcase dolls for all those expat kids travelling around the world.