handmade. with love.

Oh boy oh boy oh boy!

I'm so excited to tell you all that I am about to be SO busy! It seems like all of a sudden Bohemme Handmade is lifting off the ground- finally!

I have four custom dolls I will be working on in the next few weeks. One of them is going to a website called Eco-Babyz for Anastasia to review. I'm so excited and nervous about that one. I hope she (and her daughter) love it!! Another is going to my best friend in the entire world, Jill. She's giving it as a birthday gift to a very special little girl. I'm really, really, super, really, very excited (as Emme would say) to be making this doll for her!

I'm also going to be working on developing two new products in the coming weeks. The first is a "baby-lovey." Basically, it will be a Waldorf baby doll for babies. It's body will be soft, like a bunting baby, and great for teething babes to chew on. It will look a lot like my Waldorf dolls in the face, but will have a little stitched on hat instead of hair. I'm trying to keep this lovey around $30 and 100% Vegan, allergy-friendly and machine washable.

The second new product I'm going to be working on is a line of rustic, "Farm House" Waldorf dolls at a $50 price point. One thing I've heard and read over and over since I was introduced to Waldorf dolls is that they are beautiful, but "too expensive." As we all know, Waldorf dolls are expensive because the materials are costly and they take a lot of time and attention to make. My idea is to make a high quality Waldorf doll at a lower price point by cutting down on the amount of supplies I use and the amount of time it takes to make the doll. Please know that I will still be using the SAME supplies, just less of them per doll. My hope is that these dolls will be a lovely way for families to enter the Waldorf doll world. Think of them as a "starter Waldorf doll." They will also have no buttons so they will perfect for toddlers.These are going to be beautiful Christmas/Holiday gifts!

With colder weather on the way, I also want to let you know that I will be putting a few adorable, hand-knit scarves and hats for children in my Etsy shop. Look for those around the beginning/middle-ish of October. I know that I always have a hard time finding cute hats and scarves for Emme in colors and styles that I actually like. Look for me to use colors like dark purple, pale pink, slate grey, very light blue, pumpkin, grass green and cranberry.

Whew. So, yes. I have a lot going on right now! I'm really excited about what the future is looking like for Bohemme Handmade. Thank you all very much for following along with me on this adventure!

Oh, and by the way, since I never officially announced it on the blog: I'm also very busy growing another baby! This one is due around the middle of March and we are SO excited! Number three will complete our little family. I would just like to say kudos to my uterus for it's outstanding ability to grow babies. ;)

With Love,
Rachel

New hair colors: gorgeous mixes!

So I was out and about getting supplies earlier and lo and behold, what did I see?? NEW COLORS OF MY FAVORITE YARN!!

I was so excited that I almost jumped up and down.
OK.
I did jump up and down.

Anyhoo, here they are in all their gorgeous glory: the new color mixes!

French Vanilla: a mix of cream and shades of brown

Mocha: a mix of warm and cool brown shades

Berry Jam: a mix of berry red, deep purple, and warm brown

Wildflowers: A mix of pink, mauve, white, light green and red-orange

Petits Fours: A mix of pinks, purples and greens

Limeade: A mix of light greens and cream

Curacao: A mix of cool greens and blues

Little Blue Shoes

This sweet little dolly is for a very special little girl's birthday. The doll turned out so cute! Have a look!

Little Miss Paisley's Dolly : Custom Waldorf Doll

I had so much fun making this custom dolly! She's dressed in purple (my fave!) and she is just so sweet. She's meant for the baby of a girl I went to school with. Since I've never met Baby Paisley, I had to model the dolly after her Mama, and I have to say, I think she looks beautiful!!
She's just about ready to go home; I'm still working on her cutie-pie dolly shoes. She should be ready tomorrow!
Enjoy the pictures!

Little Lucy : Charity Benefit Waldorf Doll

My Aunt-in-Law is helping to organize a benefit for her friend Lucy who has been diagnosed with Lymphoma. I made this 16" doll especially for this occasion to sell in their silent auction. So, without further ado, I'd like to introduce you to "Little Lucy."

And look who it is!!! It's SUNNY!!!

Warning: Shameless plug ahead!!!

SUNNY is still available! She is an 18" Waldorf doll available in my Etsy shop!

Sunny is ready to spend the summer with her new best friend!

♥ She is ready to ship TODAY!! ♥

New Etsy Address!

Hello Friends! I have officially moved my Etsy shop to its new address as of this morning. The reason for the change is that my old address (bohobebe.etsy.com) was a little confusing and hard to find. So the new address is:

www.bohemmehandmade.etsy.com

Bookmark it if you want! The links on the "shop" page will also take straight to the new shop as well.

Happy Monday!

With love.
Rachel

Meet Sunny!

Here she is! Sunny is Ready to Rock! Click HERE for more information or to buy!

Questions? Email me: Rachel@Bohemme.com

Thirsty Thursday.

Big news folks! The cotton/bamboo dolls are WASHABLE!! I still have a little bit of wool yarn to use up on a couple of Ready to Rock dolls, but after that, I'm only going to be using bamboo and cotton. The benefits of bamboo far outweigh wool (to me) when it comes to doll-making and I think when you hold these dolls you'll agree. I spent my day yesterday shopping for cotton and bamboo hair yarn and I've added the new color selection to the "Dolls" page so take a look! I'm still looking for a cute, non-wool boucle to use for curly hair.
Taking a day off today. We have a play date this morning and then I'm getting my hair did this afternoon. Spending some much needed time with my sweetie this evening because I've missed him the last few days. He's been bringing home the bacon in Memphis. =D
I'll be working a little tomorrow and posting pictures of my progress. I have two Ready to Rock dolls I'm gonna be working on over the next week. One is going to be a sweet little vanilla blonde cutie in a pink dress and the other will have butterscotch hair with an adorable Robin's egg blue dress.
Progress might be slow because my brother's wedding (!!!) is next weekend and we have family arriving this Sunday. SOOOO excited! It's going to be a fun week. Minus the Riley appointment next Friday.

Ta Ta For Now!!!

With love,

Rachel

Little Red Shoes

The custom doll I've been working on is done! And, that's about all I've gotten done! haha! Between teething and temper tantrums, I've had my hands full today. Whew!
So, without further ado, here she is. I don't really think it's my place to name custom dolls, so I'll call her Little Red Shoes until her new owner names her. Her hair is Espresso in color with Strawberry Milkshake "highlights." Her hair is made from super soft, 100% organic cotton and her body is stuffed with fluffy, ecofriendly bamboo. She's wearing a cotton dress from Miss Sissy and Bohemme Handmade original, one of a kind shoes. Enjoy the pics!

another Manic Monday...

Well, not really. But it is Monday!

I've been feverishly working on my custom order the last few days. She is almost done and should be out for "delivery" tomorrow.

What I'm working on today:

Finishing up my custom waldorf doll order. Attaching all her parts and making some sweet little shoes.

Waiting on some sweet little leggins. My beautiful wonderful fab Mama is trying her hand at creating and is working on some dolly clothes for me. Her first task was to make me some little red leggins for the custom doll. Should be c.u.t.e.

Testing out something very exciting (in terms of Waldorf dolls.) Most Waldorfs are made almost entirely of wool and cannot be machine washed. It's probably the only thing parents don't like about them. I am working today on finding out if a doll made of organic cotton and bamboo can be put in the washing machine. If so, I will be the only Waldorf doll maker (that I am aware of) selling machine-washable Waldorf dolls! The other great thing about organic cotton and bamboo is that they are much, much softer than wool.

I bought some burlap and a doll stand the other day to use for new product pictures. I'm going to work on taking new, pretty pictures today. They say that on Etsy, the better your pictures are, the more you'll get noticed. It's totally true. Spend a few minutes (or hours) on Etsy browsing and you'll see what I mean.

Which reminds me, I am spending way too much time browsing through the creations on Etsy. It is so inspiring to see what other people dream up! It just fills my cup to see all of the beauty that is inside us all, just waiting to be brought to life. Etsy is such an amazing place; it's so neat to be involved in a community of creative, kind and enthusiastic artists. I literally haven't met one person on Etsy that I wouldn't want to be BFFs with. They are all just so awesome!

Ta Ta For Now!

♥
Rachel

Giveitaway, giveitaway, give it away now!

When this blog reaches 200 followers AND the bohemme handmade Facebook fan page reaches 200 "likes" I am going to GIVE AWAY A CUSTOM DOLL!!

No joke! Tell your family. Tell your friends. Tell your best friend's brother's girlfriend's cousin! I don't care who you tell, just get bohemme handmade to 200!!

p.s. To follow this blog (and like us on Facebook) scroll aaaaaall the way to the bottom of this page!)

Happy Mothers Day to...

all of the marvelous mommies in my life, especially this one!!

"A little girl, asked where her home was, replied, "where mother is." ~Keith L. Brooks

Thank you, Mom, for being there. Always. No matter what.
Thank you for being selfless and forgiving to a fault.
Thank you for holding my hand and crying with me as I worried about my own children.
Thank you for being genuine and always true to yourself.
You are a great mother and an even better friend.

I love you!
Rachel

I know a little girl...

I know a special little girl who will be celebrating her 2nd birthday very soon. Someone who loves her very much has decided to give her a custom Bohemme doll to celebrate! I'm thrilled and honored that she asked me to do this for her.
I found this amazing organic cotton yarn for her hair last night. It is so soft (I mean, unbelievably soft!)and a really lovely espresso color.

And... I ordered this beautiful and bright dress from Miss Sissy yesterday. I'm praying it arrives in time! I'm thinking either green or red shoes with a little flower on them, but we'll just have to see what happens!

busy little bee!

Is what I have been! I've been working hard on increasing my web presence the last two days. It's a lot more work than I imagined!! I've added some new functionality to this site as well!

If you click on the Shop tab above, you'll notice that you can now click directly through to my items listed on Etsy. Very cool.

I've also added a Favorites tab to include all of the vendors, designers, creators, etc. that I use to run Bohemme Handmade. I think it's nice to know where things come from. I really ♥ all of these businesses/designers.

Finally, I'm looking for arts and crafts shows in the Indiana/Kentucky/SoIL area. I would really like to table at a few shows to drum up some custom orders!! I'll also take several ready-to-rock dolls to share. If anyone knows of any shows this summer or fall, please comment!

Much love!
Rachel

and here she is!

By chance, Dizzy Miss Lizzy is finished before Prudence! Here she is in all her fiesty glory:

I'm having some, ahem, issues with Prudence. I didn't like the way her eyes turned out and I'm trying to rework them. I'm also adding some extra stuffing because she was lookin' kinda skinny! HA!
She should be done by this evening.
Next up, a lovely little brunette named Opal with light blue eyes. Check back later for a post on my inspiration for her.