An Invitation: Join me for a wee, tiny peg-folk exchange

...Goldie got out her paints and carefully mixed a flesh color for the doll. She covered its face, neck, and ears, its arms and hands with the rosy tan paint, and then waited for it to dry.

As the day went on, Goldie ate buns and drank tea, and painted the doll's curls a glossy dark brown. She painted a white camisole and matching knickers on the doll's body, gray stockings on her legs and pretty black shoes on her feet. Then she painted a little gleaming black eye on either side of the doll's nose and finally, holding it firmly around the waist with one hand, Goldie smiled and smiled into the doll's eyes in the friendliest, sweetest way, and she painted a smile right back to herself on the little doll's face.

From Goldie the Dollmaker by M. B. Goffstein

For a craft swap this past autumn I created a little sprite and became hooked on making peg-dolls... It's amazing how such tiny dolls can tell such big stories!

And so I have dreamed up a swap... I hope you will dive into your imagination and join me.

For this swap each participant will be in a swap group of 5 or 6 (so each participant will send and receive 4 or 5 dolls.) Once swap-groups are allocated, you may mail the dolls you create directly to your swap partners and they will be mailing dolls directly to you.

Along with each doll, please include a poem or story which might have inspired you to create your dolls... Inspiration can come to us in so many ways... It can come from the seasons in nature, from the poetry & stories we read... Or perhaps you would like to create your dolls and then let them whisper into your ear (and into your dreams) their own new & original stories.

Will you be inspired by a season? (Autumn woodland scene by Wee Folk Art...)

Will you be inspired by a story? (Inspired by Elsa Beskow's book Peter in Blueberry Land, Sara of Paper and Cloth created doll-versions of Peter & his friend Blueberry Boy.)

This swap is open to all who are interested. It's likely there will be a large number of participants from a variety of countries so please be prepared to post your dolls overseas! The main requirement is the dolls you send should be handmade my you with love and care (no prior crafting skills or experiences are required.)

Any shape wooden doll base 3 1/2 inches (9cm) or smaller may be used. You can see the simple wooden doll-bases I've used in my photos... You might also use gnome doll bases or small wooden finger puppet bases, however, please do not use the tall "clothes-pin" type wooden bases.

The swap opens today, February 20, 2011. Sign-ups will close March 2nd and ideally dolls will be put in the post by March 14 so they arrive in time for the Spring Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere or Autumnal Equinox in the Southern Hemisphere. Partners will be allocated as soon as sign-ups close, but if you are concerned about having enough time to create your dolls, you may start creating right away!

If you would like to participate, please send an email to me: margaret(at)flyingteapot(dot) com. In your email please be sure to include your name, mailing address, email address & blog URL (if you have one.)

Over the next two days I will be posting tutorials and links for further ideas and inspiration (such as a link to Shannon at Rhythm & Rhyme to make a tiny daffodil hat!) Please come back and have a look... And feel free to email me with any thoughts or questions you might have!

I hope this will be a chance to meet and inspire new friends through a poem, a story, through a small doll, brought forth from your dreams & imagination...

** Sign-ups for this swap are now closed. Please have a look here if you'd like to seephotos of dolls made by participants in the swap **