All Dolled Up for Christmas

I took a short break from drawing princesses, to finish my "Little House on the Prairie" Barbie outfits for three of my grand daughters. 


I'm not a particularly skilled seamstress, but I love the design phase of sewing.  I like the notion that "if a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing well," but I also believe anything constructive is worth taking a stab at even if you can't do it well.  I have known people who never sang, danced, spoke to a large group, skied or even played softball because they couldn't do it well enough.  That seems like kind of a shame.  I believe in setting a high standard and exercising the discipline to improve; but let's not overlook the possibility of just taking a shot and calling it good if it was a new experience and a fun impulse. 

I don't think my grandkids are going to be too critical, and I had a ton of fun sewing these tiny outfits.  I'm not going to enter them in the county fair.  I just want the kids to have some fun imagining that their Barbies are frontier girls way out on a distant prairie. 

It's midnight on Christmas Eve, and I am smiling, thinking of millions of very excited little children. 

Working on chemo drawings

I drew some preliminary sketches tonight, of a princess who is undergoing chemo. I really like this idea, suggested by a reader.  In this series, I want to include the drawing I started, below, of a princess being half-carried by her friends.  The princesses are having fun swinging their friend between them in her formal gown. The princess who is being treated for cancer is having the most fun of all in this scene. I will also include a princess with no hair in her royal bedroom, with all the imaginary elaborate trappings, with her friends sitting with her on her bed playing with their dolls.  Maybe I'll perch a cat on the bed with the girls.  The third drawing I am thinking of will be the princesses playing with wigs on forms.  I want to emphasize that the girl's friends will stand by her as she manages her treatment, and there will still be good times, even on the bad days.  She will still be the same princess and her friends will love her exactly as before.

 

Great Suggestions from Readers

A friend suggested we should add "marathon princesses," in honor of our webmaster who is a devoted runner.  We had so much fun with that drawing, another reader suggested something a bit more important:  "How about a princess with no hair, due to chemo?"  I thought that was such a great idea, I am definitely going to work on that next.  Most of our products result from a friend who is looking for something specific for her child or grandchild, and we are always excited to hear their great ideas.