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Across the Fence:  Paperdolls to frame-need creative opinions please!  |
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Miss Bee Haven
True Blue Farmgirl
4331 Posts
Janice
Louisville/Irvington
Kentucky
USA
4331 Posts |
 Posted - Jan 06 2008 : 11:00:45 AM
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I finally got my new camera to let me transfer some photos! I bought these paperdolls from 2 different ebay dealers a couple of years ago. Originally, these dolls were published in book form- 7 x 11 inches on very heavy paper inside. There is a perforation close to the binding. I bought the book first, and it has some dolls/clothes cut out already and some intact. You can see on one page that there is staining on some. The book set did not include the main doll, the Little Colonel herself. About a month after I bought the first set, someone else put a few cutout dolls and clothes on ebay. They didn't know it, but one of the cutout dolls was the one I was missing-the Little Colonel! I need opinions about framing them. I'm thinking that I'll have each doll and her clothes framed one by one-this is going to be expensive - archival acid free, etc. Should I cut out the remaining intact clothes/dolls? Would the stained pages look better cut out? What to do? I have to get it right the first time. There are 9 or 10 dolls total.
   
 
I'm real sentimental about these paperdolls. These dolls(and the series of 'Little Colonel' books) are based on actual people who lived here in the early 1900's. The faces look real because the actual young people posed (I've seen photos of the girls standing in their 'shimmies' posing for Kate Matthews). Then watercolor paintings were made by another Kentucky woman artist. The books were based on those photos and paintings.
Farmgirl Sister #50
"If you think you've got it nailed down, then what's all that around it?"
'Br.Dave Gardner' |
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Nancy Gartenman
True Blue Farmgirl
9093 Posts
Nancy
West Seneca
New York
USA
9093 Posts |
Posted - Jan 06 2008 : 11:08:45 AM
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Janice,
Yea, what to do? Maybe a really big frame, something old, like a mirror might have been in, big enough that all the best ones would fit in the same picture. I see so many pretty and big frames at the thift and antique stores. Having them all in the same frame, or as many as you can get in there would look nice.
Nancy JO
www.Nancy-Jo.blogspot.com |
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pinkroses
True Blue Farmgirl
2350 Posts
Sheila
Virginia
USA
2350 Posts |
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kydeere40744
True Blue Farmgirl
1132 Posts
Jessica
Kentucky
USA
1132 Posts |
Posted - Jan 06 2008 : 7:13:48 PM
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Kohls Stores & Michaels have some really pretty Victorian picture frames. I would suggest putting them all in one big one or break them up. Put a grouping of say 4 of the same frame together - 2 on top, 2 on bottom on the wall. Hmmm...let me try of a few other ideas.
~Jessica in Kentucky & Miss Wilma's Niece~
Gardening is a way of showing that you believe in tomorrow... |
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KYgurlsrbest
True Blue Farmgirl
4853 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4853 Posts |
Posted - Jan 06 2008 : 8:01:24 PM
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Ok, so the dilemma is how to frame them--
I believe in keeping things as they are found. The staining only appears to be bad on the white day lawn dress, is that correct?--even if it's stained, I don't think I'd cut it. In fact, if it's individual, not part of a "set" of clothing, I wouldn't use it--perhaps I would put it behind the actual framing, like one puts childrens school photos chronoligically. I would definitely frame each doll with his/her clothing.
Farmgirl Sister #80, thanks to a very special farmgirl from the Bluegrass..."She was built like a watch, a study in balance ... with a neck and head so refined, like a drawing by DaVinci"...
NY Newsday sportswriter Bill Nack describing filly, Ruffian.
http://www.buyhandmade.org/ |
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Miss Bee Haven
True Blue Farmgirl
4331 Posts
Janice
Louisville/Irvington
Kentucky
USA
4331 Posts |
Posted - Jan 07 2008 : 06:45:36 AM
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I couldn't post all the pics of the dolls and clothing. There are really a LOT of outfits. There are 6 females and three males. There are more uncut pages, too. There are some repeats from the second batch I bought. I'm thinking of keeping the duplicates in an acid free box and sometimes, on rainy days, secretly PLAYING WITH them myself. I've always loved paperdolls. :) I wish they were either all uncut or all cut out. That makes it so much harder to decide what to do. I think it will look odd to have some in a frame cut out and some not. I will check Kohl's and Michaels. And of course, the thrift stores, too!
Farmgirl Sister #50
"If you think you've got it nailed down, then what's all that around it?"
'Br.Dave Gardner' |
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JessieMae
True Blue Farmgirl
702 Posts
Jessie
Raleigh
North Carolina
USA
702 Posts |
Posted - Jan 07 2008 : 10:59:15 AM
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| I did something similar to what you're doing a long time ago ago with paper dolls that were printed in a magazine - but only one doll and her clothes in each frame. I got a long, narrow frame, arranged the doll in the middle and some of her clothes on either side of her. I think I used a little sliver of sticky tape to hold them in place, which you probably wouldn't want to do with your nice antique pages. I did always swap out the clothes, though...the dolly was diplayed with winter clothes in winter, summer clothes in the summer, etc. |
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Miss Bee Haven
True Blue Farmgirl
4331 Posts
Janice
Louisville/Irvington
Kentucky
USA
4331 Posts |
Posted - Jan 07 2008 : 11:39:23 AM
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Thanks, Jessie. I like that long narrow idea.
Farmgirl Sister #50
"If you think you've got it nailed down, then what's all that around it?"
'Br.Dave Gardner' |
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queenofdreamsz4u
True Blue Farmgirl
3845 Posts
Stephanie Suzanne
Smoky Mountains Tennessee
USA
3845 Posts |
Posted - Jan 07 2008 : 6:52:18 PM
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Since this is for your personal pleasure only I would suggest making lazer copies of the originals on cardstock or other good quality papers and then you can do many different presentations with them.
My first thought was to start collecting those family collage picture frames (dollar stores, big lots, etc.) and cut the different dolls and clothing and have bits and pieces of all the dolls and clothes showing through each picture area.
The picture areas are usually all different sized. It would give a very artsy unique presentation and there's no end to how many different ones you can do using the lazer copies.
Stephanie
Farmgirl Sister #22
www.dreamkingdomdesigns.com
"hold close your inner child and always listen to the gentle whispers" ~queenofdreamsz
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Rebekka Mae
True Blue Farmgirl
965 Posts
Rebekka
Moscow
ID
USA
965 Posts |
Posted - Jan 07 2008 : 7:51:41 PM
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How about sandwiching them between two layers of glass so they are floating- then you can have it cut to your exact measurements by your local glass shop and you use little metal clips to keep them together. A friend of mine talked about doing this with hankies (9 I think in a 3 by 3 pattern)- so they would appear to be a grouping of nine hung pieces but it was really behind one sheet of glass. I hope that made sense;)
They are so sweet!
Rebekka
www.bebebella.etsy.com
As a woman I have no country. As a woman, my country is the whole world.
Virginia Woolf |
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Carol Sue
True Blue Farmgirl
4033 Posts
Carol Sue
Washingtonian
USA
4033 Posts |
Posted - Jan 07 2008 : 11:57:42 PM
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Janice,
Thanks for sharing the pictures, those are so awesome. I am inclined to say try the long narrow frames or the clear glass ones so you can see both sides, then you can just turn the frame and have a change. Those my girl are awesome.
listening to the quiet moments
Farmgirl #39
www.Quitemoments.blogspot.com |
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Amie C.
True Blue Farmgirl
2099 Posts
Finger Lakes Region
NY
2099 Posts |
Posted - Jan 08 2008 : 06:54:26 AM
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| Janice, I don't have any suggestions for framing, but I love the dolls. I have most of the Little Colonel books and I was aware that the characters were based on real people in the author's hometown, but I never knew they had posed for paper dolls. That's just amazing. |
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Miss Bee Haven
True Blue Farmgirl
4331 Posts
Janice
Louisville/Irvington
Kentucky
USA
4331 Posts |
Posted - Jan 08 2008 : 12:00:16 PM
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Amie - did you read the books when you were little? Which ones are you missing? I'll look for them when I'm thrifting/junking for you. There was even a second paperdoll book, focused on her friend, Mary Ware. I've had that one for about 35 years. It's uncut and is a first impression copy. There is a website(www.littlecolonel.com) connected to a historic house here in Louisville that has a museum dedicated to Annie Fellows Johnston. They are having a celebration of her life and work that I'm going to check out. I've collected memorabilia about her and her works since I was very young.
Farmgirl Sister #50
"If you think you've got it nailed down, then what's all that around it?"
'Br.Dave Gardner' |
Edited by - Miss Bee Haven on Jan 08 2008 12:29:27 PM |
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kydeere40744
True Blue Farmgirl
1132 Posts
Jessica
Kentucky
USA
1132 Posts |
Posted - Jan 08 2008 : 12:27:19 PM
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Ohhhhh Rebekka I love that idea with the floating frames!! That would be cute for a hankie or the dolls. Gosh, I find out the neatest ideas from ya'll!
~Jessica in Kentucky & Miss Wilma's Niece~
Gardening is a way of showing that you believe in tomorrow... |
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Amie C.
True Blue Farmgirl
2099 Posts
Finger Lakes Region
NY
2099 Posts |
Posted - Jan 08 2008 : 12:41:33 PM
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| I actually didn't read the books when I was little. I remember that there was a copy of The Little Colonel kicking around my mother's house, but for some reason I just never got into it. I think at the time I saw it I had just read the Elsie Dinsmore books and I couldn't stand any more of the casual racism/classism/sexism of the time period. As an adult, I have a more mature outlook on history and I've started collecting old children's books. I went to the link you posted and it turns out that there are several books I don't have. The Little Colonel's Hero, The Little Colonel in Arizona, The Little Colonel Bridesmaid, and The Little Colonel's Knight Comes Riding. And strangely enough, I don't have a copy of the original Little Colonel! I read it online and have never had the good luck to pick up a copy. |
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Across the Fence: Paperdolls to frame-need creative opinions please! |
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Paperdolls to frame-need creative opinions please!
