The Garden Maiden on my Etsy Wishlist

Photo by Nushkie

This Garden Maiden was created by Nushkie, one of my favorite sellers on Etsy. Nushkie's King Winter and Earth Angel are part of our Winter nature table, and if you follow the link, you'll see that one of Nushkie's little angels hangs above our Nativity scene as well. Recently, Lucia received one of Nushkie's blessing fairies to use as a marionette in her puppet-shows.

Times are hard for people, both financially and otherwise, and I've had to place a moratorium on any extra purchases while at the same time hoping that once my shop opens this Friday, others won't feel the same pinch. I learned years ago that just because I appreciated a thing of beauty, whether it be a shiny necklace or a cluster of flowers, it didn't mean I had to be in possession of it.

This mindset becomes more challenging with dolls, especially now that I have a daughter who actively plays, presents puppet-shows and tells stories with them. I think I've mentioned before how beloved dolls are alive, not in the way that people, animals and plants are alive, but in the way that we interact with them through storytelling and pretend play.

I wish the Garden Maiden could come to our home. I may stitch a "Lady Spring" doll for Lucia that's inspired by the Garden Maiden, but I'm confident that someone else who appreciates Nushkie's craftmanship will become smitten and bring the doll to his or her own nature table.

I can't believe that it's only three days until my own store opens! I am still stitching dolls in preparating for opening day. I'm pleased about the small elementals I've been coming up with. In addition to the basic four many people know (air, earth,fire,water), there is the fifth elemental of aether, I've come up with some specific interpretations: sand (earth), fog (water), bird child (air) and have been pondering the possible variations for fire. Foxfire is a possibility (though it's more related to earth, I suspect), as is smoke.