A few more details and sweet Thumbelina will finally get to share a bit of her whimsical nature with you all. A spicy holiday, and a short trip up north, are the culprit delays. She also mentioned to me something in regard wanting to spend more time at home, primping her mattress I assume, before she had to embark on the long journey ahead of her. I always try to listen to my dolls' requests, and I am not about to start changing things around here.
Thumbelina is a doll made under a series I have called Story Time. All the dolls are heavily inspired by deep and classic fairy tales, stories that speak to children and to all of us. Stories that perhaps have a bit of a dark side, like in real life, but that teach important aspects about human nature and about the qualities we want to instill in our children. I have always loved fairy tales, even with their "scary" aspects, things I wasn't comfortable then but that now, much older, I seem to understand a bit better. I dont like it very much when fairy tales are altered, because I believe that you take away their magic, the underlying aspect that binds the tale, the glue that supports the nature of their very intrinsic theme and you end up with a story that has less power, less archetypical appeal. Something demistified, a story with less substance and less power.
I once read that bards and storytellers of old time weren't comfortable telling someone else's story without their permission. That in telling the story, you take something of it yourself, and perhaps put something in it as well. That some stories must be read, and others must be sung. I believe so strongly in the power of storytelling, of weaving magic through tales, and I love the wonder I can see in my daughters' eyes when we tell them stories, especially fairy tales.
With those sentiments in mind, I have been creating these series of dolls, inspired by specific fairy tales, so that perhaps you can retell their story to your loved ones, or perhaps you can go back in time, to the moment when you were a child and the magic of a story lived within you. When you dreamed you were so small that you slept inside a walnut, or so beautiful that a queen tried to poison you with an apple, or so lucky that you found a house entirely made out of sweets and gingerbread. Good times!
As usual, my Story Time dolls are all of the 9" tall nature, and they have all been auctioned to contribute via your generosity to the work of Care.org. As soon as Thumbelina decides what to do about her shoes, we will then let you all know the time and place of her auction. Thank you for not only supporting my work, but for keeping storytelling alive.