First Up, I've finally corraled all my duckies into a row: www.theolivesparrow.com I hope to see you there! Secondly, I am so honoured to have my dolls (and parts of myself) appear here: Maclean's Magazine Continue reading

Keagan was the second last custom doll for 2012. Instead of nattering on about him and all the adventures he will have, I'll just let the pictures of him speak... I took the following picture to show some of the textures in Keagans' outfit. When I design a doll, I always ensure that a child will have many different types... Continue reading

I have had a lot of requests for custom dolls in the past, due to my schedule, that was not possible on a regular basis. I have made custom dolls, but generally only for local customers. For 2012, however, I have decided to offer 4 custom dolls per month that can be shipped anywhere. If you are interested in getting... Continue reading

Wow, this is so exciting! Watch the video below to find out who is the winner of Mimi. Our son Huxley did us the honours playing good-luck fairy. I have sent the winner an e-mail, so that Mimi can make it on her way to her forever home. Wow, this was fun! Thank you to everybody who participated. I am... Continue reading

This is the last public event before the end of the year. If you haven't had a chance to come see me, perhaps this Sunday will work for you. Rima and I would love to see you! See you on Sunday! This will also be another chance for you to enter the contest to win "Mimi". I know that my... Continue reading

All through the fall I have quietly and not so quietly been working on a variety of Olive Sparrow Children to be offered at the fairs I was booked for and have talked about on this here blog. Quite a number of dolls have found their forever homes. Some of them being finished the night before a fair and never... Continue reading

The past 10 days have been a flurry of activities and lugging of the portable Olive Sparrow shop. I also got to meet with so many of you that have come and visited me at the fairs. Here is a bit of a recap to share with you. Friday and Saturday (Nov. 16 and 17) I had a large booth... Continue reading

At a Mayfair last year a little girl about 2 years old came by and insisted on holding one of my little dollies. She didn't want to let it go. This was my inspiration of producing a number of small (20 and 25 cm) dolls for little hands. These dolls feature very simple clothes, no small details and are perfect... Continue reading

The busy Christmas market season is starting on Friday. This year I will be participating in six fairs in and around Toronto. There will be new/additional items for each different fair. However, especially the Olive Sparrow Children are sold on a first come, first served basis. So if you would like to see the largest selection of dolls, I hope... Continue reading

This visit had some forever goodbyes some one-sided hellos from forever goodbye's of two years ago. Yet also there where some new hellos deepening of connections re-connections Holding Hugging tears laughter sharing future dreams long lost memories Circles closed circles opened. My Mami, my Mother Rosmarie Aebischer-Kästli, January 14 1934 - October 16, 2012 Her brain injury was part of... Continue reading

During a bike trip with Huxley last year we came across a small public park in a nook of town where I didn't expect there to be one. At the edge of the park where two trees heavily hung with what I thought where plums. I didn't have a chance to excamine them at the time as I had a... Continue reading

It takes a lot of time, trial and error to arrive at an Olive Sparrow Child whose body shape and proportions are visually right to my eyes. When I made my first dolls I used some of my old patterns from years past (as in patterns from the 80's) and traditional Waldorf doll patterns found in the standard instruction books.... Continue reading

Not to sound to repetitive, but due to a non-working hard drive, the one that had all my images, here is finally, finally a recap of the Felting Workshop from Loyalist college in Belleville July 12 - 15, 2012. I had a wonderful time and the pleasure of a super-nice group of students to work with. Preparing a workshop is... Continue reading

There is a new hard drive on my desk. YEAH!, finally a chance to process some images from this summer. I got up at 4 am yesterday (not as planned) and started to sort and adjust. Instead of waiting for perfection, here are the first few. How about starting off with pictures of some of our outings, wonderfully inspirational. First... Continue reading

Not only did my external hard drive give up its ghost, I have also been so busy working on the garden, walking, hanging out with my son and husband and scheming on goodies for the holiday fairs I am planning on attending. We've been blueberry picking with my in-laws and Huxley - which lead to the making of blueberry jam,... Continue reading

There are now only a few spots open for the wet-felting workshop that I will be teaching at Loyalist College In Belleville, Ontario from July 12 - 15. Here are the details: (Click on Image to see it larger) To register, please sign up here There is also a description in the Loyalist Summer Program on page 18 The cost... Continue reading

The shows I did a couple of weekends ago went well. It was lovely to meet so many new people and exhibit my work. I "hired' our son to be my helper for the day on Sunday. He was amazing! I still remember when I was pregnant that I just thought that our son would come along to the shows,... Continue reading

Time has slipped by me again - time that was busy with a trip to Montreal to deliver artwork to my agent, purchase paper for my art and seeing friends. I also dropped by Loyalist College where I will be teaching a 4-day wet-felting class in July to meet the lovely Heather Cockerline who I have been working with. Back... Continue reading

These images - the second batch of our wonderful March break week, was meant to be posted a few weeks back. Yet looking at the pix and processing them for this here blog made me realize how seasonally appropriate they are. Enjoy! At the farm of my friends co-worker and friend in Mount Albert, Ontario. Angora Goats and kids (2... Continue reading

Aa dear client requested if I could possibly make a small baby doll in a sling for her daughter's birthday. Although the deadline was very tight, timing worked out wonderful to create this little as of yet unnamed baby. She is about 9.5" or 25 cm tall. Cuddling in her sling. Wearing teeny-tiny diapers that close with little snaps. The... Continue reading

... finally some pictures of the first part of our March break outing as promised. We went north in the search of snow. We found some, although not the copious amounts what we had hopped for. Living within the seasons has been very challenging when the seasons don't play along. I take our winter books up from their storage downstairs... Continue reading