Seed Beads

I am still waiting to receive my wool before I can start making dolls here in the US, but while I wait I am stocking up on my craft supplies. I have always loved beads and whenever I make dresses for the dolls I go a little crazy with my seed beads. I found a website here with a tantalizing selection. Getting these beads reminds me of buying candy when I was a child. All are from limabeads.

Praying and motherhood

                                                                                                            Bayezid Mosque, Istanbul 2008.

Motherhood has taught me many things in the 5 months I have been mother to Alia, but I never imagined that praying with my daughter would add such sweetness to the experience. Alia loves having physical contact all the time, during the day she likes to be held and at night she sleeps best snuggling up to me.

 At first I was daunted by this and I wondered what saying my prayers was going to be like when I was never on my own, would I be able to focus and connect with her there? I soon found that I was most present in my prayer if I held her during it, if I could hear her, but not see her I would constantly wonder if she was alright, and if she needed me. Now I hold her when I say my recitation, and put her down under my stomach when I prostate. After the prayer I sometimes say my dhikr walking around with her and sometimes sitting dangling a toy above her head. She loves it, and sometimes sings along to the sound of the Quran. When I prostate her little hands caress my clothes and the prayer carpet.

They say that angels gather around children and Alia makes my prayer more blessed then I could ever imagine she would.

Expert hands

Aunty N has given birth to nine children and it was awe inspiring watching her handle little Alia today. Her strong hands constantly following Alia's movement while chatting away, it was simply just second nature to her. It was a beautiful thing to see the effects of her loving maternal nature on Alia, who instinctively knew she was in a safe place.

Steiner doll supplies

My little family and I are spending the next three months in Washington D.C. with family and I have been getting supplies for what will hopefully be a productive summer. In my search I found some great sites on supplies.

I looked for pure mohair yarn for the hair for a long time without any luck. They were either the wrong colour or mixed with nylon. I finally found this great site that had the perfect kind of mohair for little fingers to play with:
 http://www.jimmybeanswool.com

The little bits and bobs, like strong thread for making the face and the cotton gauze I found on these two sites that have almost everything you need for the dolls: www.achildsdream.com, www.weirdollsandcrafts.com.

I have been wanting to order a few things from nearseanaturals, like their lovely organic lace and organic cotton thread. I also got, what looks like amazing organic wool stuffing for the dolls
, ahhh the cosiest, warmest smell in the world.