Our First Fabulous Sponsor and a Giveaway!!!!

Today we'd like to give a big HUGE Twig and Toadstool Welcome to Rebecca of Handmaidencanada

Here are a few of Handmaidencanada's beautiful creations...

and oh...for the love of dolls!!!!

Please tell us a bit about yourself.

Rebecca: I live with my husband and 9 children in the "back woods" of Canada. I grew up here, and I love it. I love that I can sit out on my back porch in the early morning and hear silence. I love that I can walk down the road to a sparkling, clean lake to swim. I love the drama of the seasons. I love that I can see and feel God in His creation that surrounds me.

My father and mother both instilled in me a deep love for all things handmade. My dad was a luthier (built handmade guitars) until I was about 8 years old, and my mom was the type of mom who would make her own granola, hand-smock each one of us dresses for Easter, always had a knitting project on the go, and wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty in the garden. She had me sewing my first outfit when I was six years old. I'll never forget it...many seams sewn and then ripped out....and then sewn again. Did I mention she had the patience of a saint!?:)

Creativity was always encouraged. It was a very "organic" process. We had trunks of fabric scraps, yarn and craft supplies always at our disposal and we were encouraged to just try stuff. My mother would teach us the skills necessary, and then give us free reign to design and create. And of course she loved every single project even more than the last! A woman can always use another pot holder, right?!

Recycling or "upcycling" as some now call it, was and is just a part of life in a big family. Things are passed down...re-used and re-purposed. We often shop second hand. There is something so ultimately satisfying in taking someone else's "junk" and making it into something funky and useable all over again!

So my biggest passions in life, in a nutshell? My family, my God, the master creator, the beauty of nature, working with my hands and being creative and being a good steward with the resources I have been given.

What inspired you to open your Etsy shop "Handmaiden Canada"?

Rebecca: After six months of my husband being off work with ulcerative colitis and awaiting imminent surgery, and I with a little one still breastfeeding, I started to rack my brain, trying to think of a way I could continue to stay at home with my children and still make some sort of an income.

I have been a stay at home mom for the past 18 years, and though I'm so grateful I've had the opportunity to be home with my children during these tender years, I do feel I am a little behind, with very little "work experience" under my belt. Don't get me wrong...I have been WORKING...motherhood is definitely not for the faint of heart, but just not in ways that the world would necessarily recognize as valuable.

So what to do? I decided to start a business from the home. A friend of mine introduced me to the website www.etsy.com and the lightbulb went on!! This was something I could do! I opened a shop and called it Handmaiden Canada.

Now, what to sell? I started to experiment...I started knitting bags and then felting them, I then started making things with recycled, felted sweaters...then I sewed some things, then I discovered Waldorf Dolls!!

The ladies of Twig and Toadstool, Shanti and Maureen, actually gave me the idea to make Waldorf Dolls. I have always loved dolls. I think I actually played with them until I was about 12 years old. Shhh...don't tell anyone...everyone thought I was just dressing them for my younger sisters!

So I thought I'd give it a try.I ordered enough supplies to make 2 dolls, and I was hooked! What fun it was to dream up ideas for eye and hair colours, fabric combinations...oooh the possibilities were endless! I spent more than a few sleepless nights with visions of dollies dancing through my head. :)

I made those two, and then went on to order more supplies...and more and more dollies were born! Four have been sold to date. ;)

One beautiful thing that has come out of all of this, is that I am starting to see it turning into a family endeavour. My girls know how sew, how to attach the doll's hair and they can help with the stuffing, my husband does some of the shipping, my 14 year old son is great with the camera, all my kids are more computer savvy than I am (and love to give advice) and I have cute models of almost every size from age 1 to 17! It seems like a perfect fit. I look forward to seeing where things go.

Thank you Rebecca for telling us about yourself and your business...we wish you SO much success in this new endeavor of yours.

Now...onto the giveaway.  You can win this beautiful Waldorf doll, made with love by Handmaidencanada. 

To enter all you have to do is go pay a visit to the Handmaidencanada etsy shop...

and let us know what your favourite item is.

For two additional entries, become a "follower" on Rebecca's new blog Heartfelt Mama, or "like" her on

facebook.  You have until this Sunday at midnight to enter.  We'll announce the winner on Monday.
Good luck to all who enter

The winner is Rachel...we'll be in contact with you for your shipping info soon.
Thanks to all who entered.
(fyi...we use random.org to pick our giveaway winners)!

Thank you for helping us support such a great new business!!

xo maureen and shanti