Two Sisters Studios

January 27 and the snow is falling and falling and falling...

2012-01-27T16:37:00.001-05:00

For those who like a softer, sweeter Santa, this might be the face you're looking for. (click on the picture to see larger images)

This is our Santa 5 (S5) face. He is exceptionally soft and kind. He is 18" tall, wearing a faded red coat of vintage felt with distressed white trim and carrying feather tree sprigs in his hand. His hand woven basket has a it of blue-grey tint and it contains a tiny doll, a block and a story book. Under his coat is his candy container.

~~He is available now~~ at $450. including postage within North America.

This Santa is sold. Thank you, C!

To order one similar to him, simply email: twosistersstudio@gmail.com

New Santa ready...

2012-01-22T18:41:00.001-05:00

Several of you have asked for a large Santa with straight woolen beard....

This Santa Candy Container is 26" tall. He wears a faded red flannel coat with antiqued white trim, carries a cloth toy pack in one hand and a feather tree with candle and glass ornaments in the other. Now available - $750. including shipping within North America.

Available now by emailing us: twosistersstudio@gmail.com

Two Sisters Studio Joins Studio Tour

2012-01-16T18:40:00.005-05:00

What an exciting way to start the new year! We have just been invited to join the Haliburton Studio Tour, the best known studio tour in Ontario. Our work has been seen by the jury and our studio approved, and we are thrilled! Potters, painters, weavers, jewelry makers, wood workers and sculptors have chosen to live in Haliburton County since the Group of Seven painted here in the early 1900s. The abundance of lakes, rocky outcrops and wilderness beauty is conducive to creativity and serenity. Artistic creation is a way of life in the region.
For the first two weekends in October, 28 studios open their doors to the public. It is the perfect time of year for people to visit, combining the last warm days with the spectacular Fall colours and an incredible selection of art.
For more information follow the link: Haliburton Studio Tour 2012
Mark your calendar:

September 29 and 30, 2012
Saturday & Sunday
10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

October 6 and 7, 2012
Thanksgiving Weekend
10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Have a Pig!

2011-12-29T14:13:00.001-05:00

In Germany, when someone is lucky, it is customary for them to say "Ich Habe Schwein Gehabt" which means "I had a pig." This expression dates back to earlier more difficult times, when you were fortunate if you had a pig to feed your family. Today, a traditional New Year's gift is a marzipan pig with a four-leaf clover in his mouth. The expression happy as a pig in clover signifies financial prosperity and well-being. This is simple agricultural reality, for pigs can live on pasture or subsist on farm waste and crop residues, they are very fertile and selling off piglets for fattening is a good source of income on marginal land. A farming family that keeps pigs will never lack for meat.

For this New Year we wish you all

Glucklisches Neuyahr

& hope you have a pig.

Our good luck New Year Santa on a pig is now available...$295. including shipping within North America. Email: twosistersstudio@gmail.com.

2011-12-22T12:35:00.000-05:00

This picture slideshow personalized with Smilebox

2011-12-18T16:49:00.003-05:00

You may imagine my surprise when I woke to the sound of a crane truck arriving at 7:00 AM yesterday morning! Thinking they were here to remove the dead tree from the neighbor's yard, I grumpily stomped downstairs to release the famous guard dogs, Molly & Smoke so they could promptly kiss the intruders to death. Much to my amazement, the men were setting up the truck in our yard, backing down the boat launch precariously close to our wonderful spruce. Finally I began to get the gist of the situation as the hundreds of yards of lights began to be unrolled....
Here is my sister's Christmas surprise gift to me and to all those who pass by~

The snow is flying inside...

2011-11-16T16:38:00.001-05:00

despite the unseasonably warm temperatures outside! St Nicholas is trudging through the flying mica. This 16" Santa candy container wears traditional black boots, blue pants and a faded red flannel coat. His beard is fur. He is stooped and walking with a stick. On his back he carries a hand woven beech toy pack. This is our latest Santa face and we are so happy with him! No one else has a mold for this face. We love his gentle demeanor. Even with his drooping eyebrows, he does not appear grim. He is now finished and ready to go to you.
SOLD - Thank you, S.!
For larger images, just click on the images below.

Christmas fills the studio once again!

2011-11-06T14:16:00.000-05:00

After a few weeks of playing with witches, pumpkins and veggie people, we're ready to get back to Father Christmas.....Santa....Belsnickle....Krampus!
Our first weekend project was this 13 1/2" Nodder, a rare fellow with very fine details, made in a nice cabinet size to tuck in with your collection.
This Nodder has everything going for him. He's a Belsnickle with brown molded coat trimmed with brown "fur" and snow splatters. He's a candy container that separates at the top of his boots. And he's a Nodder. In one hand he carries a candle to light the way and in his other hand a bundle of switches to warn the naughty children.

His face is well sculpted with a fine aquiline nose and lots of details in the beard and mustache. Note the unusual eye color, amber brown, and the rarely seen deep purple eyebrow & line colors

In his molded pockets are little dolls.

He wears a leather harness and carries his hand woven toy pack on his back. The colors we used are faithful to the original. Note the unusual periwinkle blue mittens and toque.
Our Nodder with molded toys is available now for $475 with free shipping in North America.
Simply email: twosistersstudio@gmail.com and we will send you a PayPal invoice.

You made our day!

2011-10-24T18:40:00.003-04:00

When you get an email like the one below, it makes every day seem more special!

"A TOTALLY AWESOME JOB ON THE BROWN SANTA!!!!!!!

It's as if you read my mind on every detail...... In your last email, i didn't realize that the doll in Santa's hand would be the original one you found.....I was amazed they made dolls so tiny and the story of how you came by it makes it all the more special.....THANK YOU AGAIN AND AGAIN." -O.W., North Carolina

Put her in a pumpkin shell,

2011-10-23T19:02:00.001-04:00

and there he kept her very well...
or so he thought!
There is no containing Granny Goodwitch! Here she is, a one-of-a-kind candy container, barely restrained by a pumpkin shell and sporting her black cat on her hat brim. Ready to come to you for $325. US Free shipping in North America. Just email: twosistersstudios@gmail.com and we will send you a PayPal invoice. SOLD - Thank you, J!

"Hi-Received the candy container today which also happens to be my birthday........I was so very pleased. She is even better than her picture and just an awesome example of your work. She looks super with antique Halloween items and that is surely because of the quality of your work. I really do love her and couldn't be more pleased. Thanks so much for making her and for making this a special birthday! -J.K."

Granny Goodwitch Rides Again!

2011-10-21T13:43:00.001-04:00

This time our happy witch is flying off on the back of a curious crow. In her hand a wee jack'o'lantern. This one-of-a-kind figure is now available: twosistersstudio@gmail.com
$325. US. Free shipping within North America. Payment via PayPal or Interac Transfer.

Sold - Thank-you, C!

He knows when you've been bad...

2011-10-14T14:57:00.001-04:00

ooohhh that very scary companion to St. Nicholas will be arriving on 6th December. Better watch out!
Each Krampus will be one-of-a-kind. Unlike our Santa candy containers, we do not offer custom orders on Krampus candy containers due to the fact that while we have a wide variety of vintage trims, they are in limited amounts.

18" Krampus candy container made of paper mache/composition. Fancy molded boots, fur covered body, golden horns, protruding tongue, black fur hair, crepe paper collar. SOLD Thank you, O!

18" Krampus candy container made of paper mache/composition. Fancy molded boots, fur covered body, black horns, protruding tongue, black fur hair, crepe paper collar, red and gold harness. For Sale: $500. + shipping (approx. 25.). twosistersstudio@gmail.com

2011-09-09T18:24:00.000-04:00

Recently, our good friend, Gordon issued us a challenge: to recreate the Russian-style Santa that was sold at auction a couple of years ago. Here he is!

Thank you for the creative challenge Gordon!

Now available...

2011-09-08T10:41:00.002-04:00

This 21" Santa candy container, featured in the

Early American Life Christmas Issue (page 57).

He wears a faded red flannel coat with a blue collar and white trim and snow splatters. His beard is rabbit fur. In one hand he carries an antique German china doll and in the other, goose feather sprigs with vintage glass ornaments. His woven toy pack is filled with tiny wooden toys from the Erzgebirge Region of Eastern Germany. He is one-of-a-kind. SOLD - Thank you, Virginia!

Santa Exhibit Opens in Soultz Haut Rhin, France

2011-09-04T15:06:00.002-04:00

We are so excited and pleased to announce our latest exhibit in France has now opened:
La Nef des Jouets - Toy Museum

Rue Jean Jaures,

Soultz Haut Rhin 68360

France

Santa Exhibit September 1, 2011 - January 15, 2012

The "Nave of Toys" is the brainchild of Joëlle and Jean-Richard Haeusser. Visitors here can enjoy a nostalgic journey into the fabulous world of their own childhood. Housed in a former commandery of the Sovereign Order of Malta, it is home to a huge collection of vintage and contemporary toys. Wax and rag dolls, clockwork toys, teddy bears and pressed sheet metal toys can be admired alongside wooden figures, models, lead soldiers and toy cars.

For more information about Soultz:

http://www.tourisme-alsace.com/en/museums/museums-toys-soultz.html

The Santa Exhibit is open now and will remain open until January 15, 2012

Our great appreciation goes to Samy Odin,

Musée de la Poupée-Paris,

who travelled to Soultz and mounted the exhibit for us!
Merci Beaucoup, Thank you, Muchas Gracias, Vielen Dank, 谢谢, Dank u, Ringraziarla Molto, ありがとう, Спасибо...millions of thanks Samy!

2011-08-25T16:17:00.000-04:00

19" Santa in brown felt, fur beard, carrying a goose-feather tree with vintage glass ornaments. Candy container under coat. SOLD - thank you B!

2011-08-17T16:08:00.004-04:00

Thank you, thank you! To all the people who worked so hard to give us all a wonderful week in New York, cudos to you! You did a great job - well done!
It was such fun to finally meet many of you who have been writing to us and buying from us since the beginning. Thank you for your encouragement and for your support. Thank you for your purchases during The Glow.
It was exciting to meet so many of you whose names we were familiar with (and a little daunting too!) How amazing to hear such nice comments from antique Santa collectors! Thank you!
The excitement didn't stop when the convention was over...
we got a letter from Early American Life magazine notifying us that we would be featured in their Holiday Issue and included in the Directory again this year.
After two weeks to unpack and tidy up, we are back at work and loving it more than ever, thanks to all the nice things that have happened this Summer.

Golden Glow of Christmas Past July 25-30, Hilton Rye Town, New York

2011-07-21T22:45:00.001-04:00

Off to New York for Two Sisters Studio... Anne will be attending the Golden Glow Convention for the first time and we couldn't be more excited! The weather has been hot outside, but inside the studio the snow (mica) has been flying. Looking forward to meeting many of you at the Rye Town Hilton next week. Back in the studio August 1.

(Sold)

2011-06-28T11:23:00.000-04:00


Number 1 Harkins Santa

After trying unsuccessfully to photograph his unique mica spots, we finally gave up and sent our latest project off to the charming collector who commissioned it. The excitement of waiting five days until it arrived was a lot like waiting for Christmas! You may imagine our delight when we received the letter below....

Dear Lynn & Anne,

I received my Santa's on Friday here at work after I had left for the day. I have just now had a chance to open them up and take them out and I can not say how pleased I am with not only my two belsnickels, but my polka dotted Santa is just perfect. The photos did not do him justice! You two did an incredible recreation of the antique piece - he would fit seamlessly into any collection of true antique Santa's. He will certainly be a stand out piece in my collection. I am very anxious to see how your other customers respond to him and how he is received at the Golden Glow Convention! Thank you two so much for taking on this project and putting your heart and soul into it - it shows in every way. I will have to keep my eyes open for other pieces to challenge you with!

My Sincerest thanks,

Gordon

2011-06-20T21:55:00.003-04:00

When our friend found a wonderful Santa on the Internet for $8000. and we realized we had the mold...temptation was more than we could resist! So after days in the dye pot and experiments with vintage felt, here is our latest Santa!

Studio Complete!

2011-05-20T20:04:00.000-04:00

We are sending out a big shout to Helmut Scharl for all the work he's done converting a cold, half finished garage into a bright and cozy studio. Complete but for the tiniest details, we are spending the long weekend working in our sunny new studio! Thanks to all of you for your patience while we muddled through this move. Our very patient contractor has made sure that everything in this house and studio is done the way it should be. Now we can't wait to get up in the morning and out to work!

We've Moved!

2011-03-02T18:40:00.000-05:00

The big day arrived even though we were not really ready. At 8am on a freezing February Sunday morning, the caravan of moving truck and cars departed Kleinburg for Algonquin Highlands, Anne with her car full of Santa molds, me with my car full of pets. With two restless dogs and two yowling cats, the 2 hour drive suddenly seemed much longer! Meanwhile, at the Algonquin end of the journey, our renovations were moving steadily forward but nowhere near ready for the arrival of two sisters, et al! We've all turned up the heat, literally and figuratively speaking, on the construction of the new studio. Our wonderful contractor is putting in long days and it is all beginning to take shape. In the meantime, we are in the other part of the house trying to make sense of all the boxes and what our rationale was in bringing everything with us????
To those of you waiting on orders - thank you for your patience.

La Retour de Pere Noel - Musee de la Poupee - Paris

2010-10-10T03:14:00.001-04:00

Work complete!

2010-10-05T03:06:00.001-04:00

Santa has arrived in Paris! The weather is gorgeous and not all like Christmas yet, so we are setting up the exhibit with the doors and windows wide open. So far, half way through unpacking the 27 cartons that were sent from Canada amid much enthusiastic response from the museum staff. Then of course, after our day's work, off to drink a kir along the sidewalk and watch the Parisians come and go. Ah, yes, life is good!

Early American Life Magazine

2010-09-10T16:25:00.001-04:00

How exciting is this!!!!! The Holiday Directory for Early American Life was just published and Two Sisters Studios is included. We are so thrilled!
http://www.ealonline.com/directory/artist.php?id=2344&date=2010h

Christmas in July

2010-07-13T11:52:00.001-04:00

With the fabulous collection of original molds we have, the variety of Santa Candy Containers we can make is almost infinite. All that is required is time and energy! Here are some of the Santas wo are almost ready to be packed and sent off to France and others who are going to Chicago.

Chicago, here we come.....just as soon as we get our toy packs prepaired.

Here are some of our Santa S3 fellows and one of the largest Santa S2 figures still waiting for hs coat and beard. He will be accompanied by his little friend, a K*R 114 pouty child.

Please email us for pricing or custom orders: twosistersstudio@gmail.com. It's never too soon to think about Christmas!

2010-05-20T18:20:00.004-04:00

Did you ever have one of those days when you just cannot settle on one thing? Must be the changing of the moon or something....we just dabbled here and there all day long. Some things are finally finished, but a lot more are just waiting. We discovered these great metal cars the other day, so Santa now has another car. Each one is a little different in color and loaded with various assortments of toys. $595. Available from: twosistersstudio@gmail.com

And just for something completely different, we made an A.T. candy container! She's just 11" tall and when you lift her up, you find a candy container under her coat. She is so cute! SOLD

2010-05-12T18:43:00.000-04:00

The most diminutive of our Belsnickles is 3 inches tall. Perfect for hanging on the tree, displaying with dolls or tying on a gift. They can have a wire loop for hanging, or not. They are available in almost any color we chose, all aged to perfection. $30 each or 4/$100. Email: twosistersstudio@gmail.com

2010-05-05T10:39:00.003-04:00

In my mind it was finished in no time....actually it wasn't done in time for pictures last night, so here is our Wednesday car show! The car is 18 1/2" long and 10" high, to the top of the windshield.
For information just email: twosistersstudio@gmail.com
Both Santas in cars sold. Thanks everyone!

2010-04-26T15:15:00.009-04:00

Icicles in April! What could make a Christmas collector happier? Several of you have asked if we will be offering Icicle Belsnickles and the answer is a resounding,YES! Here is the one we finished last night-
he is 15" (38cm) tall! His red coat is covered with mica and his beard is made of hand blown glass icicles. It takes between 40-50 unique icicles to make this Santa's beard, fitting them all side-by-side like a puzzle. SOLD, but we'll make them to order. Just email:twosistersstudio@gmail.com

In Hibernation

2010-03-16T18:37:00.000-04:00

I know, I know. Blogs are meant to be kept up on a regular basis in order that we can get news out in a timely fashion. Well, when the groundhog saw his shadow on February 2nd, he went back into his burrow and we went back into hibernation in the hopes that Spring would arrive promptly on March 21st. Really.
Well, not exactly. With one thing and another we've been swamped. Mostly with good things... like flying off to Paris to have a planning session with Le Musée de la Poupée regarding our upcoming exhibit! Wow! We are so thrilled and excited!
What an honour for us to be asked to do this special holiday exhibit, entitled Le retour du Père Noël or The Return of Father Christmas. The Grand Opening will be on October 9, 2010 and it will run through the holiday season, closing on January 9, 2011.
So, we were not really sleeping for the month of February, we were hibernating in our house and working like demons to get samples made to take to Paris. Lynn flew over with the samples last week and they were well received by the people at the museum. She arrived home last night with the news that the museum owner, Samy Odin, estimates that we will need approximately 300 pieces for the exhibit. When we started calculating how many days until the Grand Opening.... well, suffice to say, we have to get busy! In this preview photo you see our first ever icicle Santa. He is 19" tall, covered in white mica and with a beard of nearly 100 hand blown glass icicles. More later...

2010-02-02T18:30:00.004-05:00

I don't know what it is about brown, but my very favorite Santas are always dressed in brown, or to be more specific nutmeg. Then with the addition of a touch of blue, a little snow and a tiny white bird, he looks quite serene I think. Still snowing outside...http://www.etsy.com/shop/2sistersstudio

Suddenly last summer...

2010-01-02T14:42:00.000-05:00

After a period of adjustment to life without my partner, my sister Anne and I decided to combine households to enable us to enjoy early retirement, travel, books, music and simply being women of a certain age. When I met Kathy Patterson again, life suddenly changed in that surprising way it does every so often.

Now I admit, I am one of those people who is unskilled in the social art of small talk. I get easily bored with discussions of other people's pets and grandchildren. I think going out for lunch is a good way to ruin the whole day. I thrive on the company of creative energetic people. So when Kathy and I became reacquainted after three decades, we were both surprised and delighted to discover that we had even more in common now than we had years ago. Kathy was embarking on a new project, that of making wooden dolls. I was immersed in the doll world and thrilled to see her exceptional work! We lost touch with each other when Kathy sold her doll collection and in short order, began selling real estate, opened an antique shop, got married, had two babies and started making Santas. At the same time, I acquired two teenage step-children, went into business with my husband organizing trade and consumer shows, started a tour business, opened a doll hospital, started writing for trade magazines, selling antique dolls and traveling constantly to the US where I was highly involved with United Federation of Doll Clubs.
No wonder the years flew so quickly.

Kathy's Santa business grew until she was one of the best known artists in her field. But like all creative people she finally needed a complete change in her creative direction, so she stacked the Santa molds in the storage room, cleared the work table, put out her favorite carving tools and began. When I casually asked her how she was going to keep up with the demands of both businesses, she quickly decided that the Santa business was for sale. After consulting with my sister, we made an offer. Understanding that we had a passion for the product, Kathy accepted the offer and the obligation to teach us what she had spent twenty years learning.

Anne and I went ahead with our plans to combine households, but with a new twist: one-half of the house would become our studio. Anne made the trek from Winnipeg to Kleinburg in July and one week later we were at Kathy's having our first lessons. In August we moved the business to Kleinburg and our tutor has been coming here on a regular basis since then. Well, what is retirement anyway, but a chance to do the things you really love to do?