I wanted to say thanks for all your well wishes as I embark on the next step in my journey. Reading all your comments, texts and emails has made me feel unstoppable. I really can feel all of your support, love and well wishes – it makes me know I can do this and it’s […]
I have some pretty huge news. Huge for me – life change news kind of stuff. I’m closing down our Whippletree Studio in May and moving to Vancouver. Doll making will stay with the lovely sewing mama’s on the Island but myself, and my family are moving back to Vancouver. In case you aren’t familiar […]
You will be really missed over her but what a fantastic decision for you!
Bless you and Brandi in your new adventures. Two sweeter ladies I have never met.
K
Good luck, Christina! I’m glad things are working out for your family and Bamboletta. I love your dolls. They are adorable. I have never been able to buy one, but I was so inspired that I made two for my precious grandthings. Keep up the great work and take care.
Judy Rotruck
Thanks for sharing. Enjoy every minute of your new adventure!
Whippletree will miss you. Good luck to you and your family.
Congratulations on the changing of seasons in all of your lives. It sounds like the right paths for you all. I think the clarity, happiness and peace will show in the dolls beauty and life force. I pray for continued success personally and professionally for you all. Enjoy!
im sad that the store will be gone. I never did get to come over and experience it. But I am so very happy for you! I’ll get myself down to Granville island since its close. The dolls will still be there and we will all still LOVE Bamboletta and the way it makes hearts sing. And you – your heart will sing, too, being where you want to be. Serendipity, when it happens you have to follow the path to the joy it brings. And, well, there’s a chance now I just might be able to take a class with you. How awesome is that?!?
Wow! You’re amazing! I love the way you’ve come through it with excitement and joy and love that you’ll be closer doing fun stuff. Hopefully that means we will see more of you!
Wonderful things are in store for you, I just no it. Congratulations on a whole new amazing time in your life!
I can’t even say how excited I am for you! So many amazing changes to get you right where you want to be <3 It's pretty incredible when huge scary things happen that kinda knock the wind out of you and you're able to take a step back and see it's the universe giving you the push you have needed. Good luck with the move and all the changes to come C!
I love that this post conveys your emotion so well! Sounds like a big but great decision for you and your family! As someone who covets a Bamboletta for her little (who is so little it’s mostly for me), I’m sad that there will be fewer dolls, but happy that I can hear through your words just how happy this move will make you! All the best!
SO excited you are moving back to Vancouver. And a workshop?!?! Hooray!!! Please let me know if I can help in anyway. I’m in Deep Cove. I hope that doesn’t sound too stalkerish:). Congratulations and warmest wishes on your move.
Enjoy the journey!
Wow, I have loved everything about the way you handle yourself and your business from the get go. No doubt you will continue to inspire and find inspiration all along this journey called life, because you are so open to what you hold true! Thanks for being such a positive and shining example. xo, from a longtime fan in Wisconsin, USA.
My Dearest Christina.
I am so happy for you, John, the children and your family. It sounds like a dream come true that you are starting a new adventure. I am just so glad that David and I where able to visit the charming studio in Whipletree Junction. You are getting the opportunity to have the best of both worlds. I wish you all the wonderful things that life can hold. You are such a dear person. I am proud to call you my friend. Love and Hugs.
Heart in hand
This is so good. What a great example that there are no rules, and that you always get to do what feels right. Love it. Good luck in the next months 🙂
Hi Christina!
I am so happy that you and your family are moving back to vancouver. I wish you the best of luck in your new adventures. I hope we can get together when you are back in the city xoxo
Christina, Thank you for the opportunity to work with Bambalotta Dolls. I wish you all the bet in your future .
Maralyn
New beginnings are so exciting!! You are a special lady Christina Bamboletta and I feel lucky to know you and own so many of your precious dolls. ❤️❤️
knew you were an East Van gal at heart. Welcome back for good! Maybe you can do my hair when you move back to town
I am very happy for you !!! Its important to keep your passion alive, and to be close to your parents in their time of need. For you and for them. I hope to meet you and your
dolls at Granville Market.
Elaine Christina
I’m really sad i cannot just come by your little store and Visit and see the dolls.You will be missed i think less is good and it opens up more opportunities for you and your family. Family is so important. You will still visit the island and that’s good. Even though it may seem scary new beginnings can be fun and exciting. I love what your dolls have brOught to our Community.
Be blessed
Congratulations on this big change!!! I hope you experience so much peace through it all <3
I am just reading this now and I wanted to say, congratulations! I know it is all a huge adjustment and a huge change but it sounds so right for you and your family. I know you will thrive no matter what you do. <3
This post and this major life decision really resonate with me. My dad’s health is failing quickly and being two and half hours away (here in Ontario) with a toddler, job, and all the rest makes it hard to be a very big part of his life right now and that is emotionally very tough – especially as he is my last living parent.
I wholeheartedly applaud your decision to simplify for your family and kids and I wish you the best of luck with this big move.
I just recently learned of your dolls and am incredibly smitten with them. I look forward to hopefully buying one for my doll-obsessed little girl soon. Your work and craft are inspiring!
Im so happy for you! It will be amazing to see what adventures come from these changes! So exciting! Here’s to a new chapter of your story! ❤️
Wow, this is a big step! I am excited for you! I am worried for me that I won’t get my Little Buddy “fix” every once in awhile! But that’s me being selfish! I wish you all the best…you have brought so much joy to my family I wish the very best for yours! ❤️❤️❤️Becca Jennison ❤️❤️❤️
I was just reading Notes from a Blue Bike by Tsh Oxenreider…. So much good stuff in there about intentional living (as an aside, my I am so far away from that in my own chaotic working full time single mom of three young boys life right now, but I digress.). One thing she included was a parable about a Mexican fisherman. I googled and found it in many places on the internet, so with apologies I will copy and paste it here in case you have never seen it before. I think it perfectly sums up your current choice. Congratulations! I am sure it will go amazingly well. Enjoy your siestas, sipping wine, and playing the guitar… 😉
*******************
An American tourist was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked.
Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The tourist complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.
The Mexican replied, “Only a little while.”
The tourist then asked, “Why didn’t you stay out longer and catch more fish?”
The Mexican said, “With this I have more than enough to support my family’s needs.”
The tourist then asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”
The Mexican fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos, I have a full and busy life.”
The tourist scoffed, ” I can help you. You should spend more time fishing; and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat: With the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats. Eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor; eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You could leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then Los Angeles and eventually New York where you could run your ever-expanding enterprise.”
The Mexican fisherman asked, “But, how long will this all take?”
The tourist replied, “15 to 20 years.”
“But what then?” asked the Mexican.
The tourist laughed and said, “That’s the best part. When the time is right you would sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions.”
“Millions?…Then what?”
The American said, “Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos.”
I’m just now getting around to reading this. SO happy for you! I’ve never known anyone to suffer for having made the best decisions for their families. Thank you for having the courage to embrace the change and the faith to know that the shake ups meant that something different and better was coming! Congrats and here’s to a relatively easy move. ❤️
Hi Christine perhaps you do not remember me but I did some sewing for you and I loved it but unfortunately I could not set at my machine for long period of time so I had to quit , sorry you have to move and close your shop but I wish you the best in Vancouver all the luck to you and your family,you know the old saying when one door closes another one opens with better opportunities.
Best regards and good luck
Marie Hogan
hehe – Rebecca – still making LB’s – they are part of the ‘plan’ so you can still get your fix 🙂 xoxo
Dearest Christina,
Your dolls are THE most adorable I have ever seen. I have watched the “How a Bamboletta is Made” A LOT (catchy tune!) and sent it to many friends and family telling then THIS is what I would LOVE to do for the rest of my life. (if only I lived in Vancouver and not in Kingston, Ontario!)
YOU are the luckiest woman to have been given this gift from God to share with others, especially the children who receive these little treasures!
I have dreamed of being able to start a business like this as I am a talented seamstress as well but not sure how to begin and make enough money at it.
May God continue to guide you in your adventures!
Jan
Dearest Christina,
Your dolls are THE most adorable I have ever seen. I have watched the “How a Bamboletta is Made” A LOT (catchy tune!) and sent it to many friends and family telling then THIS is what I would LOVE to do for the rest of my life. (if only I lived in Vancouver and not in Kingston, Ontario!)
YOU are the luckiest woman to have been given this gift from God to share with others, especially the children who receive these little treasures!
I have dreamed of being able to start a business like this as I am a talented seamstress as well but not sure how to begin and be able to make enough money at it to pay the bills.
May God continue to guide you in your adventures!
Jan
Absolutely love the Hendrix quote. Definitely words to live by. The Cherokee legend story is spot on. 🙂
So glad you didn’t let the vortex suck you in, Christina! Your offering fewer Bamboletta dolls is much better than not having any new friends available for adoption. So glad your doll creating staff still have jobs and that you and your family get to enjoy being together in the big city! Great choices! : )
Christina, I have not been a part of your world for very long, but reading all of your sites and looking at all the photos and seeing the smiles on all the faces of each and every person that you deal with proves beyond a doubt what a wonderful person you are. I can not imagine how hard this decision was for you but I am so glad that you have the support you need for making it and making it work afterwards. And if you ever decide that you wanna keep moving south then come on down to my area in WV and we could get together another sewing family of ‘sewing mama’s” But while you are still up north, I wish you all of the good luck and best wishes possible. I love this picture of you, you kinda look like your Bamboletta’s, don’t ya think? Sweet smile, bright eyes yep i think so…lol. sending good thoughts, carla