By Christine Verstraete - Verstraete Miniatures Gallery

Swapke (pronounced swahp-kuh) is a cute little knit miniature doll from Holland who loves to visit people's dollhouses. (See bottom of page.) An old favorite, she is the Dutch equivalent of Raggedy Ann and Andy in this country. Many children had one of these dolls or learned to knit by making their own doll in various sizes. Thanks to her "mama" Marmod, this little doll has traveled across her homeland, has gone to Berlin, and now, by way of an introduction from a "real" doll and fellow miniaturist Kitty Balke, Swapke will be coming to the US for the first time.

Kitty and I (she's on the left) have been e-mailing and trading miniatures for at least 10 years and finally had the chance to meet in person when she and hubby, Jan, visited the US for the first time in 2005. We enjoyed working on miniatures, going shopping, (more minis of course!), and going to a dollhouse show and to museums despite the horrid heat wave then. We still enjoy trading and sharing online. (I'll be putting another new page up soon on bakery items - including our shared venture in cake making!)

Anyway, when she mentioned this little doll, "Swapke," I had to check it out. And seeing all the adventures this tiny doll had, like everyone else, I was hooked! So, I thought, why not invite her here? I actually didn't think my invitation would be taken seriously and really would have understood if her friends did not want to send her so far away. But they held a poll and voted yes.

So, the little miniature doll who leads what sounds like the ideal life, with tons of friends, lots of places to travel, no worries, and a measure of fame - she even has a website in her name, www.swapke.nl - is now packing her bags for her long trip.

I hope you enjoy her diary. Please sign the new guestbook link on this page only . Feel free to view my other dollhouse and miniatures pages while you are here. Thanks for stopping by! Chris

The Arrival! Fri, Aug. 4