Blessed Christmas & Happy New Year!

Hi!  Sorry it has been so long since I last posted here.  This is a busy time of year for most of us.  I can hardly believe that Christmas Day is only one week away. 

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Our's was especially nice.  I always look at Thanksgiving as the beginning of Christmas.  We always put our tree up on the first Saturday after Thanksgiving. 

We bought a new slim tree this year because our older one was just falling apart.  It's a little taller than the old one, but looks very similar.  I do believe the quality of this one is a bit better too.  I opted to use a quilt for the skirt this year instead of a coverlet.  

Due to time restraints and family coming and going, I decided to have Doll's Christmas early while I had time to enjoy it.  All of the dolls got wallpaper for their "shelf rooms."  I'm so glad to finally get this done. 

Sybil's room is small considering her height, but she doesn't mind sitting to play and read.   Maybe one day she will have a big enough room to stand  up in.   Sybil got a lovely ivory hand knitted shawl and an abacus to help her with her schooling.  As you can see from her room she already has plenty of toys.  She is also wearing her Christmas/Winter dress.  

Hitty Jane wanted a new dress form and this Christmas she finally got one.   This one was made from a Gail Wilson kit.  I found it on ebay already made and snagged it for her.  The photo is misleading because it looks too big for her, but it is indeed her size.   This dress form matches the one Hattie has.

For those who may not remember, this is Hattie.   I made her from a Gail Wilson Joel Ellis Doll Kit.  I did everything, except Gail painted the head for me.  One of the hardest crafty things I have ever done, but so worth it.  I was smart enough to order her a ready made dress and dress form when I ordered the kit.   

And last, but not least, Pia & Lexie are getting ready for Christmas.  They are wearing dresses made for Effanbee Patsy.  I got a Patsy Joan awhile back but decided not to keep her, but I saved the dresses because I like them so much.   These little ones continue to make me smile every day.

I will try to come back after New Years Day to show the other doll rooms.  Time is short today and I have lots to get done every day this week.  

Wishing you all Christmas Blessings and a very Happy New Year!  

Happy 200th Birthday, Izannah Walker!

She Was Supposed to Leave

I mentioned a few posts back about falling in love with the Wichtel dolls (pronounced "Wish-Tell"). I introduced Lexie, a doll made by Schildkrot for Rosemarie Muller, the creator of these dolls. She is the little redhead that I changed the eyes and wig on.  She was the only one I planned to keep after buying three in a very short period.  It was just too much, too fast.  The first one I sold, practically flew out the door!

Anyway, the doll above is Pia, an original handmade Wichtel doll made by Rosemarie Muller and her husband. I love her joyous face, but had decided to let her move on.  She was the most expensive and I really only needed one.  Well.....try as I might, her ebay listings had watchers, but no one bought her.  After several weeks of trying to find her a new home, I just decided to take her out of her box, just to make sure she was still okay in there.

Then I had an idea!  I decided to change her wig.  I liked her brown hair, but I thought maybe a change would be good.  So I tried a pale blonde wig I already had on her.  The light color brightened up her face and highlighted her eyes so much!   The wig did not exactly fit, so I found one I liked and ordered it.   When it arrived, I was very disappointed because the bangs looked like someone had chopped them.  But I decided to try it on for size, and to my amazement, it was PERFECT for her, chopped bangs and all!

Look how sweet she is now!  My plan was still to sell her, but now I don't know if I can.  Her short hair really becomes her and the color is amazing on her.  So for now, she will stay here with me until further notice.

Lexie is happy for Pia to be out of that box and back on the shelf with her.  Most days they are on my desk because I enjoy them so much.  They make me smile and tug on my heartstrings.

Changing the subject.....I hope everyone is okay after Hurricane Irma battered the southeast.   We got our share of her visiting us and thankfully she had lost strength by the time she got here.  Our yard is still a mess, but our power was restored pretty fast, compared to the last hurricane that came through here.

I have been praying for all affected by Irma, as well as Harvey, and all the other disasters going on in the world.  These are very difficult times for so many.   Please join me in prayer, and if you are able, please help by donating or giving a helping hand to those in need.

Sometimes we need to be a blessing to others, and in return, we too will be blessed.

Greta's Closet

I have had Greta for a few years, but bought her several years after she was first released.  In all that time, I rarely saw any dresses that were available back when she was new.  That all changed a couple of weeks ago.

Julie Old Crow, a Hitty doll artist, listed several small lots of them on ebay.  I just happened to see them at the right time and bought several of the lots.  After receiving them and Greta trying them on, we have weeded out a few, but are happy that she finally has some original dresses.

I wondered how I would store them and remembered that I had bought a small-ish dolly closet awhile back.  It was too small for what I wanted it for, but I'm glad I kept it.  It's a little big for Greta, but we are going to use it anyway.  There's room at the bottom for some other things.

So happy for all my doll blessings!

Dolls Need Dolls Too

Hi!  I hope this finds everyone happy and well.

I feel myself getting behind with blogging again, but life needs more of my attention than blogging these days.  My granddaughter started junior high over a week ago.  New school, new busing schedule, etc, etc.  Lots of little details to handle, but joyfully done.   She is a doll collector already, which pleases me very much.

On the subject of dolls....do your dolls have dolls of their own?   I think it's quite fun when dolls have their own special dolls and toys to play with.   Right before Sybil got home, I bought one of Sue Sizemore's little cloth Hitty dolls.  I have admired her dolls for quite some time and was happy to finally get one.

Isn't she lovely? This photo does not do her justice at all.  She is beautifully painted.   I decided to name her Hitty Sue, after her creator.   She arrived two days before Sybil on July 22, 2017.

Apparently Sybil likes her a lot.  Hitty Sue has become Sybil's own doll.   Hitty Sue borrowed one of Hitty Jane's dresses to almost match Sybil's pretty blue dress.   They look so sweet together.

Now Charlotte could not be left out.  I had just the perfect doll for her as well.  An 8 inch wooden Polly Shorrock doll I made from a kit awhile back.   I named her Tess.   Charlotte is pleased that Tess is wearing red.  Tess has lived here since December 4, 2015 and was an early Christmas present from my hubby that year.

Most recently two more little ones have come to live here.  Awhile back, one of my best dolly friends surprised me with a little cloth doll made by Jane Davies.  Soon after, I found another one and bought it.  My granddaughter loves these dolls very much, so I found another one just for her.  Last week, I spied two more one ebay and the price was too good to pass up.  So now we have a small group of these sweet dolls.

I re-dressed the first two.  Their original outfits are nice, but the sleeves are too long, which bothers me.   The one in the middle is a limited edition and she is wearing her original clothes and shoes.  Her dress & coat fit her much better than the other's.  We are waiting for two new dresses for the two on each end.  They are about six inches tall, have mohair wigs, and are jointed at the neck, shoulders and hips.  Left to Right, Millie, Mouse, Julia, Maddie and Livie.   Mouse is the one my friend sent to me.

So that's about it in my dolly world for now.  What's going on in your neck of the woods?

I hope to be back soon, as time permits.  Be blessed everybody!

Sybil ~ A Dream Come True

Sybil

In my last blog post, I told you about having a custom Izannah Walker Inspired doll made by one of my favorite doll artists.   This is Sybil, made for me by the very talented Jan Conwell.  She arrived home a little over a week ago, on July 24, 2017.   I am so pleased to have her.  She is better than I ever imagined!

She is 18 inches tall and petite.  She is very demure and has such a sweet face and an "almost smile." Her hands are so beautifully done and she has been given a light aged look, that I love.  Her eyes are a gorgeous blue.  Her creator even put a little gold ring on her finger as a surprise.

 Sybil has very pretty underpinnings with antique lace and a seasonal wardrobe and bonnet.  The dresses were something I very much wanted.  Changing my doll's outfits is one of my favorite things. I am borrowing Jan's photo to show her wardrobe. I hope you don't mind, Jan.   I didn't even think to take a photo of her dresses myself.  

I was allowed to choose the colors, and whether the sleeves were long or short.  Jan and Sybil picked out the fabrics.  I think they did a fine job and each dress turned out beautifully.  Her bonnet goes well with all four dresses.  

Doesn't she have such a serene, satisfied look about her?  I adore this girl!  She has gotten so many compliments from others who have seen her.

  

She also brought along with her, a sweet kitty.  It's made of the same pretty fabric as her blue dress. She "disappears" when she sits in Sybil's lap.
 

Sybil loves to read.  As a retired preschool teacher, this makes me happy.  I will no doubt find Sybil and Charlotte playing school with some of the other dolls who live here.

Her beautiful hands are so graceful.  I can't even imagine how difficult it must be to sculpt hands like this from cloth.   But then, I look at her face and I'm reminded that Jan Conwell is a master artisan.

Sybil loves animals and wanted her photo taken with my small collection of sheep.  I have a few others scattered about.  She fits in so well here.  Can you see her kitty?

I couldn't end this post without showing how well Sybil & Charlotte are getting along.  They have become instant best friends.   I love to see them sharing toys.

These are such sweet dolly blessings!   Thank you again Jan, for making my dream doll and her beautiful wardrobe.

Until next time, be blessed!

Greta

This blog post is from May 2014.  I looked for it and couldn't find it, so it must have gotten deleted by mistake.   I want to save this, so here I am writing about it again.

This is Greta.  She started life as a Robert Raikes Hope doll.  I really liked everything about her, except the cheap, straw-like wig she came with.  So I took it off and decided to make her one.

I got out my paper clay.  I sanded her head a little to make sure whatever I put on it would stick.   I'm not very skilled at sculpting, but felt I had nothing to lose in trying. After several attempts, I finally settled on a very simple style I could live with.
 

It looked messy, but after it dried overnight, I gently sanded down all the little burrs sticking up everywhere.  I was so excited to paint her new hair!

I mixed up a light red color and painted one coat and let it dry.  Then I antiqued it by wiping on brown oxide paint and quickly wiping it back off.  I left just enough to fill in all the little details of my "sculpting."  I love how doing this seems to make things "come to life."

When the oxide paint had cured overnight, I wrapped her up, covered her face and sealed her new hair with matte sealer.

I have to admit, I was so happy that it turned out so well. It's not perfect by far, but I love it.  She got new hair and a new name.  So long Hope.  Now meet Greta!

I really wanted to do this again someday and got my chance with a Madame Alexander 95th Anniversary Raggedy Ann Woodkin doll.  I do believe I blogged about this too.  It was much more difficult, but so happy that I did it.  Here's a quick photo so you can see how she turned out.  She also got a new name.....Woody Ann.  

I will be back soon to tell you about some very special new additions.  

Blessings to you!  

Long Time, No see!

It has been a long time since I last blogged.  Being busy is part of the reason, but also because I have bought several dolls that I was not satisfied after getting them.  Not really sure why, but they have come and already gone.

The one exception to this parade of comings and goings is Lexie.  She is a Wichtel doll, pronounced "Wish-Tell" made by Schildkrot for German artist Rosemarie Muller.  Rosemarie Muller also makes handmade dolls, which are even more beautiful and much more expensive.  I was so smitten that I bought three of these dolls, including one of Rosemarie's handmade dolls.  All are wonderful, but it was too many, too fast.  Lexie is the only one I have kept.  The Wichtel dolls have many different face sculpts.

Lexie started out as "Rosi" which is the Mio sculpt.  Above is how she looked brand new out of the box.  As cute as she was, I planned to change her when she got here.  I changed her wig and re-positioned her eyes to face forward.   She turned out exactly like I wanted.

This is Lexie now.   I love the changes.  She was very cute before, but now she is amazing.   I'm so glad I took a chance and made her into what I wanted her to be.  She is such a fun doll.

And so much fun to find cute outfits for.  A friend and I started a face book group for them and are having a lot of fun with other collectors.  We have over one hundred members already and some of them are seamstresses who make wonderful clothes for them.  Let's just say that Lexie has a lot of outfits and shoes already!  

She makes me smile.  If you would like more information about these dolls, please visit this link:

http://rose-puppenkunst.de/RoseWebsite/Willkommen.html

This is in German, but can be translated.   Enjoy! 

I have so much more to share, but will save it for another time.  I will try not to stay away so long again.

Be blessed!

Well, Hello There 2017!

Wow, it has been quite some time since I last blogged.  The months leading up to Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Day are always very busy.   Our family enjoyed all the holidays and I hope you all did as well.

I did add some dolls to my collection.  I have always had a special place in my heart for Raggedy Ann.  The first doll I remember having was a Raggedy Ann.  Several have come here to live.  All three are handmade one-of-a-kind dolls.  I will spare you all the details, and leave you with a cute photo of them.  This photo does not include Woody Ann, my custom wooden Raggedy.  She has a post devoted to her already.

This first month of 2017 is fading fast.  Time seems to go by so quickly these days.  I hope your New Year is wonderful  and blessed!