Doll Photos

 I am trying to take more pictures of my dolls! I try to spend five minutes a day now changing an outfit or taking a picture in the backyard. It helps. 

I don't have to wait to have enormous amounts of free time to do something with the dolls!

Jess looks gorgeous in everything. She is the Doll Most Likely to Be on Cover OF Vogue and Then Become a Therapist.

I got Gwen's dress at the thrift store for $14! I love it so much!

I am not sure which dress this is that Danielle is wearing, but it's giving me 1920s vibes.

I'm going to put it on Claudie and Phryne Valancy too,

Joss is ready for summer!

I think that the Squishmallow looks like Jip and would be perfect to pair with Samantha's modern dress.

Speaking of which, here is Astrid modeling Felicity's modern dress. I love it. I want all four of them at this point.

I am just concerned about how difficult it will be to repair them when the elastic wears out.

Saige and Sam are modelling Cowboy Cool, as always. 

Dolls at the Lake

 I took three dolls to the lake to get some pictures this weekend.

First up is American Girl Girl of the Year 2020.

Joss is happy to be at the lake, even if she couldn't go surfing.

Next is Ruby Red Fashion Friends Stella. She looks cute as always.

Then there is Ruby Red Create Your Dream Doll Jeanette. I just got her, as the dolls are on sale this month.

I love Jeannette's face. She has less pose-ability than other Ruby Red Fashion Friends, but that is reflected in the lower price point.

Her skin tone is a little odd. She looks very grey when she is next to other Ruby Red dolls.

It doesn't look that bad when she is on her own.

She is a little grey-ish here.

She looks fine in this picture!

Her clothes are all printed on cheap fabric, but again, I expected that from the low price point.

Snow Pictures

 I hope that everyone had a great holiday!

Here are some pictures of a few of my dolls enjoying the snow!

Stockings

"The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hope that St. Nicolaus soon would be there."

My friend Rose gave the me photo prompt "Stockings."

That led me to sew four stockings from felt, from a pattern by Lee and Pearl.

The resulting pictures are very cute!

More Autumn Leaves

 Here are some more pictures from the same photoshoot with autumn leaves.

Joss. This is one of my favorites really. I just think she looks really good here.

Anne

Joss

Anne

Hot Beverage

 One of my friends gave me some autumn themed photo prompts.

This photo prompt is for "hot beverages."

Joss is pleased to enjoy her hot cider and the lovely crisp autumn air!

Custom Tasha Doll from GBBO

 I was so excited when I saw that the Great British Bake Off has a Deaf baker this season.

Tasha looks like a very sweet and talented baker. I am very hearing impaired, so I love seeing the representation.

I decided impulsively that I wanted to make a custom doll of her. I wanted a blue eyed Joss mold with dark blonde hair.

I was really lucky. I was able to find a blue eyed Joss mold for sale.

This is the doll that I used as a base for Tasha. She has a straightened Caroline wig. I think she has modern Rapunzel vibes in this picture!

I found the perfect wig available at Zazou wigs. It was the last wig in this color.

Here's my first picture of Tasha the doll! With a picture of real Tasha next to her for comparison.

I need to make her a beige apron.

I look forward to watching this season of GBBO and cheering the real-life Tasha on.

I also look forward to spending time with my adorable new doll!

One thing to be aware of is that Tasha speaks British Sign Language. It is a totally different language than American Sign Language. I think it's sad that different English-speaking countries have different sign languages, which further isolates their Deaf speakers. 

Favorite AG Dolls

 I really should downsize my American Girl doll collection.

I am reluctant right now to sell even the dolls that I am not very bonded with, just because AG keeps making changes like putting an imprinted star on the dolls' foot.

Some dolls, however, I would never part with.

My two childhood dolls are Anne and Felicity. They are so special. They aren't going anywhere.

I am very careful with them and their collections. Each has a dedicated wardrobe that they don't share.

Anne, in particular, as an original Girl of Today #6, is super rare. She sold online recently for a thousand dollars. That makes me even more careful with her!

Fun Fact: Anne is named after Anne of Green Gables.

Samantha is the doll that I wanted as a kid and couldn't get. She's the first one that I bought as a newly minted adult.

Mara Frances is the first custom that I made, and she has such character. She always makes me happy.

I am also very attached to my Create Your Owns. They are all Jess molds. I love the Jess mold and I like to see more variation that AG makes with this mold.

Danielle is the first CYO that I designed (of two.) I love her! She has glasses and hearing aids.

Aurelie was the first CYO that I got at MCM!

Nadia also came from MCM.

As did Fern.

And Steffi.

Phryne Valancy is a 1920s CYO that I designed myself.

I adopted Cora from the mom of Super Inky!

I really want to do a group photo of my Jess mold CYOs some day!

I am also super attached to Girl of the Year Joss Kendrick. I really love her face mold, and I love that she is hearing impaired like me.

I am also falling more and more in love with Claudie lately. She has the sweetest face.

These are probably my top dolls, but they are almost all special to me in one way or the other. 

Striped Sunset Dress

 This striped dress was made from a  girl's dress at the thrift store.

I really love the colors. They remind me of sunset on a beach. I wanted to use it to make a beach dress for Joss.

I used the 123 Mulberry Street Drop Waist Pocket Tee Dress 18" Doll Clothes Pattern yet again for this one. 

This is one of my favorite doll dresses right now. I think it's pretty, and also sophisticated.

I know, I probably need to use more variety in patterns. And I will!

Pattern Review: Liberty Jane T-Shirt Variations

 I recently visited a thrift store that had baby clothes with slight flaws for sale for 30 cents each. The clothes maybe had a stain or had the former owner's initials marked in them. I bought a few pieces and turned them into doll clothes. The prices just don't get any better. 

This was a onesie made by Baby Gap. There was only enough fabric to make one piece of clothing. 

I knew what I wanted to do with it. I used the Liberty Jane T-Shirt Variation pattern from Pixie Faire to make a T-shirt with puffed sleeves.

The pattern was easy to follow and did not take long to sew. I was vey pleased with it.

I do like flowery, girly doll clothes, but this has a classic look that works well with modern clothing.

A friend said that the fabric reminded her of Liberty of London, which I thought was a great compliment.

Joss and Maritza at the Beach

 I do love some beach pictures.

I took some pictures of the face mold twins, Joss and Maritza, at the beach!

It was rather a windy day, and the sky was very dramatic. 

Comparison Pictures

 I took a couple of comparison pictures with the MCM dolls.

Here is Maritza with Joss.

It's just interesting to me because they have the same face mold, but they have very different facial expressions. 

I think it's in the eyebrows. I originally thought that Maritza's eyebrows were further down on her face, but this picture just shows that they are a very different shape.

Her lips also seem to be painted a slightly different shape.

I also took a picture comparing my Kaya, on the left, with the new Kaya, on the right.

They look very different! The shape of their faces even seems different. The new Kaya seems to have a much rounder face.