dolly mail is the best mail...

I came home to a wonderful sight of not one or two packages, but three wonderful treats!  I had to bring Charlotte and Lizzie Jane out to help me carry them in!

It was actually Lizzie's first time outside... and she had a fun time exploring the garden!

Mostly everything in these big boxes was furniture!  Since I had only one chair and a growing family of girls, I turned to the 'bay to make my bookshelves more lounge-worthy for the girls...

We had one burgundy arm chair and the hutch from the top shelf already, but we added another matching arm chair and loveseat, two dining chairs, a coordinating hutch for the downstairs shelf... and a wardrobe that turned out to be a lot more ginormous than we imagined from ebay!  Annie Mesmer claimed it for her own, but she isn't sure yet if she wants to use it as a closet or move in!

Charlotte claimed dibs on the couch because she is the only one with sleep eyes who could really enjoy it!

We're thinking the bed that matches that spacious wardrobe will go to the new girl, James, who is on her way for my birthday present this July!  She has beautiful custom painted sunny yellow lids and will look very sweet tucked in for a good night's rest... now I have to make her a quilt!

The third package is a surprise, for the time being... I hope I can use it for the BK swap.  If there is the slimmest chance that anyone from BK is reading my humble blog... I urge you to vote for "Cool Britainnia" as the theme for the June swap... because I bought three of the coolest print fabrics ever for this theme and would SO love to make someone delightful swap goodies with a British Theme!

(Was that shameless?!  Oh well.  Seriously, the fabrics are to die for.  I promise!)

In other news, I am expecting my sewing machine back from the shop tomorrow or Thursday, all freshly tuned and sewing marvelously. I am so looking forward to its homecoming.

I have cut out 6 dresses and a blouse to sew when it is returned to me.  Also have visions of two more cute dresses to cute soon.

That's about all for now in dolly world.

Meet Lizzie Jane!

My lovely Rachel's Ribbon arrived last Thursday & I've been having too much fun with her this Memorial Day weekend to take the time to blog her arrival.  She is lovely!

She met the girls...

And she tried on lots of clothes!  We played with her hair and she moved into the same shelf as Charlotte.

Yesterday, I got all the girls together for a group shot to make a little signature in Blythe Kingdom Forum. It was color first... but then I switched it to black & white for fun... I like both versions...

Cherry Kim: I love my ICY!

 Here she is as she arrived - very serious!  But she wanted to try on some of the clothes that I've made her.

 

This one is her favorite & inspired her name "Cherry". 

 Also this vintage lace smock looks very cute, layered over her polka-dot pants.

 She's really a cutie-pie!

But she is also no-nonsense.  In the end she settled in with some Pistachio Libby black cigarette pants, her stock and Charlotte gave her a pair of glasses that she doesn't wear much these days.  The gun's in the bag!

A New Neighbor: Icy Liberation arrives!

She's here!  Just lifting her box out of the mailer... you could tell she was very cool!

 Her stock is amazingly detailed and really quirky! I carefully started to unpack all the bits and pieces...

 This was the bit that I was most excited and curious about!  She comes with a gun!  It's in a holster that straps to her belt and you can even cock it! (I think it's an automatic!)

 It was hard work getting out the box!  We take her coat off to unwind her pull string.  Nice to get some fresh air.

 Charlotte and Annie Mesmer say hi & Charlotte brings her old pull ring over because this "Angela" one is just silly for Little Kim. 

 Annie Mesmer really likes Little Kim's hat & hopes she might get a chance to borrow it one of these days!

 Little Kim moves in downstairs from Charlotte and Annie Mesmer, in the American History section to get acclimated with her new country.  She is relieved to find out about "The Communistic Societies of the United States". 

 Little Miss Revlon (from 1958) also moves downstairs.  She had been living in Charlotte and Annie's closet before... but even though it's more spacious downstairs, she isn't too sure about her new neighbor. Little Kim isn't sure about her either.

 But then they get to talking and they both have a lot to teach the other...

 Miss Wonder Mynte is just happy to have some new digs... she & Little Kim get along very well... and they noticed they both have a penchant for stars!

 Here they are, settling in after all the excitement... Little Kim is going to be pretty happy in Eugene.  Even happier once I make her a little red book!

Rachel's Ribbon has also arrived Stateside!

Ta da!  She's made it to So Cal to my friend's house and soon she will be on her way to me... I am sewing a big project for a friend (a very big project - quite opposite of the small-scale dolly sewing I have been doing lately!) and in exchange she is trading me a RaRi and and Icy Liberation... I am so excited... my dolly family is totally perfect now... with three girls coming in the next months.  WOW!

Charlotte gets a bob!

 

I have been thinking of giving Charlotte a bob for a long time, but I didn't have the courage to do it until tonight.  I am in love with her new look!  It's still a bit wet so it is kind of choppy and I didn't want to even it out any more until I could see what it looked like dry... since I know hair with a little curl in it tends to get shorter as it dries... and she does have a touch of curl.

When I did her first coif makeover with the additional rooting to thicken her hair, I washed her original hair in hot water and combed it out, with took most of the curl out - it also revealed how the ends of her hair were really rough and frizzy.  I treated her hair, added the new hair, did the Pucci collective ironing trick... overall it was a vast improvement, but the ends were still rough.  The bob is not only an adorable style that I admire on numerous dollies, it's also a solution to the frizz - now there are no more frizzy end bits... all her hair is sleek and shiny.  She just looks darling and I think the cut really suits her.  I am so happy.

In other news... I bought a custom doll today on layaway at Blythe Kingdom.  It was an impulse buy of sorts. Impulsive in the moment - but something I had been considering for a couple days.

I really don't need any more dollies... but I've often thought that I would like to have a custom someday and I have always adored Simply Mango's coloring. I think her coloring would lend itself really well to a kawaii style wardrobe - super bright colors, fun prints, and extravagant styles.  For my first stock girl, I couldn't stop dreaming of Simply Peppermint and I decided that I would rather spend just a little more than Mango to get her.  I'm quite happy I did - I love her as a stock girl and I realized that I would never be able to customize a girl I bought NRFB.  

I do like the look of many customs, though - so I have daydreamed that one day I might get one on Blythe Kingdom... mostly the ones I like are way out of my price range, but I always love to look at the "Princesses Needing Rescue" just because I love the photographs of all the beautiful girls... 

So I was on BK & I saw this really cool custom factory girl with a Mango scalp a little while ago.  Her customizations really seemed to fit with my idea of a kawaii girl. Her price was really fair, but still too much for me. Then she was reduced & there was a layaway option and I started thinking about her... imagining adopting her.  Still I thought it was maybe not a good idea. Yet, at the same time, I couldn't stop thinking about her & checking on her. The last time I checked her, she was reduced again! It was the kind of deal that I really hadn't seen & I wasn't put off by her little imperfections in the slightest.  I love the color of her eye chips & the beautiful highlights/lowlights in her hair, her faceup is bold and fun - with shiny lemon yellow eyelids and blue eyelashes!  She has fantastic details... I just love her. And she has a fun, spunky name - James.  

Can you tell that I love her already?!  So yes. Her creator agreed to the terms of the adoption & I started the layaway today. She will be ready for my birthday present in July! I am really happy.  I think she will totally complete my collection because she has the Mango scalp I like and she is a more extreme custom.  Unless I found a Goodwill Kenner or a Gentle River for a steal on BK, I pretty much have (or will soon have) all the girls I want... and I know that I want a family that is not too big, so I can really spend time with all my dolls and get to know each one of them. I am very happy about the new additions to my family and the way I'm bonding with Charlotte and Annie Mesmer as they each come into their own personalities!

vintage lace

Here are my first experiments with the vintage lace trims that I have been collecting.

I hand-stitched these... I have really been enjoying hand sewing lately... it's very meditative and relaxing.  The results are more unique.  Some might say "imperfect" due to the nuances of handwork, but I think they have more character, which particularly suits the vintage lace.