Monday's child is fair of face.

Here she is, my Linda Macario Iris! She's wearing a 6 month size baby sleeper at the moment, which is to keep her clothed and warm while I make her some clothes that fit and suit her better. Her eyes are a light blue glass, and her hair is a Monique auburn human hair wig. She's settling in pretty well, although I don't know her name yet. She's too shy right now to tell me.

She and Holly, however, are already fast friends.

Sunday, my I-Don't-Have-To-Run-Day....

Martie asked me nicely if I would show everyone her new dress (that I made for her)

She's wearing pink pants under the dress. It's cold out there!

Yes, I know, it's been a while since I posted. To be quite honest, cracking my tailbone a few weeks ago, and the ensuing recovery, triggered a depressive episode, and the past week and a half have been really bad. I woke up this morning feeling like my mojo is returning, though, which was especially good because I had agreed to host the Sunday at 2:00 pm #dollchat on Twitter in @TonnerDoll's absence (he's in Mexico, while so many of us are in the snow and cold, can you believe it?)(Kevin, I'm kidding, I hope it was a great time). That was a few hours ago, and went quite well, more due to the great people who come in and play than to anything I did. #dollchat people are the best! Come join us if you haven't yet: Tuesday night at 9:00 pm EST USA, and Sunday afternoon at 2:00 pm EST USA, every week, on Twitter. Of course, the #dollchat hashtag is live all the time, and folks pop in and out all week. I've always got that open so I do check it at least every day.

Also, my Linda Macario Iris is arriving tomorrow!! SQUEEEE!! There will be posting for her welcome-home, but I will spare y'all the box opening--okay, maybe *one* damn-this-box-is-big shot, but that's probably it. I can't wait to finally be able to take direct measurements on her so I can make her some clothes! I have a couple things that I got for her, based on the few basic measurements I had, but without leg, arm, neck, etc, it's difficult to make anything ahead. You know me, Every Dolly Must Have Jammies.  MUST, I say! Make it so!

I've got a frying pan....

and I know how to use it!!

Get outta my head!

This doll is actually haunting my dreams. The last doll I dreamed about before buying it was Martie, and we all know how that worked out.

She's a very looooooooong BJD girl, 74 cm tall (roughly 29", almost two and a half feet tall). She's Iris, by Linda Macario, and I've loved Linda's work since I first saw pics of her OOAK BJDs in the doll magazines. She is, however, a Pearl of Great Price, because in order to justify buying her, I'm going to have to sell some others. I plan to do that anyway--I've gotten to the point at which having so many dolls provokes some anxiety rather than simple joy. Sooo, I dunno. Dreaming of her 3 nights in a row is a new record, though.

Impromptu Pajama Party!!

Perfect for a wintry January night! Martie, Vinnie, and Matilda, cozy and giggly (and uncombed--girls, check your hair next time you decide to play with the camera). Photographer: Matilda (who has finally decided it is not witchcraft).

Now with Tonner Doll Duels!

Check it out, on the sidebar at the left. Go play!

Live from the Computer Emergency Room!

Okay, not exactly the emergency room, but we were at the Apple store "genius bar" today, and Martie took the photo op to have a whirling atom over her head. Kevin's MacBook got phwacked when he fell down the front steps this morning. He scraped and banged himself up, including a nasty wound on his elbow, and badly enough to stay home from work to assess the damage, but he was much more upset when he discovered that the body case of his computer was bent (where the keyboard and guts are). This got the track pad stuck in a down position but good, and the case needs to be replaced. It could have been MUCH worse, it's a (relatively) inexpensive fix, and the innards get cleaned too. However--he has no MacBook for a couple of days, and he is quite royally bummed. I told him to be glad he didn't crack his frakkin' tailbone OMG! but the computer concern overrode everything else. He is a 21st century boy.

While I'm at it...

In the previous post, I discussed the eclecticism of my doll collection. I don't know if anyone noted this, but there's an area that a great number of doll collectors began in and many continue, that I didn't mention, and that I don't collect: Barbie.

I've had Barbies, of course; it's almost impossible to have been a girl in the 1960s/70s and not have had  at least one Barbie. I had a Twist-n-Turn Francie (brunette) and, later, a Malibu Barbie. I had cousins who had the "old" Barbies, more like the original, and they'd bring them over every now and again. I played with them because....well, I don't know, because I was supposed to, I guess. I never developed any real emotional connection with Barbie, or the rest of her branded companions. I still am not roused to any emotional *zing* with Barbie. There are just too damn many of them, I'm not impressed with the quality of the clothing, and they all look the same to me. There. I admitted it. I'm a heartless non-Barbie bitch. Lately I've been wandering back into some mass-market dolls (Monster High, Moxies), but routinely bypass the Barbie aisles. There's just nothing there that appeals to me.

However, this autumn, I joined the Barbie Fan Club. Say what?

Two reasons: I wanted the BFC-exclusive Silkstone Francie coming up--the one in pajamas, go figure--and didn't want to pay eBay prices (and, in fact, I bought one the day it came out), and two, I kinda liked the swag. I use my "tote couture" bag to drag doll stuff and other necessaries between houses--the whole thing is spelled out in her hair, so it's Rapunzelish, after all. I got a tshirt, a drink cup, a couple other little things. I more than got my membership fee back in the quarterly shopping bonuses for stuff I wanted anyway, and got the Francie at a decent price. Oh, wait, a third reason: I got the Star Trek reboot Kirk and Spock for $6 each with free shipping. Ta-da! Whether I'll re-up for 2012 is up in the air, but I'm rather doubting it. I feel pretty Barbie-sated.

So the Barbies I have...let me see...Kirk, Spock, Ken as Kirk, Barbie as some nameless Yeoman, the Silkstone Francie, and a vintage Twist-n-Turn brunette Francie (nekkid but in really good condition) from eBay. I think that's it. There's more of a Star Trek thing going on there than a Barbie thing. Is two Francies a collection? Nah, not really.

There. Done with the self-indulgent musing for the day. I think. Maybe. We'll see how I feel after supper.

Balsamic or raspberry?

Let's give a hearty welcome to my Tonner Revlon 13" Wigged Basic, whose name is--Vinaigrette. Yes, it is. I deboxed her last night, got her dressed, tried on all her wigs, and Vinaigrette is the name that occurred, and stuck around. I call her Vinnie.

Vinnie is one of the reasons I call my doll collection eclectic, which is a classier way of saying "all over the place." She's a new size for me, I haven't sewn a single thing for her (no jammies? Unthinkable!), and she is very definitely an adult, as opposed to young teenager, like Martie.

I've been thinking lately that my collection lacks focus. I have babies up to adults, 18" play dolls to 4" vinyls, and resin dolls from 2.5" to 26". I have porcelain Rapunzels and resin Bleuettes. I have subcollections, such as the Rapunzels, Monster High, Madame Alexander, and Ellowyne Wilde (Martie's a crossover--Rapunzel and Ellowyne, because of her EW body)--and troll dolls (there, I admitted it, I love those ugly mugs). I have mass-market dolls bought at WalMart and OOAKs from artists. Wood, composition, hard plastic, vinyl, cloth, resin, porcelain, paperclay....

I am going to weed my dolls, and sell off the ones I don't *love*; for example, all four of my Evangeline Ghastlys will go--I gave her a good try, but I'm just not attached to them (they're going nude; I either bought them that way or already sold the outfits). A number of the bjds will go, as well, and a few of the art dolls that seemed like a good idea at the time. At least a couple Ellowynes are going--I bought them for the clothes, and the dolls themselves aren't different enough from ones I have to warrant keeping them.

I rather doubt this weeding will result in any clear pattern. I love what I love, whether it's a Moxie Teenz or a Gregg Ortiz prototype, and I dare anyone to figure out precisely what I like by looking at my dolls. Or my bookshelves, or my home. My wardrobe's pretty transparent--comfort first, then color, then price, and then maybe I'll think about the style at some point, but I buy a lot of stuff at thrift stores, so again--aside from resolutely casual, no serious pattern. My handbag, however, is genuine Louis Vuitton--I do have *some* style.

Which reminds me that I should sell a lot of my old handbags, too....

Ice under snow on steps plus gravity equals BAD.

So on Tuesday I'm leaving the house in the morning, with the dog, to head over to the other house (I currently have 2 houses because of an inheritance, which is, in fact, rather more a problem than a blessing--2 mortgages, 2 sets of utility bills, 2 general home upkeep expenses....) to work on the doll room. There was snow on the front steps, as it had snowed the night before, and the dog is a tad excitable when a car trip is in her sights. I asked Kevin to open the car door so I could let the dog go, knowing she'd head straight for the car and get in, because I didn't want her to pull on the leash and make me fall. He did, I did, she did. Huzzah! Then I took a free step, unencumbered by excitable dog.

And I fell. Slipped on ice under the snow, did a classic sit-landing, and whacked my tailbone directly against the edge of the concrete step behind me.

Did this hurt? Ohhh my. Ohhhh, yes, yes, it did.

One would think a tailbone injury wouldn't sideline someone, and one would be wrong. I've been in pain, very very cranky and out of sorts, and am inordinately grateful to whoever invented this closed-cell foam donut chair pad.

What this has to do with this blog:  I haven't been able to take any doll pics, as most of my dolls are at the other house, and I wasn't going to move around a whole lot to get pics anyway. Martie's in the same clothes she was in on Sunday's post, because all her clothes are over there, too.

I'm hardly dying from any of this, just annoyed and pained, and somewhat photographically stifled. I'm going to try to get out of the house for a little while today, before I start collecting dust. I expect regular posting to resume next week.

Meanwhile, have a double dose of Rapunzel to cure what ails you:

IT'S SNOWING!!

A Serious Literary Discussion.

In "Green Eggs and Ham," was the ham supposed to be green, too? Or just the eggs? 

 

 

 They were both green, according to the pictures, and you really shouldn't eat eggs or ham if they're green, I don't care what Sam-I-Am says. You'll get sick. Now may I have that egg, please?

 

I shouldn't eat this spinach, then. It's green. I'll get sick.

 No, you won't get sick, because spinach is supposed to be green, whereas eggs and ham are not. Ever. Nice try, dear. Let's get this in the pot, shall we?

 

Well, you put ham and eggs in there, and then the spinach, and won't the spinach turn the ham and eggs green? So I shouldn't eat it, right? Why can't I just have cake instead?

 

Ohhhh, Martie. Here, have an orange, supper won't be ready for a while.

What if it's green on the inside? What if it has green seeds? What if...

Hush up and eat your orange, dear. In another room.