They should call it The Dream Fulfillment Shoppe.

Why? 'Cause that's what they do.

They are several dozen reasons why I love The Toy Shoppe, and the amazing people who own the place and work there (HIIIII, Danny and Barrie and Dana and Florence!!), but here's one for the vinyl lovers amongst us: The Toy Shoppe has out some amazingly good Madame Alexander deals up right now, including my beloved Cissys and Kidz-n-Catz. I mean SERIOUSLY amazingly good deals.

Why are you still here? Martie says go to The Toy Shoppe site. *shoo*

What gives?

I haven't been on the blog in over a week!

The family that's strung together, stays together.

I've been restringing for a couple of days. My Volks MSD Tsubaki, Davy, was as floppy as a marionette, and I couldn't get Ellen (Volks Yo-SD Papi) to hold her head up. I've got a kit doll coming in tomorrow, which I'll need to paint and string, so I thought these two would be great practice.

Look how nicely Ellen's head holds up now! I was pleased with my work on Davy, too; I need to get a better backdrop to get a good shot of the two of them standing, but you can see here that his head is nicely balanced.

I'm glad I got the practice in; not only do these two pose much better, but I figured out how *not* to restring a doll. I did a couple of things ass-backwards. The final jobbie wasn't affected, but I could have saved myself some aggravation and pinched fingers if I'd done it right. The key: take the whole doll apart, start with the legs, work up. Once the legs and torso pieces are held in place with the S-hook for the head, then do the arms. The right tools would have greatly helped, too, and I'm glad I ordered specific stringing hooks for the kit doll. Because *goddammit* did I swear like a Soprano. Vhooff.

Before I start the kit tomorrow, and when I have the right tools in hand, I'm going to restring Sam's Resin Soul Bao (named Isaac). Isaac alternates between snapping into a fetal position or flopping like Pinocchio, as his stringing cords are all tangled and probably wearing out. Once when I picked him up, he flopped backwards, then curled up forwards. The boy needs some work.

Ellen discovers the world.

My Volks Yo-SD Papi, named Ellen, has never been out of the house--before today, anyway. I went with my daughter to lunch and then Pat Catan's and JoAnn's, and Ellen came along to see what the world looks like.

One of the first things she discovered was a dolly-sized chocolate-chip muffin. Then she discovered two more.

Riding in a cart can be tricky when you're only 10 inches tall.

She was so good that at the end of the shopping trip, she got to pick out a toy just for her.

GET IT?!?!

A visual joke: these dolls are from a prominent Japanese BJD company.

A: Volks wagon.  See? Two Volks dolls, and a wagon.

I never said it was a *good* joke.

I'd like to point out that I made their clothes, by hand, ie, hand-sewn, and yes, that includes that super-even topstitching. The pants on the larger doll have decorative stitching up the outside of each leg.

It's gonna rain!

Zoe and I decided to get a couple of pictures in before the rain arrives (it's just passed by Steubenville, so we get it next). I keep missing those narrow windows of sunshine we get this time of year, alas.

I made her outfit. I finally got the pants length just right on those looooong legs of hers.

It got a bit windy!

Testing, testing....

Bananer.
Fixity-uppiting by the amazing Alison of BJDs for Beginners and The Fashion Doll Review.

Also, these stickers make me smile every time I get one in the mail on a package from Emory at The Junky Spot:

We are all cosmic Stardust Classics, are we not?

Here is a (not great) pic of my eBay bargain find, a Stardust Classics Alissa. Her hair needs a little TLC, but she is clean and bright and gorgeous, and you can really see her Carpatina descendants in her. I'm looking for a Laurel, btw; if anyone has one or has seen on on the intarwebs for sale, please let me know.

Morning Glory indeed.

Glory has found her perfect wig:

Well, that didn't work.

I'm trying to make a banner for this bloggie, and I can't seem to make it stick to any site. *frustration*

Does anyone know of a good banner site for the technologically impaired?

Prepare yourself, fabric store, Martie's on her way.

Today was Hunting and Gathering Shopping Day. Whee. I *h*a*t*e* these monthly-or-so provisioning marathons. I can always think of a jillion other things I'd rather be doing; whether I'd actually do any of them is beside the point.

However, we did get to the fabric store, yay!, because I needed some larger cuts of fabric to make clothes for Zoe (who, to remind you, is 29" tall).

Here is Martie, planning our line of shopping attack. This turned out to be futile, as the store had rearranged everything (WHY do they keep doing this to me?), and we were very easily distracted by all the pretty and sparkly things, of which there were many.

A flat wooden doll!

Lovely patterns to sew!

Martie is overwhelmed.

By the time we checked out and left, Martie had gotten quite the headache, but we got what we went in there for! And a whole lot of other stuff, too. Oopsie?

Zoe doesn't want to pose today.

Zoe looks so petulant in this picture! I insisted, though, as I just finished that dress last night and by gum I was determined to show it off, at least around her face. I'll try to get a better picture of the whole dress later, with the pants (the dress only goes to her waist, fine for summer with bloomers but not for February). I need a stand for her, as she doesn't stand up well on her own.

Zoe also needs to have her face-up enhanced a bit -- a little more blushing, maybe some very light freckles. I don't want to change her basic look, as she's lovely and delicate, just add a very light bit. I plan to blush her hands and feet, too; I love a dewy dolly mani/pedi. I'm going to spray her with Mr Super Clear in places, in any case, as she's very shiny, which makes my poor camera have palpitations.

Like mother, like daughter...

My daughter Alexandra (who goes by other names; #dollchat folks know her as @woe_and_isme) has recently been indoctrinated  brainwashed assimilated introduced to Tonner and Wilde Imagination dolls by ME, her crazy obsessed hoarding doll-loving mother. Yesterday, after work, she came over to play dolls (yayes!), and for a Valentine I gave her one of my Evangeline Ghastlys, which she named Nadia. Then she took some pictures.

Top to bottom: Nadia, Moira Rose, Ariel.

Martie, hearing the camera clicking, decided to PHOTOBOMB!!

The ladies invited her to sit in for a lovely portrait.

Doin' the things a SpiderElf can.

I'm not Robin! I'm SPIDERMAN! *zwoosh*

Robin is my Fairland Littlefee Elf Ante. I've posted pics of her before, here and here. She's a rambunctious little thing, and the elf equivalent of a 3-and-a-half year old. Today, she insists she's Spiderman, and has been jumping off the furniture and rescuing Mary Jane, who is every other doll but her, no matter how much bigger the other doll is. Zoe, who's 2 1/2 feet tall, has been rescued at least three times today. Robin, by contrast, is 10 inches tall. The only reason she hasn't rescued me is that I am, according to her, Dr. Octopus, and a Giant. Not a giant Doc Ock, just two villains simultaneously. Does Spiderman even have a Giant?

While Robin is zwooshing around, go look at this! : TonnerToys.com. Scroll around a bit, and you'll find my review of the first Little Miss Matched by TonnerToys from QVC, and my photos from that are scattered throughout, in addition to other really cool IRL shots of the LMM dolls. Dolls playing on the beach--who doesn't love that?

Ginger Zoe.

Today Zoe decided to change her look a bit.

And, as always, Holly didn't want her picture taken. She is FEWOCIOUS! 

RRARRR DEMON EYES!!

Yes, my floor is dirty. Shut up.

Flower girl.

A couple of days ago, I got a doll I'd pre-ordered so long ago that I actually forgot about it. When I got the shipping notice, I thought "Hunh? I didn't buy anything from....Oh! Now I remember." I thought I'd probably sell the doll on once she arrived, as I hadn't actually given her a thought in the interim.

Then I opened the box.

This beauty is a Jakzjewelz Evianna, the first BJD I've had with a non-human skin tone. At the time I ordered her, I was up for something different, and this girl is that. Those are bas-relief vines with flowers winding up her leg, across her belly, and down the opposite arm. She is utterly, stunningly beautiful, and her faceup is perfect. I'm trying to decide on a wig for her, probably green or pinkish,  and she'll be easy to dress, as I really don't want to cover up any of the vining.  Once I've gotten her some hair and clothes, and the first spring flowers start popping up, I'll take more photos. Martie's already befriended her, so I think she'll be staying with us.

Zoe in pink and blonde.

My Linda Macario Iris has a NAME--allow me to introduce you to Zoe Riley!

I made her smock shirt from an American Girl pattern. For an AG, that's a full-length nightgown with long sleeves. For Zoe, it's a shirt/short dress with half-length sleeves. AG full length pants fit, but only go to her knees. She's a looooooong baby, all right. I found by happy accident that newborn size onesies fit her just perfectly as short-sleeve body shirts, although are a bit bulky in the crotch. Cutting off the leg/hip and hemming makes them into nice t-shirts.  For long sleeves, however, I need to use an AG tshirt pattern and double the sleeve length. I made her a pair of pants by doing the same with a pants pattern, although I find I need to add another inch to make the hem fall at her ankle.

There will be more, and more interesting, photos as her wardrobe expands and the weather improves.

A couple of Saturday snaps.

Don't stand on the table, honey, your shoes are dirty.

Where to now?
With Declan McShark and lizards he isn't eating, ever, honest, you can trust him, really!