Day 45 of 61 Days of Martie

I had a frustrating day today. My Jedi mind tricks weren't working on the Verizon rep, the weather was so dreary I didn't get any good light and I didn't get the pictures of Matilda that I wanted, and there's still some touch-ups to be done to the painting in the doll room (which I'm starting to think of as the painting torture room).

So Martie and I decided to find some holiday decorations to cheer us up. And look what she found!

Look! Decorations for the doll's Christmas tree! A whole bag full!

That cheered us up considerably. Tomorrow we'll try again to get the Matilda pictures, and make Verizon bend to our wills, and by golly that room will be done! Make it so!

She traveled time and space.....

......and she is very, very tired!

*YAAAAWNNN*

 

Good night, dear new friends!

Matilda is HEEEEEEERE!!

Many thanks to my daughter Sasha for bringing me the package on her way home from work! She hung around for the debox, too. Warning for those sensitive to these things (and why would you be? It baffles), there is doll nudity at the end of the pics.

Speaking of the debox:

The obligatory mailing box shot. All the way from the UK in TWO DAYS. DHL rules.

First up, the winter cloak. This is gorgeous in the box, I could almost display it by itself. But I won't. Matilda needs it, it's cold outside!

The masked ball dress and accessories. The presentation here is really nice and lush.

The truly snow-white nightshift and cap.

Ohmigosh, what's under the tissue paper? I pulled the paper down reeeeeeeeally slowly to savor the anticipation. And then we whisk that paper away to find:

I was actually struck speechless for a moment. She's even more beautiful than I had expected. Look at that face, and the hair, and the dress! I think Frances and A Girl for All Time read my heart for this doll. She's perfect.

Wow. A large, real, serious wow.

When I caught my breath again, I looked at the well-made keepsake box. Here is the back.

The side of the box. Very elegant.

The outer box is like a slipcase, and the doll is in a separate open box inside that. See the lovely corded carry handles! I usually pitch doll boxes, but not this one. I'll put her clothes and such in this.

Here she is, ready for all the fasteners to come off so she can stretch her legs and move her arms! So I undid all those. There are several wires and plastic strings, but they're easily disconnected once the tray inside the inner box is detached. She's well-fastened but not excessively so. And no, I didn't take pictures of that, because it's boring. Thus sayeth I.

Here she is, loose of the box fastenings and turned around.

She looks a bit disheveled here, even with her French hood  on her head, but I had just undone those wires and plastic strings, after all. Her skirt's crooked and her hair needs a tidy, and there's time for that later. The dress is two parts, bodice and skirt with overskirt, and is luscious and well made.

Here are her hose and shoes. You can just see her underpants and slip.

And here are her smallclothes, ie, underwear. The underskirt is sheer.

Here she is unclothed, so you can see the body and joints. The blushing on the hands and feet is lovely, and her fingernails are shiny. Not polished, just healthily shiny. She is strung and the joints are round and very moveable and poseable. Her head moves as naturally as a doll head can; she can tilt her chin, look askance, be haughty--much more of a range of motion than in a twist-only head. I didn't take her necklace off, I was afraid of losing it!, and its quality stands up to the best doll jewelry I've seen.

Back view. What a cute little butt.  Hee! ;D

Close up! She really is just beautiful, her skintone is creamy and smooth, the vinyl is translucent and has a good hand, and the eyes are very engaging. I may have chosen a different type of eye--these are threaded--but they have depth and sparkle and are a lovely shade of blue. I am so pleased and happy to have her! Welcome home, Matilda!!

My history doll dream.

See, I love the 18" play and heirloom dolls. ADORE them. I have many, several different makers, all kinds of faces and intended personae, and I love them all. I love American Girl, much as I wish they'd use different face molds for each doll, and was asked a couple weeks ago on #dollchat on Twitter which historical period dolls I liked best. And I had to answer...well, none of them, actually. Both of my AGs are modern--Kanani and My American Girl. My other play dolls are modern, as well.

I have, for a grateful and proud American, an extraordinary interest in Tudor-era English history. I can rattle off Henry VIII's lifestory and marital misadventures like he was a family member--and even then, aside from my kids and Kevin, I don't know any of my relatives as well as I know Henry. Or as well as I know Elizabeth I, one of my early role models (which probably explains the attitude...). I have been known to intellectually wallow in history books about that era. (As to why I didn't study this in college or grad school: I wanted it to stay fun and engaging, not become an obligatory grind. I have two master's degrees, I know from grind.)

My answer, then, to which historical era doll I'd want to see, was: Tudor or Elizabethan England. American Girl couldn't do that and stay true to their vision. Alas and sigh.

A few days later I got a new Twitter follower notice: something called A Girl for All Time was following me, and their avatar looked....like a very young Elizabeth I. I took a look at their profile page, then their web page, and.....

....the top of my head came off. **PHWOOOOOM**

Look. At. This. Doll. ZOMG. *plotz*

Really, my heart actually did skip a beat.  I turned to my husband and said "I'm going to throw a bunch of money at a doll company in the UK right now. Merry Christmas to me!" He replied "Of course. Yep. Sigh."

And then I did. And I got the clothes, too. All of them. I didn't get the books, oddly enough, because I have my own persona in mind for her, and I know Katherine Howard's story front, backwards,  and sideways (Katherine is their Matilda character's cousin).

She isn't here yet--she's at the DHL hub in Cincinnati (next state to the left!), only two days after she was dispatched from the UK, and I'm bouncing on my heels. You can certainly bet that I'm going to take a zillion pics when she arrives, and I know Doll Diaries is looking forward to my getting her and reporting in. She may be the only play heirloom doll I have whose style isn't going to change once I get her--I'm going to keep her in period clothes, which will involve my making more complex doll costumes than I've even tried before. She's 16", not 18", and I don't have any measurements on her in advance, so I'm going to have to do some pattern drafting when she arrives, as well. Gotta razor-hone some of the rustier skills in my set.

And guess what? The company is planning for Matilda's descendants! Elizabethan (losing my mind again), Restoration, Georgian...yeah. Yeah, this is going to get very expensive, y'all. I can't wait!

Go visit their website Right NOW: A Girl for All Time

ETA: I just got this email for DHL: "Notification for shipment event group "Out for delivery" for 14 Dec 11." I'm at the OTHER HOUSE!! **SHRIEK**

Day 44 (for real) of 61 Days of Martie

A little Christmas magic.

Day 43 of 61 Days of Martie.

Martie would like to show you all her first run at the woodwork:

Whew, this is hard work.

Day 42 of 61 Days of Martie.

We're discussing the job ahead. Martie is ready to help with finishing the woodwork.

She's rather pleased that she can reach it.

Day 41 of 61 Days of Martie.

Yes, I know, I'm a bit behind. This paint jobbie has eaten my life for a few days. I'm sure it's almost done, because I'm finishing it. By golly.

And Martie, being the artist she is, is ready to help!

Apron, do-rag, and all. Let's do this!

Day 40 of 61 Days of Martie

Charlie, remember to turn your phone off! And what are "Muppets," again?

Who let that bending unit in my house?!?

Day 39 of 61 Days of Martie.

Yesterday, someone new arrived at our house, and Martie graciously agreed to show her around.

And this is the dining room, but we use it for the science fiction library, and....

Wait--what? A science fiction library? Right here in the house?

 Oh, yeah! And this is only some of the books. There's books of all kinds in every room! Every single room! I've been reading all the art books. And Charlie and Kevin have a lot of books, too, that aren't even here yet. Thousands of them!

I live in a library now! I can read all these books? Any one I want? Any TIME I want? Oh. I may faint.

 Don't faint! You'll fall off the shelf! Wait until the doll room's done, we're going to have a great place to live, too, just for all the dolls.

I think I may really love living here.

Welcome home, Hermione!

Holiday Giveaway WINNER!!!

Thanks to all who left comments and were supportive of my first giveaway!

And the winner is:

*drumroll please!*

SeaChell425 !!!

CONGRATULATIONS AND WOOTWOOT!!

SeaChell425, please email me at charlieriley819@gmail.com with your mailing name and address, and I'll get your Gene Iced Coffee in the mail to you ASAP!

Again, many thanks to all who played, I really enjoyed the comments and fun!

Day 38 of 61 Days of Martie.

Sometimes you just have to let your hair down.

 And sometimes you just want to have everything neatly tied up.

Giveaway almost over!

Only about 7 hours left in the lovely Gene doll giveaway! The deadline for entries (remember, just leave a comment, and make sure your name is attached to it) is tonight at midnight, EST, USA. Tomorrow around noon (also EST USA) I'll get my husband to draw a winner from a bowl of little papers with your names on.

A question, to aid last minute entrants: How many dolls are in your collection?

Good luck!

Day 37 of 61 Days of Martie!

First, a giveaway reminder! Only today and tomorrow left to win this lovely Gene doll!

We're working hard on matching dresses for two American Girl dolls. One is done, we're onto the second. Stitch faster, Martie! ;D

I mostly sew by hand on doll-scale things, despite now having 5 (possibly 6) sewing machines (inherited 2, one's Sam's, one's broken, etc). I don't mark the seam lines, I just wing it. That's what 40 years of practice can do.

There will be pics when they're done. I have to confess, they're a technical exercise more than a creative one, as they're vintage cut-and-sews from Daisy Kingdom. The first is gorgeous, though, so I'm glad I decided to do these.

Day 36 of 61 Days of Martie.

Taking a little breather from painting prep work!

Holding the wall up while we spackle.

Day 35 of 61 Days of Martie

What a long day!

Day 34 of 61 days of Martie

I am so blogging this!

Day 33 of 61 Days of Martie

This is partly to show off the outfit, which I made, and partly to show how beautifully balanced the Ellowyne Wilde body is on flat feet:

Look, Ma, no stand!

Rock-solid on her own two feet.

This makes posing Martie for pics a LOT easier, given, of course, that she's standing on a reasonably level surface. The part of the 'Burgh I live in is extremely hilly even for this town -- most of our bridges are across hills, not rivers -- but the new house is on probably the only *flat* block in this boro. I'm gonna get some great shots with this girly!

Remember to leave a comment to get a drawing entry!

Day 32 of 61 Days of Martie.

(Earlier post today saying Day 31 should have been yesterday's post but circumstances conspired otherwise, ie, I went to dinner and a movie with my kids, came home, and fell asleep.)

The results of our spa treatment shampoo-and-condition. Her hair is magnificent. Ask me again why I love Tonner dolls so much.

I made her festive outfit! There'll be a better pic of the clothes later on.

This girl is a hair play dream.

Photos of our lovely giveaway doll!

Here are the giveaway rules. And here is the lovely giveaway herself! Tres chic! Tres elegant! Check out that beautiful golden snood! As stated, the box isn't in minty shape, but it holds her safely and she looks magnificent. Please comment for a chance to win her, through December 8, 2011, at midnight EST USA. The drawing will be December 9 at noon EST USA.

Day 31 of 61 Days of Martie.

Ahhh, the spa! The scissors and pincusion were *not* part of the treatment, honest!

Giveaway in progress. Do not adjust your screen.

I'm going to take some pics of the Gene "Iced Coffee" doll I'm offering and post them later today. Also Martie, because.

A question to get your comments flowing: What's your favorite doll right this minute?

Holiday Giveaway starts NOW!!

My holiday giveaway is now officially open to entries! Here are the rules again. One entry per person per post, please, and as always, play nice!

Comments to this post count, too, so tell me whatever's on your mind. Politely. ;D