Wanting

It gets so that I just have to get away from the computer. There are so many dolls I want.

First of all there are the dolls and things people are selling on the Show & Sell pages.  I tell myself that these are good prices and that I should get them because they won't come around again...especially the original Vanessa and Veronique Fashion Royalty dolls and some other older FR dolls.  I'm not the type to buy multiples of an  exact doll but now, with Vanessa gone, a few duplicates have joined the tribe.

On those pages, too, people are selling FR2 bodies for insanely high prices.  I remember when the tall (version 3) bodies arrived on the scene and there was a mad rush to get one for every single doll I had. Crazy.

I have a few things on my favorites list like a custom made Joe Tai dress and an adorable Evangeline dress by A.R.O.

Then there's the new Horseman furniture being sold by many dealers. Sigh. It's all so beautiful. I already have the two French chairs in the sage pattern below so I ought to get the matching chaise, right? Although scaled for 1/4 (16 inch) dolls, these chaises can be successfully used with 1/6 scale dolls. You can put 2 or 3 dolls in a shot with a chaise and it will look great.

 

 

One of the problems is that I collect too many different types of dolls, from the giant Cissy dolls down to the tiny Puki Puki girls, vinyl and resin, wigged and rooted, Tonner, Integrity, Madame Alexander, Mattel. I love them all. Every now and then I wonder if I could just get rid of those taller than 12 inches but when I look at them I think they are so beautiful that I can't do it. 
With the anticipation of a move in the next few months, I have begun to leave most new acquisitions boxed. That is something very new for me as I am a serious deboxer.
I have received several new OOAK outfits and haven't even had time to photograph them.

My focus has to change if I am ever going to move. This is tough! There will be less blog posts and less pictures but I hope to be able to keep up with what's happening. I did just order the Mattel Barbie Klimt doll and just got the DVD "Klimt" from Netflix to watch. We'll have a multi-media event here.  ;-)

While on vacation/house hunting last week, we visited the Byers' Choice headquarters in Chalfont, PA. It was excellent. While I don't consider their product to be dolls, they have hundreds of dioramas that can tickle the fancy of any doll collector. I did not leave there empty-handed (heavens forbid) either. I got a door and a horse.

The door is much nicer in person. I was able to remove the wreath which was hot glued onto the door. My door is painted light grey with an ivory frame.  This picture is from their website and the color rendition is very bad.  The scale is perfect for 12 inch dolls.  It's about 19 inches tall. Props, my dears, are very important to a photographer and doll collector as you all know.

I was able to iPhone a shot of a DG doll (who didn't even take the time to be dressed) riding the leather Byers' horse. It was over 90°F that day.

When I get around to processing the many Byers photos I shot, they will be posted. Now I have to go stage a room.

What are these dolls up to and what is the dog doing?

Caption this!

Pictures of Eshe

As previously posted, Eshe is the latest and an exclusive Jamieshow doll. Here are four pictures of note which I saw on Prego earlier this evening.

George Gonzales

Liane

Liane

Johanna

Goddess of the Galaxy Barbie Doll

Ready to be released on June 15, 2011, Goddess of the Galaxy Barbie Doll was designed by Bill Greening for Mattel.  She is a Gold Label BC Fan Club Exclusive.

Get ready to go gaga for Goddess of the Galaxy Barbie doll, with out of the world, over the top glamour courtesy of designer Bill Greening. This bold beauty wears a molded metallic corset embellished with fuchsia "jewels" above a layered underskirt of shimmering fabric, a dramatic pinstripe cape, and silvery forearm and leg cuffs. Silvery rings with "jeweled" accents orbit an up-do with twisted platinum braids, and her dramatic face paint features ultra long, rooted, feathered lashes. She stands strong in thigh-high platform boots, with a look that says she's here to conquer the universe in fabulous fierce fashion!

 Spectacular fashion! I would love to see this in person. The only thing I don't like about her is the cheek screening.

Are you going to order her?

Hershey's Hommes

While on vacation this past week, I still browsed my favorite sites and came across these wonderful pictures of Zanifa Payne's (aka Hershey) Homme dolls.

I'd never seen so many Homme dolls in one collection and I was intrigued so I sent a few questions to Hershey.
Here is the text of her reply:

Apart from the twenty-two and counting Fashion Royalty Hommes, my collection also includes over one hundred Fashion Royalty female dolls, close to a thousand Barbies, countless miniatures, pets, vehicles, Barbie play sets, clothes, jewelry and numerous Re-ment sets. Basically the list is endless and all the items I collect are in 1/6 scale (Playscale). The male Fashion Royalty dolls are one of the smallest sections of the group, and I mainly collect them to be coupled off with my favorite female Fashion Royalty ladies, as an accessory of sorts. They are on display all the time in one of my many dioramas, such as the bar, cafe or barber shop. Collecting dolls began when I started to build 1/6 dioramas, and this dates back over 10 years.

My website www.lifecirclez.net (offline while I undergo updates) was started in 2003 and was created to facilitate the many photo stories that flooded my mind. The most notable being the Breast Cancer Awareness Convention and the Hurricane Preparedness story. Some of my past dioramas can be found on my Flickr photo stream at http://www.flickr.com/photos/32312740@N06/

My ultimate goal is to build a city for my dolls with dioramas representing places such as a post office, supermarket, theater, dentist office and many more, possibly that room will become a museum of sorts.  This life of collecting, writing stories and playing with dolls will probably continue throughout my life, as it continues to bring me joy and permits an outlet for my daughter and I to enjoy together. 

Zanifa suggested another of her pictures to post here:

The fact that the dolls are dressed mostly in black creates a unified and powerful impact on the viewer. What a fun photo.

I highly recommend her flickr which you can find under the name,  citycirclez's photostream.

It's so amazing what people do with their dolls.

How to Set Your Doll's Bangs by Kathy at RestoreDoll.com

Kathy from RestoreDoll.com sent out this newsletter to share with all:

To start off, I don’t cut the bangs or the hair until I set the hair in place. Here is how I do it. I set the bangs before I curl the hair. In getting ready for the hot water set or perm, boil the water on the stove and have a small bowl large enough to stick the dolls head in it. When doing just the bangs, you only have to get that part wet. After dividing the hair, I comb it into straight pieces that I can keep in place with netting and a tie. I use coated wire ties that won’t dye onto the doll or hair. I do not use rubber bands because they crease the hair and are hard to get off. Make sure the netting is a light or better yet white color. You can also use old panty hose. Test the netting in hot water to make sure the color does not Run. I highly suggest white. Pull the bangs down over the face. Secure the netting over the bangs and part and secure it with the wire tie.

You can secure the wire tie around the neck or shoulders. Put the boiling water into the bowl and make it deep enough for the bangs and part to be submerged.  Stick the head into the water and leave for several minutes.

Take the head out and blot it dry with a clean towel.  You can now take off the netting and the bangs should be set.

Everyone is crazy about the new colors. Please send some pictures so I can use them on my website. If you haven’t seen them go to my homepage of the catalog, here is the link

http://stores.restoredoll.com/StoreFront.bok

We are still having our 30% off everything in the store.