SUNDAY SUMMARY

 Well what a week it's been ! Paul had his op on Saturday , so we had to spend from Wednesday onwards isolating ! Amazing just what you suddenly decide you want/need to do when you are not allowed to actually go out !

However the time passed quick enough and Paul was in and out in a few hours and back home. However he's got to go back in a couple of weeks yet again! Nothing to worry about , well apart from all these mini ops!

 Lot's of decisions about what could be sold in order to pay for Arabella's adoption fees took place this week. Alas a doll or two needed to go, so Olly and Olivia, my twin button nosed kids , volunteered to go to pastures new as long as they could stay together.

I am pleased to say they found a new home very quickly and are at this moment travelling to their new home. So that was a big chunk of the fees, so then it was deciding what clothes to sell rather than adding another doll to the mix.

I decided to sell all their hooded coats apart from one , I find the hoods get in the way and I would much rather add a nice hat and scarf to a coat, than have to try and put lots of long Sasha hair into a hood. Also I have bought Petrana's coat pattern so hope to have a go at making a few later in the year. I have been very firm and put up and sold quite a few pieces of lovely clothing that I have had for years and have not used for years!  I have actually managed to empty another of the small plastic boxes.

I have to say having a good sort through and clear out, does make you see the clothes again and realise just how much you have, just how much you don't actually use and just how lovely things are.

It also makes you wonder what happened to sellers who no longer sell. There was a beautiful maker of smocked dresses in the US who stopped making about 18 months or so ago, I still have a couple of the dresses I bought from her years ago but alas she no longer lists.

The Pj's Claudia is wearing, in yesterday's post ,were still in their wrapper from when I bought them a couple of years back. Made by TriciasixT selling on Etsy , I have several beautiful cardigans and tights also made by her (and used ) but she's disappeared and is no longer selling. I wish they were able to leave a message where you could find it saying why they had stopped or where they had gone.

The foxy slippers I bought at a Chat n Snap , again a few years back. They are by Rosie Laird and a great fit.

So on the doll front two dolls have gone and one will be arriving next week. Over thirty items of clothing have gone but I have to confess to buying a couple of other pieces, just a couple!

Well I need to go and carry on listing and sorting clothing , so I can put boxes back into the studio knowing they are in order and have been labelled etc, even after all this I will still have too many clothes but I will have made a decent dent in the boxes.

Wishing you all a lovely happy fun filled week ahead.

Dee

A STYLISH SLEEPY HEAD

 

Claudia is still in her pj's ! She says they are so stylish she could even wear them outside !

Puss is not so sure about her going outside in them , no matter how stylish !

Plus those foxy slippers would be ruined outside !

No worries says Claudia I'll stay in and have a cosy lazy weekend ! It's getting windy out there anyway and I can catch up on my reading and dvd's.

 

JUST AN A IN IT !

 

"What on earth is this thing ? " Asks Margo

" No idea " Saffy replies while studying the post " seems to be some sort of counter ? "

" I think it spells Allebara !!" says Margo feeling pleased with herself

" What's a Allebara ? " questions Saffy 

Margo's smile vanishes " Oh I don't know , do you ? "

" No "

"Well what ever it is , they ran out of time to fill in the last A at the top " states Saffy

" Maybe they could not reach and have gone to get a ladder ? " Margo mutters

The girls ponder the letters for a while longer.

Giving up they turn away " Let's go ask the others if they have heard of a Allebara " Margo starts  walking

" It could be each letter is for a different word " Saffy says thinking out loud

" Oh yes " Margo likes that idea " A could be for Apple or  Ant or Apache or.. "

The girls walk back to the house saying all the words they can think of beginning with A ....

THE SALES CONTINUE...

 Arabella's getting closer ..

IT'S ALL ABOUT

 ARABELLA !  Check out the sales page, if you see things you made for sale just know it's all in a great cause !!

WHO WOULD YOU LIKE?

 On the Facebook group this weeks theme is who is your dream / wished for doll ? 

Well having collected Sasha's for about twelve years now, I have actually had most of them at one time or another apart from maybe a few of the rarer ones and a Studio doll. So there is not Sasha or Gregor that I long to add , so do not have a wish list.

Would I like a Studio doll? Yes if she fell into my lap for a song ! But I also know I'd probably land up selling her on after a few months because I'd worry about her getting damaged but then maybe not if I got her really cheap !

So it was back in the early days that I looked at the pricey dolls and thought I'd never pay that for a doll !! Oh yes I did say that.

Then I saw a doll I just fell in love with and was pricey but I decided that I had to bite the bullet and buy her. Her hair had slightly put me off but plans were made to send her via Alison for a few extra original strands to be added. 

She arrived and it was love, not at first sight, her hair was still a little sparse , but she had an attitude that made her hard to ignore and she was soon in my heart , But this was back in 2012 early days of my collecting, so the worry of her cost eventually made me sell her on. 

So my answer to the theme was I didn't have a wish list doll but I would mind having one girl I'd sold on back for good.

Arabella 

Her photos on Shelly's.

and when she arrived here below

So I shared her photo today on the group, this one below of her in her duffle coat.

and it set me to thinking ! If I wanted her to return I needed to tell her owner , that if she was ready to sell her in future could I have first refusal. Now I knew who'd bought her when I sold her but I also knew she'd gone back to Shelly's after that and been sold again.

However I saw her at the Chat n Snap a few years back, I knew it was her, she had even kept her name , Arabella !

So I messaged her mum and asked to be given first refusal and guess what ? She was willing to to let me adopt her !! She loves her too but is happy for me to have her back !

So come tomorrow, it's sell, sell sell to fund her adoption fees, Arabella's coming home !!!!

SUNDAY SO SOON !

 Yes it's another January Sunday. Here in the UK it is cold but dry , which is good as cold and wet is not so good this time of year. At least you can wrap up and get outside in this weather.

At the moment here in UK there is talk of our energy bills soring into double if not treble figures ! So I decided to remove all the dolls I keep in cabinets in the studio and bring them into  the house. That way I can turn off the heating in the Studio and only turn it back on overnight and also if I intend to be in there for any length of time.

So I now have four large shopping bags full to the brim with dolls ! That will need somewhere to stay until the weather improves. 

I used to live in a big Edwardian semi detached house, which we extended into the two lofts, it was split level. At the time all the girls lived at home and all the rooms were in use. Then the girls grew up and started to leave , so we downsized to our house here in the village. We wanted a drive on which we could park a couple of cars and a bigger garden plus a nice quiet road. All of which we now have but now I also have a large doll collection and no spare rooms ! 

Back then I didn't collect dolls and just had a couple of teddies, that sat in the bedroom, how I could now do with one of those bedrooms to convert into a doll room! But it's not about to happen, so the dolls will have to bide their time in bags until the weather warms up again. I can only be thankful that I have reduced the amount of dolls I own by at least around 50 last year. Not that I didn't also acquire a few more !

But It's not like I don't have dolls already in the house ! I keep all the Sashas and Gregors indoors, 

These ones are still standing on the dresser and the others are in the cabinet that is meant to be up in the bedroom but cannot go up there until the rooms been decorated and carpeted but that's not going to happen until the spring/summer .

These dolls have taken up residence on the sideboard in the living room and there are three other dolls opposite them on a shelf in the china cabinet ! And best not to forget the three dolls in the bedroom on the dressing table and lords knows how many doll!s in the large hamper at the end of the bed !!!!

Typing all this just made me realise just how many dolls there are still scattered around the house. I may have to make some more hard decisions ...

However my clothes sales have been going slowly and despite my efforts I still have lots of boxes ! Sometimes, I am tempted to list everything and just keep whatever is left at the end of that day of listing! It may well come to take !

Of course I will have a box of must keeps, as they would be the first to go and then I'd wish I'd kept some back, but I am seriously considering this idea!

Well on that note I'm off to look in boxes to see just how much harder I could be ! 

Wishing you all a lovely healthy fun filled week 

Dee

FINDING TREASURE

 It's a new year and so ,of course, I'm having a BIG clear out ! I am determined to reduce the amount of clothing and therefore the amount of boxes they are stored in.

First off there is so much of different sized doll clothing thrown in together in loads of different boxes, mainly from when I was sorting last time, then had to move on, so everything was boxed or bagged.

So I am emptying the boxes of mixed items and putting them into piles and then placing them into boxes of similar sized doll clothes.

Just some of the boxes yet to be sorted through a second time. The two boxes on the sofa are the boxes containing clothes to be sold.

I'm listing on my sales page and also the bazaar which takes up a lot of time, along with the enquiries about times, then bagging and posting. It's almost like being at work !!

Well one of the items in a box was a beautiful smocked Boneka dress that came off a soft bodied Pongratz doll that I sold on years back ( Should have kept her really ) .

Violet, who today has been helping me by trying on clothes, kindly tried it on. 

A beautiful dress and not quite as vibrant as shown in the photos, where the camera seems to have zinged out the pink, but it does have an issue ! Which it also had when it was on the Pongratz doll

The smocking at the wrist makes it too small to do up ! So I will need to maybe add a small slip of fabric to enable me to do up the buttons.

Well while the camera battery recharges, I'd best get back to my sorting, Violet can keep the dress on and hopefully I'll then remember, once I have finished sorting , to see if I can get those buttons done up !

MONDAY MONDAY !

 Mmm what happened to Sunday ? Well have had a temperature over the weekend , I think I have a cold, some sneezing was involved but nothing comes of it, it just lurks around springing back up whenever it feels like it! Probably it will stay that way until the Spring arrives, instead of this strange warm then cold spells we are having at present !

But then again not a lot happened last week apart from the usual pottering and housework. I am not going out and about unless I really need to , not because of covid , just don't have any need to at the moment.

On the doll front , I am again tackling all the bags and boxes that are in the studio and have at this time managed to do away with four boxes just by sorting out what was in each one and putting things away where they are meant to go, in other boxes. 

I came across a box full of baby Sasha clothes along with a few toddler pieces, so I have gone through the box and reduced it by at least a third and listed items on my sales page and will add them to the bazaar in next day or so. I'm hoping I can be hard enough to add more items to the sales page and reduce the boxes even further !

No dolls have left and none have arrived, although a non Sasha doll I bought last year, has arrived in the UK and once the taxman's had his cut, she'll be heading home. But I'm pleased to say that so far I have only bought Petrana's Coat pattern , which will no doubt be added to all the other unused patterns I have sitting about ! However I do hope to use it before the year is out !

I thought I'd share whose on the dresser ! It's the no navel girls along with Toby and Percy. ( Angelica is also behind the boys )

I have managed to get Toby out of almost all of the Santa outfit, but he is insisting on wearing Santa's hat ! I have told him I'll find his and Percy's shoes once he gives up the hat ! We are into day six and he is still holding out , thankfully Percy's been happy to wait but now Percy will get some shoes, so then he'll be off playing and Toby will be left with the girl's !

I could leave him in the hat but then it won't get put away with the rest of the Christmas outfits and I am determined to keep them all together ! I give him about an hour after Percy goes off to play before he caves and hands it over....

Have a great happy healthy week 

Dee

A TRIO OF NO NAVELS

 Well to day I finally had a chance to give some of the girls attention. A couple of the boys also got some but that's another post!

Martha dressed in one of her favourite winter outfits, she loves the high neck and her forest green boots.

A closer look 

meanwhile 

Ashley pulled this outfit from the sale box ! and then hunted for the boots to finish off the look ! So it appears this outfit will now be staying!

This is her ' It's now mine deal with it look ! '

Which then had a knock on effect in that now both Martha and Ashley were wearing Petrana dresses with the lovely high collar , so what about Wren ?

Well the only other Petrana high collar dress is one with witches hats on ! But Wren said she loved it as in truth she has a touch of magic about her !

and I have to confess the colour does suit her.

So once the girls were all dressed for the cold weather, we took a few group photos.

Of course I cannot take just one photo of these lovely girls.

a closer view 

Sisters

Whats not to love about this elfin faced girls ! 

SUNDAY ALL DAY !

 Yes it's Sunday, oh how I remember when that meant half the weekend had gone and it would be work the next day ! Now it's really just another day in the week. It's only  noted if we need to go and buy something and then realise the opening hours are different to normal and in truth, we'd wait for the weekdays as less people about shopping because they are all at work.

Last week was busy with appointments and household things. The weather also turned colder, so not so encouraging for getting outside until about midday when the sun would have had a chance to increase the temperature before early afternoon when it drops again.

Like every new year my thoughts are turning to having a massive clear out of the house etc, I cannot understand how much stuff seems to appear despite us not buying anything to speak of! I made need to take a leaf out of that woman's book, where you take everything out and decide if you love it ( although I'd swap love for use ) and only put back whats used. The trouble I always have with these sorts of clearing is probably half of the items will be new and unused ! So find it hard to just get rid of them.

Paul hates this time of year as I also start to point out all the little jobs that have been waiting to be done for months , if not years ! But at least it will mean a few will get finished.

On the doll front ,I have to confess I have avoided the studio in the cold weather, although I do have a heat source in there. Poor Granny has started her sales without me! Maybe I'll catch up with her later this week.

I managed to sell another non Sasha doll and a few more dolls clothes, however I was let down by someone who asked me to hold a doll for them for over a week , only for them to not reappear and ignore my email. I do understand that once you sleep on it, you can suddenly realise you don't need or want the doll or that you really cannot afford it at that time but surely a quick email saying so is just common curtsey ? 

Anyway today the sun is shinning and is warming up the world, so I may actually get out and have a quick wander round the garden and take a trip to the Studio. Indoors all the decorations and Christmas china's been put away for another year and the place is relatively tidy and not full of dolls clothes and props! How long that will last remains to be seen.

On the Facebook group they are having a No Navel week, so I have been searching out photos and will take new ones. It's given me the idea to make this No Navel month, so I will be using them in my posts, changing them, using them in storylines etc.

Then maybe I'll make February my Gregor month , which the boys will love as they say I don't give them nearly as much attention as the girls ! 

So I will start with this old photo from 2018 when there used to be a whole host of no navel's living here. ( can you spot the non no navel in this group ? ) Since then a few have moved on as I try to slim down all my dolls but there will always be a small core of these elfin dolls in the village.

 Have a lovely healthy happy fun filled week 

Dee

A RETURN

 

Saffron is wearing an outfit I first bought secondhand years ago , then sold on a few years later only to see it come up again for sale late last year. So decided to buy back again.

Teamed with some fur topped boots, she looks lovely and snug for these coming winter days.

Saffron is happy to be the first to wear it on it's return.

So it can be very much swings and roundabouts in the Sasha world !

DOLL PHOTO DAY 2022

 Yes , we continue with doll photo day, where you can send in a couple of photos of your dolls and what they are or have been up to that month.

First up for the new year is

Ursula's girls out seeing what the new year is bringing their way !

Harriet explains to Pamela that you cannot actually 'see' what the new years bringing, which Pamela finds disappointing as she was sort of hoping to see a list saying whats coming ! I think Pamela stayed up too late new years eve and is therefore not quite thinking straight!

This young lady slid into Gregoropolis before the year ended and is still finding her way around.

She still looks a little worried but I'm sure Holly Belle will take her under her wing ! 

Here in the village Atticus is trying to convince Toby that it's time to put away the Santa outfit

" Even the real Father Christmas will be sitting with his feet up and wearing normal clothes by now !"

" But how do you know that ? " Toby argues " You haven't been to the north pole have you ? You don't know for sure !"

But Toby's having none of it as far as he is concerned Father Christmas only wears his Christmas outfit all year ! So he will to ! 

 From RoRoPo we have Julchen, Holly and Clara celebrating the New year 

Thank you to everyone for taking time to send in a photo or two. There is always time to have a photo added if you would like to join  in.

Dee

THE COLD RETURNS

 Finally the temperature is back to a normal January level ! Which means it's now cold !

Which is why when Ragnor meets up with Robyn and Erik outside the conversation turns to clothing.

Ragnor is wearing one of the new jacket's , he chose the red.

Erik asks Robyn " How come you have a matching hat to your jacket ? "

" Search me !" Robyn replies shrugging his shoulders " That's how it came  "

" Seems a little unfair that you have a hat and we don't " Ragnor chips in " I'm freezing !"

"Maybe you should put on some socks then " Robyn says

The boys look down at Ragnor's feet, he appears to just be wearing shoes !

" Oh ! " Ragnor exclaims " No wonder I'd so cold "

" Well that would do it " adds Erik with a grin " Mind you a hat would also help in this weather "

" True , one should always cover both your feet and your head when outside in the cold " confirms Robyn.

Robyn turns away saying " Come on, lets find you some socks Ragnor "

" And hats for me and Erik too ! " Ragnor  adds 

" But not matching one's " mutters Erik slightly peeved that Robyn's got a matching hat !

Robyn hides his smile , Erik's always got to have the last word !