AND CONTINUING THE SLIDE

 

So this dungaree's girl I saw at the Chat n Snap but as I have said before you tend to go round in a sort of daze, seeing but not registering things. I thought I'd ask the seller, if she was still available.

Obviously she was! So I asked if I could buy her but just needed a week or so to gather in the cash from some sales. Luckily she said yes !.

She was meant to be with me as I got her adoption fee together quite quickly and soon she was knocking on the door demanding entry ! She's a 69 girl. When I saw her photo, the name Hettie immediately popped into my head. So Henrietta it is but Hettie for short.

So lovely Hettie just needed a quick wipe over and a change of clothes. 

Hettie is wearing a sweater knitted and given to me by Gill, we were discussing Princess Diana's one from back in the 80's, and a pair of red cords by Ginny with Rosie Bloom boots.

Maybe it's Hettie that needs a twin . . . . . .. . . . 

So I had thought my slipping had stopped, however there was one more but Paul's giving me her for Christmas. 

How's that saying They think it's all over . . . . . . .

AND STILL IT CONTINUED . . . .

 

Although this sweet No Navel is not part of the slippery slope , since she was just waiting on layaway for me to get my act together which I finally did and she arrived in the midst of that slippery slope group.

another waif with a cut fringe, although hers does sit better but again she may have to go and see the hairdresser to repair /re root her fringe. She also has one arm that like to stick forward.

I decided to call her Madeleine , Lainie for short , I had a nice sweater set that I'd bought second hand off ebay and along with a pair of Ginny trousers 

and Rosie Bloom boots, she is more than ready for any cold weather coming our way. 

So another blonde NN for the clan, I may need to find a lovely brunette at some stage to join them.

THE FIRST SUNDAY IN DECEMBER

 

" Good King Wenceslas last looked out on the feast of Stephen , when the snow lay round about

deep and crisp and even " 

I do love a good carol and also a good choir singing them, is even batter than my warbling away on sometimes the same verse again and again with some added humming of the tune !

The days heading towards Christmas are of course passing rapidly , while I carry on as if there is all the time in the world ! I did actually make a start on buying some presents but I have not even looked at writing out or sending any cards yet ! 

What I have spent some time on is making a few kilts for my dolls and for presents. 

The hardest part is getting the pleats to be uniform ! But for that they would have been all done in no time, instead of taking ages. 

 

Eventually they were finished, I had thought using this checked fabric would help with the pleats but it didn't in the end. So before I started the kilts a couple of weeks back, I came across a small bag of multi coloured safety pins that I had bought years and I do mean years ago to use for the dolls.

I made the mistake of . . . . .  yes that's right ! putting them in a safe place , so after searching for them, I gave up and ordered some from Amazon yesterday ,  well they arrived today . . . .. . . .

Yes invisible safety pins !! However I wanted ones that could be seen, tiny gold ones but it would seem 

despite much searching I could not actually manage to pick up one of the invisible pins , so messaged Amazon, whose AI asked if I wanted to return them? Well I'd love to waste their time sending back an empty box ! I chose to speak to someone and a refund was set in motion and I went back and ordered safety pins from a different business on Amazon. 

They should arrive tomorrow ! But I know these people are busy , unless it was a robot that selected my goods, but surely you'd just take a second to check if the box was meant to be empty ? 

So Martha , wearing one of the new kilts, is still waiting on her pin ! But I am very pleased with how they have turned out since I have never made one before, so I have sorted out some more fabric to hone my skills on. Expect to see a few kilts going on sale on the sales page if I can do a good enough job.

I did actually start on changing over the dresser China from the blue and white to the Emma B and some pieces of Spode. I have quite a few pieces now, built up over many years, that there is now too much to display it all. I did suggest to Paul that maybe I need another dresser to go with this one, his reply was NO , Less is more !! ( using my own mantra back at me ! ) 

However I did have another idea, which he asked when I returned from my doll studio carrying it, Your not going to put that on there ? Well of course I was or why would have have gone to the trouble of emptying it out and carrying it in ! foolish man ! 

My Sasha doll's kitchen dresser has come into the house to be part of the dresser Christmas display ! 

It is still a work in progress , so I will show both dressers off later in the week once they are both finished. Mind you having the little dresser here means I need to get some more of the Sasha's and Gregor's back in the display cupboard but due to recent purchases , I don't think they will all fit ! 

On the doll front a few bits and bobs have sold along with a baby. But unless someone is after a Christmas present for themselves, I expect it will all go quiet from now on.

So on that note I will be off to find somewhere for the Sasha's to stand, clear all the blue China off the table and out of the dishwasher and put it away until January and the change back. The rest of the dresser dressing can wait until tomorrow because I do need to get some more squares made for my blanket for the big sofa along with maybe cutting out some fabric ! 

I hope that life is treating you all well and that the coming week is full of warmth and happiness for you all.

Dee 

ONE THE FIFTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS ! IT'S DOLL PHOTOS

 The fifth day of December , so time for those wonderful doll photos they you kindly send in.

Over the pond in Gregoropolis, the girls are in their apron's ready to assist in operation Christmas ! Cookie's to bake, trees to decorate, presents to wrap carols to sing ! and they call it a holiday ?

Meanwhile two of their brothers are too busy to help, because they have a 'game ' to watch and plans to make regarding just what films they want to watch over the holidays, Home alone a must followed by Elf just for starters !

 Elsewhere the Kens are ready to hit those slopes! Nothing like some skiing in the fresh mountain air to put some colour in your cheeks and some muscle on your bones! Then a nice sit by the fire in the ski lodge at the end of the day chatting with all the other skiers, bliss !

Down the way two of Gill's girls are arguing about Santa's ability to receive their Christmas letter via email! Holly a whizz on the laptop has search high and low and it just cannot be done ! Which is a worry for her sister since she's very late getting her wishes in ! Better find the stamps girls !

At least one of Gill's baby's is all ready and waiting to greet Santa when he arrives !  ( She'll probably be asleep but we'll not tell )  She's not exactly clear on what it's all about but all her brothers and sisters seem excited ! 

Over in RoRoPo a couple of the boys are playing around with the Christmas lights !  I hope they are careful we don't want any accidents before Santa's visit nor afterwards either ! 

From Ronny with three of her buttons showing a bit of attitude, I'm not sure if I'd ask them about helping put up the dec's, goodness knows what strange out there result would appear !

Here in the village Madga's been stopped in her tracks by the sight of maybe the smallest Christmas tree she's ever seen ! 

"What is that ? " she asks Arabella , Arabella who is also studying the tiny tree sighs " Well mum said since we bought the new big sofa for the day room, there is nowhere for a big Christmas tree to go ! So I found this small one !"

" There is small and then there is that !" scoffs Magda " If you put two presents near that if would vanish!  I think we'd best go shopping "

Thank you to everyone who have sent in their doll photo's over the year, we all love seeing them, the page gets loads of visit's from our Sasha loving friends checking them out.

So we wish everyone taking part or just visiting a happy holiday and remember there is always time to have your dolls photo added 

AND SO IT CONTINUED

 

So I had been watching this girl, looking a little grubby but with a lovely face. I looked and dithered and then received an offer, so looked again and decided to get her. She was wearing a gold tag and no clothes. She has a full centre parting and 68 stringing ! 

This is her after her out of body experience ( to wash the sand from her insides and body, give her hair a wash and restring her ) looking all Christmassy in a Ruth Hartley dress.

So a great addition to the village clan but being me, my mind had started thinking, wouldn't it be nice to have another set of twins in the village! Since this girl had a full centre parting maybe a kilt girl would be good . . . . . .  Jennifer an Jane ! 

This girl is called Nancy  . . . . .

DECEMBER !

 

" OH THE WEATHER OUT SIDE IS FRIGHTFUL BUT THE SNOW IS SO DELIGHTFUL "

Actually there is no snow but for some reason this verse is running around in my head on and off for the last couple of days !! It would not be so bad if I actually knew the whole song and not just a tiny piece  ! 

We have had very cold days and nights and some days of complete rain but at least today , the second of December is cold but bright.

So what I can hear you asking, have I been doing while not blogging, well I slipped down a slope that involved Sasha's which I told you about in my last Sunday post and well I fear it's not yet stopped ! Luckily a few non Sasha along with a few baby Sasha's have gone towards these new comers but it's really got to stop.

So this is the girl that started my slide, a pretty eyed waif. I do love a Sasha with a shorter hair style and I loved this girls along with her eyes. 

I may get her fringe sorted or I may not, although if I do I'll want it long to match her hair length.

So Ava's joined the family first and was rapidly followed by a few others.

I've been working on my blanket squares of an evening but need to close the laptop while I do it or who knows what else will be turning up !

I also , as seems to be my style at present, made up my grandchildren's advent calendars on the 30th. So two days into advent they are on their way to said grandies and hey , who won't mind a late advent calendar if you get to empty three or even four pockets on the 'first' day ! 

They are made from kits by custom fabric's , comes in one sheet of fabric with you cut the sides, top tabs from, then piece the picture by folding the fabric up to form pockets, sides then sewn on along with tabs, the you add the backing fabric provided, stitch round the whole thing and done. You can add interfacing but I did not have time to do so if I wanted them to have them this year ! 

Then it was off to the shops to by some chocolate veg

and coins, to add to the little puzzles etc and boxed up and ready to be collected by the postman.

Straight forward to make but I would just say very small pockets. I may think about making new ones in a year or two that have differing sized pockets to allow for bigger items like a book or two. If my usual time scale is applied, they would probably very pleased to receive them in their twenties !!! ;)

So on the sales front a few things have sold but then a good few things have arrived !! 

More about my slippery slope in the following days,

Wishing you all a happy advent and a healthy fun filled week ahead 

Dee

PS Almost forgot to say, please send in those doll photos for the fifth's doll post , thank you 

BETSY MAY OR SHE MAY NOT !

 

So this is Betsy May, I was not intending to buy a brunette Sasha however I kept looking at this little brunette and finally decided I just had to have that outfit ! 

What ! ( I hear you all shouting )  Buy a doll just to get the outfit !  yes like I'm the first or will be the last to do so. Mind you she was not on for a lot of money, if she had been obviously I'd have not bid, but she wasn't so I placed a couple of bids and got her for the maiden one.

I mean look at all this gorgeous colour, made by a real artist and tiny knitting needles ! 

Now I was going to remove her clothes, re dress her and put her back up for sale but when she arrived I thought she had a lovely face and her hair is also quite good. So she's staying and if you have not realised yet . . .

I'm naming her after the maker of her wonderful outfit Betsy May. The whole outfit, cardigan, short dungarees  and top , socks and shoes are all made by Betsy May. I'm afraid even though the really cold weather is here, poor Betsy May will be staying in her fabulous outfit until half way through December, when I will let the poor girl change for a few months , then she'll be back in her outfit come spring.

I may get her eye's enhanced and do something with her hair, give her a bit of an upgrade but we'll see for now I am over the moon that I got the outfit and such a sweet Sasha as well 

A WET AND COLD WEEKEND SUNDAY

 

Well another week has whizzed by ! With the end of it being very rainy! We had quite a dry summer and now it seems that the rain is finally arriving but we are getting, in some places, a months rain in one day ! So across the country there is some flooding, awful to deal anyway but probably worse with when the weather is getting colder .

Today is the little prince's birthday ! Adam is five !!! where did the time go ? only seems like yesterday he was starting to walk and now he's at school and full of fun. Somehow when he was born and had the early check ups, they missed that he has a heart condition, which will require him having open heart surgery in the new year, it should have been picked up sooner but at least it's known now and can be delt with before it becomes an issue.

He's even been along to the hospital, so the student's could listen to his heart to help in their training ! 

We visited them last Sunday  and left his birthday present ready for the big day !

Paul's been working on making me a car for my Roche dolls, the smaller ones. He enjoyed making the display playground , so I decided to get in quick with a few other requests !

I used to have a flickr account that I paid for but I stopped a year or two back when it became way too expensive, since I no longer really used it. Well it turns out they then want you to reduce your photos down to under 1000, which is the free allowance. If you don't sort it out they will just go in and delete them !! So over a few nights on and off I have been deleting photos along with saving some.

It was wonderful seeing lots of photos of my older dolls, quite a few long gone now ! Like the three above and now when I look back , I wonder what I was thinking ! Probably sold to fund another doll who is also long gone and I should have been more selective  and less attracted to a pretty face ! 

I know I know !! 

Well naturally now I have been seeing what I have given up and so plan to slowly add a few back.

So expect a few new family members to be appearing over the coming months and years.  Mind you unlike when I first started collecting, there are some dolls that rarely appear and when they do, they are usually snapped up before I even get a chance to see them never mind bid or buy them ! 

Today's headliners are the wonderous Magda and Arabella ( Arabella who did leave once but returned ) 

They are dressed in nice warm clothes for the winter. I have managed to change most of the girls but the boys do still shiver in their shorts !! 

So a job to be getting on with !

I also decided I wanted to make a crocheted blanket for the back of the new sofa. Naturally I didn't have the colours I needed despite my couple of boxes of yarn ! So landed up ordering some but also buying some of my sister Michelle's doubles ! 

I was going with a pink, blue and green palate but being me have wandered into a multi coloured palate ! Above is my stash from Michelle.

While I was waiting on Michelle's yarn arriving, my yarn from an online seller ,arrived so I started making the granny squares,

Once Michelle's yarn arrived I finished the squares off with some deep green. My plan is all squares will be finished in either a green or a blue, then the whole thing once pieced together will be edged in a kingfisher blue to finish off. This will hopefully keep me off the internet of an evening and therefore stop me spending !!! 

On the doll front . . . . . . . . . . . . well it's quiet due to Christmas just being over the hill but I have sold a few pieces of clothing but there could be a few new villagers on the way . . . . blame flickr !!! I will ;)

The weather today is much colder but at least here the rains stopped for now 

I wish you all a happy healthy warm week ahead 

Dee

Don't forget to keep checking the sales page for any new items or dolls 

IT'S THE FIFTH SO IT'S DOLL PHOTO DAY

 And also Bonfire night/ Guy Fawkes night. 

So amid this historic day in England, we celebrate the dolls across the world's photos.

Let's get started 

From Daddy John we have Pete Dakota and BR are out walking their dogs, Denali and Annabelle and enjoying some time in the lovely late autumn weather.

Their brothers, Chance Victor and Diego Luis, are being walked by Chance's dog Ribsy, he's sure that these two would soon get lost in the garden without his excellent nose ! Him and his other family dogs are amazed how they cannot smell a squirrel three roads down and two across ! Pitiful ! 

From Broxboure we have Gill's baby boys, what a line up but could that be a cuckoo in her nest ????

Also from Broxbourne we have this lovely red head whose keeping as far away from those noisy boys as possible.

From RoRoPo we have Peter already dressed for the cold weather and Rick , who thinks if he stays in summer wear the summer will stay with him. . . . . I feel he's in for a very cold awakening . . . . 

From across the pond, in Gregoropolis , Franz is wearing his smart handmade suit by the late Ann Chandler. Luckily Franz is not one for walking through muddy puddles or climbing trees, at least not while wearing such a fine suit. 

Here , the twins are wearing the new dresses by Ginny from A Passion for Sasha. Violet in the iced green is also wearing the Rosie Bloom shoes mum bought at the CnS. The girls are so happy because it's rare they get to wear the new clothing and shoes.

Rose Roche took her teddy out for a drive round the garden 'Lanes' since the weather was so lovely at the beginning of the month.

Meanwhile from the wilds of Northumberland we have Paddington and his toddler friend raising the flag . . . . .

Many thanks to everyone who sent in a photo, still time to have yours added, just send it in.

Dee