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

THE FIRST SUNDAY IN NOVEMBER

 

So it's been a week of resting up and recovering from last Saturdays Chat n Snap. Also tidying away the event bits and pieces.

One of the first things I did was get Paul to take the box of 27 mugs used for the chat n snap , to the local charity shop on Sunday morning to donate them , as since it was the last one I no longer needed to store them for another year. Plus I resisted the urge to go through them and keep any ! even though most had belonged to me and were lovely China mugs or from a good maker. I didn't need to have to try and find space for them indoors!

By Tuesday the plastic cutlery, still mainly in bags and unused , had also gone off into town to a charity shop. So two boxes less to store. Mind you all the lovely playground items are now back in the shed, so I can play with them come the warmer weather next year.

So the end of an era, I will miss it I would imagine when next October comes around but to be honest the setting out of all the tables and chairs was hard work and we are not getting any younger. Now I will just have to hope that some other Sasha collectors put on some other events during the year, somewhere I can get to and not charge a small fortune for the attendance. Because my beautiful daughters and friend were willing to come along and help it made all the deference to help keep costs down.

Ginny and Cilla todays headliners are wearing some of last years dresses but Cilla is wearing the pair of Rosie Bloom's I bought from this year's CnS event. Which are perfect with the green of her dress.

One the sales front, I did sell two dolls along with around eighty hats ! Which enabled me to buy a few things at the CnS. 

So now the event is over I am back to sorting out things that need to go, along side tidying up my fabric's and yarns with a view to starting some projects over the coming winter months.

Also Christmas is just round the corner, so I need to get things going for that.

So please send in your doll photos for the fifth.

I'll be back again soon with more chatter about this and that doll related.

Have a lovely happy healthy doll filled week ahead and remember to have some doll time

Dee

NOVEMBER 1ST

 

Well its the first of NOVEMBER ! Yes November ! Almost knocking on the door of the end of the year 

Here we have Sapphire and Violet wearing the two new ballet outfits I purchased at the Chat n Snap. 

So don't forget the fifth will be doll photo day, please send your photos in to be included.

HALLOWEEN

 

Saffy is all ready for a bit of Trick or Treating tonight once the evening arrives and the ghosts start to walk the lanes and roads. . . . . .

MORE TRESURES

 collected from the Chat n Snap 

I ordered these two sets of dungarees off Ginny of A Passion for Sasha a couple of weeks back and she kindly brought them along to the Chat n Snap, so I could get them.

Percy and Scott are the two wearing them first.

It was Lucas's dragonfly outfit that made me want to carry the colours on into the older boys/ girls. Naturally being me, I had to go a little brighter ! But I'd really please with how they have come out.

TWO OF THE TREASURES

 Purchased at the Chat n Snap 

Ashley is wearing the blue dress I purchased from one table and a beautiful green cardigan and hat from another table.

I already had the tights and shoes, so one girl dressed for winter. . . .

CHAT N SNAP TREASURES

 

Well one of the best things about the Chat n Snap are the sales tables ! Made up of those who sell with an Etsy shop or similar and those who sell all sorts of second hand treasures for the dolls

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Some gorgeous shoes from Rosie Blooms table. Looking at this photo I have just realised there is a colour theme going on !

From A Passion For Sasha I bought two ballet outfits and a sweet white apron.

I got this table and chair from Linda S stall, because you can never have too many tables for the dolls ;)

I also picked up this sweet little basket of knitting for the bargain price of £2 ! Another prop for the dolls.

Then there was the raffle 

I picked these two items and gave a couple of my winning tickets to my granddaughter the Princess to choose a couple of items but she also had a couple of winning tickets of her own !

She choose this bunkbed set , which since they came by train, we'll be taking to them on Wednesday. But seeing it here I immediately realised a set of bunkbeds would be handy for the dolls !! Drat ! 

I can see a request to my props manager , Paul, being made, a nice wooden set. . . .

I also received a few gifts of flowers and a doll and shoes. Totally unexpected but much appreciated.

A lovely pair of shoes from a good friend.

I also took my Chat n Snap OOAK bag that was given to me by my daughter Lindsey.

The other side of the bag 

Saffy who headlined today is wearing the magnificent A nightmare before Christmas detailed dungaree's that I bought from Carrie but were I believe made by her mum. My youngest daughter Courtney knew the words along with the songs from start to finish of this film as a child. If the sound had gone in the cinema , she'd have been able to leap in and speak and sing the words to save the day ! 

I have to confess that I just had to order a few more pieces off A passion for Sasha yesterday but did manage not to enquire if certain dolls had sold or were still available ! 

SUNDAY CHAT N SNAP REPORT

 

Well that when fast ! No sooner than we arrived to start setting up at 8am it was all done and dusted by 5pm and everything and one had vanished off home , hopefully filled with joy and exhaustion ! 

I have to make a confession ! I took a couple of photo's once we'd set up and then totally forgot until the day was halfway done !! So I had to send Paul round with the camera and hope to get some photos ! 

The playground was soon busy with children playing.

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Paul did a great display, which was much praised and well deserved. But is now back in my shed for me to play with for a whole next summer.

My wonderful daughters, Lauren and Lindsey , along with my lovely friend Kim , all came to help with the food and raffle ticket selling. Plus because it was the last one, my youngest daughter brought my seven year old granddaughter to see what nanny gets up to !!

I will share more over the coming week

Dee