Swapsies....such fun!

I put one of my dolls up for sale this week because she gets barely any attention and I've sort of got to the point where, unless a doll means a whole lot to me, if she (or he) doesn't get any attention, then they are going to go.  I just feel that they are too expensive to just stand around doing nothing but gathering dust.
So my Dollstown Ganga was put on the Den of Angels marketplace for sale......I added that I'd be interested in trading too, because I still find it exciting what might be offered as a possible trade! 
I had a flurry of interest in her but no immediate takers.  One lady wanted a boy body....couldn't help there as my Ganga is definitely a girl.  Another person wanted to trade for a big SD13 girl but I have enough with two Super Dollfie sized girls and didn't want another.  Then a very nice lady from the UK sent me a list of dolls she's looking to rehome and one of them caught my eye.  A light tanned Narae by Bimong with custom faceup by Caroline of Viridian House!  I was very curious as several years back I had a pinky white Narae and really loved her, but being French resin she quickly yellowed and I decided to sell her before she got any worse.  I did have some regrets about selling her, but time moves on and so does my dolly collection.  So I decided to ask the possible 'tradee' for more information and photos, which she duly sent and now we are going to trade.
I was a little worried at first because the 'tradee' isn't sure if the doll is French resin or not but she certainly doesn't seem to have any yellowing at the moment, and she is about 4 years old.  She's been kept in a box for a couple of years and I will keep her in my darkened dolly/sewing room, so hopefully if she is French resin, the process of discolouration will be lessened with good care.  I'm quite excited to be getting her now, as she'll fit in much better with my collection than Ganga did.  Ganga is a great doll but with the DT7 body she is soooo much larger and bigger built than my other MSDs that there was no way she could be posed with them, she just looked all wrong, so she was a bit of a stand alone sort of doll.  Whereas Narae will look great with the Unoas, and the Iplehouse girls, I'm hoping!  And an added bonus she's coming from the UK so no customs fees!!! Yeaaaahhh!!

Apart from that, I took some photos of my little Kieran (Puki Fee Bonnie) yesterday, wearing a very nice little sailor dress which I bought on Etsy.  I'm going to get her a new wig because although I like the colour of the red on her, the style of the blond (below) is much nicer.  I think I'll got to Facets by Marcia and order a couple of Monique Gold Jojo's and cut them as I've cut the blond one below.....isn't she a cute little girl!

A paseo to Nerja

Today we went for a drive along the coast road to Nerja which is approx half an hour east of us here in Valle Niza.  The weather started out a bit cloudy but we'd not gone 5 minutes down the road when I realised that my cardigan would definitely be getting left in the car when we got there!!

I took Gem, my Limhwa To You Sara, with me as I hoped to get some photos of her.  I've probably mentioned this before but I still do not feel comfortable about photographing dolls in public, I always feel that people are looking at me as if I'm a bit simple in the head or something....."A grown woman playing with a doll???? How weird!"  But I keep trying....perhaps one day I won't give a hoot what other people are thinking of me!!!!  So when we got to El Balcon de Europa I got my girl out of the bag....poor things hair was a bit messed up but I plonked her down and got a few photos.....and I had to laugh when a man and his wife came along and he smiled at me, took a photo of my doll and then walked on!  I wonder who'll get to see her when he goes home! 

We then went for some lunch in a Brit pub called the Coach and Horses....very nice food and not expensive either.  I had an urge for fish so my starter was haddock fishcakes with sweet chilli dip and for main course I had scampi, chips and salad. 

Here are a few photos I took today:

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside......

....Oh I do like to be beside the sea..... As the song goes!  And here we are at the coast again, having driven down here last Thursday.  I love being here by the sea, the weather is beautifully spring like, but my goodness do I feel lazy when I'm here!

I brought my sewing machine and lots of fabric with me and briefly used it a few days ago.....I had every intention of getting quite a bit of sewing done whilst here, but it has come to nothing!  I get so laid back that I'm almost horizontal to be honest!

Having said that, I've read several books on my Kindle....oh that eReader is such a godsend, it really is!  Ahhh and of course I've eaten too much.....

Speaking of eating, yesterday we were very very naughty when it comes to food but we just couldn't resist!  We went shopping for some boring DIY stuff and after we'd got what we wanted at the large DIY place near Malaga airport, we decided to go one junction further on the motorway to a shopping plaza called Plaza Mayor .... and what do we find?  What we found is Taco Bell!!!!!  A new Taco Bell has opened in their food court and we were amazed because we've not seen one here in Spain before!  We just had to eat there, as, for me, it would bring back memories of our wonderful holidays spent in Florida, as on our many trips to the US we often went to Taco Bell for fast food 'without the burger'......!!!!  However, we were a bit early for lunch so we went to the Nike store and I spent far too much on 'bargains'!  I got a great new pair of trainers which were reduced from 59 euros to just 39!!!  Plus three tops for Brendan which were all half price!  I'm sure he will be delighted when we go home and give them to him, he loves the Nike brand!!!

And then back to Taco Bell where we had burritos and paprika covered fries, as well as rice and  quesadillas....then because I didn't want to 'overdo' it....I had a Pepsi Lite!  ;) hee hee!

However that wasn't the end of the gluttony...oh no, we then went from there across the road to another reminder of the US...Dunkin' Coffee!  Which is actually Dunkin' Donuts!  Everything down to the logo is the same but for the second part of the name!  So we chose some donuts to take away....well we didn't want to appear to be complete piglets, did we! 

So all in all a good food day.....well actually, not really 'good' at all, but very tasty!

So today we stayed home and I made a relatively healthy lunch and I took some photos of my Limhwa to You Sara, Gem.  And soon I'm going to start another book.....ahhhhhhhh the good life!

(Perhaps if I over indulged less....I could look like this!!!! ;)  Yeaaah right!!!!  And pigs might fly!!! Oink Oink!

Dolly parcels & Cadbury's Cream Eggs!

This has been a week of dolly parcels!  Not big parcels or expensive parcels, but nice little things like dolly eyes and clothes!  Earlier in the week I got the hazel eyes I'd ordered for my Peaks Woods girl and I'm really happy with how she looks now that they are in.  I took lots of photos of her (which I'm sure will bore some people to tears!) because she is such a beautiful doll, so a few can be seen here:

I also received a couple of very cute dresses in Lati Yellow/Puki Fee size, from two different sellers from Thailand.  I bought the dresses a couple of weeks ago on Etsy and both are so pretty.  There are some great seamstresses in Thailand and they seem to have some very sweet ideas on outfits to make for dolls.  My little girls are delighted with the outfits but I've not yet got around to taking their photos wearing them.  I hope to get that done later this week.

Then today my order from Clear Lan arrived!  I am delighted with the items I ordered....they are nicely made and the price is really good.  The 6 items are for my Limhwa To You Sara, who's name is Gem, but I've not yet tried them on her as I bought some of the items to go with other items that I've not yet made for her!!!!  So something else for me to get sorted out this week, hopefully!

Yesterday Brendan and Virginia came back from their holiday in England and we collected them from the airport.  My mum had sent over lots of nice goodies including Irish pork sausages, beef and onion pies and 5 blouses/tops for me!!!!  Brendan had bought me a big bar of Cadbury's milk chocolate and one dozen, yes a DOZEN Cadbury's Cream Eggs!!!  I'm such a chocoholic and he knows me soooo well!!!  Anyway, they'd had a lovely time and done everything they'd wanted to do in London.  Virginia was very keen to show off her new engagement ring and it did look pretty on her as she has lovely slim fingers (obviously she doesn't eat the Cream Eggs!).  And bless her, it made me laugh later (in a good way!) when I got a notification from Facebook that she'd changed her relationship with me from 'friend' to 'mother in law'.....I guess being Spanish she may not know all the mother in law jokes out there and was keen to tell the world her news!!!  Brendan says it will probably be a good 'couple of years' before they get married.  That's a relief then....gives me time to eat all the chocolate and THEN start the diet!!!!

Brendan and Virginia, Hyde Park, London, UK - March 2012

Yeaaaah I'm going!!!

Yesterday I paid for my ticket to the Dolly Ole which is a Blythe event to celebrate the 40th Birthday of Blythe!  It is taking place in Sevilla, which is only an hour by car from me, on Saturday 7th July 2012.

Something nice to look forward to!!

Makeovers all round....

Today was a day of makeovers!  Well not quite but sort of.  First of all we decided that Suki really needed a bath.  I don't know what it is about long haired dogs but they seem to smell differently than smooth coated dogs....well they do in this house anyway!  And Suki, being long haired, didn't smell too pleasant.  So she had a bath!  Or more precisely, she had a wash in the bathroom washbasin and afterwards a shower in the....shower!!!  She was not amused with the shower, didn't like it one bit although I tried very hard not to get the water in her eyes and ears, inevitably some did, and she was not a happy Chihuahua!  After we gave her a good rub with the towel, I used the hairdryer on a low setting to try getting her completely dry....she didn't have a great opinion of that either, to be honest!  And the poor girl looked like a great big fluff ball when I'd finished with her!!!! 

Afterwards she shook and shook like a leaf in a hurricane, I think she was traumatised, poor baby.  And then after that she threw up everywhere, so I got my just reward!!!  But she's fine now, and loves me again.....thank goodness!!!

We also cut the puppies nails because they grow so quickly.....so nice short neat nails too today!

This afternoon I had some dolly time and I gave my Lati Yellow Pirate Lea a new faceup.  I'd been thinking of selling her and even got as far as accepting an offer from a friend of mine, however, when the friend changed her mind, I decided to give the doll a new faceup instead.  So instead of the dark Pirate faceup, she now has a softer look with very 'worried' looking eyebrows!!!  Here are a few photos, including a 'before & after' one.....

I know she's not perfect because I'm no faceup artist, but I'm really pleased with the new look.....it suits my tastes much better than the default.

Apart from that, nothing much else to report!  Except to say that the weather continues to be really beautiful and warm.....it'll soon be summer!!!! 

A little stuck up....

Today was another beautiful day, bright sunshine and gorgeous blue sky....my favourite kind of days!  Anyway, I was in the bathroom doing something or other at the basin when hubby comes in.....covered in "No More Nails", that horrible smelly gluey stuff in a sort of aerosol can.  He had it all over his hands, down the front of his sweatshirt and all over some drill bits!!!  He was actually supposed to be putting it on a drawer that has come apart, but seems he ended up with most of it on himself! 

So after we'd got that lot off him, I helped him to put the drawer together and whilst smoothing the gooey white paste into the grooves on the drawer, I had an idea for a photo!  The little Secretdoll Persons have a reputation for being naughty and getting up to all sorts of scrapes, and of course my mind strayed to them.....I could just see them having some fun with some "No More Nails"...and here is the result:

Of course there's not really any glue sticking poor Percy to the wall, it is actually achieved with double sided tape....but I have to admit that this photo does make me laugh!!!!  And you can see in the photo that the 'No More Nails' or 'No Mas Calvos' as it's known in Spanish, is still ooozing out of the top of the can.....we ended up having to throw it away, it just kept on coming!!!

Another lovely sunny day.....

And some great news from my son!  He actually proposed to his girlfriend today whilst the pair of them are on holiday in London and she said YES!!!  Or so he told me in a text message this afternoon!  I admit that I knew he was going to do it, I'd seen the ring and everything, but a couple of times he did say to me "What if she says No?".....I didn't have an answer for that, but I did think that it was unlikely!  They've been together for 5 and a half years now so I would have been surprised if she'd turned him down! 

Apparently she was soooo shocked, especially when he went down on one knee in the middle of a museum in London! Brendan said that she, Virginia,  thought he was joking!  But she loves the ring although it will need to be made a bit smaller! 

So......I wonder how long I have to lose weight before they name the day!!!!

On the dolly front, because today was such a beautifully sunny day again, I took some photos of a few dolls in the garden.  The first ones were of my lovely Iplehouse JID Amy wearing an outfit that I actually made last week for a different bigger doll but it was too narrow on the big one so Amy grabbed it for herself.  She is such a pretty doll and I think this outfit really suits her......although I have to say that in the first photo she's looking a bit slouchy!!!

Then a little short photostory with the Secretdoll Persons.....I love these little big headed girls, they have so much personality crammed into their small skinny bodies!!!  And to think that when I first saw them, I thought they were quite hideous!!!!  Just goes to show.....

Buen Viaje...

This morning we dropped my son Brendan and his girlfriend Virginia at Malaga airport as they were off to the UK to spend a week at my mums house!  They had a relatively early flight so we had to get up at some unearthly hour.....OK, unearthly for me :) .... and I wonder how I ever used to do this sort of thing on a daily basis when we lived in the UK!!!

Anyway, off they went all happy and looking forward to their week away!  I hope they have a lovely time ... but not too lovely that they don't want to return to Spain next week! 

On the dolly front, I took several more photos of my new big girl a couple of days ago as the weather has been absolutely beautiful, spring has certainly sprung I think!  So here are a few of those....she's wearing an outfit that I made some years ago for another doll and I think it really suits her pouty little face!  And in case I didn't mention it before, she is now going to be called Troy!

These are her current eyes, but I have ordered a pair of hazel ones of the same type (flat backed oval glass) in hazel as I think she'll look lovely with hazel eyes and her red hair.  I get these eyes from BJsbabes on Ebay, and can highly recommend this seller for good quality items, quick service and good communication.

Dolly day.....

Yesterday was a great Dolly Parcel Day although in the end, despite the parcels, I wasn't able to have any time to play!

My lovely new girl arrived from the Netherlands and she really is adorable.  She is a Peaks Woods Lotti-Ani with custom faceup by the same company.....she has the sweetest pouty face and her faceup is very pretty.  I'm so glad that I decided to go for her as she fits in perfectly here with my other big girl, Vienna (Volks F01 Nana) and their smaller friend, Ashleigh (Dollstown Ganga on 7 yr old body).....

Also yesterday I got a lovely gift from my friend Sue in the UK.  Sue sent me a packet of fabric pens as she knew that I'd been looking, unsuccessfully, for some over here.  I haven't tried them out yet but have some plans for grafitti tee shirts at some point.

And my other packet was a very cute little dress that I bought from a seller on Etsy!  It got here very quickly from Thailand and will be perfect for my PukiFee Bonnie, I just haven't got around to trying it on her yet!!!

So this morning I managed to wig and dress my new Peaks Woods girl and take some photos in the garden.  I have changed her eyes from her default brown acylic to some green glass ones that I had here.  I would prefer brown glass but the ones I have are a bit small, she takes size 16mm eyes and most of mine are smaller.  I do like the green so we shall see how we get on with them for now.

Apart from that, nothing much else to report!  So here are a few photos of my new girl who as yet, is nameless.  Every time I look at her she reminds me of an actress in the (excellent) tv series Luther.  The only thing is, the character this girl plays has murdered her parents, their dog and a couple of other people too.....do I really want my lovely girl to be named after her!!!!  Maybe I will go and google the name of the actual actress and see what her real name is!!!

Ok, just found out her real name is Ruth Wilson, and she's been in lots of other roles including Jane Ayre in the tv miniseries of the same name.....Well I don't like the name Ruth all that much, and Jane is fine but not for me.....her murderess role in Luther was called Alice.....perhaps I'll have to give it some more thought!!!!