A little bit of Sasha sewing.....

Today for the first time in a couple of weeks, I actually did some sewing for my Sasha. My blond Sasha from 1971, Millie, now has a new dress.  I used a pattern I just bought from the seller 'grandmas patterns' on Ebay.  I did make the collar to go with it but I actually preferred it without.  (I don't know why, but I think Sasha girls seem to suit quite plain styles very well!)
Millie is still wearing her yellow socks as firstly we are still at the coast and she doesn't have any other socks with her, and secondly because, of all the fabric I have with me, I don't have any knit fabric in a colour such a turquoise or even pale blue....so it's yellow for now!  Actually, I quite like the yellow with the turquoise check of the dress.  The first two photos were taken on my phone, and the other three were taken in bright sunlight and just don't show the true colours of the fabric.  I will take more once I go home and make her some new socks to go with it!!

 

IMpatience is my middle name!

I wonder if other people can relate to how I'm feeling this afternoon?  I have been looking on and off, mainly 'on', for a brunette Sasha since about November last year.  I'm always that little bit too slow on making my mind up when I see one that I like on Shelly's website, or there is just something about the ones that ARE available, that appeal to me less.  I do look on Ebay also, but everyone quite rightly advises me to try to buy from Shelly because then you know exactly what you're getting...and being a newbie to Sasha, that is something I have to really keep in mind.

Then I did see one on Ebay that I thought was really cute.  I decided to make a bid for her and all through the auction I have been either the only, or highest, bidder.  Because of this I thought she was 'almost' mine......and was even starting to think what colours she'd look good in......then within seconds of the end, her price went well over my budget!  Some other lucky person will be having her come to live with them...but hey, that's life!  Or so I keep telling myself. 

So off I go to Shelly's site again...my goodness, I spend so much time on there that it's a wonder I don't wear it out!  And Shelly has listed some new cuties .... but only a few of the brunettes really appeal and some have 'issues'.  Back to the drawing board.

Of course I have fallen in love with a particular look, which having spoken to Kendal (who is so very kind and knowledgable I have to say!...and patient with all my questions too!!!!....thanks Kendal!!) I understand they are called wider faced girls.  Which naturally, are rarer!!!   Having said that, I have seen others that I like the look of too, but not yet managed to get my hands on!

So if any of you have an older brunette English girl that you'd like to rehome, please give me a shout!!!! She would be very well looked after!!!

Happy Sunday everyone and Happy Dolling, Sasha or otherwise!!!

Ahhhh ... if money were no object......

I remember when I saw both of these girls on Shelly's website http://www.sashadolluk.co.uk/4436.html a little while ago....as the advert sings "My heart went Ooooops!"

They are both sooooo beautiful!  Seriously, if money were no object, one (or both!!!) of these girls would have come home to my house!!!!  Heeeheee!  (Obviously these are not my photos as I saved them from Shelly's site.....I hope she doesn't mind, but they were too beautiful to not save for future drooling!!)

As my mum always said, champagne tastes, lemonade money!!!

Ahhh a girl can but dream!!!!

No dolly time...but visitors from England!

My husbands daughter and grandson, Jake, who was 3 this past week, came over from England for a visit on Wednesday night and left again this morning.  Just a flying visit but 'short and sweet'!!  We both said after they'd left that we'd forgotten just how lively a 3 year old can be....and just how much energy they have!  :)

So although I've not had any dolly time this last week, I have taken lots of photos, some of which I will share here.  We spent Thursday out and about in the sunshine and on the beach, and yesterday we went to the Bioparc at Fuengirola, which is a lovely little zoo, just the right size for a day out with a small child as it isn't too big and the animals are easy to see. 

I did however have a couple of 'dolly' conversations with my step daughter, who informed me that she found the whole idea of doll collectors to be 'weird' and she admitted that she just didn't "get it!"  Oh well, I guess you can't please everyone, can you!!!!

Playing with photo frames

Jake enjoys some brunch in the sunshine at Torrox Costa, Malaga

And some Disney Channel tv!

Lucy thought Jake was her New Friend, she just couldn't stop following him around!  Luckily Jake loves dogs!

And Crocodiles, it would seem!!

And I love Meercats!!

 All in all, I believe a lovely time was had by all.....I'm just knackered now.  Please wake me later!!!

A question for my Sasha friends....

I'm posting this here in my blog in the hope that my Sasha friends will be able to give me their opinions.

I was wondering what you all think of the later Gotz Sasha girls with the lighter skin and whether any of you have one (or more in your collection)......if so, would you be able to share photos please?

I have been admiring them purely because they are lighter and yet seem to retain the sweet Sasha look.  But I also really like the older girls too!  Decisions, decisions!

The truth is I'm hankering after an older (up to about mid 70s) brunette Sasha but I really don't want to risk getting one with falling hair.  And so I was just looking at a more recent girl, purely out of curiousity.

Of course I flit about in what I like and dislike when it comes to dolls, so maybe by the time anyone reads this, I'll have started looking at a different girl!  But I do always keep going back to the brunettes!!

Boys will be boys!! Tree climbing with Alex (Gregor).....

Yesterday was another beautiful day and I thought it was about time that I made a summer outfit for Alex, my brunette Gregor Dark Jeans from 1973/4.  So I made him a pair of long shorts using some camoflage fabric, added a couple of pockets on the sides of the legs because we all know that boys love to accumulate all sorts of strange objects on their travels....and I made a tee shirt to go with the shorts.  I was going to make some matching socks but the shoes I put on him wouldn't fit with socks....plus he was in far too much of a hurry to go out and climb trees to wait around for the socks!!!  (His hair looks a bit puffy in these photos, maybe it is time for a hair wash and condition now that I have the bug!!)

"LOOK!!!!  No hands!!!!"

Every cloud has a silver lining.....

Yesterday did not start well.  First of all, as I walked through the town I hit my hand really hard on a stone window sill ..... it swelled up and bruised very quickly, and hurt like mad!!

Then later on in the day, as I was in the garden taking some photos of one of my dolls, I caught my shoe on something and one minute I was walking along the path and the next I was flat on my face on the hard tiled floor.  My camera hit the ground and I followed it...ramming the lens straight into my ribs, my right arm and right leg smashed into the ground and my chin landed splat on my arm!!!  It hurt so much that I cried like a baby!  Such a wimp!  But I couldn't get up, I honestly thought I'd broken my knee, it was so painful.  Anyway, Lucy, my MinPin ran and got my hubby who, along with my son, came to my rescue. 

Luckily nothing was broken, including the camera, although I have to say that it has been very painful walking since yesterday!  And I have a very sore chin too!!

Later in the day I had a dentist appointment and thought it could only get worse!  I even thought about cancelling because it had been 11 years since I'd made myself go, so I knew it would be bad!!!!  However, I'd pysched myself up to go, so off I went and I nearly fell out of the dentist's chair when she told me that I didn't need anything done!!!!!!  Only a clean!!!  She told me that my teeth are in very good condition and that my fillings, which have been there for ages, are absolutely fine!!!!!  So I had my teeth cleaned and that was it!!!

However, the really great thing is, it has now been 26 years, yes YEARS, since I've had to have anything other than a clean done at the dentist!!!!! 

I guess I must be doing something right!  So every cloud does have a silver lining!!!!

Today I had a hair appointment, so I decided to take my blond Sasha, Milly, with me in the hope that my lovely hairdresser, Loli, could trim the dry ends off her hair.  I've tried several treatments on her hair but nothing has worked and the dryness has really started to bug me as it never looks nice.  So off we went and Loli gave her hair a trim, just the ends, leaving the layers just as they are.  Once it dried I could see just how lovely it looks and the photos below will show you what I mean.   Her hair is soooo beautifully soft and shiny now....I'm so pleased that I took the plunge and took her with me!!  She didn't do a bad job on my hair either actually!!! :D

Her 'before' hair is shown in a pony tail,  the dryness of the ends is really clear to see....by the way, that is a reflection at the top by the ribbon, NOT a bald spot!!

 

 And here are the 'after' photos, you can see how beautifully silky her hair now looks!

Little ducks in lemon for Sasha.....

My friend Lene in Denmark, kindly sent me a present this week which included some sweet cotton fabric for me to make something for my dolls.  Because the fabric has cute little lemon coloured ducklings on it, I thought it would be the perfect fabric to use to make a summer dress for Milly, my blond 1971 Sasha. 

I teamed the duck fabric with some yellow and white gingham and using the 'classic' smock pattern by Simply Grace Designs, I made Milly a dress and tap shorts.  The shorts are made completely in the gingham fabric but can't be seen in the photos.  I made a pair of lemon knit socks to go with it....and added a lemon chiffon ribbon to her hair.

A beautiful spring day....

Today was a gorgeous day, the sky was really blue and devoid of any clouds and the temperature was 25c, spring is finally here in Estepa! 

I thought I'd take some photos of Oreo, my little light tan Lati Yellow Cookie.  She is from the Aladdin and the Enchanted Lamp collection and is as pretty as a picture! 

I hope you'll agree!

Happy Friday...

After a sad start to the week, I have to say that things have 'looked up' and I'm glad it's Friday. 
We came back from the coast yesterday and I have to say that I felt so much colder here than down there.....where down there I was wearing short sleeves and actually sunbathing, here I added another layer and actually put the heater on in my sewing room, I felt that chilly.

However, before we came home from the coast I met up with a dolly friend of mine, Olga, who customises Blythes.  Olga is my favourite customiser, I love her work and some time ago she  promised me that she'd customise a faceplate for me as a gift and so I was able to collect it on Tuesday when I went to visit her.  It was a beautiful day and we sat on her balcony 'playing' dolls, she has the most amazing views of the coast as she is on the first floor up and I find myself constantly looking at the sea, it's so mesmerising!  We ate our lunch outside too and chatted ourselves hoarse!! 

Anyway, once we got home yesterday,  I put together my new girl.  I already had all the parts, I'd had them for a while, just waiting for her head to come home!  She has a new Licca body because I prefer those to the Takara original bodies.  She is an FBL faceplate but the eye mechanism is an RBL so I had to adapt that with some shaving and sanding of the sides where the mechanism fits into the faceplate.   I'd already put three pairs of custom chips into the mechanism, so for the fourth pair, I decided to use the golden ones that I painted myself.  They are shown in the first, third and fourth photos.  I'd been saving those for just the right girl, and this one got them!

Her hair is actually a 'skin' and not a 'scalp'.  I made it some time ago from a large piece of yellow and red coloured Tibetan lambswool that I'd bought on the internet.  I called it my Ronald McDonald skin but decided to dye it a deep brown.  At first I wasn't sure that it was right for my new girl but the more I look at it, so the more I love it on her.....I think she's very cute looking. 

I think I'm going to call her Toni, being short for Antonia, a popular name here in Spain.

And finally a quick photo of all my Blythe girls together.  The shelf is getting a bit crowded now!!  And poor Hershey, second from the right at the back is complaining that 'the new girl' has too much hair!!!!  (And the blue haired girl is definitely getting a new faceup soon, I really don't like how I did her face last time!!)

Have a great weekend everyone!!

Rest in Peace, Maisiedoats.....

My dear friend May, also known as Maisiedoats on Flickr, Etsy and Ebay, passed away peacefully early today in Australia.  Thankfully her three children were with her at the end. 

I will really miss May, she was a very good friend and until she became ill, we spoke every day by email.  And yet we became friends in such strange circumstances!  Many years ago I was being hassled by someone on a dolly group and May noticed it, then contacted me to offer support as she too had been hassled previously by the same person.  I realised that I was not alone and we started to chat and the rest, as they say, is history!

Because May didn't enjoy sewing and I can't knit very well, I used to make jeans and trousers for May's dolls and she would make knitted garments for mine.  I still have all of my Maisiedoats knits because I'd never seen such fine tiny stitches until I saw May's!



I am very sad at the loss of such a good and dear friend but I'm also happy to know that she is no longer suffering.  I expect there will be a whole bunch of Angels now waiting on their new beautifully knitted socks!

Rest in Peace May, you were a lovely friend and I will really miss you!

Olive visits Nerja...

Yesterday my husband suggested having our lunch in Nerja which is situated about half hour east by car from our place here in Benajarafe.  There is a restaurant there that do lovely fish and chips on a Friday....so off we went.

The weather was a bit 'mixed' as we left but I decided to still take Olive and my camera with me....just in case of any photo opportunities!

After our lovely lunch, we went for a walk down to the beach next to the Balcon de Europa, which was completely empty, which is surprising as the weather had really warmed up by then.  I managed to take a few photos of Olive enjoying some spring sunshine.  I would have taken more but a few people started to wander our way and I still feel a bit silly, a grown woman, walking along with my doll!!

This is a tiny fisherman's cottage which is built into the cliff, right on the beach.  I think it looks so cute and have always wanted to look inside....however, I expect it wouldn't live up to my expectations,  I'm sure it'd be very dark and damp bearing in mind where it is located!!!
I guess it's better to imagine what it's like!

 

Olive also liked the little house and thought the step in front of the bright blue door, was the perfect place to catch a few rays!

And just in case you can't see her in the above photo....here she is!!!!

The little house has cute painted rock flowerbeds, just the right height for Olive! 

Just like her mum, Olive loves the beach and the smell of the sea......

By the time I took these photos, Olive didn't really need her cardigan....

(cardigan by Pepita Caputo of daffodilscreations on Etsy)

By now Olive was starting to get a bit tired, it's a lot of steps down to the beach when you're that small, so she took a little rest on a rock by the edge of the shore...(dress by me, stockings from Cool Cat)

After her little rest she had a look at some old wooden fishing boats on the beach...she wasn't sure that she'd go to sea in them though....they looked a bit 'holey'!!!!!

And finally some Margaritas growing wild in the car park....

I've not heard anything more from my friend's son, so these flowers are for May, bless her heart.