FOR SALE

Sunday 15 January 2017

A week of dolly activity....and SEWING!

Yes I have been SEWING!  And enjoying it!  And I have lots more ideas in my head too, so watch this space.  But my week has gone well and I've got several things done that I planned to get done.  I have completely organised one bag of doll shoes, which I know won't sound like much but we are talking a LOAD of dolly shoes....I have been collecting doll shoes for a dozen years or so and I rarely get rid of any!  So they are all nicely sorted out in individual little bags now.  I didn't take any photos, too boring!

I've also taken some photos of a newcomer here, a Journey Girl Dana from Toys R Us.  I've wanted a Dana for ages but every time I went to TRU so they had all the others but not her.  So we nipped into TRU and I noticed that the Journey Girls section was slightly bigger, still tiny but they've now got some accessories and even some clothing sets!!!  But again, despite having the other new girls, no Dana.  However, as I wandered around the other aisles, I spotted her, there she was, but displayed with the Nancy by Famosa dolls!!!  So I grabbed her and brought her home. 

For 30 euros these dolls are not bad at all.  They have soft and silky rooted hair, inset acrylic eyes with applied upper eyelashes and their bodies are part vinyl and part cloth with fully vinyl limbs.  The vinyl goes down to about the centre of the dolls chest and the cloth part is just the lower body.  They're great play dolls for kids....and I count myself as a bit of a big kid here, so perfect for me too! 

Here's Dana on her way to school, the outfit is the one she came in, and is actually quite cute.  She has a white sleeveless vest (sorry but the name of a vest in the US escapes me...singlet perhaps?) under her check shirt, then she has white cotton knickers under her blue skirt which is very nicely made and has a thin layer of net/tulle underneath.  She has not one but two pairs of socks on, blue knitted ones on the outside with white cotton ones underneath (I'm guessing those are to protect her from staining) and the blue knitted ones are perfectly in scale. (One of my pet hates with dolls is knitted clothes that are made with waaaay too thick yarn and too big needles!!!)  She has this knitted shawl to keep her warm on chilly mornings, which was very useful as it's been chilly these last few mornings.  Finally she is wearing a pair of moulded plastic Doc Marten boots which have a slit down the back so are easy to get on and off, plus she's holding a pale blue shoulder bag with a long strap and a tassel (not seen) on one side. Oh nearly forgot, Dana comes with glasses as she is a little bit short sighted.




Because she reminds me of someone I know, she will now be known as Rocio.

On to the sewing.  I made an outfit for a Little Darling, it's a hooded knit dress with long striped stockings underneath.  I'll be adding a shoulder bag so that she can carry her school books but haven't got to it yet.

Here is Nikola modeling it for you:



And a close up of Nikola as she's just sooooo cute!


Finally on the dolly front, I made an outfit for one of my Muller Wichtel kids, Neele, as she'd been naked for months, poor girl!  I got this very sweet fabric from a wonderful craft supplies fair that I attended (twice!) at the beginning of December.  I meant to blog about it but I spent far too much time (and money!) buying stuff, that I forgot to take any photos!  The fabric is Japanese and a nice weight for overalls.




And a close up because...well why not!


Well you'll see from the photos that spring is definitely on the way here, thank goodness, as I really don't 'do' winter....A lot of our plants have flowered all through the winter, but the hibiscus had taken a short rest but it's back again with a vengeance, there are now about 12 buds ready to open and one flower is already showing it's pretty face:


And more importantly, the Money Tree is flowering!!!!  Phew, well needed after all I spent at Christmastime! ;)


Our neighbour has a very pretty plant in their front garden but I haven't a clue what it's called....Dee? Any idea?


These photos were taken at night, the flowers are almost 'waxy'...


We also had a couple of visitors.  This little fellow was about 4 cm long, so not as big as the one who stayed a couple of years back, but quite friendly all the same and he seemed to enjoy a little bit of sunshine on his back:


And then we had this little chap visit, the photo is not great as I had to take it through the window so as not to scare him off.  I have no idea what kind of bird he is, he was about the size of a sparrow though, and very chirpy....in fact there were a pair of them, but I only managed to get this one...


And finally, just to show that we do get cold weather and SNOW sometimes, here is a photo of the mountains behind us....yes that white at the top is apparently snow!!!  It didn't last though, only there for a couple of days!!


Well I hope you've enjoyed seeing what I've been up to this week, and hope that you all have a lovely week ahead.

Big hugs Sharon xx

25 comments:

  1. I believe your mystery flower is a frangipani, from the Pacific Islands. They are often worked into Hawaiian leis. Sure wish we had fabric fairs here, most of our tiny prints suitable for dolls tend to be quilting cottons....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for the information on the flower, it's so beautiful.
      Oh the fabric and craft fair was wonderful, I really hope there is another one this year!
      xxx

      Delete
  2. Frangipani!
    These are so wonderful delicate flowers -and colours. But I never saw any in real life.
    Much to cold here!

    I love your sewings and the little Nikola looks so very childlike. This dress seems to be lovely, but ready for play as well. (I do like that Name!)
    I'm not into these Mueller Wichtel, but really enjoy your surrounding.
    So different from where I live: our colours are grey, white and blue at the moment and it's colddd :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you too Anne for the information on the flower, I will have to look out for one of these at the local garden centre where I suspect our neighbour got his, although he appears to have had it for a long time.
      Thank you also for the lovely comments on my girls and their outfits :)
      Keep warm!
      xxx

      Delete
  3. As Mrs Digne says, the unidentified, waxy flower is frangipani. I grew up with Hibiscus and Frangipani in our front garden and the Crassula Argentia (Money Tree) - an enormous specimen which flowered every year - in the back garden so your garden looks very familiar. I like your latest sewing projects and sort out (we're doing a grand sort out too).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Anna. Yes the Hibiscus is lovely too, I really think they, along with sunflowers, depict summertime for me! I used to say geraniums but they seem to flower all year, along with the jasmin and bougainvillea.
      That plant, the Crassula Argentia in the UK only seems to be an indoor plant doesn't it? Here it grows outside and yes can grow to enormous proportions! If one of our dogs left ours alone instead of keep chewing it, ours might be bigger!!!
      xxx

      Delete
  4. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Opps , did not proof read before I pressed comment !

    What a sweet new doll, she looks very clever in those glasses :)
    Love the new outfits you have made. Nikola's blue dress with the blue floral and striped tights just perfect with the little hood for those chilly mornings.
    Neele looks so sweet in her outfit and the poor childs probably so pleased to be wearing some clothes ;)
    Love the gorgeous colour of your Hibiscus and they've already told you it's a Frangipani and a lovely one at that.
    Well I hope your weather stays nice as I've just seen the weather report and we are going milder but europes getting a big chill !
    Have a great week and good luck with the tidying :) xxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the lovely comments Dee, I'm glad you like what I've made and the new girl.
      We have indeed had a bit of chilly weather but today and yesterday were beautifully warm, short sleeve weather until the sun went down. We even saw some men in shorts!!!!
      xxx

      Delete
  6. It's great that you found Dana after all. She looks cute with her glasses :-). I love the clothes you made. Neele is so adorable, I also like the fabric of her jumpsuit. Thank you for sharing the pictures of the flora and fauna, I really enjoyed them! x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you J.J. I'm happy because I've wanted her for ages, I think it's the glasses that I really like though because I'm usually not into smiley looking dolls, but I think she is quite sweet!
      Isn't that fabric nice, I wish I'd got more of it, oh well, a good excuse to go to the craft fair again if it comes again this year ;)
      xxx

      Delete
  7. A very nice and interesting post. I am happy you found Dana and she is adorable. I am very happy that you are sewing again and such wonderful results! Your Nikola and Neele look fantastic in their bright and cheery colors. I love the stripy tights and the little red riding hood fabric is wonderful. All of the plants are beautiful and your money tree is really lovely and we call it a jade plant. Your mountain view is stunnng and what a beautiful place to live! Thank you for the happy wishes for the week too! 😊 XXX

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Ginger :) Glad you enjoyed it!
      I'm happy to be sewing too now, it took a while to get back into it, and now I am struggling to find the time to fit in all I would like to do, but hey, tomorrow is another day...hopefully!!!
      xxx

      Delete
  8. We have a money "tree" that is more than 30 years old, but it never flowered. Probably it is too cold and dark here.
    Love your sewing. The hooded dress suits Nikola so well!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Really? Is it a big one?
      Ours has flowered regularly over the years, hopefully one day I'll find the money that it's supposed to bring ;)
      I'm glad you liked the sewing, thank you Ursula!
      xxx

      Delete
  9. I love the shade of blue you used for the top of the hooded knit dress. You always find the perfect fabrics for these!

    And the flowers are wonderful! :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Rocio is really pretty. Nikola looks so innocent and beautiful in the outfit you made for her. Neele is adorable in her overall.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Glad to see you have the bug again, me too. :) Congrats on the new arrival and thanks for giving me a LD fix, I still have a long wait for mine...love her outfit! Neele is looking very smart in her red riding hood overalls.

    Enjoyed the flowers too, have a Jade plant and Hibiscus myself, but no Frangipani (tried but it's too cool in the winter here, or maybe I just tend to kill things). :)

    Well it certainly was a busy week for you, and I'm pleased you shared it.
    Hugs,
    X

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Sandi :)
      I'm glad you got your LD fix, the wait is sooo long isn't it?
      I never knew this plant was called a Jade plant but now that I do, I can see why. It has been very chilly overnight recently, I will have to check out my neighbours plant to see if it's still ok.
      xxx

      Delete
  12. Great to see such Spring-like activity over there again. Keep up the good work...and the blogging afterwards please!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you very much Kendal, and yes, hopefully spring is just around the corner, it certainly has felt that way yesterday and today!
      And yes, I promise to blog afterwards too :)
      xxx

      Delete
  13. Lovely Sharon. Love the style of warmer outfit for your LD, my girl only has summer outfits and not even a cardigan, good job she can't speak of else I think we'd be having words lol
    Anyway, lovely blog and really pleased you are enjoying sewing and even more pleased your dolls are benefitting from it x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much Louise, I'm glad you like the outfits. Your poor girl! She needs a fairy godmother!!
      xxx

      Delete

Your comment will be visible after moderation.