Here is Angel, my Youpladolls Ziya, wishing you the compliments of the season!
Thank you for visiting, enjoy the rest of your week!!
Big hugs Sharon x
Tuesday, 25 December 2018
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.....
Wishing all my readers and followers a wonderful Christmas, or if you prefer Happy Holidays 😊 I hope that Santa has been kind to you!
Here is Angel, my Youpladolls Ziya, wishing you the compliments of the season!
Thank you for visiting, enjoy the rest of your week!!
Big hugs Sharon x
Here is Angel, my Youpladolls Ziya, wishing you the compliments of the season!
Thank you for visiting, enjoy the rest of your week!!
Big hugs Sharon x
Wednesday, 12 December 2018
The Oriental Garden....Photo heavy!
Unfortunately we chose a day when they were cleaning out a lot of their water features but this didn't deter us, we still had a pleasant time walking around and looking at the plants, quite a few of which, I believe, are native to Japan.
Of course I had to take one of my dolls with us so that I could get some doll photos too, so I brought along Sienna, my Bastian in Saffron skin by Little Cosmos Dolls. I hope you'll enjoy the photos and seeing this pretty and tranquil little space here in Malaga, southern Spain.
One of several bright red bridges that pass over the water feature...
There are loads of fish in their ponds and also a sign saying not to feed the turtles but we didn't see any, so maybe they're hibernating at this time of year.
Planting up the Poinsettias for Christmas...
Lots of bright red berries...
Thank you for visiting, I hope you enjoyed seeing this attractive and peaceful Oriental park.
Big hugs, Sharon xxx
Monday, 26 November 2018
Hope by Kaye Wiggs...
Today I thought I'd make a dress for Hope, my limited edition MSD sized girl from Kaye Wiggs. It occurred to me that Hope had been here for some time but I'd not sewn anything for her in ages....I checked and was surprised to find that she's actually been in my collection for almost 6 and a half years, having arrived here in July 2012!
If you don't know the history of Hope by the Australian artist Kaye Wiggs, then let me tell you a little bit about her. Hope was sculpted in September 2011 in order to raise money for "3 Angels Nepal". "3 Angels Nepal" is a charity who help rescue young girls who were sold into prostitution and slavery, by setting up manned booths at the border to stop the rickshaws etc before they could take the girls out of Nepal. They also rescue young boys who are sold for body parts. The sale of Hope raised approximately $90,000 for the charity and some of the money was also used to buy land for growing vegetables etc for the orphanage where they housed the rescued girls. The charity was also able to purchase a water truck and water pumping facilities so that they can now supply water to surrounding villages. This brings them an income so they can continue their rescue work as well as help meet the expenses of the orphanage.
So Hope, in her new dress, got some time in front of the camera. I hope you like this small selection of the photos. The weather was a bright and sunny 23C but was a bit blowy later in the day....and once the sun had started to dip in the sky, so it became quite chilly. But the photos didn't come out too badly, Hope never fell over or out of the tree and the sunshine through the leaves of the tree did make some nice dappled shadows on her :)
I'm sorry the photos are a bit 'samey' but hope you enjoyed seeing Hope again. Tomorrow I hope to start on a new outfit for her sister, Layla, my other doll sculpted by Kaye.
Doll: Hope in Sunkissed resin sculpted by Kaye Wiggs
Faceup: Hope's faceup is by me.
Outfit: sewn by me.
Wig: Monique Gold restyled by me.
Thank you for visiting, have a great week!
Big hugs Sharon in Spain xxx
If you don't know the history of Hope by the Australian artist Kaye Wiggs, then let me tell you a little bit about her. Hope was sculpted in September 2011 in order to raise money for "3 Angels Nepal". "3 Angels Nepal" is a charity who help rescue young girls who were sold into prostitution and slavery, by setting up manned booths at the border to stop the rickshaws etc before they could take the girls out of Nepal. They also rescue young boys who are sold for body parts. The sale of Hope raised approximately $90,000 for the charity and some of the money was also used to buy land for growing vegetables etc for the orphanage where they housed the rescued girls. The charity was also able to purchase a water truck and water pumping facilities so that they can now supply water to surrounding villages. This brings them an income so they can continue their rescue work as well as help meet the expenses of the orphanage.
So Hope, in her new dress, got some time in front of the camera. I hope you like this small selection of the photos. The weather was a bright and sunny 23C but was a bit blowy later in the day....and once the sun had started to dip in the sky, so it became quite chilly. But the photos didn't come out too badly, Hope never fell over or out of the tree and the sunshine through the leaves of the tree did make some nice dappled shadows on her :)
I'm sorry the photos are a bit 'samey' but hope you enjoyed seeing Hope again. Tomorrow I hope to start on a new outfit for her sister, Layla, my other doll sculpted by Kaye.
Doll: Hope in Sunkissed resin sculpted by Kaye Wiggs
Faceup: Hope's faceup is by me.
Outfit: sewn by me.
Wig: Monique Gold restyled by me.
Thank you for visiting, have a great week!
Big hugs Sharon in Spain xxx
Monday, 19 November 2018
Angel
Angel received a new camera in the mail. She fancies herself as a bit of a photographer! Now she wants a nice strap to hold the camera apparently.....so back to the sewing machine!
Happy Monday everyone!
Happy Monday everyone!
Sunday, 18 November 2018
Rainy Day, Dolly Play...
This morning we woke to rain and as the day went on, so the rain got heavier, to the point that we needed our lights on in the middle of the day! It doesn't rain that often here in southern Spain but when it does, my goodness does it rain!
I'd planned on taking some outside photos but with the awful weather that wasn't to be, so I decided to set up my indoor 'studio' lights and the second backdrop that I received a couple of months ago from Ebay. You may remember I posted about the first of the two backdrops here:
If-you-go-down-to-woods-today
So the second backdrop arrived and was more similar to the first one than I remembered but that wasn't a problem as they are very cheap. It needed ironing as, like the first one to arrive, it had been folded down to fit into a smallish envelope. I used my iron on a cooler setting as the backdrops are sort of plasticised fabric, and I didn't want to burn it. This one is not as good as the first one though as it has paint/printing missing on the creases, but I guess for the cheap price, what could I really expect!
I have been changing some of my ball jointed dolls into warmer clothing, so thought I'd use the backdrop to take some photos of the girls in their winter wear. I attached the backdrop to the wall with poster tack and then, as suggested by Sandi of Xanadu Dolls blog I used the ironing board as the 'table' for the dolls to stand on, and I set up the two photographic lights on their tripod stands.
First to have her photo taken was my Fairyland Mini Fee tanned Chloe, with her German Shepherd dog.....I think there is too much light in this photo but when I turned off the lights, so there were shadows created which made the backdrop look very artificial. The backdrop has sunrays coming from the top left hand corner as you can see. This is supposed to represent sunshine coming through the trees. I believe it looks too artificial and unnatural....(any suggestions gratefully received!!!)
Next up we have Dylan, my Little Cosmos Dolls Robin, wearing a different wig. I'm not sure it's 'her' but will keep it on for a while. I think I'll probably go back to the red plaited wig in the end!
Riley Mai, (Ppinkydolls Malisa) hasn't had any camera time in ages, so I took a few photos of her too. I changed her eyes from brown to these two toned, blue/green eyes. I'm actually thinking of changing her body from her original resin one to a hard plastic Pure Neemo one....so watch this space!
Next up we have tiny little Marley, (Tanned Meng version 4 by Secretdoll) who I had been thinking of selling as I couldn't 'bond' with her. I decided to change her wig and eyes and as soon as I saw her in this wig so I realised just how cute she is, she just hadn't found her 'style'!!!.....she will be staying!!!
Finally we have Gala (Adori in Milky tan by Harucasting). Gala has had several changes of clothing over the summer but I kept forgetting to photograph her. But now she is in her winter outfit looking all cosy and warm!
I think what I've learned this photo session is that the studio lights are great for eliminating the shadows behind the dolls but I've come across other challenges. The dolls look a little bit pale and washed out and the colours do not 'pop' like outside photos do for me. Also, the tripods on the lights are not really tall enough for the dolls when they are standing on the ironing board, I need to take it all a little lower. So here we have two studio lights, one on either side of the dolls, and an overhead spotlight bulb in the ceiling. I didn't use the flash in any of these photos, so it really is purely the studio lights. I think I need to find a way of defusing them!
Well I hope you've enjoyed seeing some of my little girls today. I will change some more soon and take more photos....hopefully the weather will be dry and I can go back to taking them outside.
Have a great week ahead!
Big hugs Sharon xx
I'd planned on taking some outside photos but with the awful weather that wasn't to be, so I decided to set up my indoor 'studio' lights and the second backdrop that I received a couple of months ago from Ebay. You may remember I posted about the first of the two backdrops here:
If-you-go-down-to-woods-today
So the second backdrop arrived and was more similar to the first one than I remembered but that wasn't a problem as they are very cheap. It needed ironing as, like the first one to arrive, it had been folded down to fit into a smallish envelope. I used my iron on a cooler setting as the backdrops are sort of plasticised fabric, and I didn't want to burn it. This one is not as good as the first one though as it has paint/printing missing on the creases, but I guess for the cheap price, what could I really expect!
I have been changing some of my ball jointed dolls into warmer clothing, so thought I'd use the backdrop to take some photos of the girls in their winter wear. I attached the backdrop to the wall with poster tack and then, as suggested by Sandi of Xanadu Dolls blog I used the ironing board as the 'table' for the dolls to stand on, and I set up the two photographic lights on their tripod stands.
First to have her photo taken was my Fairyland Mini Fee tanned Chloe, with her German Shepherd dog.....I think there is too much light in this photo but when I turned off the lights, so there were shadows created which made the backdrop look very artificial. The backdrop has sunrays coming from the top left hand corner as you can see. This is supposed to represent sunshine coming through the trees. I believe it looks too artificial and unnatural....(any suggestions gratefully received!!!)
Next up we have Dylan, my Little Cosmos Dolls Robin, wearing a different wig. I'm not sure it's 'her' but will keep it on for a while. I think I'll probably go back to the red plaited wig in the end!
Riley Mai, (Ppinkydolls Malisa) hasn't had any camera time in ages, so I took a few photos of her too. I changed her eyes from brown to these two toned, blue/green eyes. I'm actually thinking of changing her body from her original resin one to a hard plastic Pure Neemo one....so watch this space!
This poor girl hasn't had a change of clothes in probably a couple of years!!! So I think that'll be my job for the next few days, find her another outfit that suits (and fits!) her!
Next up we have tiny little Marley, (Tanned Meng version 4 by Secretdoll) who I had been thinking of selling as I couldn't 'bond' with her. I decided to change her wig and eyes and as soon as I saw her in this wig so I realised just how cute she is, she just hadn't found her 'style'!!!.....she will be staying!!!
Finally we have Gala (Adori in Milky tan by Harucasting). Gala has had several changes of clothing over the summer but I kept forgetting to photograph her. But now she is in her winter outfit looking all cosy and warm!
I think what I've learned this photo session is that the studio lights are great for eliminating the shadows behind the dolls but I've come across other challenges. The dolls look a little bit pale and washed out and the colours do not 'pop' like outside photos do for me. Also, the tripods on the lights are not really tall enough for the dolls when they are standing on the ironing board, I need to take it all a little lower. So here we have two studio lights, one on either side of the dolls, and an overhead spotlight bulb in the ceiling. I didn't use the flash in any of these photos, so it really is purely the studio lights. I think I need to find a way of defusing them!
Well I hope you've enjoyed seeing some of my little girls today. I will change some more soon and take more photos....hopefully the weather will be dry and I can go back to taking them outside.
Have a great week ahead!
Big hugs Sharon xx
Friday, 9 November 2018
An Amazing Coincidence!
I feel like just recently I'm always posting about new arrivals and today is no exception, but I must tell you the story behind this latest adoption because it was so funny how it came about.
The doll in question is called Ziya and she is sculpted by the French artist of Youpladolls. My dear friend Sue in the UK had one of these dolls and I always thought she was lovely, so when Sue mentioned to me that she was thinking of selling her, my ears pricked up. But it seemed Sue was a little bit undecided because the doll had been a surprise gift from her husband and she wasn't sure if she should sell or not, but the doll wasn't getting any attention. In the doll hobby we collectors are like "if the dolls not getting attention then maybe it should go to someone who will love it more....bye!"
Anyway, Sue was undecided at that point and I thought that I'd wait until she listed her for sale before mentioning my interest. I'm such a worrier that I was reluctant to say that I'd like to adopt her in case Sue thought I was after 'mates rates' or something! So, as I said already, I waited in the hope that as soon as she listed her for sale, I could go for her at the asking price. Alas, the saying 'he who hesitates is lost' springs to mind because the following day Sue happily tells me that she's sold her Ziya, the doll was snapped up straight away. Oh well, I thought, it was not to be!
In the meantime, the artist behind the doll had had a stand at L Doll in Lyon, France and the event had just finished so I emailed her to ask if there were any dolls left over, I would be interested in purchasing one. But within a few hours I'd had a reply to say that there weren't any tan dolls left after the event...so that was that, it obviously wasn't to be!
I decided that I'd just catch up on some emails that I'd been meaning to do for ages. I started with another lovely dolly friend, Jane in the UK, as I'd owed her a reply for ages. I started typing out my email, telling Jane all my recent dolly news and about the new arrivals. Then I told her what I'd been up to and how I'd been trying to buy Ziya and what had happened. I sent the email and moved on.
Within minutes an email came winging it's way back to me from Jane. She'd read about my search and was amazed that she had, that very same day, made a decision to sell her Ziya!!!! Was I interested in her? Well, how funny was that! The only reason Jane's doll was not yet up for sale was because she'd not yet got around to taking photos for potential buyers! So of course I said yes!!! I would love to adopt her doll and that's exactly what I did!!!
So Ziya arrived a few days ago, she took less than a week to arrive from the UK and she is lovely. Her name previously was Angeline but I have shortened that to Angel. Jane sent her wig, eyes, an outfit and shoes! Such a lovely parcel to open 😃 The doll is tanned and she is MSD size, in fact she is a smaller MSD at 39cm tall. She wears a 6.5 inch wig and 10mm eyes. I've not taken many photos of her yet because I've had a very busy week but you can be sure that I'll be taking more photos very soon.
She was a little pale from living in the UK 😉 so I added some blush and some tiny freckles across her nose and cheeks. They look a lot more prominent in the photos than they do in real life for some reason! I've not sealed them so they will probably fade or rub off in time.
Here are a few photos of her for now, it was a very blowy day! I hope you like her!
She has beautifully sculpted hands which you can just see in this photo below....
Well that's all I have for you today but hopefully soon I'll have some more photos. I will also be posting some vinyl dolls for sale, including Gotz, Zwergnase and others. I am also going to be selling one of my tiny BJDs, a Lati Yellow Cookie in tan, so if you're interested please watch this space.
Have a great weekend!
Big hugs Sharon in Spain xxx
The doll in question is called Ziya and she is sculpted by the French artist of Youpladolls. My dear friend Sue in the UK had one of these dolls and I always thought she was lovely, so when Sue mentioned to me that she was thinking of selling her, my ears pricked up. But it seemed Sue was a little bit undecided because the doll had been a surprise gift from her husband and she wasn't sure if she should sell or not, but the doll wasn't getting any attention. In the doll hobby we collectors are like "if the dolls not getting attention then maybe it should go to someone who will love it more....bye!"
Anyway, Sue was undecided at that point and I thought that I'd wait until she listed her for sale before mentioning my interest. I'm such a worrier that I was reluctant to say that I'd like to adopt her in case Sue thought I was after 'mates rates' or something! So, as I said already, I waited in the hope that as soon as she listed her for sale, I could go for her at the asking price. Alas, the saying 'he who hesitates is lost' springs to mind because the following day Sue happily tells me that she's sold her Ziya, the doll was snapped up straight away. Oh well, I thought, it was not to be!
In the meantime, the artist behind the doll had had a stand at L Doll in Lyon, France and the event had just finished so I emailed her to ask if there were any dolls left over, I would be interested in purchasing one. But within a few hours I'd had a reply to say that there weren't any tan dolls left after the event...so that was that, it obviously wasn't to be!
I decided that I'd just catch up on some emails that I'd been meaning to do for ages. I started with another lovely dolly friend, Jane in the UK, as I'd owed her a reply for ages. I started typing out my email, telling Jane all my recent dolly news and about the new arrivals. Then I told her what I'd been up to and how I'd been trying to buy Ziya and what had happened. I sent the email and moved on.
Within minutes an email came winging it's way back to me from Jane. She'd read about my search and was amazed that she had, that very same day, made a decision to sell her Ziya!!!! Was I interested in her? Well, how funny was that! The only reason Jane's doll was not yet up for sale was because she'd not yet got around to taking photos for potential buyers! So of course I said yes!!! I would love to adopt her doll and that's exactly what I did!!!
So Ziya arrived a few days ago, she took less than a week to arrive from the UK and she is lovely. Her name previously was Angeline but I have shortened that to Angel. Jane sent her wig, eyes, an outfit and shoes! Such a lovely parcel to open 😃 The doll is tanned and she is MSD size, in fact she is a smaller MSD at 39cm tall. She wears a 6.5 inch wig and 10mm eyes. I've not taken many photos of her yet because I've had a very busy week but you can be sure that I'll be taking more photos very soon.
She was a little pale from living in the UK 😉 so I added some blush and some tiny freckles across her nose and cheeks. They look a lot more prominent in the photos than they do in real life for some reason! I've not sealed them so they will probably fade or rub off in time.
Here are a few photos of her for now, it was a very blowy day! I hope you like her!
She has beautifully sculpted hands which you can just see in this photo below....
Well that's all I have for you today but hopefully soon I'll have some more photos. I will also be posting some vinyl dolls for sale, including Gotz, Zwergnase and others. I am also going to be selling one of my tiny BJDs, a Lati Yellow Cookie in tan, so if you're interested please watch this space.
Have a great weekend!
Big hugs Sharon in Spain xxx
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