Hello! I'm still alive!

 I'm really sorry that I've not been around for ages, I've not posted on my blog or read anyone else's either, which is bad because I do enjoy seeing what everyone else is up to on the dolly front.

As for me, well I'm well but have had six months of problems with one of my legs, several times I was unable to actually walk and I honestly thought the worst.  Well it turns out that I have 'severe arthritis' in my knee and lower leg and am too young (I like that!) for a replacement knee so I've been given strong painkillers.  They're working well but I feel so tired that sometimes I just cannot be bothered to do anything! 

However, I have actually been sewing, quite a lot to be honest.  I've let my house gather dust and concentrated on my dolls....well those dust mites deserve a life too, wouldn't you say?  Seriously though, I've been sewing, sewing and more sewing and really enjoying it.  I've also customised a doll so I will share some of those things here and hope, if I still have any readers left, you will enjoy seeing what I've been doing.

I received a new BJD back in April and although I wasn't sure whether I'd actually keep her, when she arrived I was smitten.  She is a Pao by Boto Doll and although she has a chubby body which I normally don't like, I really love her.  I've done a lot of sewing for her.....

 I've been having such fun with her, her name is Jin, which apparently means Jade in Chinese.

I've made outfits for my Gotz girls too....

 

Both of those girls arrived in the early part of the year....I had a bit of a spending spree!!  

Some more BJDs got new clothes....

 

Samantha (Elfdoll Hana Angel) got a new blue dress with beading around the hem.

Noa (Irrealdoll Nora) got a check dress and cream socks.

Black Cherry Dolls XiaoYu got a new denim pinafore and striped stockings.  The lovely knitted sweater and beret were a gift from a friend.

And she also got a linen dress in khaki green.

 Bastian by Little Cosmos Dolls got some new trousers and a matching top.

So these were just a few of the many things I've been sewing recently.

Finally I did a makeover on one of my Gotz girls.  Anna is from 2005 and although she was really nice, her eyes were quite flat and not the most attractive so I decided to give her a whole new face.

Here she is with her new look and new dress....well if a girl has a new look she really needs another new dress, I guess!  

 I almost cut her eyes out to insert glass ones but then I decided to try repainting her existing eyes, after five attempts I was happy with the ones I painted and after sealing them, I added clear UV resin to give them a strong shine.

I think she looks more like a child now and less 'doll-like'.

So you'll see that I've not exactly been idle, just not here on Blogger.  I will try my best to catch up with all the blogs but I might just have to start afresh from now.  Forgive me for all the things I've missed and for not commenting.

Big hugs and enjoy your week.

Sharon in Spain xx

Introducing Irrealdoll Nora

As promised I would like to introduce you to my newest little ball jointed doll (BJD).  She is sculpted by the Spanish artist Laura of Irrealdoll and is called Nora.  Nora is made of resin and fully jointed.  She was available in two colours, Peanut and Toffee, I chose Toffee because I already have a Toffee coloured Enyo and I wanted Nora to be his big sister!  Nora is 27cm tall and quite skinny, so much so that she can actually fit into some Blythe clothes, although she would actually be classed as YOSD size, meaning Young Super Dolfie.  The term YOSD actually belongs to Volks of Japan but is used throughout the BJD world to describe dolls in this size range.  At some point, when I get some time, I would like to do a comparison post showing the difference between dolls in this size range.

I ordered Nora back in July and paid for her on layaway, Laura offers a great layaway and I finished paying for her in October.  The doll then arrived just before Christmas.  Laura makes several different sizes of BJDs, I currently have three different sizes, and they are all of excellent quality and the posing, particularly of her later dolls, is second to none.

I recently made a wig for Nora, who I'm now calling Noa, by making a wig cap using PVA glue and then attaching curls of Merino wool, however I wasn't happy with the wool that I received from a seller on Etsy and so instead, I decided to order a wig from a seller in France.  I will show you Noa in both wigs for your opinion.  I like her in both wigs but feel that she looks a bit older in the homemade wig, plus the wig itself did not come out very well.  

Homemade wig using Merino wool and PVA glue wig cap:

Now wearing Tessie wig by Monique Doll Company:

Please excuse the photos, I'm struggling with the changes to Pic Monkey, the photo editing site that I subscribe to.

Noa came with light brown eyebrows so I have darkened them slightly as well as adding a little more colour to her lower lashes, but apart from that, her faceup is by the artist.  I love her very faint freckles.  Unfortunately you can't see them very well in my photos.

Clothes: Top photos, jeans by me (made for Planetdoll Mini Riz), tee shirt for Blythe

Bottom photos, same tee shirt, denim overalls by TTYA and sports shoes were keyrings!

I hope you've enjoyed meeting Nora/Noa!

Thank you for visiting

Big hugs, Sharon in Spain xxx

 

 

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to everyone who visits my blog!  I am sorry that it's been such a long time since I last posted on here, but like a lot of people, I've lost interest in my dolls over the last five months or so and the interest is only really coming back now!  I suspect the virus has got a lot to do with it, l suppose you'd say that 'real life' got in the way.  

I would like to apologise for not commenting on any of the blogs that I follow.  Sadly with the loss of dolly interest, along went any interest in dolly blogs.  I hope to rectify that really soon.

Well a fair amount has happened in the last six months since I posted. First of all we moved home and we are now living just five minutes from where we were before, but we have a lot more space and I have a lovely new doll/sewing room, which unfortunately hasn't seen much action recently, but I do have a lot of things planned for the spring.  The house itself though is lovely, we have beautiful views of the sea and two nice terraces which I need to utilise more for dolly photos.  Having said that, I did take a few photos recently, so I will show them here.

Dolly news, I have received two new dolls recently.  The first to arrive was Nora by Irrealdoll here in Spain, she is very cute but I've not taken any photos of her yet because she is waiting on a wig.  So far I have made the wig cap using white glue but am now waiting on the lambswool to arrive from the UK.  What with the virus and Brexit, I suspect it'll be a while before it arrives, so I will have to be patient and poor Nora will have to stay safely in her box.

The second doll to arrive, who also arrived just before Christmas, is Johanna, who is an Wichtel artist doll by Rosemarie Muller.  She is 32cm tall and all vinyl and such a cutie.  She came in this beautiful smocked dress, lacy socks and pretty sandals, and she even has tiny gold studs in her ears.  You might remember that I had three of the Wichtel dolls before but sold them in 2019, and I missed them so decided to add another to my collection.  I decided on this sweet girl with her small smile....and although I don't usually go for smiley dolls, I'm glad I did on this occasion as she is very pretty. 

Isn't she a cutie!  I can't wait to start sewing for her 😊

In the meantime, I finally got to take some photos of my latest Zwergnase Junior doll, Rixte, who arrived here last October.  She is one of the 45cm girls and has such a cheeky face.  I changed her from her default outfit into this super Brownie dress made by Passion for Sasha on Etsy....she is now looking forward to starting Brownies very soon! 😉 ☺️

Apart from that, all is well here.  My mum and brother came over here to stay with us on the 4th November because I was really worried about how things were going, virus-wise, in their area and they are still here some two months later.  I think it was the best thing for them to do, coming here, because not soon afterwards, their borough, just east of London, had the highest numbers of new virus infections in the whole of England.  Scary stuff.  Thankfully they are safe and well here and long may that continue.

I hope you and your families are staying safe and well and that 2021 will be a good year for us all.

Big hugs and thank you for visiting

Love Sharon xxx