Just like buses...

Well we've all used the expression "just like buses" in the dolly world and sure enough now it's my turn.  I don't usually like receiving new dolls one after the other with just a few days between their arrivals but sometimes even with the best of planning, it can happen.

The Iplehouse doll I showed yesterday, as I mentioned then, was held up a month in Spanish Customs (boo, hiss) but this little doll who arrived here on Saturday I've actually been hoping to nab for about 8 months or so.  The little doll in question is a Tuesday's Child doll by Boneka, sculpted by Dianna Effner.  I'd wanted one as a little sister for my Little Darlings but each time one came up on ebay so they either went very high or they were being sold in the US and I would prefer to buy within the EU.  Anyway, about 6 months ago I spoke with the owner of a doll store in France who told me that they were waiting on an order from Boneka which was due in 'later in the summer' so I decided to wait.  And lo and behold, last week I received their newsletter to say that the dolls had arrived!!!! 

I was really fortunate to nab one quickly as the store only received about 20 or so of them, and they were sold out in little over an hour!  And I'd just like to mention that this particular doll store, Un Bonheur de Colibri are brilliant, so helpful and their customer service is second to none!  They shipped the following day and the doll arrived really quickly from France!

So here she is, her name is Daniela and she is number 2 of a limited edition of 2.  She has handpainted features, with blue/green eyes and pale pinky lips.  Her wig is human hair.  She is about 25cm tall and has the same joints as the Little Darlings, (neck, shoulders and hips).  She's so cute with her little chubby cheeks and pretty blond curls, and I really do think she looks like a little sister to my bigger girls!  This is the outfit by Boneka that she came in, including socks and shoes.

Daniela borrowed her big sisters sunhat as it's been very hot here and she didn't want to burn her head! ;)

With her big sisters and cousins, Ellie, Finn, Gem and Reece:

 With her sisters, Finn and Reece:

I think she'll fit in really well here, I have a ton of patterns in this smaller size and she's already asking for more summer clothes...I can see myself being busy when I get a break from sewing my commission work!

Thanks for looking and for welcoming little Daniela!

A change of wig for Fiona....and dolly nudity!

Fiona is my Little Fee Ante by Fairyland in South Korea, and I have had her since 2008 when she came to me secondhand from California. 

Fiona/Ante is approx 25cm tall, normal skin, resin ball jointed doll.  The Fairyland dolls have about the best joints for posing that I've ever come across in my 9 years of collecting BJDs.  I don't think another company has yet come close to achieving the posability of these dolls to be honest.  I remember being amazed at the company's photos when they were first released and wondering if it was really possible to get them to hold such great poses, but yes, they can indeed hold great poses.  I thought I'd share some of those old photos with you which are from the Fairyland website.....warning dolly nudity!

The dolls also have magnetic wrists and ankles so that their hands and feet can be removed for easy dressing, as well as magnets placed inside the resin on their backs so that they can wear little resin wings and on their heads so that they can wear horns!!  You can also purchase additional hands, such as pointing fingers and little fists, as well as different faceplates such as 'winking' or 'sleeping'!

A funny little story about a lovely friend of mine who sadly has since passed away, and her Little Fee's magnetic hands.  My friend used to knit and sell on Ebay and one day she wrote to say that she'd lost her dolls hands, she'd looked high and low and couldn't find "the darn things"!  I made a few suggestions because I'd also had occasion to lose mine.....had she checked the metal legs of the ironing board?  Her buttons tin?  Anywhere metallic near to where she knits?  Yes, she'd checked all these places but they'd failed to turn up so she got onto the Fairyland company and ordered another pair.  A week or so later, she received an email from an Ebay customer in America to say that she loved the cardigan that she'd just received having won on Ebay, but did my friend know that there was a Little Fee hand in each of the sleeves?!!!!!  Mystery solved!  So although the hands don't usually just fall off like that, they have a little notch that keeps them in place, they'd obviously got snagged on the yarn in the sleeves and gone off with the cardigan!!!  It's always nice to have a pair of spare hands though, isn't it! 

Standing up straight showing the jointing system from the front:

 

And from the side, I love this pose because it's so like little kids stand when you tell them to "stand up straight"!:

And from the back:

A cute little pose:

Sitting down nicely, a typical child's pose whilst sitting on the floor to play!

 Another cute pose:

Standing on one leg:

A great TV watching pose!

Playing leapfrog with a friend!

Awww Little Angels!

Well I got a bit sidetracked there, didn't I!!  But I know that there are some friends who follow my blog, who, although they don't collect bjds, are still interested in them and their posing ability so I thought I'd share. 

So going back to Fiona, every now and again I change her wig to give her a new look and a new lease of life.....and nearly always change it right back to the original again.  Today she is wearing this pale blond one but I'm not sure that it's actually 'her'......I think this sort of short wispy style but maybe a darker blond?

Fiona is wearing a very simple summer dress which I made for her last week, the bodice is lined, and the sleeves are not inset, so it took me no time at all to produce and yet I think it looks really quite nice on her!!! :)  She's added her white leatherette summer sandals too!  Next time I would make it shorter in length though, I prefer to see children in shorter dresses so that they can run about and play without the extra fabric getting in their way! ;)

Well I hope you've enjoyed this little insight into Fairyland Little Fee dolls and their posing....and of course seeing Fiona, she, for me, is definitely a keeper! :)

Have a great week!!

With a bit of luck.....

With a bit of luck

A duck

Will come into your life.

When you are at the peak

Of your great powers

And your achievement towers

Like a smoking chimney stack.

There’ll be a quack,

And right at your feet,

A little duck will stand.

She will take you by the hand

And lead you,

Like a child with no defence;

She will lead you

Into wisdom, joy and innocence.

That little duck.

We wish you luck.

Michael Leunig

When the little girls want.....

.....What the big girls have!

Fiona, my 25cm tall Little Fee, wanted a new dress "Just like Meggie's!".  Well Meggie is a Sasha, so quite a bit bigger, but I thought I'd give it a go!  I was going to create a pattern from scratch but thought I'd have a go with an exisiting Sasha pattern and reduce it to fit.  It took quite a bit of reducing but I actually cut straight away into the fabric because I have quite a lot of it and I'm really lazy when it comes to 'trial runs'.....I always think "if it doesn't fit X doll, I'm sure it'll fit someone else here...."  the benefit I suppose of having 'too many' dolls! 

I'm really pleased with the fit.  I think I'll narrow the shoulders ever so slightly on the next one, but apart from that, well she's delighted with it!!!

Back to school!

Oh dear, someone doesn't look so happy that she's got to go to school......

(This is my basic Sleepy Berry by Jerry Berry, her head is made from resin and she has a handpainted faceup, including very detailed handpainted eyes.  Her head is size 7/8 inches but her body is a skinny plastic jointed Obitsu.  She is approx 25cm tall.)