February Already! And finally some dolly time :)

Most people complain that January goes by so slowly after the rush of December and Christmas but I must admit, that having been in the UK from the 3rd to the 11th, the month seemed to whizz by!  I was hardly home when the 31st arrived and brought with it my son Brendan who came over for a week's holiday with us.  He mainly comes to see us on his own as he has more holidays than his wife Virginia, so when she comes to Spain she naturally spends the time with her family.  Anyway, it was a great week, we did lots of chatting and laughing and of course shopping, Brendan always wants to buy things here that are apparently much cheaper than the UK, so he keeps us very busy!!

Lucy loves having Brendan home! 

 

On the dolly front I have sold a couple of dolls and done a bit of sewing as well as have taken some photos of different dolls who've had a change of clothes or wig.  The weather has been lovely, very warm and sunny, perfect weather for taking my girls outside to photograph.....

Here is Holly (formerly Wentje, the doll I showed in my last post), she is a Zwergnase Junior and is 55cm tall.  I changed her into this dress that I made ages ago for another doll that has since left for pastures new.  I then added a 'shirt' underneath so that it looked a bit different from when the last doll wore it. When I first got her I wasn't sure about her but since I got back from the UK and have had a chance to 'play' with her, she's really grown on me. 

 Also today I changed the wig on my Little Cosmos Dolls Robin.  I've always thought of her as a dark haired girl but yesterday I received this wig from a group order I'd participated in back in the autumn.  By the time it arrived, I couldn't remember who I'd ordered it for!!!  So Dylan (Robin) tried it and I really think it suits her so she will keep it.  

Who'd have thought she'd look so angelic as a blond!  Funny how looks can be so deceiving though😉

I also changed my little Sienna (Bastian, also by Little Cosmos Dolls) into this cute outfit by the Gorjuss company.  It seems odd to have a coat with short sleeves but it's not cold here now so little Sienna doesn't mind 😉.  This girl's face so appeals to me, she always looks so worried, like she's scared she's about to be told off!!!

 
I made a couple of outfits for my Kaye Wiggs girls, here is Gracie modelling the outfit I made for her....It wasn't quite finished in this photo, I'd forgotten to put the cord through the bottom of the sleeveless hoodie!!

Here we go, the cord is now done and I made another outfit, this time for Hope. 

I have a third outfit cut out and ready to sew for Layla, I'll get to that soon I'm sure!

In the meantime, I am off to the UK again on Thursday to see my mum and brother.  My mum has been doing very well since her fall and is completely on the mend now, thank goodness.  She was recently discharged by the physiotherapists and is now walking well with the aid of a walking stick or a walking frame.  I'm only going for five days but looking forward to it....apart from the weather!!!

I have some dolly purchases to pick up whilst over there so hopefully will have some new arrivals to show you on my return.

Have a great week ahead, and for those of you being affected by Storm Ciara, keep safe and warm.

Big hugs
Sharon in Spain xxx


 






 

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 go down to the woods today.....

I've been meaning to buy some photographic backdrops for years....I mean literally YEARS!  And finally about a month ago I decided to have a look on Ebay and see what is available.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that the price has come down considerably....when I first started looking many years ago, I'm sure the prices started around the mid $20 mark and because I thought it would be nice to have several, the price kind of put me off....after all, $20 is $20 more towards a new doll, right?!  🌝  Anyway, having had a good look at the hundreds of different designs available, I decided to buy a couple showing natural environments and the first one arrived today.

Firstly I was amazed at how small the package was, I was expecting a big fat envelope, but it was a reasonably small flat plastic bag and inside, the 3x5 foot backdrop was folded down to the size of a greetings card!  Of course all those folds meant a whole lot of creases, but could it be ironed as it was quite 'plastic-y'?  I took a chance and ironed it on a hot heat setting but using steam and not letting the iron rest in any one spot at all.  The creases came out quite easily and the backdrop wasn't damaged, it was now ready to use.

Because I like taking my photos outside in natural light, I guessed the best place to put it was over the gate on our deck.  I put the 'decking' part of the backdrop flat on our existing deck and the 'forest' part up and over the gate.  As soon as I did that, so the breeze picked up and the darn thing was blowing all over the place.  On to Plan B.  I stuck it to the gate posts with several pieces of 'poster tack'......had the dolls all ready,  posed them quickly and got the camera ready.  The wind then pulled the backdrop away from the gate and the poster tack, straight over the dolls, throwing them face down on to the floor.  Thank goodness they were sturdy vinyl Sashas, so no damage done.

On to Plan C.  This time I went outside the back door and fixed the backdrop to the closed door, using the poster tack to stick it to the doorframe.  This worked much better as we were out of the breeze, however we were now more in the shade so my camera wanted to use the flash!!  

Finally I got some photos of various dolls, I used several sizes so that I could see which dolls worked best with the backdrop. 

Firstly I took two of my lovely brunette Sashas, Stella (1969/70) and Willow (1969).  I think I took about 20 photos of these two girls but most were deleted.  Here is one of the better ones:

Next I took some photos of this tiny little Mariquita Perez Mini, she's approx 6 inches tall, made of hard plastic/vinyl, and has a shiny face....for those of you who've not heard of Mariquita Perez doll, they appeared on the market in 1940, being the best known doll of the forties, fifties and early sixties in Spain, Portugal and in some countries of Latin America. Nowadays it is still made in vinyl in normal version or mini, she also has a brother called Juanin. 

Finally I tried it with my two tallest ball jointed dolls, Hope and Layla by the Australian artist Kaye WIggs.  These two girls are 45cm tall, so I thought they'd be the best size for this backdrop:

I was quite happy with the photos, but learned from my mistakes.  

1)  I need to find a position for the backdrop that is in good light but out of any breeze;
2)  I need to position it so that the back edge of the 'decking' is straight, not seeming to curve upwards as in these photos!!!!!
3)  The dolls should be further forward away from the backdrop so that the photos have more depth;
4)  Definitely don't use flash!
5)  I must experiment with my camera settings so that I get less definition on the backdrop and more emphasis on the dolls themselves.

I'm sure I've learned more, I just can't remember at the moment!!!

I've come to the conclusion that the size of the doll is largely irrelevant with this particular backdrop.  I think the tiny 6 inch doll doesn't really look out of place with the tall trees in the background, I just need to work on her positioning in the photo.  Also, I think once I have worked on my camera settings, I can blur out the background a little so that the eye is drawn to the doll rather than the backdrop....I now know how to do that so will work on that for next time.

Well I hope you've enjoyed my little 'learning curve' and hope you'll pop back again to see if I can improve on these first attempts at using a photographic backdrop....maybe the other one will have arrived by then and I can share that one too :)

Big hugs
Sharon xx

My Kaye Wiggs girls....

Hope and Layla got some camera time recently, so I thought I'd share their photos on here.  Firstly I took Hope (sunkissed resin with faceup by me) to the local lake for some photos.  It was so hot and although there was a breeze it was like a hot hairdryer blowing on us, so we didn't stop too long before going to a bar for a cold drink!!! 

 

 

And Layla, who I call Louisa, has a new look.  She has had brown eyes 'forever' although she has tried some different wigs over the years that I've had her, but I thought I'd try her with blue eyes for a change.  I like the look although it's a struggle for me to not want to change back to brown, as brown eyes are my all time favourite!  Her wig is a Monique Gold Ellowyne-Rose which is made of synthetic mohair.  I cut it to this more managable length.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing my two Kaye Wiggs girls, thank you for visiting :)

Hope....

Hope also got a chance to relax on the beach too, so I thought I'd share just a few photos of her from Monday morning.  Because she's resin and resin can be damaged by the sun, I made sure to just keep her out in it for a short time!!

Now I'm seeking opinions here....does this girl need a new faceup?   Either professional or by me?  I'm thinking that she could be redone and have seen some beautiful work recently by an artist in Russia......decisions, decisions!  And I'm not asking this 'fishing for compliments', I really can't decide on my own what to do!  I'm terrible at making decisions about dolls!!!!