All the best laid plans.....

Firstly I would like to wish everyone who reads my blog, a very Happy New Year!  I hope that 2020 is a great year for all of you.

Secondly I would like to apologise for not wishing you all a wonderful Christmas, but the truth is everything went pear shaped for us here just before the holidays and I never got the chance to post on my blog as planned.

I mentioned in one of my previous posts that I was going to the UK on the 14th December to meet up with my mum and my brother John and travel back with them to Spain on the 15th for them to spend Christmas and the New Year with us.  The journey to the UK was uneventful and although we had a slight delay on the way back to Malaga, all went well and we arrived home to my place at about lunchtime.

We had lunch and chatted for the afternoon, I think, if I remember rightly, my mum started to knit a woolly hat for one of my dolls.  Then my mum went to my friends place (she was away and offered my family her place to stay in as since moving we haven't a lot of room), just a minutes walk away, to unpack.  

A little while later my brother came running back to tell me that my mum had fallen over and he couldn't get her up.  I ran with him back to my mum and she had fallen backwards down a small step......

The ambulance came and took her to hospital, she was in a lot of pain and having a panic attack because of this pain.  

To cut a long story short, my 83 year old mum was hospitalised with a broken hip and was operated on the following day.  Here in Spain, you're more or less expected to stay in the hospital 24/7 with your person, so I slept in the chair next to her bed for four nights.  We went home on the 19th and from that date on I looked after my mum at home, she was encouraged to walk using a walking frame, and has been doing really well, thank goodness.

My mum needed a lot of help at first, especially with her personal care, and I stayed with her at my friends place whilst my brother stayed with Brian and the dogs at ours.  My brother John has learning disabilities so he needs a certain amount of supervision too.

Christmas Day was nice though, if hard work.  We had our dinner outside on our deck as it was such a lovely day.  I didn't get time to wrap the presents until late on Christmas Eve, the Christmas cards remained in the box, the proper linen napkins and table cloth remained elusive and we had to resort to a paper tablecloth and paper napkins....the prawns for my seafood starter were uncooked so we couldn't eat those, and I had to substitute them for some crab sticks that were in my fridge that were barely in date.....and it wasn't until halfway through lunch that I realised I'd forgotten to put glasses on the table and wine in the fridge...but apart from that the food tasted good and there was plenty of it!!!!

After Christmas mum's insurance company sent a nurse from the UK to travel back with her to her home on the 3rd January, I had planned to go with her for a few days but decided to stay for just over a week so that I could help her in her home as well as get a care plan in place for when I came back home to Spain.

I arrived home last Saturday, 11th January, and slept in my own bed, with my husband for the first time in almost a month!  I have never appreciated my own bed so much! 😊

In the meantime my mum has a carer visiting each morning and a physiotherapist has been each day this week to help her to regain a good level of mobility.  She seems to be doing well and hopefully when I return to the UK again next month to visit her, she will be able to go back upstairs in her house as so far she has had to remain downstairs.

So today I got back to my Christmas present doll from my husband Brian.  She is a Zwergnase Junior Wentje and she is 55cm tall.  Wentje is one of a limited edition of 50 dolls worldwide, she is handpainted and has a human hair wig.  I haven't had time to sew her anything yet but hope to do so soon.  

Here are a few photos of her.  I think she is one of those dolls that really benefits from being photographed in natural light as she looked quite plain inside my doll room, but I think she came more alive when I took her outside this evening just as the sun was starting to set.

So there you have our Christmas.  My mum falling was a horrible end to what had already been a really awful year.  I am hoping that 2020 will be better for all of us.  I'm very glad to see the back of 2019 to be honest and am going into this new year with a positive attitude. 

I hope 2020 is great for all of you.  Thank you for continuing to visit my blog, please keep coming and commenting as I really appreciate it.

Big hugs to all of you

Sharon xxx  



 

Spring!

The weather has been beautiful here and I'm hoping that spring really has sprung already.  I went for a walk on the beach with my friend and her dog and decided to bring along a doll to photograph.  My friend Julie isn't a doll collector but she does seem to take an interest in my dolls and often says she'll make some knitted items for them.....I'm still waiting Julie!!! 😉

So it was the turn of Neele, my one remaining Wichtel doll by Rosemarie Muller.  She's a cute little thing and I thought, with her big wide soled sandals, she'd be a good doll to take to the beach as she'd hopefully not fall flat on her face in the sand!!!  

 Neele has her bucket but she doesn't have a spade, so I need to find an icecream place that serves their desserts with those spade shaped plastic spoons because I think it'd be the perfect size for her!  And what a good excuse for an icecream!

My friend Julie then set up this pose with her dog, Louis....I definitely think Julie has an eye for doll photography, I may have to lend her a doll to take out with her when we walk the dogs again next time!!! 😉

And here's the end result, I think you'll agree a cute shot!  It helps that Louis is a very well behaved boy, my dogs would probably have dragged my doll face down through the stones!!!

Apart from that, my selling has continued and several of my dolls have found new homes.  A few are still waiting to be adopted, including two previously brunette bald Sashas,  a bald Gregor and two brunette Gregors, one of which was rerooted by me.  And also my first blond Sasha, Millie, who has beautiful hair and who's eyes were repainted by Shelly of Sasha Dolls UK.  She is actually already on Ebay, if you're interested.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/233156482872?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649 

If you look at all my listings you will see the other dolls I currently have listed.  If you're interested in any of them, please contact me and I can sell them off Ebay if you'd prefer it.

Before I go, I thought I'd share a few other photos that I've taken recently of various dolls of mine.  I'm doing a 'doll a day' with a couple of friends via email, I'm enjoying it because it's making me take photos of my dolls when sometimes I just can't be bothered!!!  

Here is Anais (Irrealdoll Annic in Truffle skin) with her new bike which I found on Ebay, it's the perfect scale for her and so nicely detailed.

 

And here is one of my first Blythes, Hershey who is a Simply Chocolate Blythe that I customised some years ago....

And finally, a photo of Anuschka, one of my Zwergnase Juniors.  She is from 2006 and her hair is made of mohair and has got really tangled and messy recently.  But these photos don't show that, so I was really happy with how she looks.  She has such a great grumpy face!! 😊

Well I hope you all have a great week and that the weather is good wherever you are!

Big hugs

Sharon 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

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 :)

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!

Sharing secrets.....

A couple of Gotz girlies, sharing secrets....

I made this new outfit for Joie (on right) a few weeks ago, before we came down to the coast.  It was going to be for Christmas but she insisted she must wear it now!!!  I love this Scandanavian style fabric which was a new childs hoodie that I bought a couple of years ago from C&A (yes, thankfully we still have C&A here in Spain).  I'd saved it for something 'special'...and finally decided the time was right to dismantle it and use it for a dress for Joie!  It probably took me more time to unpick the hoodie than it did to actually make it into a dress!!!  The leggings are made from a new babygro from H&M!! 

Another type of Gotz arrives home with me from the UK!

And no Ronny, before you start to complain, we are not talking about Gotz Sashas or Gregors here, but two Gotz 18 inch vinyl 'play dolls'!  The first was a planned purchase, I saw that an internet friend was selling a brown eyed brunette Gotz Hannah without her outfit, for a very reasonable price.  The doll had not been played with and only used as a clothes model, so I decided to snap her up.  The seller sent her to my mum's house for me to collect and bring home, so saving on postage.  Here she is, I have dressed her in an outfit I made recently for my Kidz n Cats girl, and have called her Erin:

The second girl was a completely unexpected purchase and what a delightful 'buy' she is too!  She is a Gotz/Steiff Limited Edition Giselle from 2003.  I had been looking for one for a while but they are quite rare these days and so far this gorgeous girl had eluded me.  However, my friend in the UK had one and promised to give me first refusal should she ever decide to sell hers.  And sure enough, my lovely friend decided to surprise me by bringing her to the Chat n Snap so that I could see her!!!  And gave me the opportunity to adopt her!!!!!  I'm just delighted with her, she's so pretty!  She has the same body shape as the Hannah above her colouring is slightly darker I think.  She was produced by Gotz in collaboration with the Steiff company in Germany....you can't see it in these photos but she has a small gold plated stud in her earlobe like the soft toys produced by the Steiff company have .  She was pristine in her box with her full outfit, original hairstyle and tags still attached!!!  Here she is still in her box:

I decided to take the clips out of her hair but so far have left her ponytail in place.  I had to flatten her box to fit it in my suitcase though!!!  Once home, I removed her original outfit and stored it, and now she is dressed more casually so that she can play with the other 'children' here! ;)  I have called her Joie, which I think is the perfect name for her :)

I'm really looking forward to making these two lovely girls some outfits of their own in the near future!