Emily....a little bit spoilt perhaps?

I don't know what it is about this particular doll but Emily, my Goetz Happy Kid, who came to me secondhand (admittedly almost brand new in box) from Ebay, has fast become one of my favourite dolls!  She has such a lovely face and is really nice to sew for.  Being bigger than the majority of my other dolls, I can use fabrics that wouldn't be any good for smaller dolls, such as this knit fabric which was a gift from my friend Anita in the US, and with which I've made Emily's latest outfit.

The dress is a basic smock style with three quarter length sleeves and I added red and white striped leggings and a Liberty cap in plain red knit.  I love sewing in knit fabrics...which is funny really because when I first started sewing I hated knits as my sewing machine tended to 'eat' them, now they're definitely my favourite fabrics.  I just wish that more patterned knits were available to purchase locally as I like to feel the weight of the knit before I buy and that is very difficult with buying on-line! 

Anyway, without further ado, here is Emily modelling her new outfit which she seems to be very happy with.  We went into the 'campo' yesterday to take these and the air was filled with the scent of wild mountain thyme....lovely!!

The usual abundance of photos as I can never choose which to keep and which to discard!!!  

Because we were high up, we got a good view of the sea in the distance.  It was very calm.

 Another abandoned watch tower...

I hope everyone had a great weekend and hope the week ahead is good for you....and for those of you with cold weather and snow, please keep safe and warm.

Olivia, out in the sunshine....

I took Olivia out in the sunshine yesterday, so thought I'd share some photos of her.  My favourite colours are blue and white, and I've noticed that subconsciously, my dolls tend to have a lot of clothing in these two colours too!!!!

If it's cold where you are, I hope these bring a little sunshine to your day!  Keep safe and warm everyone!

Last is first!

My last dolly purchase of 2015 arrived on Monday, so she is also my first....my first of 2016!  I ordered her on Christmas Day to be exact, so she was my Christmas present to me from me!
The new girl in question is a resin BJD by the Italian artist Linda Macario http://www.lindamacariodolls.com/   Linda sells her resin dolls mainly through Jpop Dolls in the US and this is where I spotted my new girl, she was in stock! 
Her company name is actually Linda and she is tanned resin.  As you'll have already gathered, I particularly love tanned dolls, and even more so, tanned dolls with solemn or slightly grumpy faces,  so this little sweetie was just perfect for me.  She is 40cm tall and has a chubby child-like body shape.  I have renamed her Dylan.

Dylan arrived from Jpops with a pair of bright green glass eyes, really not my 'cup of tea' so I searched through my box of eyes and would you believe it, out of all the pairs I have (and I really have lots of eyes!!) I couldn't find a pair in glass that 1) fitted her or 2) suited her!   She takes an 18mm.  So she is currently trying out a pair of Glastic Realistic Acrylic eyes.....they are growing on me though so maybe they will stay a while!  I have also attached new upper lashes because these are more natural looking than those she came with, plus added some extra bottom lashes and eyebrows with watercolour pencils.

And of course she was bald!  As the majority of my wigs are at home and I'm not, she is currently borrowing a wig from my Kaye Wiggs Hope, whilst Hope is borrowing from one of my Little Darlings!!!!  It really is like Musical Wigs in this house!!!

When she was all ready to be photographed, I said to my hubby "You've got to admit, she's very cute!"  To which he replied "I'll take your word for that!"  Oh well, at least I'm happy with her!

Sorry about all the photos, I couldn't choose!  Oh, and /an added bonus, she can wear Sasha outfits!!!!  Although Sasha shoes are too wide, she is wearing a pair of Ruthsdolls boots below!!

"Hey, Mum!  I'm cold without hair!"

Ahh, now that's better!!  She may be wearing temporary eyes, a borrowed wig and too big boots, but she fits into a Vintage Sasha smock dress and shorts........what more could a girl want from life!!!! :) 

Thank you for looking and apologies for the repetitiveness of the photos, but hope you've enjoyed 'meeting' Dylan :)

Sunday morning at Lake Viñuela...

This morning we went for a walk down by Lake Viñuela, the weather was lovely and bright, about 21 degrees centigrade, and I took my Goetz Happy Kid Emily with me because she wanted to show her second new top that I'd embroidered for her.

The top in question is made of black fleece and because I used an American Girl pattern I wasn't happy about the sizing, plus it was a little short in length for her, so I had to add the white fabric as a sort of 'skirt' part......I'm not over keen on the whole thing except for the cats, next time I'd prefer to embroider them onto dark coloured sweatshirt fabric instead, I think they'd look much nicer.  Plus the fleece just attracts every hair, piece of fluff or dust!!!

We took a different route today and I have to say it was SCARY!  The road was very steep and there were no crash barriers, just sheer drops down the side of the road......and a lot of very tight hairpin bends!  Not a route I'd like to drive again in a hurry!

 

The level of the lake is incredibly low at the moment as we've had such a dry year.  I think it's going to take an awful lot of rain to fill it to previous levels......

  

 

Thank you for visiting, I hope you all have a lovely week ahead! 

Liebster Award!

Liebster Award

I was tagged the Liebster Award by Xanadu Dolls (thank you for the tag!)

The rules:
1. Thank the person who presented you the award and link back to their blog.
2. Post the award image on your blog.
3. Answer 11 questions posted by the presenter.
4. Nominate 5-11 blogs with less than 200 followers.
5. Create 11 questions for the nominees to answer.
6. List these rules in your post.

7. Inform the people you chose of their nomination by leaving a comment on their blog and link them your post.

1.What drew you to the hobby?
My husband bought me a lovely dollshouse and I decorated it from scratch and wanted 'people' to live in it.  We started going to miniature fairs and one day I went to a doll fair in Kensington, London.  There I spoke with a guy who was part of a 'meet up' in the lobby of the event and he had a gorgeous Narae by Bimong, that was it, I was smitten!

2. What was your first doll? Why did you choose that one?
My first BJD was a tiny Orient Doll So Ji.  I ordered her because I wanted to see what all the fuss was about, without spending too much money.  However, whilst she was on her way from Denver Doll Emporium, I fell hook, line and sinker for a French resin Narsha by Dollmore and impulsively ordered her too.  When I saw her face for the very first time on the Dollmore website, I just fell instantly in love with her and couldn't stop thinking about her!!  As it happens both dolls actually arrived on the very same day!  So Ji stayed for a couple of years but wasn't really for me but 10 years later, Narsha is still here with me.....very yellowed now but loved all the same!

Narsha by Dollmore with custom faceup by Ravendolls

3. What was your 2015 doll regret?
I don't have any big regrets to be honest.  I did adopt some dolls that maybe weren't for me, and they've now moved on to new homes, and there are a couple who I didn't order and maybe regret that a little since hav ing seen owner photos, but I'm fine with that now!  I'm really very happy with my lot!
 
4. Did you sell any dolls in 2015?
Yes, I did sell several dolls in 2015, both BJDs and other dolls too.  There is always another doll waiting in the wings so someone has to go!!

5. Do your doll characters have their own theme song?
No, not at all.  


6. What style best describes your doll collection? (Fantasy, goth, punk etc.)
Oooh I'm not sure there is a name for mine, apart from the fact that I do seem to go for a certain 'style', whether the dolls are BJDs or vinyl.  I tend to be attracted to dolls that are not too happy looking.  Someone once said that my dolls all look miserable, but I tend to think of them as being 'pensive'.  And all of my dolls are 'children', just like 'human children' only not real flesh and blood LOL!  I just don't do 'grown up' dolls at all.

7. What sort of aesthetics do you look for in a doll?
Ooooh difficult.  I guess all I can really say is that they have to tug at my heart strings!

8. Have you built or plan to build any dioramas for your dolls?
I have put together a few dioramas in my time but I struggle with finding the right props locally and don't have the time these days to make them myself, not like back when I was into dollshouses and could often be found making little things from what I found around the house!!  So although some of my girls do have a play room and my tiny Elfdolls do have a 'lounge' neither have many props and things!

9. What is your 2016 doll wish list?
Up until recently I would have said that a tanned Amelia by Linda Macario was number one on my wish list for this year.  However, over the last couple of weeks my interests have changed ever so slightly.....I'll say no more but all will be revealed on my blog very soon, I hope!  

10. Do you have a 'fantasy' wish list? (i.e. dolls that you will never own unless you won lotto etc.)
Well sort of....it's more that there are quite a few dolls that I'd like to actually see in real life and perhaps get to handle them, rather than just purchase them on line and live in hope!  So I suppose you would call this a wish list of sorts!

11. What do you love most about the hobby?
There are several things that I really love....firstly I love the people.  I've met some wonderful people through dolls and made some great long term friends!  Some of these people I've actually got to meet whilst others I doubt I ever will, but enjoy their company all the same.  Secondly I like how creative I can be with dolls.  I never wanted to sew until I got interested in dolls, now I love to sew and customise them as well as photograph them....they really do get my creative juices flowing! 

As for tagging anyone else, I will tag:
Dee of The Sasha Village
Jenni of The Bryn Derw Kids
Ginger of Sasha Shangri-La
and Anne of Sasha Comoneo
And my questions will be the same as the ones above that were given to me by Xanadu Dolls.
I know that you don't all have BJDs but you can still join in making it all about your dolls instead! :)  But please don't feel obliged to do it, it's just a bit of fun!

Out and about with the Two Antes....

Today I took the two Antes, Fiona and Marisol, with me when we went out for lunch (my goodness, does it seem like we're always going out for lunch!!!!  It's just that this is when I take the dolls with me for photos! Honest! )

The weather today was really bright and sunny, but it was sooooo windy and the wind was really chilly.  However, it didn't stop us taking a detour up to the top of a cliff to take some photos of the view.  It wasn't till I took the dolls out of the car to photograph them though, that I realised just how windy it was.....poor Fiona nearly lost her wig!!!!  And my camera was jiggling all over the place being tugged by the wind!  (That's my excuse and I'm sticking with it!;) )

The water looks really chilly...

 

Not many people on this little beach today! 

Even Fiona looks cold, it's a good job she has on her nice warm hoodie.....

 

 Sheltering from the wind, the perfect spot to catch her breath after the climb...

Where she is joined by Marisol who had opted to stay in the car whilst we went to the top of the cliff, as she'd insisted she'd not be cold without her cardigan! 

Back at sea level again, most small towns have a place where locals can go and collect drinking water from communal taps.  The water points are either natural stone with a trough or highly decorative Andalucian tiles like this one below!  Of course the water that comes from the mains taps in our houses is completely clean and drinkable these days but some people still like to collect their drinking water from a local water point.  Often the water comes from a natural spa so people prefer the taste.

Since she learned this 'sign' Marisol seems to want to do it in every photo I take nowadays ;)

Well we are already almost one full week into the New  Year......and I have already taken two lots of dolly photos in public!!!  Must be a record for me!