A flea market find....

Today is my hubby Brian's birthday and I suggested we go to Fuengirola to the big flea market there (I certainly know how to treat a Birthday Boy, don't I ;) ), well it's technically in a place called Los Boliches, and takes part every Saturday.  You have to get there early as parking is a nightmare, plus the Danish restaurant where we like to have breakfast only serves it until 11am.  I've shown the breakfast from this restaurant on here in the past but here it is again......a lovely feast to set us up for the market!!!

So after our breakfast and coffee, we started on the stalls!  I always look out for dolls and anything dolly sized that I could use as props, but usually come home empty handed.  That NP Sasha for €10 wasn't there again today.....just the usual biro covered Barbies, ugly footless Bratz and hollow plastic Nancys!!  However, on one stall an unusual but cute 'fellow' caught my eye so I haggled with the seller who told me the doll was 'special' (yeah right!!) and got the price down to €12 which I thought was reasonable.  I thought the doll was a boy but when I got back to the car and had a look, I realised it's supposed to be a girl as she has two plaits pulled up the sides of her head and tied with a bow under her headscarf.

The doll is approx 20 inches tall and made completely of felt but has a wire aperature inside.  She is nice and clean without any odours, thank goodness!  The hair is made of faux fur and stuck on and the face is painted or maybe printed on, I'm not sure which.  The clothes are not removable and are quite well made with all the seams finished that I can see.  The backpack straps and the belt are made of leatherette.  The only thing missing seems to be the belt buckle.  There aren't any labels or tags on the doll or her clothing, so I have no idea where she comes from or whether she is from a company or handmade by an individual.  She stands up on her own really well.  I have no idea where she will fit into my doll collection, she is completely different from anything else I have, but I thought it would be nice to bring her home!!!

So here she is, I hope someone might be able to enlighten me about her, any information would be greatly appreciated!  I thought she looked sort of Austrian or German, maybe Swiss?  But really she could be just a home-made Spanish doll!  Who knows!

Full length view:

Close up:

Full length back view:

 Choco seemed quite interested.....

The second doll I found is currently still damp after having her hair washed so I will show you her another time!

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend!

Darcie dances in...

It's taken me since Christmas to take photos of Darcie who was my Christmas present from my hubby.  Darcie is actually a Gotz Asian Hannah at the Ballet and is an approx 50cm (19.5-20 inches) tall, all vinyl play doll.  I had been looking at getting her for several months prior to Christmas and so was really pleased to receive her.  I have called her Darcie because, not only is she a little 'ballerina' but several times after receiving her, so I heard mention of the ballet dancer Darcie Bussell on television, so it was meant to be :)

I haven't made anything for her to wear yet so below you will see her wearing the extra outfit that these dolls come with.  They arrive wearing a cute pink ballet outfit and have a second outfit, plus shoes, aswell.  The pink boots are from My Doll Best Friend in the UK and the hat is actually knitted for premature babies and was bought at the market in Torre del Mar, down on the coast!

A new look for Tanya...

Today, having finished the cleaning and my packing, I decided to have a little play with one of my dolls who's being left behind....I thought it might cheer her up ;)  Tanya, my Maru & Friends girl, was given a new wig and a change of clothes.  Actually she tried on several wigs and I've not completely decided which will be 'hers' yet, but for now she is happy.

The outfit is called Winter Wonderland and is from Maru & Friends.  I really like it although I think it would have been cuter had it been a little shorter, but it's nicely made and good value for the price.  The set comes with the knitted dress and matching hat which are both winter white with blue snowflakes decorating the bodice/yoke of the dress and the top of the pull on hat,  cabled knee high socks AND the cute faux leather and suede boots with pompoms!  The back of the dress does up with Velcro but that, for me, is the only negative as I appreciate these are really designed for children's play and Velcro is easier for kids to work with. 

You can now see the wig she is currently wearing.  It is an old Monique Gold Ginger and of course, I've cut it to within an inch of it's life! ;)  I really like her in this bobbed style though, except that there are a lot of flyaways and stray hairs.  But I do love how child-like it is on her.

I think it'd look great with a sweet little hair clip at the front....

I tried the wig below on her, the style is nice but it's a bit synthetic, which I'm not overkeen on.

Below is a very pale blond Monique Gold Jojo.  Again I do like it on her but it's not a favourite.

The last wig I tried is another favourite on her, it's a Monique Gold Jojo and I think the style and colour really suits her as she looks young wearing it, which is what I like about her.  I thought about cutting this one shorter but she's only borrowed it from one of my Gregors, so will leave it alone for now :)  I do think the colour works well with her eyes though.

A little 'nature' girl.....

Tanya likes to be 'at one' with nature....
She has a pet otter called Walter whilst other girls have cats or dogs
She likes to walk with bare feet, even on the prickliest of grass....
And she loves to wear flowers in her hair......

(Outfit is one I made some time ago for a taller doll, but thought I'd try on this one!)

Sepia Sunday...

Today I've been trying some Super Dollfie sized clothes on my Maru & Friends Tanya, to see what does and doesn't fit these dolls.  I have a lovely outfit that a friend of mine in the US made for me some years ago and although it is a little bit tight in the chest for Tanya, I managed to get it on her.  She looks so totally different, like an old fashioned little girl.  She really reminded me of a little girl from The Railway Children, so I decided to do my photos in sepia.

Dress, apron and hat by Anita, OliveOil*53
Striped stockings by me
Scuffed brown leather boots by Ruthsdolls

A new outfit just for Tanya...

Today I finished an outfit for Tanya, my new girl from Maru & Friends.  I usually like to make a new outfit prior to a new dolls arrival but I was completely uncertain of Tanya's shape, so waited until she got here.

Surprise, surprise, she got a ra-ra set!  I say it like that, but seriously, only one other of my dolls has a ra-ra skirt set, so it's not like they're all dressed in them!!!  She chose a three tiered style skirt, with gingham and fine net underneath, and a short sleeved appliqued tee shirt.  I didn't make her a hairband as I ran out of time, nor socks, as the sandals wouldn't fit with socks.  Maybe next time!

One out.....errr one in!!!!

I always used to try keeping to my own 'rule' for myself, one doll in, then one doll out....until Sasha came along it was working so well, but I must admit that particular rule has fallen by the wayside a little, over the last (almost) two years!

Having said that, I have been good recently and although I did buy a couple of vinyl 'play' dolls, I have also sold one of those, and also a couple more of my BJDs, so I felt justified in 'treating' myself to this new girl who arrived today! 

The new girl in question is a light tanned vinyl 'play' doll from the Maru & Friends range of dolls. 

 Tany's page on the Maru & Friends website.

From the website: "Maru is the true story of a young Hispanic girl, separated from her parents because of political discord, who leaves her native land (Cuba) to go and live with her estranged uncles in America.  Maru must adapt to her new surroundings and her new way of life."  The website goes on to tell the story of how she meets and becomes friendly with a number of young girls from "different cultures", which is where my new girl comes in!  Her name is Tanya and as I already said, she has light tan skin.   Her eyes are inset hazel acrylic and very pretty with long attached eyelashes.  She is actually sculpted by the artist Dianna Effner who also sculpted the Little Darlings, of which my Ellie is one.....so I expected this new girl to be nicely done.  She is much bigger though, being about 20 inches tall compared to Ellie's 14 inches.  Tanya is also wigged, which is great because that does leave lots of options for change, should I get the urge!  The doll is very good quality and the vinyl feels nice and smooth.

Her default outfit, consisting of jade green long cardigan with tie belt, matching leggings, white cotton knickers, white cotton vest and black leatherette calf length boots,  is lovely and very well made, but it being knitted, had to come off in this heat. I also added a second outfit to my order but that too is a 'cold weather' outfit with boots.  She tried out the ra-ra skirt outfit that I made recently for my Zwergnase doll of roughly the same height, but Tanya is wider around the hips and waist than Marlee, but at least I now know what adaptions are needed to my pattern for her.  The tee shirt is a good fit, so no adaptations needed there, thankfully.  Hopefully though, soon she'll have some things of her own to wear!  In the photos below she is wearing Sasha shoes made by Ruth of Ruthsdolls, they fit her perfectly, which is great as I have several pairs of Ruth's nice footwear.  The Jean Jenson T bar shoes are just the tiniest bit too small and I didn't want to force them on, but they would fit fine without socks.  This is great as I have several pairs of Sasha shoes that she could borrow from my Sasha kids....I'm sure they'd not mind....after all, I can see them borrowing Tanya's boots at some point too!!  I do believe Super Dollfie sized shoes should fit her too and will try them once we go home from the coast.

And now for some photos:

Marlee in purple...

I made an outfit yesterday afternoon for Marlee, my Zwergnase Junior Marlene and she was so pleased that she wanted to model it for you!  I used some thickish striped knit for the leggings and a jersey knit for the long tee shirt.  A pretty ribbon made into a headband, plus a silver starfish on a lilac ribbon,  finishes off the outfit.

I have come to the conclusion that 'less is more' with these Zwergnase kids, they don't seem to 'do' overly girlie clothes, but they do like to wear well fitting and 'trendy' .... or so Marlee tells me ;)  Let's hope that this outfit fits the bill with her!! :)

I also wanted to apologise to those of you waiting on my commissions list.  We are at the coast and my husband is having extensive dental work done whilst we are here.  We decided to try a different dentist because our dentist at home in Estepa closes for the whole month of August and hubby was fed up with how slow she was at every procedure.  We've found a great new guy locally here at the coast and the work is going very well, but it means we are staying down here longer than expected.  So although I have a lot of fabric here with me, I don't always have the exact fabric that people are after for their outfits.  Therefore I would just like to thank you for your patience!

I do however, have some lovely knits and great cottons just waiting to be chosen for outfits, so I have lots to use. All the fabrics are great quality and as you'd expect from me, pretty colours!!!

If you're waiting on my list and haven't heard from me recently, and aren't wanting a specific colour fabric then please give me a shout, perhaps I can shuffle the names about so that you're not waiting so long! 

Thank you!!