Mood:  a-ok

Had some simple, silly fun today. You may remember back on Tuesday, I was at GoodWill, and I picked up a doll. Forgot to tell you, I picked up a 'craft grab baggie' for 99c at the same time. Inside was unopened packages of star-shaped buttons, boy-themed 'buttons', and two packs of sequins. The buttons are made by the same company that makes those tiny ones I use for doll clothes, even though they're really marketed and sold to scrapbookers. No kidding, all these buttons I love are usually in with the hole punchers, 50c a page paper, and brads of various sizes. For someone who's not really 'into' scrapbooking, I get a lot of good ideas for my dolls in those aisles - and I sure spend a lot of time there !

Company's name is "Dress It Up", it's a Jesse James Company out of Bethlehem PA, says on the package. They make all sorts of plastic 'buttons', from super tiny ones that equal the dimensions of those on vintage Barbie clothes, to huge ones almost the size of your kneecap. Link to their website at the end of today's entry.  I find 'em at both the Mart and Hobby Lobby, and your local craft shop will probably have some in the scrapbooking section. While many have shanks or sew-through holes, most don't. That way, the scrapbookers don't have to snip 'em off.  The 'Little Boy' pack I got has flat-back non-buttons, of trains and planes, stars and dump trucks. I plan to glue 'em to Dearest Son's new jacket.

They usually go for around $2. a packet, so getting two packs and some sequins for 99c was a good deal. The star package, labelled 'All American Collection/All American' had three different styles - I got three open white stars a bit bigger than a quarter, three nickel-size matte finish gold stars the size of your thumbnail, and six slightly smaller two-color ones. Those are either red or navy on the outside star, with contrasting red, white, or blue star shapes inside. All but the white open ones have shank backs, so I can have fun with doll jewelry with 'em !   

I found a good boot box discarded a few days ago, and when I went to prep it for fabric covering (more later), I discovered a gold cord in the tissue paper. Strung one of the open white stars through it, cut to fit, treated the ends with Fray-Check, and poof ! Instant Crissy necklace ! The gold stars just wouldn't hang right - shank is, of course, centered, I'd need it more towards the top to work. Added a jump ring to the shank, but it still tipped forward. Oh, well.

My eyes caught a little circular crystal I'd found somewhere. It must've been from an old chandelier or candleholder, from the brackets on the top and bottom. Snipped off the bottom bracket, re-bent the top one to form a loop...where to find something really small to act as a cord or necklace ? What I'd used for Crissy's was too big, it quite overwhelmed the tiny crystal. It's about the size of your pinky nail. All the cord I had was also too large...then it hit me. Embroidery floss ! Six strands, can be thinned down easily, or left intact, and I had about three dozen colors. Found a four-strand piece cut from a prior project, and it looks great. Isabella now has a lovely crystal necklace, and I can change the 'cord' with her next outfit. Coool !

So I finally found a use for that little crystal, and the stuff I bought Tuesday. Not sure what'll happen to the sequins, they're rather large for most of my uses. But I'm sure they'll fit in somewhere. The embroidery floss I've had around for years, if not decades, and I just found a doll-related use for it ! :)  

I'll probaby root around in the doll jewelry box for more ideas. I use one of those $2.  'floss keeper' boxes, I just love all the dividers. All my broken jewelry, various bits and pieces from damaged doll clothes, beads and sequins and such from grab-bags ends up in there. Ironically, all the floss is in a Christmas gift box, designed to look like a take out box for Chinese food. Maybe I should snag another floss box...

Oh, and about covering boxes ? I'll write that up for you soon, I'm gonna experiment a bit first. The directions I have call for Mod Podge, which isn't expensive, but I wanna try to use what I already have - namely Fray-Check and fabric glue, we'll see how that goes.  

Here's the site - it links to a retail outlet to purchase, but you can just look around :

http://www.dressitup.com/ 

Posted by dorriebelle at 1:42 PM CST

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Mood:  happy

You'd think I'd have a boring day after all the 'new doll' excitement over Christie. But I didn't ! Well, some would say it's boring, but I'm happy because I have two doll dresses - Barbie clothes - that I've wanted since 2000 on their way to me ! Wheeeee !

And really, they're nothing special, I could easily make them myself. But for some reason, I really grooved on these two, and while they're fairly common, I never saw one on my second-hand wanderings. Which is funny, because I find rarities (the red 'It's Cold Outside' coat) and unusual pieces (the blouse to 'Fun At The Fair') for loose change, but two modern and often-seen dresses have eluded me for over five years.

One is a simple white dress with a pink sash and matching pink ribbon on the bodice - it came on the My First Barbie from 1984. I'm not sure why I like this dress so much, there's not a lot to it. But I've wanted it for some time. The other has a strapless bodice in pink, with a matching ruffle on top. The skirt is white with pink and green rosebuds, hemmed with a pink ruffle to match the top one. It ties with a velveteen belt, but I've never been able to tell if the belt is dark green or black. I think it's also a 'My First' fashion, I'm not sure. It doesn't come up often still in the packaging. I often see it in lots, rarely by itself.

Simple dresses. I even made two versions of the pink rosebud one - one with gathered lace, one with a ruffle I made with my sewing machine attachment. They looked fine, weren't that difficult, but I still wanted the original.

Even when I found them, soooo cheap, I had to fight with myself before I placed the order. I still wanted those dresses, but it was a real struggle for me to spend the money on such silly things ! I mean, I already proved I could make it myself, why on earth would I want to buy them, even if they were cheap ? Beloved Hubby saw me hesitate, and told me if I didn't place the order, he would. He'd seen me look at them numerous times before, and was glad I'd found them, so why not get 'em ?

So I did, and I'm glad. Still felt a bit guilty about spending cash on me, so I had leftovers for lunch and cleaned the kitchen. I use my guilt ! I also researched patterns for Christie's Cinderella Wedding Gown, I may start that this weekend. 

I hope you find something you've wanted for a long time, at a great price - and you don't kvetch and hesitate the way I did ! Leap on it when the opportunity comes !! 

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CST

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Mood:  a-ok

Here they are ! I took most of Christie's hair down today, shampooed the heavy spray out, brushed it, and let it dry. Then I curled it over my fingers a bit. I left in the 'swirl' part - it's rubber-banded at the back of her neck. I was going to undo the whole thing, but a quick examination of the rooting design showed that the 'swirl' part would just hang in her face if I took it down. So I left it.

The little bun it was in yesterday was a simple ponytail with another elastic at the bottom of the 'tail that was banded to the back of her head with one of those plastic tag thingies. I hate those things. Don't dolls already have enough holes in their heads without adding more so she'll look good in the box ? 

I'm starting to think I know why kids leave their dolls' hair intact. It's too much of a pain to take down ! And it probably won't look good anymore afterwards. Her hair's very uneven, now that it's down, and still bears bend marks from the rubber bands. I'll probably give her a boil perm and a trim later. Took two hand-soap shampoos to get all the hairspray out. 

Christie's already made friends with Leia, who was also hangin' around. Leia's wearing the 'Celestial Dream' dress I talked about earlier, and Christie looks great in Best Buy #7749. At one point, I had three of these, from various Best Buy eBay lots. And I did have it as a child - it was meant to be a make-do for the Deluxe Quick Curl dress I wanted soooo bad. (snigger) I got two of them now...:)

While the fabric is neat, the dress is made cheap. There's no hem on the bottom ruffle, and the hems on the neck and armholes are just barely holding on. Frays easily. Typical of Best Buys. But gosh, how I love 'em. Can't afford 'em still on the cards - they often close at $30. But in decent shape, out of the package, they tend to run about $5. on eBay. Cheaper in lots, and lucky finds at thrift stores and yard sales !  True, I don't often get the apron it came with, but I don't need any more aprons ! My Disney Belle collection gave me at least four of the darn things ! If I actually somehow *need* one, it doesn't take two minutes to make it from a square of fabric and a strip of ribbon. And it's guaranteed to not have 'glitter magic pixie dust' painted on it. 

Anyway, I'm still thinking of doing a Best Buy retrospective, just for fun. I didn't have a lot as a kid, but I sure remembered them. Going through the display was a blast all on its own. Best Buys were the cheap ones you'd get at K-mart with your allowance, but there was lots of fun and style in them, no matter what the vintage fans say. And it's fun to put a 35 year old dress on a brand-new doll.

Speaking of fun, according to the Secret Society of Happy People, we're in the middle of the Hunt for Happiness Week. It's actually the sixth week, but the Governor of our state was apathetic about announcing it as official. Oh, well. Happiness is often private anyway. And it's been a pretty happy week for me. I got a lovely new doll, and got to share photos of her with you - that's pretty happy !

The site (link beneath) advises hunting for your happy by starting a collection and surrounding yourself with it, making a 'Happy Place', and becoming childlike. Well, I seem to have that well-covered !  I hope you've made time for some happy today - we only have Thursday and Friday left ! Actually, I darn near always have happy around, I just have to slow down a bit to see that it's right there, almost always.

http://www.sohp.com/hunt_for_happiness_week.htm 

Posted by dorriebelle at 3:46 PM CST

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 9:54 AM CDT

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Mood:  bright

Welcome the latest doll in town ! I'm not sure which one she is, but she's clearly a Cinderella doll - her choker and headband are still intact, and her hair has never been out of the factory set. I saw her about two weeks ago at the local GoodWill, but at the time she was nude and I was with Beloved Hubby - while he never has a problem with me wanting a doll, we were kind of in a hurry, on the prowl for one specific thing. Which they didn't have, of course ! :)

Today, she was beside a tattered-dress Snow White and a party dress Barbie. I really felt sad for Snow. Her previous owner had taken a pen to her face, and while efforts had been made to clean her, it'd be a major effort to completely restore her. Anyone trying would end up removing her face paint to do so, and her dress was in really bad shape. Her hair, however, was still in the factory-made hairstyle, just dishevelled. The Barbie was just too...well, too Barbie to interest me. Blonde, blue-eyed, almost generic.

I'm not going to name her Cindy, it's so boring and expected. This morning, a sweet little girl held Dearest Son's hand on the way to morning assembly. She really is a cutie. Her name, and this doll's new name, is Christie.

She's 'out of uniform', though ! This dress originally came on Mattel's 2001 release, Disney Princess Sparkling Belle. Not to be confused with Sparkle Belle or even Glitter Belle. The damages to her dress (the torn 'sparkle sleeve' and hole in the 'sparkle hem') have already been repaired. I liked Christie and thought about getting her when she was nude. She has such a soft, kind expression, with big, beautiful eyes. But this dress sealed the deal ! It was one of the few Belle dresses I didn't have, and wasn't about to spend $15. to get it. It has a bit of wear to it, but is in almost as good a shape as Christie, especially now that it's fixed.  

I don't know sometimes whether to be sad about a nearly new doll in the thrifts, or be happy about my good fortune. After all, $1.49 for a darn near perfect doll in a dress I've wanted for a while is an excellent deal !  But...why do I see so many nearly new dolls in second-hand shops ? Not to sound old, but my seven Barbie and family/friends dolls that I had back in the 70s got played with ! I had their hair redone in the car on the way home from the store, and their original dress/outfit joined the collective doll closet for all the others to try on and wear. 

Clearly, Christie was played with, but I do see a lot of dolls whose hair has never been brushed, still wearing the clothes they were sold in. I wonder why ? Do kids have so many toys that there's no time to play with them all before the inevitable pre-Christmas and post-birthday clean-outs ? I should know, we're buried in Cars here ! But there's very few toys he plays with so little that the play doesn't show. And if he just had to get rid of any, it'd be the broken cars or Happy Meal misc. that'd get ditched first ! 

Yeah, I should be glad to find such great dolls at so negligible a price. I just wonder if the real price is hidden in the original owner's mindset. Does that kid feel entitled to every little thing, or upset at having to pick and choose ? We're as guilty of it as any other parent, we all wanna see 'em happy and stimulated with something new. But when does the pile get to be too much, even for a happy kid ? When does 'having it all' become a burden ?

In any case, Christie is currently wearing a 70s-era Barbie Best Buy dress, #7749. It's a bit thin with age and wear, but it matches her choker ! Tomorrow, I'm taking down her hair - it's kind of a modified Swirl Ponytail - so that should be interesting to see down. 

Lot of us on the Disney Doll group are kinda gronked about her wedding dress, 'redesign' in Cinderella 3 : A Twist In Time. In it, the collar is in a slight 'v', that circles around her as one piece. In the original 1950 film, the 'v' is formed by an overlapping fold, like a surplice-front design, just more elaborate. Evidently, this is not only extremely difficult to make for doll companies, it's hard to draw, too. So, now that I have Christie, I wonder if I can make a more accurate version of the wedding gown. It'd be some work ! 

Reference image for correct wedding gown :

http://www.mousememories.com/images/sandylion/SL-DCL116-lg.jpg

I'll let you know if I decide to try ! In the meanwhile, welcome, Christie !   

Posted by dorriebelle at 8:29 PM CST

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 9:53 AM CDT

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Mood:  happy

Foundation for the Disabled called - they're in the area Thursday. Guess who's getting a big lot of Barbie clothes, the latest Dearest Son's outgrown, and a couple of sewing books ? :)

Slowly getting back to the daily routine. Being off for a week for bad weather spoiled me utterly ! There's doll stuff everywhere, my studio's a wreck, and the rest of the place ain't lookin' much better. Time to get off my butt and on my feet, I got a lot of work to do !

Found two stained things during the Saturday clean-out, one was the 'Jerrica' blue-striped t-shirt dress from the first Jem doll. It has two rust-colored spots that are completely impervious to soap, Chlorox 2, and even straight bleach. At least I can hide the one spot by simply putting it on the doll's back, and hide the other with a belt.  Stain might have come from the belt, now that I give it a wisp of thought.  But since I don't have it, can't say for sure. Did Jem's reversible belt have a snap or Velcro ? 

The other is a lovely nightgown. It's untagged, but it has a vintage look to it. It had some sort of brown spot, but luckily soap and a touch of bleach applied with a cotton swab took it out.  It has a nylon inner dress, surrounded by a white lace shell that has touches of pastel color. Simple, but just lovely. I'd swear it was a vintage Barbie, but there's no tag. And nothing in the books I have looks like it.

Most of the 'needs repairs' bundle is already done. Fixed three swimsuits and two dresses.  Two more dresses, a blouse, and a pair of pants - actually, I'm altering those to fit Leia  - remain. May get to finish those up tomorrow, while I'm waiting for Dearest Son to get out of school.

I'm thinking that, since a lot of my housework's done - boy, what a job ! - I may dress all my girls in the vintage and 70s stuff for some photos. I need some new ones for the site, and of course, you get 'em here first.  

 But instead of finishing up repairs or getting photos ready, I'm gonna go play ! Have a nice evening !

Posted by dorriebelle at 1:20 PM CST

Updated: Monday, 22 January 2007 9:08 PM CST

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Mood:  caffeinated

Yup, still havin' fun with the sixth scale dolls. Found the box of jackets for them, and went through it, too. Had three identical hot pink nylon jackets with yellow-orange ties at the elastic waists - I have no idea where they came from, much less why I've got three. Cut sixteen jackets total. Yet for some reason, when it came time to put it all back in the box, I had to cram it in. Not the first time that's happened, but I'm no closer to figuring that out than I was the first time it did !

While I sorted today and yesterday, I put a few things aside that I wanted to try on Leia. She has her own wardrobe box that's just for her, so as I found clothes that looked like a fit for her, I piled 'em up. She had her own fashion show today - only two items didn't suit. One was a clownish pair of Ken pants that looked even worse on her than they would have on Ken - white pants with multicolored spots (from a 90s Disney Ken & Barbie set) featuring huge blue pockets that nearly reached her knees. Ugh. They're in excellent shape, though, so they got donated. Somewhere soon, an Ken doll will curse my name.

The other was the outfit from the Rosie O'Donnell show. Yeah, I actually used to have the 'Friend of Barbie' version. Kinda wanted a plus size doll, and she was well-made...just nothing I could do to her made her look less like Rosie O'D. I'm not one of her fans, allow me to state as mildly as possible. Anyway, the outfit was all polyester, but the red parts (pants and jacket) were fully lined. It fit, but made her look huge. So the all-in-one (goss, I hate it when Mattel does that !) pants and shirt went with the Ken pants, and we kept the jacket. It looks pretty nice on Leia. 

There was a third outfit, a dress and matching jacket, that only partially works, but I decided to keep it. I got it in a 'who wants it ?' trade - a satiny ice blue jacquard fabric, well-sewn as a princess-seamed strapless sheath and a little jacket with gold rick-rack - it was much too big for a Barbie. And it's even a bit loose on Leia, but with the jacket on, it looks great.

Following ideas from the Unwanted Leia Asylum (link follows paragraph), I tried on two Hunchback of Notre Dame dresses I bought on clearance years ago. There was a buy-one-get-one sale on, and I snagged  the three the store had - a 'True Love' set, some other doll outfit, and two of my favorite, a yellow and blue 'star' print called "Celestial Dream". For giggles, I took one of the 'Celestials' apart, made a blouse and skirt out of it. The other is Leia's newest outfit. They fit fantastically ! Ironically, the one pictured on the Asylum site is the one I don't have ! I'd thank the site owner for the idea, but it doesn't look like the site's been touched since 11/05, and my last note didn't garner an answer either. 

https://www.angelfire.com/theforce/leiaasylum/index.html

Another thing I've noticed - the flashier the fabric is, the sooner and uglier it's gonna deteriorate. I bought 'Suburban Shopper' from a group friend, years before the repro was released, so it's vintage - nearly 50 years old. And with a bit of ironing, it'll look crisp as new. Now Belle's 1991 gold ballgown...yeeesh. I took good care of mine, and I rarely played with it, but it's already tarnished and saggy. More brass than gold. I don't know how many times I've come across snagged tulle and damaged fragile lace - I'm not even sure why anybody makes doll clothes out of some of this stuff. But, heck, it only has to look good in the package. Once it's bought, it's not like the manufacturer cares. Heck, even the high-end Mackie costumed dolls tarnish, fade, and discolor, and you know ain't nobody played with anybody's Mackies !

But that's why I use mostly cotton. Easy to sew, lasts a while, doesn't have a lot of the problems more dazzling materials fall victim to. And let's face it, I don't wanna put hours of work into something that's gonna look like a bag in six months. Best of all, I don't have to worry about selling my stuff ! :)

I also found a bunch of my earliest sewing efforts. Several were so badly made, I had to laugh and put them back with the Mattel-made and Dollar Tree stuff. No way am I donating those, they're awful ! I'd hate for a kid somewhere to have to make do with them. A few weren't that bad, but they were still nothing to brag about. But they make me smile to look at 'em.

Got to play for a bit - may get to play more tonight. Dusted off the Barbie FriendShip and take some dolls on a fly. I'm not sure why I didn't want to sew today, but there's always tomorrow ! Since we didn't get the four to eight inches of snow forecast - it rained instead - I'm sure Dearest Son's school is back to schedule tomorrow. And if there's one thing I know about me : give me limited time and resources, and I'll create with every spare second, but with unlimited down time, I'll barely get off my butt !  

Posted by dorriebelle at 1:28 AM CST

Updated: Sunday, 21 January 2007 6:10 PM CST

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Mood:  bright

Wheee ! I had a lot of fun today, playin' with my dolls. Mostly the Barbies, I brushed hair and traded clothes and sorted through stuff. Went through the clothes and ditched 110 of 'em. You can only imagine how many doll clothes I have if I can decide to donate over a hundred. It barely made a dent !

For some reason, I had 72 sixth-scale swimsuits. I only have 40 dolls, and just under half of them are male ! I've never actually gone out and bought doll swimwear. Didn't make any, either. It's all either stuff from old eBay lots, what the doll was wearing when I bought her, in a bag of clothes from a thrift store, or was part of a set. Thinned those down to under 40 - which is more than plenty.

Found several that need repairs - if school ever starts again, my 'waiting for Dearest Son' sewing box is full - and got rid of stuff I was hoarding. It's the second time I've done this since 2004, but I still can't shake the 'It's mine, mine, mine - it was cheap and even if I don't like it, it's still mine !' mindset. I have no idea why I held on to stuff I don't even like. Usta buy tons of stuff at yard sales and at a favored junk shop - when it came in bagloads, I'd buy as many as I had cash for at the time. About the only selection process is when there were more bags than cash ! I'd think, 'Even if I don't like the color or whatever, I can always take it apart for patterns or something'. 

Silly. There's been patterns every year for Barbie ever since 1960, both from someone's kitchen table and the big commercial companies. If there's something out there I wanted, it's darn near a dead certainty that it's already a pattern somewhere. But I'd even hold on to ratty stuff, ugly stuff, colors I hated and mostly wrecked. Most of the real trash was ditched in the '04 clean-out, and I really haven't bought much since. So it was kind of a surprise to see so many pieces that I knew I'd never use, even back then.

It was also a treat to see all the vintage and 70s stuff I have. Not a lot of vintage, it gets expensive - but the stuff I love is mostly here.  'Swingin' Easy' is here (it's a green version of 'Let's Dance'), and the blue 'Suburban Shopper' is beside it. There's a 90s repro of 'Solo in the Spotlight', of course, bought at a flea market. Found a red 'It's Cold Outside' for a quarter, complete with tag, and a torn 'Barbie Goes to Mexico' dress that I repaired. There's the odd pak piece here and there, which still amazes me, because they're in great shape for being 1)second-hand, bought for pocket change, 2)played with, and 3) over forty years old.  

I also have most of the stuff I loved as a kid. Best Buy 70s, feel the groove ! I can remember buying Palazzo Pants (#7746), I thought it was a long dress ! Still loved it even after I found out it wasn't. That lacy halter top was just too elegant ! The similar long dress - think it's actually for Francie - a lacy white halter with a long mint green skirt...oh, you know I made sure to find and get that one (#9620) ! There's that navy blue dress with the huge bright flowers on it (#3343). Various Barbie references highlight it specifically as 'the point where couture and Barbie went their separate ways', but I thought it was cool then, and now.

I even have stuff I liked, but didn't have as a kid. About six different peasant dresses - the cream one with the mint trim and matching apron (#7824),  the white one with the red flower at the waist (#8684), the green one with the rosebuds and pink bodice(#7416), the long blue one (#7749), the sunny yellow one (from Magic Curl Barbie), the one with the blue skirt, red bustier, and white fluffy bodice (#7755) - are here, from various second-hand sources. I didn't have any of these, so it's lots of fun to have 'em now ! 

What amazed me is how often I had two of several pieces - and that I still wanted to keep both ! There's two patchwork jumpers (#9805) in about the same shape. It'd be nice to donate one. But I don't want to. I also have two of the white-with-gold-trim shorts-suits from Hollywood Hair Barbie. It's not a favorite, but I somehow got two. And a pair of the dress I most loved as a kid - the turquoise one from Deluxe Quick Curl Barbie. I didn't have it then, but both my slightly different hued two are treasured. 

Now, why I have *three* Pretty in Plaid blonde dresses - when I've never owned a PiP doll - is a mystery ! Found the dress that got me involved in second-hand hunting. I'd just seen it in stores, a short pink Fashion Avenue dress. $5. at the Mart, $1. on a doll at a flea market. I even have dupes of Fashion Avenues - one is a blue and white lace 1997 party minidress that had badly torn tulle sleeves. I removed them completely, and later scored an intact one. So it's fun to have two of them, they look so different now. 

Anyway, I had lots of fun, and I'll probably play some more tomorrow. Maybe one day I won't be so darn selfish about my doll clothes, as for now, I'm gonna go play. Thanks to dollreference.com and eBay for help in researching Best Buy numbers. That was fun, too ! 

Posted by dorriebelle at 8:10 PM CST

Updated: Saturday, 20 January 2007 9:19 PM CST

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Mood:  special

...to what got us started in the first place. I'm still 'blah' for the most part, but I find myself looking at my old Barbie patterns, dusting off Shinobu and Inaba,  thinking of why I left them and all their friends for so long. Sure, there were new, glamorous dolls. And old childhood favorites, and customizations, and...well, there were dolls ! But I could never bring myself to thin the herds past what I already have.

I think I got over-involved at first. I was a member of numerous doll groups, all of which fell prey to bragging and in-fighting, I was as guilty as anyone else. And when I realized it, I hated myself for it, and by extention, the dolls. I may be a simple person, but I'm a complicated woman, huh ? I bought darn near everything I could find, too, even stuff I didn't particularly like, but it was cheap enough, and hey, 'Friend X' on 'Group Y' spends that every other Saturday, twice over ! 

Then my life changed, and I did, too. When the time comes that your entire family's life has to fit into one 6' x 8' moving trailer, it becomes readily apparent what's really important and what isn't. My dolls were important, and I soon found myself again hoarding and searching for the bits and pieces I left behind, twice over and then some. When I would go out for hours every week looking for more, but never found the time to play with what I already had...well, something was wrong. And I put those dolls down to figure it out, and didn't really pick them up again. Donated most of my 'finds', one charity pick up at a time. 

Sometimes I thought of giving them up entirely. But I couldn't. I knew someday I'd want or even possibly need them again. Maybe this week is that time. Maybe tomorrow, I'll want to remake Elphie's bed - I've been pretty chameleon-like lately. Halfway convinced I'm mentally writing My Dolls, My Self in one unoccupied lobe. But the concept makes sense, we are our hobbies, after all. And I think I'm ready to be sixth scale again. I made a lot of mistakes when I was first starting out - gosh, at one point I had over a hundred and twenty dolls ! I bought a lot of junk, and made some ugly everythings. 

I think I know what I like now, without some doll pundit telling me what I should collect - heck, I don't collect 'em ! I'm ready to let my dolls be me, and enjoy being my dolls. Sounds silly, but I think it'll be fun !

Plus, we're in for a major snowstorm this weekend. What better time to play ? We have plenty of food and supplies - even movies and junk food. Long as the power doesn't go out, we're good. And I can enjoy.

Enjoying what you once neglected is a rare thing. And I intend to have a blast doing it !  

Posted by dorriebelle at 10:24 PM CST

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Mood:  not sure

Again, not much going on. Roads are driveable, even by a scaredy-cat like me. Got out for a few groceries, got back safely. Man, you'd think places like groceries would scrape their parking lots, since that seems to be the worst for remaining ice. You'd think they'd do that to encourage business, but maybe not.

I'm in a 'blah' place, not really interested in much. About the only excitement for the day was an envelope from Bella! Productions. Yeah, I finally got to the mailbox today ! Anyway, I was nervous for a second - I'd said some not-too-kind but very true things about their Room With A View here. Had they found my words and wished to take issue with them ?

Nope. I keep overestimating my importance, don't I ? No, they just wanted to sell me more stuff to go with RWaV, or the 'new improved' version. They also sent me two doll trading cards I have no idea what to do with. They're nice, but not exactly something Elphie would have hanging up in her bedroom.

Speaking of bedroom, I read a review for Butterick 4538 on http://sewing.patternreview.com/  today. This is an American Girl clone pattern set for bedding. Since the AGs are 18" tall, and Elphie's 16", sometimes the furniture patterns interest me. A reader to the pattern review site made it, and it looked quite nice. I was thinking of waiting for Hancock Fabrics to put it on sale, but then I looked at it again. I don't really need the pattern. The bed is a foamcore box with a head and footboard. Not that difficult. So I may take some time this weekend to experiment with the foamcore I bought last Halloween. 

I made Elphie a bed last year, but never really liked it. So I may just re-make it for fun. Heck, it's not like it'll be that difficult ! And it'd be nice to have something I like, not something I got tired of futzing with.  

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CST

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Mood:  incredulous

...it's less of a frustration now ! A few years ago, I was seriously in love with my first 'made for adult collectors' doll. It bothered me because I was in the midst of being a serious Barbie and sixth-scale collector, and this love object was much bigger. I wished like anything that this doll was Barbie sized, even said so on doll groups. Was informed that various people had written Mattel for years, wanting them to continue this line of dolls that would have included this oversized adoration, in sixth scale.

The doll was, of course, Elphie - Tonner's sixteen-inch 2005 Wicked Witch. A quick glimpse of the home page and the largest individual page will show you how that internal struggle went...and most of it's documented right here on the blog entries. I have never, for one nanosecond, regretted going out of scale and getting the doll of my dreams. Heck, even now, my thoughts are haunted by the 2007 brunette one. I have loved this doll for every moment. And I broke free of the 'I have to collect *only* Barbie size dolls, so that all my props and things will work and I won't have to buy numerous scales and store 'em.' line of thought. I must have eight or nine different scales of dolls, and I love 'em all. I owe a lot to our Elphie. 

So I was actually upset when, two years after Tonner's amazing success with their fantasy Wizard of Oz line, Mattel announces that they're gonna make essentially the same things they already have - and they're finally gonna make their own Wicked Witch, about a decade after they 'finished' their versions. In my book, they're trading on Tonner's success, but only after ignoring their customers for years. 

Apologies for the watermarked photos. They're the best I can find. Evidently, if the eBay sellers can be believed, despite the fact that this is a 'pink box' release (unlimited numbers, it's not designed to be adult-level collectable at all, and can be found at Wal-Mart and other retailers), it's difficult to find. Some have even labelled it as 'shortpacked', which I find difficult to believe, as these kinds of dolls are normally 'x to the shipping carton', all the same, not in a variety assortment like action figures.

Still, you can kind of see what Mattel's doing here. Considering their last Witch was a Margaret Hamilton porcelain, with the expected nose and chin you could cut cheese with, they're clearly not going that route with this prototype photo. Their Witch looks almost as soft and pensive as Tonner's, pretty but not stunningly beautiful...I was kind of surprised.

Well, I shouldn'ta been. If there's one thing that drove me away from Mattel and Barbie more than Elphie and other dolls, it's Mattel's own business practices. Back when I haunted barbiecollectables.com, before it became the Barbie Secret Circle club, we'd get 'sneak previews' of beautifully lit and photographed dolls that would soon be available. These would be greeted with gasps of delight and quick checks of available credit for pre-orders.

Then the actual doll would hit the shelves. (crickets chirp as mutterings from the villagers gradually grow louder) The stunning doll was not in evidence, but a not-at-all special doll would be deboxed to the growing anger and frustration of the multitudes. Mattel reps would always say 'Well, now, the prototypes are just that, kind of like a serving suggestion ! ' and folks stuck with it would try to make Blah doll into Amazing one, and the rest would flood the doll shops with returns. Meanwhile, the eBay sellers would continue to show the proto photos. Posts of 'never again will I buy a doll sight unseen' would sprinkle the message boards, and a few weeks later, more stunningly photographed dolls would surface...

Why am I getting into all this history now ?

Does this ranting make a bit more sense now ? Arrrgh. I confess, I was still interested in the 'Barbie Elphie', so when photos started to surface on eBay, I eagerly clicked. Yikes. In fairness, it could just be that the prototype photo has the hat pulled down too far to see these sharp-angled eyebrows, but still, there's a big d@mn difference between proto and production again.  

Even holding your finger over the production doll's brows doesn't improve her much, or get her any closer to the prototype photo. Her eyes are bugging, the makeup is blending in instead of enhancing her, and frankly, with the curled hair, she looks more like a Rhea Perlman (Cheers, Carla) doll than an Elphaba one. Is it just me, am I the only one who'd get upset if I ordered the doll on the left, but got the doll on the right ? If they'd just kept the soft expression...I can't tell if the doll's color is changed or not. It's kind of harsh in the auction photo I boosted. But that can be any number of exterior influences.

Anyway, at least I won't waste time looking for it. If it makes you happy, I'm glad, but honestly, I'm amazed all over again at Mattel. Wish it could have been in a good way. And I'm darn glad I'm not their customer anymore. They can blame Bratz and videogames all they want, but they're killing themselves a lot faster than any other toymaker possibly could.  

Posted by dorriebelle at 9:38 PM CST

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 9:53 AM CDT

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