My Down East Doll Show post!

Thank you all for being so patient while I recovered from my trip and got things under control here back at the nursery.

I have previously posted about the painting class that I participated in with the talented Evon Nather so I won't re-post from that first full day in North Carolina, but I will add a couple of pictures I didn't add before. 

As mentioned in the earlier post on the hair painting class, Marita Winter's popped in several times.  She took this picture of the joy I had when Evon finally told me that I did not have to delete!

I had brought my silicone Sophie Faber (repainted by Kris of The Dainty Loft) to class with me as I knew that many people were waiting to see her.  I had her in her awesome bassinet bag made by the very talented Susan at Dizon Designs. 

 She seemed quite happy and ready to relax for the day after our long day of flying/layovers the day before.

Funny story.  I was standing in line at the baggage counter at the airport to drop off my luggage when I decided that I needed to adjust Sophie's bottom in the front pack carrier I had her in.  (I brought the wrong one and her big, heavy head keep flopping back more than I was comfortable with.)  So I grasped her legs to shift her bottom on her right leg came out of the body and was now in my hand!
I didn't know what to do as I didn't want to freak people out.  I tried to shove it back into the body socket but she had too many clothes on and she was in the carrier, so I calmly turned around to sneak the leg into my carry-on.  As I turned around, I was found face to face with a woman who was obviously looking at Sophie full on.  I giggled and said, "It's a doll and I don't want to alarm anyone but her leg has fallen off and I just need to slip it into my carry on".  Oh my gracious!  Poor baby!

What is really hysterical about this is that every time my friends and I get together, SOMEONE looses a limb...or a head!  LOL! 
I attempted to quickly put her leg back on in the bathroom between luggage drop off and security but I just didn't have enough time to get her clothing and the carrier out of the way.
Of course, THAT held me up in security because they were unsettled to see a "baby" without a leg and a "leg" in a carry on! 

My Doll Fan friend, Jenny, brought her silicone Ellie Brown doll.  She is SO beautiful!

 And Jenny thought it just not right that Sophie spend the day in her bassinet and offered Ellie's stroller to Sophie.  Ellie's seat was then placed on the floor.

Sophie, that little stinker began to mock Ellie!  I am sure I heard her say, 

"Nanny, nanny!  I am in YOUR stroller and you are on the floor!"

I scolded her for being so unkind to her friend who gave up her high spot and she tried to smooth me over with a look of pure innocence:

It's a good thing that she is so adorable!  

We just have to keep a close watch on all these baby dolls when they all get together.  

Stories can arise...

I'm not sure where to start!  

You just can't imagine how wonderful it is to meet with friends you know from around the world and meet new friends for the first time.  

The lobby of the hotel was a constant gathering as new groups/people arrived.  

There were dolls in every set of arms and hugs galore!

Those meetings took place from the moment I arrived until the night before I left.  And I had the ultimate pleasure to enjoy lunch with one remaining dolly friend at the airport.  We were so glad to see each other as each of us thought we were the last to leave!

Visits to the hot tub and pool were abundant as well with varied groups going at different times.  

Oh my gracious we have some very fun and funny memories from around the hot tub and gazebo as friends who had never met a firefly had to opportunity to see them and attempt to catch them.  

Trips on the shuttles were abundant to local eateries and shopping venues.  

Those shuttle drivers were a HOOT!  

Gatherings in hotel rooms were never ending and went on late into the night.

So, imagine the above scenarios taking place in every nook and cranny of every moment of time throughout the entire week. 

Now, about the show!

It took me the entire day on Thursday to set up my minimal booth!  

I was like a child in a candy shop wandering away to greet my artist friends and gather a peek at what they had to offer this year.  

I think I suffered severe ADD!  

But, I finally got my booth set up:

 Benson and Pebbles~Adopted:

 

Me with them and their beautiful and precious mommies!  

It is such an honor have my babies go home with them!

 Dawson~Adopted:

 

This is his beautiful and precious mommy, who adopted Dawson, with another adopted little one of mine, Ashleigh:

I love this lady SO much!

 Temperance~Adopted:

 

I don't have a picture of Temperance with her adoptive mommy as she was adopted after the show while I was flying home  :)

 Ashah~Adopted:

 Such a bright and happy girl!

Ashah and her new, sweet Mommy!

She had been watching Ashah's "birth" on facebook and just could not wait to meet her.

 Zeke~still looking for his mommy:

 Whoops, out of order picture.  This one shows my DVD running and the mohair that I brought for the show:

 Gus~Still looking for his forever mommy:

 The little girls always love little Gus:

(Posted with permission)

 And she particularly loves her own doll, Erin and wanted me to take her picture with Erin  :)

 And then the two of them!

She was SO sweet!

 

 

 Rou Ling~Still looking for her forever mommy:

As you can see by the captions above, the sales on the show room floor were GREAT!

The show room floor was GREAT with so many things to see (and buy!!!  And buy I did!).

I sold some knitted items for my dear friend, Sally, of Sally's Monkey Business.  She makes the most adorable hats, leg warmer and bootie sets!   She sold quite a lot as well. 

On the first morning of the show, I arose very early and met one charming lady who was willing to walk with me to get our adrenaline up for the very exciting opening day of the show.

Walking at 5 am in North Carolina is much different than walking at 5 am in Oregon.  It is light at this time of day in Oregon but not in NC!

We had a great time and she has a great pace!  Especially for not bringing any walking shoes!

Thank you my friend!!

I did two "Weighting and Balancing" 1-hour workshops during the two days of the show.

On the first day, I had record attendance!  I didn't count but there were at least 24 gals in there!

1 hour certainly is not enough time to cover all there is to know about perfectly weighting and balancing your reborn doll but we covered quite a lot and changed it up a bit the second day as many of the gals from the first day came back on the second day.

I used the prototype "Annalisa" as my weighting and balancing subject and snapped some shots of her assembled little self when I arrived back at my show table with her:

Ewe...the light is not very good!  

I asked if she looked Asian to anyone and nope, no one thinks that she is Asian!  LOL  

I am not fully happy with her paint and I may darken her hair so at this point, this sweet girl is not ready to go on eBay yet.  Dianna Effner tells me that due to a back problem, she is behind on what she needs to do on her part to make this kit available for pre-order.  I'll keep you updated.

Here is a shot on the weighting and balancing section of my DVD:

 

I LOVE LOVE LOVE being with my artist friends at these shows.  

There were artists from all over the world here~what a GREAT turn out!

I finally got to meet the oh-so-talented Racheal Ambler from Australia:

I WILL have one of her truly realistic dolls some day!

My darling friend, Samantha Gregory was able to attend this show:

 And she brought along her new sculpt, who found her name at the show.

This is "Joy" and I have the great JOY of doing one of her prototypes!

She has been sent to be produced into vinyl!!

I can't wait!

Isn't she just the CUTEST?!?!?!?

Speaking of prototypes...

I already showed you the picture of me and the Sally prototype that Bonnie Brown brought for me all the way from Australia.

Bonnie also signed her for me!
(I thought I lost these pictures when the SD card in my camera failed but I remembered that I had posted them to Facebook!  Yay!)

And since she had her personal Sally, reborned by Racheal Ambler, I snapped this adorable shot:

 Such a talented and precious young woman!

Here is a group shot of me, Kris Sohn-Carwithen, Bonnie Brown and Sharon Ullrich.

LOVE these gals SO much!

Speaking of Kris.  

Remember that I said that she re-painted my Sophie?  

Well, I just HAD to get a picture of the three of us.

LOVE her to bits! (Both Sophie AND Kris!)

And just Kris alone with Sophie!!

And Kris, Sophie and Susan from Dizon Designs.  :)

Me and my lovely friend, Albie Wentzel from South Africa~
I adore this lady!

This is Shelby Lynn.  I've known this charming and amazing young lady since she was 13 years old. 
She has been reborning for a few years now and well, I'll tell you more about the doll we are holding when I do my next "Sharing my Collection Friday" post  :)

I didn't get pictures with SO many artists but hugs were shared.
I did capture just a couple of dolls though. 
Jorja Pigott had JUST gotten the first of her full bodied silicone "Jia".
Oh my heavens!  She is SO cute and I BADLY want to paint one of these. 
But at this time, she is not available as a blank doll.

I really liked this reborn "Henry" created by my friend Diane Shores of Le Fleur Crib:

 And I REALLY loved her iron crib.  Diane won the award for best booth at the show!
She had a HUGE display!

And last but not least in this post is this darling little guy I met in the lobby of the hotel.
This is a WerPup (I hope I spelled that right.  I really don't know anything about them except that they are very popular and he was really, really well done.)

I hope you enjoyed my rendezvous of the Down East Doll Show 2013.
I had a WONDERFUL time and good sales.  The show itself was awesome.

There were a lot of behind the scenes financial issues with this show, and some not so behind the scenes.  Some are so large in ethical nature that I won't be showing under this venue again.

BUT, there is a new and better run show in the makings and I'll tell you all about it as soon as I hear from the organizers.  :)

Have a GREAT 4th of July week!

I'll be back in the Nursery on Sunday or Monday.