Labor Day?

Hmmm, I guess so as I'll be in labor! LOL

Today is a regular working day like all others. I'll unload the car from the show, prep the Melody prototype by Laura Tuzio Ross that arrived while I was gone, work up some mohair for Sweet and Sassy prototype and put the mohair listings back up on Artfire.

I'll "rest" this weekend...maybe!

Have a beautiful and restful day!

The Portland Doll and Teddy show was a SUCCESS!

What a wonderful time and a wonderful crowd at the Portland Oregon Crossroads Doll and Teddy Bear show!

The crowd was like this for almost all of the day. What a delight!

This is my display:

The Arianna toddler on the floor was not for sale. She is a reborn I made for my friend, customer and helper. She was just hanging out :)

Babies in the crib:

Katharine~ADOPTED:

Lisa~ADOPTED:

Logan~ADOPTED
(Jacob is the little guy. He was not for sale. He was made for me by one of my students as her first solo baby after taking my class)

Sweetie~AVAILABLE

Nicky Jack prototype~AVAILABLE

Haku Ibu (Bonnie Brown "Sophia Madelina" prototype)
Pending internet adoption

Sweet and Sassy prototype WIP delighted the crowds with her smile!

With the adoption of 3 babies at she show and a likely adoption of Haku, that leaves only 2 babies ready for the Caldwell Idaho "Hello Dollie" Show on October 2nd. I best get busy!

Hugs to all!

And now I am not so ready!

I guess the work I had to do yesterday was going to take much more time than I expected and I did not get pictures taken of any of the babies. So today, instead of taking care of my home and fully preparing myself for my trip tomorrow in a relaxed state, I will be frantically trying to get it all done so that at least tonight I can cuddle on the couch with my dear husband and watch a movie.

Wish me luck!

The clock is ticking down to the Porltand OR show!

And I am nearing ready!

Yesterday I put together little Katharine who ended up being 14 inches long. She is such a sweetheart!

The 5" Berenguer almost lost her "Sweetie" name yesterday when it took me more than an hour and a half to apply her lashes! Notice that I changed the name spelling from Sweettee to Sweetie. It just makes more sense. She is ready for pictures now and I suppose still sweet~and adorable. I will recover.

Last night at 1:30 am (or shall I say this morning??), I finished rooting the big Berenguer, Lisa. I'll trim her hair this morning, seal it and apply her lashes and gloss. My hind end is sore from sitting so very much this week and I am behind on my exercising. ~sigh~ Too bad that rooting, processing mohair and painting dolls does not burn 500 calories an hour.

This afternoon I hope to finish painting Sweet and Sassy. IF that happens, I will quickly put her together and take her to the show for display~hairless. LOL

Tonight I'll take pics of everyone and get the birth certificates and take-home bags all ready. That should give me some time to relax on my "day off" tomorrow. But then there is laundry and food prep for a husband who does not cook. I can't let him starve while I am gone...I need a nap!

Oh, did I tell you what all I have packed into my 99 Subaru Outback? Well, since I had to take down the Gallery window display the other day, I decided to just take those display items to Portland and use to set up my show. In my car, I have a full size crib and mattress, full size changing table, full size wooden high chair (it does not fold down at all), a pad for the changing table and two very large totes! The totes are large enough to fit an 8-10 yr old child in~they are that big! AND....I have room to spare so if I find any treasures at the show, I can bring them home :)

I'll probably pop in tomorrow morning to post a few pics of the new babies that will be traveling with me for the show. Fun times!

Hugs!

Using acid dyes vs human hair dyes to color mohair

There have been several posts on the forums I belong to lately about bleeding mohair.
I've seen bleeding mohair before and recently, faded mohair.

This discrepancy comes from using human hair dyes to color mohair instead of acid dyes made for mohair fibers. (I will note that some mohair processors have said that if you heat the hair that is dyed with human hair dye that the dye will set but I've never tried it myself.)

If human hair dye bleeds into your vinyl, it is very difficult to get it of as it is a dye and does stain. As far as staining the hair for a long period of time, well, it does not. Just like your own hair, human hair dye fades and diminishes over time~that is why you have to redye your hair. I am not sure if the dye would fade off of the vinyl over time.

I had the babies down at the gallery for 2 months in the window display. Most of the babies down there were babies that I made for myself and are in my personal collection. One of the babies, Beata, is a baby that I made using hair that was dyed with human hair dye. (When I first began coloring angora hair, I did use human hair dye until I learned the facts). She was in the light for many hours a day, laying on her back. The front of her hair is now very faded where the back is not. None of the other babies hair faded (Nor did the paints for those who wonder about the lasting effects of LDC and Genesis paints) as they were either dyed with acid dyes or tea. Tea is an acid and the hair is cooked in it so of course it will hold.

Buyers of angora mohair that is processed for dolls should ask the seller what the process is for dying the hair. I have this information on my WEBSITE and am always available to answer questions.

Just thinking about processed mohair today!

XXOO

Makin' MANY babies/sleep deprived!

Well....babies and sleep deprivation go together, right??
Maybe it is the upcoming show, the fact that I really wanted to get the sweet Dimples "Simple Treasures" baby headed to her new home or the fact that I began work on the Sweet and Sassy prototype...but the night before last, I just could not sleep! So, I got out of bed and made babies!

Dimples is a custom order "Simple Treasures" line baby who is headed home today. I'll post more about her later and also comparison pics between my Master Artist Series and Simple Treasures Series lines.

Isn't Dimples just so sweet??

Little miss Katharine (Sullivan Quad) is ready for her assemble and headed to the Portland Show this Saturday! Oh I love this little one! Click on her picture to see it big~she has the sweetest eyes!

This little 5" all vinyl Berenguer is almost ready for the show too! She needs her lashes and gloss:

She will have a lemon yellow dress set along with this little set. I am thinking of calling her Sweetee~pronounced "Sweet Tea" with accent on the SWEET! I love making these little dollies.

And look who is a work in progress! It's Sweet and Sassy! I am IN LOVE!

Look at that little scrunched up nose! She is such a STINKER!

I've a lot of work to do on her yet but I am hoping that I can get her painted and put on her body to take to the show, just to show off this darling kit by Dee Stastny. She won't have her hair yet, I'll just put a big bow on her head~LOL

I've got the big Berenguer, Lisa, rooted about 1/2 way. I think I am in line with my goal of finishing her hair tomorrow night before bed.

Since I'll be at the Gallery today, I'll be working on mohair!
Hugs!

Started rooting the big Berenguer head!

I feel like I got a lot done on her last night but oh my do I have a long ways to go! I MUST have her rooted by Tuesday night so that I can finish her lashes and glosses in time for all to air out and be dry for the show on Saturday. Wish me luck! I'll be painting on Sweet and Sassy in the day and rooting at night.

As you can see, she has her brown eyes now :) And I've named her Lisa.

The little 5" mini is rooted and waiting final assembly and lashes. With these little all vinyl darlings, one must put the head on first before giving them lashes and gloss as it takes a lot of pressure to get the head on and one might pop the gloss out.

Tomorrow I will share updates on Sweet and Sassy!

And then the final pictures on the Simple Treasures Dimples will come sometime soon as well as the pics of Katharine (Sullivan~I am keeping her given name) and the 5". I can't guarantee any of this will happen before the show as I am running out of time. Tomorrow is my day at the Gallery and it's time to take down the window display which will prepare me even further for the show.

Hugs!!