6-9 month old WIP for Portland show

Isn't she cute? This is a mix and match baby that I've been wanting to reborn for so very long!
I've used a very rare and hard to find 22" Berenguer Lot's to Cuddle head paired with Reva Schick "Melina" limbs.

I've painted her rather rich to help match the different vinyls. She will have dark brown eyes and dark brown hair~not the blue eyes seen here. Her brown eyes are en route to the nursery.

This little darling is wearing a size 6-9 month dress. She's not quite a toddler as I have been calling her but she is an armful!

Today I will start an ethnic baby and will root this chubby girl at night as soon as I am done rooting a mini for the show.

Prototype "Sweet and Sassy" should arrive back to the nursery this week with her new, custom body so I'll have to get to work on her once she arrives.

Dolly Hugs!

Back to work!

Hello everyone!

I have really missed blogging and working on a regular basis!

I am back to it now. Let's see if I can sort out my thoughts of all that I wanted to blog about today.

First off, my youngest step child is married and off on her honeymoon! Here is a picture of the precious couple:

And the cake that I made for them:


~Nursery News~

I had the pleasure of gathering with a group of ladies in Seattle Washington yesterday who were enjoying a dolly day. Oh, HOW did I do this after just having a wedding the day before in Baker City Oregon? Via video chat, of course! It was great meet new friends and reminisce with old friends. Thanks ladies for allowing me to join your special day! XXOO

I will be finishing the paint today on a toddler for the upcoming

~PORTLAND OR SHOW~

This is always a great show so if you are in the surrounding area, I hope you can attend.

I finished rooting hair on the custom order Dimples! I'll share pictures when I can get her put together. I am very behind in putting my nursery name on pictures and sharing. I am so anxious to show Angelica to you but need to "edit".

It's time to enter a yearly/annual contest on one of my guilds and also time for the 2011 Colliii awards entries to be submitted. I will work on those two tasks the next two days.

It's been an amazing past 6 weeks with many, MANY big events tucked into the weekends and beyond. I've taken many days off from "work". These weeks have been very busy and I've had such a good time but, this artist is tired and in need of a little "down/alone" time. I sometimes feel guilty about desiring the down time and the impending need to be alone for a while. Thinking that I am just selfish, I try to push the feeling aside and keep going and doing yet not really feeling fulfilled, refreshed and very much lacking new creative thoughts and dreams. One of my very good reborn friends posted this on Facebook this morning:

An artist must have downtime, time to do nothing... An artist requires the upkeep of creative solitude. An artist requires the time of healing alone. Without this period of recharging, our artist becomes depleted... We strive to be good, to be nice, to be helpful, to be unselfish. We want to be generous, of service... But what we really want is to be left alone. When we can't get others to leave us alone, we eventually abandon ourselves... our true self has gone to ground.
-Julia Cameron

This was so reassuring to me that I am NOT selfish~I am NORMAL in the makeup of who I am....and artist.

I can rest in that.

Hugs!

Sharing my collection Friday~Jeremy's new outfit

Whoooooooo is this???
It's Jeremy in his new adorable outfit made by Mini Creations.

That is a lot of cuteness packed into a 10 inch outfit!

XXOO

Little check in/status report

Hello everyone!
I've a moment to check in and tell you what has been going on.
First, Angelica has found her way home! Look at her in her beautiful Victorian room!
Her new Mommy (and Daddy) are thrilled with her :)

Prototype Sweet and Sassy has arrived...again! She arrived about 6 weeks ago but there was an issue with her arms and the new ones are GREAT! I've sent her off to have a body custom made by Spearson Doll Bodies, in the meantime, when I can, I'll work on the toddler for the fall shows.

We had a great several days with family and friends as they competed in the Cascade Lakes Relay~just a simple little 216.6 mile relay race! UGH! It was a hard race for most of the runners who competed and we are so proud of our 12 man team for completing...and not even last :)

Tomorrow will find me baking a wedding cake for my youngest step-daughter who is getting married on Saturday. Family is here with us now and we've been having some good times.

Hugs until later!

Busiest time of the year~Taking time off

As much as I am TRYING to "work", it's be so difficult so I've come to the realization that I simply MUST just take some time off from the nursery and the blog~for the most part.

With two major family events that begin tomorrow through August 13th, my time in the nursery will be limited. There is much going on in there though!

Angelica will be assembled and photographed this morning, and will make the trip to her new home on Tuesday the 9th. While she waits to go home, later today I will take her down to the Gallery to be on display through the weekend.

I had to replace a set of limbs for a custom doll that I made last year. They are finished and that baby will be traveling back to her mommy next week. (The limbs were old Berenguer limbs and as some of us have seen, sometimes those Berenguer dolls/parts can do very odd things, like turn orange or yellow and in this case, the vinyl just broke down becoming sticky and causing the paint to break up and change colors).

I'm half way done rooting a custom order Dimples~she is looking SO cute!

I've got two little babies ready for hair rooting who will be going to the fall shows and I began paint on a toddler baby for the fall shows.

So, I am leaving tomorrow for my family's participation in the Cascade Lakes Relay race. On Monday, we'll bring family home with us and prepare for my youngest step daughters wedding! I'm making the cake so that will be fun. I might have a moment or two for myself which I'll post a picture or two of the newest babies being born.

Until then, take care and enjoy the first part of August!
Hugs!

Awesome silicone doll by Claire Taylor

This is the newest release/edition from Claire Taylor:

~Claire Taylor Dolls Video~

Is that not just the neatest silicone baby??

The edition is sold out, which I am not surprised.

Congratulations Claire!

All girls and horses camp out 2011

Yup, that is what an all girls and horses camp looks like...just trucks, trailers, 4-wheelers, horses and a might load of Iron (guns)! Whooo! It was an awesome weekend!

Wonderful moments were spent by the campfire just chatting and doing, well, NOTHING! Ahhhhhhhh....

These are my friends Daiya and Sherri:
Matthew was the only boy slipped into the group (well except for a few male horses!) and he had a delightful time with all his horse loving Aunties. However, we didn't take many pictures of him...

Because you see, we were on a mission. Look at this awesome picture! Does it get any better than this? I am not in this picture as I am taking this one. I have to wait until one of my friends sends me hers with me in the group.
From L-R are Sherri, Debbie (another Debbie, not me), Bobbie, Kate, Daiya and Stacy.

THIS was our mission....

WILD HORSES!

This is a group of stallions we had been following all day. That big black one in the back stole my heart! He was so big and gorgeous!

We had a wonderful time riding miles and miles on our steeds.
We came upon this rock so everyone got a nice picture taken on it. Here I am with my wonderful 29 1/2 yr old gelding, Toby:

I am delighted to report that my old boy had been on vet directed "bed rest" for over a year due to a torn ligament and he is 110% fully healed! (He also had a pretty rough winter last year and lost a lot of weight. With some extra care and supplements, he has put his weight back on very nicely) This was our first real ride out and he was strong, healthy and full of energy. I could not be more pleased!

I'm only home now until we leave again on Thursday for a family relay race event. In the meantime, Angelica's eyes are here and I've got some other dolly projects to finish and start.

Off I go!

XXOO